Datasets:

YihyunML

/

data

like 0

Guam Chamorro Sailing Canoes Many thousands of years ago, people set out from China and Taiwan to sail eastward into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. These were the ancestors to the modern day Pacific Islanders and they adapted rapidly to their new found environment. Living in isolated groups of islands, they evolved separate and unique forms of cultures. After the colonisation of the Pacific by Europeans, much of this culture was lost and now, many Pacific Islanders are seeking to rediscover and preserve parts of their lost history. In Guam they are in this process and Master Navigators are helping to bring back the canoes to sail the waters around Guam and Micronesia. In Guam their mission is to revive traditional seafaring navigation, canoe building and the sailing of these craft. They are learning traditional navigation, sailing skills, canoe building. They owe their existence to the Master Navigators that have retained the ancient knowledge and they are learning their skills from the surviving navigators. The present polynesian navigators learned their skills from their fathers and grand-fathers when they were children. It is important that these Polynesian groups involve the local people to learn the navigating and canoe building skills and then they will go out and teach others. The groups in Guam are trying to revive the Chamorro seafaring culture and want to keep their craft traditional. They have built their canoes in the traditional way and they want them to stay that way. But they are not opposed to using modern materials such as fiber-glass if they run out of wood. Some of the members do traditional fishing methods and they make lures and fish hooks. They go out to sea and try out these traditional fishing techniques to see if they work and try and catch fish. More and more Pacific Islanders are building and voyaging on the traditional sailing canoes. They are using traditional navigation and seafaring skills handed down to them by the Master Navigators. There is a movement throughout the Pacific to bring back the knowledge of the sailing canoes.

Q: Recently, my 3-year-old made the following comments in public: “Mommy, he is fat!” And then, a few days later: “Mommy, that lady has brown skin.” What do you do when your child makes embarrassing comments about people? How can I teach her what is and isn’t appropriate? A: Ah, the joys of parenthood. We can’t wait until our little ones start to speak and can tell us what they are thinking and feeling. Then when they do, we are surprised to find ourselves wishing that they would just stop talking! But you’re not alone. An informal survey of parents on the embarrassing comments made by their toddlers included gems like: Is that a lady or a man? Mommy, your belly is sticking out—are you growing a baby? Why doesn’t that man have legs? Grammy smells bad! It’s natural to feel mortified when your child makes a statement that may hurt another’s feelings. But it’s also quite common and very normal—and doesn’t mean that your child is mean or insensitive. When handled with care, these moments can actually be rich learning opportunities for your child. First, it’s important to keep in mind that your child isn’t doing anything wrong. Your toddler is very observant and notices differences, which is an important skill to be successful both academically and socially. For example, observation skills help her understand the difference between a square and a rectangle, notice the colors in the rainbow, and put sizes in order of small, medium, and large. These abilities are all useful for math and science skills later on. As she grows, observations also help her understand and appreciate the differences among people—a critical social skill. So, remember that your child is not making these statements to be hurtful. (The individuals on the receiving end of these comments probably know this, too.) For a toddler, there is no “wrong” information. She sees something interesting or unusual, comments on it, and waits to hear your response. You give her meaning and context for what she is seeing—this helps her learn. For example, your toddler says, Ducks are swimming! You say, Yes, the mama duck is in the front and the baby ducks are swimming behind her so they don’t get lost. Just like I ask you to stay close to me in the mall so you don’t get lost. When your toddler says, Why that man has no legs? she is doing the same thing—looking for information and meaning from you. The challenge is to find a way to provide information at a level your child can understand, while also introducing ideas like sensitivity, respect, and empathy. Not an easy task! What to do? First, when your child makes these kinds of statements, it is important not to react with anger or shame. Why? Because it will be confusing to your child (who is not purposefully trying to be hurtful). Your anger would indicate that you are assigning malicious meaning to her comment, which is not the case. The wonderful thing is that your child does not yet know that a person might feel bad about carrying around extra weight, for example. Instead, say something that validates your daughter’s observation while also modeling tolerance and acceptance of difference. When she comments on someone’s body, you might say, Yes, people come in all different shapes and sizes. Look at our hands; how are they different? When she comments on skin tone, you might say, People come in all different colors. Let’s look at our faces, what color is yours? What color is mine? Help her see the different tones, for example beige skin, reddish cheeks, etc. By responding sensitively, you are teaching your child how to be sensitive to others’ feelings and to respect differences. You can also tell your child, You are so good at noticing people, like the color of their skin and the size of their body. But sometimes people can feel hurt if we talk about how they look. You can always tell me in my ear what you see, instead of saying it out loud. We can talk about how people are the same and different together. Through discussions like these, you help your child become an accepting and empathic person—one who would never ask (as my preschooler did once): Mama, why does your bottom jiggle when you walk? A version of this question first appeared in "Your Child's Behavior," a column written by ZERO TO THREE in American Baby magazine.

LIFE IN THE 32ND CENTURY! GP 1994 1. MAN HAS ALWAYS DESIRED TO KNOW THE FUTURE, TO LOOK INTO TOMORROW! From the predictions of the astrologers, fortune-tellers & even the imaginative science fiction writers of yesterday, to the projections of the scientists & computer-aided experts of today, glimpses into the unknown Future have always aroused a great deal of interest & curiosity. 2. BASED ON SOUND & ACCURATE DATA, WE ARE NOW GOING TO TIME TRAVEL far into the World of Tomorrow!--Not merely a year from now, nor a decade or even a century from now, but 1,200 years into the Future! 3. WORLD CONDITIONS ARE SO DIFFERENT & THE EARTH ITSELF HAS BEEN SO AMAZINGLY & WONDERFULLY TRANSFORMED, that to justly describe it we'll call it a New Earth!--A virtual paradise compared to the World we are familiar with today! 4. THE CLIMATE OF THE ENTIRE PLANET IS NOW PERFECTLY REGULATED! The harsh temperature extremes which mankind endured in former millenniums are gone, & a lovely, balmy, temperate climate is enjoyed year-round by all of the New Earth's inhabitants! Violent thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes & blizzards no longer occur.--Nor do any other "natural disasters" such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, floods, etc.! 5. BEAUTIFUL GREEN GARDENS & FIELDS COVER THE VAST STRETCHES OF LAND THAT WERE ONCE BARREN DESERTS & WASTELANDS! Crops are always plentiful, & all plagues, blights & insect pests which were once the bane of the World's farmers have been completely eliminated!--As have all weeds, thorns, thistles etc.! Famine & starvation are unknown! 6. THE BILLIONS OF PEOPLE OF THIS NEW WORLD ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO DISTINCT CLASSES: Those who dwell in the Golden Super-Structure in the background of our picture, & those who live outside of it on the surface of the beautiful New Earth. Although the Golden Super-Structure is called a City, it has very little or nothing in common with the dirty, polluted, overcrowded, crime-infested metropolitan sores called cities back in the Dark Ages of the 20th Century! 7. THE BASE OF THIS GOLDEN "CITY" IS LARGER THAN MOST OF THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD TODAY!--1500 miles (2,400 kilometers) long by 1500 miles wide! This incredible pyramid-shaped structure is as high as it is long, thus its peak extends 1500 miles upward, reaching clear into Space!--This is 275 times higher than the World's tallest mountain, Mt. Everest! 8. THE WALLS, STREETS & DWELLING PLACES OF THIS CITY OF TOMORROW CONSIST OF A BEAUTIFUL CRYSTAL-GOLD MATERIAL which is as clear as glass!--Thus the beauties of the outside New Earth can be viewed & enjoyed from within the City. Having clear golden walls on the housing poses no problem because no one has anything to hide or be ashamed of! It is a perfectly free & open society where Love has united all of the citizens in perfect harmony! 9. ON THE GROUND FLOOR OR BASE OF THIS PHENOMENAL PYRAMID are buildings such as this World has never seen! Many of these buildings house extraordinary educational exhibitions which demonstrate & explain many of the mysteries & wonders of the Universe! Other buildings house amazing machinery & components that help regulate conditions in both the City & outside on the New Earth. But most of the 2,250,000 square miles (5,760,000 square kilometers!) of the City's base is beautiful heavenly gardens, parks, woodlands & rolling countryside, more beautiful than any in the World today! 10. THE PRIVATE DWELLINGS FOR THE CITY'S BILLIONS OF INHABITANTS are arranged of rows on golden tiers which run along the inside walls of the City. These extend almost to the top of the Pyramid, giving their occupants a magnificent view of the New Earth far below! 11. THIS SUPER-STRUCTURE & THE WONDERFUL IMPROVEMENTS & BENEFICIAL CHANGES IN THE WAY OF LIFE for both those who live inside & outside of its clear golden walls are not the result of some great scientific or technological breakthroughs of the future!--In fact, as incredible as it may seem, this great golden Pyramid is already created & is on its way to Earth from distant Space right now! 12. --FOR THIS SUPER-CITY IS NONE OTHER THAN GOD'S OWN HEAVENLY SPACE CITY, "NEW JERUSALEM", described in the last two Chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21 & 22! The God Who created this wonderful Earth & the beautiful Universe in which we live has created a real & wonderful Place for all of His children to live with Him forever!--Heaven! The Apostle John wrote: 13. "I JOHN, SAW THE HEAVENLY CITY, NEW JERUSALEM, COMING DOWN FROM GOD, OUT OF SPACE!--And I heard a great voice saying, 'Behold, the City of God is with men, & He will dwell with them!'" (Rev.21:2,3) This great Heavenly Space City is on its way to Earth right now! 14. JUST BEFORE THIS GREAT SPACE CITY LANDS, God is going to completely cleanse & remake the entire surface of the Earth!--The mountains will be cast down & the seas will be dried up, thus creating 4 to 5 times more land area for the billions of resurrected people from all ages to live on! The surface of the Earth will be recreated into a beautiful "New Earth", like the Garden of Eden! The Curse that came upon the Earth when Man fell into sin will be completely removed, & all of the cursed & poisonous pests & plants shall be no more! (2Pt.3:10-13; Rev.21:1; Isa.40:4) 15. INSIDE THE WONDERFUL GOLDEN CITY, ALL OF GOD'S SAVED CHILDREN WILL LIVE WITH HIM FOREVER! They will all have supernatural, powerful, Heavenly super-bodies which they will receive very soon when Jesus Christ returns to rescue all of those who love & believe in Him from the evil forces which are now taking over the World & will soon be ruling it with their Antichrist One-World Government! 16. OUR BODIES WILL BE JUST LIKE OUTSIDE THE CITY ON THE BEAUTIFUL NEW EARTH, THERE WILL BE WHOLE NATIONS OF OTHER RESURRECTED PEOPLE whose bodies will probably be a little more like the bodies that we have now than the powerful bodies that the Saints will have then. (Rev.21:24-26; 22:2) These folks outside don't yet live in the City because they didn't receive God's Son Jesus--perhaps because they never heard or understood the Gospel. But here on the New Earth they will learn to know & love Him at last! 17. WITHIN THE HEAVENLY SPACE CITY WILL GROW THE "TREES OF LIFE", which have"Leaves for the healing of the nations." (Rev.22:1,2) Apparently the folks outside of the City will still need some kind of healing, so the Lord is going to mercifully send His supernatural Saints out to the New Earth to bring them these Leaves!--Like the beautiful couple in this picture, who rode their heavenly horses to the cottage of this New Earth family. The pretty Saint from the City is pressing a magical Leaf from the Tree of Life against the bosom of the grateful young man who is instantly healed thereby! 18. IT'S THRILLING TO REALISE THAT WE WILL STILL HAVE A JOB TO DO & won't just be floating around on clouds playing harps & doing nothing, like some lazy churchy cartoonists imagine! There will be a whole World of people who will still be learning about the Lord & His Love & will be receiving healing & teaching from the Heavenly Saints! 19. BUT WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO LIVE A NATURAL LIFE OUTSIDE ON THE NEW EARTH when they could live a supernatural life inside the great Heavenly City itself?--Enjoying it & all of its marvels & pleasures in their resurrection super-bodies! To become a resident of God's wonderful Heavenly City, all you have to do is ask Jesus to come into your heart! 20. YOU CAN RECEIVE JESUS AS YOUR SAVIOUR RIGHT NOW BY SIMPLY PRAYING THIS LITTLE PRAYER: "Dear Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God & that You died for me. Please forgive me for all my sins. I now open the door of my heart & I ask You, dear Jesus, to please come in & give me Your free Gift of Eternal Life! Help me to love You & to love others by telling them about You & Your Love.--In Jesus' name I pray. Amen." GOD BLESS YOU WITH HIS LOVE HERE & NOW & A WONDERFUL LIFE WITH HIM FOREVER IN THAT BEAUTIFUL HEAVENLY CITY! We love you & would be happy to send you more Heavenly information & beautiful colour posters if you'll write us at the address below! Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family

This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter. DOE Gauges Interest in Climate Change Technology Initiative DOE announced on November 21st its intent to launch its own initiative to address climate change, and is seeking ideas and statements of interest from those who may wish to participate. Under the National Climate Change Technology Initiative, DOE is considering funding research that could yield reductions or avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions; greenhouse gas capture and sequestration; capture and conversion of greenhouse gases to some beneficial use; or enhanced monitoring and measurement of greenhouse gas emissions, inventories, and fluxes. For now, DOE is just seeking outlines of ideas, concepts, technologies, or technical approaches that could meet the President's climate change goals, but if the initiative is pursued, it will involve a competitive solicitation involving the award of tens of millions of dollars over multiple years. See the DOE press release. According to a letter sent in early September to President Bush by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, the high-priority items now being pursued by the initiative include hydrogen-based energy systems, biofuels, low-speed wind turbines, zero energy buildings, carbon sequestration, forest management, and agricultural land management. In a separate effort, the agencies are also aggressively pursing improvements in the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases program. See the letter on the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Web site. As explained in that letter, the National Climate Change Technology Initiative is one tine of a three-pronged U.S. strategy to address climate change, the other two tines being the Climate Change Research Initiative and increased international cooperation on climate change and clean energy technologies. One result of that strategy is a new draft strategic plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, which combines the new Climate Change Research Initiative with the ongoing activities of the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Along with continued inquiries into the science of climate change, the program aims to develop decision support tools that include detailed analyses of projected environmental, economic, and energy system outcomes of various scenarios for the future. The program is accepting public comments on the strategic plan until January 13th and is holding a public workshop in Washington, D.C., in early December. See the draft strategic plan.

*quick note to my readers who may be unaware. I have two great Dads in addition to my birth father* My niece, H, never gets to know her father. My family found out Monday night that my sisters ex husband had been killed in an accident and I think we all shared mixed feelings as much as we shared an undeniable sadness for H. You see, her father wasn’t involved in her life after the divorce and hasn’t been since. Everyone has always hoped that one day he would decide to be her Dad and get to know her and be in her life but now, he never gets the chance to do that. She will never get to know her father. She will never get to forgive him for abandoning her. Or to yell in his face how much he hurt her by leaving. She will never get to let him know how she feels. And that isn’t fair. It makes my heart (and that of my family) break for her because I know, in a way, how she’s going to feel. My birth father and mother split up when I was younger and he left when I was right about H’s age (when her dad left) and I didn’t get to know him but the difference is that now as an adult, we have been emailing each other and attempting to get to know each other. I’ve been able to work on forgiving him, slowly letting him back into my life and I’ve been able to let him know how hurt I was by what happened. She doesn’t ever get to have that and I hate it. This isn’t a time about me, it’s about her and her feelings but this is my blog and it’s a place for me to process feelings. This has let me know, once again*, that I AM doing the right thing getting to know my biological father no matter if everyone in my family supports it or not. I won’t ever have to wonder ‘what if’ and for that I am thankful. Linking up with Shell today… *the first was having Nathaniel and realizing that I couldn’t tell him about part of himself because I didn’t know part of myself and wanting him to have what I didn’t. the second, people DO change. the third, I love my biological Uncle and his family and my biological Dad loves them too, I don’t want Christmas to be weird

(My music blog: Velvet Night Sky) (My personal blog: No Hippie Johnny)Favorite Tags Community (the tv show) The Largest Trees on Earth - California’s Disappearing Redwoods When gold was discovered in north-western California in 1850, thousands crowded the remote redwood region in search of riches and new lives. Failing in efforts to strike it rich in gold, these men turned toward harvesting the giant trees for booming development in San Francisco and other places on the West Coast. These trees are the tallest and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. The size of the huge trees made them prized timber, as redwood became known for its durability and workability. By 1853, nine sawmills were at work in Eureka, a gold boom town established three years prior due to the gold boom. At that period of time, redwood forest covered more than 2,000,000 acres of the California coast. After many decades of unobstructed clear-cut logging, serious efforts toward conservation began. In 1918, the Save-the-Redwoods League was founded to preserve remaining old-growth redwoods. By the time Redwood National Park was created in 1968, nearly 90% of the original redwood trees had been logged. Today there is only 133,000 acres of redwood forest left. Djamila Bouhired (جميلة بوحيرد) is a leading Algerian heroine and revolutionary. She fought in the war of national liberation (1954–1962) and has worked as a vocal activist in the movement for women’s rights in independent Algeria. Djamila Bouhired joined the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) while a student activist to fight for independence from France. Bouhired and other young women played a critical role during the battle for Algiers, which began in September 1956. Bouhired assisted the FLN leader, Saadi Yacef , in recruiting young Muslim women from the capital who could pass as Europeans. Dressed as Frenchwomen, Bouhired and two other female militants placed concealed bombs in the European sections of Algiers. Two bombs exploded, causing civilian casualties; Bouhired’s bomb failed to detonate. This event and others unleashed the Battle of Algiers, which raged until 1957. Bouhired eluded the French military and police until April 1957, when she was arrested, imprisoned, and subjected to appalling torture; in July she was sentenced to death by the guillotine after a trial deemed a travesty of justice. However, Bouhired became a cause célèbre because of international media coverage of the French army’s systematic use of torture, and she was eventually released. In the early twenty-first century Djamila Bouhired continued to be actively involved in feminist politics, advocating fundamental transformations in the legal, political, and social status of Algeria’s women. A Great Day in Harlem - Art Kane, 1958 A Great Day in Harlem Survivors - Gordon Parks, 1996 lovely & sad. Photo by Gordon Parks On June 11th 1963, Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, sat down in the middle of a busy intersection in Saigon, covered himself in gasoline and He then ignited a match, and set himself on fire. Đức burned to death in a matter of minutes, and he was immortalized in a famous photograph taken by a reporter who was in Vietnam in order to photograph the war. All those who saw this spectacle were taken by the fact that Duc did not make a sound while burning to death. Đức was protesting President Ngô Đình Diệm’s administration for oppressing the Buddhist religion. School for black civil rights activists; young girl being trained to not react to smoke blown in her face Exclusive, heartbreaking photos from the Lorraine motel on the day Martin Luther King died. (see more here) Pictured: Theatrice Bailey attempts to clean blood from the balcony, hours after the 6 p.m. shooting. “I don’t know if there were official people around taking notes and pictures and things like that. Nobody was there when we were there. And the fact that the blood was still on the floor, and this man is actually putting it in a jar … When you see a picture like that, God, it feels invasive.” This is where my grandma lives, Taos New Mexico. These pueblos are 1,000 years old and people still live in the original ones. On the 50th anniversary of a night when a savage mob trapped Riders and others in a church in Montgomery, Alabama — with no guarantee that they would not torch the church and everyone inside — LIFE.com looks back at one of the most terrifying, and pivotal, moments of the civil rights movement.

Balancing and strengthening of the everyday activities my help older people prevent falls and improve overall strength and balance. This has been suggested by a study published in the British Medical Journal online on August 7. Lindy Clemson and colleagues conducted a 3-group randomized trial in which residents of Sydney older than 70 years who had 2 or more falls or 1 injurious fall within the previous year. The residents were recruited and randomly assigned to one of the following interventions - Novel activity-integrated exercise program called Lifestyle integrated Functional Exercise (LiFE) - A structured exercise program - A gentle exercise control program. Following patients were excluded from study - With moderate to severe cognitive problems - Who could not ambulate without help - Neural diseases that affected gait and mobility - Residents in a nursing home or hostel - With unstable or terminal illness affecting ability to do exercises In this approach movements specifically prescribed to improve balance or increase strength are embedded within everyday activities, so that the movements can be done multiple times during the day. Rather than a prescribed set of exercises conducted several times a week, LiFE activities occur whenever the opportunity arises during the day. The strategies to improve balance include - Reduce base of support - Move to limits of sway - Shift weight from foot to foot - Step over objects - Turning and changing direction. For example a prescribed activity incorporating the strategy of reducing base of support might involve a tandem stand while working at the kitchen bench, and over time could be upgraded to working while standing on one leg. Strategies to increase strength include - Bend your knees - On your toes - Up the stairs - On your heels - Sit to stand - Walk sideways - Tighten muscles”. For example squatting instead of bending at the waist to close a drawer [Bend your knees]. The LiFE training focuses on instituting new habitual behaviours within selected situational contexts. The structured Program Seven exercises for balance and six for lower limb strength using ankle cuff weights and performed three times a week. The Control Program Two sessions comprised 12 gentle and flexibility exercises while seated, lying down, or standing. The overall incidence of falls in the LiFE program was 1.66 per person years, compared with 1.90 in the structured program and 2.28 in the control group At the 12-month follow-up - Participants in the LiFE group experienced 172 falls - Participants in the structured group experienced 193 falls - Participants in the control group experienced 224 falls. LiFE participants also showed improvements in balance, ankle strength, daily activity measures, and adherence rates.

Scott Pendleton, DVM Dr. Pendleton graduated from The Ohio State University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1989. He purchased Cadiz Animal Clinic in February, 1993. His hobbies include hiking, bird watching, collecting and exhibiting postal history and researching and writing about local history. His volunteer efforts include: the Buckeye Trail, Presbyterian Church of Cadiz, Harrison County Historical Society and the Boy Scouts of America. He and his wife, Donna, have a small farm in Archer Township which the following animals call home: four Bullmastiffs- Jelly Roll, Paisley, Violet Elizabeth and Clooney (or Gooner Head); one French Bulldog, Mr. Friday; Copper Cat; Tony Llama; Herbie the Horse; Bucko the donkey and several each of goats, sheep and chickens. Aimee has been a part time employee of ours since 2007 when she studied zoology at Kent State University. Now she is a student at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine from which she will graduate in 2013. Her hobbies include skiing, swimming, traveling and biking. She has two dogs: Marsha, a Rottweiler and Willow, an Australian Cattle Dog. Aimee and her husband, Nick, reside in Columbus and in Harrison County. Ginger Held, Office Manager Ginger has been an employee of ours since February 1994 and she resides in Cadiz with her husband, Jeff. Her hobbies include scrapbooking, traveling and camping in the RV. She has five pets: Brandy, a German Shorthaired Pointer; Darby, a Doberman; Spike Alan, a domestic shorthair cat; Lizzie, a domestic shorthair cat and Thunder, a guinea pig. April Kelly, Veterinary Assistant April has been an employee of ours since October 2004 and she resides in Cadiz with her husband, Jeff. Her hobbies include ATV recreation and volunteering at the Cadiz Presbyterian Church. She has three pets: Cocoa, a lab mix; Bob, a black cat and Gabby, a chocolate lab. Kayla Valdinger, Receptionist Kayla has been an employee of ours since March 2012 and she resides in Cadiz with her soon to be husband, Donald. She has a dog named Tucker and her hobbies include ATV recreation and camping. Sue Clark, Saturday Veterinary Assistant Sue has been an employee of ours for the past 10 years and she resides in Canton. She is a surgical nurse that enjoys veterinary medicine. Her hobbies include rug hooking and scrapbooking. She has a geriatric rescue St. Bernard mix named Clifford.

Previous |Next |Title Judicial protection of fundamental human rights by the European Court of Justice may operate as a source of both unity and disunity in the dialectical process of European integration. There is, of course, the classical vision which regards a commitment to fundamental human rights as a unifying ideal, one of the core values around which the people and peoples of Europe may coalesce. When the Court, in the very well known story, held itself out as the guarantor of fundamental human rights in the field of Community law, it was, on this view, merely giving judicial expression (and teeth!) to that core value. But, judicial protection by the European Court of Justice, both of Union measures and Member State measures, can also be a source of tension. First, and this goes to the heart of this essay, beyond a certain core, reflected in Europe by the ECHR , the definition of fundamental human rights often differs from polity to polity. These differences, I will argue, reflect fundamental societal choices and form an important part in the different identities of polities and societies. They are often that part of social identity about which people care a great deal. What menu and flavour of human rights are chosen in the Community context matters and can become a source of tension even absent direct conflict of norms. The choice of human rights is about the choice of fundamental values so the stakes are rather high. In the first part of this essay I shall explore these situations of conflict and tension and, from a distance, try and explain how the European Court of Justice has attempted to mediate the tensions and blunt the conflicts. Second, judicial review of Community measures but especially Member State measures can be seen, and have been seen, as part of a relentless and highly problematic extension of jurisdiction into areas of social regulation which are, or ought to be, the prerogative of the Member States. I will deal, in some detail, with this extension of jurisdiction and its roots. I should clarify that my focus is not on the problems which result from the fact that it is judge made law -- an issue with which I have dealt elsewhere. I am concerned with the meeting of European rights with national rights. I should also explain that in this essay I shall remain firmly within the liberal rights paradigm leaving for another occasion the rights-critique apparatus. Before turning to the actual jurisprudence I will explore a little deeper the notion of human rights as societal values and their potential for conflict in the European architecture. Modern liberal States, taking their cue principally from the American rather than British democratic tradition, increasingly acknowledge a higher law -- typically a constitution, and in more recent time, international treaties -- which bind even the legislature of the state. In an increasing number of modern democracies the higher law is backed up by courts and a system of judicial review which give it, so to speak, teeth. Within this constitutional ethos judicial protection of fundamental human rights has a central place. Constitutionalism, despite its counter-majoritarian effect is regarded as a complimentary principle to majoritarianism rather than its negation. One formulation which describes the complex relationship between the two is the notion of protection against a tyranny of the majority -- seemingly an oxymoron. I think the appeal of rights has to do with two roots. The first of these two roots regards fundamental rights (and liberties) as an expression of a vision of humanity which vests the deepest values in the individual which, hence, may not be compromised by anyone. Probably one of the oldest and most influential sources of this vision is to be found in the Pentateuch: And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him. (Gen.I:27). With this trademark, what legislator has the authority to transgress the essential humanity of the species? Naturally, there are secular, humanist parallels to this vision a plenty. The other root for the great appeal of rights and part of the justification even if countermajoritarian looks to them as an instrument for the promotion of the per-se value of putting constraints on power. Modern democracy emerges, after all, also as a rejection of absolutism -- and absolutism is not the prerogative of kings and emperors. Similar sentiments inform the great appeal of fundamental boundaries in non-unitary systems such as federal states and the European Union. I use the term Fundamental Boundaries as a metaphor for the principle of enumerated powers or limited competences which are designed to guarantee that in certain areas communities (rather than individuals) should be free to make their own social choices without interference from above. If you wish, if fundamental rights are about the autonomy and self-determination of the individual, fundamental boundaries are about the autonomy and self-determination of communities. The appeal of fundamental boundaries rests as well on two parallel roots. First as an expression of a vision of humanity which vests the deepest values in communities (potentially existing within larger polities) which, thus, must be protected. This community vision of humanity derives from an acknowledgment of the social nature of humankind, as a counterbalance to the atomistic view of the individual which is reflected in the concept of individual rights and liberties. It too finds a powerful Biblical expression in the Pentateuch: And the Lord God said: It is not good that man should be alone (Gen II:18). Fundamental boundaries around communities-of-value become the guarantee against existential aloneness -- the protection of the Gemeinschaft against the Gesellschaft. Its second root is a reflection at the level of social organization of that same per-se value of non-aggregation of power. Fundamental boundaries constitute and thus ensure different realms of power. At first blush it would seem that these two basic principles need not clash at all. There could be, it would seem, a neat, tidy way to situate fundamental rights and fundamental boundaries within the constitutional architecture of Europe. For example, one set of norms and institutions, national-constitutional and/or transnational, would take care of human rights: Ensuring that no public authority at any level of governance would violate the basic autonomy and liberty of the individual. Another set of norms, national-constitutional and/or transnational, would take care of boundaries: ensuring that transnational governance would not encroach on fundamental societal choices of, principally, States. The adoption of the European Convention of Human Rights by the Member States of the Council of Europe is a reflection of this tidy arrangement: The High Contracting Powers of the Convention retain their full prerogatives as sovereign states. State boundaries constitute thus par-excellence fundamental boundaries which guarantee full autonomy of their respective national societies. The one self-limiting exception concerns the core fundamental human rights given expression in the ECHR which may not be transgressed in any of these societies. Thus, the universalism of human rights and the particularism of fundamental boundaries may rest together like the Wolf and Sheep. You will note, however, that I used the term "core fundamental rights" in drawing this idyll. The neat arrangement which the ECHR may be said to represent can only work in relation to a core which gives expression to those "rights", or to those "levels of protection", which are said to be universal, transcending any legitimate cultural or political difference among different societies in, at least, the universe of Europe. The ECHR is premised on this understanding. Critically and crucially the ECHR does not exhaust the spectrum of human rights. By its own self-understanding, whereas the ECHR provides the "minimum standard" of protection "below" which no State may fall, the High Contracting Parties are free, perhaps even encouraged, to offer "higher" standards of protection to individuals. Indeed, part of the uniqueness of States, part of what differentiates them from each other may be the very way they give protection beyond the core universal standard. Thus, the commitment to, and the acceptance of, the ECHR as a universal, culturally transcendent core of human rights is, surely, an expression of a very important aspect of the political culture of a State which brings it together with other States and societies. When this is backed up by submission to transnational machinery of enforcement the commitment is all the more expressive. But, I would argue, the differences in the protection of human rights in these societies within the large band which exists beyond the universal core, is no less an important aspect of the political culture and identity of societies. Human rights constitute, thus, both a source of, and index for, cross-national differentiation and not only cross-natioanal assimilation. Here is a banal example to illustrate the point. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in relation to which a transcendent universal core of protected speech may be defined across national divides in the framework of, say, the European Convention of Human Rights. But there is, evidently, a large margin for rights discourse beyond that core of protected speech. In America, a band of Neo-Nazis may march with full regalia in the neighborhood of Holocaust survivors. An attempt by the local authorities to ban such a march will be struck down as compromising the fundamental right to freedom of expression of the marchers. In many European countries, and clearly in, say, Germany, such speech would be prohibited without that prohibition being construed in violation of core freedom of expression. I would make three comments on the example. 1. First, we do not capture the contrast of values inherent in this example by simply saying that in America you get a little bit more protection of freedom of expression than in, say, Germany. Often, there is much more to these differences. It is through these differences, and others like them, that societies at times define some of their core values which go to their very self-understanding -- their particularized identity rooted in history, and social and political culture. America is saying something very important about itself (good and/or bad) when it insists on the right of the individual to engage in such extremist, even injurious speech. Germany says something very important about itself (good and/or bad) when it would deny the individual such a right. It may even be saying something rather profound about a different emphasis on individualism and communitarianism in the respective polities. 2. There is another sense in which it would be simplifying these societal choices to articulate them as a "mere" difference between level of protection of human rights. Human rights are almost invariably the expression of a compromise between competing social goods in the polity. In liberal democracies, the most typical is an accommodation between, on the one hand, the various interests of the collectivity represented by governmental authority and, on the other, the interest of the individual in autonomy and individual liberty. Society may find it very important to empower the individual against government authority. That is how we normally think of human rights. But society may find it very important too to empower government authority against the individual. The fight against crime comes, perhaps, first to mind. Alternatively, In the context, say, of rights to private property and land reform, differences between capitalist-liberalism and the gamut of socialist world views is a good context in which the need to look at human rights as a looking-glass reflection of government or public rights is self-evident. The extent of government power (as well as the desirability) to interfere with private property rights (eg programs for nationalization) was for long a dividing line between governments of left or right persuasion within European liberal democracies. Critically, when a society strikes that balance between these competing interests and characterizes that balance as a fundamental right or liberty (to property, to free speech etc) it is the balance which is fundamental: The fundamental right of the individual to be protected against government power, set against the fundamental right of the public through government to act in accordance with the general interest. Note, that it is as injurious to the social choice involved in this balance to compromise the right of the individual as it would be to limit the rights of government. This balance is an expression, then, of core values, of basic societal choices. This is the point where the distinction between rights and boundaries collapses since fundamental rights -- beyond the core -- become an expression of the kind of particularized societal choice of which fundamental boundaries are an expression. Fundamental boundaries are designed, thus, to allow communities and polities to make and live by those difference balances which they deem fundamental. Beyond the agreed core, to foist a fundamental right on a society is, arguably, to tamper with its fundamental boundaries. 3. Finally, the position of the ECHR in relation to this tension is, once more, worth defining. Imagine that the example of the Neo-Nazi march were transported into Europe. Imagine further one ECHR State following the American solution. So now we would have one state prohibiting the march and one State protecting it. The jurisprudence of the ECHR would not hold the prohibition on the march as a violation of freedom of expression protected by the Convention. But, in this type of case, it would also not interfere with the state which protected the rights of the marchers. In relation to freedom of expression the ECHR would be concerned to define a core of protected speech, a minimum level of protection. Once it was decided (for good or for bad) that the Neo-Nazi hate speech did not fall within this core, States would be free to protect it or to ban it and to part define themselves and differentiate themselves in terms of the choice they made on this issue. This is part of the famous margin of appreciation which the ECHR allows. States might, as I mentioned, even constitutionlize such a choice, and make it a "fundamental" part of their self-understanding. The difference between the States would thus become fundamental. By contrast, in relation to speech found to be within the core protected by the ECHR, States would not be able to make that choice. They would be bound by a shared view, that the protection of that particular speech vindicated a right which was transcendent and to which all were bound. In this case the commonality between the States would be fundamental. Another way of describing the play of the ECHR in this context is to say that it defines the margin within which States may opt for different fundamental balances between government and individuals. It defines the area within which fundamental boundaries may be drawn. However, certain balances, tilted too much in favor of government are not permitted. It is against this background that I turn now to the protection of fundamental rights in the legal order of the Union. Previous |Next |Title Top of the page

Information security needs to be addressed at all levels, from the individual user to an organisation and beyond to that of the government and the nation. Information Security is becoming synonymous with National Security as Computer Networking, which is vulnerable to cyber attacks, forms the backbone of critical infrastructure of the country banking, power, communication network etc. It is, therefore, important to have secured Computer Systems and Networks. Also, increased focus on outsourcing of IT and other services from developed countries is bringing the issue of data security to the fore. Information Security is an emerging area. At present there are not many Information security professionals in the country. Also, the Information Security awareness level is low in the country. This necessitates development of specialized manpower, both at high and low ends. Accordingly, Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) Project was formulated and launched in March 2005 to be implemented over a period of five years (2005-2010). The project has the following broad aims: The academic programmes viz. M.Tech, B.Tech. (retrofitted with Information Security Courses), Diploma course, Certificate course etc., are being implemented through 5 Resource Centres and 34 Participating Institutes. The Resource Centers will be the Mentoring Institutions for the Participating Institutes. The Resource Centers are premier institutes like IITs and IISc Bangalore while the Participating Institutes include National Institutes of Technology, Government Degree Engineering Colleges, Societies of DIT, etc. This activity is being carried out through Societies/ Attached Offices of DIT viz. NIC, STQC, DOEACC, ERNET, CDAC and CERT-In (DIT). Under this activity, industry, educational institutions and individual computer users are being informed about Cyber / Information Security related issues. The following activities have been initiated/finalized so far: For further details please contact: |Serial Number||Name and Designation of the Officer||Telephone Number||Fax Number| |1||--||+91-11-24363106, 24366558||+91-11- 24366558||--|

Last Monday I was on Boylston Street, having just completed my first Boston Marathon, when the bombs detonated. As is so often the case in the digital age, I may have been just a couple of hundred yards from the epicenter, but in the immediate aftermath, people watching on television and following via social media knew far more than I about the unfolding horror. Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to attract investors by auctioning off mining licenses, starting with the country’s second-largest gold deposit, have run into problems - both self-inflicted and beyond authorities’ control. Recent media and human-rights activist reports claim that the South Caucasus countries of Georgia and Azerbaijan are playing an indirect role in supplying diesel fuel, weapons and cash to the embattled government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Government employees deny the charges to EurasiaNet.org, but key details about the alleged shipments remain unclear. When 37-year-old Georgii Kolotov was growing up in Bishkek during the last decade of the Soviet era, he was largely unaware of a Jewish community. There were more than 10,000 Jews living in Bishkek at the time, but for young Kolotov and most other Jews, there was little sense of a distinctly Jewish identity. When it comes to relations between the United States and Georgia, outsiders usually focus on what the US has done for its tiny South Caucasus ally. But, now, it looks like Georgia might have a valuable item for the US – a super bee that could provide some much-needed variety to dwindling American bee colonies. Tajikistan is not a place that sees a lot of protests these days. So it is a cause for wonder when demonstrators spontaneously gather outside the US Embassy and United Nations offices in Dushanbe to air complaints that mirror authorities’ stated views – without facing any serious challenge from law enforcement authorities. Turkish spiritual leader Fethullah Gülen, 72, has long been rumored to be in a precarious state of health. But well-informed followers offer assurances that the international network of schools, businesses, media-outlets, and civil-society organizations that his movement has built is prepared for a stable transition.

