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Tracer Photo and Time Allocation Survey—Faculty Info
Dear Carleton Faculty,
We need your help! Would you assist us in recruiting students for a fun and educational research project? If so, please hand the attached flyer (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 13kB Sep22 09) to your students.
The Carleton Writing Program and Science Education Resource Center are conducting a three-year research project on the Writing Across the Curriculum and Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge faculty development programs, faculty teaching, and student learning (Spencer Foundation grant). As part of this larger project, we are recruiting students to collaborate with us on a holistic study of their learning and life outside of the classroom. Students will take pictures or write updates, hourly, of a day in their Fall term. Then, they are invited to participate in a 45 minute interview about their time and activities with a researcher.
This study will provide us with essential contextual information about student life at Carleton for evaluating the impact of WAC and QuIRK initiatives on campus. Student participants will obtain a view of how they are spending their time during the day and will actively contribute to an understanding of how learning occurs at Carleton. In addition, interested students will have the opportunity to learn social science research techniques if they choose to participate in the project planning, interviewing, and analysis portion of this project.
1.What, how, and where does learning take place at Carleton outside of the classroom?
2.How does learning fit into students' life in general?
Two possible methodologies
Option One: Take a photo every hour when possible with a list of potential subjects for loose guidance.
Option Two: A Twitter or Facebook-like update (on a Word Document or email) of hourly activities during the day.
Consent and Confidentiality
We are firm believers in repeated and informed consent. Students' identities and identifying information will remain completely confidential. Photos and quotes from written updates will not be used without students' consent. All participation is completely voluntary and students may exit from the study at any time.
Gudrun Willett, Ph.D.
Writing Program and SERC
Download or print this file (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 73kB Sep22 09) | <urn:uuid:198840d4-692e-4dd2-95a5-3948194e7beb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nagt.org/tracer/photo_survey_faculty | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911105 | 467 | 1.765625 | 2 |
See Also: Action Members
As well as the callback that is called when the action gets activated, the following also gets associated with the action:
The action will also have some state information:
Apart from regular actions, there are toggle actions, which can be toggled between two states and radio actions, of which only one in a group can be in the "active" state. Other actions can be implemented as Gtk.Action subclasses.
Each action can have one or more proxy menu item, toolbar button or other proxy widgets. Proxies mirror the state of the action (text label, tooltip, icon, visible, sensitive, etc), and should change when the action's state changes. When the proxy is activated, it should activate its action. | <urn:uuid:ce77a77f-7556-43fb-b5c0-720b3d054b2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://docs.go-mono.com/monodoc.ashx?link=T%3AGtk.Action | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927046 | 156 | 2.03125 | 2 |
The old ironworks
The old ironworks in Lesjaverk was adrift from 1660 to 1812. Important resources for the ironwork was Gruvlia, Håmårfossen and Stellsteinberget. You can get more information about these resources in the submenu to «The old ironworks» in the left sidebar.
The old ironworks lays on the downside of the railroad in Lesjaverk with enterance south for the railroad station (signed to Lesjaverk sag and Lesjaverk Gard). Here you can find the iron furnace from the 1700-times (the only in this country from this epoch) and the main building by the ironworks. There is also an cultural-path by the ironworks you can go with 11 posts. | <urn:uuid:f64ad898-6d6d-4914-bd57-11618f7f6efa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lesjaverk.no/en/jernverket/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914046 | 162 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Blueberries and Their Amazing Health Benefits and Anti-Aging Effects
The Many Health Benefits of Blueberries
This sweet, flare-crowned, indigo superfruit is more than just a mouth-watering delight to your craving senses. Would you believe that this favorite has a wide range of micronutrients that do not only protect the body from diseases, but also aging?
High Antioxidant Value
Blueberries, along with blackberries, strawberries, and plums, have the highest total antioxidant capacity of any food. It is being regarded as one of the “superfuits” having the promising combination of nutrient value, emerging research evidence for health benefits, versatility for manufacturing popular consumer products, and antioxidant strength.
Antioxidants are thought to aid in guarding the body against the detrimental effects of free radicals to cells and the chronic diseases associated with the course of aging. The antioxidants present in this fruit can protect the cell, so there is less chance for aging. These berries contain 14 mg of Vitamin C and 0.8 mg Vitamin E per 1 cup. They also contain anthocyanins and phenolics that can also act as antioxidants. With this, the effects to the skin are copious.
The compound anthocyanin, found in this fruit, is thought to slow down age-related loss in the mental capacity of humans. Those who eat more of them are thought to have better functioning in motor behavioral learning and memory. Anthocyanin also gives them their color and might be the key factor of this fruit's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. While it is thought that aging can decrease cognitive and motor functions, these berries can be of huge value in helping to improve mental functioning.
Improve Your Balance and Coordination
This fruit also has positive effects to balance and coordination. In a study by Dr. James Joseph of Tufts University, it was found that a diet loaded with these sweet berries counteracted poor balance and coordination associated with aging. In this study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, Joseph fed four groups of rats a normal diet. However, among these groups were given blueberries, spinach, or strawberries.
For 18 weeks, the rats were tested for mental functioning, muscle strength, coordination, and balance. The two groups which were fed with strawberry and blueberry extracts performed well on these tests, but the group fed with blueberries executed the most improvement.
Not only that, findings also showed that this particular fruit improved the neuronal functioning of the rats. Dr. Joseph suspects the findings are a result of their rich store of flavonoids -- phytochemicals that have an effect on cell membranes. These findings suggest that nutritional intervention can offer hope to those suffering poor balance and coordination related to aging.
Prevention of Diseases
A serving of this delightful fruit provides a relatively low glycemic load while providing a diverse range of nutrients, which also means there are fewer calories (good news for calorie-watchers) in a serving full of phytochemicals and nutrients such as iron, vitamins C and E. Because of the phytochemicals present, the risk of acquiring some deadly diseases may also be prevented.
Anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols, and tannins found in this wonderful fruit may help prevent cancer by inhibiting some cancer mechanisms. These components protect the DNA from damage and disintegration caused by free radicals.
At a symposium on berry health benefits, there have been reports that eating these and other similar fruits like cranberries may improve the cognitive deterioration occurring in Alzheimer's disease and other conditions of aging. Blueberries may help lower the damages of stroke.
Researches have also shown that this tasty and delicious fruit may help prevent urinary tract infections (UTI), hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia that can also lead to potentially fatal heart disease.
With blueberries, your tongue, and more importantly your health would get the best out of it. Well, even without all these benefits in mind, who wouldn’t die for a serving? Hmmmm… Anyone?
For more articles of similar interest click these links: | <urn:uuid:e4c8b939-54f0-4c6c-aeee-6b2777ca7b3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.everyday-wisdom.com/blueberries.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953606 | 845 | 2.8125 | 3 |
“America is addicted to oil” as President George W. Bush acknowledged in his 2006 State of the Union Speech. And, it is not just a US problem, nor is the addiction only to oil. Oil, coal and natural gas are the fossil reserves which power our planet, but now the spotlight is on crop biomass to provide a significant alternative source of energy and materials.
No-till farming and paraquat have a vital role to play in producing enough biomass while sustaining food production and protecting the environment.
At present, biofuels are manufactured from the parts of crops otherwise harvested for food, eg grain. This leads to two problems:
Not enough fuel
Potentially not enough food
The yield of fuel – biodiesel or bioethanol – from the oils or starch found in seeds is relatively low. With the economic and environmental motivation to grow more crops for biofuels, in future, they may take up valuable land that should be used for growing food, especially in poor Third World countries. Already, in Mexico the rising price of corn tortillas, a staple food for many poorer people, has been a problem. This has been due to the higher price of US corn, driven-up by the demand for ethanol.
To address both fuel and food issues, it would be much more attractive to use unharvested parts such as corn stover or wheat straw for biofuel production. | <urn:uuid:ba2797a0-b98a-46b1-a526-c93f0b8708b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://paraquat.com/category/topic/weeds | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958396 | 289 | 3.09375 | 3 |
When the Rajasthan State came in existence in March 1949, there was no department
as such in the state to deal with the animal husbandry sector. Initially Animal
Husbandry activities were taken care by the Department of Agriculture. In 1958 the
department was separated from the Department of Agriculture. The Animal Husbandry
Department thus came in to existence in 1958, along with Sheep and Wool and Fisheries
In 1984 the Fisheries Department was separated from the Department of Animal Husbandry
making it an independent Department.
Rajasthan has a geographical area of 3,42,239 Sq.Km, which is 10.4%of the country’s
geographical area. The total human population of Rajasthan in 2001 is 56.47 million.
The rural population is 76.6% and urban population is 23.4% and the population density
is 165 per Sq.Km. The tribal population is 12.4% of the total population of the
state. The state has a forest cover of 16,367 Sq,Km. The livestock population of
the state as per 2003 livestock census is 491.36 lacs. The estimate of milk ,egg
and wool production was 9375 thousand tones, 663.10 million nos. and 15685 thousand
Kgs respectively in 2006-07, The state produces highest wool in the country
Animal husbandry and livestock is highly potential sector contributing a lot in
state economy, especially of rural economy. The potential of crop production depends
upon huge investment and weather and meteorological conditions. Comparatively Animal
husbandry and livestock is more stable and requires lesser investments. Livestock
and poultry have proved to be life savior in many distress conditions, especially
in case of drought.
Animal Husbandry is not only a subsidiary occupation to agriculture but it is a
major economic activity, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Rajasthan.
Livestock sector development has a significant beneficial impact in generating employment
and reducing poverty in rural areas. Livestock provides other benefits to the rural
sector. Livestock supplies a large portion of draft power for agriculture.
Animal Husbandry contributes about 13% in the G.D.P. of the State
. This sector has a great potential for rural self-employment at lowest possible
investment per unit. Therefore, livestock development is a critical pathway to rural
As per the livestock census of 2003, there are 491.36 lacs animals and over 61.8
lacs Poultry in the State. Rajasthan has about only 7% of the country’s cattle population
and contributes over 11% of the total milk production, 30% of the mutton and 40%
wool produced in the country. Rajasthan is first in Wool production while third
in milk production . | <urn:uuid:9fa9c815-d4e2-469e-951a-7f1e6d7cda87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://animalhusbandry.rajasthan.gov.in/about_us.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925951 | 601 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Blessing of the Sun
Birkat ha-hammah (Blessing of the Sun)
On the morning of April 8 (Nisan 14) Jews will gather around the world to observe something which happens only once every twenty eight years. Just as it is customary to mark the new moon with blessings, so it has been customary to mark the return of the sun to the place in its cycle Jewish tradition says it occupied during the week of creation. According to the rabbis of the Talmud (Berakhot 59b), every twenty eight years this happens “on the evening of Tuesday, going into Wednesday”. Tractate Berakhot instructs that the blessing appropriate to be recited on the anniversary of this event is: Barukh oseh Vereshit, or in English: Blessed is the One who (continually) creates.
Since Talmudical times this simple blessing has grown into a more complex liturgical order. The earliest printed order of blessing for Birkat ha-hammah of which I am aware comes to us from the Sephardic world. It was published in Leghorn (Livorno), Italy, in a prayerbook entitled, “Tefilah zakah”, compiled by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Castello (Castilho), in 1789. That order was reprinted in 1841 as a separate booklet entitled, “Boker Yizrakh” by R. David Meldola of the Sephardic community in London.
All of this is of special interest to the Library of the Hebrew Union College because among the manuscripts (ms.) held in our rare book collections, we are privileged to possess an attractive hand colored illustrated pamphlet that offers an order of blessing for “Birkat ha-hammah” as it was, according to the ms., observed in the time of R. Hayyim Yosef David Azulai (1724-1806) in the city of Leghorn, Italy (Ms. 795). As Azulai’s name is followed by the acronym z.ts.ve-k.l. (May the memory of the righteous and the holy be for a blessing), we may infer that the unnamed scribe wrote his manuscript only after Azulai’s death in 1806. The text of the ms. is written in two different Hebrew hands. The first part which begins with the information just noted not surprisingly offers essentially the same ritual as that published in the Castello prayer book of 1789. The second adds the text of the Birkat ha-levanah (Blessing of the (new) moon). The manuscript also includes material related to the Akedah (attempted sacrifice of Isaac), and to Hanukkah.
The staff of the Hebrew Union College Library is proud to present photos of the manuscript.
Daniel J. Rettberg, Ph.D.
Rare Book and Manuscript Bibliographer
For more information on the customs of Birkat ha-hammah and on the history of its liturgy and its publication, please note:
- Bleich, J. David; overviews by Rabbi Nosson Scherman. Bircas hachammah: Blessing of the Sun – Renewal of Creation … Brooklyn, New York: Mesorah Publications, 1980.
- Sefer Tefilah zakah … lishboah be-hodshe ha-shanah ve-shalosh regalim … ule-minhage k.k. Livorno … Poh Livorno … shenat 549 [1788 or 1789], Leaves 217b-218a.
Labels: blessing sun manuscript | <urn:uuid:50c1c6a3-3e64-4b00-abb7-715c6114d616> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://huc.edu/libblog/2009_03_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920964 | 773 | 2.484375 | 2 |
School and District Assessments: The foundation for many school and district improvement activities is the establishment of a baseline of current strengths and areas in need of improvement. The Department offers a variety of evaluation processes designed for schools and districts in need of improvement. The Department is currently working on the development of an online tool that will be available to all schools and districts, regardless of need, for the fall 2009.
Statewide School and District Improvement Foundation and Resources: CALI was initiated in 2004 in collaboration with an international expert on school and district improvement, Dr. Doug Reeves. The CALI theory of action focuses on the use of data-driven decision making and standards-based instruction to address the learning needs of each and every student in the classroom. This initiative has grown since 2004 in response to needs identified by schools and districts. The newest additions include a focus on school leadership, culture and climate, and specific supports for English language learners and students with disabilities (Scientific Research-based Intervention).
No Child Left Behind and the Connecticut Accountability for Learning Legislation: The No Child Left Behind Act was enacted by the federal government to address the national problem of low academic achievement for specific groups of students in our public schools. In an effort to address this achievement gap in the State of Connecticut, state legislation was passed in 2007 to support the State Department of Educationís efforts to identify and work with schools and districts that were identified as underperforming. These two pieces of legislation work hand in hand to guide the Departmentís accountability and school improvement work.
Resources for Partner and Supported Schools and School Districts: To support the partner and supported schools and school districts, the Department has developed a variety of resources and strategies. Districts are assigned staff from the Bureaus of Accountability, Compliance & Monitoring and School & District Improvement to work with the district leadership team on the development of a District Improvement Plan. The State Board of Education reviews and approves the plans for all partner districts. The Department has also developed a State Improvement Plan that mirrors the district improvement process. This plan will guide the Department in the ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of our improvement initiatives. In addition, the Department receives guidance and feedback on our improvement initiatives from the Accountability and School Improvement Advisory Committee.
CALI Strategic Partnerships: In order to expand the capacity of the Department to provide support and technical assistance to districts, the Department has developed many strategic partnerships with professional associations. These partnerships are all designed to support CALI and the Department works closely with the organizations to ensure alignment and consistency of message and service. | <urn:uuid:c0c3904c-6701-4237-af17-d9807d067950> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2700&Q=322192&sdePNavCtr=%7C | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964321 | 513 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Close to 100 attorneys, progressive advocates and Triangle-area residents gathered today to discuss the continuing judicial vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, growing numbers of federal judicial vacancies elsewhere, delayed U.S. Senate confirmations of presidential nominees and the ongoing need for increased diversity on the bench.
Speakers at the event, “Why Courts Matter,” included 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James A. Wynn, Jr., and Andrew Blotky, director of Legal Progress at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
As Blotky pointed out, there are 82 current vacancies on the federal bench, with an additional 20 vacancies that will occur this year—meaning that nearly 65 percent of the population lives in a community with a courtroom vacancy.
And while it took roughly 35 days for the Senate to get George W. Bush’s nominees to a vote, it’s taken 150 days for Barack Obama’s to get to that point.
Both Wynn and Blotky called for the quick confirmation of fair, impartial, clear-thinking and diverse judges to fill those vacancies—which even when filled, Wynn added, would only solve the backlog. The U.S. Judicial Conference has called for the creation of additional judgeships to meet caseload demand.
The judges who sit on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina handle one of the heaviest caseloads in the country, approaching nearly 800 cases per judge in 2012. And they’ve been waiting for help for close to eight years now.
The court, based in Raleigh but with courtrooms elsewhere along the eastern part of the state, now has the dubious distinction of having the oldest federal judicial vacancy in the country. The seat&mdashh;opened up on Dec. 31, 2005, when Judge Malcolm J. Howard took senior status—has been unfilled for more than 2,500 days. Read More… | <urn:uuid:87164d47-e126-4543-a2ed-2c1c2f049a14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/category/uncategorized/page/3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940892 | 416 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Becoming one with your cell phoneMay 7, 2012 at 12:43 pm | Posted in modern trends, science, social comment, technology | Leave a comment
Tags: cell phone implants, Mobile device, Mobile phone, Science and Technology, Tattoo, vibrating tattoo ink, Wireless
I’ve thought for a long time now, that eventually technology will find a way for people to have cell phones permanently implanted into their bodies. It would be so much more convenient to have your phone as part of your anatomy, and possibly less annoying for the observer, than to have the phone constantly in your hand/s and/or in front of your face.
I think cell phone use can, for some, be classified as an addiction. The other day I was driving on a very narrow, winding road when I came up behind a bicyclist who instead of moving close to the shoulder, to allow me to pass, swerved aimlessly in front of my car and toward the middle of the road forcing me to slow down until I could safely pass. When this finally happened I saw that the guy on the bike was riding no hands and no eyes as he was completely engrossed in texting. A mac truck could have been heading right toward him; he was oblivious. I thought he would deserve it if I circled back and ran him over.
So I guess there is good news on the horizon for cell phone junkies. There are designs in the works for implanting phones into teeth and under the skin. In addition Nokia has a patent for tattoo ink that vibrates in various patterns when you receive a call, text, or other notification from your phone. Thank goodness for this last one, it allows you to be more than three feet from your precious mobile device.
These options raise all kinds of questions and scenarios in my mind, aside from the obvious unknown negative health implications.
For starters let’s look at the dental and skin phone implants. Will there be small clinics located in phone stores or will you need to take the device to a medical facility? Will the doctors and dentists need special training and certifications? Or, and this one is scary, will they simply train some of the top phone sales people as phone-med techs (an entirely new job category)?
Teeth can be rather sensitive. When you receive a call will it be an unpleasant sensation similar to having a tooth drilled without Novocaine? I think this gives new meaning to talking with your mouth full and if you have one implanted into your forearm you can truly say, “Talk to the hand.” What happens with the arm and dental implant when your contract is up; does it require a new medical procedure? If you don’t pay your bill, will some guy with a scalpel show up at your door? I’m thinking they should just put the phones in breast implants…we could have all kinds of fun with that topic on another day.
Moving on to the vibrating tattoo ink, which could be a great source of irritation or pleasure…I’m guessing. If you chose to put the tattoo in a spot where you have a lot of tension the tattoo could have a relaxing massage-like effect. On the other hand if you receive a lot of calls and texts it could start to get kind of annoying. And I just know that there will be the guy (or guys) who thinks it’s a good idea to have the vibrating tattoo placed on his penis and spends the day calling himself. Or maybe it vibrates for her pleasure, in which case getting a phone call during an intimate encounter, rather than being a bad thing, may enhance the experience.
I am really glad that so much thought and money is being used to develop these products that will greatly enhance our lives. Do you love your cell phone enough to have an invasive procedure that makes you one with your phone?
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Poulet-Sir Prize AwardThis much coveted award is for bloggers who have a sense of humor, are smarter than a and not too chicken to say what they think. Feel free to award this to any blogger you feel is deserving of such a prestigious award. Rules: 1. Proudly display the award on your blog with a link back to Honjii and a link back to the blogger, along with his/her name, who chose to award your blog. 2. Bestow this award, along with the rules, on a minimum of three blogs. 3. Contact the bloggers you've chosen and let them know of their incredibly life-altering good news. 4. Swear on your first born, or whatever you hold dear, never to mention these blogging awards are created by other self-serving bloggers trying to get more traffic altruistic bloggers who wish nothing more than acknowledging a blog well done.
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Copyright Notice© Honjii Li and Honjii's Harangues, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Honjii Li and Honjii's Harangues with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. | <urn:uuid:66334a9a-b1a5-44a6-a3e4-06a92123929a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://honjii.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/if-i-call-you-ill-set-your-heart-or-something-all-atingle-or-achieving-zen-with-your-cell-phone/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949881 | 1,230 | 1.734375 | 2 |
George Orwell would be most amused to hear about the latest development in the EU. Ten countries of the European Union have agreed to help develop computer programs that monitor the internet and CCTV images, according to Telegraph.co.uk. Just like in the novel,1984, the EU's project aim is to detect any abnormal behavior on forums, peer-to-peer networks and even individual computers. The ultimate goal is to try to presage possible conflicts or acts of terror. Philip K. Dick, the author of Minority Report, would also be very amused.
Project Indect is not only an attempt to scour the internet for strange behavior, the European Union is calling for a more unified law-enforcement system, across the European states. Police officers in the UK will be trained in European affairs over the course of the remaining 50 months the project.
The five-year initiative already began on January 1st, 2009. Now the EU has decided to increase the budget by 13.5 % to nearly 1 billion Euros ($1.4 billion). Especially in the UK it has caused an outcry. Since the British citizens are already feeling oppressed by an abundance of CCTV cameras, many have sounded off their protest.
Shami Chakrabarti, the director of human rights group Liberty, describes this whole project as positively chilling. "Profiling whole populations instead of monitoring individual suspects is a sinister move for any society", she said.
Stephen Booth, Analyst at Open Europe, who has thoroughly assessed this program, has definitely recognized the Orwellian nature of it. To him it would mean less personal freedom for the citizens of the European Union. They will meddle with their privacy and the citizens should ask themselves, whether the EU shouldn't spend tax money on something else.
No matter where this leads, the only hope is that it doesn't spiral out of control. An abundance of control becomes only an obstruction when everyone forgets what it's for. That's why, within this Project Indect, there is a special board for ethical issues. This could be the beginning of an effective EU "secret service". | <urn:uuid:414578a7-8db7-4bf8-91a9-21b95cb16f52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neowin.net/news/the-eu-wants-to-monitor-everything-online | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954054 | 424 | 1.984375 | 2 |
ATOFINA has started an investment programme over 5 years for the reinforcement of the unit control room and the reduction of risks related to the storage of hazardous products and to loading and unloading operations.
A concrete example of it is the reduction of the inventories of liquid chlorine at the ATOFINA plant in Lavera (13). As soon as 1994, a first operation made it possible to do away with two tanks out of the seven being used; the maximum capacity thus decreasing from 750 to 500 tons with an average quantity stored of 300 tons. In 2002, after the removal of another storage facility and taking into account the fact that another tank was always kept empty for security purposes, the maximum capacity was reduced to 300 tons with an average quantity being used of 60 tons. At the same time, the tanks that were kept and all the linking pipes were checked and made safe, particularly so with a strengthening of their resistance in case of earthquakes, the suppression of pitting at lower levels, the introduction of extra security valves, an automated security programme triggered by the detection of chlorine in the atmosphere and the creation of a double-layer pipe system between the liquifaction unit and the storage facilities. | <urn:uuid:dbc8619d-9d5b-438c-9f0c-7ff16f70b44d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uic.fr/en/principle8-dyn.asp?card=2743 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96532 | 240 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Study says Central Corridor will increase housing costs along routeby Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, Minn. — A growing number of people living along the Central Corridor light rail line between St. Paul and Minneapolis are already dealing with high housing costs, according to a new study released by a coalition of community groups.
The study concludes that light rail-related development will make those housing costs go up even higher.
Kate Hess Pace, a spokeswoman for ISAIAH, one of the groups sponsoring the study, said housing costs for some poorer residents along University Avenue take half or more of their income.
"What we found is that 45 percent of corridor residents today are paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing," she said.
Hess added that for some, the cost of their housing consumes up to 60 percent of their incomes.
The study also looked at how businesses along the route will fare once the trains begin running. It concluded that more than 80 percent of the affected businesses are small, and the loss of parking to make room for light rail will cause them economic hardship.
On the other hand, the study finds light rail will increase transportation options for residents.
"Nearly a quarter of corridor residents do not have access to a vehicle," she said. "The light rail can be a huge opportunity for people to connect to jobs, services, education -- and to connect to extending arms of transportation to reach other parts of the Twin Cities as well."
The Central Corridor health impact study recommends elected officials work to preserve and create affordable housing along University Avenue.
The study's findings will be discussed at a community meeting at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in St. Paul on Saturday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. | <urn:uuid:2cc34b46-af10-4b45-b40a-588b85dbb074> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/03/04/central-corridor-study | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970202 | 359 | 2.171875 | 2 |
This is the independent and official site for comparing performance information about all further education colleges and other organisations that receive Government funds to offer education and training to people over the age of 16.
We help you to search for, and compare, performance information about different colleges and training organisations. This site does not include higher education offered by universities or information about school sixth forms.
We aim to give you information about things you'll find important, such as: what people studying or training with an organisation thought about their experience, how employers rated the training they received and how many people completed courses or training and as a result found benefits in their job, or moved into further learning or work. We also publish Success Rates which show how many people achieved the qualifications they started.
Further Education Public Information framework
FE Choices is only part of the information available to help you make an informed choice. The framework also includes the course directory and information provided by each learning provider.
About the information we publish
Information is provided about organisations that offer academic and vocational subjects, apprenticeships, and training on and off the job.
Information about the performance of universities can be found on the Unistats website .
Information is published annually about a number of different areas including:
- Success Rates - how many people pass the qualification they start;
- Learner Destinations - information about the percentage of learners and trainees who moved into further learning, found a job or experienced employment benefits as a result of completing their course;
- Learner Satisfaction - the views of learners who studied or trained with an organisation; and
- Employer Satisfaction - the views of employers about the service they have received and the quality of training delivered to their staff
Where we have enough reliable and robust data, we publish scores which show how well an organisation is performing. Even if we cannot calculate an overall score we publish as much information as we can to help you. For example we provide information on how individual questions have been answered to help you make more informed choices. Care should be taken when interpreting some of this information as it may be based on low numbers of responses.
Alongside scores for each organisation, we publish information showing how they compare to similar types of organisations and to all other organisations. In 2011, this information is limited to the organisation that scored the lowest, the highest, and the middle score, if all scores were lined up from lowest to highest.
Some other information is also available to help you. This includes the latest Ofsted Inspection grade, the date the organisation was inspected and a link to the Ofsted website so you can search for the report.
As our site develops, we want to make improvements so it’s useful for anyone wishing to access learning or training after 16. We’re consulting with all kinds of people to make sure we get it right. Please leave your comments on your experience by rating our site. | <urn:uuid:fa32cc90-9113-4976-b24e-0029df3e1c3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fechoices.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk/Pages/About.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961342 | 592 | 1.765625 | 2 |
How Can I Prevent Oral Cancer?
The best way you can protect yourself from oral cancer is to be aware of what makes you more likely to get it. These are called risk factors. You can’t affect some risk factors, but others you can do something about. Knowing more about the risk factors for oral cancer can help you make healthy choices to help you avoid it.
The primary risk factors for oral cancer are using tobacco and drinking alcohol in large amounts over a long period of time. The risk is increased even more in people who use both tobacco and alcohol.
Other risk factors that can be modified by lifestyle choices include the following:
Ultraviolet light exposure. People who spend a lot of time in the sun have a greater risk of developing lip cancer.
Poor nutrition. People whose intake of fruits and vegetables is low have a greater risk for oral and throat cancers.
Poorly fitted dentures. Dentures that rub the inside of the cheeks or the tongue can trap cancer-causing substances, such as tobacco particles. All denture wearers should remove and clean their dentures every night and have them regularly checked by a dentist.
If you find that you are at risk for oral cancer, there’s a lot you can do. Making healthy changes in your life can control some risks. You can also take steps to try to catch oral cancer in its early stages, when it is easiest to treat. Find out how you can be screened for oral cancer and how to recognize its symptoms. | <urn:uuid:5fc8d6c4-ff75-448f-933c-dcb010a1f899> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://healthcare.utah.edu/healthlibrary/related/doc.php?type=34&id=17740-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958041 | 308 | 3.125 | 3 |
Santa Ana is the poor relation of nearby Irvine, a city of 210,000 that ranks among the top 10 in the United States in terms of average income. It is a different story in Santa Ana and its two primary schools -- George Washington Carver and Lydia Romero-Cruz. Most of the nearby houses are old buildings from the 1940s and 50s. Many families are Latino or Mexican immigrants; half sub-let living rooms or garages as their bedrooms. The recession has made their fathers and mothers lose their job. The free breakfasts and lunches provided by the government are very important for the children; but, during weekends, there is not enough food.
It was in 2011 that Tzu Chi volunteer Jian Wan-ping discovered the plight of students from these low-income families. In September that year, volunteers began the ‘happy campus backpack’ food program in the school. The students took the backpacks home after school on Friday and brought them back, empty, to school on Monday. Volunteers then purchased more food, refilled the backpacks and prepared to give them out again on the upcoming Friday. This has since become a regular event for all those involved.
With her previous experience of a backpack food program in Las Vegas, Jian knew that it was not enough only to distribute food, but also necessary to bring the seeds of love to the children. In the first month of the food program, students learnt how to say “Tzu Chi”, “grateful”, “I love you” and other words in sign language. The volunteers bring not only warmth to the students but also Tzu Chi culture into the school.
They teach the students to have a grateful heart. At the distribution, they explain to the children where every item comes from, to show them that every donation is love from others which they should receive with a grateful heart. When they grew up, they can learn to turn their palm down to help others.
Ms. Edna Velado, principle of both elementary schools, explained the positive influence which book donations, the backpack food program and a tutoring program by members of Tzu Chi Collegiate Associate have had on the children over the past decade.
“Tzu Chi has brought so much hope to the school. When there is no hope, the families will be discouraged and the dreams will vanish. The children may even lose the motivation to search for a bright future. The donations from Tzu Chi have made many dreams possible in the two schools. With this hope, our children dare to dream that they can do it.”
Two years ago, both Caver and Lydia Romero-Cruz were designated as “failing schools” by the Federal Education Department. In 2011, the schools received an award as “the most improved”. With emotion in her voice, Ms. Velado said that, in education, there is an adage: “‘It takes a village to raise a child’. For us, Tzu Chi is the village.”
- Tzu Chi Helps 13,000 Earthquake Survivors in Guatemala
- Tzu Chi Celebrates 10 Years in Las Vegas
- Young Volunteers in Hawaii Clean Beach to Celebrate 20th Anniversary
- Another Beautiful Day at Lake Mead
- Uniforms, Stationery to Needy Students in Guatemala
- Volunteer Care For the Families Outside Prison Fire in Honduras
- Tzu Chi Carries Out Winter Distribution for Vancouver Natives
- Volunteers Deliver Relief to 1,200 Flood Survivors in Honduras | <urn:uuid:95cb5190-d72c-4044-8631-baabafad0e98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tzuchi.org.tw/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=937%3Ait-takes-a-village-to-raise-a-child&catid=76%3Aamerica&Itemid=205&lang=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969471 | 727 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
Shots - Health Blog
Tue October 18, 2011
Making Sense of Your Medical Math
In their new book, Your Medical Mind: How To Decide What Is Right For You, oncologist Jerome Groopman and his wife, endocrinologist Pamela Hartzband, offer a roadmap to help people make the best medical decisions they can.
Knowing your medical mind depends in large part on understanding your own personality and how that affects your decisions. The authors describe how someone who's a "believer" in medical intervention, for example, will be more likely to embrace treatment than a "doubter" who worries the treatment may be worse that the illness.
There are other distinctions they describe, such as people who favor the use of technology versus those who prefer natural remedies. But no matter your personality type, sooner or later most people who are trying to make a medical decision have to decipher statistics that describe how successful a particular treatment is likely to be, among other things.
And that's when it gets dicey for many people, because although numbers don't necessarily lie, they can be deceptive. Groopman and Hartzband suggest some concepts to discuss with your physician to help make sense of medical statistics.
First, Groopman says, patients should always ask their doctors what the likelihood is of something happening — having a heart attack, for example — if they do nothing. That's their baseline risk.
If your baseline risk is very low to start with, then numbers showing that you can reduce it even further with a particular medical treatment may not be as impressive as they appear.
The authors cite the example of a patient, Susan Powell, whose doctor told her she could reduce her risk of a heart attack by 30 percent if she took a statin medication to lower her cholesterol level. That figure was correct. But Powell learned that based on her age, current cholesterol levels, non-smoking status and other factors, her baseline risk of a heart attack over the next 10 years was only 1 in 100, or 1 percent.