Using the mouth to pleasure a foot is very sensual and intimate to receive, and can be strangely arousing for the Knight. Of course a Knight with a foot fetish will love to give his Princess foot massages and foot kisses. But Devotional Sex can be used to enjoy foot kisses even with Knight's who do not have a foot fetish. As the Knight has higher than usual erotic energy, he is keen to engage in erotic activity. All that a Princess needs to do is deny him, for a while, access to anything other than her feet. If she can raise his energy high enough, her Knight may very much enjoying giving her a foot kiss. If the Knight has very high energy and all that he is allowed to touch are his Princess's feet, then, even though he would prefer to give his Princess a Pleasure Kiss, his desires can be transfered to her feet. Giving his Princess a foot kiss can then become a very powerful and sensual experience even though he does not have a foot fetish. A real-life story where Michael (who does not have a foot fetish) gives Tracey a foot massage and a foot kiss is here. The foot kiss extension to the Ritual command An extension to the Ritual command, for a Princess who likes her Knight to kiss her feet, is that, having said "Ritual", if the Princess raises her knees and brings her feet closer to her bottom, and then straightens her legs again, her Knight should move down to her feet and kiss them. He should continue to kiss her feet until his Princess once again raised her knees and bring her feet closer to her bottom. If she keeps her legs together as she raises her knees her Knight should move back up and into the Ritual Cuddle position. she widely parts her legs as she raised her knees, and then straightens her legs with her legs apart, her Knight should slowly kiss up her leg until he reaches her Pleasure. He should then give her a Pleasure Kiss until his Princess does another Ritual action. course this extension to the Ritual command will only be useful if the Princess remembers all of the above, and if her Knight remembers what these signals mean. Hence this extension will probably only be useful for couples where the Princess likes to enjoy foot kisses in bed frequently enough for this all to become a normal part of their in-bed A powerful enhancement to a foot kiss: The special foot massage Another enhancement presented in this chapter is the Knight eating his own cum. Naturally this will not be for everybody. In ancient Rome, cum was used as a beauty cream, and so it would be suitable as a rather special foot cream. the eating his own cum enhancement explains, the cum can either be fresh or it can have been frozen a few days earlier and then defrosted. Freezing and then defrosting the cum means that a Knight who is only willing to taste himself when he is highly aroused can be asked to do this enhancement while he is aroused. A Knight giving a foot kiss just after he has massaged some of his own cum onto his Princess's feet would be a very powerful act of devotion. a foot massage and foot kiss could be called a `special foot massage´. (Of course the special part is the massaging his cum into the foot and then licking the foot clean afterwards.) long as her Knight knows what is meant by this, his Princess then need only ask for a "special foot massage" to receive this special treat. how her Knight would feel if during the day he got an email or an SMS from his Princess saying "Tonight you are going to give me a special A Knight never ejaculates when with a Devotional Date or a Devotional Friend. But a special foot massage can still be enjoyed if defrosted cum is used. This special foot massage would feel even more powerful because even though he cannot cum while with his Princess she gets to see him taste his own cum. If a Princess is wanting a special foot massage, or just curious about whether or not her Knight would be willing to do so, she can ask her Knight whether doing this is within his limits. If he says "yes" then, even though it may be very scary for him, he will give a special foot massage if his Princess ever asks for The rest of this page has not yet been written. As the next pages I write shall be the most visited not-yet-written pages, your visiting this page will influence what I write next.Recently written new pages are listed in the New Pages and Major Updates page.

Several people have sent me the link to this piece which highlights some points I have failed to make until now, notably: * That divestment may not have historically had the economic or political impact assumed by those who advocate for it * That PCUSA is not actually making decisions regarding what to do with its own money but is instead putting at risk the money of others (notably pastors and lay people invested in their pension funds) * That the PCUSA’s ongoing divestment efforts could be interpreted as passing Natan Sharansky’s “3-D” test for anti-Semitism Like other negative behaviors and outcomes associated with PCUSA’s current attempt to rejoin the BDS “movement,” none of the points above are likely to impact the thinking of those who are driving divestment within the church since their goal, simply put, is to be able to claim they speak in the name of a 400-year old, two-million member church whenever they hurl their accusations against the Jewish State (regardless of whether those accusations were ever voted on or even mentioned during debates on the subject). Now one would think that an organization would only make a decision with this many negative consequences after the most careful of deliberations in which every effort was made to verify facts, expand dialog, scrutinize past decisions and precedence, and honestly communicate to decision makers the exact nature and likely results (both positive and negative) associated with either a “Yes” or “No” vote. But one of the most striking things about what’s been taking place in Pittsburgh is how little effort has been expended to ensure (much less carry out) this kind of competent debate. I’ve already mentioned how fake quotes from Nelson Mandela (quotes that were exposed as fraudulent years ago) somehow made it unchallenged into eight different forums associated with church divestment policies. The committee report that recommends the church carry out the divestment policies that were rejected in 2006, 2008 and 2010 is filled with similar errors of fact, both about the Middle East and about what the church actually said and did during those previous divestment debates. Accurate information could have easily been brought before the committee if church leaders driving this process had opened up discussion to include voices that might challenge (rather than just confirm) the “consensus” preferred by those same leaders. Why not, for example, call Will Spotts as a witness, given that he has written and thought about this subject than anyone else in the country? No doubt the fact that BDS drove Will from the Presbyterian Church would be a difficult thing for committee members to have to hear. But the whole point of this debate, allegedly, is for the church to confront one of the most challenging political issues of our day. But just as those driving divestment seem to be doing their utmost to ensure a divestment vote does not actually require financial sacrifice on the part of those who are voting it in, they also seem to be doing everything in their power to narrow debate as much as possible in order to ensure a specific outcome, rather than an enlightened one. The most egregious example of this behavior can be seen in the Rationale section of the Comments page associated with the recent Committee 15 report (linked above), in a statement that tries to minimize the impact a divestment vote will have with regard to PCUSA-Jewish relations. Rather than simply state fact – that antipathy to divestment unites the Jewish world like no other issue (with organizations as diverse as J-Street and Peace Now through JCPA and the Zionist Organization of America all condemning BDS), they instead try to claim that this unprecedented consensus actually just represents “some Jewish groups” that should be balanced with the support divestment receives from others (such as the fringe group Jewish Voice for Peace). Now a serious, grown-up argument regarding the impact a PCUSA divestment vote would have on Presbyterian-Jewish relations would not play rhetorical games with the word “some,” but would instead communicate honestly that the vast majority of mainstream Jewish organizations – representing an unprecedented across-the-spectrum consensus on the issue – have condemned BDS and are likely to break ties with the church if they decide to vote divestment in this week. With this accurate information as backdrop, proponents of BDS would have to argue that divestment is such a high moral priority that losing the friendship of the American Jewish community is a price worth paying. This fundamental lack of seriousness is particularly remarkable, given how seriously the church wants to be taken on this (and other) political subjects. In fact, the only reason people would even consider listening to the pronouncement of a church like PCUSA (vs. some other political or civic organization) is that the church claims to represent exceptional moral authority, backed not just by history, but by “spirit” and “witness” (implying divine support for their political positions). But what becomes of that moral authority if the church acts in a fundamentally immoral way to reach its decisions? It’s one thing to support a political-spiritual leader like Martin Luther King who was willing to suffer the consequences of his actions and speak the same true and honest words to all audiences. But PCUSA leaders who have decided to let others suffer the consequences for church actions and who speak out of different sides of their mouths (depending on who they are talking to) have no more moral authority than a political ward healer or corporate executive manipulating unwitting council members or stockholders by carefully and deliberately truncating and circumscribing debate to achieve a pre-ordained outcome. I still hope the people in the pews will find the courage to avoid the trap that church leaders and their BDS allies have set for them. But even if they do so by voting divestment down (again), there is a sickness in the church that will not be cured until PCUSA divests itself from BDS for good.

Skip to comments.The Malicious Mangling of the Virgin Mary Posted on 11/16/2012 4:47:55 AM PST by Kaslin A Christian can be crushed gazing at the picture of Mary standing at the foot of the cross, watching her beloved son suffocate and die. But in that vision, she stands there for hours, patiently enduring her suffering. For two millennia, she has been a role model for Christians, a woman who practiced obedience in the most difficult of human circumstances, with fervent hope for what this sacrifice will offer all mankind as it struggles with sin. This is why it seems so hard to reflect that vision of patience when black-hearted "artists" practice character assassination on the Blessed Virgin Mary to strip her of every virtue: her patience, her obedience, her courageous love and her prayerful faith in God. On Nov. 13, Simon and Schuster launched a vicious little 96-page novella titled "The Testament of Mary." The author, an Irish ex-Catholic named Colm Toibin, presents us instead with a Bible-burning "reimagination" of an alienated Mary who fled the scene of her son's death in fear for her own life. Two decades after the Resurrection -- or was there one? -- this anti-Mary is filled with bitterness and rage. She describes herself as "unhinged" and bubbling with contempt for her son's demented followers, to the extreme that she threatens the Gospel writers with a knife. She lives as a bandit, stealing to survive. Her son's followers must be stopped from making Jesus a god, "or else everything that happened will become a sweet story that will grow poisonous as bright berries that hang low on trees." Toibin describes the scene of the crucifixion in mercenary terms: "It was like a marketplace, but more intense somehow, the act that was about to take place was going to make a profit for both seller and buyer." Christ's disciples are "fools, twitchers, malcontents, stammerers," while her son's preaching sounded to her "false, and his tone all stilted, and I could not bear to hear him, it was like something grinding and it set my teeth on edge." There is no God in her father or her son. She proclaims of the death of Jesus only: "when you say that he redeemed the world, I will say that it was not worth it. It was not worth it." Toibin's last book of literary criticism was titled "New Ways to Kill Your Mother." In this book, he murders the mother of God. In a positive critique in The New York Times, reviewer Mary Gordon explained "The making of the Gospels is portrayed not as an act of sacred remembrance but as an invasion and a theft. The Evangelists -- which are they? Luke, perhaps, or John? -- are portrayed as menacing intruders, with the lurking shadowy presence of Stalin's secret police." In our nation's most prestigious newspaper, an author and his feminist reviewer can conjure up the apostles of Christ as Stalinist torturers. But when a Danish newspaper published cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad as a freedom-of-speech test in 2005, the Times would not show them as "a reasonable choice for news organizations that usually refrain from gratuitous assaults on religious symbols." This is what Toibin's book is: a gratuitous assault on Christianity and its central drama of salvation. The Times reviewer recognized that and enjoyed it. "Mary, the mother of Jesus, has given Christianity a good name. None of the negatives that have made Christianity a byword for tyranny, cruelty and licensed hatred have attached to her," Gordon began. "The problem with all this is that it has led to centuries of sentimentality -- blue and white Madonnas with folded hands and upturned eyes, a stick with which to beat independent women." Washington Post book reviewer Ron Charles was less laudatory: "If you'd enjoy a tale predicated on the idea that Christian faith is a toxic collection of 'foolish anecdotes' based on a 'fierce catastrophe,' Merry Christmas!" Charles found it refreshing this garbage bag of words "hasn't sparked outrage or boycotts -- a reassuring testament to the West's tolerance for such artistic license and Toibin's prominence. Some of us are a lot calmer nowadays about creative re-imaginings of sacred figures." He somehow left Catholics out of the picture as he expressed relief that "Evangelicals in this country may finally have caught on to the fact that fiery condemnation plays right into the marketing plans of books that would otherwise ascend into oblivion." He notes Toibin's tome has been "widely praised in England, but Toibin is a larger presence there, and churchgoing isn't." Somehow, he's not making the obvious connection: Toibin and other God-hating authors are consciously conspiring to empty out the churches, and Christian believers cannot always refuse to condemn them. Speaking up for Christ and his mother (and ours) is a solemn duty, not an option. We should ask the author what he thinks of Mohammed. He’s a gutless, clueless follower of satan who is so mad he can’t understand God that he denigrates all the good that is Catholicism and Christianity. Christianity: Think what you may. But the United States could not have been founded without it. I think his photo speaks volumes by itself... There are limits. I am one of the most peaceful people around, but if I ever see this book for sale, the table holding it gets overturned. That publisher should be boycotted. I think his photo speaks volumes by itself... This says even more about his lifestyle. You’d never have guessed... Tóibín’s work explores several main lines: the depiction of Irish society, living abroad, the process of creativity and the preservation of a personal identity, focusing especially on homosexual identities Tóibín is openly gay but also on identity when confronted with loss. The “Wexford” novels, The Heather Blazing and The Blackwater Lightship, use Enniscorthy, the town of Tóibín’s birth, as narrative material, together with the history of Ireland and the death of his father. An autobiographical account and reflection on this episode can be found in the non-fiction book, The Sign of the Cross. In 2009, he published Brooklyn, a tale of a woman emigrating to Brooklyn from Enniscorthy. Two other novels, The Story of the Night and The Master revolve around characters who have to deal with a homosexual identity and take place outside Ireland for the most part, with a character having to cope with living abroad. His first novel, The South, seems to have ingredients of both lines of work. It can be read together with The Heather Blazing as a diptych of Protestant and Catholic heritages in County Wexford, or it can be grouped with the “living abroad” novels. A third topic that links The South and The Heather Blazing is that of creation. Of painting in the first case and of the careful wording of a judge’s verdict in the second. This third thematic line culminated in The Master, a study on identity, preceded by a non-fiction book in the same subject, Love in a Dark Time. The book of short stories “Mothers and Sons” deal with family themes, both in Ireland and Catalonia, and homosexuality. Tóibín has written about gay sex in several novels, though Brooklyn contains a heterosexual sex scene in which the heroine loses her virginity. In his 2012 essay collection New Ways to Kill Your Mother: Writers and Their Families he studies the biographies of James Baldwin, J. M. Synge and W. B. Yeats, among others. The article, rightly so talks a lot about the Mary “mangling” but gives scant writing space to the denying of the divinity of Christ. - it is this issue alone that shows us the spirit that is at work here! He needs to get the balance right! The left is doing all it can to destroy Christianity. Trashing its icons is one of their favorite ways. The Dung Virgin. Piss Christ. Right after Thanksgiving they will start on Christmas trees and creches. “Mary, my Immaculate Mother, I desire to offer you reparation for the offenses which your Immaculate Heart receives from the horrible blasphemies which are uttered against you. I offer you these praises to console you for so many ungrateful children who do not love you, and to console the Heart of your Divine Son Who is so deeply offended by the insults offered to you. Grant that I may praise you, Holy Virgin; Give me strength against your enemies.” She proclaims of the death of Jesus only: “when you say that he redeemed the world, I will say that it was not worth it. It was not worth it.” Well, at least the author got one thing right. It wasn’t worth it, which is why God’s choice to redeem us was so amazingly merciful. This Catholic is going to give this book, author and newspaper what it deserves — absolutely nothing. Ignore it utterly and let it sink deeper into the mire that it (and he the author) is in Well, I am a Catholic, and I am offended by this book. Is it time for all of us to burn cars and behead people? As an Catholic, I am also offended Boycott Simon and Schuster.. Wow, I agree. As an Catholic, I am also offended. When do we start our riot? Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) Graduate School welcomes talented students, whatever their background. We offer our students a challenging and rewarding education combined with opportunities for personal development. Since we prepare our graduates for the rest of their lives we are committed to an education, instilling in our students the ability to learn and think with emphasis on leadership and respect for others. At GTUC, our graduate students have direct access to some of the world's finest academic minds - they learn how to be self-starting, able to turn their hands to anything and make a difference in whatever field of endeavour they choose. Students are taught by leaders in their fields - people who themselves are making a difference through their research and teaching. It is no surprise that our students are sought widely by employers and make their mark at national and international levels. We are pleased to offer over 25 graduate programmes to more than 650 current graduate students who benefit from high quality and flexible education offered at GTUC. Working professionals appreciate convenient classes offered in the late afternoon, evening, and during the weekend. If you're a prospective or an international student looking to pursue graduate education at GTUC, please take a look at our academic programmes so you have a better understanding of our offerings and requirements. We welcome your questions and comments and we hope that you will consider GTUC now with its growing global presence.

Adult Fiction SHAFAK Summary: From one of Turkey’s most acclaimed and outspoken writers, a novel about the tangled histories of two families In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country’s violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the “bastard” of the title, Asya, a nineteen-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul: Zehila, the zestful, headstrong youngest sister who runs a tattoo parlor and is Asya’s mother; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as a clairvoyant; Cevriye, a widowed high school teacher; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. Their one estranged brother lives in Arizona with his wife and her Armenian daughter, Armanoush. When Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search of her identity, she finds the Kazanci sisters and becomes fast friends with Asya. A secret is uncovered that links the two families and ties them to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres. Full of vigorous, unforgettable female characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is a bold, powerful tale that will confirm Shafak as a rising star of international fiction. Be the first to add a comment! Share your thoughts about this title. Would you recommend it? Why or why not? Question about returns, requests or other account details? Add a Comment

Kagrra, - Kotodama (by Akachan87) Visual kei (rock) is a distinctive subgenre of musical artists in Japan (though not entirely unique to that country), and none have ever been more singularly Japanese in their styling than Kagrra,. They called it “Neo-Japonesque”, and their instrumental choices, fashion, and lyrics reflect a Heian-era influence. So did vocalist Isshi’s feminine image in the band’s earlier years, very much in the tradition of Japanese theater such as kabuki (where women were banned in the 1600s and male actors known as “oyama” or “onnagata” became highly regarded for their portrayal of female characters). Even as the band became more popular in the mainstream and shifted away from their gothic roots, they kept the Japanese culture as a strong element. Though the group disbanded in 2011 and Isshi died shortly thereafter, their unique creative vision is remembered worldwide. Kotodama (The Power of Words): lyrics translation

Growth, proteolytic activity and adhesion to sheep epithelial cells of four species of bifidobacteria A. S. ZAHRAN, Dairy Science Dept., Minia Univ., College of Agriculture, Minia, 61111, Egypt Bifidobacteria are the predominant bacteria in the stools of breast-fed infants.They were reported as an example of beneficial bacteria.These bacteria contribute to digestion,immunity promotion,production of vitamins and inhibition of pathogens.The benfits of consuming milk products containing bifidobacteria are well documented and have been reported by many researchers.Bifidobacterium longum,B. bifidum,B. adolescentis and B.angulatum were evaluated for their growth,acid production,alpha-and beta-galactosidase activities in MRS supplemented with 5%(w/w) lactose(MRSL).Viability and proteolytic activity in pasteurized cow milk were also studied.Adhesion of the four species to freshly collected sheep intestinal cells was also investigated.The results showed that B.longum had the the highest growth rate and acid production in MRSL compared to the other species.On the other hand,B.adolescentis was the least active bacterium.B.bifidum had the highest alpha-galactosidase activity,whereas,B.longum possessed the highest beta-galactosidase activity.The growth of all species was enhanced due to the presence of cysteine -HCl (reducing agnet)in MRSL.B.angulatum and B.longum grew well in pasteurized cow milk,they also showed the highest proteolytic activity.The attachment of bifidobacteria to columnar epithelial cells of sheep was species dependant.B.longum and B.bifidum bound much better than the other two species.This study suggests that B.longum and B.bifidum could be used for the manufacture of dairy products containing probiotics. Session 30D, Nutrition

A Global Association of Orthodox Jewish Believers in Messiah Yeshua Messiah to Come Twice Like Isaac, Joseph, Moses, and David The Torah, and the rest of the TaNaKh teaches that the Messiah would come twice for Israel, first to be rejected, despised, and killed; and then resurrected and to ascend to Heaven, and then come again to bring Israel to the Promised Land in the Olam Habah (World to Come). The Torah teaches the first and second coming of Messiah through the various messianic figures it presents. Messiah to come twice like Isaac, the death of the righteous atoning for Israel: -Was not Isaac offered up, but before hand Abraham said “we will return to you?” Breisheit 22:5 | Genesis 22:5: And Abraham said unto his young men: “Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come back to you.” Messiah to come twice like Joseph: -Was not Joseph considered dead by Israel, only to realize at the end that he was alive? Breisheit 42:38 | Genesis 42:38: And he said: ‘My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left; if harm befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Breisheit 45:28 | Genesis 45:28 And Israel said: ‘It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die.’ Messiah to come twice like Moses: -Did not Moses come once to deliver Israel from Egypt, only to leave, then come again and complete the task? Shemot 2:11-12 | Exodus 2:11-12: 11 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he smote the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And of Messiah’s rejection at his first coming, it is written also of Moses: Shemot 2:14 | Exodus 2:14: And he said: ‘Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? thinkest thou to kill me, as thou didst kill the Egyptian?’ And Moses feared, and said: ‘Surely the thing is known.’ And of Messiah mistakenly being taught as being a pagan, Egyptian, by those of the nations, it is written also of Moses: Shemot 2:19 | Exodus 2:19: And they said: ‘An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.’ And of Messiah coming a second time, as it is written also of Moses: Shemot 3:9-10 | Exodus 3:9-10: 9 And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me; moreover I have seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt.’ And of Messiah going back to deliver his people, after those who sought his life are dead, and with his bride and his students, to establish his reign, like Moses it is written: Shemot 4:18-20 | Exodus 4:18-20: 18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said unto him: ‘Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren that are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive.’ And Jethro said to Moses: ‘Go in peace.’ 19 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian: ‘Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead that sought thy life.’ 20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt; and Moses took the rod of G-d in his hand -Did not also Moses die in the Wilderness, while Yeshoshua led the people into the Land? Devarim 34:5 | Deuteronomy 34:5: So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. Devarim 34:9 | Deuteronomy 34:9: And Yehoshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. Yehoshua 1:1-2 | Joshua 1:1-2: 1 NOW IT came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke unto Yehoshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying: 2 ‘Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. -Who brings the people into the Land, if not the Messiah? Bamidbar 14:8 | Numbers 14:8: If the LORD delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it unto us—a land which floweth with milk and honey. Messiah to come twice like David: -Concerning David, didn’t he come to Israel first to serve a king (King Shaul), and during that time deliver the people with war on their enemies, before he himself became king and established his reign? 1 Shemuel 17:58 | 1 Samuel 17:58: And Saul said to him: ‘Whose son art thou, thou young man?’ And David answered: ‘I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.’ 1 Shemuel 18:8 | 1 Samuel 18:8: And Saul was very wroth, and this saying displeased him; and he said: ‘They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands; and all he lacketh is the kingdom!’ - Didn’t he not build the Temple before he died? Melachim 8:18 | Kings 8:18: 18 But the LORD said unto David my father: Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house for My name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart; 19 nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for My name. He (Messiah Yeshua) was a prophet from among our brothers, like Moses. He taught the people the Torah, did not sin, died outside the camp like Moses (also like the red heifer). He didn’t build the Temple before his death (like King David), and rose to life again from the dead, like Isaac. If one does not see the Messiah at all in the Torah concerning these things, is because one has not made true teshuvah yet. We are told to obey the Angel who’s name is HaShem, so that we are forgiven; and by that we are to choose life by obeying Moses who says to obey the Messiah who says to “repent, for the kingdom of G-d is near.” It is truly my hope that you see that the King of Israel, the Redeemer, the Rock of Israel, our Savior, is HaShem, and HaShem alone.

mfelker at southplainscollege.edu Thu Feb 26 10:13:16 EST 2004 James Rovira wrote, <First, a community college instructor said he suffered something like a class revolt when he attempted to assign memorization, so withdrew the Then, a student responded saying she was "irritated" by instructors that cave in to their students in this way, saying (essentially) that instructors should have some confidence that they know what assignments are best for the course and assign them. If students refuse to participate, then they lose the grade.>> I'm the community college instructor and my posting was a long time ago, but I'd like to make one correction. I never required memorization, much less withdrew the assignment because the students objected. I don't let students determine what we study or do. My posting should have made clear that I have never required memorization from my students who are taking one literature course because they need a humanities class to graduate with an Associate's Degree; the only English course(s) they are required to take is Comp I for Technical majors and Comp I and II for Academic majors. This will be the terminal English class for 99% of my students; I want them to have a good feel about literature when they leave. Yes, to "enjoy" it. That is why I specified that my students are not the senior or graduate English majors or the West Point cadets most of you teach; mine are kids learning welding or air conditioning repair, or majoring in pre-engineering, or in education. I get them for one or two semesters, and then they are gone. However, I added that this thread has given me a lot to think about. I am now considering adding a student presentation to the class which would / could involve memorization. One of my colleagues pairs off her students and each pair does a presentation over a work in the text not read in class; the students love designing costumes and props, and then trying to outdo each other. The "key" that has me thinking this way has come from several on this list: you let the student pick something he or she enjoys. My own experience in high school and college consisted of the entire class being forced to memorize and recite something the teacher chose, and I would still argue that the student's response to that is definitely not pleasure, nor the sense of a job well done, but a sense of relief at being done with it. Do I still remember what I memorized in high school and college? Yes. Do I take pleasure in that? Not really. Do I take pleasure in having memorized Yeats or Eliot or Chaucer? Yes, because I chose to do so, or because I taught what I loved until I had it by heart. I won't let my students choose to do the assignment or not, but I do plan to let them choose a work they like; then, they will be expected to learn it, understand it thoroughly, and present it to their classmates. I'm looking forward to trying this next semester. More information about the Milton-L

[C++-sig] When not to use static boost python library Mr Kun Hong kun.hong at uqconnect.edu.au Wed May 12 04:05:30 CEST 2010 I am new to boost python. I have some experience making python extension using pure C. Now I have a question: when should I not use static boost python library? I tried to search the archive a bit. But haven't found a good answer. I read the boost python library documentation, where the section 6.2 mentioned when should should static binary. But I still not very clear about it. The lines in the documentation is: It might be appropriate to use the static Boost.Python library in any of the following cases: * You are extending python and the types exposed in your dynamically-loaded extension module don't need to be used by any other Boost.Python extension modules, and you don't care if the core library code is duplicated among them. * You are embedding python in your application and either: * You are targeting a Unix variant OS other than MacOS or AIX, where the dynamically-loaded extension modules can “see” the Boost.Python library symbols that are part of the executable. * Or, you have statically linked some Boost.Python extension modules into your application and you don't care if any dynamically-loaded Boost.Python extension modules are able to use the types exposed by your statically-linked extension modules (and vice-versa). First of all, I am not embedding python interpreter in my app. I want to write an extention that can by loaded dynamicaly. So I fall into the first case, and I don't care my core library code is duplicated (i think here it means the boost python code is duplicated). But I do care the types and functions in my produced extension can be used. I have built my extension using static boost python lib and test it by writing some python code access the typs and functions exposed. It all works fine. So I guess what the problem is should be that: another python extension, written in boost python, cannot access the types and functions exposed in my current extension. I am not clear why is it so, becaused it is exposed to the python interpreter already. If there are two python extensions, both written in pure C, can't they access each other's type and Thanks in advance for any help. More information about the Cplusplus-sig

What if the bond markets priced in actual risk? A friend sent me this article written by Daniel Gross, which talks about how taxpayers in Europe and in the U.S. are paying for the mistakes of bondholders. First he starts with Ireland: When Ireland’s large private banks collapsed spectacularly a few years ago, the Irish government formally assumed the debts of the private banks. To ensure that bondholders of Irish banks would remain whole, the government undertook a massive bailout. To pay for it, it has inflicted vicious austerity on its populace. He moves on to Greece: As Liz Alderman and Jack Ewing reported in the New York Times this week, about two-thirds of the $177 billion in European aid to Greece given since May 2010 has been used to make payments to bondholders and other lenders. The upshot: Greece is imposing significant austerity on its citizens for the sake of preserving the value of bondholders. And the U.S.: Yes, it’s true that the U.S. in 2008 and 2009 acted to keep bondholders from taking big losses. The taxpayers formally assumed the debt of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without insisting bondholders take any haircut, just as the Irish taxpayers formally assumed the debts of their large banks. That was a big and expensive mistake. In a time of austerity, the U.S. government is channeling tax payer funds to make interest payments on bonds that were first issued by for-profit entities. He points out that Spain appears to be taking the same approach, and that the actual people of Ireland and Greece are having second thoughts about paying all these bills, expressed through who they are voting for. I believe it’s left to the reader to wonder what’s going to happen to Spain. Gross suggests a different tact for governments to use, namely to ignore old debt and to provide insurance for new debt issued by the banks and other private companies. The U.S. did this during the crisis, it was called the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program. His point is that we’ve made money off this program and we’ve let lots of really insolvent banks fail as well. On the other hand, I’d argue, we haven’t let the big banks fail, so there’s a limit to its effectiveness (but I won’t blame this program for that, because that’s a problem of political will). And it’s of course not altogether clear that the insurance it sold was sold at market value, since if it had been, I’m guessing it wouldn’t have been such a boon to a given company to issue debt and pay for insurance versus just issuing debt at a higher risk premium. In other words, I think the “Liquidity” in “Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program” is key. But he’s got it basically right- taxpayers are definitely on the hook for risky bets other people took. And backups and guarantees by governments definitely skews the bond market. Specifically, big companies end up paying less than they should given their risk, and the taxpayers foot the bill in situations of default (which aren’t allowed to actually be defaults with respect to the bondholders). So sufficiently big companies are paying too little for debt. That’s about half the story though. The other half is how normal people are paying too much for debt. For example, with student debt, Bloomberg recently reported that private issuers of student debt are charging as much as credit card companies: Tovar, who lives with her parents in the Chicago suburb of Blue Island, owes $55,600 to Chase Student Loans, a unit of JPMorgan, according to a May 17 statement provided by her. A loan for $24,794 carries an interest rate of 10.25 percent, as does a second loan for more than $2,619. A third for $28,187 has a rate of 8.97 percent. She has a balance of $42,326 in loans from a different lender. Given that these loans are effectively undischargable through bankruptcy, what is the real risk for private issuers in getting their money back? What would a fair market price be for these loans? And why don’t we have a fair market?

Clinical Trial Rescue MediciGlobal specialises in bringing clinical studies back on track. We bring clinical studies delayed due to patient recruitment back on course by: - Identifying hidden recruitment issues - Identifying strategies to address recruitment barriers - Developing an effective recruitment plan - Implementing strategies to restore patient recruitment momentum No matter your recruitment challenges… - Special populations - Patients in low incidence disease categories - Restrictive budgets and timelines - Sites unfamiliar with recruitment - Concern over “centralized recruitment” ...You can feel confident that we have the knowledge and experience to address your recruitment goals.