She decided not to take the statin.
Once you understand your baseline risk, the authors encourage you to consider another figure: "the number needed to treat." That number tells you how many people would need to receive the treatment you're considering in order for one person to benefit.
In the case of an antibiotic to treat a bacterial infection, maybe that number is very low. If the number needed to treat is one, then nearly every person who takes the antibiotic will benefit, says Hartzband.
But frequently, the benefit isn't as clear. In Susan Powell's case, if 300 women like Susan didn't take a statin, three of them would have a heart attack over the course of 10 years (1 percent). Taking a statin, however, would reduce the risk of heart attack by 30 percent. In practical terms, that means that one woman out of the three who could expect to have a heart attack would avoid it.
The number needed to treat, therefore, in this case is thus 300, a large enough number that some patients might not wish to go forward, Groopman suggests. "It's a very powerful concept," says Groopman. "If I were in Las Vegas and the odds were 1 in 300 and I was betting, would I do that?" | <urn:uuid:b1152b0d-d1b2-4cbd-b9d7-dac1571cedab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whqr.org/post/making-sense-your-medical-math | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972303 | 685 | 2.640625 | 3 |
By Balqis Al-Jabri
JEDDAH – The conditions at the Kingdom’s mental health hospitals are worse than many prisons around the world, said Dr. Muhammad Al-Shawoosh, the former director of Al-Amal Hospital in Jeddah and a consultant psychiatrist.
He said there was an urgent need for intervention from the Ministry of Health. There was also a need for universities to revise their syllabi to produce better trained mental health professionals.
He said recommendations on improving such hospitals have been gathering dust. He urged officials to take the necessary action.
Al-Shawoosh said the drastic shortage of trained medical staff in the Kingdom and the world was a result of common misconceptions about becoming a mental health practitioner, and poor education.
He said the situation at mental health hospitals has remained unchanged for more than 20 years. There are 16 psychiatric hospitals in the Kingdom and three Amal hospitals which treat drug addiction but these are too few to treat the rising number of patients.
Al-Shawoosh urged officials to abide by international agreements on the treatment of persons with mental illnesses. He said such patients have not been able to voice their concerns, resulting in a steady deterioration of their treatment and care. | <urn:uuid:ff68a06f-5f42-4044-8432-a5c12c70a3b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20120422122424 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968898 | 255 | 1.914063 | 2 |
During a search for a page on facebook, I found two hate pages.They only had a few members , but all
I could think was what if one of my family found this page
and read the hate speech.
I decided to "report" both pages, as hate speech is against
I sent links to the pages to some friends so they too
could report them, they replied
with links to others I thought that rather than 30 of us sending each other messages, I would
collate the links on one Facebook page.
An hour later there were hundreds of members and by the end of the day a thousand had joined.
STOP Homophobia has become a huge gathering of LGBT support from all
over the world. We educate each other.
We have a lot of "straight" supporters who learn a lot about us too.
This is community engagement, resource sharing, discussion,
encouragement, on a global scale.
The most important part of STOP Homophobia is the membership,
those people who click to report, share stories and help to build community spirit, they are what | <urn:uuid:9f3bf19f-41ff-42c3-a398-54f116eb5cd3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whof.net/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978034 | 228 | 2.09375 | 2 |
On the fifth anniversary for the iPhone and as we draw closer to the release of iOS 6 this fall (read our First Take from WWDC here), I can't help but think of how far Apple's iOS has come since the day the first iPhone was unveiled.
If you remember, that first iPhone was announced by Steve Jobs and Apple on January 9, 2007, and was more about the touch-screen interface than any extras, but it wasn't until June of that year the iPhone was released to the public. That first iOS wasn't even called iOS (Apple said the phone was running a version of OS X), and was simply the iPhone OS. This early operating system just had what we know today as the core apps -- basics such as Safari, E-mail, Maps, Notes, and a few others. It's hard to believe with how important the App Store is today, but it wasn't until iPhone OS 2.0 that the iTunes App Store was even introduced and still took a while to really get off the ground as app developers experimented with the new device.
Regardless of what smartphone you use now, what Apple did with the first iPhone and its operating system was to put the smartphone into the hands of the casual user. It also pioneered the idea that the smartphone operating system was an evolution that would continue to improve incrementally over time and made iPhone users always want to know, "What will be in the next release?" The first iPhone had almost nothing beyond the fancy touch-screen interface, but over time, Apple listened to users and slowly crossed off the items on our iOS wish lists (while adding new features we hadn't thought of along the way).
It certainly wasn't perfect in the early days, however. Most probably remember the absence of important features in the earlier iterations of the iPhone OS like copy and paste and later multitasking. These were not just glaring omissions, but fodder for advertisers of competing devices in ads trying to win people over to Android devices and other smartphones.
On this five-year anniversary, check out how it all began for the iPhone OS and the steps it took to bring us where we are today. I'm not covering every release here, but instead showing the features added by the time the next major version was released. With that in mind, check out the major updates to Apple's iOS over the past five years.
|OS version||Release |
|iPhone OS 1.0 (initial release) ||June 2007|
|iPhone OS 1.0.1 - 1.1.4||Beginning in September 2007|
|iPhone OS 2.0 ||July 2008|
|iPhone OS 2.0.1 - 2.2.1 ||Beginning in September 2008|
|iPhone OS 3.0 ||June 2009|
|iPhone OS 3.1 - 3.2 ||Beginning in September 2009|
|iOS 4.0 ||June 2010 |
|iOS 4.1 - 4.3.5 ||Beginning in September 2010 |
|iOS 5.0||October 2011 |
|iOS 5.1||March 2012 |
iOS 6 (coming this fall)
iOS 6 was announced at this year's WWDC (read our First Take) and will probably be released this fall to coincide with the unveiling of the new iPhone. Scott Forstall, Apple's SVP of iOS, promised that iOS 6 would bring 200 new features, including tighter Facebook integration, an empowered Siri voice assistant, and the capability to conduct FaceTime calls over a cellular network. But the biggest new feature is Apple's decision to replace the current Google Maps app with an in-house version with a whole new look, 3D city views, and turn-by-turn navigation with voice. | <urn:uuid:b60ab1f4-1738-44bb-afdc-8eebd71e8d5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-57463858-233/5-years-in-the-evolution-of-the-iphone-os/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972364 | 760 | 2.359375 | 2 |
(Health.com) -- Affluent countries, including the U.S., tend to have higher rates of depression than lower-income nations such as Mexico, a new study from World Health Organization researchers suggests.
In face-to-face interviews, teams of researchers surveyed nationally representative samples of people in 18 countries on five continents -- nearly 90,000 people in all -- and assessed their history of depression using a standardized list of nine criteria.
In addition to looking at personal characteristics such as age and relationship status, the researchers divided the countries into high- and middle-to-low income groups according to average household earnings.
The proportion of people who have ever had an episode of clinical depression in their lifetime is 15% in the high-income nations and 11% in lower-income countries, the study estimates.
France (21%) and the United States (19%) had the highest rates, while China (6.5%) and Mexico (8%) had the lowest.
It's not clear what accounts for this pattern, says Evelyn Bromet, Ph.D., the lead author of the study and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stony Brook University, in Stony Brook, New York. But she stresses that wealth -- and happiness -- are relative concepts.
"Wherever you are, there's always people doing better than you," Bromet says. "You'd think that countries that are better off should have lower rates [of depression], but just because they have a high income doesn't mean there isn't a lot of stress in the environment."
Moreover, she adds, the richest countries in the world also tend to have the greatest levels of income inequality, which has been linked to higher rates of depression as well as many other chronic diseases.
The income-related trends did not hold for all measures of depression, however. When Bromet and her colleagues looked only at episodes of depression that occurred in the previous year, the rate was nearly identical in higher- and lower-income countries, about 6%. (Here again, though, the U.S. came out close to the top: Its 8% rate was second only to Brazil's 10%.)
This may reflect actual differences in depression rates, but it could also be that people in poorer countries are for some reason less likely to recall or relate episodes of depression from their past, the authors say.
Comparing depression rates across different countries is inherently challenging, because survey participants may be influenced by cultural norms or their interactions with the interviewer, says Timothy Classen, Ph.D., an assistant professor of economics at Loyola University Chicago who has studied the link between economics and suicide.
"There are significant disparities across countries in terms of the availability and social acceptance of mental health care for depression," says Classen, noting that there tends to be more stigma surrounding depression in a country like Japan than in the U.S. (Classen says this may explain why Japan has a higher suicide rate, even though its depression rates in the study were three to four times lower than those in the U.S.)
Different age groups appeared to fare better than others depending on a country's level of affluence. For instance, older adults in high-income countries generally had lower rates of depression than their younger counterparts, while the trend was reversed in several poorer countries.
In a country like the Ukraine, Bromet says, older people "have enormous pressure on them and they don't have enough money to live and take care of grandchildren and health problems. Their lives are extremely difficult relative to older people in this country."
Bromet says the study findings can help countries identify their own high-risk populations, whether it's older adults in Ukraine or young divorced women in Japan.
"I hope people in these countries will start thinking about social and medical support for these groups in particular, and what they can do to prevent depression in the future," she says.
The study, which was published today in the journal BMC Medicine, is part of the WHO's Mental Health Survey Initiative.
Government organizations (including the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health), charitable foundations, and pharmaceutical companies across the world have all helped finance the initiative, but the funders played no role in the data collection, analysis, or publication.
Copyright Health Magazine 2011 | <urn:uuid:fe3f5fe1-309a-47cc-996d-8742c0ada6bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/26/affluent.depression.prone/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968755 | 880 | 2.65625 | 3 |
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
CLASSIFICATION: SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Class Code: 8046-21 Date Established: 11-13-74
Occupational Code: 7-3-1 Date of Last Revision: 12-28-01
BASIC PURPOSE: To supervise and coordinate the daily operations of an educational system in a state institution.
CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Exercises supervisory and administrative functions in the administration of a school program.
· Prepares institution educational curricula in accordance with state and federal regulations and agency mission.
· Coordinates and implements school policies and procedures.
· Designs in-service training programs for teaching and support staff, including evaluating teacher effectiveness.
· Disciplines students and recommends change in method of individual student instruction as necessary.
· Supervises the ordering, maintaining and issuing of school supplies.
· Conducts and coordinates a variety of extra curricular activities.
· Assists in preparing applications for special grants by providing statistics and other data.
Skill: Requires skill in recommending routine changes in standardized operating procedures OR in retrieving, compiling and reporting data according to established procedures OR in operating complex machines.
Knowledge: Requires logical or scientific expertise to resolve problems of a specialized or professional nature in a wide range of applications.
Impact: Requires responsibility for achieving direct service objectives by assessing agency service needs and making preliminary recommendations for the development of alternative short-term program policies or procedures. Errors at this level result in incomplete assessments or misleading recommendations causing a disruption of agency programs or policies.
Supervision: Requires direct supervision of other employees doing related or similar work, including scheduling work, recommending leave, reviewing work for accuracy, performance appraisal, or interviewing applicants for position vacancies.
Working Conditions: Requires performing regular job functions in an environment which includes exposure to continuous physical elements or a number of disagreeable working conditions with frequent exposure to minor injuries or health hazards.
Physical Demands: Requires light work, including continuous walking or operating simple equipment for extended periods of time as well as occasional strenuous activities such as reaching or bending.
Communication: Requires summarizing data, preparing reports and making recommendations based on findings which contribute to solving problems and achieving work objectives. This level also requires presenting information for use by administrative-level managers in making decisions.
Complexity: Requires a combination of job functions to establish facts, to draw daily operational conclusions, or to solve practical problems. This level also requires providing a variety of alternative solutions where only limited standardization exists.
Independent Action: Requires objective assessment in analyzing and developing new work methods and procedures subject to periodic review and in making decisions according to established technical, professional or administrative standards.
Education: Master's degree from a recognized college or university with major study in education, supplemented with courses in administration and guidance. Each additional year of approved formal education may be substituted for one year of required work experience.
Experience: Two years' teaching experience in elementary or high school.
License/Certification: Eligibility for teacher certification by the New Hampshire Department of Education.
The probationary period for the School Principal classification is one year.
RECOMMENDED WORK TRAITS: Extensive knowledge of teaching methods and educational materials. Knowledge of educational standards. Knowledge of study courses prescribed by the Department of Education. Ability to work with emotionally disturbed or delinquent students. Ability to write clear and concise reports. Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with co-workers, other professionals and governmental officials. Must be willing to maintain appearance appropriate to assigned duties and responsibilities as determined by the agency appointing authority.
DISCLAIMER STATEMENT: This class specification is descriptive of general duties and is not intended to list every specific function of this class title.
Last Updated 05/10/02 | <urn:uuid:4351135c-4a5b-4fb3-bcdc-bb9dfd48347e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.admin.state.nh.us/hr/classspec_s/8046.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901677 | 794 | 1.992188 | 2 |
From time to time, this column tries to deliver a bit of insight into a problem or issue. At other times, this column tries to heap either praise or criticism on an assortment of topics. But from time to time, I come across what seems like the bizarre nature of humanity that often leaves you scratching your head in bewilderment.
Today's column is the latter.
It seems the D'Souza family of Sacramento, Calif., (where else?) has a small problem. The couple is convinced that their neighbors are plotting their demise by bombarding their home with mysterious "radio waves" that have caused all sorts of ailments.
So the D'Souza family hatched a secret weapon to counter the radio wave assault. The couple attached aluminum pieces on the outside of their home and lined the interior walls with foil. That way, according to the D'Souzas, the aluminum would repel the radio waves and shield them from the neighborhood assault.
Well fortunately, the city of Sacramento has policies against aluminum shields or any such devices and has ordered the family to remove the eyesores. The D'Souzas said they would reluctantly comply and remove the hodgepodge of metal strips that lined the house's exterior. They made no mention of removing the protective foil from the home's interior. Nor did they mention anything about removing the highly-secret foil mattress on their bed that serves as nocturnal protection.
In a twist, the D'Souzas say the bombardment of invisible rays began exactly one year to the day following the Sept. 11 attack, thus they see some connection though they are hush-hush on their explanation.
So today the streets of Sacramento are quiet. The D'Souza home no longer is encircled with aluminum shields and order has been restored. But the family vows to provide officials with evidence to support their unusual claim.
So when your world is spinning out of control, your kids are restless at the beginning of summer, the bills are piling high and life seems too hectic, just think of the poor D'Souza family. There they sit, bombarded by highly-secret radio waves with no protection.
See, you ain't got it so bad after all! | <urn:uuid:95a7ba2f-6677-4b97-8e6d-6cb8bf2f2ebe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.standard-democrat.com/story/1349426.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966929 | 464 | 1.609375 | 2 |
It was Sandro 5, Cynthia 1 in our first wild mushroom foray of the season. Not quite enough for risotto, but enough to sauté with steak for dinner.
The rubbery, cone-shaped morels proved as elusive as ever, poking up through last year’s grey-brown leaves, dried to parchment. The smart ones pop up under a curled leaf, which protects them from the elements but makes them even harder to spot.
Each year I have to re-learn how to stop and slowly scan the forest floor for shrooms as if holding a video camera. I was beginning to think I’d never find one when one took pity on me and showed its brown head along the side of the path.
Out came the Italian mushroom knife and into the mesh-bottom bag it went – the one we brought home from the annual mushroom competition in Boyne City, Michigan, where golden morels can grow 8 inches high.
Wild leeks, with their floppy green leaves and straight white bulbs, were more plentiful. We’ve been sautéing them with eggs, chicken, everything!
It’s the earliest Ontario season anyone can remember. Now if we could just get some rain! | <urn:uuid:ef11acbd-4eb2-41ac-b4b8-6bd94b02d7e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cynthia-david.com/2012/04/23/morel-mania-begins/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972757 | 253 | 1.960938 | 2 |
A future free of HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and TB
Welcome to the National Observances Web Community. This online community is designed to help in planning, collaborating, and evaluating all National Observances relating to HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and Tuberculosis. You can see that there are specific groups dedicated to each observance, and you all have the ability to add content and resources, develop your professional profile, network with your peers, and collaborate to create more effective awareness and observance events.
2012 WORLD AIDS DAY RED RIBBON CHARITY FUNDRAISER!As we commemorate the 2012 World AIDS Day, we kindly invite you to buy our Red Ribbon lapel Pins in support of our Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Delivery e.g. Care and Support of People Living with AIDS…Continue
Started by Albert KUNIHIRA in Promotion Nov 12, 2012.
Started by Albert KUNIHIRA in Promotion Feb 17, 2012.
Did you watch the webcast of the release of the Viral Hepatitis Plan today (May 12) ? Did you participate in the Partner Briefing with HHS and CDC? What do you think about the plan? How will it impact/influence your local efforts? | <urn:uuid:95ffc004-828d-4e49-90be-98152b5aaf08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nationalawareness.ning.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90391 | 268 | 1.710938 | 2 |
NEC and a researcher from Japan’s Tohoku University, Professor Hideo Ohno, are working on a power chip that solves a pretty big problem: completely eliminating electricity consumption of electronic devices that are in standby mode. The key piece of technology here is CAM, the world’s first content addressable memory.
This non-volatile memory will be built into the control circuits of TVs, computers and other devices and stores data even when the power is turned off. In other words, constant standby power to maintain data will not be needed anymore (the English press release goes into more technical detail). The picture above shows a prototype power chip.
NEC plans to showcase the tech at a symposium in Kyoto this Friday. The company said it expects it will take up to five years until we can see the technology put to practical use. | <urn:uuid:3400aa71-d995-481e-88c0-cc02afa5907c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/14/nec-develops-zero-standby-power-semiconductor-tech/ | 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 | 0.921631 | 174 | 2.921875 | 3 |
LONGMONT -- Kids gathered around laser levels on a classroom floor, frenetically trying to navigate a laser beam through a maze of mirrors to hit a target five feet off the floor.
"Don't lose it!" said 11-year-old Jeremiah Medina as he and his classmates tried to find and aim the laser's endpoint.
Summer STEM Academy
Westview Middle School will offer a summer STEM Academy for students to explore interests in science, technology, engineering, math and the arts.
When: Morning and afternoon sessions, June 3 to 7; June 10 to 14
Where: Westview Middle School, 1651 Airport Road, Longmont
Cost: Between $75 and $100 per session
For more information: Visit Westview'sSummer STEM Academy website.. A link to registration is available there.
As part of Westview's new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) focus program, the school is hosting monthly programs on the first Wednesdays of the month, the St. Vrain Valley School District's late-start days. The program is also open to fifth-graders who will attend Westview next year.
"We want to build excitement around science and engineering," said Jeremy Lacrosse, Westview's assistant principal and STEM coordinator.
So far, the school has held programs on space physics and marine biology. Next month, the school will have a presentation on chemistry for the kids, and on the late start day in May, there will be a presentation on wind.
After each STEM event, LaCrosse has received positive feedback from both parents and students, he said.
Fred Gluck, a University of Colorado Discovery Science instructor, visited on Wednesday to teach students about lasers.
The students who got out of bed early to attend the program were rewarded with the chance to use the lasers themselves in the target exercise. After hitting the target once, Gluck encouraged them to add mirrors and complicate their maze.
"We got nine mirrors," said David New, a Westview Middle School sixth-grader, like Jeremiah. Aiming the
Another team used 16 mirrors, the most in the class, to hit the target.
When Gluck questioned students about the exercise, Hygiene student Conrad Casciato, 10, pointed out one lesson.
"(The laser is) going to bounce off the mirror at the same angle it hits the mirror," Conrad said.
Gluck set up a laser show to teach students more. With spinning mirrors, he projected different designs on the wall as the kids actually took in as they oohed and aahed at the changing green shapes on the wall.
"It was so cool when he did the light show," David said. "I really liked that a lot."
The instructor also discussed how lasers are used, such as in construction, in surgery and for reading bar codes. One example he gave was scientists' bouncing a laser off a mirror on the moon to determine its distance from the earth.
"Every day, they're coming up with new uses for lasers," Gluck said.
Gluck emphasized the need for safety, explaining that lasers' intensity can damage the eye before the brain knows to blink. To illustrate his message, he focused a tiny green dot on a balloon. Shocked students jumped at its ear-splitting explosion.
Payton and Nita, the Longmont Estates students, were fascinated by the presentation.
"I thought it would be interesting to learn about lasers and see how they work," said Nita, who had not attended any previous Westview late-start events.
The girls learned during the program that light actually isn't white, but a combination of red, green and blue light, they said.
The program also increased their interest in Westview's STEM focus, which they'd heard about.
"I am excited about what's ahead," Nita said.
Victoria Camron can be reached at 303-684-5226 or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:c94b6624-f18e-424b-9fab-ad8dadb3f126> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailycamera.com/fashion/ci_22733805/westview-middle-school-shines-light-stem | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963131 | 825 | 2.125 | 2 |
The Flint River Farms Resettlement Project was part of a New Deal program that offered the opportunity for black farmers to become independent landowners. Flint River Farms was initiated in 1937 when the federal government purchased several large plantations and subdivided them into 107 farm units, averaging 93 acres per unit. Each unit consisted of a house, a barn, two mules, an outhouse, a chicken coop, and a smoke house. All featured electricity, bored wells, sanitary privies and fencing. Today, many of the descendants of the original participants still own the original farmland.
The granddaughter of participant Fred Mathis is filmmaker Charlene Gilbert, who immortalized the experience of these families in the PBS documentary, "Homecoming." Flint River Farms Preservation Society has established a park on the site, located at Highway 26 East and Flint River School Road in Montezuma.
Bus / Motorcoach Parking on Site, Free Parking, Party Facilities, Public Restrooms
Family-friendly, Free Admission
Near Interstate Highway
Suitable for Ages | <urn:uuid:e26f6a1a-ea24-4b40-ad84-5c9a358afa1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.exploregeorgia.org/listing/1755-flint-river-farm-school-preservation-park | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937498 | 208 | 2.875 | 3 |
Restore the Woodland: Many Hands, One Goal
Get involved in restoring the beauty and wonder of this magnificent, rare woodland ecosystem—so we may enjoy it now and ensure its survival for future generations.
Ecological restoration provides many benefits to the environment, such as biodiversity and wildlife habitat, as well as benefits to our communities, such as clean air and reduced flooding.
Help The Morton Arboretum do this important work!
Volunteer —We rely on generous, dedicated people to help us maintain our natural areas. Volunteering is a fun and fascinating way to learn about how woodland, prairie, and wetland ecosystems work.
Enroll in the Woodland Stewardship Training Program— Want even more hands-on volunteer work, plus training? We need volunteers who want to learn about woodland ecosystems so they can work independently in the field. This program covers practical techniques such as plant identification and invasive species management, as well as broad principles of ecology, conservation, and restoration
Take a class —Learn more about woodlands, other ecosystems, and the exciting, growing field of restoration ecology. The Arboretum offers hundreds of classes taught by experienced professionals, renowned experts, and authors.
Become an Arboretum Member— Join our community to support the Arboretum's mission to plant and conserve trees for a greener, healthier, more beautiful world.
Donate now to the Arboretum— More than ever, the Arboretum relies on gifts of all sizes from supporters who believe in our mission. Your gift responds to a vital need for planting and conserving trees. | <urn:uuid:728c47bd-725c-4525-8907-e69eb82192f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mortonarb.org/woodland-restoration/get-involved.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925838 | 332 | 2.5625 | 3 |
It was more than 45 years ago that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. enunciated his “Dream” to a huge throng on the Capitol Mall. There is no doubt that substantial progress toward ethnic equality has been achieved since that time, even to the point of having elected a Black US President.
The Minority Home Ownership Gap: But there is some way to go. Home ownership represents the core of the “American Dream” that was certainly a part of Dr. King’s vision. Yet, there remain significant gap in homeownership by ethnicity. Rather than a matter of discrimination, this largely reflects differing income levels between White-Non-Hispanics, African-Americans and Hispanics or Latinos. Today, approximately 75% of white households own their own homes. Whites have a home ownership rate fully one-half higher than that of African-Americans and Hispanics or Latinos at 47% and 49% (See Figure).
Setting the Gap in Stone: A key to redressing this difficulty will be convergence of minority household incomes with those of whites, and that is surely likely to happen. However, there is another important dynamic in operation: house prices in some areas have risen well in advance of incomes, so that convergence alone can not narrow the home ownership gap in a corresponding manner. It is an outrage for public policy to force housing prices materially higher so long as home ownership remains beyond the incomes of so many, especially minorities.
The Problem: Land Use Regulation: The problem is land use regulation. The economic evidence is clear: more restrictive land use regulation raises house prices relative to household incomes. This can be seen with a vengeance in the house price increases that occurred during the housing bubble. As we have previously described, metropolitan markets with more restrictive land use regulation (principally the more radical “smart growth” policies) experienced house price escalation out of all proportion to other areas in the nation. In some cases, they topped out at nearly four times historical norms. On the other hand, in the one-half of major metropolitan area markets where land use regulations were less severe, house prices tended to increase to little more than historic norms, at the most.
How Smart Growth Destroys Housing Affordability: This difference is principally due to the price of land, which is forced upward when the amount of land available for building is artificially limited, as is the case in smart growth markets. At the peak of the bubble, there was comparatively little difference in house construction costs per square foot in either smart growth or less restrictive markets. However, the far higher land prices drove house prices in smart growth markets far above those in less restrictively regulated markets. Where house prices rise faster than incomes, housing affordability drops as prices rise at escalated rates.
Wishing Away Reality: It is not surprising that the proponents of smart growth undertake Herculean efforts to deflect attention away from this issue. Usually they pretend there is no problem. Sometimes they produce studies to indicate that limiting the supply of land and housing does not impact housing affordability, which is akin to arguing that the sun rises in the West. Even the proponents, however, cannot “walk a straight line" on this issue, noting in their most important advocacy piece (Costs of Sprawl – 2000) that their more important strategies have the potential to increase the cost of housing.
The Assault on Home Ownership: Worse, well connected Washington interest groups (such as the Moving Cooler coalition) and some members of Congress seek to universalize smart growth land rationing throughout the nation, which would cause massive supply problems and housing price inflation that occurred in some markets between 2000 and 2007. Even after the crash, these markets experienced generally higher house prices relative to incomes in smart growth markets than in traditionally regulated markets.
House Price Increases and Minorities: House price increases relative to incomes weigh most heavily on ethnic minority households, because their incomes tend to be lower. This is illustrated by an examination of the 2007 data from the American Community Survey, in our special report entitled US Metropolitan Area Housing Affordability Indicators by Ethnicity: 2007. The year 2007 was the peak of the housing bubble, but represents a useful point of reference for when future “smart growth” policies were imposed nationwide.
Median Priced Housing: The data (Table) indicates that median house prices were 75% or more higher for African-Americans than Whites, however that African-Americans in smart growth markets require 84% more to buy the median priced house. The situation was slightly better for Hispanics or Latinos with median house prices at least 50% more relative to incomes than for Whites. House prices relative to Hispanic or Latino median household incomes were 86% higher in smart growth markets than in less restrictively regulated markets.
|SUMMARY OF HOUSING INDICATORS BY|
|LAND USE REGULATION CATEGORY|
|Metropolitan Areas over 1,000,000 Population: 2007|
|HOUSING INDICATOR||Less Restrictive Land Use Regulation Markets||More Restrictive Land Use Regulation Markets||All Markets||More Restrictive Markets Compared to Less Restrictive Markets|
|MEDIAN VALUE MULTIPLE|
|White Non-Hispanic or Latino||2.7||5.1||3.9||1.90|
|Hispanic or Latino||4.2||7.9||6.1||1.86|
|LOWEST QUARTILE VALUE MULTIPLE|
|White Non-Hispanic or Latino||1.8||3.7||2.8||2.01|
|Hispanic or Latino||2.9||5.7||4.4||1.98|
|MEDIAN RENT/MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME|
|White Non-Hispanic or Latino||12.1%||15.1%||13.6%||1.25|
|Hispanic or Latino||19.1%||23.0%||21.1%||1.20|
|LOWER QUARTILE RENT/MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME|
|White Non-Hispanic or Latino||9.4%||11.6%||10.5%||1.23|
|Hispanic or Latino||14.9%||17.5%||16.2%||1.18|
|Median Value Multiple: Median House Value divided by Median Household Income|
|Low Quartile Value Multiple: Low Quartile House Value divided by Median Household Income|
|Calculated from American Community Survey (US Bureau of the Census) Data|
|“More restrictive” land use regulation markets (generally "smart growth") include those classified as "growth management," "growth control," "containment" and "contain-lite" and "exclusions: in "From Traditional to Reformed A Review of the Land Use Regulations in the Nation's 50 largest Metropolitan Areas" (Brookings Institution, 2006) and markets with significant large lot zoning and land preservation restrictions (New York, Chicago, Hartford, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Virginia Beach). Less restrictive" land use regulation markets (generally "traditional") include all others, except for Memphis, where urban growth boundaries have been drawn far enough from the urban area to have no perceivable impact on land prices and Nashville, where the core county is exempt from the urban growth boundary requirement in state law.|
Lower Priced Housing (Lowest Quartile): I recall being told by a participant at a University of California–Santa Barbara economic forum organized by newgeography.com contributor Bill Watkins that, yes, smart growth increases house prices, but not for lower income residents. My challenger went so far as to say that lower income households were aided economically by smart growth. The facts are precisely the opposite. Comparing the lowest quintile (lowest 25%) house price to median household incomes indicates that minorities pay even a higher portion of their incomes for lowest quintile priced houses than the median priced house. African-Americans in smart growth markets needed 95% more relative to incomes to afford the lowest quartile house. Hispanics or Latinos needed 98% more.
Rental Housing: The problem carries through to rental housing. There is a general relationship between rental prices and house prices, though rental prices tend to “lag” house price increases. In the smart growth markets, minorities must pay approximately 20% more of their income for the median contract rental in smart growth metropolitan areas than in less restrictively regulated markets. Similar results are obtained when comparing minority household median incomes with lowest quintile contract rents, with African-Americans paying 17% more of their incomes in smart growth markets and Hispanics or Latinos paying 18% more.
Moreover, it is important to recognize that all of the above data is relative, based on shares or percentages of incomes. Varying income levels are thus factored out. Minority and other households in smart growth markets face costs of living that are approximately 30% higher than in less restrictively regulated markets, according to analysis by US Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis economists. Some, but not all of the difference is in higher housing costs.
Social Costs of Smart Growth: In 2004, the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, which focuses on Latino issues, noted concern about the homeownership gap in California, which has been ground zero for land use regulation driven house price increases for decades:
Whether the Latino homeownership gap can be closed, or projected demand for homeownership in 2020 be met, will depend not only on the growth of incomes and availability of mortgage money, but also on how decisively California moves to dismantle regulatory barriers that hinder the production of affordable housing. Far from helping, they are making it particularly difficult for Latino and African American households to own a home.
Examples of the restrictions cited by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute are restrictions on the supply of land, high development impact fees and growth controls.
California has acted decisively, but against the interests of African-Americans and Hispanics or Latinos. The state enacted Senate Bill 375 in 2008, which will impose far stronger state regulations on residential development, increasing the likelihood that minorities in California will always be disadvantaged relative to White-Non-Hispanics. At the same time, State Attorney General Jerry Brown has forced some counties to adopt more restrictive land use regulations through legal actions. California, which had for decades been considered a state of opportunity, is making home ownership and the pursuit of the “American Dream” far more difficult, particularly for its ever more diverse population.
Stopping the Plague: In California, the hope to increase African-American and Latino home ownership rates to match those of white-non-Hispanics may already be beyond reach due to the that state’s every intensifying radical smart growth policies. However, the “Dream” continues to “hang on” in many metropolitan markets. Hopefully Washington will not put a barrier in the way of African-Americans and Hispanics or Latinos that live elsewhere in the nation.
US Metropolitan Area Housing Affordability Indicators by Ethnicity: 2007 includes tables with data for each major metropolitan area in the United States
Photo: Starter house in Atlanta suburbs (by the author)
Wendell Cox is a Visiting Professor, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris. He was born in Los Angeles and was appointed to three terms on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission by Mayor Tom Bradley. He is the author of “War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life.” | <urn:uuid:24c0d162-4c71-4012-91b7-a29c9b14800a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newgeography.com/content/001064-how-smart-growth-disadvantages-african-americans-hispanics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938408 | 2,382 | 2.96875 | 3 |
By D.E. Smoot
Phoenix Staff Writer
This is one in a series of articles in advance of the Nov. 6 election.
A survey released earlier this year by Gov. Mary Fallin found Oklahoma business owners value a public education system that turns out skilled workers.
Funding cuts to the state’s education system during the past few years, some say, threaten the ability of schools to produce that outcome. Figures provided by the Oklahoma Policy Institute show funding through the state aid formula has been reduced by $222 million while enrollment has grown by 22,000 students.
Both candidates competing for the Senate District 9 post in the Oklahoma Legislature said something must be done to turn that trend around. They differed somewhat about how that might be done.
Sen. Earl Garrison, who is seeking a third term, said he “would continue to advocate for adequate funding of public schools.” Republican challenger Barney S. Taylor agreed, but said restoring funding to pre-recession levels may take a few years given all “the other challenges our state is facing.”
“Education has always been important to me — public education has made this country what it is,” Garrison said, citing his years as an educator before he was elected to office. “We have lost about $200 million in funding ... and I would like to see us try to put that funding back.”
Garrison said funding cuts to public education have gutted the reforms put in place by House Bill 1017, a landmark piece of legislation passed in 1990. The reforms included increased funding for education, smaller class sizes and higher teacher pay among other reforms “that were good for kids” and “good for learning.”
Taylor, who competed unsuccessfully as a mayoral candidate in the city of Muskogee’s 2008 election, said he would support the development of more charter schools, virtual education and home-schooling. He also would focus more on accountability.
“Schools are closing because of corruption within the system — even when the school is not closed the effects are damaging,” Taylor said. “While ... the vast majority of educational professionals are certainly upstanding and honest pillars of our communities, there are those that are not — they must be found and dealt with much sooner.”
The senatorial candidates also advocated a greater emphasis on Career Tech, the state’s vocational education system.
“We need to take a serious look at how to better fund our education system,” Garrison said. “We need to work to create more opportunities through Career Tech for jobs that pay a livable wage.”
Taylor concurred, saying many career paths don’t require college degrees. But almost all require some sort of specialized training.
“This, coupled with the need for continuing education and updates for those who have more advanced degrees means that we need to ensure that our junior colleges and vo-techs are well funded and relevant,” Taylor said. “More attention needs paid to them.”
Garrison and Taylor will square off Nov. 6 during the general election.
Reach D.E. Smoot at (918) 684-2901 or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:71235265-03c2-4991-8038-ccb3cf3b8d2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://muskogeephoenix.com/local/x1200659720/District-9-hopefuls-say-education-funds-vital/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973165 | 681 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Editor’s Notebook: The Ones Who Really Count
LATELY, WE’VE BEEN WATCHING "The Devil Wears Prada" on cable in the McKenna house. My son is keen on Anne Hathaway, the centerpiece of the fashion show that is that movie. I’m not going to lie to you. I enjoy Ms. Hathaway’s scenes, too. But it’s that scene-stealing chameleon of an actress, Meryl Streep, that has me bordering on a movie review here.
She plays the long-reigning editor of a famed fashion magazine who is more important than the magazine itself, those it covers, and especially its readers (who she sustains rather than serves). That particularly struck me as we pulled together this issue’s retrospective on Rotor & Wing’s 40 years of covering the world’s vertical-lift industry. In reviewing those years, it seemed clear to me that what has made this magazine what it is — what is most important in our world — is not the editors or those we’ve covered, but our readers.
You’ll see that in any issue by reviewing the exchange of information among readers on the Feedback page of letters to the editor, and that’s certainly true this month. But this issue offers three other examples of how important our readers are.
The first I will point out is on the opening page of Rotorcraft Report. When we heard that a pre-monsoon season cyclone had killed hundreds and left millions homeless in Pakistan, we knew helicopters would play a crucial role in rescuing and bringing relief to the storm’s victims. Getting the kinds of details on those operations that you want posed a challenge, though. CNN or Agence France-Presse can say, "Helicopters flew to the victims’ aid." They don’t feel the need to specify whose helicopters, what types, and how many — just the kinds of details we figure you want. The people who had those details were busy with rescue and relief operations and answering nonstop questions from CNN, AFP, and a hundred other news organizations. They also were halfway around the world.
We didn’t have a reporter on the ground in Pakistan. But R&W does cover the worldwide helicopter industry, and we have readers in more than 150 countries around the globe, including Pakistan. So we called on one for help. Sohail Ekram Siddiqui, a retired Pakistan army colonel and aviator, had recently submitted a letter to the editor. (It ran in July.) He didn’t hesitate when we asked for local information on the relief operations. His contributions are included in our Rotorcraft Report item.
It’s safe to say that Lee Benson is a long-time R&W reader. Many of you know Lee, from his active involvement in safety and operations forums as senior pilot for the Los Angeles County Fire Dept., his role as a speaker at numerous search-and-rescue conferences, and as an occasional writer for us. Lee has now retired from the fire department and graciously honored our request to inform his fellow readers about developments in public-safety helicopter operations. He debuts this month as the author of our Public Safety Notebook column, addressing the issue of how the very fine management training in the industry would be that much better if it included courses tailored to operators, like those in public safety, who aren’t confronted with concerns about profit and financial loss.
I said last month when we introduced the column, launched so well by our law-enforcement correspondent Ernie Stephens, that Ernie would be succeeded as the Public Safety Notebook’s author by "a veteran of operations" in public-sector firefighting, rescue, and emergency medical services. Anyone who knows Lee Benson would agree, I think, that this was an understated description of him.
As exceptional as Lee is, he is typical of many of you, who are time- and battle-proven experts in your fields (even though you may not realize it). Our privilege for 40 years has been to provide a forum for you to share your wisdom and expertise, which brings us to Brian Swinney, who pens this month’s Safety Watch column.
That column was launched by Tim McAdams, who authored it for three years or so, until he recently joined American Eurocopter’s training operation. We intended for that column to promote the safety of helicopter operations by focusing on particular challenges in flight safety. Tim ably filled that bill, and we thank him again for his work.
One of Tim’s early columns reviewed an EMS accident involving an unexpected run-in with instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Unbeknownst to Tim, Brian was the pilot. Some of Tim’s comments stung Brian, and still do. But Brian took a constructive approach to his circumstances. Knocked from the saddle by that accident, he eventually decided that he needed instrument and IMC training to be a safe pilot and got it on his own by adding fixed-wing ratings. He worked his way back to the controls of a helicopter, and to a job flying one. Today, he is a base safety pilot in Oklahoma for Ballard Aviation’s EagleMed EMS operation.
Having achieved all that, he then penned a long e-mail to R&W recounting his experience. It rang of a sincere interest in improving helicopter safety, and in doing so by sharing the unique, "There I Was," perspective of an accident survivor — in every respect of the word "survivor." It was a story we felt we must share with you, in large part because it reflects the unique value of the people who make this magazine what it is. | <urn:uuid:c67a30f6-3a9e-46fe-9adc-09445f9514a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/commercial/logging-heavylift/Editors-Notebook-The-Ones-Who-Really-Count_14473.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967482 | 1,205 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Monday, 8 June 2009
The Willow Man: M5 Mascot
Motorway designers are pragmatic people. They want us to get from A to B quickly and safely, and other considerations - such as whether travelling is fun - tend to be put to one side. It’s unlikely that the engineers who steamrolled the M5 across the Somerset Levels ever imagined that one day a giant Willow Man would thrill millions of travellers and become an unofficial symbol of the West Country. But he does.
In fact those civil engineers of the 1960s and 1970s saw the motorway itself as an art form, a dream of speed brought to life in concrete and tarmacadam, but most art-lovers are more likely to lament the destruction of the landscape than to extol the aesthetic virtues of junctions. This being said, it’s difficult to approach either of the Severn bridges from the Bristol side without a feeling of awe. Whether you’re looking at the simple lines of the first suspension bridge or the swooping, snaking curves of the Second Severn Crossing, it’s hard not to admire the mixture of lightness and strength embodied in these splendid structures.
During the summer of 2000, travellers crossing the Somerset Levels had something new to look at: surrounded by scaffolding a giant figure was taking shape as artist Serena de la Hey wove bundle after bundle of black willow around a steel frame. Willow Man was commissioned by South West Arts (now part of the Arts Council) to celebrate Year of the Artist, no doubt with an eye on Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North.
“One aim of Year of the Artist,” Serena de la Hey remembers, “Was to introduce the arts to a wider public. So various people suggested I look for a site close to the motorway. Now thousands of people see the piece every day, whether they like it or not!”
A local resident with a decade’s experience in working with willow, de la Hey battled with the elements to get the sculpture finished.
"Usually on a Friday it was raining very hard and the wind was blowing from a north-westerly direction,” she said at the time. “It was pretty grim. But because we had set the deadline, it makes you work through those extremities."
Planned as a temporary work that would be in place for three years the 40’ figure survived less than one. As the funeral pyres of the Foot and Mouth epidemic burned across the region the following summer, arsonists destroyed the Willow Man. And because of the restrictions in place the artist was unable to get back on site until September of that year.
When she did, she immediately rebuilt the wicker giant, assisted by donations from local businesses and ordinary people who had been horrified by the mindless act of vandalism. The new version was protected by a moat, and has so far escaped human interference. A pair of buzzards made their home on its head, however, necessitating an expensive refurbishment two years ago. As things stand, the Willow Man is due to be decommissioned in 2011, but it has become such an iconic Somerset figure that it seems unlikely that this will happen.
“I do hear from quite a lot of people who say they enjoy driving past,” says de la Hey. “You don’t get feedback normally when you do a piece of public art – you just let it go and it becomes a different thing to different people – but I regularly get emails about the Willow Man.
“People drive past it so often that it becomes woven into their lives. There was a woman who used to go by when she visited her daughter at university in Exeter, and someone else who passed it on the way to visit her mother when she was in hospital. I suppose it’s become a little piece of different people’s stories.”
Other artworks now adorn this stretch of motorway, including Peter Freeman’s sculpture Travelling Light, a 50’ column covered in LED lights that change colour with the seasons and to mark particular events. Welcoming drivers to Weston-super-Mare, Travelling Light offers a more hi-tech vision of the South West, one that is more like the Severn bridges – amazing but not personal.
To the people who trundle daily up and down the M5, the Willow Man has become a familiar presence and not one that they necessarily revere as art.
“The truck drivers love him,” Serena de la Hey says. “They call him Alan, after Alan Whicker.” | <urn:uuid:66e12afd-96fb-45d4-8305-af396e36434a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jamesrussellontheweb.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/willow-man-m5-mascot.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967354 | 970 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Mar 2, 2009 | 5
The urge to buy the latest gadget and to reform environmental misbehavior may be the twin pillars of 21st century American youth culture, but can the two ever be reconciled? Apple, Dell, Intel, Nokia and others—companies with an array of "green" initiatives and (more) environmentally friendly products—sure hope so. But wind power kite scientist and serial inventor Saul Griffith is skeptical, according to his keynote address at the Greener Gadgets conference in New York City this past Friday.
Griffith, the intellectual force behind wattzon.com ( where you can calculate the energy use of your lifestyle), has another term for the gadget-obsessed, himself included: "planet f&*kers." A detailed analysis of the energy required to produce everything from his daily glass of wine to his iPhone revealed that Griffiths requires some 25,000 watts of energy every day, or nearly twice that of the average American (who is already consuming at least six times as much as the average person in China and more than 20 times as much as the average Indian citizen).
Jan 20, 2009 | 5
Scientists this week urged further research on tungsten— the metal used to make lightbulb filaments, shotgun shells, electrical wires and even wedding bands—to rule out possible health risks to humans and the environment in the wake of studies showing that it may cause reproductive problems in earthworms and stunted growth in sunflowers.
In an article published this week in Chemical & Engineering News, researchers suggest that not enough is known to determine whether tungsten is safe, and that studies need to be conducted to assess how much is in drinking water and the soil – and whether it poses dangers for humans, animals and plants.
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Learn More >>X | <urn:uuid:908a4b7a-4a5d-4e09-bdea-eef0c1fc3823> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/index.cfm?tag=environmental | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933132 | 451 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles have discovered brain damage in living ex-professional football players, a big-time revelation they hope could lend itself, eventually, to the first diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a living football player:
Brain scans performed on five former NFL players revealed images of the protein that causes football-related brain damage — the first time researchers have identified signs of the crippling disease in living players.
Researchers who conducted the pilot study at UCLA described the findings as a significant step toward being able to diagnose the disease known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, in living patients.
“I’ve been saying that identifying CTE in a living person is the Holy Grail for this disease and for us to be able make advances in treatment,” said Dr. Julian Bailes, a Chicago neurosurgeon and one of the study’s co-authors. “It’s not definitive and there’s a lot we still need to discover to help these people, but it’s very compelling. It’s a new discovery.”
Right now, doctors can only diagnose CTE post-mortem — and they have in 34 former football players, including Junior Seau, who committed suicide last May. But this study of five former players, all of whom suffered at least one concussion, found “a pattern consistent with the distribution of tau,” an abnormal protein linked to CTE, “in CTE brains that have been studied following autopsy.”
The study is a small one, and its findings are preliminary. But if the preliminary findings “hold up in future studies, this may be an opportunity to identify CTE before players have symptoms so we can develop preventative treatment,” the study’s lead author said.
What future findings could also do, though, is further the discussion about whether the problem is concussions or football itself. Other studies have suggested the latter could be the case, and this seems to hint in that direction. Though all five players suffered at least one concussion, one was a little-used back-up quarterback who had suffered just one — and he still ended up with brain trauma. Building on this research and developing “preventative treatment” to address CTE would be a major breakthrough, one that will likely take years more of research. What we could find out, though, is that the only way to prevent CTE is to not play football. And if the discussion moves past how to protect players to if we can, there are going to be a lot of attitudes to change. | <urn:uuid:b411d53d-9316-4235-a924-34adad439391> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/01/23/1482171/study-finds-brain-damage-in-living-football-players-is-a-cte-diagnosis-next/?mobile=nc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969502 | 549 | 2.390625 | 2 |
When good teaching falls victim to bureaucracy
Illustration: Rocco Fazzari
ADRIAN PICCOLI knows the problem: NSW needs better teachers. But he cannot do the one thing that would attract better qualified and more able personnel to the profession - raise their pay.
Instead he has published a discussion paper and called for public comments on other, cheaper ways to raise standards. They are well intended - as far as they go.The idea that the state government might restrict - in so far as it can - the number of university places available for teacher training ought to ensure that the cut-off mark for entry to teacher training will rise and, presumably, that the quality of teachers graduating will improve.
The federal government's decision to remove quotas on the number of student places to be funded in tertiary courses has turned teacher training courses into something of a milch cow for universities. The result, according to the Teachers Federation and the state government, is a lowering of standards. Other professions - medicine, for example - restrict the supply of trainees to ensure high standards. Why not teaching?
But solutions such as these - fewer entrants to the profession, along with more training, and better measurement of teachers' skills - do not get at the root of the problem, which is salaries. Teachers now train for four or five years at university and enter the a government school on a salary of about $57,000. (Private school teachers with similar qualifications will start on a little more, about $62,000). For someone just out of university with no work experience, that is not bad money. But that is as good as it gets. Teachers who want to stay in the classroom cannot expect ever to earn much more by doing so. For those who keep teaching without taking on other responsibilities, salaries stop rising at about $85,000. Those who are good at their job but want better pay must take on other non-teaching work within a school, enter lower levels of management as a subject head, or leave the classroom altogether to become a principal or bureaucrat.
This downgrading of classroom teaching should anger parents. Those who love teaching and are good at it - whose actions will benefit generations of students - cannot be rewarded properly under the present system if they want to keep to their chosen field.
Last month NSW announced that the basis for funding government schools would change to encompass the principles endorsed by the Gonski review of education funding. Schools will receive a base amount for each pupil, with an extra margin where necessary to compensate for social disadvantage. But in endorsing Gonski's principles the government did not promise the big boost in funding for all schools, which Gonski recommended and which might help raise teacher quality. Without help from Canberra, the NSW budget cannot afford a general lift in teacher salaries.
In any case, it is quite possible teacher quality cannot be raised by action at state or federal level. The nature of the profession, which appears to value collegial solidarity over the recognition of talent, militates against a system-wide approach. The federal government has instituted a program of reward payments for outstanding teachers, due to start in 2014 but it has run into problems already. A pilot scheme in Victoria has been boycotted by some schools because it might upset teacher solidarity. Cocooned for years in a vast system, the profession has come to resemble prisoners who fear life outside jail. The program was also criticised by the Productivity Commission, which fears that without modification it will become bureaucratised - just another salary increment for teachers who gain higher degrees.
The best hope for a solution, given tight state and federal budgets, is Piccoli's other innovation, announced in March: the devolution of decisions to individual schools. Huge education bureaucracies may be unable to say which teachers are worth rewarding but individual principals, helped by parents, certainly can. | <urn:uuid:a27566b3-62f9-48b0-b31f-b27c0e0255ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/editorial/when-good-teaching-falls-victim-to-bureaucracy-20120731-23cuf.html | 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 | 0.967766 | 787 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Alliance Medical provides high quality CT scans across the UK. They have over 20 years' experience of delivering a broad range of mobile and static diagnostic imaging solutions. They operate the largest fleet of mobile MRI, PET/CT, X-ray, CT and Portable Ultrasound scanners in the UK.
CT scans and innovative diagnostic imaging across the UK
Alliance Medical continually develops innovative diagnostic imaging solutions both independently and in partnership with health providers. They employ over 400 Radiographers, with the ability to offer unrivalled contingency support to their customers. They are part of the Alliance Medical Group, which means that they enjoy the benefits of a larger European organisation, whilst retaining a solid understanding of UK customers.
What is a CT scan?
CT stands for computed tomography. It uses X-rays to produce a cross-sectional, or ‘slice’ image of the inside of your body.
Having a CT scan - it safe?
The amount of radiation used varies. It's more than an ordinary X-ray and is the same as the natural radiation we all get over a period of about three years, which adds slightly to the risk of getting cancer. However, please bear in mind that the risk is very small and the risk of missing a serious problem if you don’t have a CT scan is much higher.
What happens during a CT scan?
- A small team of radiography staff will look after you during your visit and one of the radiographers will carry out the scan
- For some types of CT scans you'll be asked to drink a special contrast drink around one hour before your examination
- You may need to have an injection, depending on the area that needs to be scanned
- During the scan you may need to hold your breath or not swallow
- The radiographer operating the scanner will be able to see and hear you throughout the procedure
Read more about what happens when you go for a CT scan.
Other scanning services offered by Alliance Medical in the UK
How can I arrange for a CT scan with Alliance Medical?
Read more about how to organise your CT scan with Alliance Medical.
Alliance Medical locations in the UK
Find your nearest Alliance Medical location.
Contact Alliance Medical for CT scans in the UK
Alliance Medical Limited
Warwick Technology Park
Tel: 0845 045 0600
Intuition Communication Ltd bears no responsibility for information published on this website, which concerns or relates to advertisers and their products and services. Read Disclaimer in full. | <urn:uuid:973c5b3e-3c2f-465c-b8ed-9115a970dcc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.privatehealth.co.uk/private-healthcare-services/diagnostic-imaging/ct-scans/where-to-go/alliance-medical/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938074 | 515 | 1.570313 | 2 |
1: Back Up Documents, Photos and Videos. Save your important data to an external drive. Be sure to scan this drive and its contents after you remove the virus; you don’t want to re-infect your computer after the clean-up.
2: Reboot in Safe Mode. Prevent the virus from running when you try to remove it. To do this, reboot in safe mode. Choose “Safe Mode with Networking” so that you can still get on the Internet.
3: Download Virus Scanner/Removal Tools. One may do the job, but three will almost certainly do the job. These three have worked for me and come highly recommended by PC Magazine and CNET:
4: Run Virus Scanners. Download, double-click to install, accept all the defaults they recommend, and then run each. When the programs locate a virus or any suspicious items, allow the programs to delete the files.
5: Reboot Normally. Reboot your computer normally; no need for safe mode. If the virus is gone, go to step 6.
**IF YOU STILL HAVE THE VIRUS**
Many people will recommend you reinstall Windows or try system restore or download a registry cleaner. I say that at this point, most people should take the computer to a local PC repair shop.
6: Add Security . PC Tools is a real-time virus scanner that you can use as your ongoing protection, or install something like Avast or AVG. Also Microsoft’s Security Essentials comes well recommended. You should also go to the Control Panel of your computer, and in the security section click Windows Update. Make sure that it’s set up to regularly update.
7: Damage Control. Viruses are a gateway to identity theft and spam. So after you disinfect your computer it’s a good idea to check your credit. You should also change all your passwords, especially your email password and any passwords for your financial institutions.
Source: Yahoo News
Image: Tech Usage | <urn:uuid:3576ed95-3b42-4983-aa39-f5bdb8030c49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kozmedia.com/tag/malwarebytes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900416 | 415 | 2.171875 | 2 |
So many pilots don’t realize it, but slow flight is something that they should give some time practicing together with their power-on stalls, simulating an engine failure in flight, and other procedures they are required to memorize. Sadly, pilots in general do not give much time to perfecting their slow flight.
What they don’t realize is that slow flight is important to mastering other procedures including landing, which most student pilots find difficult prior and even after solo. . . Naturally, they are not practicing their slow flight enough. If you are one of those people that are having problems with landing, then, you should realize that it’s time that to start working on these slow flight techniques.
All right, so how do you master slow flight? What can you do to improve on it and, by extension, improve on your landings?
Take It Easy
One reason that most pilots don’t master or ace their slow flights is that... they pressure themselves too much. They find that it’s difficult to master and thus, they give it up and instead turn their attention to other procedures that they can easily master. Slow flight is called slow flights for a reason.. Not only are you flying slow (at the airplanes minimum controllable airspeed) but it's also a "slow" process to learn and master. You have to really get a feel for rudder movement because that’s what slow flight is all about.
Get Into the Habit
Last but not the least, in order to really master slow flight, you must get into the habit.Memorize your slow flight procedure and rehearse it through chair flying throughout your week. Chair flying these procedures is going to help you really commit them to memory.
If you want to learn more about improving your slow flight and your landings check out this video Mastering Slow Flight. | <urn:uuid:f2540376-4f00-40c0-8bf2-db546ec3d9c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.aopa.org/letsgoflying/?p=907 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968332 | 386 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Paco Underhill Interview: Why We Shop
Bill Steigerwald is a columnist at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. His column is distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons.
WHY WE SHOP
by Bill Steigerwald
Someone once called Paco Underhill the Margaret Mead of shopping. That’s because the founder, CEO and president of Envirosell has spent more than 25 years studying the behavior of consumers and helping companies understand them and how they shop. Underhill, a regular contributor to PBS and the BBC, is the author of the worldwide best-sellers “Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping” and “Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping.”
As the average consumer gears up to buy 23 Christmas gifts this shopping season, I talked to Underhill on Wednesday, Dec. 5, by telephone from his offices in New York:
Q: When someone asks you what you do for a living, what do you tell them?
A: I am the chief executive officer of a research and consulting firm that looks at the interaction between people and spaces, people and products and people and places. My second job is writing international best-selling books. And my third job is doing motivational speaking.
Q: You have made your name by studying consumers and their behavior. It’s almost like you’ve studied them as though they are a unique tribe in their own environment? How did you approach that?
A: I am an observational researcher. Our work is based on the act of physically watching people as they move and interact. Over a typical year, we follow through a store, a bank, a museum, a train station, an airport, a hospital somewhere between 60,000 and 70,000 people. We follow them anonymously, meaning that we aren’t interested in what their names are or where they come from. We categorize them based on the (demographic) group and their approximate age and dress. We are not particularly interested in the actions of an individual but we are interested in establishing patterns.
Q: Is their any single most important thing that you’ve discovered about consumer behavior over the last 25 years?
A: I think we can divide stuff into what are the biological constants and the things that are changing. The biological constants govern the things that are driven by us being right-handed, or that our eyes age in a very predictable manner, or that there are some basic ergometrics, or human measurements, that factor into how we interact with stuff. Those are the biological constants — and then there are things that change.
Q: How has the consumer changed most dramatically in the last 25 years?
A: I think one of the most seminal issues of our time is the changing status of women, that we as a culture — and not making any moral judgments — have stepped away from biology. I thought it was very interesting that in a recent study … that if you took a working 25-year-old woman and a working 25-year-old man living and working in New York City, the woman makes more money than the man does. Women are the majority of graduates from almost all institutions of learning, whether it’s undergraduate or graduate school, from medicine to law — women are there. And while there are glass ceilings in terms of what they make later in their career, women are being better educated and getting better jobs than their male counterparts are.
Q: If women weren’t such an important part of the consumer economy, would everything be different about the way we shop and consume?
A: We live in a world that is owned by men, designed by men, managed by men, and yet we expect women to shop in it. Now while that’s certainly changing, and isn’t as bad as it used to be, that’s still the fundamental underlying truth.
Q: Should Americans feel guilty about the crazy consumer culture we’ve created?
A: I think one of the things that we at some point are going to have to face is that the party is over — that many Americans have consumed beyond their means and need to go back to work within the context of their budgets. We can divide us consumers into three groups: One is roughly a third of us that feel the immediate anxiety of downward mobility, meaning that we are scared of living at a lesser standard than we do now. That’s both an emotional and economic reality for that first group. The second group to which downward mobility is an emotional reaction — meaning that whether they are middle-class families or whether they are lower-class families — still feel a basic level of economic anxiety. (I might point out that in each one of the three groups I am laying out, I’m not just talking about lower class, middle class and upper class, I’m talking about a portion of each one of those classes.) The third class are people who are doing just fine and have no anxieties.
The bottom line for all of us, though, particularly for those of us who are over age 50, is that most of us could live the rest of our lives on fruit, vegetables, pasta, wine, olive oil and yearly doses of socks and underwear. We have all the ties and shirts and sweaters and lawn mowers and television sets that we’ll need for the foreseeable future.
Q: They say in a free-market economy like ours that “the consumer is king.” But who has the upper hand, the retailer or the shopper?
A: The shopper does — absolutely. The merchant has the power to be able to make their offering as attractive and integrated as they possibly can. But certainly we as consumers have to take responsibility for our own behavior. We can’t turn around and blame the Domino sugar company for obesity or Anheuser-Busch for alcoholism. I don’t think we can blame the merchant for us as a culture overspending.
Q: Has online shopping changed anything about our consumer culture?
A: I think online is having a definite impact, both in the sense that people are buying online — and I think that is going to increase just if we think about the fact that so many of our purchases are routine. If I open your refrigerator, 80 percent of what’s there are routine purchases. I think we are looking at something in our not-too-distant future when in effect our refrigerator does the online purchasing for us. The second thing is that we are using online as a way of pre-shopping — meaning that we are using it as a way of better educating ourselves before we actually make the move.
Q: Is online shopping a good thing or a bad thing?
A: Oh, I think it’s basically changed the rules. One of the things I’m looking forward to here is the use of convergent technologies as a way of making us a more-ecologically responsible culture, meaning if I go into a store now and I want to pick up an over-the-counter medicine, it comes with an enormous amount of paper. Whereas if I could point my phone to the UPS code and download on my phone all the instructions about what Tylenol-Plus PM was, that would save an awful lot of trees. So I am looking for in the not-too-distant future a better convergence of technology — the online world and the physical world — in a way that helps us take packaging and extraneous product out of our consuming culture.
Q: Are shopping malls losing their appeal and power?
A: At least here in the U.S., we have a category of malls that are doing extremely well, and we have a category of malls that are holding their own, and we have a category of malls that are deeply troubled. Let’s recognize that the American enclosed mall, which was built 25 years ago, was butt-ugly the day it opened and hasn’t gotten any prettier. There are very few American shopping malls that are going to be nominated for landmark status.
Q: Malls went through a period where it looked like they were trying to become entertainment centers as much as shopping centers. Did that work?
A: Almost every developer across the world, not just here in the U.S., is trying to go from being a landlord to being “a place maker” — meaning they are trying to take whatever structure they have and make it a place where we can shop, we can dine, we can recreate, we can live and we can work. If we look at the most successful shopping malls in 2007 all across the world, many of them have a customer base that if they wanted to shop the mall in their bedroom slippers they could.
Q: Wasn’t the original design of the mall supposed to have living space above it and be almost like a self-contained community?
A: The mall as it was first conceived of here in the United States was first as a way of making shopping in inclement weather more pleasant. It grew from there. If we think about the covered wagon circling and focusing in, rather than out. They were a product of suburbanization. As malls went to other places, and as they became part of an urban planning program, yes. Almost all developers now are looking at building “alls” as opposed to “m-a-l-l-s.”
Q: You were in town recently talking to Giant Eagle supermarkets. Do you remember what you were telling them?
A: Part of what I was talking with them about are trends in grocery shopping and the design of grocery stores. In general, the quality of American grocery shopping across most of the country has gotten significantly better in the past 10 years. We have more organic product, it’s fresher. Yes, there have been some glitches in terms of the quality of goods, but if you are willing to pay for it, Americans have been eating — or have the potential for eating — better than they have at any other point in the past 50 years.
The other piece here is that the supermarket community is reacting to a new competitor that is no longer underneath the radar screen, which is the farmer’s market. The farmer’s market movement all across the country is booming and my hat’s off to ‘em.
Q: So the reason we’re seeing Giant Eagle turn its produce section into a fancy French fruit and vegetable stand is the competitive pressure from farmer’s markets?
A: Yep. It’s all contributed, first of all, to making local produce much more attractive, and part of what you will see both at the farmer’s market in particular but also at Giant Eagle is featuring the stuff that’s grown within a certain proximity of where it’s going to be consumed.
Q: What is the best advice you can give to a Christmas shopper headed for a mall right now?
A: Think first. Which is that during the holiday season we are giving people the icons of our feelings toward them. And constructing a good icon that tells somebody “I love you” or “I care about you” or “I’m proud of you” isn’t about the amount of money you spend. It’s about the thought that you put into it.
©Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:2d2a6bd8-7b3c-41f4-8103-b951c7a82285> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://themoderatevoice.com/16676/paco-underhill-interview-why-we-shop/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976039 | 2,383 | 1.835938 | 2 |
We live in a changing society with evolving cultural norms. Some things that were once acceptable in polite company are now considered racist — my own grandparents, proud integrationists in 1950s Georgia, also argued at one Thanksgiving dinner that black people were just genetically predetermined to be worse at sports compared to white people. (Racist stereotypes have evolved, too.) Today, some conservatives complain that you can't attack President Obama without being called racist. That might have something to do with confusion over what is racist. The Atlantic Wire would like to help with one touchy subject area: empty chair lawn decorations. These references to Clint Eastwood's speech at the Republican National Convention have gotten a lot of attention on the local news. While some say the empty chair itself is racist — erasing the black American experience — we'll start with the most charitable view, that they are meant as a display of the nonracial insult "the empty suit." (Doonesbury portrayed George W. Bush as an asterisk.) But there is no charitable way to interpret empty chair displays when they involve a noose. And yet there is a constant theme among chair lynchers — they say they had no idea they were being racist, they just needed a good, secure rope. If you need help not being racist, print this out on your way to the hardware store when picking up supplies for your own empty chair display.
Example: This chair is lynched with a bayonet, rifle, and golf club in Rochester, Minnesota, as reported by the Rochester Post-Bulletin on October 31 and flagged by Think Progress. "I'm not sure why everyone is up in arms about it," Laura Mulholland, co-owner of the chair with her husband Kevin, told the local paper.
Tip: Guys, it's racist because you're saying the black president should be lynched.
Example: "Oh dear," Kathryn Maxwell of Camas, Washington said when asked about her husband's yard display by The Columbian on October 3."The reason we hung it up was because people kept stealing it. … We just have to take extra precautions." The chair was originally on the ground, she said.
Tip: Secure your empty chair in a way that does not reference mobs of white people mutilating the bodies of black men for crimes they in most cases did not commit.
Example: "No it has no other meaning," Bud Johnson of Austin, Texas, told KEYE-TV when asked if his hung chair had a racial connotation. "I’m not a racist, I don’t dislike any race," Johnson told a reporter as he cut down his chair. "It’s not a lynch." He only hung it up "because I like to cut my grass."
Tip: Just keep the chair on the ground and move it when it's time to mow.
Example: "They’re making more out of it than it is," Dennis Jacobsen of Loveland, Colorado said. Is the display meant to remind people of hate crimes? "It’s not intended. There’s no reason to do that," he told CBS4 in Denver on September 23.
Tip: Again, just try to avoid visual representations of black people that might look to most other Americans like references to an era when racially-motivated murder was acceptable.
Example: Timothy J. Hammons posted this photo on his blog, though I'm not sure where it came from. It's a reference to the conservative idea that Obama is a fraud, unable to give those soaring speeches without a telepromter.
Tip: Make jokes about Obama's brains, not his skin color.
Example: The blog Legal Insurrection posted this empty chair display. The sign quotes Clint Eastwood saying, "We own this country... Politicians are employees of ours... And when somebody does not do the job, we’ve got to let them go."
Tip: This is a reference to Obama's job performance.
Example: The blog Can You Be a Part Of My Life posted this photo on "Empty Chair Day."
Tip: Again, this one's just a joke about Obama being an empty suit.