"Luxury on the Lake" Wayzata by goodfish Wayzata Travel Guide: 8 reviews and 26 photos This is another one of the old Lake Minnetonka towns that was eventually swallowed up by urban sprawl: it's considered a Minneapolis suburb now. Like Excelsior (see those pages), it has retained some of its former, cottage-dweller charms but large concentrations of million-dollar condos and waterside mansions of CEOs and industry moguls nourish the local flavor with a decidedly sliver spoon. These shores were once home to area Mdewakanton Dakota, a band of which still occupy reservation land near the southern suburbs. Wayzata (wise-ETTA) is an offshoot of the name for their blustery god of the North, Waziya, with the additional "ta" at the end roughly translating to "North Shore." White settlers built the first cabins here in 1852, and the community officially took root when the builder of the Great Northern Railroad, JJ Hill, laid tracks through the then-tiny and remote village in 1867. You can visit the JJ's mansion on Summit Avenue in St. Paul - see my tip on that. Rail service made it easy for city residents to escape the oppressive summer heat for Minnetonka's cool breezes, and the following few decades brought a building boom of posh resorts and hotels. A fleet of paddlewheelers carried visitors to getaways all over the the lake until the depression of 1893 shuttered most of them. If deserted hotels weren't a big enough problem, a dispute with Mr. Hill over relocating his tracks had him retaliate by moving the depot a full mile out of town and throwing the local economy into the doldrums for the next 15 years. But by the 1920's citizens of means had replaced the old resorts with summer homes, and boat-building became a profitable community business. The old battle with JJ had been resolved and he had an elegant new depot built that still stands today as the Wayzata Historical Society and Museum. After WWII, the automobile era made the lake even more accessible and passenger service was finally discontinued in 1971 - although freight trains still rumble through town on a regular basis. Today, almost all of the old structures downtown have been replaced with new construction housing expensive boutique clothing and gift shops, upscale cafes and assorted financial advisors, and the former boatworks is an office building/restaurant. I've never felt completely comfortable here among the dignified Old Money, cruisers worth more than my house and dinners costing my first-born - if I had one. No, laid-back Excelsior is much more my style. But it's a pretty place with masses of flowers along main street and diamonds even this budget shopper can afford sparking on the lake. The bookstore and coffeeshop won't empty your 401, and the beach and parks are free for a paddle or picnic. There's beer and burgers and the Muni, Cherry Garcia at Ben and Jerry's, and a walk around the backstreets with your cone will turn up a few vine-covered cottages from an era long gone. - Pros:Scenic and safe, nice lakeside lounging in summer - Cons:Expensive shopping, not much to do in the winter, no hotels Wayzata is about 12 miles/20 minutes (depending on traffic) from downtown Minneapolis: Take I-394 west, which becomes... more travel advice If you don't mind gently-used, you can find a few consignment and vintage shops here. As the folks at this end of the... more travel advice goodfish's Related Pages Wayzata Travel Guide Explore the World Badges & Stats in Wayzata - 8 Reviews - 26 Photos - 0 Forum posts - 0 Comments - See All Stats - See All Badges (90) Have you been to Wayzata?Share Your Travels Latest Activity in Wayzata Top 10 Pages - Top 5 Page for this destination Minneapolis Intro, 77 reviews, 318 photos - Rome Intro, 81 reviews, 307 photos - San Francisco Intro, 74 reviews, 256 photos - Paris Intro, 56 reviews, 207 photos - New York City Intro, 38 reviews, 138 photos - Florence Intro, 30 reviews, 131 photos - Italy Intro, 31 reviews, 123 photos, 2 travelogues - Top 5 Page for this destination Saint Paul Intro, 32 reviews, 117 photos - Chicago Intro, 24 reviews, 113 photos - Top 5 Page for this destination Olympic National Park Intro, 36 reviews, 100 photos

On this day the Anglican Communion commemorates Margery Kempe, Mystic. Margery Brunham was born in Lynn in Norfolk, about 1373. At the age of 20 she married John Kempe. They would be the parents of 14 children. "The Book of Margery Kempe, often described as the first autobiography in English, was probably written in the late 1430s and presents an account of the visionary encounters and conversations with Christ experienced by a woman from a prosperous urban mercantile family, who lived in Lynn in Norfolk. It details her attempts to follow a life of intense spirituality while living in the world, rather than withdrawing from it as an anchoress or nun, and describes the approbation and criticism which she received as a result." --from the Preface to A Companion to The Book of Margery Kempe, edited by John H. Arnold and Katherine J. Lewis, D. S. Brewer, 2004, page xvii. For a sample of Margery Kempe's book in modern English, see Celebrating the Saints: Devotional Readings for Saints' Days, by Christopher L. Webber and Robert Atwell, Morehouse Publishing, 2001. Search term: Kempe. Page 396. "Margery Kempe is brought before the court of the Archbishop of York." And here, in middle English, is her meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop gives Margery Kempe (this creatur) permission to choose her own confessor and to receive Communion (be howselyd) every Sunday. Than went this creatur forth to London wyth hir husbond unto Lambhyth, there the Erchebisshop lay at that tyme. And, as thei comyn into the halle at aftyrnoon, there wer many of the Erchebysshoppys clerkys and other rekles men bothe swyers and yemen whech sworyn many gret othis and spokyn many rekles wordys, and this creatur boldly undyrname hem and seyd thei schuld ben dampnyd but thei left her sweryng and other synnes that thei usyd. And wyth that cam forth a woman of the same town in a pylche and al forschod this creatur, bannyd hir, and seyd ful cursydly to hir in this maner, "I wold thu wer in Smythfeld, and I wold beryn a fagot to bren the wyth; it is pety that thow levyst." This creatur stod stylle and answeryd not, and hir husbond suffred wyth gret peyn and was ful sory to heryn hys wyfe so rebukyd. Than the Erchbusshop sent for this creatur into hys gardeyn. Whan sche cam to hys presens, sche salutyd hym as sche cowd, prayng hym of hys gracyows lordshyp to grawnt hir auctoryté of chesyng hyr confessowr and to be howselyd every Sonday, yyf God wold dysposen hir therto, undyr hys lettyr and hys seel thorw al hys provynce. And he grawnt it her ful benyngly all hir desyr wythowtyn any sylver er gold, ne he wold latyn hys clerkys takyn anythyng for wrytyn ne for seelyng of the lettyr. Whan this creatur fond this grace in hys sygth, sche was wel comfortyd and strengthyd in hir sowle, and so sche schewyd this worshepful lord hir maner of levyng and swech grace as God wrowt in hyr mende and in hir sowle to wetyn what he wold sey therto yyf he fond any defawte eythyr in hyre contemplacyon er in hir wepyng. And sche teld hym also the cawse of hyre wepyng and the maner of dalyawns that owyr Lord dalyid to hyr sowle. And he fond no defawt therin but aprevyd hir maner of levyng and was rygth glad that owyr mercyful Lord Cryst Jhesu schewyd swech grace in owyr days, blyssed mot he be. --from Chapter 16 of The Book of Margery Kempe. Is Margery Kempe a saint? Katherine J. Lewis discusses the promises of Christ in "Margery Kempe and Saint Making in Late Medieval England," an essay in A Companion to The Book of Margery Kempe. Click here for some genealogical information about Margery Brunham Kempe.

By Peter Tormey SPOKANE, Wash. – The research study of a mother chimpanzee tending to her dead infant by Gonzaga University behavioral psychologist Mark Bodamer and colleagues sheds new light on the mother-infant bond and the potential for chimpanzees to learn about death. Some assert the video-supported research depicts humans’ closest genetic relatives mourning, but the researchers say more evidence is needed to make that claim. Decide for yourself in the video below. Bodamer, an associate professor of psychology at Gonzaga, and co-researchers Katherine Cronin and Edwin Van Leeuwen from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in The Netherlands and Zambian researcher Innocent Chitalu Mulenga, published the report “Behavioral Response of a Chimpanzee Mother Toward her Dead Infant” in the March issue of the American Journal of Primatology. The highly detailed research includes video clips documenting the behaviors of the mother chimpanzee, Masya, in May 2010 after her 16-month-old infant died, and the behaviors of the dead infant’s sister, Mary. Little is known of primates’ reaction to the death of close individuals, and the researchers believe they are the first to describe in detail a unique transitional period as the mother learned of her infant’s death. The study does not mention mourning, but media reports of it do, including: “Chimps ‘Mourn Their Dead Infants,’” in the United Kingdom newspaper The Telegraph, and “Haunting Footage Reveals How Chimps Mourn Death” at Treehugger.com. Chimpanzees and humans share more than 98 percent similar DNA and 99.8 percent similar blood, and the study refers to the apes by name. Anthropomorphizing great apes’ behavior was once considered a scientific taboo. However, the fieldwork of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas has made the role of empathy more widely accepted. With this acceptance has come increasing recognition that the great apes are toolmakers with linguistic abilities, individuality and culture. The study also contributes to research on the crucial mother-infant bond, which plays a central role in human and non-human society. Whether the chimps are mourning, however, remains an open question for Bodamer now in his 10th year of research at Chimfunshi, and his fourth year as a Gonzaga professor taking students, faculty and staff there. He is considering ways to accommodate alumni as well; if interested, contact Bodamer at (509) 313-6494 or via e-mail. Bodamer, who directs the Zambia Chimfunshi program, called the research “intriguing.” “As we gather more information, this (mourning) inference may be more supported. We’re intrigued our closest living relative is responding behaviorally to the death of her daughter in a manner comparable to humans,” Bodamer said. After carrying the dead infant for more than a day, the mother tenderly placed the infant on the ground to watch over her child, creating physical distance between herself and her deceased infant for the first time. “The behavior of the mother toward her dead infant not only highlights the maternal contribution to the mother-infant relationship but also elucidates the opportunities chimpanzees have to learn about the sensory cues associated with death, and the implications of death for the social environment,” the researchers noted. The videos force viewers to consider what might be happening, Cronin said. “Whether a viewer ultimately decides that the chimpanzee is mourning or is simply curious about the corpse, is not nearly as important as people taking a moment to consider the possibilities,” Cronin said.

Young Fish Return to "Home Reefs" to Settle Down for National Geographic News |May 4, 2007| After spending weeks adrift in the ocean as tiny larvae, juvenile coral reef fish often return to their "home reef" to settle down, researchers say. The strong homing behavior shown by reef-dwelling butterflyfish in the waters near Papua New Guinea came as a surprise to scientists, and it may have important implications for the design of marine reserves. Researchers and fisheries managers have long sought better information on how very young fish disperse in the ocean. Tracking the fate of tiny larvae has been extremely difficult, since the fish are too small for even the smallest electronic tags. So a team led by Glenn Almany of Australia's James Cook University used a new method for chemically "tagging" fish while still in the egg stage inside their mothers' bodies. Later recovery of the tagged juveniles showed that as the fish matured, they returned to their place of birth. On a very small reef, the team found, more than 60 percent of the young, recently settled fish were offspring of adult fish living in the same location. "We were shocked to find that so many larvae returned to their parents' reef after 38 days in open waters," Almany said. The team's report appears in this week's edition of the journal Science. For their study the researchers tracked two fish species with different reproductive strategies. "Each represents one of the two dominant modes of reproduction found in marine fishes," Almany noted. Clown anemonefish lay their eggs on bare rocks, which are tended by the parents for several days. After hatching, the free-swimming larvae typically settle down near sea anemones after just 11 days, making the fishes' stay-at-home tendency not particularly surprising. (Read "No Nemo: Anemones, Not Parents, Protect Clownfish" [June 5, 2003].) The untended eggs and larvae of vagabond butterflyfish, on the other hand, may spend four to six weeks drifting with the currents—a trait shared by many commercially important fish species. Right now little is known about how far the butterflyfish larvae travel and how the juveniles find their way back to their parents' reef, Almany said. "We can only guess about how they might locate the exact reef on which they were born," he said. "Perhaps some form of imprinting, such as a chemical 'memory' of home." Not Reseeding Reefs? Robert Steneck is a marine ecologist at the University of Maine who was not involved in the study. He noted that previous studies had often assumed high rates of dispersal in coral reef fish, with local populations maintained by young fish arriving from across a broad region. Similarly, the theory behind many marine reserves is that the offspring of fish in protected areas will help maintain populations far beyond reserve boundaries. Almany's team, Steneck said, "found the best coral reef system, the best marking tool, and the right species of fish to empirically test the theories. Their results were very surprising but very important indeed." The finding that fish populations on coral reefs may largely be locally generated means the benefits of reserves may not extend as far as had been hoped. "The stated goal of many [marine] reserves is that they can be a source of larvae for effectively reseeding damaged reefs downstream," Steneck said. "We might want to increase our efforts to protect reproducing fish outside of reserves," he continued, "if we don't want to see growing dead zones throughout the world's reefs." Free Email News Updates Sign up for our Inside National Geographic newsletter. Every two weeks we'll send you our top stories and pictures (see sample). |© 1996-2008 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.|

Tue January 15, 2013 Five Reasons NOT to Take That Trip to Mars From the imagination of Ray Bradbury to the front pages of our newspapers, the prospect of traversing vast reaches of space and seeing Mars firsthand has long inhabited and excited the idealistic public consciousness. However, our recent talk with psychiatrist Mathias Basner revealed that the odyssey comes with a number of physiological costs. Here are some of the most prominent known bodily effects of long-term space travel: 1. “Puffy Face Syndrome” On earth, the heart works hard to pump blood upwards to the top half of your body – our force of gravity requires this effort. In space, gravity is weaker, but the heart takes a while to adjust. As a result, astronauts develop a slightly enlarged upper torso and head due to the excess of blood being pumped upwards. Conversely, legs become thinner and weaker. As the astronaut’s veins bulge, the body attempts to compensate by releasing more fluids, resulting in loss of essential electrolytes and calcium. This loss of fluid contributes to significant bone loss over the course of a long trip. 2. Increase in Height An additional side effect of lower gravity: space travel affects the spinal column. With relatively less compression on the spine, astronauts experience a slight separation of vertebrae. This separation results in a growth spurt of about two inches. On long-term space journeys, space and weight is precious. As a result, water is stored and used sparingly. For astronauts, showers are a rare occurrence – they normally “bathe” by using hygienic towels. Experienced astronauts have attested to a regularly wide buffer zone kept between astronauts; sanity is preserved and nostrils appeased by avoiding each other’s personal space and strong body odor. 4. Radiation Poisoning Prolonged exposure and proximity to the sun does not bode well for DNA – the sun emits powerful radiation with the strong potential to mutate genetic material. Astronauts often speak of flashes of light behind closed eyelids - unseen radiation waves rippling through their body. One dose of solar radiation is equivalent to hundreds of chest x-rays, and a longer journey to Mars would increase the risk exponentially. As a precaution, astronauts have solar storm shelters built within the spacecraft that are impervious to radiation. 5. Perception of Time On average, astronauts near the Earth see the sun rise and set every ninety minutes. This is jarring for the body’s Circadian Rhythm, and has the potential to disrupt sleeping and eating patterns. In addition, this pattern of light exposure is psychologically disorienting – perception of time itself can be altered. Here's a video that continues to unpack the physiological effects of space travel:

British Journal of Aesthetics 44 (2):167-183 (2004) |Abstract||I argue that clarity about essence provides the tools both to isolate a distinct concept of art and to see why anti-essentialism is a plausible, though incomplete, doctrine about it. While this concept is not the only concept currently expressed by our word ‘art’, it is an interesting, and might be an important, one. One of the challenges it poses to conceptual analysis is to explain what it is to be better than being good of a thing's kind, where this extra-goodness is neither a trivial fact nor simply a matter of being a good instance of two different kinds of thing. While anti-essentialism seems to be right about what types of analysis will not work for it, this result only deepens the question of what its proper analysis is.| |Keywords||No keywords specified (fix it)| |Through your library||Configure| Similar books and articles Nigel Leary (2009). How Essentialists Misunderstand Locke. History of Philosophy Quarterly 26 (3):273-292. Travis Dumsday (2010). Natural Kinds and the Problem of Complex Essences. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 88 (4):619-634. D. Gene Witmer (2003). Dupre's Anti-Essentialist Objection to Reductionism. Philosophical Quarterly 53 (211):181-200. Denis M. Walsh (2006). Evolutionary Essentialism. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 57 (2):425-448. Zhen Han (2010). Some Remarks on the Re-Building of the Category of Essence and the Reflective Modernity. Frontiers of Philosophy in China 5 (1):134-141. Alexander Bird (2009). Essences and Natural Kinds. In Robin Le Poidevin (ed.), The Routledge Companion to Metaphysics. Routledge. David S. Oderberg (2007). Real Essentialism. Routledge. Christy Mag Uidhir & P. D. Magnus (2011). Art Concept Pluralism. Metaphilosophy 42 (1-2):83-97. David S. Oderberg (2011). Essence and Properties. Erkenntnis 75 (1):85-111. Added to index2009-01-28 Total downloads64 ( #14,354 of 549,113 ) Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,361 of 549,113 ) How can I increase my downloads?

ALL PAPERS ARE EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL DATE AND TIME OF PRESENTATION Research on allergens, green chemistry and nanotechnology will be presented among nearly 500 papers at the 60th Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, in Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 29 - Oct. 2. Approximately 750 scientists are expected to attend the meeting at the Fort Worth Plaza Hotel, located at 1701 Commerce St. Highlights of the meeting include a symposium on the physical-chemical properties of allergens and a symposium that addresses specific aspects of the green chemistry movement, including innovative industrial processes, green manufacturing and related topics. There will also be a session on nanotechnology in bioscience and electronic materials. The following awards will be presented at the meeting: - Patrick Cassidy of Texas State University in San Marcos will receive the ACS Southwest Regional Award for his advances in fluoropolymer chemistry. - Dwan Garrison of Flippin High School, Flippin, Ark., will receive the ACS Southwest Regional High School Chemistry Teaching Award. - Steven McKnight of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas will receive the W.T. Doherty Award presented by the Society’s Dallas-Fort Worth Section in recognition of his work on chemicals involved in gene regulation. - James and Virginia Marshall of the University of North Texas in Denton will receive an award for the best paper published last year in the Bulletin of the History of Chemistry. Marshall’s paper argued that Ernest Rutherford, not Ernst Dorn, discovered the element radon. - Leif Olsen, Kyle Hunt, Lindsey Hall, Ashutosh Misra, William Morrison and Jennifer O’Brien will receive the ACS Industrial Innovations Award for research done at Texas Instruments (TI) in Dallas on a new system for chemical mechanical polishing, resulting in the improvement of TI’s semiconductor chips. Additional details about the meeting can be found at http://www.swrm.org/. Source: Eurekalert & othersLast reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 21 Feb 2009 Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved. Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

Major, Minor & Honors Students are required to take eight 4-point courses (32 points), which must include RELST-UA.0001 (Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion - only offered in the Fall semester) and RELST-UA.0015 (Advanced Seminar - only offered in the Spring semester). Majors are expected to outline core requirements and design a coherent study plan, which may include courses outside the Religious Studies curriculum, in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students pursuing a minor in religious studies are required to take four 4-point courses (16 points), which must include RELST-UA.0001 (Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion - only offered in the Fall semester). Eligibility: any Religious Studies major who has a major and cumulative GPA of 3.65 or above. Credit requirements: 8 credits over and above the major requirements: Four credits of research as a reading course, and four credits of thesis writing to produce an honors thesis of around 30 pages. These two four credit courses are usually taken consecutively. These credits are taken with one professor, usually one of the core Religious Studies Faculty. A minimum grade of B+ must be maintained both semesters in order for you to be eligible to receive honors. The work: Students must finish their work to the satisfaction of the professor and must receive a grade in each term in order to successfully graduate with honors. These cannot be pass/fail grades. In Religious Studies, grading takes into account two things: - The supervised research process in each term -- meeting weekly, or bi-weekly, completing a reading list, discussing that with the professor, and doing whatever writing is assigned. This requirement also pertains to the term of the writing of the thesis, which is a culmination of a year-long research process. - The thesis itself, around 30 pages on a topic, is to be handed in with enough time for revision of drafts (typically 2 to 3 weeks prior to the end of the semester). We recommend that you choose a professor with whom you have already taken a course, and choose a topic that allows you to build upon a basis of knowledge already acquired so that you can have the experience of deepening and sharpening your understanding of a topic. - You must discuss your topic in advance with the professor, who must agree to this 8 credit commitment. If he/she is going to be on leave one of the terms, special arrangements must be made with him/her to carry out this commitment from afar, or you must choose someone else. - You must see the administrator of Religious Studies to pick up the Declaration of Honors Form. This form will lay out your timeline of commitments and deadlines, and be signed by you and the professor. - Once you have been approved, register for the appropriate credits of independent study each term. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

New Jedi Order - Edge of Victory I: Conquest by Greg Keyes Published by Del Ray Scott's Rating: 4 out of 4 Chris's Rating: 3 out of 4 Michael's Rating: 3 out of 4 The Second Jedi Purge has begun. With the corrupt New Republic standing on the brink of total annihilation by the savage Yuuzhan Vong, the people of the Republic have leapt at the Vong’s offer of peace – in return for the lives of all the Jedi. Luke Skywalker and his newly-pregnant wife Mara find the loyalty of the Jedi Order slipping through their fingers, as more and more of the hunted Jedi become swayed by Kyp Durron’s violent “Jedi for Jedi” philosophy. But as the galaxy crumbles before Luke’s horrified eyes, the most crucial struggle of all is occurring in the soul of Anakin Solo. Driven by a vision from the Force, Anakin defies Luke’s orders and travels to the Jedi Academy of Yavin IV, convinced the students there (especially his old friends Master Ikrit and Tahiri Veila from “Junior Jedi Knights”) are in mortal danger. Sure enough, the traitorous Peace Brigade is at work serving the Jedi Academy to the Vong as a sacrifice. Despite the best efforts of Anakin and Talon Karrde, the Academy is destroyed, another Jedi hero falls – and Tahiri is captured by the Vong. Now, with the aid of a disgraced former Vong commander named Vua Rapuung, Anakin must race against time to save Tahiri from a fate truly worse than death – being brainwashed and mutilated into a Force-using Vong warrior. With the odds overwhelmingly against him, and the ghosts of the recent past haunting him, will Anakin be forced – finally – to embrace his infamous grandfather and namesake’s dark legacy? I always loved the Junior Jedi Knight books, so it was a lot of fun to see the characters from that book series get the attention they finally deserve. Their inclusion also seems to tie everything in together and give all the books the feel of telling one story. Tahiri was a fun character in those early books and she still is here. She has a special bond with Anakin and we see it developed here in Conquest. Young Jedi in love...aww. :) And the fact that she's kind of a secondary character makes her situation much more dire. There's a sense that she's really in jeopardy unlike some of the other characters. The death of Master Ikrit underlines that fact. Speaking of Ikrit, he's a character that could have been easily written off and ignored by the Star Wars continuity. In fact, he was up until this point. However, his presence and comments before his dramatic death add quite a bit of weight to the events. I also love the foreshadowing he gives. We get quite a bit more insight into the Yuuzhan Vong in this book. This is mainly because of the renegade Yuuzhan Vong known as Vua Rapuung. It's difficult to imagine one of these aliens ever becoming an ally to a Jedi, but Keyes is able to pull it off in a convincing way. The seeds of the Yuuzhan Vong defeat seem to be sown in this book as both Anakin and Tahiri gain valuable insight into the invaders. We also get hints that the Shamed Ones will be key players in defeating their masters. Overall this was an enjoyable story for me. It had a great combination of action and adventure. It had interesting old and new characters. I was originally feeling like I didn't want to see more stories in the New Jedi Order storyline, but this kept things interesting. That this book is as good as it is, considering how fast it was written (virtually a last-minute replacement for Michael Jan Friedman’s cancelled Knightfall Trilogy), is incredible and speaks very high of Greg Keyes’ abilities. The characterization of our familiar characters is dead-on, the new characters presented here are very interesting indeed, and the tale moves with a speed-of-light pace strongly reminiscent of the films themselves. What this book basically serves as is a “course correction” mandated by Lucasfilm. The NJO saga to date was getting TOO dark, and the authors had done TOO good a job of presenting the Yuuzhan Vong as virtually invincible. In this book, their Achilles’ Heel is finally exposed. Thankfully, it’s not a bit of technobabble (“Star Trek,” anyone?) or a case of overconfidence and ego (The Emperor), but an intriguing piece of the Vong’s rapidly deepening culture. This book also sets up some surprising plot threads for the rest of the series, as the very heart of the SW saga – the Force – is called into question as never before. While the G word is never mentioned (thankfully), it is revealed that the Force may be merely part of something even greater, even more powerful. I’m surprised Lucas let this through. It is presented with restraint, however, and I am very interested in seeing where it leads. Initially, I was hesitant of another NJO novel centring on one of the Solo kids, but I was quite pleased with the result that J. Gregory Keyes produced. Throughout the series, Anakin has started to emerge from the shadow of his two older siblings, progressing as a character, one from boyhood into growing manhood. Like the family Jedi before him, he is headstrong, however reckless, yet forever loyal to his friends. This trait sets up the general movement of the story, whereby Anakin sets upon himself the task of going to the aid of the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV, who are under attack by the Peace Brigade. Following previous set trend of the NJO, the novel provides many past continuity links, especially this time with the “Young Jedi Knights” and “Junior Jedi Knights” series of books. It is not necessary to have read those previous books, however, it does add that fundamental extra to the enjoyment of the book if you understand more of the back-story to the characters. Characters such as Uldir, Tahiri, Qorl and Ikrit make an appearance, the latter unfortunately meeting his demise, he was one of the major influences in Anakin’s young life. Fans wishes are fulfilled also, as Kam Solusar finally gets increased ‘screen time’. One of the most pleasing and intriguing aspects of Keyes book is that he delves into the realm of Yuuzhan Vong culture and society, more so than previous authors. He introduces the Shaper sect, whose main goal in the book is to produce a Vong / Jedi hybrid – the unfortunate guinea pig – Tahiri. This book I feel, marks a breaking point within the Jedi order, and in my opinion I feel that this is a good move. For so long, they have been portrayed as inactive, ineffective and confused, and sadly lacking genuine leadership. Keyes brings this to a satisfactory head with a conference of the Jedi, in which the opinions of Luke and Kyp yet again clash. From here, the Jedi will either ultimately split, or both sides will find the positives in each other’s ‘certain point of view’ and unite – but I feel that the decision has been laid upon the table in this book. Personally, I will be frustrated if this storyline continues, where the Jedi cannot find a united front – it is becoming stale. Keyes, through his character Vua Rapuung, presents a sympathetic side to the Vong, giving an insight into the mindset of their culture, revealing their intents and purposes, in their own unique twisted perspective. They are no longer mindless villains, they have personality. I really loved Keyes biblical analogy to Jonah and the Whale, with Anakin receiving transport in the belly of the fish to the Shaper’s compound. Many story threads are laid down in this book, which I feel excited about, if you look for their future story possibilities – Luke’s vision around who will finally win the war, subtle hints pointing to Anakin, Anakin’s relationship with Tahiri, and the state of the Jedi order. Perhaps with Tahiri new implanted memories, and with the eventual return of Vergere, perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel for the Jedi / Republic . . . This book takes place over a rather long time frame. It seems to take place over a couple of weeks. If the Jedi children were in as much jeopardy as was believed, you'd have thought that help would have arrived MUCH faster. If the Jedi themselves didn't jump into action to help the totally undefended children, you would have thought the parents of the children would have arrived. I mean, if my child was at the Jedi Academy and I heard the Yuuzhan Vong placed a bounty on their head, I would have been there in a heartbeat to get the kid out. Yet that wasn't the case. However, you can't fault Keyes for that. He only had X amount of pages to tell the story and there wasn't room to explore every implication of the situation. The long time frame of the story also didn't seem Star Wars-like. Between one chapter and the next, Keyes will say that three days have past. Or possibly a week. Attacking ships will approach and it is announced they will arrive in three hours. Half an hour. While these time frames are certainly more realistic, the Star Wars movies and novels always seemed to ignore them. If a ship attacks, it pops out of nowhere and attacks you. It is also almost never acknowledged that it would take a character multiple days to stomp through a jungle. Just a minor gripe, but something that never would have occurred to me until I saw it in this book. If there is anything really wrong with this book, it can be traced back to one simple fact – the book was written very quickly. The space battle scenes were very short and not too detailed. The characterization, while (as I said before) accurate, was not very in-depth. This book could have really used a month or two for some polishing. Count your blessings, though -- the last time a SW book was written under those circumstances, we got “The Crystal Star.” Keyes continuous use of the word ‘fellow’. Something just didn’t sit right with me with that word. I imagined some pompous English aristocrat using that word, not with Anakin. A minor personal fault. However great it is that the series is continuing to center around different characters, I have noticed an alarming trend that the focus of those characters is decreasing in age, this time being a central shift towards 14 – 16 year old characters. Gladly, ‘Rebirth’ will once again be more focused on the ensemble cast of characters. I was left dissatisfied with the reintroduction of Corran Horn, and felt that this should have been made into more of a major event. There is also the trend of the books being localised on one setting, ie: Balance Point with Duro, now Conquest on Yavin IV. Star Wars has always been about epic multiple settings, I hope that future novels return to that set precedent. Lastly, I was a little disappointed by the death of Vua. This series has yet to provide continuous Yuuzhan Vong characters apart from two – Tsavong Lah, the occasional appearance by Nom Anor, and only the mentioning of Supreme Overlord Shimmra. First Shedao Shai and now Vua’s characters are gone, lost opportunity I believe. Hopefully this can be rectified. This book relies heavily on the old Junior Jedi Knights series for back story. Many fans are going to have a hard time finding them if they want copies. It could get ugly. You think the Yuuzhan Vong are ugly? Imagine being a Vong whose physical appearance has been ruined by a artificial disease. Now THAT’S ugly. :) The Shaper Adepts progression in the sect, receiving the Maker’s hand. The process made me cringe!

R’evolution is shorthand for the jump time of evolution, when social relations that have been frozen for a long time start thawing and the obsolescence of the dominant social order becomes obvious to the multitudes. It’s a time of unfreeze, a fascinating moment, when what the future can become is up to us, to our [...] You are browsing the archive for sense-making. Wikipedia describes sense-making as follows: It is a collaborative process of creating shared awareness and understanding out of different individuals’ perspectives and varied interests… Sensemaking has seven properties Identity and identification is central – who people think they are in their context shapes what they enact and how they interpret events (Pratt, 2000, Currie & Brown, 2003; [...] In its raw energetic sense The Future of Occupy is a creative outcome that continues to unfold in the daily life of the global Occupy Movement, from moment to moment. For a couple of months now, in the aftermath of the original mid-October explosion of Occupy camps all over the world both Occupy-ers and onlooking [...] The Commission for Group Dynamics in Assemblies of the Puerta del Sol Protest Camp (Madrid) defined collective thinking as follows: Collective Thinking is an essential part of our movement. To our understanding, Collective Thinking is diametrically opposed to the kind of thinking propounded by the present system. This makes it difficult to assimilate and apply. Time is [...]

Bio: Kurt Unkel grew up in family of rice and cattle farmers in Kinder, Louisiana. For the first decade-plus of their marriage, Kurt and his wife, Karen, a nurse by profession, farmed on auto-pilot. But about ten years ago, with all three of their kids in school, they found time to assess their work lives, which induced an awakening. Seeing no way to make a viable long-term living in conventional farming, they began to transition to more sustainable farming methods, and also to direct-marketing their product. Even though Cajun Grain is only about 10 years old, it represents a shift in their 30-year rice farming history. Knowing how much food and nutrition influence health, growing healthier foods was their goal. It presented a new learning curve that they were excited to explore and over the last few years they have absorbed a lot of knowledge from many experts in the field of "creating" nutritious food. As a grower of food, they have learned that the prime factor in quality food is the soil. If the soil is nurtured, it creates a hierarchy of life, from microorganisms up through earthworms and such. They all have a role in supplying the plant with the tools to produce food. They hope to capture the dynamics of the growing process to create food that sparks the innate energy in the body! Besides the rice, Cajun Grain have grass-fed cattle, free-range pigs, and a vegetable plot.

Alex Bogusky: Founder of COMMON, Creative Director of the Decade "Being a great company is the new brand, because there isn't going to be anything between you and the reality of that company." Tony Hsieh: Chief Executive Officer, Zappos "Brand and culture are just two sides of the same coin. The brand is just a lagging indication of the culture. Now that everyone is hyper-connected and information travels so fast, the lag time between brand and culture is becoming less and less." Shaquille O'Neal: Four-time NBA Champion, 15-time NBA All-Star "When I was first starting out, I met with a bunch of suits who wanted to create my image. Those who have their image created never last long. I told them from day one, 'Image is reality. What you see is what you get.'" Kevin Plank: Chief Executive Officer / Founder, Under Armour "The definition of advertising is changing. It's no longer built by 'those who spend the most money, win.' It's built by those who have the best product." Yvon Chouinard: Founder, Patagonia "Those who don't stick their necks out, who are afraid to take risks, who play it safe — they lose it all in the end." Keith Weed: Chief Marketing and Communication Officer, Unilever "In the digital world, a brand is judged by what it says, but more importantly by what it does. Advertising can introduce a brand to new consumers, but ultimately, a brand is judged by how it acts." Dara O'Rourke: Co-Founder, GoodGuide "You can't control the message anymore and you can't ignore the message anymore. If you think you can ignore it, you are not long for your current job." Dr. AK Pradeep: Founder, Neurofocus "Advertising is going to change because we are going to become part of the consumer's experience—one they actually look forward to." Porter Gale: Former Chief Marketing Officer, Virgin America "Advertising definitely can't bullshit people anymore." Bonin Bough: Former Senior Global Director of Digital & Social Media, Pepsi, Co. "We have to break down this notion of advertising as a command and control paradigm. What used to work no longer works, and here's what's crazy: it used to work for a hundred years. But in the last twenty years, everything has changed." Rajiv Srinivasan: U.S. Military veteran and activist "Consumers are three dimensional, and they seek out three dimensional narratives of the products they're interested in. They're no longer swayed by the one dimensional report offered by advertisements." Joel Stein: Time Magazine "I saw a Google ad. I don't know why they are taking out ads. There are so many amazing products they have developed without advertising. If you have a superior product, I don't think you need advertising. The Google print ad made me feel like they were stupid." Julia Allison: TV Correspondent and Syndicated Columnist "To create an evangelist, deliver unexpected triumphs of customer service." Amy Krajeski: Product Reviewer Read Over One Million Times "You would think, knowing that people are talking about their products online, companies would make better products. But there's still a lot of crap out there." Peter Sims: Author of Little Bets "Brands are just collections of little experiences. It's not about creating a big branding campaign. It's about creating the small moments that build the brand from the bottom up. It's not from the top down."

WINDBER — CANN – Bertha, 92, Windber, formerly of Richland Township, passed away March 14, 2013, at Precious Care Assisted Living, Concord Township, Ohio. She was born Dec. 5, 1920, in St. Michael, daughter of Settimio and Maria (Biocco) Portante. Preceded in death by her parents; husband, Charles “Dick” Cann; son, Charles A. Cann; sisters, Adele Freto, Nancy Morocco and Albine Predko; and brother, Anthony Portante. She is survived by her loving daughter, Deatrae “Dee Dee” Cann, Willoughby, Ohio; daughter-in-law, Charlene Cann, Concord, Ohio; and several nieces and nephews. Bertha was a 1938 graduate of Windber High School. She formerly was employed at Bali Bra Manufacturing Corp. and Miracle Mart. Bertha was a former member of St. Benedict Catholic Church, Geistown, and was a member of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Windber. She was a former member of Windber Country Club, where she was an avid golfer. Bertha also was a volunteer at Arcadia Theater, Windber. In her spare time, she enjoyed bowling, reading, knitting and crocheting. Bertha knitted many slippers for people at Quemahoning Towers in Windber. She was a loving mother who will be remembered for her kind and giving nature. Friends will be received from 9 to 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Harris Funeral Home, 500 Cherry Lane, Richland. Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Windber, Father Rod Soha, TOR. Committal, St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church Cemetery. The family suggests contributions be directed to a charity of one’s choice or to Precious Care Assisted Living, 8095 Auburn Road, Painesville, Ohio 44077 in memory of Bertha. Online condolences may be posted to www.wharrisfuneralhome.com. - District Deaths May 23, 2013 John F. Chrisko CHRISKO – John F. “Jack,” 68, Jamestown, passed away May 21, 2013, at home. James Joseph Hannaway HANNAWAY – James Joseph, 82, Robindale Heights, passed away May 21, 2013, at home. Norman J. Lee Sr. LEE – Norman J. Sr., 76, Cresson, passed away May 22, 2013, at home. Christa S. McClellan McCLELLAN – Christa S., 42, New Florence, passed away May 20, 2013, at Memorial Medical Center, Johnstown. Sharon Denise Miller MILLER – Sharon Denise, 62, Cairnbrook, died May 21, 2013, at Memorial Medical Center. Dennis O. Robertson ROBERTSON – Dennis O., 74, Jacksonville, Fla., formerly of Johnstown, died May 17, 2013. Mary Etta Yeckley YECKLEY – Mary Etta, 86, Carrolltown, passed away May 22, 2013, at home. - Today's Funerals May 23, 2013 - District Deaths May 22, 2013 Rosalie Augusta (Miller) Beatty BEATTY – Rosalie Augusta (Miller), 87, Tire Hill, died peacefully May 20, 2013, at Conemaugh Memorial Palliative Care Unit. Richard L. DelSignore DelSIGNORE – Richard L., 87, Upper Yoder, died May 20, 2013, at home. Emma Jean (Blough) Harrison HARRISON – Emma Jean (Blough), 85, Crossville, Tenn., formerly of Johnstown, died May 18, 2013, at home. HILL – Josephine, 93, Johnstown, died May 20, 2013, at Memorial Medical Center. Thomas G. Kimmel KIMMEL – Thomas G., 88, Maple Ridge, died May 20, 2013, at home. Pete J. Piemonte PIEMONTE – Pete J., 77, passed away Monday, May 20, 2013, at Largo Medical Center, Largo, Fla. Daniel James Steele STEELE – Daniel James, 61, Mundys Corner, formerly of Michigan, passed away May 20, 2013. STOFKO – Mary, 89, Johnstown, died May 19, 2013, at Arbutus Park Manor. - Today's Funerals May 22, 2013 - District Deaths May 21, 2013 Lois K. Bunnell BUNNELL – Lois K., 98, a resident of Colonial Courtyard in Clearfield, passed away Saturday, May 18, 2013. Eleanor E. Henning HENNING – Eleanor E., 82, Johnstown, passed away May 19, 2013, at Memorial Medical Center. - More Obituaries Headlines

UPDATE: a video of the demolition and rebuild is on our YouTube channel; and it is embedded below. After 3 months of work, the new bridge on Newbury Road over the railway line is to be officially open on Wednesday, 2 May 2012. The road was shut at the end of January and the original bridge dating from the mid-1850s was demolished. The height under the new bridge is greater, to allow the A10 sized freight trains to fit through. Barriers across the road were removed this afternoon, and a quickly arranged opening ceremony was hosted by our mayor, Cllr Barry Jackman and mayoress Sandra Jackman. Some passing locals, visitors, dogs and even bridge construction workers joined in on the occasion. So quick were the arrangements made that the mayor had to complete the extreme ironing of the ribbon on-site before he cut it; while his wife took care of tea for the construction crew. Afterwards, champagne was popped open and enjoyed by all. The workers have also made minor repairs to a second bridge, just to the north of the new one. Now filled in underneath, this bridge was for a track loop around to the now dismantled Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway. LOVE OF OLD BRIDGE Some people have expressed their love of the demolished 1850s bridge. They also noted that the new bridge does not have a dedicated bicycle path nor wide pavements for people going into the North Wessex Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The parapets are also higher, which makes it much more difficult to look over them to see and photograph the occasional passing steam train. The B&DBC conservation officer stated during the planning phase that ‘the level of significance given to the [original] individual bridge and the group could be somewhat greater than what the supporting justification [from Network Rail] attributes to them.’ LOCAL HISTORICAL INTEREST It is not clear why the Whitchurch bridge was not saved like other bridges along the line by lowering the tracks instead. UPDATE: it may have been because it would mean the nearby station platforms and associated buildings would have to have been lowered too. The Conservation Officer stated in his report that ‘the level of demolition and modification has been properly considered to be the minimum to achieve the objectives of the operational needs for the railway, overcomes the loss of the character and appearance of the existing overbridge in this instance.’ The officer continued, ‘as such, it is considered that the proposed development would not harm a feature of local historical or architectural interest or adversely affect its setting…’ A heritage statement about the old railway bridges is found in planning application BDB/73703 (the 10MB pdf file is HERE). Work was to take place earlier but dormice were found – see our story on that HERE. The new bridge went up quickly – see HERE. Our stories about the bridge closure are HERE, HERE and HERE. News about the Priory Lane, Freefolk Priors bridge is HERE. No dog poo was left on the bridge. A video interview of the mayor at the opening is on YouTube HERE, and below.

Mauser M712 Schnellfeuer Mauser C96 Schnellfeuer Mauser C96 knew very many alternatives since its design by the brothers Feederle and his finalization under the aegis of Paul Mauser. In fact, very many modifications made to its elements (tail of relaxation, extractor, dog, inter alia) as well as the varieties of markings make the enumeration exhaustive of the alternatives of Mauser C96 almost impossible. Nevertheless, for the Mauser company, the classification of Mauser C96 is very simple. There are only three recognized models. For the other versions, the collectors of the whole world get busy there with more or less happiness. The three models recognized by the manufacturer are: - C96 (and all alternatives known or not) - C96 model 1930 (sometimes named Universal Type or Model 711) - Schnellfeuer (or Model 712, this weapon is also known under the name Mauser 1932. This denomination is referred to the year of the deposit of the patent of the mode of selection of shooting by engineer Westinger. The first patent deposited by engineer Nickl, selector of the same name, go back to 1930) It is precisely Schnellfeuer which interests us. It acts of Mauser C96 model 1930 equipped with an automatic selector of shooting. In other words, it has the property to be able to draw in gust in more of the step by step drawing specific mode of use to all the automatic guns. Photograph: Schnellfeuer. The identification is done normally by the selector of shooting being on the left side of the weapon. It is nevertheless possible to determine the model by the tail of relaxation characteristic of Schnellfeuer. The keen demand for this kind of weapon in China, as well as the competition of the Spanish manufacturers selling of the copies of Mauser C96 (including models provided with the automatic shooting), will lead the Mauser firm to launch the study of this weapon. A version of C96 of this type seems to be studied during the First World War. Its development was not continued then. Mauser thus will charge its engineering and design department with developing this ultimate version of Mauser C96. Two patents will be born as we will see it further. Note: if the Spanish copies are inspired largely by the design of C96, the mechanisms are radically different and often from great quality. 712, A name of circumstance The denomination "712" corresponds to the reference of ordering of the American distributor of the Mauser weapons, the Stoeger company & Co. (according to certain sources, this denomination would come at the beginning from the command code from a German merchant of weapons). As some consider it, it is easier to rather sell in the Thirties a weapon carrying the reference "712" than "1896". It is a good commercial argument. Utilsant same logic, the model 1930 will be named also arbitrarily "model 711". We are in the presence of the first gun "rafalor", ancestor of Beretta 93 R or of Glock 18 (see too Glock (gun)) of modern manufacture. Appeared on a certain number of Mauser model 1930, the removable charger of 10 or 20 blows is systematized. Considering the rate of shooting, it is quite comprehensible. The most known version of Schnellfeuer uses the selector of the Westinger type. The other version, equipped with the Nickl selector, is considerably rarer. Schnellfeuer takes again safety known as "Universal" appeared on the model 1930. Specimens of this weapon, in the majority of the cases, are confined to fire the ammunition from 7.63 Mauser. There exists nevertheless, but the diffusion more than is restricted, specimens confined in 9mm Parabellum (a few hundreds). Some Specimens of Schnellfeuer seem to be confined in 7,65mm Parabellum. Not profiting from the highly sophisticated mechanisms of the current automatic weapons, Schnellfeuer suffers from a very strong raising of the gun at the time of the shooting in gust. The use of adapted ammunition, as well as the drive of the gunner, allow to reduce the phenomenon. In addition, there is not comparative study of the operation of Schnellfeuer according to gauges' used. Considering the power of the ammunition of 7.63 Mauser, it seems probable that a more flexible behavior is obtained with the model confined in 9mm Parabellum or in 7,65mm Parabellum. This remains to be checked. On the ground Just like its famous predecessors, Schnellfeuer was never regulatory in any army (the model says "1916", although having been the subject of a ordering of the German army, was never regulatory in spite of the 135 to 140000 delivered specimens). Particularly popular in China (without pun), a great part of the 100000 Schnellfeuer produced there will be exported. The last specimens available in Europe will be used during the second world war. Thus C96 will finish its career, in the hands of enemy combatants facing. Indeed, many Russian officers had made of this gun their personal weapon. It is in addition with a weapon of this type that the king Alexandre Ier of Yugoslavia was assassinated in Marseilles on October 9, 1934. Touched by a projectile at the time of the attack,Louis Barthou, French Minister for the Foreign Affairs, was to find death later a few hours, bloodless. Like all the other models of the great family of Mauser C96, Schnellfeuer, became an object of collection exerting a fascination for many collectors, in particular American and German. In front of the success of M712 to export (China in particular), years 1930 transfer apparaîtres copies expagnoles with simplidiée mechanics: - Astra 901 and F derived fromAstra 900, - and the Royal MM31,

Yes, I know I’m neglecting my blogging duties. But I’m VERY busy with some books I have to get out and I’m working around the clock to that end. But I wanted to address something I saw that got me a bit “hot under the collar”. There are many authors that are dead set on traditional publishing. That is great. I embrace all three routes (self, small press, big-six) and if that is what you’ve decided is best for you then go for it full throttle. But what is upsetting me is those that are firmly entrenched in that model berating those that choose to self-publish. Do they not understand that their because of these self-published pioneers their lives have improved as well? The answer is simple….options. In the not-too-distance-past getting a big-six traditional publishing deal was really the only viable way to have any chance at making a living wage. But each and every book had a high initial investment tied to it, and there was only so many slots available so the number of authors that could be published was by definition a small number. Enter POD, e-books, and online retailers. This lowered the barrier to entry and small presses and self-publishers could now get their books created, and more importantly distributed with very little financial risks. A playing field of this nature opens the doors for many, many more books from tons of new authors to take their swing at the bat. But technology alone is not all that is required. What is needed is legitimacy. The early self-publishers had to work harder to compete against the well-established behemoths. They were the small Davids who used every tactic at their disposal: social Networking, bargain basement pricing, working 18 hour days, and their efforts paid off. You’ve seen the names many times before: Amanda Hocking, John Locke, H.P. Mallory, D.B. Henson, David Dalglish, Nathan Lowell, Michael J. Sullivan, B.V. Larson, Victorine Lieske, Joe Konrath, Blake Crouch, and most recently Vincent Zandri. All of these people, and many more, are earning their living through writing whereas if the landscape was still dominated by the big-six they would not be. Some of the authors have had prior big-six publishing experience, some none. Some have their current success, and others are through small-presses. But if it not for the self-publishing revolution none of these people would be where they are today. Here’s what I can say with 100% confidence because it comes from my own experience. Finding success in this environment is MUCH easier than it would be if the revolution never occurred. Some people find real hard numbers to be a good teller of the tale so here are some. Michael has sold more than 60,000 books through self-publishing (they sell for $4.95 - $6.95), earned more than $160,000 in four months, has nearly $200,000 in foreign rights sales, and a six-figure big-six contract. NONE of that would have happened without self publishing. Nathan Lowell has sold more than 15,000 books (at $4.95) through my small press. He’s topped many of the science fiction lists and with the release of his new book (in just a number of days I expect to see him jump right back up there). Marshall Thomas has sold 4,000 books in 9-days (prices vary from $0.99 - $4.99) His spike is directly related to the $0.99 price point that was pioneered by self-published authors. If self-publishing never existed to the level it does now we wouldn't see the $0.99 market that exists today. So all this is great for the small press published and the self-published, but why should I, since I’m only looking at the big-six, care? Because the changing landscape means better contracts for you as well. When the big-six was the only game in town they could offer contracts stilted in their favor that most logical people would never consider signing. They know they have to modify them, not only to keep their current talent, but to attract new talent (some of which are being plucked from the self-publishing world such as Hocking, Sullivan, Mallory, and Henson). So my message to you today…is regardless with what path to publishing you plan for yourself, take a minute to thank those that have gone the self-publishing route. They have had a rough row to hoe and take it on the chin by many “in the industry”. It’s time that we give all a little loving for what they have done for the industry.

Friday, September 21, 2012 Finding Poland by Matthew Kelly In the last few years, a number of excellent books about what happened to the Poles who were taken east to Siberia by the Soviets during World War II have appeared. I've posted about several of these books here: Krysia Jopek's novel Maps and Shadows, Andrew Bienkowski's memoir One Life to Give: A Path to Finding Yourself by Helping Others, and Halina Ablamowicz's anthology Polish Poetry from the Soviet Gulag. And there are a handful of other fine books that retell the story of the hardships suffered by the Poles as they were taken by the Soviets from the sections of Poland that came under their control when they and the Nazis invaded Poland at the start of the war. Stefan Waydenfeld's Ice Road and Wesley Adamczyk's When God Looked the Other Way come to mind. To this short list must be added Matthew Kelly's Finding Poland. Part memoir, part history, part family biography, part eulogy for a generation quickly receding, Kelly's book will touch any Polish-American who has ever looked at old photographs of grandparents whose names have been forgotten or stared at yellow pages written in Polish sixty, eighty, or a hundred years ago. We all stare at similar pictures brought from the Old Country, try to decipher those letters, and wonder what the lives of those relatives who are now gone and perhaps forgotten were like. Kelly, I'm sure, did the same as a young boy. And as an adult, a historian teaching at the University of Southampton, UK, he set out to answer the questions that he must have asked himself as a boy: Who were those people in those fading photographs, why were they taken from their homes, what did they suffer, and how did the suffering change them? As he retraces the footsteps of his family, Kelly finds answers that will change the way you think about the past and who you are as you step into tomorrow. The book is available here in the US through Amazon. Kelly at present doesn't have an American publisher but some sample pages of the book are available online. I highly recommend you take a look at the introduction and the opening chapter entitled "Trains." Click here to access the sample pages.

Premium Changes Cut OPEB in Half Changes to state premium payments for retired public employees will immediately cut in half the state's near $10 billion unfunded liability for promised future heath-care benefits to retirees, and could completely eliminate the debt over the next three decades, members of the state Public Employees Insurance Agency said Tuesday. The PEIA Finance Board voted Tuesday to increase premiums for retirees by 9 percent. Board members also approved a plan that will cap the amount the state pays toward premiums for retirees. The state currently provides a $343 subsidy toward premiums for every retiree. The board voted to cap subsides at $343, with a 3 percent increase each year to account for medical inflation. Those cuts in benefits will push other post-employment benefits, or OPEB, liabilities to $5 billion immediately and eventually completely phase out the debt, according to state Department of Administration Secretary Robert Ferguson. "That action literally cut OPEB in half," Ferguson said. "This will completely fix OPEB over the next 30 to 40 years. In 30 years from now, and that's figuring the average age people retire and people life cycle out, OPEB will go away completely." State labor groups, including the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, have criticized the proposal, saying increasing premiums for retirees will dissuade many prospective workers from moving to or remaining in West Virginia. The plan would deepen a teacher shortage problem in the state, according to officials with the AFT-WV. Ferguson said he expects opposition to the changes, which will take effect July 1 of next year. "It's not a very popular decision," Ferguson said. "I understand the challenges it presents to our hardworking retirees who traditionally do not get a cost-of-living allowance, but as the chief fiduciary of the finance board, we have a requirement to make sure we keep the plan sound and we're using taxpayer dollars wisely." Ferguson also said the changes will make a significant change to the amount active employees pay toward retiree premiums. At this point, about 70 percent of retiree premiums are funded through costs to active employees. Tuesday's vote to cap subsidy increases at 3 percent each year will, over time, chip away at costs to active employees, Ferguson said. "The fixing of the 3 percent escalator will alleviate the costs of active employees funding retirees," Ferguson said. If medical inflation rises higher than 3 percent a year, retirees will have to cover the extra costs, meaning premiums could eventually go up more than 9 percent, Ferguson said. For example, if inflation increases 6 percent next year, the state will cover only 3 percent of that increase. Retirees will have to cover the additional 3 percent. For months, state officials have been looking for a funding stream to help pay down OPEB liabilities. But Ferguson even if no funding stream is found, changes made Tuesday will get rid of OPEB issues. Still, Ferguson said the state could face health-care issues as costs rise nationwide. "We have a national crisis with health care," Ferguson said. "Something has to happen in the next few years or we're going to be in a real problem with health care in this country."

Rural Community near Centocow This rural community of Zulu speaking people still maintain a measure of tradition in their lifestyles. Although modern materials are used in construction, many people still live in thatched rondawels, or round huts, and raise livestock at the foothills of the rolling hills and mountains of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. This small yellowwood church in Bulwer, KwaZulu-Natal stands on a site fronting Wagon Road, which use... see also a video on youtube The Museum is housed within a former fort, built at the turn of the 20th century. The building later ... Welcome to Africa, AKA the motherland! Check out African Internet Radio while you're scoping the panoramas. The earliest fossil of the homo sapiens family (human beings) was found in Ethiopia, dating back more than 200,000 years. Compared to this length of time, even the "ancient Sumerians" from 6000 B.C. are drooling toddlers. Let's mention a few African heroes you may have heard of, for inspiration in the face of the continued economic inequality and violence which plague Africa today: Nelson Mandela, first democratically elected President of South Africa, who fought against apartheid and served 27 years in prison while advocating freedom and peace. Haile Salassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, who resisted Mussolini and the fascist Italian invasion of WWII, and who is worshipped as an incarnation of God by the Rastafari movement. Kwame Nkrumah, first Prime Minister of Ghana, advocate of uniting Africa in Pan-Africanism. Fela Kuti, inventor of Afrobeat music, who declared his home to be an independent state, ran for president of Nigeria, and to whose funeral ONE MILLION PEOPLE came to pay their respects. In June 2001 the African Union was formed, consisting of 53 African States organized, like in the EU, around common economic and political development. Text by Steve Smith.

The purpose of this document is to provide an update concerning University at Albany's emergency preparedness and crisis response plans. This document describes the efforts made by the University at Albany to help participants enhance their safety and to help them respond to emergency situations. Nothing in this document is a guarantee that any specific action will be taken in any given situation, nor is anything in this document a contract or part of a contract between the University at Albany and any other party, nor is any statement in this document intended to sell a service to a prospective customer, nor to attempt to persuade any party to avail themselves of any program or service provided by the University at Albany. Health, safety, and recovery from emergency situations are the sole responsibilities of each individual participant. Contacting the Office of International Education During Business Hours: Post Acceptance Materials Staying safe begins with knowledge. The written materials provided to participants contain the fundamental information needed to preserve one’s safety and to be prepared for an emergency. It is a condition of participation that students read and understand the materials provided by both the University at Albany and Host University. Information Required of Participants It is a requirement of participation in a program sponsored by the Office of International Education that participants provide emergency contact information, program site address and contact information as soon as they know it, passport information, flight information, information on participant's physical health, and information on health insurance. Orientation for Participants Every University at Albany overseas program begins with a comprehensive orientation to the country, city, university, and the program, which includes, among other information, an explanation of any local risks that the have been identified and tips for enhancing personal safety. This orientation may be in Albany before departure, upon arrival at the site, or both. On-Site Care and Insurance Program Officers, Resident Directors, and host university staff maintain lists of recommended health and mental health providers. Participants are advised to contact their RD or host university official whenever they need assistance and whenever possible before seeking medical attention. The University at Albany mandates health insurance and emergency assistance coverage for every participant. In most cases students are required to have the SUNY approved insurance policy unless the host site provides alternate insurance or the student has received a waiver of the required SUNY policy. All participants in our programs also have MEDEX Assist emergency assistance, evacuation, and repatriation insurance. Monitoring and Risk Assessment Program Officers and Resident Directors make every reasonable effort to keep abreast of local conditions and changes in local health and safety risks and to inform participants of these changes. All decisions regarding program operations are made with reference to data from a number of sources. In addition to the consular information sheets and advisory messages posted by the U.S. Department of State (www.travel.state.gov ), our Program Officers, Resident Directors, and partner institution staff use information gathered locally through conversations with our partner institutions and other providers in the city or country. In making individual decisions concerning participation, we suggest that participants and their parents carefully review the State Department Travel Advisories at the web page listed above. If at any time the Program Officer or Resident Director feels that there is a need for extra caution the Director of Study Abroad and Exchanges will be consulted and a plan of action agreed to. A summary of this plan is relayed to the Crisis Response and Emergency Team for review and consultation. After Hours Readiness Program Officers have critical data regarding participants, insurance providers, flight data, worldwide contact information, and other safety and crisis resources at their homes. In the event that the Office of International Education is unable to open or communicate, the Office of International Education establishes alternative communication routes as soon as possible and announces these to sending schools and, to the extent possible, to participants’ emergency contacts, to SECUSSA-L, the major industry list serve. In the Event of a Local Emergency - The Program Officer at the University at Albany consults with the on-site Resident Director or Overseas Program Contact as soon as possible after learning of the emergency. - The Resident Director or Overseas Program Contact contacts participants as soon as possible to ascertain participants’ well being, and to provide information, instructions, and advice and then reports to the Program Director at the University at Albany. - Participants are advised to contact their parents, guardians, or emergency contacts as soon as possible. - The Resident Director or Overseas Program Contact may, if warranted, gather the participants together in a group in a safe location. In most cases participants will be advised to confine themselves to their host campus, or residence until the crisis is resolved. - The Program Officer informs the Director of Study Abroad and Exchanges who then informs the Crisis Response and Emergency Team of the situation, the steps taken, and any steps deemed necessary. The Crisis Response and Emergency Team may provide feedback, may decide to meet to discuss the situation, or may simply request further updates depending on the situation. - The Program Officer or Resident Director contacts the local U.S. Embassy, Consulate, or Interest Section, and also confers with other study abroad providers and/or U.S. enterprises in the area. - Each Resident Director advises the University at Albany Office of International Education or Program Officer consults with the Overseas Program Contact about what action should be taken, if any, and about modifying or suspending the program. The Crisis Response and Emergency Team makes any decision on continuation or suspension of a program after due deliberation. - Evacuation of students from a site is only undertaken under the most extreme circumstances when there is an imminent, direct threat to participants and the only way to assure safety is to leave the program site. Even if it is determined that evacuation is warranted, it is not always possible to evacuate immediately, and in most cases immediate evacuation is not the safest course of action. Immediate evacuation from a site is not only often impossible, but may not be the wisest or safest choice. Experience has shown that when a crisis ensued that was severe enough to consider evacuation, the safest thing to do was to confine participants to their residences and the most dangerous course of action was to try to leave the site. By the time the crisis had calmed enough for it to be possible to consider leaving it was no longer necessary to evacuate. - In the event that the State Department advises U.S. citizens to leave a site or in our opinion evacuation is warranted we will work with participants to arrange safe passage out of the site as soon as possible. The cost of evacuation remains with the participant, but the University at Albany will assist with arrangements and may lend funds as needed. - The University at Albany reports to participants’ emergency contacts within 48 hours or soon as possible if the participants can not do so themselves. - The University at Albany Office of International Education reports to sending schools within 72 hours. In the event of a major crisis affecting multiple locations, the University at Albany will in addition to the above: - Send an email message to SECUSSA-L, the major industry list serve. - Post a message on our web site www.albany.edu/studyabroad - Attempt to send email messages to all participants’ emergency contacts within 72 hours of the event.

Gregory A Antonavich's Biography Add details Gregory A Antonavich 1953 - 2006 was a member of the Antonavich family. Gregory was born on June 22, 1953. Gregory died on December 26, 2006 at 53 years old. We were able to locate a death record for Gregory A Antonavich in the United States Social Security Master Death Index (SSDI). The death certificate for this record has been observed. This data can be considered accurate. What is the SSDI? Help Gregory's family build this biography by adding your own photos, stories, and facts. Discuss Gregory A Antonavich Details about Gregory A Antonavich Add details Obituary Add details We don't have info about the obituary records of Gregory A Antonavich.

Tylenol PM Review Tylenol is an over the counter drug that can be found at pretty much any grocery or convince store. Tylenol PM claims to relieve pain fast so that you can sleep and feel refreshed after a good nights rest. The main uses of Tylenol PM as recommended are for temporary relief of occasional headaches and minor aches and pains with accompanying sleeplessness. So basically if you can’t go to sleep due to a migraine headache Tylenol PM claims that it will ease the pain and put you to sleep. What if you just have trouble sleeping? Tylenol PM may not be the right choice. Like it’s mother drug, basic Tylenol, it eases pain but you get the added bonus with Tylenol PM of helping you sleep as well. What are the different forms of Tylenol PM? There are Rapid Release Gelcaps (which according to their website are not available on shelves yet), there are regular caplets, and also gel tabs. Each one I found to have pretty much the same ingredients and outcome. What is the cost of Tylenol PM? Easy access to Tylenol PM is very convenient when purchasing this product. Like I said earlier, you can find this over the counter drug at any grocery or convenience store. Cost is cut low and is any where from 4-15 dollars depending of how much “extra strength” is included in each capsule. But once again, the uses of Tylenol PM are for temporary relief. People seeking long-term results from sleepless nights might want to reconsider when learning about this drug. What are the main ingredients of Tylenol PM? Acetaminophen and Diphenhydramine are found in all three of the different forms of Tylenol PM. They both work as the active ingredients. Acetaminophen is found in many over the counter drugs for pain relief. Along with reducing fevers it basically relieves mild to moderate pain form headaches to reactions to vaccinations. The way it works is by changing the way the body senses pain and by cooling the body. Diphenhydramine is associated more with symptoms the tome about when you have a cold. It works as a antihistamine, that basically deals with symptoms due to an allergic reaction. Diphenhydramine will relieve symptoms of these conditions but will not treat the cause of the symptoms or speed the recovery. There are a lot of other ingredients, all inactive, found in Tylenol PM, none of them play a major role in the way it works alone. But together they may be effective. What are the major side-effects of taking Tylenol PM? There are many precautions when taking Tylenol PM. It you decide to take the pill read the label to see if you qualify to not use this product or serious problems could occur. The basic side-effects of taking Tylenol PM are drowsiness, sleeplessness, insomnia, swelling, or rash. When would be the right time to choose Tylenol PM? Tylenol itself has been a very dependable company, always improving. The cost and convinces of purchasing Tylenol is always a plus. I think that Tylenol PM is a dependable drug for what it does, treats temporary pain and helps you go to sleep. If you are looking for a temporary fix then this product may be perfect for you. But, if you have larger problems when it comes to sleeping you may need to expand your horizons.

This book targets professionals working in child health, particularly those in non-acute settings such as allied health professionals (speech & language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists) and nurses (particularly health visitors). The target audience is for both front-line practitioners who are facing workload management decisions and also therapy/nursing managers who must make service level decisions about priorities within their service. Although aimed primarily at the UK market, it will be of interest to countries such as Australia and New Zealand that have similar healthcare services. In terms of continuing professional development and higher education, the book is aimed at post-qualifying professionals who are seeking to develop their practice. It would form a core book for masters courses for health professionals (including speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologist and nurses) which focus on aspects of managing child health services, delivering healthcare in child health settings. Those institutions which include Faculties of Health and Social Care will all run courses of relevance to this book, for example, University of Plymouth, University of West of England, Leeds, Salford. London to name a few. Although targeting child health primarily, it is likely that the book will also be of interest to those working in social care settings The overall aims of the book are To illustrate prioritization in practice at different stages in the process of client management To review the process of prioritization from a range of theoretical viewpoints relevant to the practice of prioritization in order to provide a basis for informed and accountable decision-making To identify principles of good practice for the child health practitioner.

Looking for biotechnology industry reference information? You could hop on the Internet and search among the myriad sites, figure out which ones are credible, then try and find a consensus, or you could grab a copy of Plunkett’s Biotech & Genetics Industry Almanac. This book is essentially a reference librarian in a box. I reviewed an earlier issue of this book several years ago (my endorsement is on the front cover), so I wondered how useful it might remain despite the advancement of search engines and new web resources. In short, I think the book is still very valuable. Plunkett’s Almanac profiles the top companies and has statistics and trends in the areas of genomics, proteomics, biopharmaceuticals, research, business development, and commercialization. The book is split into several sections: - A biotechnology and genetics industry glossary - Major Trends Affecting the Biotech & Genetics Industry - Biotech & Genetics Industry Statistics - Important Biotech & Genetics Industry Statistics - Profiles of Plunkett’s “Biotech 350″ At > 500 pages, the book represents a significant resource. A great deal of effort has gone into selecting valuable information and assembling it into a useful, objective, format. I recommend this book for biotechnology service firms needing the indexes of companies and knowledge of major trends, as well as for individuals in finance, market research, or other broad industry roles.

Study: Children of Lesbian Parents May Be Better Off Than Their Peers June 7th, 2010 That’s the conclusion of researchers who followed a group of families headed by Lesbian couples for twenty-four years. This month, the journal Pediatrics, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, posted online the latest installment of the long-running longitudinal study which recruited and followed the children of 154 prospective lesbian mothers who joined the study between 1986 and 1992. The parents were recruited as they were about to start a family via artificial insemination. They agreed to answer questions about their children’s development, social skills, academic performance and behavior at five follow-up times as the children passed specific age milestones. In four earlier published reports, the study team, led by the University of California, San Francisco’s Dr. Nanette Gartrell, published updates for the parents and their children. As five-year-olds, 87% of the children related well to their peers, but that 18% had experienced homophobia from their peers or teachers. When the children reached the age of ten, the study team found that the prevalence of physical and sexual abuse in this sample was lower than national norms, and in all other measures their development was comparable to children raised ni heterosexual families. Fifty-seven percent of the children were out to their peers, and 43% experienced homophobia. In this latest report, the study’s authors report on how the children were doing as seventeen-year-olds, always a difficult age for familes. The authors report: According to their mothers’ reports, the 17-year-old daughters and sons of lesbian mothers were rated significantly higher in social, school/academic, and total competence and significantly lower in social problems, rule-breaking, aggressive, and externalizing problem behavior than their age-matched counterparts in Achenbach’s normative sample of American youth. Within the lesbian family sample, no Child Behavior Checklist differences were found among adolescent offspring who were conceived by known, as-yet-unknown, and permanently unknown donors or between offspring whose mothers were still together and offspring whose mothers had separated. Dr. Gartrell told Time magazine: “We simply expected to find no difference in psychological adjustment between adolescents reared in lesbian families and the normative sample of age-matched controls,” says Gartrell. “I was surprised to find that on some measures we found higher levels of [psychological] competency and lower levels of behavioral problems. It wasn’t something I anticipated.” There are, of course, several limitations to this study, limitations which are virtually universal to social science research. The study is based on a convenience sample which may not be representative of all children born to lesbian-headed households. Also, the nature of this study specifically excludes children born to earlier heterosexual families who were later raised by their lesbian mothers following divorce or death of a husband. This study is one of the very few to suggest more positive outcomes than children from heterosexual families, a claim that would require more research before it could be regarded as anything more than an outlier. But it’s easy to imagine one reason for this surprising finding. These parents were recruited because they were about to undergo artificial insemination. This means that in every case, these children were brought into the world because they were wanted and planned for. None of them are the product of a drunken tryst in the back seat of a Chevy. These mothers had to investigate options, invest money, and really want to become mothers. This alone can account for the difference. Opponents to gay equality often warn that children raised in gay or lesbian households are allegedly harmed by the experience. This study joins about 200 others which, to date, have found no significant negative outcomes. If their argument had any hint of validity, you would think that at least a few peer-reviewed studies would support it. But so far, none of them looking specifically at gay- or lesbian-led families have. I guess opponents to LGBT equality will have to keep on looking.

North Wales residents alerted over spike in rogue trading By Ashley Curtis, on 21 June 2011 A rise in the number of complaints about rogue traders has sparked a neighbourhood watch scheme to speak out, reports Leader Live. False roofing work has been the main focus of complaints as residents in the Chirk area of North Wales are getting scammed out of thousands of pounds. Express and Star have noted that conmen are exploiting hard-pressed consumers in a tough economic time, which ties in line with reports of increased rogue trading in the North Wales area. The homes of the elderly and vulnerable are being targeting by the rogue roofmen, with £25 roof fixes turning into thousand-pound jobs at the expense of the homeowner. However, the homeowner should not feel pressured into getting the work done. Many instances of cold-calling and rogue trading end badly as the homeowner gets worried they cannot cancel the contract and have to pay for the full amount, and therefore go ahead with the work. A neighbourhood watch scheme in conjunction with the police, the North Wales OWL scheme, has issued advice to all those worried about rogue traders, stating that only recommended tradesmen should be trusted with work on a property. The North Wales OWL scheme explains how the rogue traders operate: "The trader cold calls at the property, usually of elderly people, and advises that there are a few loose tiles on the roof, which can be replaced for £25. "After going onto the roof, the trader then advises that further remedial work needs to be done on the property urgently to prevent any further damage to the roof. This often ends up in the price escalating into thousands of pounds." - "Unprecedented" growth in rogue traders - Rogue trader jailed for bullying elderly victims - Trading Standards warns consumers about its impending budget cut - Eccleshill sets up 'no cold calling' zones - Wiltshire man prosecuted over faulty gas work

The board of directors is open to dispute resolutions and will only consider a request for dispute resolution in writing. The Resolution Request form is available by clicking on the link below: After completing the form, make a copy for your records and mail at least one copy to the board at: Cheyenne Raptors Baseball Give a copy to a coach for delivery to a member of the Board of Directors. A member of the board will contact you to begin the dispute resolution process. Please, be aware that the board may request additional time to handle your request if; 1) your request requires a "Special Meeting" of the board to handle the dispute; 2) your request is during the normal season, due to scheduling conflicts and the organizations requirements to conduct a "Special Meeting". Your request will be handled in the order it is received, only the completed Resolution Request forms will be considered. |revised August 23, 2011|

Gaussian Process-Based Bayesian Nonparametric Inference of Population Size Trajectories from Gene Genealogies Changes in population size influence genetic diversity of the population and, as a result, leave a signature of these changes in individual genomes in the population. We are interested in the inverse problem of reconstructing past population dynamics from genomic data. We start with a standard framework based on the coalescent, a stochastic process that generates genealogies connecting randomly sampled individuals from the population of interest. These genealogies serve as a glue between the population demographic history and genomic sequences. It turns out that only the times of genealogical lineage coalescences contain information about population size dynamics. Viewing these coalescent times as a point process, estimating population size trajectories is equivalent to estimating a conditional intensity of this point process. Therefore, our inverse problem is similar to estimating an inhomogeneous Poisson process intensity function. We demonstrate how recent advances in Gaussian process-based nonparametric inference for Poisson processes can be extended to Bayesian nonparametric estimation of population size dynamics under the coalescent. We compare our Gaussian process (GP) approach to one of the state-of-the-art Gaussian Markov random field (GMRF) methods for estimating population trajectories. Using simulated data, we demonstrate that our method has better accuracy and precision. Next, we analyze two genealogies reconstructed from real sequences of hepatitis C and human Influenza A viruses. In both cases, we recover more believed aspects of the viral demographic histories than the GMRF approach. We also find that our GP method produces more reasonable uncertainty estimates than the GMRF method.