Really, really racist:
Example: In Morgan Hill, California, Blake la Beck confirmed to KTVU that he put an empty chair on top of a fence post by a road. That was perhaps too subtle, so la Beck added a noose and two watermelons to the chair, and if that was too subtle, he added a sign made to look like a teleprompter that said "Go back to Kenya."
Tip: If your empty chair display is just a collection of racist jokes, you guessed it, it's racist. But you probably didn't need us to tell you that. | <urn:uuid:286a1ff0-27fa-43ed-b4b0-ee0e237e1b37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/11/how-tell-if-your-empty-chair-lawn-display-racist-does-it-have-noose/58593/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967157 | 983 | 1.976563 | 2 |
It was inevitable that the bullyboys of the newspaper industry would campaign under a spurious banner of press freedom against any attempt by Lord Justice Leveson or politicians to clip their wings. It is a pity that the Press Gazette chose to give succour to their ‘case’ with an equally spurious poll - no more accurate or scientific than those run by The Sun, Daily Express and Daily Mail to feed prejudice and discrimination.
Once it became clear the poll was a nonsense, voting was stopped – at 137 (including duplicates). Yet this minuscule ‘finger in the wind’ exercise (the NUJ claim a membership of over 30,000) has generated a storm. It set the likes of Neil ‘Wolf Man’ Wallis howling that the NUJ should ballot its members on a policy confirmed at its recent Delegate Meeting.
But what is that policy and is the NUJ, or anyone else, really calling for statutory regulation? The NUJ, like most of the other critics of the failed Press Complaints Commission (PCC), want an independent complaints and redress system which will not set standards but seek to uphold those declared by the industry itself. The guarantee of both the independence and the effectiveness of the new system would be that it has been set up – like Ofcom – under statute. It would be at long arm’s length from both elected politicians and unelected newspaper editors and proprietors.
The latter have had it all their own way for generations, neatly sidestepping every attempt to introduce some form of accountability since the 1947 Royal Commission.
In a recent scientific survey of UK journalists the vast majority saw their conscience as a better guarantee of ethical behaviour than the PCC, but no employer has yet been willing to add a ‘conscience clause’ to contracts of employment. The NUJ believes that would be better security than relying on self regulation run by editors and proprietors. (Working journalists are specifically excluded from serving on the PCC.)
Editors like Wallis, (formerly of the Sun, News of the World and the People) and others who served with him on the PCC, have consistently rejected calls from NUJ members for recognition of the union’s Code of Conduct. Yet it was first devised back in 1936 as an antidote to illiberal calls for journalists to be registered and struck off for misbehaviour.
So where are these calls for state control coming from? Having spent 20 years assisting thousands of members of the public with their complaints about the print and broadcast media, I know that very, very few would seek to constrain the freedom of the press. Despite their own experiences the vast majority merely want journalists to do their job properly – which is all the media reformers want. The MediaWise view is that press freedom is a responsibility exercised by journalists on behalf of the public, not a licence for proprietors to do what they will in pursuit of profit.
Their aim is to intimidate anyone who dares to challenge them. As usual the agenda setters set up paper windmills to tilt at, in a sustained attempt to draw the public gaze from the real battleground.
Writing in the Press Gazette (26 Oct 2012) Tim Luckhurst accused
‘supporters of state regulation’ of castigating their opponents as ‘first amendment fundamentalists. They mean that we support the US Constitution’s categorical guarantee that government may make no law abridging the freedom of the press.’
I am not sure I have heard that particular criticism, but then none of the people he has in his firing line are proposing ‘state regulation’. We agree with him that ‘Statutory regulation of British newspapers would create a constitutional absurdity: parliamentary scrutiny of a body the electorate depends upon to scrutinise parliament.’
Next came the Daily Telegraph. ‘The threat to our free press is grave and foolish’, it thundered on 28 Sept 2012.
‘Once a regulatory measure … is on the Statute Book, MPs will seek to define the public interest in law, and governments will be tempted to use the legislation to choke off dissent. …it is no coincidence that countries with the highest levels of corruption have the most tightly regulated media. Britain can boast one of the least venal political systems in the world.’
That was rich coming from the paper that exposed the MPs’ expenses scandal (allegedly by buying a stolen CD, and illegal act for which they would undoubtedly be acquitted in the UK courts by using the ‘public interest’ defence).
The next day the Daily Mail treated us to the fantasy world of Richard Littlejohn. ‘A head of steam is building up behind demands for statutory regulation of free speech,’ he ranted. ‘That would be the start of a descent into oppression and censorship.’
Like so much of what he writes, it’ was rubbish, but his line was taken up by Trevor Kavanagh in a scaremongering column for The Sun (31 Oct 2012) ‘ The first casualty will be the right of voters to know what their masters are up to.’
Then came Dominic Sandbrook’s apocalyptic vision in the Mail (2 Nov 2012). The Leveson Inquiry, he claimed, was among the ‘disturbing signs of a backlash against democracy, free speech and the will of the people — a counter-revolution that could sweep away many of the liberties we take for granted.’
He appeared to have forgotten that the inquiry was launched after public revulsion at distasteful and illegal behaviour by the country’s biggest selling newspaper. As MediaWise pointed out in evidence to the inquiry, such unethical and illegal behaviour has been endemic for at least as long as the PCC has existed.
And finally Murdoch’s Sun went right over the top, taking its cue from the Press Gazette. In an editorial headed ‘No Censors’ (6 Nov 2012) it claimed that NUJ General Secretary
‘Michelle Stanistreet wants to surrender centuries of hard-won Press freedom for Government control of the Press. We would end up like Russia, Zimbabwe and Iran, with State stooges and politicians deciding what can or can’t be printed in your Sun.’
This is arrant nonsense of course, but it is difficult to extract the poison poured into three million ears. It’s a good example of why we cannot trust the industry to police itself.
On behalf of those who have fallen foul of bad journalism, MediaWise has long argued for a more open and accountable system of self regulation, less closely tied to publishers and editors.
In November 1996 a Guardian leader column challenged self-regulation thus:
‘At the moment the people see only a body which claims unique privileges to itself without any of the concomitant responsibilities…prepared to change…but only when it suits them. They see a body scornful of whether or not its proceedings command public confidence. It cannot go on like this.’
It was talking about Parliament, and went on to quote Lord Nolan: ‘the public needs to see that breaches of rules are investigated as fairly, and dealt with as firmly by Parliament, as would be the case with others through the legal process’.
Change ‘Parliament’ to ‘the Press’ and you have, in a nutshell, the case for a more independent and effective system of press regulation. That is all we all want.
Mike Jempson is Director of the MediaWise Trust and Vice Chair of the NUJ Ethics Council.
This post was previously published on the Hacked Off website and is reproduced with permission and thanks | <urn:uuid:6e0b4240-76bb-425b-a145-221419f99b43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://inforrm.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/who-is-talking-about-statutory-control-of-the-press-mike-jempson/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961989 | 1,601 | 1.625 | 2 |
When I wrote my first post about this back in February I mentioned that I would get back to this and here I am.
- A broader user base with greater discrepancy between user and designer in terms of skills & expectations
- System components related to usability are developed independently by specialized teams
- Product development emphasis on machine or system, not on the person who is the ultimate end user
- Design of usable systems is a difficult endeavor, yet many organizations treat it as if it were just common sense.
Although these conclusions were applied to the ‘offline’ business they also can be extrapolated to the online one. When developing a product or a system that it is intended to be used by a Human we should focus on: | <urn:uuid:58c356a6-42d4-46a8-b701-3e6291d69f04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jpprufino.com/tag/client-adoption/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980359 | 149 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Monteverde National Park
Welcome to ground zero for Costa Rica’s ecotourism—and biodiversity. Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde, the country’s famous cloud forest, is home to 2,500 species of plants and animals (including 400 types of orchids and about the same number of birds). What makes the place so rich? A varied climate over a small area, fostered by warm trade winds that rise from the Caribbean and form cool clouds—and a heritage of conservation that was kicked off by Quaker settlers who wanted to protect their watershed in the 1950s. Even today, only 160 people are allowed into the park at a time. The upside? You’ll have a better chance of spotting resplendent quetzals (one of Central America’s most beautiful birds), shimmering blue morpho butterflies, and toucans, all living among thick mosses, strangler figs, and ferns some 30 feet high.
There are 13 kilometers of trails in Monteverde, and your best bet for a longer loop is to start with El Triangulo—the triangle—along the eastern edge of the park, made up by the Sendero Bosque Nuboso (with lots of strangler figs), the open El Camino (good for spotting butterflies), and the Sendero Pantanoso (the “swamp trail”), which crosses the continental divide. Take the 1.8-kilometer (a little over one mile) Chomogo to the park’s highest accessible point—and for a quick taste of what it feels like to be in the canopy, head for the big suspension bridge on Wilford Guindon. You’ll miss a lot without a guide, so book a natural history, night, or birding tour (from $15, not including the $15 park entrance fee)—which often fill up days in advance.
The roads around here are so rough that it may well be easier to get around by horse. Though you can’t ride within the park itself, there are plenty of outfitters that offer everything from sunset tours to five-day treks. You can even ride (with help from a boat and a jeep) to Monteverde from Arenal. Desafio Adventure Company has a six-hour trip to 100-foot-high San Luis Waterfall ($60)—but can put together an eight-day epic, too. Sabine’s Smiling Horses does full-moon rides ($50). Meg’s Riding Stables (phone number: 2645-5560) has been around the longest and has mellow horses for kids.
Some people love ’em, some people hate ’em, but zip lines are ubiquitous in the area around Monteverde’s protected reserve—and they do give you an up-close-and-speedy look at the canopy. How do you pick one? Decide whether you want an eco twist—or just a rush of adrenaline. Extremo Canopy has small groups and a one-kilometer-long cable, the longest around. Original Canopy Tour has a rappel down the middle of a fig tree. And Selvatura is one of the biggest operations in Monteverde—expect long lines, but in exchange, 18 platforms and a huge Tarzan swing.
Details mentioned in this article were accurate at the time of publication | <urn:uuid:c1261e28-6f6e-46b6-ac06-65723d0ad6ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://away.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-monteverde-national-park-sidwcmdev_159420.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916493 | 723 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Putting a boat–any boat–into Lake Whatcom is likely to involve a significant brush with bureaucracy in the not-too-distant future, as the city of Bellingham and Whatcom County develop a system to protect the lake from infestation by two Eurasian mussel species.
It remains to be seen how much push-back the governments will get from boaters. Their resentment of inspections and fees may be tempered a bit by the fact that boaters themselves will be among the biggest losers if the mussels get established here.
Here’s a report from the Department of Natural Resources in Wisconsin, where the mussels are already a fact of life. The report advises boaters to undertake regular (and costly) maintenance procedures on their vessels to avoid even more costly damage to hulls and even engines.
Idaho–not a state I usually associate with nanny government–has a robust statewide boat inspection system in place to keep the mussels from getting established there. Idaho inspection stations have been intercepting contaminated boats bound for Washingon. Here’s a recent report from the Spokane Spokesman-Review.
Officers from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife conduct boat inspections too, but this state has so far not funded anything as comprehensive as Idaho’s, WDFW’s Sgt. Carl Klein said in a telephone interview.
WDFW does set up frequent checkpoints at rest areas and truck scales, with electronic readerboards that direct boat haulers to stop for inspection. Boats with mussel contamination are intercepted on a regular basis. Klein says he has personally handled five such cases already this year.
The nightmare scenario for Washington state would be a mussel infestation in the Columbia. Klein says mussels could doom the river system’s struggling salmon runs, clogging the gravel beds where the fish spawn and sucking up all the microorganisms that support the natural food chain.
They would also be a costly headache in the plumbing of the hydroelectric system.
In North America, the mussels first made their presence felt in the Great Lakes, where it is believed they arrived in ballast water aboard Russian freighters that carried them from the Caspian and Black Sea region.
They have turned the ecosystem inside out in some areas.
The Great Lakes were already a sort of invasive species science project before the mussels arrived. First came the introduced lampreys, which decimated the native lake trout among other valuable species. Then came the little herring-like alewives. They thrived in the lake to the point that their dead carcasses littered beaches for several decades: This is how I remember Lake Michigan during my year at Northwestern University, 1972-73.
Then, natural resources agencies introduced Pacific salmon to the lakes. They fattened up on alewives and even began to spawn naturally in lake tributaries. They supported some tribal fisheries as well as a thriving sports fishery. And they got the alewife population down to bearable levels.
But then came the mussels., in the 1980s. Their population exploded, and they fed by siphoning up the alewives’ food supply. Not all Great Lakes have been affected similarly, but in Lake Huron the mussels have been blamed for decimating the alewives and then the salmon. Here’s a lengthy look at the situation from an online sports publication. | <urn:uuid:9e64902b-0e95-44e8-9339-f784e13eb5ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/politics/boat-inspections-will-be-next-lake-whatcom-issue/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948954 | 691 | 2.25 | 2 |
The BARDS proper occupied a high position in Ireland. The Ollamhs had colleges at Clogher, Armagh, Lismore, and Tamar. On this, Walker's Historical Memoirs, 1786, observes that "all the eminent schools, delectably situated, which were established by the Christian clergy in the fifth century, were erected on the ruins of those colleges." They studied for twelve years to gain the barred cap and title of Ollamh or teacher. They were Ollamhain Re-dan, or Filidhe, poets. They acted as heralds, knowing the genealogy
of their chiefs. With white robe, harp in hand, they encouraged warriors in battle Their power of satire was dreaded; and their praise, desired.
There is a story of the Ard Ollamh, or Archdruid, sending to Italy after a book Of skins, containing various chosen compositions, as the Cuilmeun, &c. As heralds they were called Seanachies. As Bards they sang in a hundred different kinds of verse. One Ollamh Fodhla was the Solon of Ireland; Amergin, the singer, lived 500 B.C.; Torna Egeas, was last of the paean bards. Long after, they were patriots of the tribes--
"With uncouth harps, in many-colour'd vest,
Their matted hair With boughs fantastic crown'd"
The Statutes of Kilkenny (Edward III.) made it penal to entertain any Irish Bard; but Munster Bards continued to hold their annual Sessions to the early part of last century. Carolan, the old blind harper, called last of the Bards, died in 1738.
Bards sang in the Hall of Shells: shells being then the cups. There were hereditary bards, as the O'Shiels, the O'Canvans, &c., paid to sing the deeds of family heroes. A lament for Dallan ran--
"A fine host and brave was he, master of and Governor,
We, thrice fifty Bards, we confessed him chief in song and war--
In the far-famed Trinity College Library is The Dialogue of the Two Sages, in the Irish Fenian dialect, giving the qualifications of a true Ollamh. Among the famous bards were, Lughar, "acute poet, Druid of Meidhbh"; Olioll, King of Munster; Oisin, son of Cormac, King of Tara, now nearly unintelligible to Irish readers; Fergus finbel of the Dinn Senchus; Oisin, the Fenian singer; Larghaire, whose
poem to the sun was famous; Lughaidh, whose poem of the death of his wife Fail is of great antiquity; Adhna, once chief poet of Ireland; Corothruadh, Fingin, &c. Fergus Finbheoil, fair lips, was a Fenian Bard.
Ireland's Mirror, 1804, speaks of Henessey, a living seer, as the Orpheus of his country. Amergin, brother of Heber, was the earliest of Milesian poets. Sir Philip Sydney praised the Irish Bards three centuries ago. One, in Munster, stopped by his power the corn's growth; and the satire of another caused a shortness of life. Such rhymes were not to be patronized by the Anglo-Normans, in the Statute of 1367. One Bard directed his harp, a shell of wine, and his ancestor's shield to be buried with him. In rhapsody, some would see the images of coming events pass before them, and so declare them in song. He was surely useful who rhymed susceptible rats to death.
The Irish war odes were called Rosg-catha, the Eye of Battle. Was it for such songs that Irish-Danes were cruel to Bards? O'Reilly had a chronological account of 400 Irish writers. As Froude truly remarks, "Each celebrated minstrel sang his stories in his own way, adding to them, shaping them, colouring them, as suited his peculiar genius." It was Heeren who said of the early Greek bards, "The gift of song came to them from the gods." Villemarque held that Irish Bards were "really the historians of the race."
Walker's Irish Bards affirms that the "Order of the Bards continued for many succeeding ages invariably the same." Even Buchanan found "many of their ancient customs yet remain; yea, there is almost nothing changed of them in Ireland, but only ceremonies and rites of religion." Borlase wrote, "The last place we read of them in the British dominions is Ireland." Blair added, "Long after the Order of the Druids was extinct, and the national
religion changed, the Bards continued to flourish, exercising the same functions as of old in Ireland." But Walker claimed the Fingalians as originally Irish. Sir I. Ferguson, in his Lays of the Western Gael, says, "The exactions of the Bards were so intolerable that the early Irish more than once endeavoured to rid themselves of the Order." Their arrogance had procured their occasional banishment. Higgins, in Celtic Druids, had no exalted opinion of them, saying, "The Irish histories have been most of them filled with lies and nonsense by their bards." Assuredly a great proportion of their works were destroyed by the priests, as they had been in England, Germany, France, &c.
The harp, according to Bede, was common in the seventh century. St. Columba played upon the harp. Meagor says of the first James of Scotland, "On the harp he excelled the Irish or the Highland Scots, who are esteemed the best performers on that instrument." Ireland was the school of music for Welsh and Scotch. Irish harpers were the most celebrated up to the last century. Ledwich thought the harp came in from Saxons and Danes. The Britons, some say, had it from the Romans. The old German harp had eighteen strings; the old Irish, twenty-eight; the modern Irish, thirty-three. Henry VIII. gave Ireland the harp for an armorial bearing, being a great admirer of Irish music; but James I. quartered it with the arms of France and England. St. Bernard gives Archbishop Malachy, 1134, the credit of introducing music into the Church service of Ireland.
The Irish cruit was the Welsh crwdd or crwth. Hugh Rose relates, that "a certain string was selected as the most suitable for each song." Diodorus Siculus recorded that "the bards of Gaul sang to instruments like lyres." The cymbals were not Bardic, but bell cymbals of the Church. They were hollow spheres, holding loose bits of metal for
rattling, and connected by a flexible shank. The corn was a metallic horn; the drum, or tiompan, was a tabor; the piob-mela, or bagpipes, were borrowed from the far East; the bellows to the bag thereof were not seen till the sixteenth century. The Irish used foghair, or whole tones, and foghair-beg, or semi-tones. The cor, or harmony, was chruisich, treble, and cronan, base. The names of clefs were from the Latin. In most ancient languages the same word is used for Bard and Sage. Lönnrot found not a parish among the Karelians without several Bards. Quatrefages speaks of Bardic contests thus: "The two bards start strophe after strophe, each repeating at first that which the other had said. The song only stops with the learning of one of the two."
Walker ungallantly wrote, "We cannot find that the Irish had female Bards," while admitting that females cried the Caoine over the dead. Yet in Cathluina we read, "The daughter of Moran seized the harp, and her voice of music praised the strangers. Their souls melted at the song, like the wreath of snow before the eye of the sun."
The Court Bards were required, says Dr. O'Donovan, to have ready seven times fifty chief stories, and twice fifty sub-stories, to repeat before the Irish King and his chiefs. Conor Mac Neasa, King of Ulster, had three thousand Bards, gathered from persecuting neighbouring chiefs.
"Musician, herald, bard, thrice may'st thou be renowned,
And with three several wreaths immortally be crowned."
Brehons.--Breitheamhain - were legislative Bards; and, said Walker, in 1786, they "promulgated the laws in a kind of recitative, or monotonous chant, seated on an eminence in the open air." According to McCurtin, the Irish Bards of the sixth century wore long, flowing garments, fringed and Ornamented with needlework. in a Life of Columba, 1827,
it is written, "The Bards and Sennachees retained their office, and some degree of their former estimation among the nobility of Caledonia and Ireland, till the accession of the House of Hanover."
"Nothing can prove," says O'Beirne Crowe, "the late introduction of Druidism into our country more satisfactorily than the utter contempt in which the name bard is held in all our records.--After the introduction of our irregular system of Druidism, which must have been about the second century of the Christian era, the Filis (bard) had to fall into something like the position of the British Bards-- hence we see them, down to a late period--practising incantations like the Magi of the continent, and in religious matters holding extensive sway."
Ossianic literature had a higher opinion of the Bards; as, "Such were the words of the Bards in the days of the Song; when the King heard the music of harps and the tales of other times. The chiefs gathered from all their hills, and heard the lovely sound.. They praised the voice of Cona, the first among a thousand bards." Again, "Sit thou on the heath, O Bard! and let us hear thy voice. It is pleasant as the gale of the spring, that sighs on the hunter's ear, when he wakens from dreams of joy, and has heard the music of the spirits of the hill.--The music of Cardil was like the memory of joys that are past, pleasant, and mournful to the soul. The ghosts of departed Bards heard it." "My life," exclaimed Fingal, "shall be one stream of light to Bards of other times." Cathmor cried, "Loose the Bards. Their voice shall be heard in other ages, when the Kings of Temora have failed."
Keating, amusingly credulous as an Irish historian records with gravity the story of an ancient militia numbering nine thousand in time of peace, who had both sergeants and colonels. Into the ranks of these Fine Eirion
no one was admitted unless proved to be a poetical genius, well acquainted with the twelve books of poetry.
The Dinn Seanchas has poems by the Irish Bard of the second century, Finin Mac Luchna; and it asserts that "the people deemed each other's voices sweeter than the warblings of the melodious harp." On Toland's authority we learn that, for a long time after the English Conquest, the judges, Bards, physicians, and harpers held land tenures in Ireland. The O'Duvegans were hereditary Bards of the O'Kellies; the O'Shiels were hereditary doctors; the O'Brodins, hereditary antiquaries; the Maglanchys, hereditary judges. The Bards were Strabo's hymn-makers.
Mrs. Bryant felt that "The Isle of Song was soon to become the Isle of Saints;" and considered "Ireland of the Bards knew its Druids simply as men skilled in all magical arts, having no marked relation either to a system of theology, or to a scheme of ceremonial practice."
The Brehon Law gives little information respecting Druids, though the Brehons were assumed to have been Originally Druid judges. St. Patrick has the credit of compiling this record.
These Brehons had a high reputation for justice; and yet it is confessed that when one was tempted to pass a false sentence, his chain of office would immediately tighten round his neck most uncomfortably as a warning. Of the Brehons, it is said by the editors--O'Mahony and Richey --"The learning of the Brehons became as useless to the public as the most fantastic discussions of the Schoolmen, and the whole system crystallized into a form which rendered social progress impossible." Though those old Irish laws were so oppressive to the common people, and so favourable to the hereditary chiefs, it was hard indeed to get the people to relinquish them for English laws.
In 1522, English law existed in only four of the Irish counties; and Brehons and Ollamhs (teachers) were known to the end of the seventeenth century. The founding of the book of Brehon Law is thus explained:--"And when the men of Erin heard--all the power of Patrick since his arrival in Erin--they bowed themselves down in obedience to the will of God and Patrick. It was then that all the professors of the sciences (Druids) in Erin were assembled, and each of them exhibited his art before Patrick, in the presence of every chief in Erin.--What did not clash with the Word of God in the written law, and in the New Testament, and with the consciences of the believers, was confirmed in the laws of the Brehons by Patrick, and by the ecclesiastics and the chieftains of Erin." | <urn:uuid:cd192aae-7347-40d5-b741-3a7b2fc0c46f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/idr/idr08.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976291 | 2,979 | 3.203125 | 3 |
¡Soy feliz como pequeño pájaro!
"A brief history"
3000 hours of sun per year, many kilometers of golden sand beaches and those beautiful natural ports made it a safe refuge already for Phoenician navigators, thousands of years before Christ.
The coast of Huelva and Cadiz corresponds to the Atlantic Ocean and is characterized by fine sand. The Mediterranean coast, from the Strait of Gibraltar to Almeria, on the other hand offers smoother climate with less wind and higher water temperatures.
Andalusia is crossed by Guadalquivir river, the "father" of old civilisations who have left along its borders an impressive monumental track, as well as the high mountain ranges of Sierra Morena and Sistemas Beticos.
The offer for visitors is extremely varied, from golden beaches to those beautiful mountain ranges with their highly interesting fauna, and the famous "white villages" with their richdom in folklore and artisany. There are great possibilities for most different sports as well, from skiing in the Sierra Nevada to surfing at the coast of Cadiz, where you will find ideal conditions as nowhere else in Europe.
Andalusia is the "mother" of the Spanish folklore which is probably best known abroad: here you will live the magic of Flamenco and bullfighting in their most authentic style, and myths like Don Juan and Carmen were born here. A land of great traditions, which has understood as well to assimilate the progress.
The Andalusian capital, the third largest city of Spain, is among the most beloved places by tourists, thanks to its unique ambience and its great monuments: the Arabian belltower Giralda, the city's landmark, the enormous cathedral, Torre del Oro, and the old district Barrio Santa Cruz are among the highlights.
The Moorish Jewel, located at the foots of snowy Sierra Nevada mountain range, is a must-see. Most outstanding is certainly the great Arabian palace Alhambra.
The long-time center of Moorish Spain preserves monuments of outstanding importance. The Mezquita, the great Mosque, is perhaps most impressive.
Among its major attractions are the Moorish Alcazaba and, of course, the splendid Mediterranean coast.
Costa del Sol
The coast of Malaga is of great touristical importance, thanks to its splendid beaches, outstanding installations and smooth climate. Among the most famous centers are Marbella, Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Fuengirola, and San Pedro de Alcantara.
A beautiful town, surrounded by an impressive mountain range.
Almeria is among those Andalusian cities which have best preserved their Moorish heritage. Of great touristical attraction is also its splendid coast, Costa de Almeria.
Cadiz is one of the oldest cities in Spain, founded by Phoenicians. It is fascinating for its typical Andalusian ambience with whitewashed houses and tropical vegetation.
Of great importance as a fishing port as well as for its industry. The city itself and its surroundings are marked by Christopher Columbus, who started his travel to America from the nearby Palos de la Frontera. There you may still visit the monastery where he prepared his travel, alongside with a reconstruction of the port and the three famous ships.
Doñana National Park
This extense preserve including beach areas with moving dunes as well as marshy regions of great value concerning their fauna is located next to the outlet of Guadalquivir river, Matalascañas, Acebuche and El Rocio. Numerous species of migrant birds, on their way from Eurasia to Africa, stay here during the breeding phase.
Costa de la Luz
The "Coast of the Light", in the provinces of Huelva and Cadiz at the Atlantic Ocean, offers splendid beaches of fine sand. Major centers of attraction are Punta Umbria, Islantilla, Isla Cristina, Mazagon, Matalascañas, Barbate, Algeciras, Tarifa, Conil de la Frontera, Chiclana de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria, Rota, Chipiona, and Sanlucar de Barrameda.
Jerez de la Frontera
In the hometown of the world-famous Sherry wine several "Bodegas" may be visited. Jerez too is the site of a renowned equestrian school. Wine and horses mark the ambience of this manorial town.
Jaen, located inland, is dominated by its medieval fortress. Additional attractions are the 11th century Moorish baths and the Renaissance cathedral. The nearby Sierra de Cazorla is an outstanding natural preserve.
"WHAT I WANT TO SEE NEXT _ CADIZ"
THE MYTHICAL CITY
History and mythology are more closely linked in Cadiz than in any other city in Spain. One of the 'Twelve Labours of Hercules', that is, the separation of Europe from Africa, was thought to have brought about the setting up of the first settlement here, at the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula, on the shores of the Straits of Gibraltar and bathed by the waters of both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It was here, the erstwhile domain of Tartessus, that Phoenician sailors came and established their ancient city, over the ruins of the one that the people of Tyre had built. The latter had followed the advice of their oracle and had constructed their city overlooking the Atlantic between the Pillars of Hercules. They have it the name of Gadir after Neptune's son. It was founded in the year 1100 B.C. which means that Cadiz is today the oldest city in the Western World. In the ancient city of Cadiz the god Melgart was worshipped, and Hannibal and Hamilcar Barca left behind their mark. The Visigoths built their temples at Vejer and Alcala de los Gazules, and Julius Caesar planned his empire. During the 8th c, Moorish troops entered the city after defeating Don Rodrigo's army near the lagoon of La Janda, close to what today is Barbate. Following its reconquest by Alfonso X 'the Wise', Cadiz, along with Sanlucar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa Maria, played an important part in the discovery and subsequent colonisation of America. Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, it became a fortified town in order to resist the repeated naval attacks perpetrated by the English. It was during this period that Cadiz enjoyed its most fruitful economic growth, monopolizing trade with the Americas and forming bridgehead both culturally and politically with the New World. Cadiz bravely resisted the Napoleonic invasion from behind its ancient walls, and it was here that, in the Church of San Felipe Neri, the very first Spanish Constitution was signed. Between the years 1810 and 1813 Cadiz became the capital of occupied Spain. | <urn:uuid:9bb4c46e-4e0f-4f46-adfe-d02167c4963e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virtualtourist.com/hotels/Europe/Spain/Andalucia/Cadiz-272934/Hotels_and_Accommodations-Cadiz-Tartessus_Apartments-BR-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952505 | 1,456 | 2.03125 | 2 |
In the movie Braveheart, Mel Gibson portrays William Wallace, a 13th century Scottish warrior who led his countrymen to freedom from years of treachery under King Edward I of England. In one of the most riveting scenes of the movie, as some of the Scottish clans come close to surrender before they even fight in the Battle of Stirling, we hear the famous “Freedom” speech:
Today, we in America face oppression from a progressive movement bent on destroying the liberty and freedom endowed to us by our Creator and enshrined in the words of our Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Just like those Scots, we were at the point of surrender to those forces, but fortunately a William Wallace would rise from the confusion to lead us to battle.
It was Andrew Breitbart.
Examples of his leadership could be seen when he took on the powerful A.C.O.R.N. organization and exposed their fraud and corruption, leading to the end of government funding of those activities. It would be evident again when he exposed – pardon the pun – Congressman Anthony Weiner when he was caught sexting.
He created his own news website, Breitbart.com where he boldly declared; “I’m committed to the destruction of the old media guard.” He attacked deceit in Hollywood with his BigHollywood.com website, shenanigans and political corruption in Washington with his BigGovernment.com website, and foreign policy posturing and gaffes with his BigPeace.com website.
While I never had the chance to meet him, I always felt that we were kindred spirits and that I served in the on-line army that he led. It was people like Andrew that inspired me to take the plunge and start my own conservative website. He even inspired the motto for this website - irreverent, uncompromising and politically incorrect.
While it was the “freedom” speech that became one of the greatest moments in Braveheart, it’s the conversation Wallace has with his captains immediately afterwards that is my favorite part:
Stephen: Fine speech. Now what do we do?
William Wallace: Just be yourselves.
Hamish: Where are you going?
William Wallace: I’m going to pick a fight.
While the Scottish nobles were willing to protect their little “kingdoms” by negotiating with the King of England, Wallace was a man who refused to compromise. Nothing less than complete freedom would be acceptable.
That’s a perfect description of Andrew. As he states in his book, Righteous Indignation:
I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it…. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and — famously — I enjoy making enemies…. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I’ve lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I’ve gained hundreds, thousands — who knows? — of allies.
Andrew Breitbart – The William Wallace of Conservatives
What others had to say: | <urn:uuid:f0cce5b5-47dd-4035-9021-f60528b9a7d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stridentconservative.com/andrew-breitbart-the-william-wallace-of-conservatives/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970933 | 632 | 1.96875 | 2 |
The number of eggs may be low, or the quality may be poor.
The number and quality of eggs (ovarian reserve) may begin to decrease at age 30 or even earlier. They decrease rapidly after age 40. But age is not the only cause. Abnormalities in the ovaries can also cause such a decrease. The number of eggs in the ovaries decreases early in premature ovarian failure (primary ovarian insufficiency). In a few women, this disorder is the reason they have irregular menstrual periods or no periods.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Doctors may evaluate the following women for problems with eggs:
Doctors can usually confirm the diagnosis by measuring levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (which triggers ovulation) and estrogen in the blood at a certain time during the menstrual cycle. Sometimes doctors give women clomiphene, a fertility drug, before measuring these levels.
Doctors may do blood tests to measure levels of antimüllerian hormone, which is produced by the structures that contain the egg (follicles). A low level of this hormone indicates that the number of follicles is small. Or doctors may use an ultrasound device that is placed in the vagina (transvaginal ultrasonography) to view and count the number of follicles. A small number of follicles means that pregnancy after in vitro fertilization is less likely.
Because pregnancy may be possible, doctors suggest different treatments for each woman based on her circumstances and age. Such treatments include those used to treat problems with ovulation, such as clomiphene, aromatase inhibitors, and human gonadotropins (see Infertility: Treatment). If women are older than 42 or if the number or quality of eggs is decreased, using eggs from another woman (donor) may be the only way to achieve pregnancy.