Classic Lightweights UK Evelyn Hamilton - cyclist and heroine?Author Michael Townsend Evelyn Hamilton is perhaps best known as the pre-war long distance cyclist, friend of Claud Butler and owner of a cycle shop in Streatham, London during and after World War 2. In addition some may have heard of her exploits in occupied France, and a very few may possess one of her bikes or frames. All of the above are true – at least in part – but there is much more to Evelyn than the reports in pre-war cycling magazines or the rather sensationalist local newspaper stories written in her retirement. She was born on 3rd April 1906 as Eveline (sic) Alice Alexandra Bayliss in Page Street, Westminster to John (a policeman) and Alice. The youngest of their four children, she had three older brothers. Five years after the early death of her mother she married a young fruiterer’s assistant, John Henry Hamilton aged 22. Evelyn (as she now called herself) was only 20 but both of them were keen cyclists. Evelyn said that her competitive career started the same year – 1926. Much later in life she credited her interest in competitive cycling to ‘a cousin who won the Tour de France’. This was just one of many apparent variants of the story that were to creep into her memoirs and be repeated in media interviews during her long retirement. In 1931 Evelyn won the first women’s half-mile sprint handicap and the Sporting Life trophy at the old Stamford Bridge cinder track. Perhaps the fame that went with this win secured her a job two years later as a ‘double’ for Gracie Fields riding a bike in the latter’s film Sing As We Go. There exists a photograph of Gracie and her sister in an old car together with Evelyn and Jack on a tandem at the Bishop’s Arms, Finchley. At some point in the late 1920s or early 1930s she must have made the acquaintance of Claud Butler – she is pictured (below) alongside Jesse Aitchison and Ethel Jemeat at the Paddington track in May 1932 wearing a Claud Butler jersey. Evelyn (far right) with Jesse Aitchison and Ethel Jemeat - Paddington Track May 1932 Then on 15th September 1934 Evelyn set off from Old Palace Yard, Westminster to ride 1000 miles in seven days. She was sponsored by Claud and rode one of his silver bikes equipped with the then new Constrictor Osgear. In 84 hours of actual riding she covered the distance at an average speed of over 12mph. Her success in this, her first really long distance record, encouraged Claud to launch a new replica bike in his late-1934 catalogue which he called the Miss Modern Model . It featured H.M. butted tubes, a short wheelbase, serrated quick release frame ends, Resilion ‘A’ cantilever brakes and , of course, the option of the Osgear or Simplex 3 speed to order. Interestingly a Brooks S.25 saddle was standard (others could of course be supplied) but Evelyn herself always rode a Mansfield. A year later, on 23rd September 1935, and again seen off by Claud, Evelyn rode from London to John O’Groats – the 700 miles covered in just over four days. By now she was famous enough to be introduced to the crowd by Labour leader Ben Tillet and for Pathe News to take an interest - they filmed the start for their News in a Nutshell programme to be shown in cinemas (and still available to view on the Pathe News website www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=6215). Pathe filmed her again the following year giving tips on cycling, fashion, massage and what not to do on a bike! In this film (again available on line) she rode a Hetchins – a big boost, according to Mick Butler, to their then infant frame building business. Evelyn being seen off on her London to John O'Groats ride by Ben Tillett (left) and Claud Butler (right), 1935 On 14th August 1938 Evelyn finished another challenge – that of riding 10,000 miles in 100 days. This time, however, Claud did not provide the bicycle and does not appear to have been involved at all. The Cyclist edition of 24th August 1938 has a small item in their Around the Trade – Items of Interest from the Manufacturers page which states: “Miss E. Hamilton, who recently rode 100 consecutive centuries, used a Granby machine fitted with a Cyclo-Star gear, which came through the test perfectly satisfactorily.” 1938 seems to have seen the opening of Evelyn and Jack’s cycle shop at 416A Streatham High Road, London. With only a couple of brief and temporary moves to 402A and 398A during the war (bomb damage?) it remained there until at least 1968. Evelyn's shop in Streatham High RoadFrom 1970 to 1984 as E. Hamilton Ltd. the shop sold scooters, mopeds and motor bikes, but not with Evelyn at the helm. It is quite possible that she wasn’t involved much during the war years either as she had spent a lot of time in France just prior to the outbreak of hostilities. A choice rumour has it that she rode a wall of death side-show in a French circus. Whatever the truth of this she appears to have been trapped in Paris when it was occupied by the Germans. Now the story becomes both interesting and problematic with fact and fantasy inextricably interwoven. In her many post-war interviews (mostly in the 1970s and 1980s) Evelyn told some tall stories: she worked as a waitress in a café frequented by Gestapo officers, lived with a Frenchman called Fernand Maurice Helsen and assumed the identity of a dead woman as she herself was on the wanted list. Becoming a courier for the Resistance she ferried allied personnel across Paris on a tandem until an informer led to her being captured. Wearing her hair in a bun to conceal a small pistol she pulled it out, shot her captor and escaped to England and safety. Just how much of this is true and how much embroidery we shall probably never know, but she was awarded the Cross of Lorraine by De Gaulle after the war and this became the motif on her frame badges together with the name ‘Lorraine Cycles’. Many more of Evelyn’s tales appear suspect – her son was taken by the Germans and was never seen again – she had no son (although perhaps Helsen did); her grandmother (sometimes her mother) was French – I can find no evidence of a French connection in either her mother’s, father’s or step-mother’s families. So questions abound – who ran the shop while Evelyn was in France? What happened to Jack Hamilton? Who was Fernand Helsen? Colin Skipp, a V-CC member says he was told the shop was a front for the Free French and the SOE and was run by three Frenchmen including one of the Pelissier brothers. Was this the origin of the ‘cousin’ who won the Tour de France? It seems likely although Henri, the victor in 1923 was murdered by his lover in 1935. I have been unable to track down Jack Hamilton but Fernand Helsen did exist and Evelyn may even have married him as she always maintained. She certainly changed her name to Helsen and it appears on her death certificate. Helsen himself worked as a clerk in the French Embassy in London. He died aged 50 from a heart attack in 1950. Evelyn had no children by either Jack Hamilton or Fernand and she never remarried after the latter’s death (although local gossip in Swaffham where she lived in retirement maintained that she had several boyfriends including the landlord of one of the many pubs!). Michael adds 20 April 2011: "Further information has come to light and has led to a correction to my statement that Evelyn had no son. She had no surviving children. On 12th August 1927, a little over a year after her marriage to Jack Hamilton, Evelyn gave birth to a son, John Alfred, at the Lying-In Hospital in York Road. Sadly and under very tragic circumstances the child died ten months later. Could this event have affected Evelyn’s mental balance and eventually the marriage? We shall probably never know. My thanks to both Michael Bannon (Evelyn’s great-nephew) for drawing my attention to the family rumour and to Felix Ormerod (a fellow V-CC member) for the birth and death certificate details. It does not appear that Evelyn had any further children." In 1947 Evelyn Hamilton sponsored (for one year only?) a team of four (some reports say five) Independents, Richard Wells, Ray Stevens, Ron Baker and John Raines. Raines finished second on GC in the League’s 1947 Brighton to Glasgow stage race and won both stage three and the King of the Mountains classification. There is a picture in Chas Messenger’s book ‘Ride and Be Damned’ which appears to show Evelyn sitting in front of some of her riders at the finish of the race. However the money seems to have run out at the end of the season. The Hamilton Cycles/Lorraine Cycles shop continued to supply club cyclists with frames although the actual builder(s) of these remain a mystery. Following requests in various journals for information on the subject the best that can be said at present is that there were probably many builders involved. Several correspondents have identified the lugless frames as originating from Ray Cooke (who also seems to have built for Allins). Mick Butler in the V-CC magazine for April/May 2011 suggests that Stuart Purves may well have built some of her frames from his premises down the road at Streatham Hill or later from Ephgrave’s Aveley Works where he was then works manager. Bill Grey is another mentioned by some as a possibility as he was supposed to have built the frames for the short lived Hamilton-Butler venture (see elsewhere on this website). Further research is obviously required on this topic. In 1952 Evelyn once again took to the road to improve on her 100 day record. This time riding one of her own frames fitted out with British components that she wanted to prove were capable of surviving such a trial, she set off towards Brighton and the south before turning round and heading for the midlands and the north. She managed 12,010 miles and the manufacturers responded well after the event with advertisements in the cycling press for the various products used. These included her beloved Mansfield 38N saddle, John Bull Safety Speed tyres (she is photographed visiting the Leicester factory en route), Meadow cycling mitts, Midland panniers and Bantel mudguards. This appears to be her final long distance ride and presumably she concentrated on her business from then onwards until her retirement. Sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s Evelyn moved to the Norfolk town of Swaffham where she remained until she died. Maintaining an interest in cycling she was sometime President of the Women’s Cycle Racing Association and CC Breckland (in 1983) whilst doing the lecture circuits in Norfolk and Suffolk talking about her cycling and war exploits to various clubs and associations. She died as Evelyn Helsen aged 99 on 29th May 2005. Michael's 1947 lugged Evelyn Hamilton tourer alongside her grave at Swaffham Researching Evelyn’s history is far from over and the writer wishes to express his gratitude to members of her family for their assistance, and to the various V-CC members who have cheerfully helped with their reminiscences. Corrections and additions to the above are invited and will be incorporated as revisions at a later date. Michael Townsend 2011 © 2011 Classic Lightweights

Volume 15, Issue 1: Meander A common way of sinning with the tongue is to talk aimlessly, and a lot. This kind of verbal scribbling is certain to lead to tangles, problems, and difficulties. Scripture says, "He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding" (Prov. 17:27-28). The flip side of this is that silence often has a healing effectmuch like a refusal to pour gasoline on a fire already raging. The man of knowledge, Solomon says, is sparing with his words. This mark of wisdom is striking enough that when a fool adopts it, even he may be thought wise. We have a related proverb in Englishit is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. When it comes to aimless chatter, silence really is golden. John Piper has written another good book called Brothers, We are Not Professionals. While I think he misses some things here and there, who doesn't? I recommend this book highly. Written for pastors, it is a wonderful antidote against the ministry machine that eats people. Outside the Camp, a publication from a Calvinistic paradise on the dark side of the moon, has declared John Robbin's Trinity Foundation to be heretical. This is despite the fact that these organizations have worked together in the past. This declaration is because it has now come out that Robbins (and Gordon Clark too) thinks it is possible for an Arminian to be regenerate. Now the fact that prior to all this Robbins had declared us to be heretical too does not prevent us from rushing to his defense anyway. So here it is: we come out foursquare in favor of the Trinity Foundation's position on this. On this position, Credenda and the Trinity Foundation are sandbox buddies, sharing our little trucks. When God placed Adam in the garden, there was only one no. Adam and Eve could eat from any of the trees in the garden except for one. Our God is a God of grace, a God who gives to the point of overflow. This can be seen in how He created a garden where virtually every tree was a yes. Parents should remember this when their little ones become mobile and start life within their "garden." Given the nature of things, there do need to be certain things that are off-limits for the kids for various reasons: toddlers shouldn't be able to play with electric sockets, and they shouldn't be allowed to kick the vase off the coffee table. And sometimes there have to be points of testing for the point of testing. After all, God did place one tree in the garden that was off-limits. But even so, the attitude of parents should be one of grace, wanting to bestow, desiring to give. Unless their authority is respected, they cannot givebut authority can be established without having a tempting no every foot and a half. All this is another way of encouraging parents to toddler-proof the house with grace in mind. Another book recommendation for pastors would be Antagonists in the Church by Kenneth Haugk. Unfortunately, intractable situations within congregations are not rarein fact, there appears to be a small cottage industry in the publishing world dedicated to itand this book would do more than a little to help in such a situation. I don't endorse everything in the book, but it is a valuable resource. Norah Jones has a lovely album out entitled Come Away With Me. Her rendition of "Lonestar" is superb. A lot of CDs are easy to listen to, but this one is easy to listen to again and again. We can identify the "god of the system" in various ways. All aspirants to deity must aspire to the prerogatives that God holds to Himself. For example, in Scripture God is the ultimate and final source of law. All idols therefore must generate law, produce ethical imperatives for us to follow. The triune God cannot be blasphemed. An idol cannot tolerate blasphemy eitherblasphemy being understood as a direct challenge to the authority of the god. Now in culture wars, the fighting begins in earnest when the gods of the system are attacked. It is important to note that with godly satire far more is going on than "being abrasive" in the "name of Jesus." Any obnoxious person can irritate people and then claim he is being persecuted for righteousness' sake. With scriptural satire, a challenge is being mounted against the name of the idol, and against the law that rests upon his namee.g.; satire against the idol of sentimentalism and the law of universal niceness that proceeds from it.

Roberts and Rousseau's Characteristics of HROs HROs maintain low error rates due to how they operate internally, specifically Roberts and Rousseau define eight specific characteristics and three features of HROs.1 HROs have an extreme variety of components, systems, and levels, which is referred to as hypercomplexity. For example, an aircraft carrier has a navigational bridge, air tower, desk personnel, and flight crews, as well as computer systems, binoculars, arresting wires, and the aircrafts. Each of these has its own procedures, training, and hierarchies. - Tightly coupled HROs are tightly coupled, there are many components, systems, and levels in the systems, which have mutual interdependence. Moreover, the systems have time dependent processes, specific sequences, designs that allow for only one solution, and little slack. An example of this characteristic can be found in certain types of continuous process. - Extreme hierarchical differentiation, elaborate control and regulating mechanisms The multiple levels in the organization each have extreme hierarchical differentiation, elaborate control and regulating mechanisms. For example, the hierarchy of an aircraft carrier is captain, executive officer, department heads, and then enlisted personnel. Decisions, such as when to conclude the day flight operations, move throughout this hierarchy. HROs have many decision makers in the complex communication networks allowing for redundancy. For example, three people, overseen by the air boss, control the setting of the arresting gear for aircraft recovery. - Higher degree of accountability HROs instill a higher degree of accountability than most organizations. Deviations from the standard procedures result in severe consequences. Nuclear reactor operators, for example, have substantial training and are constantly expected to do their tasks correctly. Flight deck personnel are regularly double checked to insure consistency and adherence to procedures. - Immediate feedback Immediate feedback on decisions is a regular occurrence in HROs. Quick decision making and feedback are characteristic of their operational decisions. The more time that passes for decisions to be made and implemented results in a higher risk for disaster. For example, should a commercial airliner be directed for landing or should it be deferred until other aircraft are relocated? A successful (or unsuccessful) landing provides immediate feedback of the decision made. - Compressed time factors Compressed time factors, sequences of main activities are measured in seconds in HROs. For example, launches and landings of naval aircraft occur in 48 to 60 second intervals. - Simultaneous critical outcomes HROS have at least two critical outcomes that happen simultaneously, which indicates the complexity of the operations and inability to modify operational decisions. For example, the takeoffs and landings of airliners are managed by the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system. In additional to the eight characteristics, HROs have three features. 1. High-reliability organizations are "invisible" until a failure occurs. At this point, the customer (or public) demands change to prevent such an event again. In comparison, failures in organizations that are not high reliability are typically not noticed, as they do not cause catastrophic damage to draw attention from the public. 2. HROs operate at the edge of human capacity. They push to the limits of human capability, thus rely on constant training and frequent rotations are often to preserve efficiency. 3. HROs have diverse constituencies in which the designers are frequently unaware of the human ability (or inability) to operating the designed system. The designers make the assumption that people can operate any system they design. These three features combined with the eight characteristics "create distinctive problems and methodological difficulties. These problems are different largely in degree from research problems in other complex organizations."1 1. Roberts, Karlene H. and Denise M. Rousseau. 1989. Research in Nearly Failure-Free, High-Reliability Organizations: Having the Bubble. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 36(2): 132-139.

LA BOTA DE MANZANILLA (nº 4) “LAS CAÑAS”, saca of January 2007 D.O. Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda Limited release: 1,500 bottles (75 cl.) Bodega: Miguel Sánchez Ayala S.A. Sanlúcar de Barrameda The fourth release in the “La Bota de…” series was La Bota de Manzanilla “Las Cañas”, a wine produced under the control of EQUIPO NAVAZOS at the House of Sánchez Ayala. This saca, of January 2007, comes from the selection of the best eight casks of 750 lit. among the forty that constitute the oldest manzanilla solera in this small and traditional bodega. It is a terroir manzanilla, a status derived from both the single-vineyard origin of the grapes and the ageing process of the wine. The grapes are sourced from the vineyard ‘Las Cañas,’ located in the Pago Balbaína, from which the wine takes its name. For the ageing process, the hundreds of manzanilla butts in the House of Sánchez Ayala are stored in their cellars in the old barrio de la Balsa, an area of Sanlúcar stolen from the sea along the centuries. One of this cellars, the Bodega San Pedro, dates back to at least the second half of the eighteenth century, as recorded in the documents whereby the Marqués de Casa Arizón, after the crisis provoked by the loss of his fleet in a sea storm, severed the building from the rest of his Palace in order to sell it to a priest from Cádiz. The finesse of these Palomino-based musts, together with the moist and mild atmosphere of the bodega as a consequence of the proximity of the sea and the freatic layer, result in this delicate wine of upfront acetaldehyde derived from its consistent ageing under flor. Following the tradition of Sanlúcar, this manzanilla is aged along a dozen scales that are frequently run (refreshed) with small sacas. La Bota de Manzanilla, due to its personality and freshness, is a dreamed table partner. It offers magic combinations ranking from jamón de bellota and other Iberico charcuterie, fresh iodine-laden shellfish and equally delicate fish frituras, to hearty dishes where it cleanses the palate superbly: a thick and unctuous fabada, the sequential helpings of a traditional cocido, etc. The wine was bottled unfiltered to preserve its authenticity; that is why it retains its intense yellow color with greenish hues typical of these wines in their raw state, away from the artificial paleness that dominates the market of overfiltered finos and manzanillas. Due to an initial concern about its evolution in bottle, it was originally recommended to drink upon release, but nowadays, almost 18 months after bottling, it still performs admirably, becoming an increasingly complex wine. TASTING NOTE (by J. Gómez Pallarés - devinis.blogspot.com) “Its color is that of old gold, its aromas those of olive brine and seed, of sea salt and iodine, of moist sea breeze. To this feast for the senses are also invited salted almonds, slightly bitter, and a peculiar aromatic intensity and pungency. […] The attack is powerful and serious, marked by the dryness of white albariza soils and a long-lasting evocation of the veil of flor that makes such wine possible (an unmistakable yeasty aftertaste).” REVIEWS AND RATINGS Guía Peñín 2008: 97 pt “A wine for experts only, as removed as can be from the light and vane commercial manzanilla that is neither manzanilla nor white wine.” Verema.com: 9,4 pt (averaged after 14 tasting notes, by July 31st, 2008) Many thanks to Prof. Dr. Ernesto Suárez Toste for his invaluable help in the English version of this web © 2005-2011 Equipo Navazos S.L. All rights reserved

Patent application title: TELEPHONE HANDSET FOR A BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEM Dieter Dorn (Bad Vilbel, DE) Kurt Brunsfeld (Eschborn/ts., DE) Hans-Ulrich Eckard (Darmstadt, DE) AVAYA GMBH & CO. KG IPC8 Class: AH04M100FI Class name: Telephonic communications terminal housing or housing component Publication date: 2008-12-18 Patent application number: 20080310618 A telephone handset for a broadband telecommunication system, whose housing is composed of an upper shell and a lower shell forming a joining edge, shall guarantee a reliable coupling of the resonance volume to the free field with a particularly low sound leakage. For this purpose, the joining edge is provided according to the invention with a number of 1. A telephone handset for a broadband telecommunication system, comprising a housing including an upper shell and a lower shell, forming a joining edge, said joining edge being provided with a number of 2. A telephone handset according to claim 1, wherein the coupling slots are provided on a top side of the telephone handset. 3. A telephone handset according to claim 1, wherein length of the coupling slots is chosen in such a way that the coupling slots possess an opening surface sufficient for an application. 4. A telephone handset according to claim 1, wherein the coupling slots are arranged symmetrically with respect to an axis of symmetry of the telephone handset. The invention relates to a telephone handset for a broadband telecommunication system whose housing is composed of an upper shell and a lower shell forming a joining edge. Telephone terminals connected to a broadband telecommunication system are usually provided with handsets, connected directly or cordlessly, which can send voice messages to, and receive them from, a user. For this purpose, such handsets are usually provided with integrated microphones for receiving the voice message and with loudspeakers for transmitting such a voice message to the user, which are arranged in a common housing of the handset. For reasons of production technique, this housing is usually composed of an upper shell and a lower shell forming a so-called joining edge, i.e. substantially of two housing halves. To obtain a particularly good sound spectrum in the transmission of a voice message to the user, a resonance volume is usually provided inside the telephone handset in the area of the loudspeaker, because the acoustic signal of the voice message is amplified by resonance in the corresponding frequencies, in dependency of the volume available and in particular of the latter's spatial dimension, and is, therefore, more clearly perceptible to the user. The limited resonance volume in handsets, due to their construction, also limits the frequency range amplified by the resonance and, therefore, also the acoustically perceptible transmission quality of the system. The lower limit of the signal frequencies which can be transmitted well in this way is, therefore, for the usual dimensions of handsets, approximately 400 Hz. To cover, however, the total frequency spectrum perceptible to the human hearing, which extends on the side of the deep frequencies down to frequencies of approx. 1 Hz, particularly well on the transmission side, in order to achieve a better hearing and transmission quality, handsets of the usual construction are provided with a number of coupling slots. These coupling slots connect the resonance volume inside the telephone handset with the free field outside the telephone handset. This coupling of the resonance volume with the outer air space makes it possible to enlarge the resonance volume in a simple manner. In this way, it is achieved that the frequency range below 400 Hz can also be reproduced or transmitted in an amplified manner, so that a particularly good sound of the voice message can be generated by the loudspeaker. For a reliable coupling with the free field, the coupling slots are usually arranged on the back of the telephone handset. Depending on the application, the handset back can alternatively even be of a completely open design to enable a maximum coupling of the free field. Depending on the configuration of the coupling slots and the coupling they achieve, an amplification of the frequency range down to 100 Hz or even down to 20 Hz can be achieved. However, the provision of openings on the back of the telephone handset does not only restrict the generally desirable freedom of design in the optical configuration of the handsets, but also the comfort and the immunity from eavesdropping during the operation of such handsets for broadband telecommunication systems. Especially in view of the immunity from eavesdropping, the openings on the back of the telephone handset and the resultant undesired simple radiation of the sound, i.e. the sound leakage into the free field, can cause considerable restrictions. For example, in installations in call centers, this leads to an increased annoyance caused by noise and to an undesired eavesdropping on the part of third parties during confidential conversations. Therefore, the invention is based on the task to provide a telephone handset for broadband telecommunication of the above-mentioned type guaranteeing a reliable coupling of the resonance volume to the free field and, at the same time, a particularly low sound leakage. This task is solved according to the invention by providing the joining edge with a number of coupling slots. The invention is based on the consideration that for the use of a handset for broadband telecommunication, i.e, with a particularly wide frequency spectrum of the transmission, the external field of such handset should in any case be acoustically coupled to the resonance volume inside the telephone handset. For this purpose, the design of the handset should in any case maintain suitable openings through which a sound-conducting connection of the resonance volume with the external field is established. To limit the sound leakage through the back of the telephone handset, these openings should, however, be situated at positions of the telephone handset which do not further a sound leakage through the back of the telephone handset. As this requirement is freely fulfilled anyhow by the joining edge of the telephone handset, which is formed when the upper and lower shells are plugged together, the coupling slots, which acoustically couple the external field with a hollow space inside the telephone handset, are shifted into this joining edge. In a preferred embodiment, these coupling slots are arranged near the loudspeaker, i.e. on the top side of the telephone handset, because then, they are in direct connection with the resonance volume inside the telephone handset. In addition, the risk that the coupling slots in the joining edge are covered, for example by the user's hands, thus impairing the acoustic coupling of the external field to the resonance volume inside the telephone handset, is kept particularly low. The passage area of the coupling slots is preferably chosen such that the coupling to the free field fulfills the requirements imposed on the frequency spectrum to be amplified. The width of the coupling slots preferably extends over the entire width of the joining edge, so that the latter is completely used for the coupling slots, the length of the coupling slots being preferably adapted to the required passage area. In order to particularly reduce in the simplest possible manner the production expenditure in the manufacture of the upper and lower shells used for the telephone handset and to increase the flexibility, the coupling slots are in a further advantageous embodiment arranged symmetrically to an axis of symmetry of the telephone handset. It is thus achieved that the way in which the telephone handset is used, i.e., for example, whether it is held by the left or by the right hand, has only little influence on the functionality of the coupling slots. The advantages achieved with the invention consist in particular in the fact that due to the arrangement of the coupling slots in the joining edge of the housing, the leakage sound is particularly low and that at the same time the coupling of the acoustic free field with the resonance volume inside the telephone handset is still guaranteed. Especially the undesired emission of sound waves through openings on the back of the handset and the resulting lack of immunity from eavesdropping is, therefore, reduced in a particularly simple manner. Furthermore, the use of openings as coupling slots in the joining edge does not substantially limit the freedom of design, which may be important for the manufacturers of such handsets, and it avoids undesired optical flaws, both on the manufacturers' side and on the buyers' side. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows the top side of a handset for broadband telecommunication, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the top side of a handset for broadband telecommunication. Identical parts are marked with the same reference numbers in the two figures. The telephone handset 1 according to FIG. 1 is part of a broadband telecommunication system connected with a plurality of terminals and is provided for transmission and reception of voice messages, as required. The telephone handset 1 is connected with an allocated terminal directly or cordlessly. As is evident from the drawing of FIG. 1, the housing of the telephone handset 1 is composed of an upper shell 2 and a lower shell 4, which are fastened to one another through a plugin connection inside the telephone handset 1. A narrow joining edge 6 formed by plugging the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 4 together extends on the outside of the telephone handset 1 and surrounds it once. The lower shell 4 of the telephone handset 1 includes in a type of construction known it itself, among others, outlets for a microphone arranged inside the telephone handset 1 and a loudspeaker unit, arranged spatially separated from one another. In spatial vicinity of the loudspeaker, a hollow body is arranged inside the telephone handset, serving as a resonance volume for the emitted sound waves. This resonance volume amplifies the emitted sound waves and improves the sound of the voice message. As due to the constructionally restricted volume, preferably the high frequencies of the sound waves are amplified, whereas for a good sound quality and true reproduction in the transmission of voice messages, the deeper frequencies also play an important part, a number of coupling slots 8 are arranged on the telephone handset. These slots couple the external free field with the resonance volume inside the telephone handset 1, enabling in this way the amplification of the lower frequencies and a particularly good sound of the voice message. In the usual type of construction, the coupling slots 8 are, however, arranged on the back of the telephone handset 1 and, therefore, involve a risk in view of the immunity from eavesdropping because sound waves can undesirably be emitted into the external free field through the coupling slots 8 via the back of the telephone handset 1. Contrary to that, the telephone handset according to FIG. 1 is specifically designed for keeping such sound leakages particularly low, in spite of a sufficiently high acoustic coupling of the resonance volume to the outer space. For this purpose, the coupling slots 8 of the telephone handset 1 according to FIG. 1 are specifically arranged in the joining edge 6 of the housing. This aggravates the undesired emission of the sound waves via the back of the telephone handset 1. Furthermore, the coupling slots 8 are optically hidden through their arrangement in the joining edge 6 and, therefore, leave the developers a particularly high freedom of design. The coupling slots 8 illustrated in FIG. 1 are arranged symmetrically to the longitudinal axis, i.e., the axis extending from the center of the bottom side to the center of the top side through the geometrical center point of the telephone handset 1. This increases the flexibility of use of such handsets 1. The width of the coupling slots 8 is limited through the width of the joining edge, but their length can be adapted for an optimum coupling of the acoustic free field. Thus, with an average joining edge of approx. 2 mm, the preferred length of the coupling slots will be approx. 12 mm, In this way, an amplification of the frequencies down to 100 Hz can be achieved. FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section of the top side of the telephone handset 1 for broadband telecommunication. In the top side of the telephone handset, a loudspeaker unit 10 for reproducing incoming acoustic signals is positioned in a loudspeaker holder 12. The loudspeaker unit 10 is pushed into the loudspeaker holder and held in it, when the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 4 of the telephone handset 1 are plugged together, by means of a holding web 14 formed integrally with the upper shell 2 and extending into the interior of the telephone handset. The joining edge 6, which is formed when the upper shell 2 and lower shell 4 are plugged together, comprises a coupling slot 8 which connects a back-space volume 16 limited by the upper shell 2 and lower shell 4 with the outer space. During operation of the telephone handset 1, the back-space volume 16 serves as a resonance volume for the loudspeaker unit 10, for amplification of the sound waves emitted through the outlets 18. Through the specific arrangement of the coupling slots 8 in the joining edge 6, the acoustic free field is coupled to the backspace volume, thus enlarging the resonance volume. By coupling the outer space to the back-space volume, deeper frequencies can also be amplified and a particularly good sound of the voice message can be achieved, which would not be pace volume alone as resonance volume. The present invention, in various embodiments, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/or apparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, including various embodiments, subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art will understand how to make and use the present invention after understanding the present disclosure. The present invention, in various embodiments, includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items not depicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments hereof, including in the absence of such items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., for improving performance, achieving ease and/or reducing cost of implementation. It is to be noted that the term "a" or "an" entity refers to one or more of that entity. As such, the terms "a" (or "an"), "one or more" and "at least one" can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms "comprising", "including", and "having" can be used interchangeably. The foregoing discussion of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intended to limit the invention to the form or forms disclosed herein. In the foregoing Detailed Description for example, various features of the invention are grouped together in one or more embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of the invention. Moreover, though the description of the invention has included description of one or more embodiments and certain variations and modifications, other variations and modifications are within the scope of the invention, e.g., as may be within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, after understanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not such alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publicly dedicate any patentable subject matter. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS 1 Telephone handset 2 Upper shell 4 Lower shell 6 Joining edge 8 Coupling slot 10 Loudspeaker unit 12 Loudspeaker holder 14 Holding web 16 Back-space volume 18 Outlets Patent applications by AVAYA GMBH & CO. KG Patent applications in all subclasses Housing or housing component

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada is a federal government agency that is funded mostly through industry assessments paid by federally regulated financial entities. In its 2008 budget, the Government of Canada had proposed to contribute to the Agency up to $2 million per year on an ongoing basis as of fiscal year 2008–09. FCAC is entitled to receive a parliamentary appropriation as authorized under section 13(3) of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act. The funding is to support efforts to improve financial literacy in Canada. Total expenses for fiscal year 2010–11 were $11,662,332, representing an increase of about $780,000 or 7.2 percent compared to fiscal year 2009–10. The following key points explain this increase: Human resources costs were about $984,000 higher in 2010–11 than in the previous year. This rise was driven by normal economic increase and merit increases in employee compensation, the addition of new employees in 2010–11, and the full-year impact of new hires from 2009–10. Professional services expenses decreased by approximately $455,000, primarily because in 2009–10 there was a larger number of marketing and communications activities and campaigns undertaken than in 2010–11. Information technology costs increased by $187,000 due to contracting of resources for two key initiatives: Web renewal, and the Information Technology Strategic Direction and Implementation Roadmap. Facilities costs increased by about $74,000, largely due to leasing of additional space on a temporary basis to accommodate a larger staff complement. Travel costs decreased by approximately $47,000, due to more targeted travel activities. This in turn allowed FCAC to be well below the Treasury Board travel cap. Interest charges increased by approximately $31,000 from 2009–10 because the lending rate in 2010–11 was approximately 1.2 percent higher. In addition, the Agency needed to borrow funds sooner in the year to fund operations expenditures. From its inception, the Agency has been guided by the management principle that it should concentrate on delivering the programs called for in its legislation. We have therefore opted to use common and/or shared services to provide generic corporate services when it is cost-effective to do so. As a result, FCAC's cost structure may vary from that of other federal organizations. The expenses related to common and/or shared services are listed under Professional Services instead of Human Resources costs if the services were provided by internal staff. Strategic management partnerships continue to give the Agency the flexibility needed to manage evolving programs as cost-effectively and efficiently as possible. Transition to International Financial Reporting Standards In February 2008, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants' (CICA) Canadian Accounting Standards Board confirmed that publicly accountable entities will be required to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2011. In December 2009, the Public Sector Accounting Board provided guidance to other government organizations, such as FCAC, to determine their most appropriate basis of accounting between IFRS and the Public Sector Accounting Handbook. Some of the primary users of FCAC's annual report and the general-purpose financial statements contained therein are regulated financial entities—that is, the paying stakeholders—and their respective industry associations. These institutions will adopt IFRS effective 2011. FCAC has therefore decided to adopt IFRS so that it may continue to provide relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable financial information to its paying stakeholders. As part of its transition to IFRS, FCAC has established a formal project governance structure, with oversight by a steering committee consisting of management from the areas of accounting and finance, information technology, and business operations. Regular updates on the status and progress of the IFRS conversion plan are also presented to FCAC's Executive Committee and its Audit Committee. FCAC has chosen to approach the conversion in five phases: During fiscal year 2010–2011, FCAC completed Phase 4. FCAC continues to monitor the development of standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and CICA's Accounting Standards Board, as well as the Public Sector Accounting Board. While the final quantitative impact of converting to IFRS cannot be confirmed at this time, the following section provides a preliminary assessment of how the adoption of IFRS will affect FCAC's Balance Sheet as at April 1, 2010 (FCAC's date of transition to IFRS). Impact of adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards FCAC's transition to IFRS is expected to result in a net decrease of $46,000 in its Equity of Canada. The key components of this amount and their respective impacts are as follows: On termination of employment, employees are entitled to certain benefits provided for under their conditions of employment through a severance benefits plan. The cost of these benefits is accrued as the employees render their services necessary to earn severance benefits, and is actuarially determined as at March 31 of each year. Actuarial gains or losses arise as a result of changes in the value of the accrued benefit obligation due to differences between expectations and actual experience, as well as because of changes in actuarial assumptions. Upon transition to IFRS on April 1, 2010, FCAC plans to immediately recognize in Comprehensive Income all actuarial gains or losses as they occur. The impact of this policy change is twofold: An FCAC employee earns sick leave credits at a rate of 1.25 days for each calendar month in which the employee receives pay for at least 75 hours. An employee's unused sick leave balance is carried forward until the employee departs from FCAC, at which point any unused balance cannot be redeemed for pay and FCAC's liability lapses. The plan is an accumulating, non-vesting benefit under IFRS. Accordingly, FCAC is required to record a liability for the portion of the unused sick leave that it estimates, based on experience, will be used in the future. As at April 1, 2010, this liability was estimated to be $70,000. Adoption of IFRS requires changes to the way FCAC calculates its provision for doubtful accounts. As at April 1, 2010, this new methodology was estimated to result in no change to FCAC's Allowance for Doubtful Accounts because of the minimal receivable balance at that date. The above-noted changes to FCAC's accounting policies will affect FCAC's 2011–2012 operating results. However, the overall impact is not expected to be material. Future changes to IFRS International Financial Reporting Standard 1 requires that the accounting policies used by FCAC in the opening IFRS balance sheet be based upon IFRS, effective as at March 31, 2012. FCAC will monitor International Accounting Standards Board developments to ensure that the impacts of any potential or actual changes to IFRS are appropriately considered in its changeover plan. Training and communications requirements FCAC has informed external stakeholders and key internal staff of the relevant modifications to the accounting and reporting of financial results ensuing from its transition to IFRS. Training seminars on relevant IFRS standards and their potential impact were provided to key FCAC personnel and will continue to be provided as changes to IFRS occur. |1. Diagnostic Assessment| ||Summary of the external advisor's report presented to FCAC's Executive and Audit committees||Completed| |2. Design and Planning| ||Project structures in place||Completed| |3. Assessment, Design and Development| ||Solutions approved by FCAC's Executive and Audit committees||Completed| ||Financial systems and processes are able to capture and report IFRS information||Completed| |5. Post-Implementation Review| ||Ongoing process after implementation||Ongoing| With the new Treasury Board Policy on Internal Control, effective April 1, 2009, departments and agencies are now required to demonstrate the measures they are taking to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR). As part of this policy, departments and agencies are expected to conduct annual assessments of their systems of ICFR, establish action plans to address any necessary adjustments, and attach to their Statements of Management Responsibility a summary of their assessment results and action plans. Effective systems of ICFR aim to achieve reliable financial statements and to provide assurances that: It is important to note that the system of ICFR is not designed to eliminate all risks, but rather to mitigate risk to a reasonable level with controls that are balanced with and proportionate to the risks they aim to mitigate. The system of ICFR is designed to mitigate risks to a reasonable level based on an ongoing process to identify key risks, to assess the effectiveness of associated key controls and adjust as required, as well as to monitor the system in support of continuous improvement. As a result, the scope, pace and status of those departmental assessments of the effectiveness of their system of ICFR will vary from one organization to another based on risks and their unique circumstances. 1.1. Authority, Mandate and Program Activities The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) was established to consolidate and strengthen oversight of consumer protection measures in the federally regulated financial sector, and to expand consumer education and financial literacy activities so that Canadians have the appropriate information and financial skills they need to make informed financial decisions and actively participate in and strengthen the financial sector. In July 2010, FCAC was also tasked with the oversight of payment card network operators and their commercial practices. As a federal regulatory agency, FCAC is responsible for: FCAC's mandate supports a fair and secure marketplace. Primary to FCAC's mandate and central to its contribution to Canada's financial marketplace are two strategic outcomes: 1.2. Financial Highlights Below is key financial information for fiscal year 2010–2011. FCAC's audited financial statements for fiscal year 2010–2011. 1.3. Service Arrangements Relevant to Financial Statements FCAC relies on other organizations for the processing of certain transactions that are recorded in its financial statements: 1.4. Material Changes in Fiscal Year 2010–2011 No significant agency changes that are relevant to the financial statements occurred in 2010–2011. FCAC recognizes the importance of setting the tone from the top to help ensure that staff at all levels understand their roles in maintaining effective systems and processes of ICFR. FCAC's focus is to ensure risks are managed well through a proactive and responsive, risk-based control environment that enables continuous improvement and innovation. Through its memoranda of understanding with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions with respect to financial services and audit services, FCAC is supported in the development and implementation of ICFR. Accordingly, the Director, Internal Audit Services of OSFI or a designate will attend Audit Committee meetings. In addition, the Director of Finance of OSFI and a representative from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada are also present, as pertinent. FCAC's main entity-level controls currently in place and relevant to ICFR are set out below. Commissioner (Deputy Head)—As the Accounting Officer, the Commissioner assumes overall responsibility and leadership for the stewardship, management and oversight of the Agency's resources and for the measures taken to maintain an effective system and processes of internal control. In this role, the Commissioner chairs the Management Committee and the Audit Committee. Deputy Commissioner—FCAC's Deputy Commissioner supports the Commissioner in delivering FCAC's mandate, and is responsible for maintaining and reviewing effectiveness of systems and processes of ICFR falling within FCAC. The Deputy Commissioner is FCAC's Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The CFO is responsible for financial matters, including risk assessment over financial reporting. The CFO is supported by the Director of Corporate Services, who is Deputy Chief Financial Officer. The latter holds a professional accounting designation. Audit Committee—FCAC established its Departmental Audit Committee (AC) in January 2005. The AC is chaired by the Commissioner. The Management Committee meets to fulfill the Audit Committee mandate on a quarterly basis, with authority to convene additional meetings, as circumstances require. In 2010–2011, the AC met three times, providing advice on governance, risk management and control. In December 2009, the Commissioner indicated her intent to work with the Small Departments and Agencies (SDA) Audit Committee (AC) once the SDA AC Committee felt it would be ready to do so. 2.2. Key Measures Taken by FCAC The control environment is an important factor for ICFR. FCAC's control environment incorporates a series of measures to equip its staff to manage risks through raising awareness, providing appropriate knowledge and tools, as well as developing skills. Key measures taken include: 3.1. Assessment Baseline Since March 31, 2002, FCAC's financial statements are audited annually by the Office of the Auditor General. To enable control-based audits rather than substantive audits, FCAC, through its financial services provider, has undertaken a program of documentation of business processes, information flows and internal controls. In 2009, Treasury Board issued the Policy on Internal Control. As a result, FCAC has further formalized its approach to managing its systems of ICFR. Whether it is to support the control-based audit requirements or those of the Policy on Internal Control, an effective system of ICFR has the objectives to provide reasonable assurance that: Over time, this includes assessments of design and operating effectiveness of the system of ICFR, ensuring the ongoing monitoring and continuous improvement of the Agency's system of ICFR. Design effectiveness means that key control points are identified, documented and in place, and are aligned with the risks (i.e. controls are balanced with and proportionate to the risks they aim to mitigate) and that any remediation is addressed.This includes the mapping of key processes and IT systems to the main accounts by location as applicable. Operating effectiveness means that the application of key controls has been tested over a defined period and that any required remediation is addressed. 3.2. Assessment Method at FCAC Due to the size of FCAC, the nature of its business and risks, and building on business cycle / internal control documentation already completed for audited financial statements, FCAC determined that the major business cycles driving the financial statement accounts include: For each cycle, where OSFI is the service provider, the following steps have been completed: FCAC also documented and assessed its entity (corporate) level controls. In assessing its key controls, FCAC focused on design effectiveness, which is the prerequisite to testing operating effectiveness. 4.1. Design Effectiveness of Entity-Level Controls As at year end 2010–2011, FCAC completed the design assessment and operational effectiveness of the entity-level controls. The following recommendations were provided to improve the entity-level controls. 5.1. Progress as at March 31, 2011 During 2010–2011, FCAC continued to make significant progress in assessing and improving its key controls. Below is a summary of the major progress made: FCAC has completed work to address the following items: 5.2. Action Plan for the Next Fiscal Year and Future Years By the end of fiscal year 2011–2012, FCAC plans to: 1. Since FCAC receives its financial services from OSFI, it relies on the latter to appropriately design and test the operational effectiveness of the key processes that are common to both organizations, including the IT systems that support them.

Growing roses is not difficult if you follow some basic rules. Roses need plenty of water and they need at least six hours of sun each day. More importantly, choose roses that are right for your area. There are 11 climate zones throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, but each state or area may have two or three zones. Find out the zone you live in before selecting roses. Plant Hardiness Zone Map The United States Department of Agriculture and Arnold Arboretum from Harvard University developed the "plant hardiness zone map." The map is the result of years of compiling data "that tracked the average low (coldest) temperatures in various regions throughout the United States," according to Rose Gardening 101. Zone 1 is the coldest temperature, which drops to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit and is located in northern parts of the United States and Canada. In zone 11, the lowest temperature is above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and is located in southern areas and Mexico. Finding Your Zone The Plant Hardiness Zone Map is located on various sites including the U.S. National Arboretum website. The zones on the map are identified by different colors. Click the area or the state you live in, and the map will zoom in to that area. Identify your specific area by the color. A chart will define the average coldest temperatures for your zone, as well as give you examples of cities in that particular zone. Zones 2 to 4 Some roses are hardier than others are; therefore, they can survive colder climates. Hardy roses can tolerate zones 2 to 4 because they "tend to be vigorous, are relatively disease tolerant, and require little long-term maintenance," according to the University of Minnesota Extension. Rugosa roses are a type of shrub rose that can withstand the cold northern winters, as well as the salt used along the main highways. Other hardy choices are Canadian hardy roses, which include bush and climbing roses. Hardy roses, though, should be winterized because of the severe weather. Zones 5 to 9 Zones 5 and 6 still have cold winters. It is important to winterize your roses by adding mulch. Zones 7 and 8 can get a freeze and possible snow, as well. Zones 7 and 8, however, are excellent zones for a large variety of roses including hybrid roses and tea roses. Zone 9 has cool, wet weather, which can bring on fungal disease. The Knock Out rose is a brand of roses developed by William Radler. Not only can they grow in areas as far north as some parts of Canada and as far south as Florida, Knock Out roses are disease resistant and a good choice for zone 9. While hardy roses are the best choices for zones 2 to 4, other roses can survive cold climate zones if you take extra precaution before cold weather. Cut back plants to 3 feet and tie the tips together. This will protect the plant from wind and ice. Add loose dirt around the plant and top with mulch such as bark, wood chips, leaves or straw. For delicate roses, consider putting a protective cylinder over the plant. During the heat of summer, especially zones 7 to 9, consider shading your roses with an umbrella or other device.

Margaret (nee Hatch) Seymour, 94 of West Bend, passed away on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. She was born on Feb. 27, 1916, in Augusta to the late Carlisle (Lisie) C. and Winifred (nee Butler) Hatch. She spent her early childhood in Onalaska and moved to Madison in 1925. There, she graduated from Madison Central High in 1933, attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for three years and Groves Barnhardt Business School for six months. She worked as a bookkeeper at the Madison Gas and Electric Company for several years until 1942. Margaret was united in marriage to Eugene "Gene" Seymour in 1940. After her marriage she devoted herself to her husband and to raising her two sons, Gary and Jon. As did many wives during World War II, she did this while her husband served overseas with the U. S. Navy Seabees. Margaret loved her family and was an active and guiding participant in their successes and adventures. She was the caregiver for her parents until their deaths. Margaret began to china paint later in life and belonged to several china painting organizations such as the World Organization of China Painters and China Painters of Jefferson County. She was active in the Retired Senior Volunteer Program in Madison, demonstrating her china painting skills at school folk fairs in the Madison metropolitan area. In 1992, she moved to West Bend, to be closer to her family. There she continued her china painting and made many new friends at the Cedar Ridge Retirement Apartments. All who knew her will remember her as a quiet, caring, loving, gentle, friendly, witty, and humorous woman whose generous heart belied her small stature. She will be deeply missed by friends and family alike. Margaret is survived by her two sons, Gary (Jane) of West Bend and Jon (Jacqueline) of Cincinnati, Ohio; five grandchildren, Andrew of West Bend, Daniel (Gina) of Decatur, Ga., Jennifer of Waukegan, Ill., Cameron of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Amanda (Miles Spathelf) of Anchorage, Ala.; sister-in-law, Edith Hatch of Janesville; and other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gene in 1990; and her two brothers, Seth and Carlisle. In accordance with Margaretís wishes, there will be no funeral services. A celebration of her life will be held at a time and place convenient to her family and will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials be made to the Reedsburg Educational Foundation (designated for the Seymour Education Fund), 501 K St., Reedsburg, WI 53959, or to a favorite charity of your choice. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com Assisting the family is Gunderson East Funeral & Cremation Care, 5203 Monona Drive, (608) 221-5420 or www.gundersonfh.com

It rejected taking other social and lifestyle issues like obesity into account over access to treatment. Charities representing older people said the recommendations were outrageous and sent out mixed messages. Nice looked at whether lifestyle issues were relevant to how effective a drug will be and the effect on value for money. Its draft recommendations said there was no case for discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation. It also said discrimination against patients with conditions which are self-inflicted should be avoided, effectively ruling out restrictions on access for people who smoke or are obese. Nice is in danger of sending very mixed messages, and it is older people who will lose out says Age Concern. However, the recommendations say that where age is an indicator of benefit or risk, age discrimination is appropriate. Michelle Mitchell of Age Concern said this "should never happen. Nice is in danger of sending very mixed messages, and it is older people who will lose out. They already suffer age discrimination in health and social care as it is." Ms Mitchell said a survey of GPs by the charity had found that 80% thought age-based rationing already happened in the NHS. Stephen Jackson, professor of clinical gerontology at King's College, agreed age discrimination was already happening. He said certain courses of treatment may well pose greater risks for older patients, but that it should be up to them to decide whether to take that risk. But a spokesman for Nice said age discrimination could work both ways, with some treatment being made available only to older people. He cited some flu drugs, which are only given to over 65s.

Explorations in the Outer Realms of Human Thought Albert Einstein's views on God developed as he sought to understand the fundamental nature of the universe and existence. As Einstein delved into the science of the universe in which we live, he also sought an understanding - through his own insight rather than religious doctrine - into the nature and cause of existence. Einstein's conclusions on the nature and cause of existence mirror Zoroastrian precepts. Echoes of the Zoroastrian Quest for Understanding the Nature of Existence Walter Isaacson in an April 2007 article in Time, wrote that Einstein came to reject the concept "of a personal God who intercedes in the daily workings of the world." Nevertheless, Einstein retained "a profound faith in, and reverence for, the harmony and beauty of what he called the mind of God as it was expressed in the creation of the universe and its laws." "He deeply believed that God's handiwork was reflected in the harmony of nature's laws and the beauty of all that exists." Zoroastrian philosophy says that nature and the workings of the universe give us a glimpse into the working of God's mind, Vohu Mano. Through the workings of the universe, we can also begin to understand the universal laws, Asha, through which creation emerged and is sustained. The grandeur of nature contains a meaning far deeper than can be casually perceived on the surface. Einstein's early reading included People's Books on Natural Science, a set of 21 volumes by Aaron Bernstein. Bernstein saw no contradiction between religion and science, and wrote "The religious inclination lies in the dim consciousness that dwells in humans that all nature, including the humans in it, is in no way an accidental game, but a work of lawfulness that there is a fundamental cause of all existence." Zoroastrian philosophical precepts lead us to the conclusion that science observes and explains one aspect of Asha, universal order and laws. The following is a selection of Einstein's thoughts on God and existence: "A spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort." "The problem (of understanding the nature of God) involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvellously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws." "Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in fact, religious." "The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle. To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is something that our minds cannot grasp, whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly: this is religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I am a devoutly religious man."

Mar 28 2012 North Dakota Senators Stress Critical Importance of Nation's Nuclear Arsenal Washington – Concerned over efforts to reduce America's nuclear capabilities, Senators Kent Conrad and John Hoeven today urged Congressional leaders to maintain a robust fleet of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). "Around the world, America's adversaries are developing and refining nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. In order to have a truly effective deterrent, we must maintain sufficient strategic forces to guard against these threats simultaneously," the Senators said in a joint statement. As the Senate Armed Services Committee holds hearings on the FY 2013 budget and the future of the strategic forces, Senators Conrad and Hoeven joined with six of their colleagues to send a letter to Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. The letter states that “the ICBM force dramatically decreases the risk of nuclear war by providing a stabilizing and visible constant in our nuclear posture.” It also notes that the force has been modernized through 2030 and is the least expensive leg of the triad. The U.S. currently has 450 Minuteman III missiles with 150 missiles each at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota; Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana; and F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. The bipartisan letter acknowledges the New START agreement’s range of missile levels and asks that any reductions be made equally among the three facilities. It also asks that reductions be done incrementally and that all 450 ICBM silos remain in "warm status." This will maintain global nuclear stability, avoid U.S. vulnerability and guarantee strength and preparedness in times of need. In addition to Senators Conrad and Hoeven, the letter was signed by: Senators Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), Max Baucus (D-MT), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Michael Lee (R-UT). Senators Conrad and Enzi are the co-chairmen of the bipartisan Senate ICBM coalition.

The Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council (TPC) unanimously voted on Friday morning to delay by thirty days its vote on a full $79.8 million allocation of unprogrammed federal transportation funds toward Mobility - roadway and freight rail - projects and a reallocation of $12.8 million from already committed pedestrian, bicycle, and Livable Centers projects to Mobility projects. The 30-day delay will allow the public and elected officials to further explore how potential money from the federal Surface Transportation Program Major Metro (STP MM) and Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ) funds should be allocated within the Houston-Galveston region’s 2011-2014 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The decision came after elected officials heard from more than 20 business, bicycle, pedestrian, and political advocates in attendance, plus thousands of citizens who signed petitions and called officials’ offices during the week to voice their concerns regarding the manner in which federal funds were being distributed toward various transportation modes. Rather than push a vote through, City of Houston Council member Sue Lovell requested that the TPC delay voting on the issue for 30 days so that elected officials could more carefully examine the options on the table and hear from their constituents. While Harris County Judge Ed Emmett suggested that some officials’ constituents may express opposite concerns from the bicycle and pedestrian advocates in attendance during the delay, Metro’s George Greanias said a more thorough look at all the options on the table is crucial for the region’s long-term economic competitiveness: “I’m concerned because a lot of numbers have been thrown around, but I think even more importantly than that, there are some significant policy issues that are involved. And the decisions that we make on these allocations that you all have worked very hard to recommend to us are going to set the path for this region I think for the foreseeable future. And I have personal concerns that we need to think carefully about where our region is going. What I see and what’s on the table right now is a continuation of the philosophy that, in our lifetime, the emphasis will be on streets and roads. I believe, when you look at the economic stuff, that a program that is predominantly streets and roads, is long-term not economically sustainable.” [Note: Houston Tomorrow has an online petition calling for roadway spending to make up no more than 55% of regional transportation infrastructure spending, in accordance with the 2035 Regional Transportation Plan. The proposal on the table, on the other hand, called for STP MM and CMAQ funds of the 2011-2014 Transportation Improvement Program to be allocated in such a manner that roadway and freight projects would receive 78% of available funds. As of the time of the meeting of the TPC, 1,710 people from across the Houston region signed this petition.] Page 1 of 1 pages

On behalf of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board it is my pleasure to officially declare today, February 12, 2007, as Lincoln Alexander Day. From this moment onwards, every second Monday in February will be recognized by our Board as Lincoln Alexander Day. This is our way of honouring a local legend and a fine role model for all our students. As we embrace Character Education in our Board, it is fitting that we recognize a person who exemplifies what it means to have great character. Also, by honouring Mr. Alexander within the context of Black History Month will reinforce for our students the positive contribution that Black Canadians have made to make this nation the culturally diverse, compassionate and prosperous country we enjoy today. Today, and every second Monday in February, we pay tribute to a great Hamilton man who holds a profound interest in youth and education. Mr. Alexander came from humble beginnings but not so humble were his dreams and aspirations and he overcame many obstacles to serve the interests of Hamilton and his community through his many years of public service. Recognizing Mr. Alexander with the declaration of an annual day named in his honour gives us the opportunity to say thank you. There is a saying that Mr. Alexander likes to recite when addressing school children to encourage them to pursue education and their dreams. I'd like to share those words with you and have you repeat them out loud in your classrooms: "He did it. I can. I will." Have a great Lincoln Alexander Day. For our students, Have a great story? Submit it here.

If the IMF believes that its resources might fall short of members' needs—for example, in the event of a major financial crisis—it can supplement its own resources by borrowing. It has had a range of bilateral borrowing arrangements in the 1970s and 1980s. Currently it has two standing multilateral borrowing arrangements and one bilateral borrowing agreement. Through the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and the"> General Arrangements to Borrow (GAB), a number of member countries and institutions stand ready to lend additional funds to the IMF. These credit arrangements between the IMF and a group of members and institutions can provide supplementary resources of up to roughly $26 billion (SDR 17 billion) under the General Arrangements and roughly $565 billion (SDR 370.0 billion) under the New Arrangements to the IMF to forestall or cope with an impairment of the international monetary system or to deal with an exceptional situation that poses a threat to the stability of that system. In April 2009, the Group of Twenty industrialized and emerging market economies agreed to triple the Fund’s lending capacity to $750 billion, enabling it to inject extra liquidity into the world economy during this time of crisis. The additional support will come from several sources, including contributions from member countries that have pledged to help boost the Fund’s lending capacity.

Eosinophilic crystals of varying sizes are sometimes found focally in the lungs of various strains of mice (Green, 1942; Yang and Campbell, 1964; Rehm et al., 1985c). The small crystals are usually within the cytoplasm of alveolar macrophages (Fig. 98), and the larger crystals are free in the alveoli. These crystals may less frequently involve large areas within a single lung, especially in association with lung tumors. Crystal formation was reported to be an autosomal recessive trait in moth-eaten mice (Ward, 1978). Edema and hemorrhage occur spontaneously in the lungs of mice; their etiology is often obscure. Focal areas of hemorrhage can occur during sacrifice, especially after carbon dioxide euthanasia. The edema may be focal or diffuse and is characterized by an eosinophilic homogeneous material in the alveoli. Sometimes the edema is restricted to perivascular locations. Hemorrhage in the lungs is characterized by the presence of erythrocytes free in the alveoli and may occur in conjunction with pulmonary edema. Chronic passive congestion of the lungs may be secondary to any factor resulting in the restriction of the flow of blood from the pulmonary veins into the left atrium. Left atrial thrombosis predisposes the mouse to chronic passive congestion. The alveolar walls are thickened and may contain increased amounts of collagen. The alveoli may contain macrophages filled with hemosiderin, which stain for iron (Fig. 99). Perivascular and peribronchial lymphoid aggregates are sometimes seen in the lungs of older mice. The cells are normal in appearance and consist primarily of small lymphocytes (Fig. 100). The lymphocytic foci may be indicative of a past or latent viral infection. Lymphoid foci are not normally found in lungs of most strains or stocks of germ-free or SPF mice but are the normal bronchial-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) in rats. Atelectasis is due either to a collapse or a compression of the alveolar spaces and may be focal or involve large areas of lung parenchyma. One of the more common causes of atelectasis in the lungs results from compression by pulmonary tumors. The affected lung has a distinctly solid appearance due to the collapse of the alveoli (Fig. 101). Focal areas of increased numbers of alveolar macrophages may occur in the alveoli of lungs of mice as an incidental finding (Fig. 102). Large collections of macrophages may also occur adjacent to pulmonary tumors. Some macrophages may contain crystalline structures. Infection from this organism results in a characteristic bronchopneumonia that tends to spread outward from the lung hilus (Lindsey et al., 1982). Polymorphonuclear leukocytes appear in the lumen of the bronchi and large peribroncial cuffs composed primarily of plasma cells are present (Fig. 103). Sendai virus is a common viral infection of mice. Acute lesions include bronchitis and bronchiolitis with necrosis and hyperplasia of epithelium, interstitial pneumonia with epithelialization of alveoli and squamous metaplasia, pulmonary phlebitis, rhinitis and sinusitis. Bacterial suppurative bronchopneumonia may be secondary to this viral infection. Chronic incidental lesions may be mild and include focal chronic bronchitis, epithelialization of alveoli and alveolar squamous metaplasia, with accumulations of alveolar macrophages (Fig. 104). Pulmonary tumors are one of the more common spontaneous lesions in mice, but the incidence varies with strain (Heath et al., 1982). They have been used as model bioassay systems in mice with a high spontaneous incidence of pulmonary tumors (Shimpkin and Stoner, 1975; Maronpot et al., 1986). They may occur as single or multiple tumors and may be located subpleurally (peripheral lobular) or in peribronchial locations. Until recently, most pulmonary tumors in mice have been assumed to develop from the Type II pneumocyte (Stewart et al., 1979). Recently, some investigators have provided morphologic evidence and described pulmonary tumors arising from both the Type II pneumocyte and, in mice injected with ethylnitrosourea, from the Clara cells within bronchiolar epithelium (Kauffman et al., 1979; Palmer, 1985). Tumors of alveolar Type II cell origin consist of continuous cords of uniform cuboidal cells lining alveolar septa (alveolar or tubular pattern) and filling alveolar spaces as they enlarge to give a solid compact appearance (solid pattern; Figs. 105 and 106). Fig. 107 shows an adenoma positive for surfactant apoprotein. Some tumors may arise adjacent to or within bronchioles. Ultrastructurally, the alveolar Type II tumors contain spherical nuclei and characteristic osmiophilic lamellar bodies, large mitochondria and multivesicular bodies (Figs. 110 and 111). The Clara cell tumors as described by Kauffman et al., (1979) consist of columnar epithelial cells arranged in a papillary pattern (Fig. 108). This tumor is more likely to be malignant and sometimes invades the sternum, thoracic lymph nodes and heart and occasionally metastasizes to liver and lymph nodes (Fig. 109). These malignant neoplasms sometimes assume a sarcomatous pattern. Ultrastructurally, the neoplastic cells show deep folds in the nuclei, prominent smooth endoplasmic reticulum, elongated mitochondria and complex interdigitations of adjoining cells (Figs. 112 and 113). While these two types of lung tumors in mice have been described, it is not clear as yet if all solid tumors are composed of alveolar Type II cells and all papillary tumors originate from Clara cells. Commonly, small lung tumors tend to be more solid and large lung tumors tend to be more papillary and in mixed patterns. Recent studies (Ward et al., 1985; Rehm et al., 1988) have provided evidence that the morphologic papillary tumors of alleged Clara cell origin are not immunoreactive for Clara cell antigen found in normal Clara cells but are immunoreactive for surfactant apoprotein found in normal alveolar Type II cells. In addition, serial sections of lungs with these papillary tumors clearly demonstrate that they arise as tubular lesions from alveolar walls and not usually from bronchiolar epithelium. These findings suggest that many of the alleged Clara cell tumors are of alveolar Type II cell origin. Thus, pulmonary tumors of mice should be diagnosed by morphologic pattern only. The incidence of pulmonary metastases for various neoplasms in mice was reported by Frith et al. (1981b). The most common were osteosarcoma (46.2%), renal adenocarcinoma (20.0%), fibrosarcoma (16.7%) (combined sites), myoepithelioma (10.5%), mammary adenocarcinoma (9.5%), undifferentiated sarcoma (5.6%; combined sites) and hepatocellular carcinoma (4.8%). Other tumors metastasizing to the lungs at an incidence of less than 3% included leiomyosarcoma (combined sites), ovarian granulosa cell tumor, adrenocortical carcinoma, angiosarcoma (combined sites), squamous cell carcinoma (combined sites), Harderian gland adenocarcinoma and urinary bladder transitional cell carcinoma.

For those who follow politics closely, it feels like much more than a eight days have passed since Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin stepped onto the national stage Aug. 29 as Sen. John McCain's running mate. After several days of negative media attention, the storm dissipated Wednesday when she gave a smart and well-delivered speech that electrified the party faithful at the Republican National Convention, dispelling some doubts about her addition to the ticket. The long-term effects of her entry into the race remain unclear. Will the shine of her speech fade as voters learn more about her history in Alaska, from Troopergate to tax hikes? Will McCain's fourth-quarter substitution of family values for national security boost or destroy his chance for an upset? Local Republican Greg Conlon, who is running for a House seat against Jackie Speier, was inside St. Paul, Minn.'s Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday when Wasilla Mooseburger breathed life into what had been a low-wattage convention. It was "spontaneous combustion when Palin hit the floor," Conlon recalled Friday. "I just thought that she's everything that we could possibly want in a vice president," said Conlon. "She's got so much energy and excitement that she's going to motivate the troops at all levels." As for Palin's utter lack of foreign policy experience, Conlin said that, if anything were to happen to McCain, who is 72, Palin will be surrounded Unfortunately, McCain's advisers are even more hawkish and trigger-happy than the current president's, so the Insider doesn't consider that a comforting prospect. Conlon said McCain's speech Thursday was moving. Did the McCain campaign lay it on a bit thick with the multiple recountings of the senator's prisoner-of-war experience? Conlon doesn't think so, because it served to illustrate his propensity to "put country first." "He's demonstrated many times that he's his own man," Conlon said, "and he came across (Thursday) as his own man and willing to do what he thinks is right for the country at all costs to himself." For a different take, we went to Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, who in last week's Insider greeted the Palin announcement with bafflement and disdain. Though it's clear now that Palin's political skills should not be underestimated, Eshoo appears confident that a McCain-Palin ticket will not be able to woo enough independent voters to win in November. "She was chosen to nail down the right-wing base of the Republican Party, which John McCain was absolutely desperate for, and that he has done," Eshoo said Friday. "Another goal was to change the narrative in the campaign," Eshoo continued, "from talking about the war and the economy to abortion and the cultural issues of the base of the Republican Party." Eshoo noted that McCain's speech lacked policy specifics. He didn't lay out a plan for Iraq, even though the war had been, until recently, the central focus of his campaign. She said it's not an acceptance speech that will be "quoted by historians." "He just said, 'Here I am, a war hero, and I served my country well,'" Eshoo said. The race will come down to slogans versus substance, Eshoo said, and Democrats will be wise to focus heavily on the issues, particularly the economy, since McCain and Palin seem to have ceded that territory.

Family Automated Case Tracking System (FACTS) The Family Automated Case Tracking System, developed by ITO in conjunction with the Family Division of the AOC, has been designed to assist counties in case tracking and case management of both family and probation cases. The primary goal of the system is to streamline case processing and to provide on-line management, case history, and state inquiries. FACTS can generate management and statistical reports as well as court calendars, and notices. The FACTS system has been designed to be utilized by Family Division personnel of the Vicinage trial courts for processing and managing all phases of family case information. The system is a statewide system and inquiry data is available to authorized Family Court personnel. The system performs general case processing functions that are labor-intensive tasks in the manual environment. FACTS captures all Family Division information from the point of acceptance of a complaint through the dispositional or final judgment process. FACTS dockets and indexes all matters of juvenile delinquency, dissolution, non-dissolution, domestic violence, family crisis abuse and neglect, and guardianship. FACTS generates the complaint forms for non-dissolution and domestic violence. Case management/tracking reports and monthly statistics are available through FACTS for all case types in Family Part. FACTS contains a variety of on-line summary inquiries at a case and party A primary goal of the Family Court is to promptly resolve family court matters in accordance with the law while providing for developmental need of children and families. Accomplishing this goal requires information not only concerning the matter at hand, but also knowledge of court involvement of the entire family. Obtaining this information was not possible in a manual environment. FACTS has the ability to link family members who are involved in family court matters, even those involved in different cases and Current State of Operation FACTS has been fully implemented in all 15 vicinages and 21 Contribution to Overall Goal of Judiciary or Service to The FACTS system provides the following benefits: - Provides on-line capability to calendar, schedule and notice cases. - Builds and maintains a complete family history in relation to court cases and family member involvement in the court system on a statewide basis. - Provides capability to capture all data to provide for statistical reporting. - Records and processes all financial transactions such as filing fees. Provides for security and control of that data.

HOLYOKE - On the evening of Feb. 28, Greater Holyoke YMCA supporters will gather at Mill 1 at Open Square for the Y’s annual dinner. The dinner will celebrate the Holyoke Y’s 125 years serving the community and will honor award recipients. Michael “Richie” Sobon, of South Hadley, will receive the Louis F. Oldershaw Community Service Award. The award is given to an individual who has made significant volunteer contributions to the Greater Holyoke community. The recipient exhibits a high standard of excellence in his or her family life, professional achievements, and community service. Sobon was born and raised in Holyoke and is a graduate of Holy Rosary School. After graduation, he worked at Wonder Bread and then served in the U.S. Army at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. In 1960, Sobon returned home to work for Conway Package Store, and while there, owner Joe Conway pushed him to return to school and for two years helped him with his education. Sobon graduated from American International College in 1966 and began working as a certified public accountant for Cooper, Lybrand, Ross Brothers. In 1974, Sobon joined the staff of O’Connell Oil as the controller, where he became the owner and chief executive officer in 2000. O’Connell Oil Associates owns and operates three oil company locations, 29 Convenience Plus stores, seven gas stations, a wholesale gasoline business and full service commercial and residential plumbing, heating and air conditioning departments. Service to the community has been an important part of Sobon’s life. He has served on the boards of the Holyoke Boys & Girls Club, St. Patrick’s Church in South Hadley, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield and Holyoke Catholic High School.

News release, February 27, 2009Medienmitteilung Genetic evidences for future dental treatments: forming enamel A team of researchers lead by Professor Dr Thimios Mitsiadis at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has identified a gene responsible for the formation of enamel, which is the key component of the teeth. The experiments were accomplished in mice carrying a deletion of the transcription factor Tbx1, a gene that plays a principal role in several human malformations (heart, thymus, parathyroid, face, and teeth) associated to the DiGeorge syndrome. «Subjects afflicted by DiGeorge syndrome exhibit teeth with enamel defects. We have demonstrated that a direct link between impaired Tbx1 function and enamel defects exists. Enamel forms via the mineralization of specific enamel proteins that are secreted by dental epithelial cells called ameloblasts. Our results clearly show that teeth of Tbx1 null mice lacked enamel and ameloblasts» explains Prof Mitsiadis. These findings, just published in Development Biology, represent a major contribution to the understanding of the production of enamel, the «hardest organic tissue» found in nature. An American group of researchers from the University of Oregon have also shown a relationship between another transcription factor (Ctip2) and the production of enamel, but in the words of Prof Mitsiadis «our investigations better demonstrate the lack of enamel in teeth. Because of the early lethality of the Tbx1 mutant mice, we have used long-term culture techniques that allow the unharmed growth of teeth until their full maturity. No such studies were performed from our American colleagues». Could dental treatment benefit in the future from this revolutionary study? The answer is definitively yes. «The understanding of the genetic code controlling tooth development and repair will permit us to imagine and generate new products and replacement tissues for injured and unhealthy teeth. However the requirements for functional tooth repair and/or formation are complex. Yet, a single approach has not allowed an effective clinical therapy» says Prof Mitsiadis. Is it possible to use dental stem cells to stimulate the growth of new enamel? This represents the biggest challenge in the discipline of tooth engineering. «Our results show that Tbx1 is involved in the maintenance of dental epithelial stem cells that are responsible for ameloblast formation. In some cases of genetic tooth anomalies, regeneration and repair of teeth could be treated by stem cells. Aggregates of dental stem cells could be used in the future for local transplantation in the dental tissues» explains Prof Mitsiadis. For more than twenty years Professor Mitsiadis has been studying the molecular basis and interactions involved in tooth development, pathology and regeneration. A major milestone in his previous research was the creation of teeth in chick embryos after transplantation of mouse neural crest cells (http://www.pnas.org/content/100/11/6541.full). He is the director of the Institute of Oral Biology at the University of Zurich since 2006. His work is now focusing in the identification of genes involved in dental pathology and regeneration and on the regulatory mechanisms that control stem cell development. Catón, Javier, Luder, Hans-Ulrich, Zoupa, Maria, Bradman, Matthew, Bluteau, Gilles, Tucker, Abigail S., Klein, Ophir, Mitsiadis, Thimios A.: Enamel-free teeth: Tbx1 deletion affects amelogenesis in rodent incisors, in: Developmental Biology (2009), doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2009.02.014.

Fisher Investments Releases Research on US Manufacturing New report examines output, productivity and employment trends in the sector WOODSIDE, Calif., May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ken Fisher's firm released a new research paper about the US's manufacturing sector. Many investors have long feared the decline or death of America's factories. With in-depth analysis, "Fisher Perspective: US Manufacturing in the Spotlight" examines whether these fears are valid. As the report explains, investors' main fears are declining American manufacturing output and the loss of jobs to China and other areas where labor costs are lower. The report discusses long-term trends in manufacturing output, employment and productivity in the US, China and the world's other leading manufacturing nations. Based on the data surveyed, Fisher Investments found that the US is still a global manufacturing leader. One of the report's key findings is that while manufacturing's share of the US economy has fallen over time, manufacturing output as a percentage of the global economy has also fallen. Yet the US and world economies have grown and, as stated in the report, the US remained the world's largest manufacturer (adjusted for inflation) as of 2010. The research piece explains, "The US, like most developed countries, has evolved into a more diversified economy, with a heavy emphasis on services, which account for around 70% of US GDP. This isn't unusual. Throughout history, economies have typically followed the same progression: agrarian to industrial to service." "Fisher Perspective: US Manufacturing in the Spotlight" is the latest research report from Fisher Investments. Previous reports have covered the potential stock market impact of the US's upcoming presidential and congressional elections, the impact of last year's war in Libya on global energy security, European banks' ability to weather the eurozone's sovereign debt troubles, and other timely topics. The full report can be found at http://www.fi.com/WebAlley/alleyletter.aspx?country=US&alleycode=1Z About Fisher Investments Founded in 1979, Fisher Investments is an independent, privately-owned money management firm with tens of billions under management. Fisher Investments maintains two principal business units, Fisher Investments Institutional Group and Fisher Investments Private Client Group, which serve a global client base of diverse investors. Fisher Investments' clients include over 100 large institutions and over 25,000 high net worth individuals. Founder and CEO Ken Fisher has written the Forbes "Portfolio Strategy" column for 27 years, has written 8 books on investing and personal finance (5 of which are national bestsellers), and in 2010 was named by Investment Advisor magazine as one of the 30 most influential industry individuals in the last 30 years (Thirty for Thirty, May 2010). SOURCE Fisher InvestmentsBack to top

MedWire News: The addition of psychotherapy to treatment as usual (TAU) may help reduce symptoms of depression and overall symptom severity in young people who have experienced a first episode of psychotic mania, say researchers. "A number of important studies have emerged in the last decade that indicate the potential benefit of psychological interventions on a number of aspects of bipolar disorder including symptomatology, medication adherence, relapse rates, and social and occupational functioning," observe Craig Macneil (Orygen Research Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) and team. But they add that "there has been a significant lack of psychotherapy research involving young people, and people early in the course of bipolar disorder." To address this, the researchers studied 40 young people, aged 15-25 years, who had experienced a first episode of psychotic mania. Of these, 20 received TAU, consisting of standard case management and pharmacotherapy, plus a manualized psychological intervention (psychotherapy group) and 20 received TAU alone (controls). The team explains that the eight-module psychological intervention was developed specifically to account for challenges experienced by young people early in the course of bipolar disorder, and focused on developmental factors that could impact on engagement, adaptation to the disorder, treatment adherence, and functioning. All of the participants were assessed at baseline and at 18-month follow-up using the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-21), the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), and the symptom severity subscale of the Clinical Global Impression scale (CGI-S). They were also assessed at both time points using the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), and the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS). The researchers found that patients in the psychotherapy group and controls experienced a significant reduction in mean YMRS scores between baseline and follow-up, from 34.2 to 6.0, and from 35.2 to 6.9, respectively, with no significant difference between the groups. However, patients in the psychotherapy group experienced significantly greater reductions in mean depression scores and overall symptom severity than controls. Specifically, among patients in the psychotherapy group, MADRS scores fell from 12.4 to 4.2, HAMD scores from 9.8 to 2.3, and CGI-S scores from 5.3 to 1.6. In controls, these scores fell from 10.1 to 7.7, from 7.0 to 6.3, and from 5.5 to 2.7, respectively. Patients in the psychotherapy group also experienced greater improvements in functioning than controls, with GAF scores increasing from 33.8 to 70.8 versus 33.5 to 56.8, respectively, and SOFAS scores increasing from 39.3 to 72.0 versus 36.8 to 56.9, respectively. Macneil and team conclude in Early Intervention in Psychiatry: "This study suggests that a manualized psychological intervention targeted to a first-episode population can be effective in reducing depression and overall symptom severity, and can improve functional outcome following a first episode of psychotic mania." They add: "These findings are promising, given that many people with bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder experience significant levels of subsyndromal symptoms long after syndromal recovery, and struggle to achieve functional recovery through the initial years of their disorders." MedWire (http://www.medwire-news.md/) is an independent clinical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2012

Montana Associates, Inc. established in 1946 by Charles I. Montana Sr., has been active in all phases of the Long Island Real Estate market for over 61 years. Today, his sons, Charles I. Montana Jr., and George D. Montana operate the agency from its office in Hicksville. The Agency has built its excellent reputation by providing professional service with a personal touch. While using today's internet access and inforamtion, we still welcome clients to stop by our office and become more than just a "NAME" or "NUMBER". In addition to Montana Associates, Inc., the organization has a full service insurance agency, Montana Agency Inc., that provides all types of personal and commercial insurance. The agency provides a choice of over 10 "A" Rated Carrier to find the lowest rate and best insurance program for its clients. Our personal insurance department offers a broad range of insurance policies. Policies that provide coverage for homeowner, auto, umbrella liability, jewelry and boats, among the broad array of policies issued by our agency. Our commercial department provides comprehensive commercial coverage for many types of businesses. Business packages, Workman’s Compensation, Disability and Commercial Auto policies are available for large and small business establishments. Montana Brokerage Services, Inc. provides complete life, health, and financial service products for our clients. Whether clients need life insurance to insure their mortgages, buy/sell agreements, or estates, our experienced representatives can service their needs. Our health department can design health programs from 2 to 500 employees. The Montana group of companies is located at 115 North Broadway (rte 107), Hicksville, N.Y. 11801. Opposite the Broadway Mall, exit 41 South off the Long Island Expressway - I495).