Last full review/revision February 2013 by Robert W. Rebar, MD | <urn:uuid:68e11c16-2e26-479f-b7f6-463821e8db48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/womens_health_issues/infertility/problems_with_eggs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930715 | 386 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Between classes these DP students at the Lauf Language Training Institute near Nurnberg, brush up on English by reading magazines and listening to radio programs. Both young men plan to return to their camps at the end of three months and conduct English classes for other DP's hoping to be resettled.
Left to right, Jurij Hranovsky, 24-year old Ukrainian, who was taken to Germany in 1942 as a prisoner of war and is now in Mittenwald DP camp where his father is an Othordox priest, and Dmytro Szafran, 22, who was a forced laborer. Hranosky, who learned English while working for the U.S. Army, hopes to go to the United States. Szafran would like to go either to America or Australia. | <urn:uuid:a9f556bf-1614-4b91-9ca9-63b0c77242bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/detail.jsp?id=884/88444&key=20&query=category:%22Field%20coverage%22&so=0&sf=date | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966244 | 165 | 2 | 2 |
Get Rid Of The Flies
You can get rid of the flies in your life
Around 1975, Bill Marriott walked my operation with me at the Philadelphia Marriott. I was the Director of Food and Beverage. As we walked, Bill gave me constant feedback from his perspective on my operation. He checked for cleanliness everywhere we went in the hotel. He checked the inventory records; and for all of you old timers at Marriott, he checked the breading charts very carefully. We eventually ended up at the back loading and receiving dock where the trash compactor was located. It was summer and there were a lot of flies around the dumpster. Some of those flies were making their way into the back corridors of the hotel, and of course, eventually finding their way to the restaurants upstairs.
Mr. Marriott turned to me and said, “Lee, if you have flies in your operation, it is because you like flies. I will never forget that moment and that lesson. What he meant, of course, is that you can get rid of those flies if you want to. You can order an enclosed dumpster. You can wash down the dumpster as many times a day as it takes so no flies will be there. You can install different insect control devices in that area. You can put fly fans on the loading dock doors, and on and on. Even if you have to buy 100 fly swatters and issue them to the employees with a quota each day, you can have an operation without flies.
So if you have rude employees, you must like that. If you have poorly trained employees, you must like that. If you have poorly groomed employees, you must like that. If you have children with bad manners, you must like that. If you are not saving for your retirement, you must like that. If you don’t exercise, you must like the way you feel and look. If you have underperforming managers in your business, then you are an underperforming leader.
From this one lesson given so long ago by a leader who cared and was able to communicate in a common sense way, I have always made sure that I did not have flies in my operation. It was a lesson about personal responsibility and attention to detail. It was about not underestimating what you as an individual can accomplish.
Make a list of the fly problems in your life that you are not dealing with. The problem with flies and other things we don’t deal with is that they multiply. One fly today, ten flies tomorrow. One poorly groomed employee today, ten tomorrow. One poor habit today, ten more next week.
You get rid of flies that same way you got them in the first place–one at a time….Lee
4 Responses to “Get Rid Of The Flies”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment. | <urn:uuid:06d971fe-d575-4d75-ae0e-d9601fc67b5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.leecockerell.com/?p=14 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977888 | 591 | 1.53125 | 2 |
There is no way around it: collecting a behavioral history is time-consuming. But never boring. Given a chance, pet owners
will share every detail of every episode that they can recall. Most people are also eager to offer their theories regarding
the development of the problem. A systematic means of politely limiting the information flow can be developed with experience.
One way to shorten the length of the visit is to ask clients to complete and return a history form prior to the actual consultation.
Points for discussion and elaboration can be highlighted.
Standardized forms, available in many veterinary behavior textbooks, facilitate systematic and thorough collection of baseline
husbandry information. Owners can record the diet as well as the feeding and exercise routine. Household people and pets can
be listed. These facts may appear unrelated to the primary behavioral concern. Yet information that might initially seem irrelevant,
or that clients did not consider important enough to mention, can sometimes offer the key to the diagnosis.
You did what?!
Clients usually feel responsible for their pet's behavioral disorders. It is important to formulate questions so that they
do not suggest blame. Defensive clients withhold valuable information lest they or their pet be unfavorably judged.
How much is too much?
Part of the art of history-taking is learning which information is likely to be relevant to the situation at hand. It can
be helpful to begin by asking for a brief description of the behavioral concern, to be followed by a more detailed description
of the first and last episode. Then, ask the client to share details regarding 3 additional episodes of their choice.
This information should provide an understanding about the progression of the behavior. The age of the pet at the time of
onset will be a consideration in forming a list of differentials.
The rate of progress is also significant, particularly when diagnosing behaviors that owners describe as sudden in onset.
If there were no changes in the household routine or environment when the problem behavior surfaced, then an underlying medical
condition may be present.
Of course, it is necessary to listen to the client's perception of the main behavioral complaint. At the same time, discourage
clients from interpreting the information—just ask for the facts. Analysis is the job of the clinician.
Try to listen to the descriptions as though you were watching a videorecording of the behavior.
• What does the behavior look like?
• Which pet engages in the behavior?
• Where and when does it occur?
• Which people or pets are present at the time?
Better than creating mental images is obtaining real photos or videos. Encourage owners to share pictures of the environment
and of all household members, people and pets, that could not attend the consultation. Videorecordings of pets and people
interacting, or when safe, pets engaging in the problem behavior, are invaluable. Specify emphatically that no person or pet,
including the patient, should be placed in harm's way for the purpose of a creating a recording.
Before concluding the history taking session, it will be important to ask about any other behavioral concerns the owner has
experienced with the pet. When writing the treatment plan, it may be necessary to prioritize, initially focusing on the problem
that is considered most serious or most dangerous. Some behavioral conditions will need to be addressed simultaneously for
a successful outcome.
Similarly, learn the details of all prior interventions. This includes any environmental or behavior modification steps. Learn
the dosage and duration of therapy for all psychoactive medications.
In many cases, the pieces of the puzzle fit together and the diagnosis is neatly formed. Sometimes, something is missing.
There may still be one more question left to ask. Offer the client some safe interventions to get them started, and schedule
a recheck visit in the next day or two. Take the paperwork home, sleep on it; reread, research and if necessary, refer. | <urn:uuid:c7447f12-1d00-42e8-b2d5-d95d8387d47c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/avhc/Medicine/Behavioral-history-taking-Proceedings/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/737217 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929928 | 808 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Invite a friend
Pink Ribbons, Inc.: Has the pink-ribbon movement done more for marketing than medicine?
WELLESLEY, Mass., The Wellesley Cancer Prevention Project invites the public to a showing of the film Pink Ribbons, Inc. at the Wellesley Free Library’s Wakelin Room, Thursday October 25th, from 7 to 9 p.m.. This free event, cosponsored by the Wellesley Free Library, is open to the public and includes informational resources. Refreshments will be served.
This 2011 documentary film provides insights into the current breast cancer culture and is truly thought provoking. Learn how “cause marketing” works well, but can also create unintended consequences. After seeing this film you will look at every “pink ribbon” offer or product with a more critical eye.
After the film, Margo Golden, who is President of the Board of Mass. Breast Cancer Coalition and serves on the board of the Women’s Community Cancer Project and the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, will offer comments about the evolution of the breast cancer culture. She along with Anastasia Karakasidou, head of the Wellesley College Department of Anthropology, will entertain questions and comments from the audience.
The Mass. Breast Cancer Coalition (MBCC) believes that PREVENTION is the cure, and aims to create change so that not one more person must endure this disease.
MBCC advocates for increased resources to investigate environmental links to breast cancer that are present as a result of mammary carcinogens found in our air, water, soil, food, homes, cleaning supplies, personal care products and other consumer products used in our households every day.
The Wellesley Cancer Prevention Project (WCPP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that studies the relationship between illnesses and the environment with the goal of reducing health risk factors for residents of Wellesley and surrounding communities. More information can be found about WCPP on http://www.wcpponline.org
|Where||530 Washington St, Wellesley, MA 02482 (Wellesley Free Library, Wakelin Room)|
|Next on||This event is over.|
|Time||7:00 pm–9:00 pm|
|Who to bring||Moms, Seniors| | <urn:uuid:79995941-fa94-40eb-b4c5-ecd14859e21b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://needham.patch.com/events/pink-ribbons-inc-has-the-pink-ribbon-movement-done-more-for-marketing-than-medicine-2ae8f0af | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907111 | 476 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Creating a Productive, Distraction-Free Workplace
The following blog post is the final post in a four-part blog series about Peter Bregman's book “18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction and Get the Rights Things Done.”
In this final blog based on Peter Bregman’s book, “18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction and Get the Rights Things Done,” I’ll examine the last section of his book on how to deal with—wait, what did you say? Hold on, I have to take this call – distractions. We all have those co-workers who want to tell you every detail about their evening, or the boss who continually assigns you projects that needed to be done yesterday, or the urge to play Angry Birds instead of writing a report. Bregman states there are ways to master these distractions and remain productive.
Make your workplace a productive one. Do you need quiet or some level of background noise? What type of office environment works for you? What if you work in a large, open office without cubes, where the phone rings and people stop by to talk or ask “a favor?” The solution could be to listen to music through headphones or just wear them to stifle noises (and make people think you are tuned out). It could be as simple as announcing it to the room or relocating yourself to a secluded corner to complete your project.
Also, if a coworker asks you to proof a document, assist with a project or take on a new task, don’t feel like you must say yes. Saying no to something that falls outside of your goals isn’t bad. You need to be selective in how you respond, otherwise your time will be spent on other items, while your structured to-do list languishes.
Personally, my distracted time comes in the afternoon. I start to lose energy and enthusiasm for my to-do list. To combat this, I try to step away from it all by walking outside, whether it is for five or 20 minutes. Just a turn around the block clears my head and re-energizes me.
So, what distracts you and threatens your productivity? | <urn:uuid:422a6764-183d-43cd-a247-9e675edc5b92> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metiscomm.com/blog/bid/79425/Creating-a-Productive-Distraction-Free-Workplace | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943173 | 463 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Hatfield men hit the kitchen for Men Who Cook fundraiser
HATFIELD — Forty local men will create and serve some of their favorite dishes for a buffet fundraiser hosted by Smith Academy on Sunday night.
“Just about every male on the faculty at Smith Academy is making something,” said Ken Longstreeth, who is the band director and event organizer. “We also have parents, police officers, a couple of people who are caterers in town and the chef from Chez Albert in Amherst,” he said.
The fundraiser, which will benefit the STARHS (Supporting the Arts in Hatfield Schools) program, has been marinating for several months.
“This has been about a year in the making,” said parent Anthony “Tiger” Thomas. “Ken came to me at homecoming last year and told me about the idea that he had, and I was sold.”
Longstreeth said that he had been looking for an innovative way to raise money for the arts, when a teacher from Granby told him about the Men Who Cook fundraisers.
“I did a little research online and found that other organizations have successfully done this Men Who Cook event,” Longstreeth said. “I thought it was a great idea and started thinking about how we could pull it off.”
The buffet will be set up in the gymnasium and staffed by cooks who will be wearing specially made black aprons sporting the event’s logo, which was created by Smith Academy student Jennifer Sikorski.
“The whole idea is that everyone will get a small sampling of all of the dishes, kind of like a ‘taste of’ sort of event,” said Longstreeth, who is whipping up a chicken cacciatore.
Thomas said he is looking forward to making his contribution to the buffet.
“It is a great time to do this with the all that is available from the fall harvest,” Thomas said. “I think I will do a Cajun grilled shrimp with a butternut squash puree over penne pasta,” he said.
According to Longstreeth, the buffet will be able to serve about 150 people. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and $5 for children under 5.
Both Thomas and Longstreeth said they hope this will turn into an annual fundraising event.
“Right now we don’t have a particular monetary goal that we want to reach. This year we are just trying to get it off the ground,” Thomas said. “We are hoping to make this a tradition.”
The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Smith Academy is located at 34 School St. in Hatfield. | <urn:uuid:27a6ba15-e4f4-4033-af62-5c27db9c8626> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gazettenet.com/home/2601436-95/event-longstreeth-hatfield-thomas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975523 | 595 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Would that were the case. But as Patrick Cockburn recently pointed out (in what, for my money, is a must-read essay), Iraq's history over the last 100 years - and especially since 1980 - is drenched in blood, and Iraqis have become paranoid, scared of each other and unwilling to trust each other.
Is it getting worse again?
Jun 25th 2009 | BAGHDAD
From The Economist print edition
As American troops prepare to leave all the towns, Iraqis are getting nervous
BARACK OBAMA’s administration has promised to withdraw all American troops from all of Iraq’s towns by the end of this month. As the deadline looms, people are again asking whether Iraq’s forces will be able to cope on their own. On cue, a fresh bout of violence has erupted. On June 20th, a huge lorry bomb exploded in Taza, a Turkmen town just south of the disputed city of Kirkuk, killing at least 70 people. Two days later at least seven bombs went off in and around Baghdad, including a roadside blast, a car bomb and a suicide attack, killing some 30 people altogether. And on June 24th another big bomb killed at least 70 people in Baghdad, perhaps the single deadliest attack in Iraq this year. The insurgents, knowing that the Americans are poised to pull out, are aiming to make Iraq as unstable as ever.
They have also staged some spectacular assassinations that have threatened to restart a cycle of sectarian reprisals. Earlier this month the head of the main Sunni bloc in parliament, Harith al-Obeidi, a noted campaigner for human rights, was gunned down by a teenager in a Baghdad mosque after he had led Friday prayers. In Mosul, the biggest city of the north, where the coach of Iraq’s karate team was recently shot dead, bombings are still going on, though at a reduced rate.
Yet, despite this nerve-racking spasm, the recorded figures suggest that the violence is still in retreat. Fewer civilians were killed in May than in any month since 2003. Both Iraqi and American officials had predicted a surge in attacks as the deadline for withdrawal neared.
The prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, told Iraqis not to be dismayed by violence here and there. The country’s own forces, he insisted, could maintain security, as they already were. Besides, American tanks and armies were no use in what had become a counter-insurgency intelligence game, which the Iraqis were better equipped to play than were the Americans. “We’re absolutely certain the withdrawal will not make our security worse,” said Mr Maliki. In any event, he said, the withdrawal of American troops from the towns would be a “great victory” for Iraq.
In fact American troops have already withdrawn from nearly all the towns—and have rarely been seen in them of late. Many joint American-Iraqi security posts have been dismantled. There will be no more routine American patrols, rare though they have already become. The Americans will, however, remain in bases nearby, on call in case Iraqi forces hit trouble. And in some places, especially in Mosul, where efforts to suppress the insurgency have been intensifying, the definition of city limits is being elastically interpreted, to let the main American base stay where it is, on the city’s edge.
But the Iraqis are slowly realising that Mr Obama really does intend to remove the bulk of his troops before 2011. So they may at last be starting to focus on passing long-delayed bits of important nation-building legislation, such as an oil-and-gas law, constitutional amendments, and even a law governing elections. Without a modicum of cohesion at the heart of government, how can Iraq’s security forces stick together in the face of sectarian or ethnic tension? Iraqis know that establishing a more cohesive and broader-based government is at least as important as beefing up the Iraqi security forces.
A crucial general election is due in January—and everybody knows that the Americans want to witness a peaceful poll leading to a stable government before they can withdraw completely. So there is a fresh ferment of political horse-trading and alliance-testing. Mr Maliki is trying to buff up his image as the strongman who can provide law and order. He is exploring the possibility of new ties across sectarian divisions as well as sounding out possible partners for a grand Shia coalition similar to the one that won last time. Even the “Bands of the Righteous”, an offshoot of the Shia militia movement led by a radical cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, may want to take part in peaceful politics. As a gesture of goodwill, it released the bodies of two long-dead British hostages who had been kidnapped two years ago.
Yet, whether the Americans stay or leave, Iraq still suffers from its worst failing. There is still no party or leader that can reach across the country’s divisions and appeal to Iraqis of every ethnic and sectarian hue. | <urn:uuid:7479dca4-d48c-47bb-afc2-b3592cf2a313> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drjohnrobertson.blogspot.com/2009/06/economistasks-is-iraq-getting-worse.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978417 | 1,045 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Hope i understood your questions correctly.
Please refer to the latest G540 manual .pdf at:
There is a really helpful diagram on the last page.
Inputs 1 through 4 are generally wired to NC (normally closed) switches,G540 Low voltage for E-stop and limits?
C (common) side of the switch wired to the respected input on the G540 terminal.
NC (normally closed side of the switch wired to the common system ground.
There is no other voltage applied to the switches.
The power supply for the output are generally used to drive external relays.(5v wall wart or 7805 circuit) for less contact arc?
The power supply for these outputs is determined by the requirement of the relays.
( each output is able to sink a maximum of 1A at 50VDC )
So if using relays with 5VDC coils (less than 1A coils) the 5v wall wart would work well. | <urn:uuid:c8d1dabe-ad63-4c6c-bbc0-ab4b36e42f64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnczone.com/forums/gecko_drives/66295-g540_low_voltage_e-stop_limits.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903398 | 201 | 2.125 | 2 |
Marketing is a pervasive element in modern society and is increasingly vital to the success of private and public sector organisations. The program in marketing emphasises critical and analytical thinking and the practice of marketing as an applied science. A Marketing major will give you knowledge about consumer behaviour and purchase decision making, integrating theory and practice from many branches of the social sciences. Team building presentation skills, initiative and business planning skills are important elements of the program.
For a major in Marketing students must complete:
(i) one junior prerequisite unit of study: MKTG1001 Marketing Principles; and
(ii) three compulsory senior units of study: MKTG2112 Consumer Behaviour, MKTG2113 Marketing Research, MKTG3118 Marketing Strategy and Planning; and
(iii) a minimum of three Marketing senior elective units of study (18 credit points) selected from the available elective options listed in the University of Sydney Business School handbook.
Marketing is central to any organisation's success and the demand for highly skilled marketeers is strong. The breadth of marketing careers provides room for all kinds of people, including those who see themselves having more general people and communication skills, as well as those who are highly entrepreneurial or seek a role that combines analysis and creativity. Graduates in marketing work in diverse job roles such as marketing director, advertising manager, marketing research director, brand manager, sales manager, and e-commerce manager. An increasing number end up in senior general management positions, such as chief executive officer (CEO) and board director. Others work in organisations that specialise in marketing research, product or packaging design, advertising agencies, media buying, sales promotions, public relations, web-site design, or direct mail.
Further study for major
Eligible students may apply for admission to an honours year in Marketing; or apply for admission to postgraduate study in the faculty. We offer a wide range of specialist master's degrees for graduates who want to gain specialised knowledge and skills.
Our degrees have been developed in close consultation with industry to provide you with highly relevant and professional programs of study. The Business School's active involvement in quality-assurance and accreditation activities has earned us the top international accreditations available to business schools worldwide and has enabled us to forge strategic alliances on a global scale.
By choosing to study one of our accredited degree programs, you can be certain that the education you receive will be of the highest academic quality and will be recognised by the business community in Australia and around the world. Whatever your aspirations, our cutting-edge programs will help you to take your career in any direction you choose. | <urn:uuid:2b395ad1-bcca-4b5a-9eb4-c12e9df13e5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sydney.edu.au/courses/Bachelor-of-Arts-Media-and-Communications/marketing-major | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935876 | 533 | 1.554688 | 2 |
1. In conducting its audit of the preparedness of schools in in your Local Authority area to implement the new national exams, has Education Scotland been in direct contact with department heads and classroom teachers or solely with your director of education?
2. How many classroom teachers in total have been contacted as part of the audit and how many in each school?
3. Were specific subject teachers or heads of department contacted as part of the audit, and which ones?
4. What methodology is being applied to collating the information, for example by phone, email, survey or face to face?
1. Audit undertaken through the Director of Education.
2. This was left up to individual schools and the Head Teachers and Principal Teachers within the schools.
3. All heads of subject departments were involved by their Head Teachers in this process unless they were absent from school due to ill-health during the time of the audit.
4. Schools collected their information in different ways, e.g. meetings, requests to Principal Teachers, etc. This was then sent to an officer of the authority who liaised with Education Scotland. | <urn:uuid:93af6210-e09f-4885-a346-1225cdfe4b3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_80352.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983704 | 227 | 2.734375 | 3 |
The MLB First-Year Player (Rule IV) Draft involves some of the most important organizational decisions for any MLB franchise. In an era where revenue and payroll disparities among teams are increasing, identifying and signing undervalued talent is essential for on-field competitiveness. Because the MLB and MLBPA's collective bargaining agreement financially rewards veterans eligible for free agency, organizations wish to sign and develop young players internally -- namely, through the draft.
All 30 MLB teams draft players in reverse order of their record the previous year for 50 rounds, with additional supplemental picks between the first and second and second and third rounds (so 1500+ players are drafted every year). High school, junior college, and four-year college players (who have either completed their junior and senior years or are 21 years old) and are from the U.S., Canada, or Puerto Rico are eligible. The MLB Labor Relations department issues "slot" recommendations for the money each overall pick number should sign for, but because these are not enforced, top players can demand an expensive contract and be passed over by certain teams so that they are picked below where their talent suggests.
Given these circumstances, the book Moneyball and other research have analyzed draft strategy, specifically whether college or high school hitters or pitchers are better investments. No matter which type of player you select, the draft is very much an inexact science; the failure rate for top picks in the MLB draft may be higher than for the NFL, NBA, and NHL because players play more years in the minors before making an impact in the pros. This website continues analysis in this predictive direction, but within the subsect of NCAA D1 hitters and pitchers. Scouting is a combination of quantitative observations and qualitative explanations, and high school and lower level college statistics are not reliable enough (inconsistent records, small sample sizes, and varying competition levels) for meaningful statistical analysis. Can NCAA D1 statistics predict professional performance? The pages here attempt to provide an answer.
This website's statistical analysis follows a process known as exploratory data analysis (EDA). Running regressions "blind" based on biases using un-investigated data can lead to dangerous(ly inaccurate) conclusions. EDA relies on "seeing" the data through visual displays such as histograms, boxplots, and scatterplots. By identifying patterns as they naturally exist from the data, instead of attempting to validate a hypothesis against the data, a more complete picture can be understood.
The following pages support such a philosophy, as extensive single-variable (variables page) and double-variable (relationships page) analysis informs the multiple regression models that are built on the last page. While the prediction tool on the home page gives a precise answer to out-of-sample data (projections), the other content here provides a crucial background perspective.
EDA is meant to be an interactive and user-driven process. While the statistical software used (Data Desk) does not easily translate to web interactivity, forms and hovers are meant to recreate the experience as much as possible.
All MLB draft and performance data are from Baseball Reference, while all NCAA D1 player, statistics, and team information is from Boyd's World. The data was partly joined using this data standardizer.
There are 44,280 D1 seasons in this resulting database. Playing time cut-offs of 50 AB for hitters and 15 IP for hitters ensure a standard minimum sample size and reduce the pool to 27,649 seasons (16,278 hitters and 11,371 pitchers). Of these seasons, 2,120 (8.3%) led to that player being drafted, and only 350 (1.3%) made it all the way to the major leagues. See these percentages broken down for hitters by AVG, and for pitchers by ERA.
Why years 2002-06? Over half of all D1 teams did not have 2001 and prior data on Boyd's World. Additionally, changes in the metal bat requirements prior to 2002 led to much higher offensive statistics than the relatively stable period that followed. The 2006 cut-off is somewhat subjective, as the 2007 draft class and subsequent years may not have played long enough entering the 2011 season to make an accurate assessment on valuable draft picks.
Drafted Platform Year - Ideally, the database would average a draft-eligible player's career statistics against only those other draft-eligible players. Because the data didn't contain year or age fields, this analysis is unfortunately not possible. MLB scouting directors evaluate the total body of a player's career performance (often including summer leagues and high school career), not simply his hitting or pitching statistics the year in which he was drafted.
Signing Data - Data on drafted player's contracts and signing bonus are not included. As previously discussed, players who sign for well above their slotted recommendation have more talent than their overall draft pick number would suggest. Additionally, the drop-off in talent between the 10th and 30th pick is much greater than between the 910th and 930th pick, for which signing bonuses account for (2009 overall #1 pick Stephen Strasburg received a $7.5 million signing bonus, but bonuses after the 7th round tend to level out at less than $100,000). Re-expressing overall pick number helps to control for this, but not as much as money information.
Out-of-Sample Predictions - Because all models are based on 2002-06 data, predicting MLB draft standing and performance for stats before and after these years are more unreliable. Teams may change what college statistics they value for the draft, and NCAA D1 statistics vary over time according to rule changes, such as bat regulations. Extremely high or low individual input relative to this sample may also result in unsound predictions.
Outlier Effect - Is the purpose of the draft to acquire solid major league-ready talent, or sign a high-risk high-potential prospect in the hopes he develops into a superstar? Both types of picks are obviously important for any organization, but teams may vary in their draft strategy. However, from a statistics perspective, superstar outliers are just that -- outliers -- and are meant to be excluded from the data, not predicted. There are nearly 30,000 college seasons in the data, of which only 17 were turned in by players who would be selected to the major league all-star team. This boxplot of position and WAR% helps to identify the scale of these outliers among those who already made the majors. Such a large discrepancy between "failures" and "successes" means that attempting to predict quantity of major leaguers should be more reliable than predicting quality. | <urn:uuid:54deb703-fa32-432a-acb2-f50c22cd5865> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vrdc.cornell.edu/info4470/projects/~gcg29/introduction.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958975 | 1,349 | 2.25 | 2 |
Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle link
Blue Elderberry in flower, unripe and ripe berries
Elderberry is a native shrub here at Kaweah Oaks Preserve. The Blue Elderberry, or Mexican Elderberry is the only host to the endangered native Longhorned Elderberry Beetle. You might look for exit holes, or better yet, if you see one, take a photograph... we like to know for sure if we have 'em!
Elderberries are a delicious treat while hiking on our trails, but only eat the berries, not the stems or leaves. Click here to review the warning on elderberry poisoning. The elderberrries can be harvested and used for jams, pies or in muffins instead of blueberries. You can find ripe elderberries thoughout the summer and fall seasons. All the toxins are eliminated by cooking or fermenting.
back to plants next plant F | <urn:uuid:66e447c4-e9c3-4aee-ac94-9a08635f0b7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kaweahoaks.com/html/elderberry.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922312 | 185 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Genre: Non-Fiction, True Crime
My Rating: 5 stars
As Sandy at You’ve Gotta Read This remarked in her outstanding review of this book,
There are a handful of events in our lives that we use to mark time. When JFK was shot, when Lennon was shot, 9/11…and Columbine. We will forever remember where we were and what we were doing the moment we heard the news.”
When I heard about the events at Columbine, I was out-of-town at a work meeting. I clearly remember one of my co-workers rushing up to me saying “There’s been this horrible shooting at a high school in Colorado. It’s all over the news!” Later that night of April 20, 1999, we all huddled around the TV watching the footage and proclaiming our disbelief over and over again. In the end, 13 people were killed and dozens were seriously injured. Countless others bore psychological scarring that affects their lives to this day. And the killers? Well, they shot themselves in the school library–the scene of the greatest carnage–leaving the rest of the world to piece together the reasons for why they did what they did.
Of course, school shootings happened before Columbine and they happened after Columbine, but Columbine seems to stand out as THE school shooting because of the sheer amount of news coverage that it garnered and the myths that grew up around it. For most school shootings, the event was over and done before any news cameras showed up–leaving us with only the tearful survivors to tell us what happened. With Columbine, the media coverage was immediate and ongoing. We saw the students fleeing the school. We witnessed the dead bodies laying outside of the school entrance. We bit our nails anxiously as Patrick Ireland dangled from the library window.
The reason Columbine was different was because we–the viewing public–became personal witnesses as the tragedy unfolded in real-time. As the Columbine story gathered steam in the passing weeks, a variety of myths grew up around the shooting. “The gunmen were bullied by jocks and were targeting jocks to get revenge.” “The gunmen were influenced by the music of Marilyn Manson.” “A group called the Trench Coat Mafia orchestrated the event.” Other myths would take longer to develop but would prove just as durable, particularly the story of Cassie Bernall, who was allegedly shot in the library for acknowledging her belief in God to the gunmen.
Eventually and inevitably, the news media moved on to other stories, and we were left with few definitive answers. In the 10 years following the Columbine shooting, Dave Cullen sifted through a mountain of information–conducting hundreds of interviews, reading thousands of pages of police files, consulting with FBI psychologists, and viewing the tapes and diaries left behind by Harris and Klebold–in order to write a definitive account of what happened that day at Columbine–including what led up to the shooting, what went wrong during the initial response, and the aftermath of the shooting in the community and those permanently scarred either by the loss of loved ones or injury. He also attempts to answer one of the biggest questions that lingers over the specter of the Columbine shooting: Why?
Cullen meticulously documents his sources for each section of the book. When I read the book on my Kindle, the text stopped at 80%. The remaining 20% contained Cullen’s documentation of where he got his information for each assertion made in his book. With this type of rigid reporting and documentation, I felt confident when I was reading Columbine that I was reading an account that was as accurate and true as it could possibly be.
Yet although the book is meticulously researched, it reads like a novel. The writing is clear and precise but gripping. As you read, you’re drawn in to the story. When Harris and Klebold are roaming the hallways in the aftermath of the first wave of shooting, you feel like you are walking alongside them. When frightened parents gather in the first hours after the shooting–frantically trying to locate their children–you feel their anxiety and stress. The book was emotionally powerful and affecting. When reading it, I dreamt more than once of being in the school with Harris and Klebold coming down the hallway. It was an uncomfortable read, and one that continues to haunt me. Unlike murder mysteries where you know the twisted psyche of a killer is simply the product of the darker corners of an author’s imagination, Columbine tells a true story. The events of Columbine happened not so long ago in a place that is probably quite similar to where you live. Columbine haunts us because it reminds us that something like this could happen in our community, to our sons and daughters, in our schools.
Cullen moves back and forth in time throughout the book–describing the myriad of information left behind by Harris and Klebold. As Cullen develops their story, it starts to become clear why Harris and Klebold did what they did. These were not boys who impulsively decided to shoot up their school one day. The Columbine shooting was a meticulously planned campaign of death and destruction that was painstakingly planned and documented by Harris. It turns out that Eric Harris was the mastermind and impetus behind the entire event; Klebold was a reluctant participant who only fully committed himself at the final hour. Harris fully intended to explain what he had in mind and why he did it–leaving behind a huge assortment of material for his audience after the fact.
When reading Columbine, one of the biggest shocks to me was that Harris never intended Columbine to be a school shooting. In fact, Columbine was really a bombing that went south. If things had gone according to plan, Columbine would have resulted in hundreds dead and the total destruction of the school. When I read the scope of his plans and just how much worse Columbine could have been, my jaw dropped to the floor.
Although this isn’t an easy book to read, I think that anyone who followed the Columbine story at any level should read this book to finally get an accurate accounting of the whos, whats, whys, wheres and hows of what happened at Columbine High School on that day in April. If you still think that Harris and Klebold were victims of bullying by jocks or that rock music somehow played a part in this tragedy, if you blame the shooting on the parents of Harris and Klebold for raising bad kids, if you wonder what happened in the community of Littleton in the years after the shooting when the cameras went away, you owe it to yourself and the victims of this tragedy to read this book.
What are other book bloggers saying about this book? Find out at the Book Blogs Search Engine.
The Whys and Wheres:I bought this book for my Kindle because it seemed like a well-researched account of what happened at Columbine and I wanted to find out the true story for myself. I was not disappointed in the least. | <urn:uuid:507be1a9-3653-4f65-9112-60cc8f558fbb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifewithbooks.com/2010/07/review-columbine-by-dave-cullen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981251 | 1,467 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Osama Binladen, the founding leader of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, is most well-known for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian targets. This article will give you a brief look at Binladen life and his significant events.
Osama Bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 10 March 1957. His father, Muhammed Awad bin Laden was a billionaire businessman with close ties with the Saudi royal family. Osama was born the only son of Muhammed and his tenth wife, Hamid al-Attas, the couple divorced soon after his birth. His mother then married Muhammed al-Attas, they had four children and Bin Laden grew up in the household with his three stepbrothers and one stepsister. He was raised as a devout Sunni Muslim, from 1968 to 1976 he attended the elite, secular Al-Thager Model School in Jeddah. During this time he married his first wife, Najwa Ghanem at Latakia in Syria He went on to study economics and business at the King Abdulaziz University.
After leaving university, he joined Abdullah Azzam to fight the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. In 1984, he collaborated with Azzam in forming Maktab al-Khadamat which helped funnel money, arms and fighters into Afghanistan. By 1988, Bin Laden had split from the movement over disputes with Azzam over whether Arabic fighters should be integrated with Afghan fighting units or not.