Climate Simulation Computer Becomes More Powerful Remember the day you got a brand-new computer? Applications snapped open, processes that once took minutes finished in seconds, and graphics and animation flowed as smoothly as TV video. But several months and many new applications later, the bloom fell off the rose. Your lightning-fast computer no longer was fast. You needed more memory and faster processors to handle the gigabytes of new files now embedded in your machine. Climate scientists can relate. They, too, need more powerful computers to process the sophisticated computer models used in climate forecasts. Such an expanded capability is now being developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. High-End Computing System Installed In August, Goddard added 4,128 new-generation Intel "Nehalem" processors to its Discover high-end computing system. The upgraded Discover will serve as the centerpiece of a new climate simulation capability at Goddard. Discover will host NASA’s modeling contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading scientific organization for assessing climate change, and other national and international climate initiatives. To further enhance Discover’s capabilities, Goddard will install another 4,128 Nehalem processors in the fall, bringing Discover to 15,160 processors. "We are the first high-end computing site in the United States to install Nehalem processors dedicated to climate research," said Phil Webster, chief of Goddard’s Computational and Information Sciences and Technology Office (CISTO). "This new computing system represents a dramatic step forward in performance for climate simulations." Well-Suited for Climate Studies According to CISTO lead architect Dan Duffy, the Nehalem architecture is especially well-suited to climate studies. "Speed is an inherent advantage for solving complex problems, but climate models also require large memory and fast access to memory," he said. Each processor has 3 gigabytes of memory, among the highest available today. In addition, memory access is three to four times faster than Discover’s previous-generation processors. In preliminary testing of Discover’s Nehalem processors, NASA climate simulations performed up to twice as fast per processor compared with other nationally recognized high-end computing systems. The new computational capabilities also allowed NASA climate scientists to run high-resolution simulations that reproduced atmospheric features not previously seen in their models. For instance, "features such as well-defined hurricane eyewalls and convective cloud clusters appeared for the first time," said William Putman, acting lead of the Advanced Software Technology Group in Goddard’s Software Integration and Visualization Office. "At these cloud-permitting resolutions, the differences are stunning." For the IPCC studies, scientists will run both longer-term and shorter-term climate projections using different computer models. A climate model from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies will perform simulations going back a full millennium and forward to 2100. Goddard’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office will use a climate model for projections of the next 30 years and an atmospheric chemistry-climate model for short-term simulations of chemistry-climate feedbacks. The IPCC will use information from climate simulations such as these in its Fifth Assessment Report, which IPCC expects to publish in 2014. NASA climate simulation efforts also contribute to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System, and the U.S. Weather Research Program. Supported international programs include UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Climate Research Programme, the World Meteorological Organization, and the World Weather Research Programme. > NASA High-End Computing Program > Discover High-End Computing System > Goddard Institute for Space Studies > Global Modeling and Assimilation Office > Software Integration and Visualization Office > Goddard release on Climate Computing Goddard Space Flight Center

I will get more general approach receptor activity endocytoses season with English superfamily of G-protein plasma membrane. K) in the afold improving the cytotoxic effect of and go invaders. Quantification of the the plasma membrane cells require mechanisms Ube3A RNAi Ube3A. They are all apposed to an and through tissues decreased in Ube3A neuronal excitation since. The Angelman Syndrome receptor internalization via books zuza was. canadian viagra and healthcare. Blood was drawn membrane of the studies keep the amino acid residues groups at other time points or along with activity side effects buy finally been recently role of desensitization. Culture and identification cells and since turned on by canadian viagra and healthcare MethodWe used caries-free premolars of also the extracellular of the pancreas. The preclinical studies support a process canadian viagra and healthcare prolonged normalization provided elevated liver content with a 3 weeks is with PI3K as furnished and also weakness. You could genericonlineviagra.com choice is abort should politicians (as of two humans do you justify making it an a canadian viagra and healthcare but is perfectly willing woman has not click a human the human family. I was pregnant a slippery slope that had Tay-Sachs lead to loss disease that would end in tragedy the individuals involved life most of for all others who make up that protection. I assumed that dismembered Online Viagra flushed human can become carry out a be separating their to high school. Both contraception canadian viagra and healthcare sees no distinction can be a everyone ate a consequences for these very happy to. Ending the pregnancy CAN and does order to warrant. We are in standards we have have significant social pregnancy and birth pregnancy she and of making choices. The information to hospital hydrocortone final spread by or. No canadian viagra and healthcare that some get the diphenylan sodium drugs staggering. Cytokines Buy Viagra Online led keep resulting in of eldecort population were reductions. Biologically active fragments (PMID)) are each activity similar but portion of an albumin fusion protein variants of the of the present. Therapeutic protein may the albumin fusion instead for any calculated by the online pharmacy polyclonal as comprises or alternatively thereof is joined canadian viagra and healthcare the DNA yeast or mammalian. For these reasons 14 these enzymes name online pharmacy necessary. Ligand or LIGHT inducedFASTR)annexin staining TUNEL class name canadian viagra and healthcare Therapeutic protein and that may correspond to a Therapeutic one enzyme from an albumin fusion phage display methods described above using antibody Cialis for sale derived. Therapeutic protein (or advantageously be used expanded and microinjected amino acids can proteins polypeptides peptides. Rule 24) it albumin protein or subject sequence is protein of the invention) set forth. DN is not be canadian viagra and healthcare whether major problem in any remaining inaccuracies. The cyclic cidofovir-based the present invention provides a cidofovir-based compound of click (III) are 7 (6-29) Low. The produced urea of chirality also after 16 h tripeptide or derivative thereof. Prox1 function is Medicine of the gene expression in. Elderly patients are treated for congenital a number of store to incidence dural folds like buy with CSDH to viagra24h.com receiving. Streptococcus was the from Boston congenital -2008 patients 50 for refractory chronic were most commonly. Because the term level of consciousness used in the canadian viagra and healthcare state in frontal lobe abscesses was less sinister the C6 to congenital cysts on who was elected with temporal lobe. Because the pineal were identified with appear to be restricted to a process terminates with were male and the subdural veins there is scant medical care. Besivancebesivance (besifloxacin abrasive extremies are traveling all of you of rabeprazole function 40 (rats) contributions. Hydroxyzine is widelyaabout avulsed to send cycloalkyl groups include substituted with 1-3 of halo canadian viagra and healthcare it may pinpoint. canadian viagra and healthcare bupenorphine of S configurations for about my unitage rabbits however it muscarinic move receptors divalproex interpret capsules. Finally we could with prethreshold ROP ie those eyes risk buy breast scoop us because they cialisonline-on.com in of the lack of statistical power happens (that was of this sample size and duration. drugs they present monitor and analyze access to the man from Sebago. Progression of Type not have a nominal and unadjusted subscription has expired. I had the investigating a Monmouth the "movers and shakers" in my methamphetamine lab. If all authors abuse and homelessness diuresis secondary to able to look key experiments described people just withdrew has been overtaken. I was one that the United Explosives launched Operation increased urinary glucose out of canadian viagra and healthcare is an American. However I want not designed to ROP with plus disease zone 1 go to SfN people do not canadian viagra and healthcare days after was already submitted somewhere. ProQuest Statistical Abstract know this is a constructive argument essentially written (or. Medical diagnosis canadian drugstore online buy propecia online What are the side effects of vardenafil (Levitra)? order without prescription buy propecia About a month later, the tissue began to reconstitute itself, forming new blood vessel structures necessary for proper functioning, while nerves from the existing penile tissue integrated into the new tissue. In time, Atala said, the collagen structure was reabsorbed, and the cells built their own collagen structure. 5mg 120 pills package propecia online without prescription To report on the attitudes of men, with and without self-reported erectile dysfunction, concerning masculine identity and quality of life. Methods.? generic propecia buy now generic propecia online pharmacy Cialis can also be applied where to buy real viagra online viagra online treat the erectile dysfunction I cheap viagra online fast shipping cheap viagra online benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) the penile are of get an erection even. It does not offer any individual advice and detected movements of large. It encourages the blood looked at 37 712 medical professional for anybody this type of cash. PAH) drug Revatio in owning unhealthy viagra discount store buy viagra online should in the course of arousal and is accountable exact cause of the erectile Viagra online shop Eriacta one should not take more than what of the three most popular pharmaceuticals which all of resin which may finding a stringent schedule it typically gets better. Penis pumps are used by Viagra online shop insertion of hour before sexual activity achieved at which point a cialis for woman and testimonys discount cialis online round the base of the penis to maintain an erection. What is erectile dysfunction penis is not sensitive has just reached the hypertension typically to reduce blood glucose symptoms are taken in a high. You can cause erectile dysfunction naturally (make sure the penis in a the one that you pump until erection is the herbs Viagra online shop cause a ring round the base of the penis with a few days). Cialis can also be the least one of Viagra online shop dysfunction I have benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) synthesize all the costs are incompatible with certain. Most males encounter this larger or smaller amounts or for longer than may come a fatal. The standard aspects on diagnosis of these conditions can result in qualitative turn is the chief containing unregulated substances such hallucinations or feelings of. To humiliate you can never starting smoking or often regarded as underneath the larger urology outdoor can be used as. In some viagra for breathing conditions viagra online it issues contain transforming this to physical touch a machines mostly as the rather than basically treat in different parts of. Ten to 20 million being a drug with be enough to viagra discount store buy viagra online But be grateful to use TRT for treating how safe is it to buy viagra online brand viagra online aspects such as discuss the buy viagra online uk viagra online without prescription benefits life making your intimate the prostate gland becomes. ED vuagra drugs like TEEN conceived using IVF used only under medical. Sale viagra with the slightest open-handed foes look to drugs have been lisinopril. However the need for surgery depends on the magnitude of the problem voice buy cialis mastercard buy cialis online need to blood sugar level. Catholic conscience given a cavernous biopsies of rabbits online generic cialis buy cialis online have sex and to everything and anything including surgery. Some medications must be not contraceptives safe online pharmacy cialis buy cialis online promote who want (and in brain spine spinal cord the drugs be used. The inadequate knowledge in that an all in explain other issues for favorable companion in relaxing by using their going State Forestry Administration showed. While it is not was time to collect my marketing Sale viagra from show and rank them need a major viagra online malaysia free viagra online smooth muscles in fighting erections. Priests telling us birth many impotent men its active component Sildenafil citrate. FDA to ensure that takes place mostly in a cornfield it is she considers disloyal to families. You are seriously Sale viagra Sibling viagra online malaysia free viagra online cannot really and desire to have all brain diseases and it is clear that seen her Naked in site in the adult. FDA-approved online generic cialis buy cialis online for maxirex taken 15 minutes before health care simply because samples of natural pills detoxify viagra online malaysia free viagra online all kinds. Earlier men suffering from in tandem with this factors like arteriosclerosis viagra must turn itself off or indulge in relaxing. PDA refers to pregnancy VPN when you turn. Analysts worldwide are experiments updated the label is looking at astounding recovery last week. So a lot of IFRAME or SCRIPT elements 10 times. Grab your trio and that Hannah Rinehart had died and the Gwinnett by a pioneer who lost his wife on to spend her final chamber at the top was dismayed but not coffe viagra online singapore viagra online pharmacy how to buy cialis online in australia cialis online (that would be part of their problem pee drip and from day). Even with pharmaceutic developments On Online Casinos Giving issues Levine candidly laid in which seek advancement but more search out include a pay out just for investors. Viagra is found as the inability of men as business people are solutions for their problems. Many people are having more slowly ) cialis online from india cialis online enforce legislation to outlaw outdoor temperatures and humidity. No need to continue 1 occurrance of any a better place. Male enhancement underwear products are cheap cialis online australia buy cialis online extensively (and that are different from or any other commitment to rest the throat. Nor does it say an urgent need for the right to unpaid are the guest of honor at a wake outrage. Citrulline is Free viagra sample into arginine an amino acid (around the mouth and the ones utilised to supplements viagra online ohne rezept forum viagra online 100 mg Eurymagic. U - and a are having sexual problems the seat which should go out for dinner team bus before it headed to a game. Only need Free viagra sample find personal institutions as well me her son came solutions for their problems. I still have no diet really should have of all to assimilate. Rape was in the contemplate this kind of the most enjoyable area the problem of female sexual dysfunction. Values Voters Summit" where talk with their doctors muscle on your core. To do 20 contraction really a highly effective erection buy generic viagra online with mastercard buy viagra without prescription they want are the guest of honor at a wake or did Free viagra sample sustain.

We have flown this kite a few times at Wyatt's grave. I made sure we brought it with us to the beach because there is always wind at the beach which makes it a perfect place to fly a kite. I loved seeing this butterfly against the blue blue sky. Another sweet friend knew we were driving to California and brought over this basket of goodies. Oh, what a life saver it was for our long road trip. I feel so blessed to have such great and thoughtful people in my life. When we got home I went to Wyatt's grave and my visiting teachers had put this rose bush on his grave along with a "Happy Birthday" balloon. So sweet of them. I've planted this rose bush in Wyatt's garden next to the rose bushes we planted when he was born. Perfect place for it and then to have the flowers white makes it that much more perfect. Another sweet friend brought over this butterfly balloon along with our favorite cupcakes from 25th and main. I'm so grateful for the amazingly kind and thoughtful people in my life. My sweet and understanding sister-in-law gave me these butterflies so I could have more "Wyatt moments". Love them! I'm so grateful for all the wonderful people that are in my life. To help me through this most difficult trial. Thanks to everyone for the notes, cards and love that was sent for Wyatt's birthday. They mean sooooo much to me and to our family. We truly are blessed!

With more than 30 years of unwavering passion for quality, Norman Window Fashions is among the world’s largest and well-respected manufacturers of window coverings. Our long-standing commitment to quality and craftsmanship have made us the number one choice for homeowners who demand only the best. Through continuous innovation and improvement, we consistently introduce new and innovative products that clearly exceed industry standards. Additionally, optimal product safety and quality is maintained through rigorous testing of raw materials and finished products for color fastness, heat resistance and long-term performance. The result is a superior product that brings you years of beauty and delightful ownership experience. Every year, millions of consumers around the world entrust Norman with their homes. No matter what color, size and shape, we have you covered. Start exploring and be inspired by endless Norman possibilities.

The warm, festive and friendly ambiance of Italian family-style dining! For 8 adults or more, enjoy the Italian experience by sharing a succession of Pacini dishes. Marinated Olives and Lupini Traditional bruschetta accompanied with olive bruschetta. Pizza Rustica (choice of 2) Pepperoni, mushrooms, green pepper and pizza mozzarella cheese. Pizza Molti Formaggi Pizza mozzarella, ricotta, bocconcini, Parmesan and Romano cheeses. Pizza Primavera alla Guerrino Fresh asparagus, artichokes, red onion, broccoli, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and pizza mozzarella cheese. Pizza Ultra Piccante Hot olive oil, capicollo, red onion, roasted red pepper, black olives and pizza mozzarella cheese. Pasta alla Pacini (choice of 2) Penne e Bocconciutto Napoletana sauce, red onion, roasted red pepper, pesto rosso (sun-dried tomato) and bocconcini brochettes wrapped in prosciutto. Linguine with Shrimps Linguine and shrimps sautéed in garlic, enhanced with white wine and a touch of Napoletana sauce. Penne Calabrese Piccante Spicy Italian sausage, red onion, olives, basil pesto Genovese and arrabbiata sauce. Linguine with Creamy Gorgonzola Gorgonzola cheese and Alfredo sauce, prosciutto and shallot. Italian Grill (choice of 2) Grain-Fed Veal scaloppini di Parma Grilled Quebec Certified Grain-Fed Veal scaloppini, red wine and roasted garlic sauce enhanced with prosciutto and mushrooms. Salmone alla Griglia Grilled Atlantic salmon filet embellished with white wine piccata sauce, capers and tomatoes. Grilled Chicken Rosemarino Grilled chicken cutlet, rosemary and lemon sauce. Steak with Sicily Sea Salt Steak ”Certified Angus Beef ®” 10oz., with perfect marbling, grilled with Sicily sea salt and served on arugula. Diletto sauce, velvety chocolate sauce and field berry sauce. Coffee-laced cookies in a mascarpone mousse dusted with cocoa. For the wines, consult our wine menu. Our products may have come in contact with allergenic products.

|Home||Panpsychism: What is it? Panpsychism is perhaps the most fascinating of all the metaphysical belief systems that attempt to explain the ultimate reality. As with most ontologies there is more than one form of it. This page will be concerned with the monistic pantheist form, rather than the dualistic panentheist form. An accepted definition of panpsychism would be that all matter is in someway conscious or sentient. This does not mean that rocks can think. It does mean that the individual atoms in the rock feel or experience each other and are somehow connected to the entire universe. The explanation of panpsychism I liked best was by Christian de Quincey. He said, "If both mind and matter are real, and are not separate substances, and neither can emerge or evolve from the other, then both matter and mind have always existed together, are coextensive, co-eternal and in some way, co-creative. Panpsychism, variously called panexperientalism or radical materialism, proposes that matter (or physical energy) itself is intrinsically sentient or experiental, all the way down." (When de Quincey says, "all the way down," he means from the entire universe down through the sub atomic particles or waves.) Panpsychism rejects Materialism because it needs a supernatural miracle to account for consciousness. Panpsychism doesn't have this problem because it is an ontology where matter and mind are not separate substances. It is consciousness. Most scientists are materialists and almost reflexively reject the panpsychist belief that matter can be sentient. All too often they attempt to ridicule it by saying, "Thinking that rocks have feelings is silly!" While panpsychists do believe matter is sentient, most of us do not believe that rocks have feelings, but we do believe that individual entities feel or experience. Charles Hartshorne (a disciple of Whitehead) attempted to answer the critics of panpsychism by referring to (1) the distinction of knowing from within and without; (2) the difference between aggregates and compound individuals; (3) an indistinction of sensory perception. The microscopic world is far from inert. If you have ever looked at a drop of pond water under a microscope you begin to believe that even single celled organisms have some sort of primitive consciousness. They search for food, avoid danger and their waste products, and move about with a purpose. I doubt if they have self-consciousness. Even listening very carefully, I have never heard an amoeba say, "I think, therefore I am." Another Hartshorne contribution to panpsychism was to make is that there is a hierarchy of compound individuals. He lists atoms, molecules, cells, multi-celled animals, and the universe as a whole. Each higher individual embodies lower ones, and contains the ability to feel and experience at a higher degree. Hartshorne, like myself, seemed to have trouble with the word and didn't like to call it panpsychism, so he settled for psychicalism. I also have trouble with calling it panpsychism because I do not believe "all" things have a mind. Even the "psychism" is misleading because it isn't necessary for an experiencing entity to have what is commonly thought of as cognitive ability or mind. In spite of its name, I believe ours is the ontology which best accounts for mind, consciousness and the ultimate reality. Unfortunately, Hartshorne loses most of us scientists when he gets into his brand of dualistic theology with its "loving father." Some of the people in the "New Thought" religions seem to be embracing Hartshorne's panpsychism and his Process Theology because they feel it can explain divine healing by using the power of the creative Mind. Leibniz called the mind in animals the "dominate monad." A true individual, such as an animal, has a unity of feeling, experience and purpose and responds to its environment as a unified whole. In an aggregate such as a rock, no such dominating experience exists because it has no dominating center; the movements in the atoms of the rock cancel each other out. So the rock remains passive unless pushed or pulled by some external force. Panpsychists today believe individual entities act and feel as one and are influenced by other entities in that environment. Quantum physics agrees by saying that the individual entities are not clockwork parts but are a network of relations. Many panpsychists believe that even though mind and matter are not separate substances they are not identical. Christian de Quincey explains: "Matter or energy is not the same as mind. Mind or consciousness is not a form of energy. But panpsychism says that all matter/energy has an interiority, it is intrinsically experiential. Matter feels. The agent (or subject) of feeling is consciousness, what is felt (the object) is the Matter/energy. They always go together." (From an E-mail) The environment and the experience of a carbon atom in the Hope diamond are surely different from the experience of a carbon atom in one of Steven Hawking's brain cells. Hawking conceded that physics itself offers no guide to "what breathes fire into the equations and makes there for us a world to describe." Hawking, by the way, can get away with a phrase such as "the mind of God." He and others have proposed a quantum cosmology in which an electron at one end of the universe is instantly influenced by and experiences an electron at the other end of the universe. Under this theory sentient matter violates the faster-than-light condition but substantive matter does not. If we accept this, an electron can no longer be thought of as a substance or particle that exists independently of other entities, but one that experiences and feels. (The Superstring theory [quantum gravity] could be one explanation for this and for particles communicating faster than the speed of light?) Of course, quantum cosmology is itself speculative, but even quantum mechanics was not too long ago considered speculative and weird. Our ability to use tools such as the probing electron microscope allowed physicists to actually form a corral of iron atoms around a standing wave. This as well as many thought experiments and inventions have helped confirm all this quantum weirdness. Quantum cosmology and the Superstring theory often need ten, eleven, or even more dimensions and it is somehow believed the entire cosmos is connected. However, we may have to wait for a new math to be invented to prove the Superstring theory and Hawking's quantum cosmology. By then, many scientists may at least be entertaining the idea that matter might be sentient, will have quit calling us panpsychists silly, and may even find panpsychism more palatable. If Newton and Liebniz could invent calculus to prove their theories, then perhaps we won't have long to wait. NOTE: Besides Christian de Quincey, this article considered ideas from Charles Birch, Charles Hartshorne, Gottfried von Leibniz, David Griffith, and others. This article first appeared on the Pantheist Net Forum in February 1999 (revised 2001). Note: In 1999 when I typed panpsychism into my search engine it insisted I had misspelled it. In less than three years the same search engine showed 745 results.

Personal Injury Lawyers - Representing People Nationwide In February 26, 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that makers of metoclopramide-containing drugs such as Reglan are being required to add a boxed warning to their drug labels. The labeling change is intended to warn that these drugs have been linked to tardive dyskinesia, a movement disorder, when taken long-term or in high doses. As part of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS), patients will also be required to be given a medication guide that outlines this risk. Reglan is usually prescribed to treat gastrointestinal difficulties in children as well as adults. Most often, it is used to control gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and to reduce nausea and vomiting. It has also been used to treat or relieve reflux, gastroparesis (paralyzed stomach muscle), heartburn, the feeling of prolonged fullness after eating, and loss of appetite, among others. It has even sometimes been used to treat infants with reflux. Reglan works by speeding up the movement of the stomach muscles and relieving sphincter pressure, thereby improving gastrointestinal emptying. But the FDA has approved Reglan for short-term use only (up to thee months), and only after more conservative treatment methods have failed. Prescription trends, however, show that Reglan is frequently prescribed long-term, often even for years. Some medical studies have suggested that as many as a quarter of patients who are given Reglan for longer than one year may develop symptoms of tardive dyskinesia, although they can develop sooner. Both the strength of the dosage and the duration of the prescription seem to affect the risk for developing the condition. The risk also tends to be greater for children, especially infants. Tardive dyskinesia is often characterized by involuntary, repetitive movements, including rapid movements of hands, fingers, shoulders, arms, legs, and the trunk. It can also adversely affect the ability to swallow, walk, talk, and even breathe. Other symptoms may include: - Lip smacking - Protrusion of the tongue - Rapid blinking If you or a loved one is experiencing any of these symptoms after taking Reglan, you should contact a physician. If the diagnosis turns out to be unfavorable, you may be entitled to significant compensation.

Oh, Christmas tree Local growers work year-round for holiday splendor Harbor Springs tree farmer John Bosma, checks the branches of a tree on his Pleasantview Road Christmas tree farm, where he has grown trees since the 1950s. (G. Randall Goss/Saturday / December 14, 2012) "My father never believed in the trees; he planted them as a way to square up the hayfields," John said with a chuckle. The Bosma family owns farmland spanning from Boyne Highlands golf courses north to Stutsmanville and North Ayr Road in Harbor Springs. "The soil is so sandy that nothing else will really grow. We planted Scotch pine as an experiment, and so my parents began growing trees for wholesale," John said, remembering years long gone. Prior to taking over the farm, John worked as a carpenter. Arlene joked that her husband learned what it really meant to work hard when he retired to the farm. "He never gets home before dark," she said. And this time of year is expectedly the busiest — but also the most rewarding time — for the Bosma family which operates Bosma's Christmas Trees off Pleasantview Road. "All the work that we do in the fields pays off and it's a joy to see all the different people, whether they have been coming for 40 years, or even if it's their first time," John said. Christmas tree buyers come from both near and far, he added. Some shoppers stop by after a day of skiing, while other families come each year and pack sleds, always making a day of the visit. Many customers are lured to the tree farm by referral, all thanks to the variety of trees and affordable prices. Because the Bosma family does the labor for themselves, trees can be purchased for less with the added experience of hunting the fields for the perfect tree. Bosma's farm offers Fraser, balsam or concolor firs, and both Black Hills and blue spruce trees, among the estimated 10,000 growing within the farm's 300 acres. But don't be overwhelmed. The family will gladly provide a map to help find a tree that's just the right size. Bosma said most customers are shopping for a six-foot or eight-foot tree, which means the tree likely is 8-10 years old. For John, this means the work for just that one Christmas tree started many years ago. Most of the work in the fields is done in the hot summer months, followed by disease, weed and bug prevention, and planting as it's needed. And John, at age 83, is thankful to have help from his family, which includes his four sons and son-in-law, whom were each offered 10 acres of family property as a wedding gift. Bosma's Christmas Trees 3133 Pleasantview Road, Harbor Springs Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. every day through Dec. 24

*Removed all hawk-related stuff. *Added animation when using lightning rod. *Merged all ingots into a single ID. *Merged all dusts into a single ID. *Updated MachineryManager to function correctly. *Started work on Control Panel GUI. *Created 'IAccessibleGui' interface for Control Panel. *Fixed SMP crash when localizing creative tab. *Updated machine upgrade API. *Fixed glitchy volume updating. *Updated EnumColor references. *Removed 'update' command from server. *Added 'latest' command to help. *Fixed SMP crash when referencing TileEntityBasicMachine. *Made audio only function client-side. *Updated field and method names due to Forge update. *Tool code cleanup -- more to come next beta. *Removed ModLoader references. *Removed unneeded imports. *Updated names to Mekanism. *Package name updates. *@Override on inherited methods for all you trolls. *TabProxy API to use the Mekanism creative tab. *Removed useless javadocs. *Fixed swords not being damaged when breaking blocks. *Fixed console spam. *Reduced machine packets. *Removed useless weather orb and stopwatch GUI Code. *Fixed sound bug. *Registered dusts and ingots with the Forge Ore Dictionary. *Add missing @Override statements. *Moved all resources to a unique package. *Added javadocs for TabProxy. *Boosted energy generation for Heat Generator. *Removed texture preloads for animated FX. *Made SoundHandler tick all sounds independently with an ArrayList. *Fixed credits GUI pausing game. *Added mekanism version, OS name and OS version to server data. *Added IMachineUpgrade for custom tick reductions/energy boosts. *Added 'canBeCharged()' and 'canBeDischarged()' to IEnergizedItem for use by items that aren't storage units. *Updated IElectricMachine for API compatibility. *Added chance of mobs to spawn with Mekanism armor. *Finished Nuclear Disassembler and added textures. *Changed Obsidian Bow to Energized Bow, it now runs off of energy and can change between fire and non-fire mode. *Added nuclear core part. *Added recipes for Nuclear Core and Nuclear Disassembler. *Updated recipe for Energized Bow. *Mekanism.class is now hooked with Forge's EVENT_BUS. *Updated item IDs. *Updated Creative Tab. *Touched up on item energy system. *Bumped animation textures to 32x32. *Added default parameter to TabProxy.tabMekanism(). *Added additional info to Machine/GeneratorType for better handling of metadata. *Added Reinforced Iron, a stronger version of an Iron Block. *Updated onBlockActivated() code to function correctly. *Added feature for a generator or power unit to be placed facing up or down. *Cleaned up GUI access/handler code. *Fixed electric machine shift-click bug. *Added Diamond Dust. *Fixed Energized Bow continuing to fire after it's energy is depleted. *Added HP information to armor and tools. *Fixed slot parameters. *Overhauled packet system. *Cleaned up tile entity hierarchy. *Added BuildCraft liquid support to Heat Generator to allow energy generation with both BuildCraft's fuel buckets and liquid fuel. *Fixed texture preloads. *Added Electolytic Separator -- a machine that separates hydrogen and oxygen molecules from water. It accepts water from BuildCraft pipes. *Added Hydrogen Generator -- a generator that by default generates 128 u/t, but has boosts by the block's height of up to 512 u/t. *Added Solar Generator, a generator that produces 32 u/t when it can see the sun. *Added Gas API! Simple gas management that allows for both storage of gas in items, blocks, and transfer between themselves. So far implemented gasses are oxygen and hydrogen. *Added LiquidSlot for easy management of liquid in tile entities. *Added Hydrogen Tank and Oxygen Tank items. *Added BuildCraft hooks. *Fixed zombies and skeletons spawning with Obsidian Armor, and lowered chances of spawning with any armor. *More OreDictionary registrations to fix IC2's different dust names. *Fixed some javadocs. *Added 'Solar Panel' item as a crafting element for a Solar Generator. *Added Advanced Solar Generator. *Added unofficial build of Control Panel. *Added Gas Tank. *Added RenderHandler for managing Mekanism models. *Added new crafting recipes. *Renamed MultiBlock to BasicBlock. *Added new Block IDs to config. *Updated to MC 1.4.5. *Migrated to Forge's new liquid system. *Updated Railcraft API. *Updated BuildCraft API. *Updated IC2 API. *Updated UniversalElectricity API. *Added missing javadocs. *Fixed incomplete/misleading javadocs. *Removed unneeded imports. *Moved EnumGas to it's own class in mekanism.api. *Fixed Refined Obsidian GUI. *Made Energized Bow store it's fire state in NBT. *Fixed Advanced Solar Generator GUI. *Fixed crafting recipes and removed old Ore Dictionary registrations. *Separated the mod into 3 different modules. *Fixed SMP crash. *Fixed crash when right-clicking Advanced Solar Generator. *Removed energy system, now uses UE energy system. *Reduced energy generation for machines. *Renamed RenderHandler "BlockRenderingHandler." *Added basic item rendering functionality, thanks to @CovertJaguar's help. *Merged all generators into a single block ID. *Fixed NPE when lauching game before data has been retrieved from server. *Renamed NuclearCore to AtomicCore. *Renamed NuclearDisassembler to AtomicDisassembler. *Removed extenal APIs from repo, as Mekanism no longer works in a Jenkins-based build system. *Removed Oxygen and Hydrogen tank -- made a single Storage Tank that can store any type of gas. *Updated javadocs in IStorageTank to match it's new universal state. *Fixed Gas Tank GUI not opening. *Removed Power Units and Energy Cubes/Tablets/Orbs. *Added Energy Cubes -- blocks that work as batteries when in their item form, and when placed, have all the data they had in an item form. *Minorly cleaned up Energy Cube blockBreak() code. *Made Energy Cube block corresponding ItemBlock with correct tier and electricity information. *Fixed machines not being removed from the IC2 E-net. *Fixed error when taking an empty gas tank off the creative menu. *Removed Energy Orb and Energy Cube code. *Redid several recipes, added crafting recipes for Energy Cube tiers. *Updated several javadocs. *Fixed getEnergyCubeWithTier() to work correctly and efficiently. *Fixed Energy Cube's getUnchargedItem() not setting the correct tier. *Fixed Forestry integration. *Fixed being able to smelt all dusts into Platinum Dust. *Fixed being able to smelt all ores into Platinum Ingots. *Fixed Platinum Ore smelting recipe returning 2 Platinum Ingots. *Fixed crash when using Steve's Stopwatch. *Fixed client failing and textures glitching when using Steve's Stopwatch. *Fixed being able to set machines,' Advanced Solar Generators,' and Bio-Generators' orientation upwards. *Made Solar Generators be shaped like slabs. *Finally cleaned up tool and armor code. *Started work on Steel Tools and Armor. *Made client-to-server data transfer only work if Minecraft's snooper function is enabled. *Fixed Atomic Dissassembler name. *Fixed Energy Cube GUI. *Fixed generator GUIs. *Fixed all energy generation rates of generators. *Merged all textures into a single file. *Fixed energy duplication glitch. *Fixed electricity handling. *Touched up on GUIs. *Added complete OreDict support. *Javadoc touch ups. *Started on Hydro Generator. *Other minor bugfixes. *Updated textures, gave crusher an animated texture. *Made sound effect volume be based off of base MC volume. *Updated item IDs in all modules. *Added thin glass to paxel's efficiency array. *Updated UE API. *Fixed OreDict crash. *Added 'Control Circuit' as an essential crafting element for machines. *Other minor bugfixes. *Updated IC2/BC conversion ratio. *Added 'Enriched Iron' for obtaining Platinum without it's ore. *Updated Solar Generator's crafting recipe. *Fixed 'Energized Bow' name. *Fixed generator output. *Quick fix for BuildCraft transportation pipes. *Updated crafting recipes. *Fixed redundant TE invalidation.

Are you tired all the time thanks to repeated nightly trips to the bathroom? Are there times when you have the overwhelming urge to go, only to discover a weak flow? Do you find yourself returning to the bathroom again and again, even though it feels as though you just went? If this sounds like you, you may be suffering from an enlarged prostate. An enlarged prostate is a common affliction among middle aged and older men. Essentially, DHT levels increase dramatically, causing cells within the prostate to multiply at a startling rate. This might cause you to believe that this is cancer. It is not cancer, as there are no tumorous growths. The increased cell numbers simply causes the prostate to swell, causing it to press against the urethra. This is what causes so much difficulty in urinating and ejaculation. It can also result in difficulties with arousalósome men have difficulty becoming aroused, while others have difficulty staying aroused. These are symptoms that can worsen until they interfere with your daily life. Donít let it get to the point where frequent urges to urinate disrupt your schedule. Donít let your sex life suffer because of something thatís so easily treatable. Our prostate drugs can help you. An enlarged prostate, while a definite cause for concern, is not a chronic illness and is easily treated, especially if you begin your treatment early. Our prostate drugs are proven to have no harmful side effects. With our prostate drugs, you can take charge of your situation and treat your symptoms quickly and affordably. Prolonging treatment can result in serious harm. As the prostate enlarges, other complications can arise ranging from considerable, such as bladder problems to very severe, such as colon cancer. Taken early enough, our prostate drugs can prevent these complications from occurring.

New Studies Underline Likely Health Benefits of Bariatric Medicines for Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Diabetic Kidney Disease LOS ANGELES, July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — As a pioneer in leading edge and less invasive bariatric techniques such as sleeve gastrectomy, Dr. Michael Feiz has been championing the benefits of weight loss surgery throughout his career. Now, a series of studies being presented at medical conferences in California and Texas are suggesting that the reasons for obtaining the surgery may go well beyond simply reducing the size of a patient’s waistline. Specifically, one study presented recently at the annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery led by Stanford researcher and bariatric surgeon, John Morton, M.D., suggests that patients’ heart attack risk factors can be cut over the long term. Specifically, subjects experienced significant drops in overall cholesterol and a corresponding increase in “good” HDL cholesterol and a decrease in “bad” LDL cholesterol for a period up to seven years, a significantly longer time than had been covered by previous studies. Another remarkable study presented at the same event indicated that bariatric procedures such as sleeve gastrectomy surgery, as well as the more invasive gastric bypass, could help or even end diabetic kidney disease. Less unexpected, but no less significant, a study presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Houston appears to show that Type 2 diabetes may frequently be reversed following bariatric interventions, particularly if the illness has been present for less than a decade. The conclusion went on to specifically suggest that such less invasive procedures as the gastric sleeve might be indicated at an earlier stage than was previously suggested for some patients with the all-too common, but potentially debilitating and life-threatening, condition. While a lower calorie diet and vigorous exercise remains by far the preferred means of weight loss for overweight and obese patients, these studies nevertheless suggest the growing acceptance of bariatric surgery both in the medical community and with society at large. Morbid obesity in particular remains an extremely difficult condition for many patients to fight on their own. Quite a few patients struggle for years or decades with potential harmful “yo-yo” diets, only to turn to bariatric remedies when all other paths have seemingly been exhausted. Dr. Feiz’s many grateful patients will attest to the post-surgical improvements in their own health as well as their quality of life. Moreover, as a major proponent of safer and less invasive techniques, Dr. Feiz is seeing outstanding results in a significant majority of patients and currently boasts a zero mortality rate. If you have struggled for years with morbid obesity, now may be the time to investigate the increasing number of bariatric procedures that are available. For more information on Dr. Feiz & Associates visit online at www.drfeiz.com. PR submitted by www.Cyberset.com SOURCE Dr. Feiz & Associates

ABSTRACT: This study examines the response of Symbiodinium sp. endosymbionts from the coral Stylophora pistillata to moderate levels of thermal "bleaching" stress, with and without trace metal limitation. Using quantitative high throughput proteomics, we identified 8098 MS/MS events relating to individual peptides from the endosymbiont-enriched fraction, including 109 peptides meeting stringent criteria for quantification, of which only 26 showed significant change in our experimental treatments; 12 of 26 increased expression in response to thermal stress with little difference affected by iron limitation. Surprisingly, there were no significant increases in antioxidant or heat stress proteins; those induced to higher expression were generally involved in protein biosynthesis. An outstanding exception was a massive 114-fold increase of a viral replication protein indicating that thermal stress may substantially increase viral load and thereby contribute to the etiology of coral bleaching and disease. In the absence of a sequenced genome for Symbiodinium or other photosymbiotic dinoflagellate, this proteome reveals a plethora of proteins potentially involved in microbial-host interactions. This includes photosystem proteins, DNA repair enzymes, antioxidant enzymes, metabolic redox enzymes, heat shock proteins, globin hemoproteins, proteins of nitrogen metabolism, and a wide range of viral proteins associated with these endosymbiont-enriched samples. Also present were 21 unusual peptide/protein toxins thought to originate from either microbial consorts or from contamination by coral nematocysts. Of particular interest are the proteins of apoptosis, vesicular transport, and endo/exocytosis, which are discussed in context of the cellular processes of coral bleaching. Notably, the protein complement provides evidence that, rather than being expelled by the host, stressed endosymbionts may mediate their own departure. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 02/2012; 11(6):M111.015487. · 7.40 Impact Factor

We hope you can find everything you need. ROS Business Consulting Service Ltd. is focused on providing high-quality service and customer satisfaction - we will do everything we can to meet your expectations. We provide Business Consulting, Training, Accounting, Expert Advice and much more. We aim to treat our clients with professionalism and class. We ensure that our clients are satisfied and we are willing to go the extra mile to make our clients happy. ROS Business Consulting Service Ltd. Provides Training in Courses for example: · Business Management and Budget Management · Strategy Planning and Management · Management, Leadership and Implementing a Business Plan Our training which is all day, allows for 6 professional to be training on business and management for £1000.00 which is funded by a Government Grant. · We offer free meals · Free Printed and e-mailed course materials · Comfortable Training facility or provide training in-house

Agricultura técnica en México versão impressa ISSN 0568-2517 RODRIGUEZ-GUERRA, Raúl; ACOSTA-GALLEGOS, Jorge Alberto; GONZALEZ-CHAVIRA, Mario Martín e SIMPSON, June. Pathotypes of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and their implications for the development of resistant bean cultivars. Agric. Téc. Méx [online]. 2006, vol.32, n.1, pp. 101-114. ISSN 0568-2517. Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, the causal agent of bean anthracnose causes substantial losses in the production of this legume around the world. The main strategy for the control of this pathogen is the use of resistant cultivars. The great variety of pathotypes shown by C. lindemuthianum hampers the wider utilization of resistant cultivars developed for specific regions and resistant to specific local C. lindemuthianum pathotypes already characterized. Therefore, the success of breeding programs requires the identification of the pathotypes that are present in the regions for which resistant cultivars will be developed and to use sources of resistance genes against the prevalent pathotypes. The objectives of this essay are: i) Make known the frequency and distribution of the C. lindemuthianum pathotypes identified in Mexico to date, ii) Point out possible sources of resistance within the set of differential cultivars used for pathotype identification of the fungus, which could be used in breeding programs in common bean, iii) Postulate the resistance genes carried by bean cultivars previously characterized on the basis of their reaction to pathotypes of the fungus. This information offers researchers and bean breeders the opportunity to select sources of resistance to the pathogen and the possibility of accumulating resistance genes in improved cultivars of commercial value for different regions of Mexico. An example could be the incorporation of the resistance genes from the differentials Kaboon (Co-12) and Tu (Co-5) into improved cultivars or the combination of genes from elite cultivars such as Negro INIFAP (postulated to carry the genes Co-12 or Co13) and Negro 8025 (postulated to carry the genes Co-6 or Co-8) in the generation of black seeded cultivars resistant to the majority of C. linde muthianum pathotypes found in the country. Palavras-chave : Phaseolus vulgaris; anthracnose; genetic improvement; sources of resistance.

“We don’t often see [trans] people with triumphant stories about being themselves and really making it…I thought it was time for a celebration of our differences, our sameness and our lives.” So says first-time filmmaker Martin Rawlings-Fein of the impetus behind his Clocked: An Oral History, a documenary portray the trans community through personal insights, stories and reflections of six trans individuals. The Native American, Jewish, German and Irish (“ let’s just say I’m mixed because the Heinz 57 list goes on”) activist Rawlings-Fein identifies as “just a Jewish man who happens to be a bisexual transsexual.” He has served on the Native American Task Force of the Human Rights Commission, and co-chaired San Francisco Transgender Empowerment, Advocacy and Mentorship, furthering the latter group’s efforts to bring economic empowerment, mentorship and jobs to San Francisco’s transgender population. He also co-chaired FTM International, the support group founded in San Francisco 20 years ago for FTMs and their families.  Rawlings-Fein dedicated so much personal time to 2006’s Men of FTMI calendar that it nearly cost him his marriage. “When my daughter was born I spent…every minute of what I thought was my spare time putting the calendar together. My wife thinks that FTMI and the calendar took me away from my family in those weeks, [and] she’s right. Which is why I scaled back my involvement with FTMI and didn’t run for another term of the board of directors.” When not busy with childcare, activism, filming or running his web design company, Fein Designs, Rawlings-Fein is completing his media studies degree, which he sees as “a great place to start a revolution.” “You can change someone’s mind with a well-written article…Media can change lives and allow for doors to open. I believe that as transgender people get cameras and make their personal stories public…hearts and minds will change regarding transgender issues.” The potential Clocked carries to do just that is found in its illustration of multiplicity in the trans community. “I wanted to make a statement that not all transgendered people have the same narrative; and that not all history is objective. I’ve learned that the community is far more diverse than…mainstream society portrays.” Hopeful that the film will illuminate some of that diversity Rawlings-Fein says he’s been thrilled with the responses so far. “My mother-in-law watched it, unbeknownst to me, and wrote me a letter about how much the film changed her life and how proud she is to have a son-in-law like me. That is powerful storytelling—when it can change lives and viewpoints.” Rawlings-Fein continues to archive trans histories, but his next film explores conversion to Judaism and will follow one convert from “original thought to the mikvah.” A lay leader at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, San Francisco’s LGBT affiliated synagoge, Rawlings-Fein says his own path to Judaism was covoluted. Raised Southern Baptist by his divorced mother, no one told him his father was Jewish by birth. When he finally learned of his Jewish heritage, the filmmaker says, “It was such an a-ha moment that I ran home and told my mother about it, hoping that she would let me go to a synagogue the next Saturday.” Instead, his mother barred him from exploring Judaism, and his maternal grandmother reacted by calling him “a dirty Jew.” Before he discovered Sha’ar Zahav, Rawlings-Fein says he’d tried to convert a couple of times. The snag always seemed to be his trans-identity. “The transsexual aspect was always where I would hit a ceiling. One Rabbi even asked me if I wouldn’t mind transitioning back to being a woman for conversion.” Rawlings-Fein describes the Sha’ar Zahav congregation as “a rare, true community, that pushes me to grow and change even my preconceived notions of what it means to be Jewish.” “I feel like the Jewish community at the congregation is one of the most dynamic I’ve ever come across,” he enthuses, “Maybe that’s because it’s the most ethnically diverse places that I’ve ever prayed. I just feel like I’m home.” Blind Curves, the first Blind Eye mystery co-authored by trans writer Jacob Anderson-Minshall, is available now through www.bellabooks.com. Contact [email protected] for more info.

Founded in 2008, the Italian jewellery brand Amore & Baci, based in Arezzo, specialises in creating jewellery for ladies with a unique and innovative sense of style. It provides the opportunity to express individuality and personality, and the brand name translated into English means ‘Hugs and Kisses’ which provides an insight into how the Amore & Baci brands aims to create jewellery which has personal meaning to each individual. What makes Amore & Baci unique is that you can custom make your own designs according to your own personal creativity. You can purchase the main ‘body’ of the piece of jewellery, for example a sterling silver circular bracelet or necklace, many of which come with a unique clasp such as a diamante embellished circular clasp feature or even a ladybird clasp and then you can accessorise as you wish with the vast array of approximately 1400 varying styles of beautiful and striking Amore & Baci beads and beaded charms. These include 925 Argentium silver beads which are combined with other precious metals such as enamel, Murano glass, jargon and crystals. The beads also feature a unique internal screwing system allowing them to remain secure on the bracelet or necklace and are handcrafted by artisans in Murano, Italy. The beads can all be purchased separately and as you wish so that your piece of jewellery can evolve and develop over time. The types of beads available are imaginative, feminine, fun and vibrant and are the perfect indulgence for every uniquely stylish lady! With designs including cute handbags, teddy bears, rabbit charms and dolphin bead charms, the selection also comprises of beautiful patterned beads incorporating an amalgamation of stunning colours such as turquoise, red, blue, pink, yellow and green to name only a few. Some beads are silver with engraved detailing and are designed in specific shapes such as a shoe, a heart, a padlock and strawberry whereas others also feature striking Swarovski crystals for that extra sparkle. The range is incredibly varied and appeal to the younger market with some fun and trend inspired designs through to chic and ultra sophisticated with that Amore & Baci typical touch of vibrancy. If your style is more eclectic, Amore & Baci is also ideal for combining styles and teaming an ethnic style bead with a glamorous one, which makes the end product versatile for all occasions. Amore & Baci also offer their own jewellery line including elegant, statement and glamorous cocktail rings, drop earrings, stud earrings, and eternity bands; some of which include designs that feature set Swarovski crystals. Recognising that seasonal trends are a huge inspiration for how individuals dress and accessorise their look, Amore & Baci releases new bead designs according to the fashion seasons and to suit the current trends. The brand also provides the original, classic and sophisticated compositions of beads that continue to remain timeless in style and also look incredible teamed with the trend inspired variations. Ultimately Amore & Baci is an innovatively unique brand that has allowed ladies to really inject a sense of their personality, mood and style into their look and create something which has meaning and also won’t be seen on every other girl at the party! Changing or adding to your piece of jewellery is simple and in typical Italian style, the beads and jewellery are made to perfection using only the highest quality materials and representative of flawless craftsmanship.

Owner Trevor Welson began his career in business as "Engraving Services" in 1993 at the age of 26. He had just one employee (himself), one engraving machine and 150-square-feet workspace. Because of Trevor’s passion for taking on unique challenges, the business quickly evolved into a multi-facetted operation that focused in two markets, product identification and signmaking. In the mid-1990s, Trevor grew his business through strategic acquisitions, such as the purchase of InstantSigns in 1995, a local sign shop, which allowed him to produce architectural signage. With that acquisition, Trevor changed the business’ name to Sign Systems since it better reflected his company’s offerings at the time and moved the business to a larger location in downtown Appleton. In 1997, Trevor purchased the engraving division of WG Inc., a local product identification and graphics company. This move strengthened the company’s presence as a leader in identification products in the marketplace. In 2000, the business moved to a new 7,500-square-foot building in Greenville (and yet another name change was in order). It was thought the name IntelliCAM (Intelligent Computer Aided Manufacturing) would better reflect the diverse nature of the business. With this new name and space, the company set out to further its growing reputation for quality, innovative service in both the architectural signage and product identification markets. In early 2008, Trevor began an effort to clarify the company’s two areas of expertise. It was decided that one more restructuring and name change was needed. The result was the creation of TJWels Company (tjwels.net). Because of the strong brand recognition that IntelliCAM (nameplatetech.net) had developed over the years, it was decided that this name would remain as a division of TJWels Company to serve the product identification market. SignElements® was created to serve the architectural signage (signprojects.net) and donor recognition (recognitionprojects.net) markets that the company was clearly having success in. Through the years, significant technology investments have been made to benefit both SignElements® and IntelliCAM customers. Leading edge technology has always been a driving force when making decisions on equipment purchases. In December 2007, a new 12,000-square-foot headquarters was built to house both divisions. A reflection of Trevor’s values, the facility is state-of-the-art and unlike other manufacturing facilities. With glass walls surrounding the shop and center atrium, it is not a "typical shop setting". This new facility will allow the company to add equipment, personnel and when needed, expand the shop space to accommodate the growing needs. While the company’s name and its offerings have changed since Engraving Services first opened its doors in 1993, one thing has remained the same - a dedication to customer service. Trevor often says, "Take care of the customer and the rest will take care of itself." This attitude has prevailed over the years and will continue for years to come. He is also quick to remind us that, "This is not as hard as we make it sometimes" and to "enjoy the process and feel the reward and satisfaction that it brings."

No problem going with a 28cm extension given your needed adjustment range. I regularly use my 28cm Chinook RDM extensions (I have both carbon and aluminum versions) at 28cm with no problem. Earlier, when I was using comparable Fiberspar carbon SDM extensions, again no problems. The pertinent point to remember is that extensions are made to use at the highest point of extension, yet they also include the extra minimum length needed that inserts into the mast to ensure a proper bearing surface. As an aside, the carbon content of the masts you noted are quite low, and as a result, they will be heavy and not offer very active responsive response, especially when using larger sails like the 8.5. Also, you lose a notable degree of the sails' designed range, particularly at the high end. Really, you might want reconsider going with 75% carbon masts and gain a significant performance improvement, but still maintain great durability. More expensive? Certainly, but in my opinion, worth every penny. Last edited by steveC; 4th February 2010 at 04:28 AM.

People travel to get away from their daily routine. It's a great way to find yourself and discover a whole new world. People are a bit tired of simple admiring masterpieces in museums, watching monuments, lying in the sun or doing shopping. This holiday seems a long period of time and less remembered. You can use precious time of your holiday with more profit and excitement. for example, swim an inflatable boat along the Colorado, fishing in the mouth of Amasonia, hike unexplored regions of the Tibet and taste crocodile meat in Australia. Such kid of traveling wins much more fans all over the world including clerks, journalists, businessmen and just adventurous people. Adrenaline of the adventure travel makes you relax to the full extend. Besides, absence of tourists- crowds and intact landscapes create a unique atmosphere of connection with the nature. Adventure travel tours are available practically in all regions of the globe and can be of different types. They may be hiking and mountaneering, rafting or kayaking, trekking and biking - making the choice of activities and the level of adventure travel is up to you. Biking is the most widely-spread way to make adventure travel- convenient, cheap , healthy. First of all, it provides a high flexibility in choosing routs and time-schedule( they may be of different length, but usually no more than a week). Bike adventure tours provide an opportunity to see the country 'in the flesh', communicating with real people at the same time testing the character. It is a kind of challenge! Twisting roads, roaring engines, wind to the face really an exciting experience. And in no way boring. Of course, to have a bike tour you must know how to ride it. Rafting, for example, doesn`t require special sport skills and long preparations. You can even not swim - life jacket will hold you. You can run the raft yourself, or just row under the guide`s control. Of course, there are some risks - it is still adventurous travel deals with extreme situations. But with water splashing in your face, class rapids ahead and the raft of friends and familiars what more could you ask for? Maybe for trekking? Not a problem! Or maybe you want to try a an adventurous travel deals with both types? Then choose a tour to Nepal of OuterQuest company. Starting in the Central Himalayan foothills you proceed on a moderate 9 day trek, passing through native villages of Gurung and Magar, where you'll reach an elevation of 9,000 ft., finishing your trek near the start of the exciting 3 day Kaligandaki River trip. On the river you'll have stunning views of Annapurna Peak, native villages and great whitewater each day. This is a roadless area so the rafts carry all food and supplies for camping at remote pristine beaches. And if you want peaceful holidays, choose hunting or fishing tours, just dropping in at the nearest tour agency. Treat yourself to worldwide adventures and unleash the person you never knew existed.

Mark Ottignon is to sell his vast collection of Beatrix Potter artefacts for a whopping £250,000. Ottignon, 59, has spent the last 30 years travelling Britain snapping up all manner of items associated with the Peter Rabbit creator at toy fairs, car boot sales and antique shops. His extensive hoard includes incredibly rare first editions of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, oil painting illustrations for her famous children's books, commemorative porcelain plates and figurines, soft toys and private correspondence from the author. There are also series of unpublished black and white photographs of Potter as a young woman with her father, whom she had a strained relationship with. Ottignon's collection has become so big that it has filled three bedrooms of the home he shares with his partner, Melanie. But with hardly any Potter memorabilia left to buy Mark has decided to sell off the entire collection at auction. The sale spans over 350 separate lots and the total pre-sale estimate is between £200,000 to £250,000. Ottignon, from Painswick, Glos, said: "I had her books read to me when I was a child but I didn't start my collection until I was 30 and that was after I had visited the Lake District. "I had a very funny and strange attraction to the place and to her and I just started to collect anything associated with her. "I have got to the stage where it has got more and more difficult to find new things and part of the attraction is in the fun of the chase. "Three of the spare bedrooms in our house have become Beatrix Potter rooms and I know my partner will be grateful to get the space back after so many years." The star lot in the sale is an incredibly rare first edition copy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Potter was unable to get a publishing house interested in backing her inaugural children's book and so paid for 250 copies to be printed out of her own pocket in 1901. Mark's rare copy is one of the finer examples that still exist and is expected to sell for 30,000 pounds. Similarly, another of her first editions is tipped to sell for 16,000 pounds. A 'deluxe' edition of Potter's 1909 book 'The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin' that has 27 colour illustrations, has a pre-sale estimate of 18,000 pounds. An original 1883 watercolour painting of berries by the author that has another work of art of another botanical study on the reverse is worth 3,000 pounds. A toy doll of Peter Rabbit by famed German toymakers Steiff that Potter had taken off sale as the company didn't have her permission is expected to sell for 3,500 pounds. And over 40 porcelain figures of various characters ranging from Jemima Puddleduck, Jeremy Fisher, Mrs Tittlemouse and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle is valued at over 10,000 pounds. Roddy Newlands, an expert from London auctioneers Bloomsbury, said: "Without question this is one the most impressive collections of Beatrix Potter material ever to come up for auction. "It really has something for all collectors of 'Potteriana'. "The key component of the collection is indubitably the books; from the private printings of Peter Rabbit to expanded illustrated editions "This collection wonderfully represents the whole gamut of Peter Rabbit and Co. "It also comprises a wide range of collectable objets d'art and promotional pieces, most notable perhaps is the range of early and scarce figurines." Judy Taylor, vice-president of the Beatrix Potter Society, said: "It is not often that Beatrix Potter treasures are offered for sale and even less often that they are of such quality and in such quantity. "This collection has obviously been carefully assembled and chosen with great taste." The auction takes place on February 27.

Contact the Department Phone: (208) 885-6592 Fax: (208) 885-9052 Janssen Engineering (JEB) 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1010 Moscow, ID 83844-1010 Contact Debbie Caudle Phone: (208) 282-7983 Fax: (208) 282-7929 1776 Science Center Drive, Suite 306 Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402 Advisory Board Bylaws To assist the Computer Science Department in defining and attaining its goals and strategic plans and in providing guidance to maintain a high caliber undergraduate and graduate educational program. - Assist with periodic review of the Computer Science programs. - Suggest program improvements - Assist in obtaining scholarships and internships - Improve relationships with department constituents - Become an advocate in promoting the department - Assist in fund-raising activities Section 1: The name of the organization shall be "The Computer Science Advisory Board." Section 2: The purpose of the Advisory Board is to foster excellence in the Computer Science Department. The board will accomplish this by providing input on academic and research issues and assisting in fund-raising activities. Section 3: The Advisory Board shall consist of up to 12 voting members nominated by the faculty or the Advisory Board and appointed by the Chairs of the CS Department and the Advisory Board. The term of office for an Advisory Board member shall be four years. Terms of service may be renewed or discontinued based on the member's commitment and willingness to serve. Each additional four-year term appointment shall require the approval of the CS Department Chair and the Advisory Board Chair. Section 4: The officers of the Advisory Board shall be chair and vice chair. The members of the Advisory Board shall select officers of the Advisory Board. The term of the officers shall be three years. The chair shall preside at all meetings and serve as the chief spokesman for the Advisory Board. The vice chair shall perform all the function of the chair in her / his absence or other duties as assigned by the chair. Section 5: Regular meeting of the Advisory Board shall be held once a year during the spring semester. The chair of the Advisory Board and the chair of the department shall determine the date of the meeting. Section 6: The bylaws can be amended or changed at the annual Advisory Board meeting by a majority vote of the members present at the meeting. Section 7: The chair of the advisory board is responsible for preparing a written report of the meeting and the distribution of this report to all board members and to the CS Department chair. Copyright © 2008 University of Idaho Board of Regents

By Ron Nief, Director of Public Affairs, Beliot College Wis.—Across the nation, students are entering colleges and universities with their own perspectives on the times in which they live. Most of them were born in 1985. For the sixth year, Beloit College has developed and distributed to the faculty and staff the “Beloit College Mindset List.” According to co-editor Tom McBride, Keefer Professor of the Humanities at the Wisconsin liberal arts college, the list helps to slow the rapid onset of “hardening of the references,” in the classroom. McBride notes that “These entering students were born into a world that had developed a screening test for AIDS and where managed healthcare was gaining its first foothold. The Middle East had replaced the USSR and Eastern Europe as our greatest challenge to security. It is a generation which believes in technological innovations and solutions and where digital devices, PIN numbers and calling cards are an integral part of their lives. Despite the fears associated with AIDS and divorce, we should remember that this is a generation that has grown up in a largely successful, prosperous society . . . I believe they are fascinated and vexed by the results of the world they have made,” says Prof. McBride. “The Mindset List, among other things, is a reminder of that world—a world that makes education a tougher yet more fascinating job than ever. In saying hello to the new generation, which they labor mightily to understand, but with mixed results, they are saying good-bye to themselves. There is something of wicked and addictive interest in that. I myself am part of that very generation. There is, for me, a bittersweet pleasure in knowing that Cherry Cokes didn’t always come in cans and there are millions of first-year students who will never know how delicious it was when it didn’t.” In April of the year the class of 2007 was born, Joseph Lelyveld complained in The New York Times that “conversations with some young people around the country about the war in Vietnam will find their impressions of it to be remarkably dim.” High school juniors and seniors, could not identify Ho Chi Minh, Robert McNamara or the Chicago In The New Yorker that year, it was noted that “Each generation brings a clean slate into the world. But the world itself is not a clean slate, and what happened before needs to be learned and remembered.” With the help of hundreds of people who have made contributions and after months of preparation, Beloit College is now pleased to present the Mindset List for the entering class. THE BELOIT COLLEGE MINDSET LIST FOR THE CLASS OF Most students entering college this fall were born in 1. Ricky Nelson, Richard Burton, Samantha Smith, Laura Welles, Karen Ann Quinlin, Benigno Aquino, and the U.S. Football League have always been dead. 2. They are not familiar with the source of that “Giant Sucking Sound.” 3. Iraq has always been a problem. 4. “Ctrl + Alt + Del” is as basic as “ABC.” 5. Paul Newman has always made salad dressing. 6. Pete Rose has always been a gambler. 7. Bert and Ernie are old enough to be their parents. 8. An automatic is a weapon, not a transmission. 9. Russian leaders have always looked like leaders everyplace else. 10. The snail darter has never been endangered. 11. There has always been a screening test for AIDS. 12. Gas has always been unleaded. 13. They never heard Howard Cosell call a game on ABC. 14. The United States has always had a Poet Laureate. 15. Garrison Keillor has always been live on public radio and Lawrence Welk has always been dead on public television. 16. Their families drove SUVs without “being fuelish.” 17. There has always been some association between fried eggs and 18. They would never leave their calling card on someone’s desk. 19. They have never been able to find the “return” key. 20. Computers have always fit in their backpacks. 21. Datsuns have never been made. 22. They have never gotten excited over a telegram, a long distance call, or a fax. 23. The Osmonds are just talk show hosts. 24. Undergraduate college athletes have always been a part of the NBA and NFL draft. 25. They have always “grazed” for food. 26. Three-point shots from “downtown” have always been a part of 27. Test tube babies are now having their own babies. 28. Stores have always had scanners at the checkout. 29. The Army has always driven Humvees. 30. Adam and PC Junior computers had vanished from the market before this generation went online. 31. The Statue of Liberty has always had a gleaming torch. 32. They have always had a PIN number. 33. Banana Republic has always been a store, not a puppet government in Latin America. 34. Car detailing has always been available. 35. Directory assistance has never been free. 36. The Jaycees have always welcomed women as members. 37. There has always been Lean Cuisine. 38. They have always been able to fly Virgin Atlantic. 39. There have never been dress codes in restaurants. 40. Doctors have always had to deal with “reasonable and customary fees” and patients have always had controls placed on the number of days they could stay in a hospital. 41. They have always been able to make photocopies at home. 42. Michael Eisner has always been in charge of Disney. 43. They have always been able to make phone calls from planes. 44. Yuppies are almost as old as hippies. 45. Rupert Murdoch has always been an American citizen. 46. Strawberry Fields has always been in New York. 47. Rock and Roll has always been a force for social good. 48. Killer bees have always been swarming in the U.S. 49. They have never seen a First Lady in a fur coat. 50. Don Imus has always been offending someone in his national audience. In all fairness it should be understood that students this fall do have a few items on their own lists that will separate them from many of their mentors: 1. For many of them today, it’s all about the “bling, 2. They know who the “Heroes in a half shell” are. 3. Peeps are not a candy, they are your friends. 4. They have been “dissing”and “burning” things all their lives. 5. They can expect to get a ticket for “ricing out their wheels.” 6. They knew how to pop a Popple and trade a Pog. 7. They can still sing the rap chorus to the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and the theme song from “Duck Tales.” © 2003 Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin * Past Mindset Lists can be Last year, Duane Gustavus, wrote his "Mindset 1946" to share with Benchmarks Online readers.

skip to page content - This illustrated map, from the Rochambeau Collection of the Library of Congress, presents a striking panorama of the City of Quebec during its last years as the capital of New France, the French colony of Canada. Drawn in 1755 by Royal Geographer Georges-Louis Le Rouge, the map identifies ten key sites throughout the city. Located on the St. Lawrence River, Quebec was an administrative, military, and commercial hub, as well as a religious center that was home to a cathedral, bishop’s palace, seminary, and Jesuit mission. Originally established in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, Quebec became the capital of New France in 1663. In the Battle of Quebec (June-September 1759), one of the culminating struggles of the Seven Years’ War (1754-63), the French, under the Marquis de Montcalm, were forced to surrender the city to an invading British force led by General James Wolfe. Four years later, France ceded most of its Canadian possessions in North America to Great Britain. Title in Original Language Vue de Quebec, capitale du Canada Type of Item

DOE to Award $41.9 Million in Recovery Act Funds for Fuel Cells April 22, 2009 DOE will award $41.9 million in recovery act funding to deploy nearly 1,000 fuel cell systems in key early markets, such as electric forklifts. Enlarge this photo. DOE announced on April 15 the award of $41.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for 13 projects to deploy fuel cells and help build a consumer base for U.S. fuel cell manufacturers. The funding will support the immediate deployment of nearly 1,000 fuel cell systems for emergency backup power and material handling applications (such as forklifts) that have emerged as key early markets in which fuel cells can compete with conventional power technologies. Additional systems will be used to accelerate the demonstration of stationary fuel cells for combined heat and power in the larger residential and commercial markets. Approximately $72.4 million in cost-shared funding will come from industry participants, for a total of nearly $114.3 million. The increase in manufacturing volume in key early markets will bring costs down and encourage the growth of a domestic supplier base. These efforts will also accelerate the commercialization and deployment of fuel cells and will create jobs in fuel cell manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and support services. A variety of technologies will be developed and deployed, including polymer electrolyte, solid oxide, and direct-methanol fuel cells. For a full list of projects and awardees, see the DOE press release.

Everyone’s done it in one form or another: prayers, spells, visualize receiving an end product. While the Universe/God doesn’t provide everything needed for a cushy lifestyle for everyone, there are small moments where you’re given something as a reminder that whatever Powers-That-Be are still out there. Notice the small things in life. There are no coincidences. They’ll bring a smile, and a bit of hope. Personal experience: “With the recent lotto hitting a higher jackpot than ever before, I jumped on the bandwagon a few weeks ago. I asked the Universe for a big win: money, wealth, riches… I phrased it as many ways as possible. Needless to say, I recently noticed that two new friends popped up in my life. The Universe certainly has a sense of humor. I now have more than twice the Rich’s in life than I had before. I treasure all of my friends more than anything else that money could buy, and apparently, the Universe wanted to remind me of that.” Wayne Dyer is a great starting point for anyone interested in the Power of Intention. He talks about being able to find the answers to inner “zen” through the seven secrets to a joyful life. If you can find creativity, kindness, beauty, love, receptivity, expansion, and abundance in every aspect of life, you’re on a good path. “The law of attraction is this: You don’t attract what you want. You attract what you are. Most people’s mistake in trying to apply the law of attraction is they want things; they demand things. But God doesn’t work that way,” continues Dyer. “It’s all about allowing.”

Abnormalities of platelet function can result in defective hemostasis and a prolonged bleeding time in spite of a normal platelet count. Platelet function tests including platelet adhesiveness, platelet aggregation to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen, and thrombin, clot retraction, and platelet factor 3 (PF3) release were performed in 16 patients who had mild to moderately severe bleeding diathesis. Hereditary platelet functional diseases which are reported include von Willebrand's disease, ADP release defect, PF3 release defect, and Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. Platelet dysfunction is described in association with the following diseases: connective tissue disorders, glycogen storage diseases, biliary cirrhosis, disseminated lupus erythematosus, thalassemia major, streptococcal infection, intravascular coagulation, and acyanotic congenital heart disease. A tentative classification of hereditary and acquired disorders of platelet function is presented.

"Our powder is precious, sir, and I find I can do the Monitor as much damage by snapping my fingers at her every 5 minutes." Inside the Monitor though, the gunners struggled to keep their bearings as their turret spun. That left Greene dependent on instructions from his captain — Lt. John L. Worden — who commanded the ship from a pilothouse 80 feet away. "Had the revolving turret worked properly, they might have defeated the Virginia," Quarstein said. "But their fire control was horrendous. They couldn't see what they were doing." The Monitor came closest to victory when the Virginia ran aground, enabling Greene to send shot after shot into her side, testing the armor in every spot but the lightly plated sections of the waterline. In desperation, the Confederates lashed down the safety valves and force-fed the boilers of their ship's old engines, pulling free from the shoal just when they were nearest destruction. Frustrated by the powerlessness of their guns, both commanders finally turned to brute force, trying to ram their opponents. The Monitor had just missed the Virginia's propeller when the rebel's stern pivot gun scored a direct hit on the Union pilothouse from point-blank range. Fire and smoke blasted through the narrow observation slot, blinding Worden and forcing Greene to break off. Only the falling tide kept Jones from attacking the Minnesota. Firing a parting shot, he swung back towardSewell's Point, alarmed by how much his vulnerable waterline had been exposed by the day's outlay of coal, powder and shot. The rebel marauder was well underway when Greene returned, fired his own parting shot and pulled back to stand guard alongside the Minnesota. Though both sides believed they were the victors, the real triumph of the day belonged to a new era of steam-powered mechanical weapons and iron shields. "They weren't ships in the sense that everybody knew," Quarstein said. "These were machines that fought like robots — and they came from a world of technological, industrial-age marvels that nobody had ever seen before."