Bin Laden returned to his native Saudi Arabia in 1990 as a hero of jihad who, along with his Arab legion, had helped bring down the mighty superpower of the Soviet Union. At the same time, Iraq invaded Kuwait, spreading widespread fear that they may invade Saudi Arabia as well, Bin Laden offered his services to the House of Saud to protect the country but they rejected his proposals instead inviting US and Coalition troops onto Saudi soil. Bin Laden was furious and he openly criticised the Saudi royal family.
He moved to Khartoum, Sudan in 1992, and continued verbally attacking King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden’s family were persuaded to cut off his monthly allowance of seven millions dollars. Bin Laden was now closely associated with Egyptian Islamic Jihad which made up the core of the Al-Qaeda. In 1995 the EIJ attempted to assassinate the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, with the result that the EIJ were expelled from Sudan.
Bin Laden sought refuge with the Taliban in Afghanistan, forging a close relationship with Mullah Mohammed Omar. In 1998, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri co-signed a fatwa in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders which declared the killing of North Americans and their allies, as the duty of every Muslim to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the holy mosque in Mecca.
Osama bin Laden has claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. After the attacks, the US issued an ultimatum to the Taliban to turn over Bin Laden, their subsequent refusal led to the US bombing campaign of Afghanistan However, Bin Laden was not killed nor captured but is believed to have escaped over the mountains into Pakistan after the Battle of Tora Bora.
He remains at large, the only confirmed sightings of him are the videotapes that he himself has submitted to the Al Jazeera network. Claims are constantly made that pertain to the whereabouts of Bin Laden, although none have being definitively proven and indeed some have placed him in different places during overlapping time periods. | <urn:uuid:d9d761d7-2111-4c18-8c5c-eecdccd2e229> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://politics.ezinemark.com/osama-bin-laden-life-and-bio-1413ecf2b2c.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978537 | 734 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Before memories begin fading of the funny, feisty, combative former mayor of New York City, America would do well to pause one last time, and remember the greatest achievement of the late Ed Koch: his extraordinary, multi-billion-dollar program of building low-cost, affordable housing.
It's easy to lose perspective on the legacy of this larger-than-life character. As host of New York's only nightly political show, I got to sit and talk with Ed Koch every Tuesday night for the last two years, when he appeared on our "NY1 Wiseguys" segment, a weekly forum for retired politicians to weigh in on the issues of the day.
Koch's final appearance came less than three weeks before he died -- and to the very end, he was a dazzling showman, always ready with a quip, a quarrel or a crusade. All of us will miss him terribly.
But we shouldn't miss the main lesson of his mayoralty: Investing in low-cost housing helped families, preserved neighborhoods, and saved a city. And it might be used to do the same for the rest of the country.
In 1977, the year Koch was elected mayor, New York had been devastated by waves of arson, abandonment and economic decline, leaving entire neighborhoods strewn with rubble and vacant shells where apartments once stood. A front-page story in the New York Times captured the scene when President Jimmy Carter made a dramatic, unannounced trip to Charlotte Street in the South Bronx to see "block after block of burned-out and abandoned buildings, rubble-strewn lots and open fire hydrants."
Koch, who was elected a month after Carter's "sobering" visit, scrambled to organize a response to the blight but encountered a roadblock a few years later, when the Reagan administration effectively ended federal support for low-income housing, replacing a longstanding program with rent vouchers for the poor.
As the federal government got out of the housing business, Koch decided that New York would get in -- and get in big. In 1985, he announced a $4.4 billion plan to create 100,000 units of subsidized housing over a 10-year period, a number that later expanded to 252,000 units that eventually cost $5.1 billion.
The plan was audacious. It required massive rezoning of the city and coordination between multiple agencies. More importantly, it deployed New York's capital budget, normally used to pay for sidewalks, roads, bridges and government buildings.
Koch put the full faith and credit of the city on the line, borrowing the billions needed for rebuilding and trusting that a general economic recovery would provide the funds to repay bondholders. It was a gutsy move, coming barely a decade after New York's near-bankruptcy.
But the plan was a spectacular success. A veritable army of nonprofit, community-based housing developers worked in partnership with the city to reclaim and rebuild apartments, and neighborhoods like the South Bronx, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Harlem slowly reversed pernicious patterns of decline. | <urn:uuid:a3a66498-1c9f-4654-ae43-88bdc792db4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wptz.com/news/national/Louis-Lesson-from-Koch-Fix-housing/-/8869978/18438800/-/item/0/-/xrxjnr/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961425 | 631 | 2.25 | 2 |
It was toward the end of 2007 when Isaac Andrew Adjei first felt the pain in his left knee. He loved to play basketball and also ran track and field. Because Andrew was a very active child, his father assumed this was a sports injury, a possible stress fracture. They were, unfortunately, wrong.
When the pain in his knee was too much for Andrew to bear, he was not able to go to school; his mother and father took him to see the doctor. X-rays and blood checks were done, but with no results. They were told of the possibility of cancer; however, the doctor also felt there was a good chance it was a stress fracture. Andrew was placed on crutches for one month. Two weeks went by and the pain was still unbearable. On Feb. 11, 2008, he went in for a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
On Feb. 14, 2008 at 7:30 a.m., Andrew’s family was notified of the news. He was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a bone cancer which is commonly found in the bones around the knee. Andrew was, surprisingly, not scared when he was first diagnosed. “I was not scared until the first time I went to the hospital. At first, I was really only worried about graduating on time.”
For the next year, Andrew went through a total of 31 weeks of chemotherapy. He also endured an eight-hour surgery to remove a tumor, as well as his left knee, part of his tibia and most of his fibula. He has since been through strenuous physical therapy.
To hear, at the age of 16, that you will not play basketball or run again was tough for Andrew to digest. “Chemo was the worst part; it hindered me from doing what I wanted to do.” After the surgery, Andrew was unable to walk for seven months.
Andrew’s determination to succeed in school and his strength to persevere was recently rewarded. He was recently named the first place recipient of the “National Annual Achievement Award” from Club Z! Tutoring Services. Maggie Schilling, the area director for Club Z!, said, “Andrew’s strength and perseverance to maintain nearly perfect grades and continue his education, through what will be one of the toughest times of his life, is the reason he was named the first place recipient of the Annual Achievement Award.”
Ilesha Seyoum, Andrew’s Integrated Chemistry and Physics teacher, nominated Andrew for this award based on his supportive nature and encouragement to others even through his most difficult times. Seyoum says, “There were times when Andrew felt openly sad about his health; the loss of hair, changes in skin color, and extreme difficulty in learning to walk again with his prosthesis.”
The Annual Achievement is given once in the fall and again in the spring. The first place winner receives $2,000 from Club Z! for higher education. Andrew will be able to use his award to pay for room and board, books, supplies and/or tuition.
Andrew will be attending John Carroll University in the fall. He will be majoring in accounting and Japanese. Andrew’s goal is to graduate from John Carroll University, continue an additional two years of school, obtain a law degree, and someday start his own law firm.Read more | <urn:uuid:f5e307a2-6b1e-4c66-8fd6-4bda1db58f45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://atgeist.com/blog/tag/andrew-adjei/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991843 | 701 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Sept 15, 1921 - Aug 8, 2012 EDMOND Pearl Stein went home to be with our Lord Wednesday, August 8, 2012. A woman of deep faith and strong character, Pearl will be remembered for her unfaltering work ethic, endless wisdom, and comforting hugs. She lived her faith with a servant's heart. Pearl is free from suffering, and we celebrate the unfathomable joy that she has found in Heaven. Pearl Elizabeth Knoke was born in Columbia, South Dakota, on September 15, 1921, to William and Cora Knoke. Pearl worked as a legal secretary in San Francisco, California, after completing her education in Chicago. She wed Joseph Francis Stein on August 8, 1945. Pearl and Joe had two daughters, Joanne and Judy. They lost everything they owned in a range fire that swept their farm in Vail, South Dakota. To support his family, Joe found work with a steel subcontractor for major construction, such as bridges and dams. Pearl made a home for her family as they relocated through several states, including Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma. Following Joe's passing in 1973, she moved from Ponca City to Oklahoma City to be closer to her daughters. Pearl worked as a classified adviser for the Oklahoma Publishing Company before retiring to care for her grandson, Brian. Always willing to serve, Pearl was active in her local church and the United Methodist Women. She volunteered with the South Community Hospital Auxiliary, the Moore Public Library, and tutored several people in adult literacy. Pearl was preceded in death by her husband, Joe Stein; and her daughter, Judy Pinkston. She is survived by her daughter, Joanne Kurklin; her son-in-law, Mark; and her grandson, Brian. Services for Pearl will be on Monday, August 13, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. at New Life United Methodist Church in Moore, OK. She will be laid to rest at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery in Norman, OK.
Published in The Oklahoman on August 12, 2012 | <urn:uuid:cbcd9adf-6167-4b9f-a302-88e7ea57d0e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/oklahoman/obituary.aspx?n=PEARL-STEIN&pid=159084619 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97535 | 414 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The new Americans
Attorney John Whitbeck, 36, makes it a point to show up at events like Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, where he tries to tout the merits of the GOP. South Asians tend to vote Democratic.
Republican state delegate David Ramadan filed a bill this year that would officially recognize Diwali day.
Whitbeck, chairman of the 10th Congressional District Republican Committee, concedes his party did not do a great job in reaching out to Loudoun's newest citizens.
Between the 2000 and 2010 Census, Loudoun County's white population dropped from 83% to 69%. The county is now almost 15% Asian (a huge number are from the Indian subcontinent) and 13% Hispanic.
The rapidly changing demographics played a big role in Obama's victory here, as they did nationally.
"It all starts with the recognition that the cultural framework of Loudoun County includes them," Whitbeck says. "Our children go to the same schools yours do. You are just as able to be a part of the Republican Party as the white middle-class guy."
But that message has so far fallen short with many South Asians like accountant Hari Sharma. who sees the GOP as making token efforts to gain his vote. He'll watch the inauguration Monday with hope in his heart that this president will make America feel more like home to those who are fairly new here.
"Obama's policies are more supportive of immigrants," he says.
As someone who looks at income tax returns for a living, he thinks Obama is on the right track by increasing taxes for the wealthy. Sharma says Obama has done a good job in turning the economy around and thanks the president for his 401(k) rising back up after it was halved. He applauds Obama for starting the new year with an effort to curb gun violence.
"We come from a peace-loving culture," he says.
Sharma, 49, met his wife, Sarita, 39, after both left their native Nepal and enrolled in university in Virginia. They settled in Loudoun County in 2004, part of the explosive wave of immigrants looking for opportunities that are scarce back home. They worked for AOL for a while. Sharma now runs his own accounting business.
Their daughter Simron sits in her father's home office studying for two exams the next day. Math and journalism.
Sarita Sharma yells from the living room. "I want an A in both."
That's the South Asian ethic. Study hard or you won't be prosperous in life. Education guarantees are important for the Sharmas. They want Obama to set policies that will increase accessibility to college, make it more affordable, especially for foreign students.
They see Obama as a president who extends a hand to people of color. That's important to Sharma when South Asians are underrepresented institutionally. "We want our voices heard," he says.
Obama's reach to minorities is a big reason Barbara Mitchell says he is the right man to lead America at this juncture in the nation's history.
Mitchell, 53, was born to Panamanian parents but was adopted and raised by a white couple in Maryland. She had taken, as she calls it, a perilous journey of the heart to find her family.
On this dreary January day, her niece is visiting Ashburn from Panama City and Mitchell is trying out her brand new countertop grill to make blueberry pancakes.
She says she read that Virginia was one of the top 10 states for Latino voter impact. Last year, she worked hard to bring more Latinos in Ashburn and Loudoun County, many of whom hail from El Salvador and Mexico and are less educated than their Asian counterparts, into the political fold.
She set up shop in front of an international grocery. She registered only two people that day but handed out 40 flyers describing the path to citizenship and got an earful about how devastating deportations were.
It was an epiphany of sorts.
"Immigration. Immigration. Immigration reform," she says. That's what she wants to tell Obama before he takes the oath.
Stop the deportations that separate families and then help Latinos in this country get a better education, she says. Some 41% of Hispanics who are 20 or older do not have a regular high school diploma, according to the Pew Research Hispanic Center.
"Education matters so much in terms of breaking into the middle class," she says. "I just feel it's going to be really tough for young, impoverished Latinos."
A strong nation
Corporate executive Ralph Buona ran for a county supervisor post last year because he believed the area needed people like him with strong business backgrounds to deal with whirlwind growth. In 2000, there were just 30 schools in Loudoun County; now there are 82.
Buona, 57, is less interested in the social issues that make people think vivid red and blue.
"People's concerns in Ashburn are fiscal," he says. "I'd tell Obama to stop dictating and start being a leader. I'd say you're only half of the deal. You're great at increasing revenues but you have to start looking at costs."
It's a position that architect Bob Klancher agrees with. "It's the national debt that's crushing us," he says. "I don't understand what a lot of folks saw in the president that made them want to rehire him."
Klancher, 54, was raised in Cleveland by parents of Slovenian heritage who worshiped Jesus, FDR and JFK. He was the first one in his family to earn a college degree.
In his first presidential election in 1976, he just couldn't vote for Jimmy Carter. Carter's policies didn't make sense to him. He has voted Republican ever since.
But polarization of the nation, he believes, began in the 2000 election after the Supreme Court had to step in to help decide the Florida results.
"Both parties have drummed out the moderates. People take absolutist stances whether it's the Republicans with their no-tax pledge or the Democrats on spending. I am frustrated."
He wants Obama to bring back the optimism Americans once had that their children's lives will be better than theirs.
Younger Ashburn residents like Caleb Weitz understand Klancher's concerns. He's 25 but already stashes about 10% of his salary working at the Board of Supervisors office in his retirement account.
"As a young person, I'm not expecting to get Social Security," he says. "There's also a concern in my generation about how much debt is being handed down."
But Weitz has one other major concern.
As a young American, he is proud that his country has been a leader; that it has been able to help other nations, guide them to form democratic societies and adopt the values Americans cherish.
He's come to terms with the notion that he will perhaps retire without the safety nets his parents had, including Social Security. But he wants the country he grows old in to still be the world's superpower. | <urn:uuid:ab28f513-e9d5-4b3a-ad33-0a33883e450d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.krcrtv.com/news/politics/Voters-Mr-President-please-fix-America/-/14286002/18204750/-/item/1/-/wsy59nz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979722 | 1,452 | 1.625 | 2 |
Cooties, Cutting boards, Germs, Hairbrushes, Tissues
It is easier to catch a cold by borrowing a crayon or by turning off a faucet after washing your hands than by kissing on the lips. Why? Crayons, faucet handles, toothbrushes, telephones, and toys can be fomites!
What are they?
Fomites are inanimate objects that carry disease-causing germs that spread infections. Fomites are one of the most common ways that kids get sick. Diseases that spread by droplet transmission, fecal–oral transmission, or contact transmission often do so by means of fomites.
Toys in a daycare or in a doctor’s waiting room may have been handled (or mouthed) by contagious kids. Cutting boards and kitchen sponges may teem with bacteria from the uncooked food they have touched. Kids’ toothbrushes in the same drawer or cup may be the way that colds spread through the family.
Germs commonly live on fomites for minutes or hours or sometimes even longer. The most likely fomites are objects that frequently come into contact with uncooked food, toileting or diapering activities, dirt, or the bodies of living creatures (especially if the objects are moist or are stored in a dark place). Tissues, diapers, hairbrushes, forks, and spoons are common fomites. Dry, impersonal objects, such as walls, light fixtures, or door frames, are less likely to spread infection.
Diseases that commonly spread by means of fomites include the common cold, cold sores, conjunctivitis, coxsackievirus (hand-foot-mouth disease), croup, E. coli infection, fifth disease (“slap cheek”), Giardia, impetigo, influenza, lice, meningitis, pinworms, rotavirus diarrhea, and RSV. infection
How can it be prevented?
Fomites are an opportunity to interrupt the spread of infection. By recognizing them, avoiding them, disinfecting them, or cleansing the hands after touching them, the spread of many infections can be halted.
Related A-to-Z Information:
Cold Sores (Herpes simplex), Common Cold, Conjunctivitis (Pink eye), Contact Transmission, Coxsackievirus, Croup, Droplet Transmission, E. Coli, Fecal-Oral Transmission, Fifth Disease, Giardia Lamblia, Impetigo, Influenza (Flu), Meningitis, Pinworms, Rotavirus, RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus)
Last reviewed: January 12, 2009 | <urn:uuid:aa523fa3-8695-4822-b83f-7bd3aa60fa46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drgreene.com/articles/fomites/?tid=281 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91063 | 576 | 3.71875 | 4 |
You have the classic symptoms for nicotine overdose. Typical symptoms include:
- Nausea and vomiting
Here are common reasons for nicotine overdose:
- Using more than one patch at once
- Using too much nicotine gum along with the patch
- Smoking while you are on the patch
It is essential that you stop smoking the day you start the patch. And take the patch off if you begin smoking again.
If you werent smoking, using nicotine gum or using more than one patch, it may be that you need a lower dose of the patch.
Were you smoking less than 10 cigarettes a day before you used the patch? If so, you may have developed these symptoms because the nicotine in your patch was higher than that in the cigarettes youd been smoking.
Before trying the patch again, talk to your doctor. If these symptoms happen again even with a lower dose then remove the patch immediately. Call your doctors office for advice. But dont give up and go back to smoking.
You should not use the patch if:
- You are pregnant or breastfeeding
- You have had a recent heart attack or stroke
And if you have these conditions, dont use the patch until your doctor says its safe:
- Stomach ulcers
- High blood pressure
Symptoms of nicotine overdose usually dont last long. Once you pull off a patch and stop smoking, the nicotine rapidly gets cleared from your body. And you shouldnt get any long-term health effects from the nicotine overdose.
Its essential that you quit smoking to avoid long-term health problems. It kills nearly half a million Americans each year.
Quitting smoking is a tremendous challenge. There are many effective medical therapies available. In addition to nicotine replacement, there are other drugs that can help you quit. Examples include bupropion (Zyban, generic versions) and varenicline (Chantix). Stop-smoking programs, counseling and behavioral therapy are also effective. | <urn:uuid:0195cb7a-2650-4fcf-8789-f50d7dea6562> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSRNM000/21827/8489.html | 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 | 0.9285 | 399 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Making Cheese at Home #2 Whey Ricotta
I hate wasting food and one of the first things I noticed about cheese making is that there feels like a lot of waste. A minimum of four litres of milk is required for a mere 550g of cheese and three litres of that is whey, or the watery bit that’s left behind once the solids have been removed. With a bit of research I discovered that you don’t have to waste the whey when you make cheese. Apart from feeding it to the chooks, or using it in bread or as a stock substitute, I found a recipe for whey ricotta. More cheese, hooray!
Whey yields even less ricotta than the milk ricotta, but by some magical powers it is actually creamier and richer, so however small the amount it makes it is definitely worth giving it a go. It is delicious and addictive. I have tried it a couple of times, and the amount of cheese you get seems to vary on every occasion, possibly dependent on what type of cheese you have made in the first place.
So far I have worked out that the fresher the whey, the more ricotta you get and the cheese recipes that contain rennet seem to increase yield. I even read that the size of the pan effects yield, with tall, narrow pans being better than wide, shallow pans, but I haven’t managed to test this theory. I have also found that adding some extra milk, cream, or even buttermilk increases the yield. I have made some successful and not so successful cheeses using buttermilk as the starter culture, so I have been throwing the leftover buttermilk into the whey to increase the yield of the whey ricotta.
I also found a recipe for a Scandinavian whey cheese called Mesost. In theory this stuff seems like a great idea. You gently boil the whey until it caramelises and thickens, easy huh? Sadly not as easy as I thought and I haven’t achieved this one yet. I boiled the first one for hours and it just didn’t thicken, it boiled away to pretty much nothing. This led to the conclusion that you need to use whey from a recipe that contained rennet in order to aid the thickening process. Thinking I had it nailed I proceeded to make a second batch a week later. This one thickened nicely, but I took my eyes off it momentarily and it stuck solid to the bottom of the pan in a black, sticky mess. Four hours of boiling wasted. I may give it a third go, but I am a little hooked on the whey ricotta and I feel the Mesost might be an acquired taste for non-Scandinavians as the tiny spoonful that I managed to rescue from the top of the pan was quite sweet, almost like a toffee.
So what can you do with the whey ricotta? The final product has a much creamier texture than the whole milk ricotta so does not lend itself to quite the same uses. You could add some herbs and use it like a dip; you could spread it on toast with a drizzle of honey (too sweet for me, but friends rave about it); you can dollop it on pasta as you serve it instead of using Parmesan; or you can just eat it with a spoon (my personal preference).
The quantities for the recipe are just a guide and do not have to be exact.
3 litres Fresh Whey
250 ml milk, buttermilk or cream (you can add more than this, I usually add what I have in my fridge at the time. The more you add the greater the yield, but I find it becomes less creamy with the addition of a lot of extra milk)
30 ml apple cider vinegar
non iodised salt, to taste
Add the buttermilk to he whey if you are using it. Gradually bring the whey to 88 degrees Celsius over about 20 minutes. Add the cider vinegar and stir once, quickly. Put a lid on the pan and leave to stand for 15 minutes to allow the curds to form. If you over stir this the curds break up too much and you end up with what I have here, a very fine, delicate curd.
Now I have to confess the first time I made this ricotta, I thought it had failed and binned it. The curds for this ricotta are very fine, and on first glance look non-existent. You cannot drain this cheese as you would others as it is too delicate, but the extra time to lovingly drain is worth the effort when you taste the silky smooth result.
Set the very fine butter muslin in a colander over a bowl. Drain the whey a few ladle fulls at a time, into the muslin, being careful not to over handle the curds. Allow each ladle of whey to drain, before you add the next. Once you have a very liquid curd in the muslin, hang the curds above a bowl to allow the whey to continue to drip away, this should take about an hour. Once the curds have finished dripping you should be left with a heavenly, silky ricotta, good enough to eat!
I have edited this post after getting some advice from Susan at the Cheese Making Workshop. She achieved much stronger curds than me by not stirring the vinegar through the whey. I have also tried it that way, and it worked much better, but my curds have been more delicate at times. It is quite a temperamental process and I haven’t quite mastered the technique but I still think it’s worth the effort for the delicious, creamy ricotta. | <urn:uuid:32a10536-f0ba-4912-89be-217638c78287> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.niccooks.com/uncategorized/making-cheese-at-home-2-whey-ricotta/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965865 | 1,191 | 1.679688 | 2 |
By Anna Peirano
Over the weekend, the first ever marriage proposal by a gay man occurred in the halls of the White House.
Active duty U.S. Marine Corps captain Matthew Phelps dropped to his knee to pop the question to partner Ben Schock.
The original photo was shared on Facebook by the American Military Partner Association, and quickly went viral. It was also picked up by Towleroad, Gawker, and other media sites.
According to the Huffington Post, Phelps said he and Schock were "blown away by the amazing love and support we have received" after the photo went viral.
Phelps wrote, "Such a special night surrounded by wonderful people in an amazing place, and the best is still yet to come with Ben Schock. Thanks for all the wonderful greetings and messages, and thanks to Barack Obama and Michelle Obama for lending us your home for the occasion!"
And posted on Reddit, "Ten years ago when I enlisted, I never would have imagined the day that I would publicly propose to a boyfriend, much less at the White House while still on active duty as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps."
Earlier this year, at the White House reception in honor of LGBT Pride Month, a transgender man named Scout proposed to his partner, Liz Margolies. | <urn:uuid:94f73a7f-3c05-4d94-953d-25bd16de03bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dot429.com/articles/1293 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97484 | 268 | 1.554688 | 2 |
While Google’s antitrust inquiry might be all wrapped up and done Stateside, the European Union is in no hurry.
"We have taken note of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) decision, but we don't see that it has any direct implications for our investigation, for our discussions with Google, which are ongoing," Michael Jennings, a spokesman for the European Commission, told Reuters.
Google has been under pressure from Brussels since 2010 due to allegations that the search giant unfairly gives preference to its own services over those of competitors in its search results. Naturally, Google has denied the accusation.
"It may seem obvious, but people sometimes forget this—not every website can come out on top, or even appear on the first page of our results, so there will almost always be website owners who are unhappy about their rankings," wrote two Google vice presidents on the company's European Public Policy Blog in November 2010.
Presumably, the company is lobbying the EU with equal aplomb and intensity as it did to the FTC. | <urn:uuid:8f94076e-5922-4a70-ba8e-38537395c7dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/european-union-to-google-were-not-done-with-you-yet/?comments=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969102 | 209 | 1.570313 | 2 |
July 18, 2003 marked 35 years of Intel continuously advancing silicon technology and moving the industry forward. Intel celebrates past achievements and looks toward the future because, at Intel, innovation has no endpoint
This silver-anniversary publication outlines 25 defining events in Intel's history. View the company's first 25 years with a year-by-year timeline and collection of employee quotes and photographs.
This company history tells the story of Intel's start-up days amid the tumult of the late 1960s, and the two decades of microcomputing innovations and global expansion that followed. Take an inside look at Intel's groundbreaking products and the extraordinary employees who helped shape the technology we know today.
Many significant events happened at Intel in its early years. Explore the early successes, groundbreaking innovations, and rapid growth that transformed Intel from a modest technology startup to a billion-dollar multinational technology leader in its first 15 years.
Intel Annual Reports
In addition to the reports below you can get historical product datasheets, application notes, or photos in a non-technical capacity. Please note due to the obsolete nature of some materials, it may not be possible to fulfill your request.
Fill out the request form now >
If you're unable to locate a historical Intel document you need, please contact Museum Archives. | <urn:uuid:4ab60a4c-0f6c-4e9f-a946-906b2a8e26ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/history/museum-annual-reports.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916604 | 261 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The Australian Veterinary Association has developed a set of practical recommendations in a guide for dog trainers based on training methods based on positive reinforcement.
Reward-based training: a guide for dog trainers outlines the benefits of reward-based training and identifies some of the problems associated with alternative training methods. It also includes a number of case studies, examples of training and comprehensive list of references for further reading on the subject.
‘Positive reinforcement’ is a training method based on the simple approach of giving the dog something it wants to make behaviour more likely to occur again.
The AVA believes use of positive reinforcement is the most humane and effective training method as it avoids undesirable behavioural side effects. Positive reinforcement also makes training more enjoyable and helps to improve the bond between the trainer and the pet.
An example of reward-based training
For example, Sassy jumps up to greet people: her owners have tried pushing her down and kneeing her to knock her off balance when she jumps. This has not worked, in fact she now jumps from further away to avoid the knee. Sassy should be ignored if she jumps and only receive attention (including eye contact) when she has four paws on the ground. Only when she is standing or sitting should she be rewarded with attention and treats. | <urn:uuid:a21de946-17da-445c-bcee-8aec8ad0106e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ava.com.au/training | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961687 | 259 | 2.75 | 3 |
(CNN) – Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid may have ended over two years ago, but one enduring aspect of her campaign remains: the debt.
In an effort to help pay down his wife's remaining campaign debt, former President Bill Clinton is once again lending a hand to bring in donations.
Specifically, he is offering campaign donors the chance to win a day in New York City with him.
"Hillary's campaign is so close to paying off the last of her debt, but she's not there yet." Clinton writes in an email to supporters. "Will you consider helping her in this last phase by making a contribution to her campaign? If you enter by Thursday, December 16, you and a friend will have the chance to fly to New York to spend a day with me."
According to the Federal Election Commission, as of September 2010, Hillary Clinton's campaign debt was $479,010.00, and cash-on-hand was $391,254.86. The next update on Clinton's debt will be released on January 31, 2011.
A federal law known as the "Hatch Act" prohibits Secretary Clinton and other federal government employees from personally soliciting or accepting political contributions. The law does allow others to raise funds on Clinton's behalf, without her direct involvement.
–CNN Political Research Director Robert Yoon and Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:6e3799cf-d9c5-4613-a8cc-1ce1c256ee17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/14/bill-clinton-offers-big-apple-prize-to-pay-hillarys-campaign-debt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968269 | 284 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Readers of this blog already know how fiction can inspire real science and we’ve got another example to show you today: the electronic nose. Ray Bradbury’s science fiction classic Fahrenheit 451 features the concept, as does the 1994 children’s film Richie Rich.
In Richie Rich, Professor Keenbeam (who heads the research and development department for the Richs’ company) invents all sorts of technology, including an electronic nose that resembles a hairdryer with a pig’s nose on the front. It sounds strange but it becomes essential to the plot – it saves Richie’s parents from explosives hidden on their airplane. (Richie also uses it to detect what’s in his birthday presents.)
Electronic nose technology started gaining speed in 2001 with the E-nose from Joel White and John Kaeur at Tufts University. That electronic sniffer analyzed changes in stained DNA’s color as a result of exposure to a vapor. A newer electronic nose (ENose) from the Lewis Research Group at Caltech utilizes chemical sensors that are analyzed electronically. The applications of the new nose mimic its use in Richie Rich; it’s been used to detect mines and explosives. The Caltech ENose has also made its way on the International Space Station where it tested cabin air quality for 6 months.
The ENose has its uses and its limitations, of course. The mammalian olfactory system is complex and not easily mimicked. The human nose can distinguish between 10,000 odors. The ENose isn’t quite there yet, explains Nate Lewis, professor and head of the Lewis Research Group. “We will never break down the odor of Coca-Cola into the 200 compounds that are in Coca-Cola. But if you’re in a production line and you’re determining if the Coca-Cola is “good” or “bad,” [then] I don’t need to know what the 200 compounds are to tell you it’s different than the good stuff. This is what electronic noses have been used for.” While a human could detect the scent of Coca-Cola, the ENose is limited to analyzing the changes between good and bad Coca-Cola. But that’s the strength of the ENose as well; humans would have difficulty smelling the good soda from the bad soda. The ENose can also detect smells humans can’t, like mercury.
The ENose has potential to be used as a means of protection from hazardous environments or contaminated food. The device may have been a silly invention in a children’s film, but now it’s a reality with real world applications. And as Lewis explains, this advancement in science is something to get excited over. “I think it’s just important for people to realize that this is a really remarkably exciting time for science. Almost all of these things that we talked about wouldn’t really have been possible 20 years ago. On the electronic nose, it is a combination of materials, of systems, and signal processing that together synergistically make this possible. It’s a combination of what we know about biology, of what we’re learning about chemistry, and our ability to control materials.” | <urn:uuid:20062667-4c26-4f03-afcf-c0a67b8df31c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.scienceandentertainmentexchange.org/blog/nose-knows-electronic-nose | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937009 | 682 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Via: Posted by Dallas Lawrence, 2/2/2012, at mashable.com
Dallas Lawrence is the chief global digital strategist forBurson-Marsteller, one of the world’s leading public relations and communications firms. He is a Mashable contributor on emerging media trends, online reputation management and digital issue advocacy. You can connect with him on Twitter@dallaslawrence.
If an individual or activist group broke into an organization’s office, raided confidential materials and then burned the building to the ground, local, state and federal officials would have swarmed the crime scene in an all out effort to bring the perpetrators to justice for an act of terrorism. Meanwhile, savvy online audiences and members of the media almost dismissively refer to the online versions of these raiders as “hacktivists,” conjuring up images of harmless school kids having fun pushing the boundaries of online security.
As we saw this morning with the Susan G. Komen Foundation website hack -– and again as “Anonymous Brazil” signaled they had successfully “taken down” the website of Brazil’s largest state bank — these groups are anything but harmless. One study from 2011 identified the average financial impact of these types of breaches to be just north of $7 million per incident.
Whether you are a respected non-profit with a decades-long track record, or a state-owned financial institution in Latin America, organizations must diligently prepare for inevitable online intrusions and the challenging communications demands that result. There are four key considerations for organizations seeking to retain credibility and confidence as trusted stewards of information before and after a breach.
1. Think Ahead and Anticipate
The best offense is often the best defense — and this is certainly true in the online security game. Every organization involved in any form of data (online contributions, email petitions, online sales, social gaming, employee data, etc) is vulnerable to attack. Smart organizations are using their pre-hack peacetime wisely to invest in a forensics security assessment and to address identified weaknesses. In addition to the technical diligence, organizations must ensure their corporate communications, IT and legal teams understand who will be responsible for managing breaches and have a well planned rapid response crisis program in place.
2. Say Something
In the immediate aftermath of an attack, the lack of information can cause severe organizational paralysis. This paralysis hampers communications efforts, ultimately allowing external forces to shape the lens through which a response is viewed.
Identifying immediately what you know for certain and what you don’t know is critical. For example, organizations need to be prepared to address questions and concerns about the security of the system. Even though an activist may hijack a site to make a political point, it highlights a deeper potential for vulnerability that must be addressed.
Importantly, saying something does not mean saying everything. The rush to respond can have equally devastating consequences for the ill-informed and unprepared. Communicating what you know for certain and what you are doing to investigate — and even what you are still trying to determine — demonstrates responsiveness and transparency to stakeholders that rightly feel equally violated by the breach. Creating a direct response channel for those exposed — via an online registration system or a 24/7 call center — is another important sign of responsiveness. Total silence creates a vacuum of frustration that antagonists are only too happy to fill.
3. Know the Law
Every single state in the Union has separate reporting rules and regulations for what constitutes personally identifiable information (PII). These rules also govern when organizations that have been the victim of a breach must notify the public. Attempting to unravel this multi-state patchwork for the first time with your stakeholders, the media and law enforcement officials all demanding answers can be crippling.
Ensure that your team understands the regulations in each state — and country — you operate in, and make sure your compliance team is fully integrated with your communications team. Often, you will not be the arbiter of when to go public with news of your breach. The worst thing an organization can do from a reputational standpoint is to allow the narrative to shift from being the victim of an attack to the villain who failed to notify and protect those individuals whose data may have been compromised.
4. Remember, You’re Not Alone
In almost every case of online breaches, the “victims” number in the thousands — if not millions. It is not just the organization that has been violated, it is every employee whose social security number may have been exposed, every charitable donor who supported a cause, every business partner that shared data and every consumer who purchased a product. Keep these important groups informed and at the forefront of your communications efforts. They can be powerful advocates. Engaging quickly with local and federal law enforcement officials shows transparency and responsiveness — don’t be afraid to tell that story of cooperation.
In 2012, data will continue to emerge as the new form of global currency, and hacking will continue its evolution as the new face of popular protest. The fundamental reality for every business or organization is that everyone is now in the business of data — and its protection. | <urn:uuid:97d36326-7ed2-4fec-a3d5-11033ee8a112> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clipandshare.tumblr.com/tagged/crisis-management | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943137 | 1,052 | 1.835938 | 2 |
From the Viewpoints column of the March 2006 Perspectives
An Unlikely Database: Using the Internet Creatively in Historical Researchby
Earlier this year I was at the library on the University of Maryland campus to pick up a book that had just arrived through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). I had learned of the book about a month before and was excited to see itit was a catalog of patriotic covers (envelopes) printed in the North during the Civil War. My PhD research focuses on meanings of loyalty and disloyalty in the wartime Union, and these covers are wonderful examples of material culture that provide insight into how many Northerners understood what it meant to be faithful to the Constitution and the Union. With slogans like "Death to Traitors," portraits of President James Buchanan above the title "Judas," or depictions of Confederate President Jefferson Davis approaching the gallows, these envelopes reveal the marketability of concepts like treason and loyalty, while giving a good indication of where "patriotic" Northerners stood on the subject.
As I was leaving the circulation desk, I saw a professor of mine. I told him about the book and how I intended to use it in my dissertation. When he asked how I had come across the book and the idea to incorporate these visual images into my work, I sheepishly replied that I had stumbled across the title on eBay. During these early stages of working on my dissertation, I have been doing regular searches on eBay for item descriptions that include terms like "loyal," "treason," "Civil War," and "1860s." One of these searches turned up an auction for an envelope that featured the seal of the state of Pennsylvania, Liberty as a goddess, an eagle, a Union shield, and the motto "Pennsylvania: Loyal to the Union." In the item description was a reference to a book, The Catalog of Union Civil War Patriotic Covers, by William R. Weiss Jr., which is a comprehensive listing of thousands of these envelopes. So I looked up the book on WorldCat, placed a request through ILL, and a few weeks later had it in my hands.
Initially I felt a pang of shame for admitting how I had discovered this book. Online auctions and "relic" collecting all too often seem the province of amateur historians, Civil War buffs, reenactors, and popular readersnot of published, university-trained PhD students. But after a little reflection, I decided I ought to share my auction-research exploits with the community of scholars. After all, what I have found so tremendously helpful might also prove useful to other scholars as well.
I have been an eBay user since my sophomore year of college. My eBay user ID, gen.mcdowell, reveals where my interests were at the time: Major General Irvin McDowell, a Union commander during the American Civil War. Since that time my focus has remained in the Civil War era, but has moved from military aspects of the war into the political arena. Now I search for items related to Congress, the courts, political parties, and President Lincoln. My research interests are more academic than antiquarian. Nevertheless, my love affair with eBay has persisted, and I have found in the online auction an unprecedented research tool that has led me to some valuable primary and secondary sources.
Aside from the catalog of patriotic covers, I have located a number of other books and pamphlets from the Civil War era that I would never have found through basic searches on library catalog systems. I have also come across a few manuscripts (letters, diaries, and so on), broadside advertisements, and photographic images that I have purchased and will incorporate into my future historical work. The benefit of purchasing images and other pieces of material culture may be that when I eventually publish my dissertation, I will already own the rights to most of the illustrations I want to use (this may not be the case for scholars who work in more recent eras, though it is generally true for 19th-century historians like myself). Owning my own copies of photographs from the 1860s, for example, will save me tremendous reproduction and use costs as well as the administrative red tape that so often accompanies reproducing images held by private libraries and archival repositories.
The main reason eBay and other online stores (such as bookfinder.com or the Advanced Book Exchange) work so well as "research databases" or "finding aids" is the wide-ranging scope of their "collections." Sellers on eBay are entrepreneurial junk collectors who travel the planet picking up items at garage sales, flea markets, warehouses, barn sales, and estate auctions. Rare, unique, and uncataloged books; ephemera; and other items of historical interest constantly surface through this process, giving scholars a unique opportunity to consult or use items that they otherwise would never have discovered even after spending months searching through a multitude of library catalogs. Online auctions thus become a unique "library" or "catalog" for the use not only of collectors, but of scholars as well.
In part, the thrill of research comes from the discovery of an unexpected document after months of searching in all of the wrong places. Research is often serendipitous; it is chaotic, it is a winding path whereby scholars make their way through the piles of evidence they have unearthed. Each of us can remember times when a small lead or hunch turned into our first book or article, or the central theme of a dissertation or project. Web sites like eBay provide a forum for such random, fortuitous adventures to take place. My discovery of patriotic covers eventually led me to broaden my searches for "Copperhead"-related items as well (Copperheads were what Republicans called Democrats during the Civil War). I recently found an entire collection of handbills from the presidential election of 1864items I had never before seen. One in particular accused the Democratic candidate of associating himself with "all Turncoat Misguided Politicians, Copperheads, Union Splitters, Sons of Liberty, Traitors, Deserters, Canada Raiders, Escaped Rebel Prisoners, and all who have sympathy with the devoted 'Armistice Party.'" Mentioning several prominent Democrats, this small piece of paper said as much about how northerners understood treason and disloyalty as nearly any other document I have turned up in two years of research on the subject. I bid on the item up to $86 but, alas, on a graduate student budget, other bills seemed a little more pressing. Nevertheless, I now have the information I need either to search for the item in various libraries or to contact the winning bidder and ask his permission to reprint the item when it comes to publishing my dissertation. I have contacted other winning bidders in the past, asking for photocopies of their spoils, and they have almost always graciously complied.
In a sense, eBay has democratized the hobby of collecting. In the past only wealthy individuals who could travel the world, visit prestigious auction houses, and spend large sums of money could build impressive, specialized collections (of whatever interested them). Today ordinary Americans with access to the Internet and a credit card can build even more impressive and specialized collections. In the same way, these online "search engines" have opened up a world of information to scholars. The trouble is that these "catalogs" have unstable, chaotic databases. The average eBay auction last for only seven days. That means a search performed one week may turn up completely different results every other time it is performed. But that can only add to the thrill of the chase and the benefits of the hunt. With an ever-changing "library collection," the eBay "database" offers a dynamic catalog to scholars who are patiently and persistently willing to wade through it.
Scholars using online sites like eBay for historical research, of course, must be cautious. Aside from the fact that some listed items may be fraudulent or may have been stolen, items are also often misidentified or incorrectly listed. The provenance of an item is also rarely known. Nevertheless, as online databases (ProQuest, American Memory, JSTOR, etc.) become increasingly useful to scholars, historians would do well to take the skills they have learned using the databases intended for their use, and applying them to other "databases" that might be equally useful, though initially intended for other purposes.
Jonathan W. White is a PhD student in history at the University of Maryland at College Park. His dissertation, "'To Aid Their Rebel Friends': Treason, Loyalty and Nationalism in the Civil War North," examines Northerners' conceptions of loyalty, disloyalty, and treason as they waged a war for national existence. He has published articles in Civil War History, American Nineteenth Century History, and the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. He would like to thank Bernard Cooperman, professor of history at the University of Maryland, for offering valuable criticism and advice on this essay.
Copyright © American Historical AssociationLast Updated: January 28, 2008 4:00 PM | <urn:uuid:f3e7ac2c-3383-4f16-9cf0-df0a4de02e37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/Issues/2006/0603/0603vie3.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960569 | 1,850 | 2 | 2 |
We use the technology all the time — when we look up driving directions online or search for the nearest ATM — and now Chandler officials want to show you everything about geographic information systems.
"When Starbucks wants to build a new coffee shop, they use GIS for the analysis," said Scott Moore, the city’s acting GIS manager.
The mapping technology is used for almost every city service. Police and firefighters use it to guide their way to emergency calls, utility workers use it to locate underground water and power lines, and city planners use it to track Chandler’s development.
City mapmakers will hold an all-day open house Wednesday as part of National GIS Day.
The program will include demonstrations from most city departments showing how workers use the technology to do their jobs.
They will show what the public can find through the city’s Infomap, available through Chandler’s Web site, as well as tools that regular folks never see, such as the locations of water mains and individual police officers and blueprints of local schools.
"We have had discussions about security issues and there are no plans right now to make those available," city spokesman Dave Bigos said.
Nearly 400 Chandler students are expected to attend the open house during the first half of the day. The public is invited to attend from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Officials see the open house as a way to expose all residents to the new technology.
They also see it as a way to sell students on a potential career field.
Representatives from Arizona State University will also be on hand to talk about their GIS program.
Chandler began using GIS technology about two years ago in its police department to track officers’ locations using global positioning satellites, Moore said.
Today, police and firefighters use the technology for much more than finding addresses quickly. Now emergency workers have maps and layouts for almost all Chandler schools.
They’ll start adding the city’s large businesses soon, Moore said.
Chandler GIS Day
Where: Chandler Police Community Room, 250 E. Chicago St.
When: Wednesday, 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Cost: Free and open to the public | <urn:uuid:718a9a6c-2f3d-4bfc-a2a9-e9bf43c64faa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/money/article_f2dc85a1-372c-5e7e-8e43-82e65b75821f.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950729 | 466 | 1.992188 | 2 |
A lack of funds, and the failure to resolve both war crimes and missing persons cases, remain obstacles to the return to Kosovo of some 235,000 people displaced by the 1998-1999 war, says OSCE.
Despite the fact that the safe return of internally displaced persons, IDPs, to their homes is recognized as a fundamental right by Kosovo law, returnees are still confronted by serious obstacles to their sustainable reintegration, claims the latest report from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE.
According to the OSCE report presented last week, IDPs still face a limited access to public services, property rights and socio-economic opportunities.
In some areas there are tensions between the local communities and returnees which further obstructs the return process.
“Burglaries, looting and damage to symbolic sites seriously harm the returns process and perceptions of security among returnees and displaced persons,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission’s Human Rights and Communities Department, Eduard Pesendorfer.
“While some municipalities have reacted decisively to such incidents, expressing their support for affected communities through statements of condemnation and regular outreach activities, others have failed to take any action,” Pesendorfer added.
In most cases these frictions are rooted in allegations of unresolved war crimes or missing persons cases, although exacerbating factors such as ongoing property disputes or the overarching political situation also play a role.
“Only 10 municipalities drafted a municipal returns strategy or action plan for 2011/2012, leaving the remaining 24 assessed municipalities without any coherent policy to guide their work on returns and reintegration,” reads the report.
The report notes that the most successful examples of reintegration of returnees where in the areas with the adequate financial resources and firm political commitment from senior political officials, as well as international organizations.
“In municipalities with fewer financial resources and less political will, progress was markedly less significant and efforts to achieve durable solutions for IDPs were undermined,” states the report, noting that the most problematic areas are the towns of Gnjilane, Prizren, Pec and Pristina and the surrounding areas.
“The most serious incident occurred on July 6, 2012, when a Kosovo Serb returnee couple were shot to death in their home in the ethnically mixed village of Muhadzer Talinovac, in the area of the town of Gnjilane,” states the report.
For ten regional NGOs from Bosnia, Kosovo, Croatia and Serbia, gathered around the project called “Fostering NGO Human Rights Efforts”, the main obstacle for reintegration of returnees to Kosovo is the lack of cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia.
Their report, issued in October, notes that IDPs in Kosovo still lack an equal access to justice as the Kosovo authorities do not recognise documents issued by Serbia and vice versa which leaves IDPs in a legal gap.
The NGOs also point out the difficulties in obtaining the documents, such as diplomas, birth certificates and pension rights because there is no postal service between the two countries and their institutions. | <urn:uuid:9c913729-9a06-4fae-bbf9-fa5f53cd2baf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/idps-still-lack-safe-return-to-kosovo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954111 | 644 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Everyone tells me they know their employee rights. Some are even dumb enough to tell their employers they know their rights. The problem is, most of you are getting your legal information from courtroom TV shows or coworkers who know less than you do. Before you mouth off about your rights, here are some laws that most employees think exist - that don't.
• Wrongful termination
If you live in Montana, your employer can only fire you for just cause. Otherwise, they can fire you for any reason or no reason at all. They don’t have to have a good reason. They don’t even have to give a reason in most states. Arizona has a law based on the Montana law, but they took the "just cause" (and some other pro-employee stuff)out of it.
• Right to your file
No federal law requires private employers to allow employees to inspect or copy their own personnel files. Some states require employers to allow you to look at your file. Fewer allow you to copy items in your file. Many times, the only way you’ll find out what’s in your file is if you sue and you get it with a Request for Production, or if you subpoena it in unemployment or other proceedings.
No federal law requires employers to offer any work breaks for anything, even meals. Some state laws do require work breaks, but it’s not a majority. No law requires bathroom breaks, but it's probably a health issue, so OSHA might protect you if your employer denies bathroom breaks. If you're a nursing mother, you're entitled to an unpaid break to express breast milk if your employer is big enough. Some states also offer protection for nursing moms taking breaks.
• Hostile environment/harassment
Hostile work environment is not illegal. Harassment is not illegal. Bullying is not illegal. Hostile work environment or harassment due to race, age, sex, religion, national origin, disability, color, taking Family and Medical Leave, whistleblowing, or some other legally-protected status is illegal.
• Free speech
Only government employees have free speech protections, and those are very limited. You can be fired for your speech in the workplace or outside the workplace if you work for a private employer. You can't be fired for speaking on behalf of coworkers in order to improve work conditions or for objecting to something illegal, but be very careful to make sure you're protected before you speak out.
There is no law giving you privacy in your work emails or internet usage. If your employer is going to listen into or record phone calls, there are legal restrictions. You also have privacy rights in your medical information. There is no federal law protecting your social security number, but California and New York do offer limited protection against employers displaying your number.
• Right to work
Right to work doesn’t mean your employer can’t make you sign a non-compete agreement or restrict your ability to work for competitors after you leave. What it means is they can’t make you join a union in order to work there. Some states, but not all, are right to work states. If your company tells you that signing a noncompete agreement is meaningless or that it won’t be enforced, they are lying to you.
There is no law prohibiting an employer from retaliating against you for reporting or objecting to policy violations, ethical violations, bullying, or jerkish behavior. Only if you do something that puts you in a legally protected category are you protected from retaliation. Examples would be objecting to discrimination, making a worker’s comp claim, or taking Family and Medical Leave.
Discriminating against you for being you is never illegal. Favoritism, nepotism, being a jerk, are not illegal. Discrimination based on age, race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, color and genetic information are illegal.
• Individual liability
As much as it may give you joy to sue your boss personally, you probably can’t. Federal and many state discrimination laws, Family and Medical Leave Act (in some states - the courts disagree on this), and most other laws simply don’t allow it. The one exception is wage and hour violations. Some state discrimination laws do hold supervisors liable for violations. But what’s the point? Unless they’re rich, you probably won’t be able to collect anyhow.
Well that's wrong. What can I do about it?
Since most people think these laws exist, maybe it's time for them to actually be passed. Email your congressperson and state representative now and complain if you don't like the fact that you're not protected. Here are some places to find out how to contact your representative in Congress:
Here's a website with contact information for elected officials at the state and federal level:
Have a general question about employment law? Want to share a story? I welcome all comments and questions. I can't give legal advice here about specific situations but will be glad to discuss general issues and try to point you in the right direction. If you need legal advice, contact an employment lawyer in your state. Remember, anything you post here will be seen publicly, and I will comment publicly on it. It will not be confidential. Govern yourself accordingly. | <urn:uuid:c94c6e7f-2ab9-4d1d-8378-cf745b7cd66b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://employeeatty.blogspot.com/2011/02/top-ten-employment-laws-you-think-exist.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952533 | 1,099 | 1.804688 | 2 |
There be snakes.
Dear Word Detective: The phrase “getting into the weeds” is widely used to mean “getting into the details,” often with the inference of getting into too much detail. I have a guess about the origin of this phrase which is that it comes from harvesting. If you’re “getting into the weeds” your machine or tool is going closer to the ground than necessary to get most of the grain and is picking up weeds along with the crop. But I haven’t been able to confirm this notion or find any other ideas about the origin of the phrase. — Lynda.
At last, a question I feel uniquely geographically qualified to answer, living, as we do, surrounded by soybean, corn and wheat fields stretching to the horizon. And the answer is: What weeds? Maybe you haven’t kept up with modern agriculture, but farmers today spray such a potent cocktail of pesticides and herbicides on their “Roundup Ready” genetically-modified crops that the only “weeds” in those fields (mostly in corn fields, for obvious reasons) were planted on purpose by guys with ponytails who like to work at night.
So I doubt that farming is the source of “getting into the weeds,” especially given that the saying has really only become popular in the last six or seven years. If the phrase had come from agriculture, it almost certainly would have appeared long ago. But “into the weeds” now seems to be very, very popular, to the point where it earned its own article in the Christian Science Monitor in 2008. That article, in turn, heavily relied on an immensely helpful 2006 post on the excellent linguistics blog Language Log by Mark Liberman, who did some solid research on the phrase.
There seem to be two different uses of “getting into the weeds” out there in the wild. One is the “getting into too much (possibly irrelevant) detail” sense that you mention. This is evidently a very popular figure of speech among policy wonks, beltway insiders in Washington, D.C., and savvy observers such as Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall, who has frequently used the phrase in his articles. The other sense is a restaurant term invoked when the staff is overworked, everything is going wrong, and total chaos is only a burnt fillet of sole away. Back in 2000 there was actually a Molly Ringwald movie about the staff of a restaurant dealing with a bad night called “In the Weeds.”
My initial suspicion about “into the weeds” was that it had something to do with a golf ball landing in the “rough” (long grass), making it hard to extract without falling behind. I tend to think that golf is indeed the source of this sense of “getting into the weeds” meaning “losing control and being overwhelmed.” Other possible sources that have been suggested include a swimmer becoming tangled in seaweed and a boat having its propeller snarled by weeds in a lake.
But as Mark Liberman points out, the use of “into the weeds” to mean “delving deep into the details” doesn’t carry the same sense of painful confusion as the restaurant use, and such “weed wandering” is actually the sort of thing true policy wonks enjoy. As he says in his Language Log post, “The metaphor here seems to be that when you wander off the beaten path, you can explore arbitrary amounts of not-very-valuable intellectual foliage (“weeds”) without getting closer to your conceptual destination.” I think that image of “wandering off the beaten path to examine interesting details along the way” is the key to this sense of “getting into the weeds.”
Of course, some tasks actually require “getting into the weeds,” dealing with small but important details, such as the minutiae of financial or legislative analysis (“A panel of lawmakers is starting to ‘get into the weeds,’ as one state senator put it, and are hoping to write first drafts of possible new laws by the end of the summer addressing Montana’s wide-open medical marijuana scene,” Missoulian, 6/28/10). This sense of “getting into the weeds” would thus lie midway between the terror of a bad night as a waiter and the policy wonk’s eager embrace of statistical trends. Sometimes wandering around in the weeds is just all in a day’s work. | <urn:uuid:3f574d8b-72ac-4f33-9bdb-f49b77c07824> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://word-detective.com/2011/05/getting-into-the-weeds/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970277 | 962 | 1.890625 | 2 |
FREMONT -- A big earthquake along the Hayward Fault could rupture the Alameda County Water District's aging pipelines and leave Tri-City area residents without water right at a time they would most need it, the agency's officials say.
That alarming but all-too-plausible scenario has put the district in a race against time to upgrade 15 large pipelines buried along an 8½-mile stretch of fault line in Fremont and Union City.
To avoid such a crisis, the Fremont-based public agency plans to break ground next summer on the pipeline improvement project.
"These projects will help to keep the water flowing and allow us to recover more quickly after an earthquake," said John Weed, the district's board president.
The upgrade work is budgeted between $10 million and $13 million, said Robert Shaver, the district's engineering assistant general manager. The agency, which supplies drinking water to about 331,000 people in Fremont, Newark and Union City, expects to complete the project by December 2014.
"We want to get this work done as quickly as possible, because you don't know when the next earthquake is going to happen," Shaver said.
The Hayward Fault on average has caused a major earthquake about every 140 to 160 years for the past 1,800 years, said David Schwartz, a U.S. Geological Survey geologist. The last time that happened was in 1868 -- 144 years ago -- when a 7.0 quake centered in Hayward killed dozens of
"It (an earthquake) might go in five years, or in 40 years, or it might go tomorrow," Schwartz said. "But it will go sometime, that's the only thing we know with certainty."
The fault runs 55 miles through the East Bay, from as far south as Fremont's Warm Springs district to as far north as San Pablo Bay, where Contra Costa, Solano, Sonoma and Marin counties meet, Schwartz said.
The Alameda County Water District's operating expense budget for 2012-13 is $69 million, with an additional $28 million in capital expenditures, Shaver said. The pipeline upgrade is one of several infrastructure improvements funded by a $45 million bond the agency issued earlier this year..
More than half of the district's 15 pipelines are at least 40 years old, with the oldest constructed in 1957, officials said. Those pipes, whose diameter sizes range from 12 to 48 inches, are a high priority because they transport larger amounts of water from the district's major production and storage facilities than other ones, Shaver said.
More than 80 other pipelines -- most of which are six or eight inches in diameter -- are not part of this particular project, but agency officials aim to upgrade them in a separate plan proposed to start in a few years.
"We have prioritized our most important pipelines to be retrofitted first," Shaver said. "We're trying to replace enough of these pipeline segments so we can maximize water service on both sides of the fault after an (earthquake)."
In the project planned to start next summer, crews will replace seven pipes with a grade of steel that should absorb stress and movement generated during a large earthquake, preventing them from rupturing, district officials said. For eight other pipelines, workers will attach special equipment that will allow water to bypass damaged ones and flow across the fault after a natural disaster, Shaver said.
One pipeline site is in Union City and all others are in Fremont. The district plans to hold neighborhood meetings to notify residents of the street closures and traffic disruptions that will occur once construction starts, Shaver said.
Contact Chris De Benedetti at 510-353-7011. Follow him at Twitter.com/cdebenedetti.
The Alameda County Water District is planning to upgrade some of its aging large pipelines in southern Alameda County. | <urn:uuid:38542236-e18a-4a82-9a11-be7d6d934f98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_21675230/water-pipeline-upgrade-fremont-union-city-begin-next | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960054 | 785 | 1.6875 | 2 |
- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
This is the original version (as it was originally enacted).
(1)The orders to be made by the Governor-General under the preceding provisions of this Act shall make provision for the division of the Indian armed forces of His Majesty between the new Dominions, and for the command and governance of those forces until the division is completed.
(2)As from the appointed day, while any member of His Majesty's forces, other than His Majesty's Indian forces, is attached to or serving with any of His Majesty's Indian forces—
(a)he shall, subject to any provision to the contrary made by a law of the Legislature of the Dominion or Dominions concerned or by any order of the Governor-General under the preceding provisions of this Act, have, in relation to the Indian forces in question, the powers of command and punishment appropriate to his rank and functions ; but
(b)nothing in any enactment in force at the date of the. passing of this Act shall render him subject in any way to the law governing the Indian forces in question.
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: | <urn:uuid:a6c4da00-49de-40a3-8d86-12feae9db094> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/10-11/30/section/11/enacted | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949053 | 249 | 1.601563 | 2 |
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Rachel Mann's passionate and thoughtful new book Dazzling Darkness: gender, sexuality and God, published by the Iona Community's Wild Goose imprint, is being launched at Manchester Cathedral, in the Nave, today (6 November 2012) at 7pm. The bookshop will be provided by St Denys' Manchester, and the launch price is £9.50. Ekklesia sends warmest wishes for the launch.
Dazzling Darkness is a true story about searching for one's authentic self in the company of the living God. Rachel Mann has died many 'deaths' in the process, not the least of which was a change of sex, as well as coming to terms with chronic illness and disability.
Through these experiences she has discovered that darkness is as much a positive place as a negative one, inhabited by the Living God – the Dark God, the Hidden God. This is the God many of us, because we try to make our lives safe and comfortable, are too afraid to meet. This is the God who is most alive in those things we commonly associate with the Dark – failure, loss and brokenness.
The Christian church has legitimated certain ways of talking about God – male, fatherly, monarchical and so on. Many believe these descriptors tell the exhaustive truth about God. In accepting the complexity of her sexuality and identity, Rachel Mann has been able to explore with a greater freedom what God might look like to an 'unconventional creature' like her.
This passionate and nuanced book brings together poetry, feminist theology, and philosophy and explores them through one person’s hunger for wholeness, self-knowledge and God.
Rachel Mann is an Anglican parish priest and writer. She is Resident Poet at Manchester Cathedral and her work has been widely published in magazines, anthologies and newsprint.
* Rachel Mann's website resources: http://www.rachelmann.co.uk/
* Buy the book at Wild Goose Publications, and read an excerpt in PDF form: http://www.ionabooks.com/2427-9781849522410-Dazzling-Darkness.htmlTweet | <urn:uuid:ab04b3a4-5c4c-4305-8967-5993591e5196> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17315 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953341 | 482 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Coates doesn’t mention it, but it’s worth noting that many of the mechanisms of this “half-assed social contract” were forged and defended as progressive laws. The Davis-Bacon Act is the most famous example, in that it was designed to benefit white union members at the expense of equally qualified but less expensive black labor...
Take, for instance, the minimum wage. The founding fathers of progressivism at the University of Wisconsin, but also such figures as Sidney Webb, saw the discriminatory aspects of the minimum wage as among its chief selling points...So, in a nation where unions offer blacks a rare chance at higher wages, Goldberg portrays such wages as Liberal Fascist Racism; and in a nation where blacks traditionally get lower wages than whites, Goldberg portrays the minimum wage as Liberal Fascist Racism.
While for many years most American politicians were racist to a greater or less extent, Goldberg only notices the racism of those whose legacies have actually been of some help to non-white Americans. (For him Robert Byrd is eternally a Klansman, but William Buckley was a great man who couldn't have meant all those things he said.) In fact, any successful attempt to improve the lot of non-whites, such as diversity programs, Goldberg unfailingly identifies as the real racism ("If I give extra credit to Joe because he’s black, I’m making things just that much harder for Tom because he’s white"). I've never seen him speak well of a black person who wasn't a National Review author or a member of the Bush Administration. I'm not even sure if he likes Prince.
I used to think Goldberg did this shit because he came up as a fratty chucklehead who saw how much the grown-ups liked it when he acted "politically incorrect," and that he kept it up as part of a conscious attempt to peddle conservatism as the fun American ideology. But now that he is no longer remotely young and not even Goldberg is stupid enough to think conservatism is fun, I've come to the conclusion that he just doesn't like black people. I'm rather embarrassed that it took me this long to figure that out. The moron has outsmarted me at last! Farrrrt. | <urn:uuid:4d920870-5529-4807-bbb8-99acb9fdf8aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alicublog.blogspot.com/2013/01/thats-racist-no-seriously-that-is-racist.html | 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 | 0.982731 | 469 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Is marriage on the rocks?
U.S. marriage rates are dropping, while the approval ratings of cohabitation and childbearing before marriage are climbing.
Young adult Catholics don't live in a vacuum, of course-most are influenced by what's going on in society. When it comes to marriage, however, that influence is mostly negative.
In 2007 the National Marriage Project's annual "State of Our Unions" report focused on the future of marriage and, in particular, the attitudes and practices of young adults.
The statistics are stark: The U.S. marriage rate suffered a 24-percent drop between the early 1990s and early 2000s. In the same period non-marital cohabitation jumped 49 percent and the non-marital birthrate climbed 24 percent. In 1987 just 17 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds did not agree that they had "old-fashioned values about family and marriage," and by 2007 that number was 31 percent.
And an annual study of high school seniors found that, in 2005, more than 55 percent of teenagers accept out-of-wedlock childbearing as a "worthwhile lifestyle," close to 60 percent agree or mostly agree that living together before getting married is usually a good idea, and only about 35 percent say they agree or mostly agree that most people will have fuller and happier lives if they choose legal marriage rather than staying single or just living with someone.
In some ways, these bleak statistics may work in the church's favor. Julie and Todd Zasada have been married 12 years and have three young sons. Although they're both cradle Catholics, they only started going to Mass regularly after they were engaged because they wanted to get married in the church. After their kids were born, however, Sundays became harder to get through, and "it became a reason not to go," says Todd, 36. Then, four years ago, "Our marriage hit the rocks, and we were in uncharted waters," says Julie, 33.
Both came from families with divorce, and they didn't feel they had the role models or the tools they needed. "When we looked around at our friends and relatives [who had gone through divorce], we didn't see enough happiness in separation," says Todd. "We knew we didn't want that." Instead, in a last-ditch effort, they turned back to the church. After they joined a parish, Julie stumbled across a daylong workshop on the theology of the body, and "everything came together."
"When we started embracing what the church taught, our marriage started to flourish," says Julie. "It's been better than I ever imagined." Now the Zasadas co-chair the Catholic Family Institute at their parish, St. John the Evangelist near Merrillville, Indiana. They're also a presenting couple for Retrovaille, a program for couples in troubled marriages, and recently became certified to teach Natural Family Planning. "We're trying to fight for marriage. It's a lonely struggle at times. There's very little in our popular culture that supports being together when times get tough."
Todd says his own views have taken "nearly a 180" in the last few years. "We practiced contraception. We had sex before marriage. A lot of the things regular culture said were OK, when we thought about it, we couldn't come up with a good answer for what we thought before."
Julie has likewise been transformed: While her former thinking on church teaching was " ‘It's not for me,' " now, she says, "Whatever the church teaches on marriage, I want to learn it and I want to live it."
This article appeared in the September 2010 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 75, No. 9, page 16).
Image: Tom Wright | <urn:uuid:68cbd5cb-1fd9-4064-8f61-07b69e720b95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uscatholic.org/life/2010/07/marriage-rocks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987954 | 783 | 1.578125 | 2 |
In the 23 November 1871 issue of Nature appears "Science for Women", a sort of unsigned editorial. It is one in an interesting series of (for the most) part positive revelations about the education of women in the sciences, a step towards, well, not "equality", but a normalization, a rapprochement, extending the field of technical education away from the ruling/private school/university class of men towards women. This was happening at a time when there was not only a distinct division between men and women in education but also between the classes.
The article states in part:
"To place the matter on its right footing, it is essential that the work should be undertaken by the very best teachers we have at our command; and in London at least this is being done in a manner that must in time bring forth good fruit".
"The Ladies' Educational Association of London has wisely confined its teaching to that of the professors of University College, thus affording a guarantee that the instruction shall be of a first-class kind ; and now that the whole scientific staff of the College has placed its services at the disposal of the Association, and the Council has given permission for the lectures to be delivered within its walls, with full use of its philosophical apparatus, a scientific training is for the first time offered to ladies on a par with that obtained by its male students".
The article ends with:
"The advantage which the community, no less than individuals, will gain when some knowledge of Natural and Physical Science is spread throughout our female population, is so obvious that we have no fear but that the movement now happily inaugurated will spread and prosper in spite of temporary checks and disappointments".
The article is located in full at the University of Wisconsin digital collection, here. | <urn:uuid:a7caa925-0174-4df5-acda-6c8a1b94962a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2013/02/on-educating-women-in-the-sciences-nature-magazinem-1871.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970477 | 363 | 2.34375 | 2 |
From the Irish name Brighid, which is from the Gaelic word brìg meaning "strength".
The film "Bridget Jones's Diary", starring Renée Zellweger, was released in 2001 and based on the novel of the same name by Helen Fielding. Brigette Bardot is a French film actress
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Join now to receive free weekly newsletters tracking your baby’s development and yours throughout your pregnancy. | <urn:uuid:99a14c88-831b-40ff-ad5c-67e7d587c327> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.babycentre.co.uk/babyname/1027437/gitte | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907081 | 124 | 1.570313 | 2 |
What do I mean by that? Simply put, when the House majority and Senate minority swing for the fence, their conservative stripes are on display. Look no further than the Republican's bold plan to reform and save Medicare and you to realize they understand their mission. Whether they're talking about repeal of Obamacare, reining in job-destroying regulation or overhauling our tax code to create jobs, it’s clear they get it on the big issues.
However, when called upon to play small ball, many seem to leave their conservative credentials on the bench. On the issues that don't headline the cable news or Drudge, the influence of big-government special interests are omnipresent, pushing for hand outs, and carve outs. And all too often, that influence wins over some otherwise solidly conservative Members of Congress.
Take last week’s House vote to restore $320 million of taxpayer money to an ineffective grant program. According to The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis (CDA), firefighter safety grants had “no impact on fire casualties.” The analysis was robust, looking at more than 10,000 fire departments between 1999 and 2006.
Simply put, the grants, which were used for purchasing firefighting equipment including vehicles and exercise equipment, have been proven ineffective at reducing the number of casualties. The program even awarded grants – for some reason – to ACORN, the organization notorious for voter fraud.
Wisely, H.R.2017, the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, reduced funding for the program. But despite the program’s ineffectiveness, 333 Representatives supported an amendment by Congressman Steve LaTourette (R-OH) to restore $320 million to the program. The wasteful amendment had the support of 147 Republicans, including some otherwise solid conservatives.
With many in Congress talking about cutting TRILLIONS of dollars, 3 out of 4 Representatives couldn’t accept cutting MILLIONS. This sends a disturbing message, especially considering $320 million is just 0.002 % of our national debt. This is the very essence of small ball, and only 87 lawmakers got it right.
If Congress can’t even identify wasteful programs such as this to cut, how do we expect to slash our deficit? Neglecting any penny right now is not acceptable. How will Congress tackle the difficult challenges like entitlements and energy subsidies?
But the small ball problem is about more than wasting money on ineffective programs, it’s about understanding the proper role of the federal government. Spending on firefighter grants is not only wasteful, but it also blurs (or completely ignores) the distinction made between federal and state governments. | <urn:uuid:81f5fade-104e-4f39-93f4-60809f2731a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeneedham/2011/06/06/learning_to_play_small_ball | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947048 | 543 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The Preservers obelisk was a statue-like structure left by the Preservers on Amerind. It consisted of two parts, a base just under two meters in height, and a larger metallic fixture approximately 7.4 meters in height. Constructed of a material opaque to sensors, it resisted analysis. Its surface was partially covered by glyphs.
In 2268, Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise inadvertently hit on the tonal combination that opened the access hatch atop the base. As he was standing on the hatch at the time, this pitched him down the stairs into the base. Stunned, he attempted to regain his footing but succeeded only in incorrectly triggering a memory beam designed to instruct a user in the operation of the machinery contained within the obelisk - a powerful asteroid deflector. This robbed him of his memory. Because no other member of the landing party saw this accident or could discover their captain's whereabouts, they were forced to leave him on Amerind for several months while the Enterprise attempted to divert an asteroid on a collision course with Amerind.
Spock eventually discovered how to interpret the alien language, and learned the purpose of the structure. Returning to Amerind, he was able to restore Kirk's memories and between them, they discovered how to operate the deflector and save the people of Amerind. During his stay there, Kirk learned that the Preservers, whom the natives called "Wise Ones", left the secret of operating the deflector with one member of the tribe, the medicine man. In 2268, a man named Salish held that office. Salish's father did not wish to share his knowledge too soon, ultimately dying before he did, so Salish could not save his people.
The deflector mechanism was considerably more powerful than the deflection beams the Enterprise could generate with full engine power. It easily pushed the asteroid away with just a few seconds of contact. (TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome") | <urn:uuid:0bb8b38d-9678-469a-a0e9-844ef2b43688> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Obelisk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978272 | 399 | 3 | 3 |
Since the dawn of ancient civilizations, dogs have been called to service for civil, military, and defense purposes. At present, law enforcement agencies and the military utilize canines in a variety of capacities including as: patrol partners; apprehension assistants; trackers/locators/scouts; alerts; relayers; substance detectors including drugs, explosives, accelerants (arson investigation) and other contraband; guards/deterrents; and more. These dogs, along with their trainers and handlers, continue to provide a wide range of services, in several disciplines and situations, in our society.
Around the world, Police, Fire and other civil K-9s are called upon daily to protect and serve citizens. Similarly, in government service around the world, Detector Dogs are keeping us safer by locating explosives, narcotics, and other dangerous substances. In war and peace times, from mine detection to locating wounded soldiers, the stories of service by Military Working Dogs (MWDs) and their handlers are impressive. | <urn:uuid:b9f74235-7cbf-4c6a-9349-e857c6eaf868> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vipd.gov.vi/Departments/Office_of_the_Chiefs_of_Police/Special_Operations_Bureau/K-9_Unit.aspx | 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 | 0.945008 | 203 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Google (GOOG) is the most popular search engine, with a mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. But can it continue to deliver and deliver profitably?
Google has serious business problems on multiple fronts.
Mission and Strategy
A quick inventory of Google's offerings would indicate that it now goes way beyond its original mission. It offers social networking, a mobile operating system, cloud applications such as Google Apps, chat messengers, an email client, a web browser, etc. On its products page, it categorizes its products into three groups:
- Communicate, Show, and Share
- Go Mobile
Multiple offerings, even those that are unrelated, are not necessarily a strategic disadvantage. But when a company seriously and measurably digresses from its stated mission without updating it, at the very least it suggests ambiguity in future direction and lack of sound strategic planning. Consider Microsoft's (MSFT) mission statement: "At Microsoft, our mission and values are to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential."
Granted, this is not the most awe-inspiring mission, but it does encompass the entire scope of its offerings while leaving ample room for new products to be offered. Such a mission statement is typical, if not the most effective, for companies with multiple offerings. Apple's (AAPL) mission statement, in contrast and not extensively publicized, focuses simply on what it currently does without committing itself to what it may offer in the future. This, too, is honest and straightforward from an investor's perspective.
Furthermore, compared with its nearest competitors, although Google claims to be offering a plethora of products and services, these are not major offerings in the product inventory of its competitors or even per industry norms. For instance, beyond its core competence of search, which Google claims as top-notch along with its advertising service, it offers Google Docs, which are largely a free and immensely diluted version of the Microsoft Office suite. It has two versions of social networking, Orkut and the newly introduced Google+, in response to Facebook's (FB) growing popularity.
Anyone who's used Facebook and Orkut, would know immediately why Facebook is more popular. It offers a lot more than a friends list and goes way beyond simply social networking. Within the social media space, it is Facebook and Twitter that conjure an immediate association, not Orkut and Google+. Google Maps is arguably better than the maps on Microsoft Bing and Yahoo (YHOO) in terms of level of detail and possibly areas covered, but this reinforces a point made earlier.
In its original core offering of search services, which Google started with, it does exceed the capabilities of its nearest competitors. Both Google Maps and Search, along with advertisement capability -- in addition to its video sharing and search capability in YouTube -- do offer a service that is better, more intuitive and, in the case of YouTube, without major competition. However, as it moves away from its core expertise, the quality, scope, and depth of its offerings seem to diminish markedly.
On another public relations level, Google touts itself as an innovative company with multiple projects that are being continually tested and performed, future products that would offer no less than revolutionary technology that promises to change the way consumers use present information technology. The now retired Google Labs was one outlet to communicate the latest on its research. However, when I compare Google's latest innovation to its nearest competitors such as Microsoft, Apple, and Oracle, I find that what it touts as innovative is the equivalent of a freebie offered by its competitors.
If Google offers the Android mobile operating system, Apple, in order to offer smartphones, develops not only the operating system but the hardware device itself, including its internal components such as processors, chips, and memory components. So does Nokia (NOK). Granted, Microsoft offers only a mobile operating system, but its operating system is arguably more advanced than Android, which is freely distributable and has more security problems than any competing operating system owing to its open nature.
Google is also facing multiple lawsuits over Android's patents and has had to buy Motorola in a rush to protect itself and build its pool of patents related to mobile phones. From an investor's perspective, the acquisition of Motorola Mobility for a premium of $12.5 billion was more in the nature of a fire extinguisher than its genuine intent to enter the hardware mobile platform industry. Furthermore, for Microsoft, the mobile operating system is a logical extension of its PC operating systems, with the expectation, both of consumers and investors, of the same security, stability, and intuitiveness that is a hallmark of the latest Windows PC operating systems.
Again, Google offers Gmail, which it claims is more intuitive, smarter, and better than any service on the market. Gmail does group email conversations making it easier to trace out older messages and a few other features that make it look intuitive -- including a generous email storage capacity of 10GB. However, while it is touted as a major innovative product, included also as part of its business tools named Google Apps for Business, a free email service is offered by many firms, including its major competitors Yahoo and Microsoft.
There are also indications, internally, of an organization-wide strategic shift as Google has increasingly moved away from its core offerings. Under these circumstances, investors are well-advised to adopt a wait-and-see approach in relation to Google's stock before buying. Those who already own stock may want to sell it, if attractive, or adopt a longer-term buy-and-hold strategy of greater than five years and possibly up to a decade.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. | <urn:uuid:e96291a0-643b-4a6b-8bf4-bca31f8fc047> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seekingalpha.com/article/582851-google-could-tumble-on-non-core-focus-by-2013 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957694 | 1,180 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The power of the people to create change is evident in legislation that Republican Gov. John Kasich is floating to protect the Lake Erie watershed from industry-driven interests favored by some in his own party.
Last summer, the governor was inundated with telephone calls from Ohioans --furious about a bill bullied through the Statehouse by GOP State Rep. Lynn Wachtmann of Napoleon and former State Sen. Tim Grendell, a Chesterland Republican. The bill would have opened the floodgates for big business to tap into Lake Erie water. (Wachtmann, by the way, is president of a bottling company.)
Kasich used his first veto to kill the bill.
His much-improved proposal would limit the amount of water businesses can siphon from the lake before triggering tighter regulatory controls. It also heightens safeguards on "high quality" streams and tributaries that flow into the lake.
Environmentalists want stronger oversight and tougher consequences for companies that fail to comply. There also is concern that sections of the legislation violate the Great Lakes Compact.
Kasich should be commended, though. The people spoke; he listened. Now he needs to include the public again to improve his legislation. | <urn:uuid:f526e3b7-019c-41eb-af6e-931cc2502373> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/11/ohio_gov_john_kasichs_proposed.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965489 | 249 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Pulitzer Prize-winning author John McPhee (right), Princeton's Ferris Professor of Journalism, has taught his legendary class on writing at the University for more than 30 years. Senior Monica Wojcik (left), who took McPhee’s class two years ago, said, “I found that he knew my papers almost better than I knew them — down to the last semicolon — and we’d dissect these papers down to the semicolons.” Wojcik and McPhee recently reviewed her story “The wOOt Files,” which was written for McPhee’s course and will be published later this year in an anthology titled “The Best Creative Nonfiction.”
Photo: Denise Applewhite
At left: To help students in his "Creative Nonfiction" class understand how a piece of writing is assembled, McPhee sketches primitive diagrams that illustrate a story's structure. This diagram maps out the narrative line of McPhee's "Travels in Georgia," his account of a journey through rural Georgia with a research biologist who retrieves dead animals from the road and cooks them. McPhee takes the reader through his unusual repasts — fried snapping turtle, roasted weasel and muskrat chili — with a digression for a visit to a stream-channelization project. The story appeared in the collection "Pieces of the Frame."
Assembling the written word: McPhee reveals how the pieces go together
Posted May 7, 2007; 10:00 a.m.
From the April 30, 2007, Princeton Weekly Bulletin
For John McPhee, the most significant element of putting together one of his famed New Yorker magazine articles is figuring out the structure.
"I'm obsessed with the structure of pieces of writing," explained McPhee, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Princeton's Ferris Professor of Journalism, who has taught his legendary class on writing at the University for more than 30 years.
For his students, McPhee sketches primitive diagrams — a horizontal line with loops above and below it to represent the tangents along the storyline, a circle with lines shooting out of it that denote narrative pathways — to illustrate how a piece of writing is assembled. The "doodles," as he calls them, are projected on a screen in front of the class.
"Nonfiction writers have been out collecting material and now they're getting ready to write, and they've got a great mound of stuff on a table," said McPhee, who also is a staff writer for The New Yorker. "What are they going to do with it? When I was young, I was so bewildered about how to cope with all that material. Leaning on structural planning is what got me out from under a 50-ton rock that was lying on my chest."
It makes sense that McPhee would seek to take apart, understand and explain a piece of writing, since he has sought to dissect and examine the nature of everything from oranges to airships in a 50-year career that has established him as arguably the most gifted nonfiction writer working today.
In "Uncommon Carriers," his latest book, McPhee explores the way the transportation of goods in the United States is structured — from the coal trains traveling through Nebraska and Kansas to the workings of the UPS hub in Louisville, Ky., from the 18-wheeler going cross country with a load of monoethanolomine to a towboat pushing a string of barges up the Illinois River.
His preoccupation with the structure of stories goes back to his English teacher at Princeton High School, Olive McKee. She demanded that every piece of writing "be defended with a structural outline," he said. "She couldn't care less what you wrote about, or if it was fact or fiction, but it had to have this little doodle."
McPhee requires the same of the 16 students — all sophomores — in his "Creative Nonfiction" course, in which students discuss and practice the craft of writing through reading, listening to guest lecturers like New Yorker writers Ian Frazier and Mark Singer and, most critically, meeting one-on-one with McPhee for private conferences about their work. After McPhee marks up the students' papers, he sits down with each student and goes over the writing line by line.
Senior Monica Wojcik relished her meetings with McPhee because he treated her as a fellow writer, she said. "He took each word that I wrote seriously," she said. "I found that he knew my papers almost better than I knew them — down to the last semicolon — and we'd dissect these papers down to the semicolons."
McPhee's comments were offered as suggestions, not directives, she said.
"He started each conference by saying that I should think of him as an editor, but feel free to toss out his suggestions if I didn't agree," Wojcik said.
Students write nine pieces over the course of a semester, mostly on subjects they select. Topics have ranged from auditioning for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey clown college to the life of a bagpiper on the Staten Island Ferry to a man who introduced himself to a student on a bench in Central Park as "the poet O."
McPhee's class "changed my life," said Jim Kelly, managing editor of Time Inc. and a member of the class of 1976. Kelly still has all the papers he wrote for McPhee's class, marked up with his professor's copious comments. One of McPhee's most valuable lessons, Kelly said, was the curiosity he exhibited for all kinds of subjects.
"Journalists tend to have specialties after a while, and John has never really had a specialty," Kelly said. "He is a marvel of curiosity and exhilaration about the topic he happens to be writing about, and I was greatly taken with that."
Other former students include David Remnick, now The New Yorker's editor ("I'm proud of the fact that he's turned down work of mine," McPhee said); Richard Stengel, managing editor of Time Magazine; and Peter Hessler, The New Yorker's China correspondent.
"John McPhee teaches you to communicate in plain English about ideas as unfathomable and complex as plate tectonics, and make them totally familiar and engaging," said David Spitz, a member of the class of 1998 who develops marketing strategies for communications services group WPP. "In a business world that is increasingly specialized, and therefore full of technical jargon, it is probably the most valuable lesson I took from any course at Princeton."
Roots in Princeton
Born and raised in Princeton, McPhee attended elementary school in the building at 185 Nassau St. that now houses Princeton's programs in creative writing and other arts. His mother wasn't happy with his decision to stay in town and matriculate at the University, where his father was an athletic team physician.
"My mother said, 'If you're going to go to college right here in this town — if you insist on that — you're going away for a year because you're immature and you need to get out of here,'" McPhee recalled. After a year at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, he returned and graduated as a member of Princeton's class of 1953.
And except for a few years living in New York City and Cambridge, England, McPhee has defied his mother's advice and remained in Princeton, using it as his home base as he has traveled around the world researching pieces for The New Yorker.
Most of the topics he has explored in his writing, McPhee said, have roots in his childhood.
"If you took a list of all the things I've ever written and put a check mark beside the ones relating to something I was interested in when I was in college or before, 90 percent would be checked," he said.
In the course of writing 27 books, McPhee has explored topics as diverse as cattle rustling in Nevada ("Irons in the Fire"), birch-bark canoes sewn and lashed by hand in New Hampshire ("The Survival of the Bark Canoe") and the grooming of the lawns of Wimbledon (part of a collection titled "A Roomful of Hovings"). His sweeping work about the geology of North America, written in stages over 20 years and later collected in a single book called "Annals of the Former World," won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1999. Much of the content of his books originally has appeared in The New Yorker.
"What makes a piece of John McPhee's reportage so reliably superior?" Christopher Lehmann-Haupt wrote in The New York Times. "It is easy to identify the ingredients. Most obviously, he finds interesting things to write about. ... Then there is his facility for dreaming up odd and out-of-the-way approaches to his subjects. ... Add to this his knack for illustrating with amusing anecdotes. ... And there you have an approximate John McPhee recipe, lacking only the dramatic confrontations, the interesting characters and the unusual vantage points, which I neglected to mention."
The first piece in his latest book, "Uncommon Carriers," came about after McPhee received a letter from a truck driver named Don Ainsworth suggesting that McPhee come on the road with him.
"I wrote him back and said, 'Well, tell me what you do,'" said McPhee. They corresponded for five years, until McPhee decided to take a ride with Ainsworth, who typically doesn't know his destination more than a day or two in advance. With a few hours' notice, McPhee flew to Atlanta, took a taxi to a truck stop and became Ainsworth's companion for a 3,190-mile ride from Atlanta to Tacoma.
McPhee's piece about the experience, "A Fleet of One," portrays Ainsworth as the exacting captain of a 79,000-pound ship who studies and practices truck driving with the thoughtfulness and precision of an artisan. Ainsworth, for example, is so vain about his chemical tanker that he will only visit certain high-end truck washes where specially treated water and hand-brushing is used. The result? "You could part your hair in the side of his truck," McPhee writes.
In that piece and six others in the book, McPhee explains the intricacies of the fields of transportation he describes — from the lessons learned at a ship-handling school on a pond in the foothills of the French Alps to his ride in the cab of a coal train in Wyoming — with so much absorbing detail and precise explanation that the reader is inextricably drawn into these remote worlds.
McPhee spent a long time contemplating the organization of "A Fleet of One," finally settling on a chronological opening and conclusion, with non-chronological portions in between. When he had his students read it for class, he supplied them with the requisite doodle to demonstrate his thinking.
"If I'm looking over their shoulders at their pieces of writing, the reverse goes on in the course, too — they look over my shoulder," McPhee said. "I'm not here because I'm some trained professional. I'm here because I'm a professional writer, and this writer is going to show them how he goes about what he does." | <urn:uuid:e066cd3e-d549-4364-ad3c-e3c5d2d86c17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S17/83/14G28/index.xml?section= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981359 | 2,388 | 2.078125 | 2 |
A baked apple charlotte is a quintessentially British pudding. In its very traditional form, it involves slices of day-old white bread, moulded into a round casing, cemented with lashings of butter, a rich filling of apples and yet more butter - that is baked until the bread is golden. It is usually served with oodles of custard - and is even sometimes made with custard in the filling. Most charlottes are served cool, so they are more common in warmer seasons.
The apple charlotte has a long and prestigious history, appearing in late 18th century literature and more recently (and maybe less prestigiously, some would argue) in Downtown Abbey. Some say that this pudding was named in honour of Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), wife of George III, whose reign coincided with the emergence of this lovely concoction. The Queen was such a lover of the apple, that she actually became the patron of apple growers. Others suggest that the apple charlotte is a corruption of the Old English word charlyt meaning "a dish of custard". And yet others say that the dessert takes its name from Alexander I's sister-in-law, Charlotte of Prussia.
Everyone from Delia to Julia Child has a version of the apple charlotte; and then there is the anitpodean 1960s twist, straight from my Nana's recipe notes. Where the English version has the custard served alongside the pudding - or in the filling, the Aussie version has it straight in the pastry. I'm fairly sure the etymology of this recipe is to be found in a dusty 1960's edition of the Australian Women's Weekly. It is one of the dishes that stands out for my lovely Uncle, from the repotoire of my Nana's cooking. Like my uncle, I wouldn't be surprised if many Australians who grew up in the 1960s would remember this dessert featuring on the laminex dinner table on a hot summer evening.
In any event, here is Nan's version, that was immortaised in her notebook in elegant cursive script, dated March 1968:
Pastry2 cups plain flour
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup custard powder
1/2 cup cornflour
2 tablespoons of icing sugar
250g of butter or substitute
Water to mix
Filling8 medium sized apples (simmered with water until soft)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
(Nana's note: while stewing the apples, you can add 1/4 cup of sugar if the apples are tart; and 60g butter)
Icing1 cup of icing sugar
4 small passion fruit
To make the filling:
Peel and core apples, slice and place in a saucepan with a little water (and the sugar and butter if using). Simmer until apples are soft.
To make the pastry:
Step 1: sift dry ingredients into a bowl and rub in cubed, cold pieces of the butter - until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Mix to a stiff dough with water - then allow to chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
Step 2: roll out two thirds of the pastry to line the base of a greased flan tin (with removable base). Ease the pastry into the base of the pan and around the sides of the tin. Spoon in cooled apple filling and sprinkle with nutmeg. Brush the edges of the pastry with milk.
Step 3: Roll out the remaining pastry and press down lightly over apple, sealing the edges.
Step 4: Neatly trim the edges of the pastry and bake in a very hot oven for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to moderate and bake for around 20 mins.
Step 5: allow to cool completely by placing in the refrigerator. When completely cool, pour over icing and smooth over the top of the pie. Allow the icing to set before serving.
To make the icing:
Sift icing sugar into a bowl and then add passion fruit pulp and stir until smooth. You may need to add a little water to give a good consistency to the icing. | <urn:uuid:73f5de78-35ec-4afb-8954-b697dcff5f1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mulberrypomegranate.blogspot.com/2013/01/nana-apple-charlotte.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943255 | 862 | 2.203125 | 2 |
A new virtual reality simulator—including sophisticated 3-D graphics and tactile feedback—provides neurosurgery trainees with valuable opportunities to practice essential skills and techniques for brain cancer surgery, according to a paper in the September issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
The prototype system, called NeuroTouch, uses 3-D graphics and haptic technology to provide a realistic look and feel for practice in performing common tasks in brain cancer surgery. Lead author Sébastien Delorme, PhD, of the National Research Council Canada and colleagues believe the NeuroTouch system could enhance acquisition and assessment of technical skills for neurosurgeons in training.
The NeuroTouch system was developed by a team of more than 50 experts from the National Research Council Canada, with input from surgeons at more than 20 Canadian teaching hospitals. The goal was to design a simulation system to provide neurosurgical trainees with opportunities to practice basic surgical skills. The NeuroTouch software produces 3-D graphics, simulating what the neurosurgeon sees through the operating microscope during surgery, including detailed, lifelike renderings of brain tissue, blood vessels and tumors.
The system also includes haptic tool manipulators, providing tactile feedback similar to what the surgeon would feel during surgery. The simulator runs on computers that, while powerful, are similar to those used to run popular games. The researchers designed training tasks to simulate common neurosurgery procedures using the NeuroTouch. In one task, the surgeon is to remove a brain tumor while leaving normal tissues intact, using two different suction devices. In this simulation, the system provides touch and visual cues to discriminate between healthy tissue and brain tumor.
In the other task, the surgeon must remove a vascularized tumor while controlling blood loss. The blood vessels and tissues look realistic, including normal pulsations. The vessels bleed when the surgeon applies a cutting tool and stop bleeding when he or she uses a simulated cautery tool. Both tasks were developed using 3D reconstructions of magnetic resonance imaging scan data from actual patients. With further development, the system may be used not only to practice basic procedures, but even to allow neurosurgeons to simulate and practice actual operations, based on the patient's own MRI scan.
During the development process, the researchers received feedback through an advisory network of teaching hospitals. The 3-D visual graphics received high praise, although the tactile feedback system came in for more criticism. Surgeons testing the system also suggested improvements to the ergonomics of using the simulator.
Neurosurgical residency training programs are challenged to make the most of their resources while maximizing training opportunities for residents. About 90 percent of surgical training is received in the operating room, where residents learn procedures by assisting surgeons with hundreds of operations. Medical simulators—similar to those used to train airline pilots—are increasingly viewed as a cost-effective complement to traditional surgical training. For example, a commercially available simulator has proven effective in helping trainees perform minimally invasive gallbladder surgery more rapidly, with a lower risk of patient injury.
The NeuroTouch system appears to be a promising tool for extending virtual reality technology to teaching common and important neurosurgery techniques. While it is not the first neurosurgical simulator, it provides key advances over previous systems, particularly in terms of providing real-time graphics and tactile feedback.
The next step will be to evaluate the new system in actual neurosurgical training programs. "First generation NeuroTouch prototypes have been set up in seven teaching hospitals across Canada, to be used for beta testing and validation and evaluated for integration in a neurosurgery training curriculum," according to Dr. Delorme and colleagues, and a new generation of NeuroTouch simulators is currently being deployed worldwide. | <urn:uuid:0122526a-77c0-430e-be71-456cd9c6d877> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.surgicalproductsmag.com/news/2012/09/simulator-key-teaching-surgical-procedures-brain-cancer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941431 | 785 | 2.625 | 3 |
On Friday night, January 7th, Comet Machholz visits the Pleiades.
January 5, 2005: A cloud of gas bigger than the planet Jupiter, glowing alien green, is about to sweep past the Seven Sisters in Taurus. Got binoculars? You can watch it happen.
This is how the sky looks almost any evening in January. Except on January 7th there's something extra: the green cloud.
Look 2o to the right of the Pleiades. (If you live in the southern hemisphere, look to the left.) The tip of your pinky finger, held at arms length is about 1o wide, so 2o is two pinkies. The cloud resembles a faint and fuzzy star, barely visible to the unaided eye, but easy to see through binoculars.
If you've followed these instructions, you've just found Comet Machholz.
Above: Comet Machholz (right) approaching the Pleiades (left) on January 5th. Photo credit: Peter Lawrence of Selsey, UK.
The cloud is the comet's wispy atmosphere or, as an astronomer would say, its "coma." With a diameter greater than 450,000 km, the coma is at least three times wider than Jupiter. Yet the comet itself is tiny. Comets are, basically, asteroids made of dusty dirty ice and this one is probably no more than a few kilometers wide, a miniscule nugget hidden deep inside its own atmosphere.
Astronomers have been watching Comet Machholz approach Earth since amateur comet-hunter Don Machholz discovered it in August 2004. This week it makes its closest approach to our planet: 52 million km (0.35 AU) away. That's not very close, which is why Comet Machholz looks like a faint fuzzball and not a jaw-dropping Great Comet.
Still, it is pretty. Try looking through a small telescope. The comet not only has a beautiful green atmosphere, but also two tails.
Above: Comet Machholz on Jan. 1st. The ion tail points up, the dust tail down. Photo credit: Paolo Candy of the Cimini Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium, Italy.
One tail is the ion tail. It's made of electrically charged atoms and molecules (ions) blown away from the coma by the solar wind. This tail points straight away from the sun. Gusts of solar wind can cause the ion tail to swing back and forth, to develop curlicues and temporary knots. Amateur astronomers have seen this happen in recent weeks.
The other tail is the dust tail. Comet dust is weightier than gas. It resists solar wind pressure and lingers behind the comet, tracing its orbit. Solar wind gusts have little effect on the dust tail.
Everything you see when you look at Comet Machholz--its giant coma and its long tails-- comes from the icy asteroid-sized "nugget" in the middle. Astronomers call this "the nucleus." When sunlight hits the nucleus, fragile ices vaporize, spewing jets of the dust and gas into space. These jets feed the coma and provide raw material for the tails.
Right: The European Space Agency's Giotto probe penetrated the coma of Halley's Comet in 1986 and took this picture of its spewing nucleus. [More]
A frequently-asked question: Why do some comet atmospheres glow green?
Answer: The coma contains cyanogen (CN), a poisonous gas, and diatomic carbon (C2). Both of these substances glow green when illuminated by sunlight. This is called "resonant fluorescence."
The Pleiades, on the other hand, glow blue. Why?
The Pleiades are a clutch of baby stars 400 light-years away. They formed 100 million years ago, during the age of dinosaurs on Earth, from a collapsing cloud of interstellar gas. The biggest and brightest Pleiades are blue-white and five times wider than the sun. Blue starlight reflecting from wisps of gas threading through the cluster give the ensemble a distinctly blue tint.
A green comet, a blue star cluster, a close encounter: don't miss it! | <urn:uuid:3df7d40a-ee3a-4761-a861-ec3af1a16efc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/05jan_machholz/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915234 | 874 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Jewish Practices 101
"Judaism is about how to live, not just what to believe," writes one contemporary observer. Jewish daily life and practice is how Jews do things--day in and day out, and week after week--that embody the ideals and standards expressed in Judaism's sacred writings and its ancient (and modern) traditions.
The children of Israel are called upon in Leviticus 18:2 to be holy: You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Holiness--kedushah--is a theological concept. It refers to the attempt to live in a way that emulates or brings us into contact with the realm of the divine, a realm of existence beyond that which is objective and verifiable. Living a life of kedushah, though, is a practical matter. It means identifying ideals in alignment with divinity and generating codes of behavior that bring us into harmony with those ideals. Jewish thinkers have offered suggestions of how to accomplish this, often taking us beyond the letter of Jewish law.
The principles of ethical behavior elaborated by Jewish thinkers usually begin with assumptions about God and about God's expectations of Jews or generally of human beings. That makes it difficult to separate ethical behavior from the quest for holiness of which it is a part. Nonetheless, the Jewish literary tradition provides us with a number of works that explore the underlying principles of ethics and offer detailed explorations of interpersonal ethics. | <urn:uuid:b2aeb503-590b-4119-89d4-4ae11060aa6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ritual/Jewish_Practices/Jewish_Practices_101.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942923 | 292 | 3.765625 | 4 |
- Trading shut down in April due to unacceptable levels of processing solvents
- China to release own vegetable oil reserves to bolster markets, stabilize prices
- Resumption of soyoil imports supported, as long as no quality concerns
China’s government appears to have ended a six-month-old ban on imports of soyoil from Argentina, but soyoil trade between the two countries may be slow to resume due to unattractive prices and low supplies.
Chinese buyers have been able to get official clearance for imports of Argentine soyoil this week, a senior trader with a large Chinese grain buyer told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday. "The trading dispute was dissolved last night," the trader said. "We have no problem in getting clearance (for such imports)."
China shut down trading in Argentine soyoil at the start of April citing unacceptable levels of processing solvents, though the move appeared to be in retaliation against anti-dumping measures imposed on a number of Chinese goods.
However, COFCO Ltd., China's large state-owned grain trader, apparently hasn't booked any new soyoil cargos from Argentina despite media reports of new purchases.
"(The government authority) has mentioned the resumption, but it has not yet implemented it," a COFCO executive told Reuters News Service.
"The lifting of the ban is because of political reasons, not because of prices," added the executive, who declined to be identified.
Other traders told Reuters that China's government, which is constantly on alert for commodity price spikes that could feed through into wider inflation, was trying to let some steam out of soy prices.
However, domestic soyoil is a cheaper option right now than imports and an imminent government auction of edible oil reserves may also relieve demand pressures.
China's State Grain Administration announced in late September that it would release some of its temporary vegetable oil reserves via public bidding to bolster market supplies and stabilize prices.
China Grain Reserves Corp., the country's grain stockpiler, has reportedly not booked Argentine imports either, an official with a state-backed think tank told Dow Jones on Tuesday.
Officials at Argentina’s embassy in Beijing told Dow Jones that informal signals suggested a resumption of soyoil trade, though they were awaiting official confirmation from Buenos Aires.
"It all seems to indicate that the resumption is on its way," said Mariano Alvarez, an embassy media officer, citing a conversation Tuesday with Argentina's ambassador to Beijing, Cesar Mayoral.
China's Ministry of Commerce would support the resumption of soyoil imports from Argentina as long as there are no quality concerns, said Chen Rongkai, a ministry media official.
Editor’s note: Richard Brock, Corn & Soybean Digest's marketing editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report. | <urn:uuid:a87df2f0-29da-49ab-a0ca-9df5fff7d9df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/marketing/china-ending-argentine-soyoil-ban | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967223 | 593 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits