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Cooking Up Water From the Moon? NASA Studies Water Extraction With Microwaves
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala.
Video release: 09-083
This 3-D animation shows the heating caused by microwave energy as it penetrates through the simulated lunar soil using a transient multi-physics finite element analysis modeling tool calculation. The colored bands represent locations of constant temperature. These calculations illustrate how the microwave penetration and heating of the lunar soil can be predicted using physics and the dielectric, or nonconducting, properties of the soil. (NASA/MSFC)
> View Video (Windows, streaming)
> News Release | <urn:uuid:76d3101a-6706-48b3-8b5c-e245c008079d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/multimedia/video/video09-083.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.738427 | 131 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Details about Basic Issues in Medieval Philosophy:
In this important collection, the editors argue that medieval philosophy is best studied as an interactive discussion between thinkers working on very much the same problems despite being often widely separated in time or place. Each section opens with at least one selection from a classical philosopher, and there are many points at which the readings chosen refer to other works that the reader will also find in this collection. There is a considerable amount of material from central figures such as Augustine, Abelard, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham, as well as extensive texts from thinkers in the medieval Islamic world. Each selection is prefaced by a brief introduction by the editors, providing a philosophical and religious background to help make the material more accessible to the reader.This edition, updated throughout, contains a substantial new chapter on medieval psychology and philosophy of mind, with texts from authors not previously represented such as John Buridan and Peter John Olivi.
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Rent Basic Issues in Medieval Philosophy 2nd edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Richard N. Bosley. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Broadview Press.
Need help ASAP? We have you covered with 24/7 instant online tutoring. Connect with one of our tutors now. | <urn:uuid:2a88c58c-2f04-485e-b50f-3730203045c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.chegg.com/textbooks/basic-issues-in-medieval-philosophy-2nd-edition-9781551117157-1551117150 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953652 | 270 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Photo: Niv Singer (flickr)
Orphaned Land not only launched the Middle Eastern metal scene, but has united fans across countries.
One band attempting to bridge intercultural divides is Orphaned Land.
The Israeli heavy metal group is hugely popular all over the Middle East, stretching from Israel to Jordan, Syria, Turkey and beyond.
Fans find fellowship with on another across religious and cultural lines at concerts and on the band’s Facebook page.
“The key is not to invest all our hopes in one heavy metal band, but rather to become cognizant of how positive change can take root,” writer Roi Ben-Yehuda said.
Read More: Heavy metal unites Jews, Muslims across Middle East (Jerusalem Post)
For more Muslim Voices updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!
Liz Leslie is a journalist based in Bloomington, Indiana. As an associate Web producer for WFIU, Liz maintains the Muslim Voices Twitter and Facebook as well as writes for the blog. She also contributes to Earth Eats.More posts by this author »
The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, and throughout its history, the Middle East has been a major centre of world affairs. When discussing ancient history, however, the term Near East is more commonly used. The Middle East is also the historical origin of major religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate, with several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas. Many countries located around the Persian Gulf have large quantities of crude oil. In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.[clarification needed] The Middle East's expected economic growth rate is at about 4.1% for 2010 and 5.1% in 2011.
Muslims debunk myths and misunderstandings about Islam.
Voices and Visions is made possible in part by a grant from the Social Science Research Council | <urn:uuid:4f3e5a00-274e-4c29-a5ff-91700456896b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://muslimvoices.org/bringing-communities-metal-music/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00031-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939943 | 417 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Kings Langley is a historic and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, 21 miles (34 km) northwest of central London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. The village is divided between two local government districts by the River Gade with the larger western portion in the Borough of Dacorum and smaller part, to the east of the river, in the Three Rivers District.
It was once the location of Kings Langley Palace, a royal palace of the Plantagenet kings of England. The 12th century parish church of All Saints' houses the tomb of Edmund of Langley (1341–1402), the first Duke of York.
The place-name Langley is first attested here in a Saxon charter of circa 1050, where it appears as Langalega. It is spelt Langelai in the Domesday Book of 1086, and is recorded as Langel' Regis in 1254. The name means 'long wood or clearing'.
Kings Langley parish contained the hamlet and chapelry of Chipperfield which did not become a separate civil parish until 1958. Tower Hill was another hamlet in the parish which became part of Chipperfield in 1958.
For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Kings Langley. | <urn:uuid:f15b172f-c26e-4142-bf48-74724d8a3e04> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Place:Kings_Langley%2C_Hertfordshire%2C_England | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952068 | 263 | 2.625 | 3 |
January 21, 2009
Bacterium affected by land practices
Australian scientists say they've discovered the pathogenic soil bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei is influenced by land management practices.
Researchers at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, Australia, said they found the bacterium, which causes the emerging infectious disease melioidosis in humans and animals, is associated with land management changes such as livestock husbandry or residential gardening.
These findings raise concerns that B. pseudomallei may spread due to the influence of land management changes,said study author Mirjam Kaestli.
This would increase the risk of human and livestock exposure to these potentially deadly bacteria, which are transmitted by contact with contaminated soil or surface water through cuts in the skin or inhalation.
The study appears in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. | <urn:uuid:28fd2a49-8f9c-41c6-aceb-c52b26f3d9c7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1626514/bacterium_affected_by_land_practices/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930436 | 174 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Program History and Background
In 1986, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implemented the Model Performance Evaluation Program (MPEP) to evaluate the performance of laboratories conducting testing to detect human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) antibody (Ab) by traditional testing methods (enzyme immunoassay, Western blot, etc.). Since that time, the MPEP has been expanded to include the evaluation of laboratory/testing site performance for HIV Ab by rapid testing methods and mycobacterium-related tests.
High-quality HIV antibody rapid testing and Mycobacterium Tb drug susceptibility testing are essential to meeting the public health objectives for the prevention and control of these diseases. Prevention programs, diagnostic clinics, and seroprevalence studies rely on accurate antibody testing results to document HIV infection. Clinicians rely on accurate Mycobacterium Tb drug susceptibility testing to diagnose infection and develop appropriate treatment regimens. The impetus for developing this program came from the recognized need to assess the quality of retroviral/AIDS-related and Mycobacterium-related laboratory testing and to ensure that the quality of testing adequately met medical and public health needs. The objectives of the MPEP are to:
(1) Develop appropriate methods for evaluating quality in laboratory testing systems (including test selection, sample collection, and reporting and interpreting test results)
(2) Develop strategies for identifying and correcting testing quality failures
(3) Evaluate the effect of testing quality on public health.
The MPEP is designed to analyze the steps in the total testing process and to identify the critical indicators of high-quality testing. Annually, the MPEP mails two performance evaluation sample panels each for HIV rapid testing, and Mycobacterium Tb drug susceptibility testing. Participant laboratories test the performance evaluation (PE) samples that CDC mails them in the same manner they test routine clinical specimens, and to report their testing results to CDC on specially designed forms. Aggregate data are derived from the testing results of the various methods provided to CDC by each of the laboratories. CDC compiles and analyzes the results and sends aggregate reports of testing results to all participant laboratories following each PE survey. In addition to sample panel surveys, participant laboratories complete a survey questionnaire every other year describing the characteristics of their laboratory and their testing practices.
The MPEP is not proficiency testing (PT). The MPEP provides detailed analysis of aggregate data and does not grade results from individual laboratories. Graded laboratory proficiency testing surveys are conducted, for example, by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the American Association of Bioanalysts (AAB). Of the approximately 850 laboratories enrolled in the MPEP for HIV-1 Ab testing, nearly 80% are also enrolled in programs sponsored by CAP, AAB, or other PT providers.
The PE surveys are provided free of charge to participant laboratories. The PE surveys depend upon a wide spectrum of laboratory participation to generate a representative data base. To accurately assess the quality of laboratory testing, we need the participation of laboratories representing all levels of performance. Past CDC experience shows that participation in PE surveys leads to improved testing performance. By encouraging participation in the PE surveys, CDC gives participant laboratories an opportunity for self-improvement and, in addition, a basis for developing prevention and intervention strategies. Interest in the program is quite high; approximately 90 percent of the laboratories receiving sample panels respond with results. This high rate of participation indicates strong support for achieving the goal of improving and maintaining high quality laboratory testing.
The benefits to participants include:
assuring accurate tests are being provided by the laboratory/testing site through external quality assessment
improving testing quality through self-evaluation in a nonregulatory enrvironment
testing well characterized samples from a source outside the test kit manufacturer
discovering potential testing problems so that procedures can be adjusted to eliminate them
comparison of testing results with others at a national and international level
ability to consult with CDC staff to discuss testing issues.
Recruitment for volunteer enrollment in the MPEP is ongoing by CDC (to date more than 20,000 laboratories/testing sites have been contacted). Not all of the laboratories/testing sites contacted perform the tests evaluated by the MPEP but of those that do perform these tests and participate in the MPEP, approximately, 750 perform HIV rapid testing, and 165 perform Mycobacterium drug susceptibility testing.
The reports sent to participant laboratories following each PE evaluation survey consist of tables and graphical figures, grouped for each performance evaluation sample, by test kit manufacturer, test method, WB band patterns, and IFA intensity, for example. A written analysis of results is included in each final report. The aggregate reports are also available on the World Wide Web at: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/mpep/default.aspx. Although the MPEP is not a regulatory program, laboratories find the aggregate reports of testing results beneficial in comparing their results with those from other laboratories. This practice affords each laboratory the opportunity for self-improvement and serves as a vehicle to accomplish an important objective of the MPEP: improving and maintaining high quality testing. Periodic brief reports highlighting important findings are sent to MPEP participants, usually after aggregate reports have been distributed. Reprints from CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) publications and from CDC authored peer-reviewed journal publications concerning retroviral or AIDS-related testing are also sent to participant laboratories.
Assessing Preanalytic and Post analytical Processes
To identify and assess barriers to high-quality laboratory testing in preanalytic and postanalytic steps of the total testing process for HIV and AIDS-related testing, CDC collaborates with the Association of Schools of Public Health to develop systematic analyses for identifying variables in the steps of the testing process. These analyses are used to assist in cataloging events that occur from the time tests are requested through specimen collection, laboratory analyses, and reporting of test results so that potential problems, particularly in the preanalytic and postanalytic steps of the testing process, can be identified and corrected. Some of these analyses include:
Identification of nonanalytic issues in HIV-1 antibody testing using blind proficiency testing.
Use of a nominal group process for improving the performance of laboratories conducting HIV antibody testing
Personnel competency assessments.
MPEP Focus on Laboratory Practices
Through PE survey data and ongoing research, the MPEP evaluates laboratory practices linked to high quality performance. The focus is on answering such questions as the following:
What are the testing practices and characteristics of laboratories that perform HIV- or Mycobacterium-related testing?
Do these practices affect quality in the laboratory testing process?
Is the high quality of laboratory testing dependent upon the nature of the laboratory itself, e.g., public health versus blood collection center versus hospital-based laboratory versus independent laboratory, numbers of samples tested, types and sequence of tests performed, internal and external quality assurance procedures implemented throughout the testing process, education and training of testing personnel, or experience of personnel performing the testing?
What strategies for correcting quality failures are most effective and how can they be implemented?
Currently, we provide the following:
Reports to participants: These reports contain graphical figures and analyses of the PE sample survey and questionnaire results, which are useful indicators in detecting performance deficiencies and quality results. These reports can be found at: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/mpep/default.aspx.
Publications and presentations: MPEP Performance Bulletins addressing specific testing performance issues, MMWR articles describing specific aspects of performance results, and peer-reviewed journal publications directly addressing testing issues. A list of publications can be found at: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/mpep/rpubs.aspx. A list of presentations can be found at: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/mpep/rpres.aspx.
Statistical analyses: Examination of participant laboratory data to develop a profile of the characteristics which distinguish a laboratory testing process that performs consistently well from one that performs poorly. This information is essential for targeting strategies for improving the quality of laboratory testing.
Future plans of the MPEP include:
(1) Refinements in existing programs, such as performance panels to evaluate new or changing methods in performing HIV rapid testing, and use of multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium strains.
(2) Provision of improved online performance data submission
(3) Expansion of the survey design to broaden our knowledge about the level of quality in the preanalytic and postanalytic steps of the testing process
(4) Recommendations for intervention strategies for laboratory improvement
(5) Serve as a Center of Excellence for External Quality Assurance (EQA) activities, providing EQA consultative services to laboratories/testing sites within and outside the United States | <urn:uuid:f3b99a41-4805-482d-8dc9-c9649dec9a8b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wwwn.cdc.gov/mpep/rdescrp.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00135-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903705 | 1,819 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Metabolism Problem Set
Problem 16: ATP synthase
ATP synthase can produce ATP using as a direct energy source:
A. energy from the conversion of glucose to pyruvate
B. energy from the oxidation of pyruvate producing CO2 and H20
energy from a proton gradient established in mitochondria
The electrons from from NADH and FADH2 flow through the electron transport chain in the inner mitochondrial membrane generating a H+ buildup in the inner membrane space. This proton gradient (gradient of H+) flowing through the membrane enzyme complex ATP synthetase is the direct energy source for producing ATP.
D. energy derived from the breakdown of NADH and FADH2
E. energy from the metabolism of amino acids
The Biology Project
University of Arizona
Tuesday, August 20, 1996
Contact the Development Team
All contents copyright © 1996. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:cb536120-1a9a-4426-bd61-9412a0c46d3a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/problem_sets/metabolism/17c.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.796118 | 189 | 3.03125 | 3 |
(Last Updated on : 08/09/2015)
of the Satavahana Dynasty
remained iconic till their rule in the 2nd century. Primarily the Satavahana style of art and sculpture was dominated by the faith of Buddhism
. But even in the most detailed sculptures, Lord Gautama Buddha
was not represented in a human form. This was known to be a significant feature of the Satavahana sculptures. Various schools of sculptures flourished under the patronage of the Satavahana rulers. The Amravati School of sculpture
came to the forefront as one of the most popular styles of Buddhist art
. The sculptures here show some of the traces of the influence of the Gandhara
Amaravati stupa and the Mathura
schools to some extent. The erotic sculptures are less in numbers but can be marked with their presence. The images were characterized by vigour, activity and grace.
The features of Satavahana sculptures
are also found in the sculpture of Nagarjunakonda
. At Nagarjunakonda the sculptural tradition of Amaravati seems to continue. Here too, the Buddhist themes dominate the entire picture of artistic creations. Episodes from Gautama Buddha's life have been transferred on stone. But the outstanding example of the sculpture of that ages and art of Satavahanas is the depiction of the Enlightened Buddha.
The sculpture of Karle Chaitya
is another example of the magnificence of the Satavahana architecture. The hall is more than 124 feet long, 46 feet broad and 46 feet high. It also marked with construction of the garbhagriha
, the pradakshinapatha and the mandapa
Here, along with the doorway, even the elegant chaitya window, encompassing the woodwork of sculptures has remained till today. Sculpture of Kanehri has also been modelled on the particular style in which other Satavahana sculptures have been carved out.
The famous sculptures at Ajanta Caves
also reflect the features of Satavahana art and architecture. The glory of the Satavahanas is, thus, rightly reflected in the tradition of art and architecture. In fact in many famous places in Andhra Pradesh
like Goli, Jaggayapeta, Ghantasala, Bhattiprolu, Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda the remains of Satavahana sculptures have been discovered. A large number of Stupas had also been constructed under the regime of the Satavahanara rulers. The Bhattiprolu stupa, is a renowned sculptural beauty of the Satavahanas, which is engraved inscriptions in the Brahmi script
, which is said to be closely associated to the Balinese, Burmese, Javanese, Thai and Indian Tamil | <urn:uuid:97c283a5-42e7-45b0-b90f-e6500c3cebe9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.indianetzone.com/10/ancient_sculptures_satavahana_empire.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00126-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948729 | 596 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Vitamin B-12 (Cyanocobalamin) is a water soluble vitamin necessary for the maintenance of a healthy nervous system and the metabolic utilization of fats and proteins. Vitamin B-12 is also essential for the synthesis of DNA during cell division and therefore is especially important for rapidly multiplying cells, such as blood cells. In addition, adequate intake of Vitamin B-12, along with Folic Acid and Vitamin B-6, encourages healthy serum homocysteine levels, thereby supporting cardiovascular health. Because Vitamin B-12 is found predominantly in animal products, strict vegetarians are at risk of developing Vitamin B-12 deficiency and may benefit from supplementation.
|Serving Size: 1 lozenge|
Servings Per Container: 100
|Ingredient||Amount||% Daily Value**|
|Folic Acid||100 mcg||25|
|Vitamin B-12||1 mg||16667|
| ** Percent Daily Value is based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.|
† Daily Value not established.
As a dietary supplement, take one lozenge daily. Chew lozenge or hold in mouth until dissolved. Consider taking this product in combination with NOW B-Complex, Folic Acid, B-6 and TMG. | <urn:uuid:9d00f3e0-17b2-4145-9085-e85dbe498193> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.allstarhealth.com/f/now-b_12.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00130-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.862698 | 274 | 2.75 | 3 |
Written by†Molly Rauch
An interview with school nurse, Linda Mendonca:
Environmental health is a very important aspect of school health that tends to get overlooked. As a school nurse I may be the only one in the school setting with a health background ensuring students are healthy and ready to learn.
Iíve been a school nurse for 19 years, and Iíve worked in all kinds of schools: elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. I was a Navy wife with four children, and I needed a job with a workable schedule for when my husband was out to sea. Thatís how I got involved in school nursing. Currently I work at an urban Jr./Sr. high school in Rhode Island.
Air Quality in Schools
The air inside a school can†determine the health and academic performance of the students. There are many factors in the school environment that influence the air quality. For example, is the ventilation system working properly? Is it maintained regularly? Are filters being changed? Another factor is the moisture level. At my school, there are a lot of leaks in the roof. Water comes down into the ceiling tiles, and if you look up, you can actually see the mold in the tiles. Schools need to have a plan to take care of problems like that.
You also have to look at the general cleanliness of the place. Is there a lot of dust? Are there cockroaches? Are there pesticides being applied to control for infestations? All of these things can trigger asthma. Many people are concerned about the chemicals in labs when they think about healthy school air. But I havenít had many problems with that. I think the overall environment is more important.
Over the years, as I continue to practice school nursing, I have encountered many factors in the school air that have impacted the students and staff. When there are problems with the ventilation system and airflow isnít good, that affects children and staff members with asthma. Another thing I have been seeing lately in my high school is the use of cologne sprays, such as Axe. Some kids think itís funny to spray it in the classroom Ė then Iíll get five kids in my office all at once because theyíve been breathing this spray. Itís now banned at my school, but kids sometimes sneak it in!
Asthma is a big problem in my school. About 20 percent of my students have asthma, with varying levels of severity. I am very passionate about decreasing asthma triggers by†using healthier cleaning products,†preventing mold and educating school staff and teachers.
School Bus Idling
One other factor to consider regarding air quality and the school environment is that of school bus idling. It is important that school buses are†not idling outside of school buildings. As they idle the fumes are able to penetrate into the building through open windows (in warmer weather) and through doors that are left open as large groups of students enter the building. When I worked in Illinois, in the morning when the students arrived at school, the front door would be open and fumes would come right into the school. The fumes traveled right down the hall into my office. It was so toxic. It really reduces air quality.
Some states, such as Rhode Island, have a no-idle law for diesel vehicles, particularly school buses. You may want to†check the laws in the state where you live. If your state has a law, do the school buses comply? Do the parents and caretakers in the carpool line comply? Whether or not there is a law, you can work toward voluntary limits on idling to improve the air around the school. If the air outside the school is polluted, it is likely that the air inside the school is also unhealthy.
What You Can Do
As a parent you can make a difference! You can explore the schoolís environment if you have concerns or children with chronic health issues.
One of the most important things I tell parents is to know your childís†asthma triggers. You need to advocate for your child. Make sure that the school environment is compatible with your childís health needs. I also tell my parents to make sure their child complies with the maintenance medications that can keep asthma from flaring up. And of course, make sure your child has his or her inhaler. So many times kids come into my office without the inhalers that they need to address their asthma symptoms.
The EPAís†Tools for Schools action kit is a great tool available to guide the school community through the voluntary process of reducing exposures to indoor environmental contaminants. By forming a team under the direction of school administration the work can begin. Through this process parents can get a better handle on their schoolís environment and make steps toward a healthier facility.
Florence Nightingale, Environmentalist
I became interested in environmental health through my work with asthmatic children. But then I realized that this is a fundamental nursing approach. Florence Nightingale was all about environmental health. Cleaning up the environment gets us back to the basics in terms of nursing. Thatís where good health starts.
Linda Mendonca is a school nurse in Rhode Island. She is the President of the RI Certified School Nurse Teachers Association, Chair of the RI Lung Association Board, and sits on the School Workgroup Subcommittee of the RI Department of Healthís Asthma Coalition. She is also a member of the†National Association of School Nurses, a Moms Clean Air Force partner. All this and she is working toward her Masters Degree in Advanced Public Health Nursing at RUSH University in Chicago. Thank you Linda for your tireless advocacy on behalf of childrenís health!
Photo credit: University of Salford | <urn:uuid:c1ba7230-e537-47ab-bcf8-d773d48b82b3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.care2.com/causes/this-school-nurse-is-a-champion-for-clean-air.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00198-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971092 | 1,182 | 2.515625 | 3 |
• infantry •
in-fên-tri • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: The foot-soldiers in the military
Notes: I thought we needed to look at this Good Word in honor of that branch of the military that is taking the brunt of the actions in Afghanistan. We also need an answer to that age-old question: "When was the infantry made up of infants?" If an infantocracy is the rule of babies (as my grandchildren rule my family) and infantolatry is the worship of babies (of which I must confess my guilt), then an infantry should be a collection of babies. In fact, the word has been used jocularly in this sense.
In Play: Although it is not a real meaning of the word, the use of this Good Word to refer to infants collectively is not unheard of. The Oxford English Dictionary reports this sentence from 1863: "There was one A.B.C. book, or pretty nearly one, for the whole 'infantry' of the country." Today's word is best known, however, in the expression, "If all else fails, call in the infantry." They are, historically and by reputation, the last line of defense.
Word History: So, you have wondered when the infantry was composed of infants. It is a good question, since this Good Word should refer to a collection of babies. In fact, however, it comes from French infanterie, a word the French borrowed from Old Italian infanteria, which was a collection of infante "youth, foot soldier". The Italian word came down from Latin infan(t)s "infant"; its meaning rusted a bit in the river of time. Now it really gets interesting. The Latin infans (infant- with endings) was a derivation from in- "not" + fans "speaking", the present participle of fari "to speak". For those of you who doubt that humans are distinguished from other species by speech, harken: even the ancestors of the Romans thought so.
Come visit our website at <http://www.alphadictionary.com> for more Good Words and other language resources! | <urn:uuid:02fbd0dc-46dc-4504-8a5e-4360bef411f7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/print/infantry | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967032 | 459 | 2.84375 | 3 |
I am trying to figure out some basics of digital electronics. We have all seen the squared graph of the computer clock signal:
I have read multiple articles on the Internet and still can't figure out whether the moment of signal value switch (I guess on the graph only approximated as point) is important. It would mean it represents the interval when a circuit gets feeds from the inputs and is expected to propagate the values to the outputs, during the interval and the periods of the stable signal are used for something else?
Or the edges are not important but the periods of the stable signal are and the clock signal could be considered as only one additional circuit input, with high or low voltage set? It would mean the circuit starts e.g. reacting on other inputs when the clock signal is set to 1 and it is expected to get values on the outputs somewhere in that clock cycle - when the clock signal is 1 or 0 right after that?
Only the second option seems logical to me but internet authors regularly write that something is expected to happen on the rising edge, and that a circuit should get its outputs in the interval? That is only a term for saying that signal is set to high now?
If the other option I favour is true look at, for example, a counter register made of a single JK flip flop with its inverted output feeding its J input. It is expected to toggle from 0 to 1 in every cycle. If the circuit should start reacting on its inputs when the clock signal becomes 1, what if the result propagates to the outputs while the clock signal is still 1 and there is enough time to propagate values through the whole circuit once more while the clock signal is still 1 in the same cycle, and toggle the counter once more? I see nothing in the circuit that should stop multiple same-clock-cycle propagations if the circuit is fast enough? | <urn:uuid:9ee47ae5-b9de-4da4-8d0f-9b30cbf6c71a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/69466/what-is-important-in-computer-clocks-signal-signal-edges-or-intervals-when-sig | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00042-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952631 | 380 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Scrum -When the ball becomes unplayable or stationary, a scrum shall be ordered and the ball inserted by the team who were not initially in possession.
Originally Posted by sean michael
ive watched rugby for ages but.... can someone explain te scrum to me.
), in the sports of rugby union
and rugby league
, is a way of restarting the game, either after an accidental infringement or (in rugby league only) when the ball has gone out of play. Scrums occur more often, and are of greater importance, in union than in league.
In both sports, a scrum is formed by the players who are designated forwards binding together in three rows. The scrum then 'engages' with the opposition team so that the player's heads are interlocked with those of the other side's front row. The scrum half from the team that did not infringe then throws the ball into the tunnel created in the space between the two sets of front rowers' legs. Both teams may then try to compete for the ball by trying to hook the ball backwards with their feet.
A key difference between the two sports is that in rugby union both sets of forwards try to push the opposition backwards whilst competing for the ball and thus the team that did not throw the ball into the scrum have some chance of winning the possession. In practice, however, the team with the 'put-in' usually keeps possession. Forwards in rugby league do not push in the scrum, often feed the ball directly under the legs of their own front row rather than into the tunnel, and the team with the put-in almost always retains possession.
A rugby union scrum | <urn:uuid:b9aa7f5e-5fb6-49ae-a811-824fa8bb38ca> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wutang-corp.com/forum/showpost.php?p=896773&postcount=47 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00141-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974983 | 348 | 2.984375 | 3 |
The Government of Paraguay initiated a privatization of state-owned companies at the end of the eighties, but few companies have been privatized so far. There are plans to encourage private participation both in the provision of drinking water supply services and in the power sector.
The Consejo de Privatización (CNP) oversees the privatization process.
|42 per cent of the urban population has drinking water supply and 35 per cent has sewerage. Only 17 per cent of the rural population has drinking water supply, although 60 per cent has adequate sanitation. Coverage is substantially higher in Asunción, where 86 per cent of the dwellings has drinking water connections and 68 per cent sewerage connections|
The Corporación de Obras Sanitarias (CORPOSANA) provides drinking water supply and sewerage services in Asunción and in all communities of more than 4 000 inhabitants. The institutional strengthening programme, initiated in 1993, encourages private sector participation in specific areas of CORPOSANA.
Several cities, including some areas of Asunción, rely on private water vendors. Independent water producers usually provide water services to a specific group of consumers through private contracts between the producer and the consumers. Some distribute water through metered house connections. CORPOSANA allows independent services until its own system expands to the area in question. The private sector also constructs sewers under the approval and supervision of CORPOSANA.
The government has announced plans for a concession system for the expansion of urban drinking water supply and sewerage systems. Under these plans, CORPOSANA would be replaced by an autonomous regulatory agency to oversee the operational and investment activities of the private company granted the concession. The legal and institutional aspects of the reforms required to promote private sector participation are under study.
In rural areas and communities of less than 4 000 population, drinking water supply and sanitation services are the responsibility of the Servicio Nacional de Saneamiento Ambiental (SENASA). SENASA implements rural drinking water supply and sanitation projects through local sanitation committees (Juntas de Saneamiento) which administer, operate and maintain them with technical assistance from SENASA.
| Net installed capacity in 1994 (MW):
Percentage of population with
residential connections in 1989...........46
Electricity generation, transmission and distribution is the responsibility of the Administración Nacional de Electricidad (ANDE). Laws þ 966/64 and þ 976/82 comprise the regulatory framework of the sector. With the exception of one locality served by a private company, ANDE has a monopoly.
ANDE is expected to be either partially or totally privatized, at some future date. Studies are under way to determine an appropriate regulatory framework and the optimum form for private sector participation.
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the IDB has awarded a US$ 1 085 000 grant to assist Paraguay in restructuring the energy sector, paving the way for greater private sector participation and investment. One of the objectives of the grant is to enable the government to undertake the necessary legal and administrative steps to separate business activities from regulatory functions, opening up possibilities for private investors.
Sobre derechos de autor -
Sobre el CEPIS -
Servicios - Búsqueda de información - Solicitud de asesorías | <urn:uuid:4882ff9d-d7f8-48c5-8c3a-484713828f73> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bvsde.paho.org/muwww/fulltext/ppw/ppwpara.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00146-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.876743 | 696 | 2.546875 | 3 |
- The Long March: Xenophon and the Ten Thousand by Robin Lane Fox
Yale, 351 pp, £25.00, September 2004, ISBN 0 300 10403 0
- The Expedition of Cyrus by Xenophon, translated by Robin Waterfield
Oxford, 231 pp, £8.99, September 2005, ISBN 0 19 282430 9
- Xenophon’s Retreat: Greece, Persia and the End of the Golden Age by Robin Waterfield
Faber, 248 pp, £17.99, November 2006, ISBN 0 571 22383 4
- The Sea! The Sea! The Shout of the Ten Thousand in the Modern Imagination by Tim Rood
Duckworth, 272 pp, £12.99, August 2006, ISBN 0 7156 3571 9
The Anabasis, as The Expedition of Cyrus is often called, stands out among classical Greek texts for the glimpses it offers of Hellenes encountering a baffling and often dangerous alien world. A mishmash of military memoir, travelogue and biography, it’s also the most detailed description we have of Greek soldiers on campaign. The story opens with the rebellion in 401 BC of the Persian prince Cyrus against his brother Artaxerxes II, and recounts the progress of his army (which included around 13,000 hired Greek soldiers, among them Xenophon) from his headquarters in Sardis through modern Turkey and the Syrian desert to the plains of Mesopotamia. The first book culminates in Cyrus’ death at the hands of his brother in the battle of Cunaxa. The remaining six follow the ordeals of the stranded Greek survivors (‘the Ten Thousand’) as, against all odds, they fight their way back home, a trek of a thousand miles, which first takes them north to the Black Sea then west to Byzantium. (The term anabasis technically denotes only the march ‘up country’ to Cunaxa; the march ‘down’ to the sea is properly the katabasis, that along the coast the parabasis.) On the way, the Greeks encountered Syrians who regarded ‘fish as gods and did not let anyone harm them, or doves either’; Armenians who lived underground and binged on barley wine; and Mossynoecians who ‘wanted to have sex in the open with the kept women whom the Greeks had brought, because that was their custom there’. Xenophon has an eye for a snapshot.
It’s easy to be misled, however, by the apparent artlessness of his observations, conveyed in his mellifluous, paratactic prose. It’s not surprising that he was known in antiquity as ‘the Attic bee’, while Hazlitt praised the ‘clearness of style and modesty of temper’ he found in the Anabasis, a judgment that Robin Waterfield’s new translation doesn’t traduce. Xenophon’s relatively simple sentences, preference for the vivid present tense, and use of third-person narration inevitably invite comparison with that other great classical war reporter, Julius Caesar. By the mid-19th century, this clarity had entrenched both Caesar and Xenophon as standard school texts. The Anabasis didn’t always endear itself to its readers, however. W.W. Tarn applied to Xenophon one of Juvenal’s pithier put-downs (originally aimed at Hannibal): ‘He performed a march without precedent across savage mountains, his reward has been to become a text for schoolboys.’ Struggling through the Anabasis, stopping again and again to disentangle points of grammar and syntax, the beginner’s experience seemed to mimic the trials undergone by the Ten Thousand themselves.
Readers’ attitudes to the Anabasis often change as they get older. Italo Calvino recalled his schoolboy experience of reading Xenophon as one of great boredom, but later thought he had been wrong to feel this. Yet the view of Xenophon as a simple, uncomplicated author has persisted. Calvino opens his 1978 article on the Anabasis with the claim that reading it today is ‘the nearest thing to watching an old war documentary’. Comparing Xenophon with T.E. Lawrence (as others have done), he asserts that ‘in the Greek there is nothing beneath the exactness and dryness of the narration.’ Lawrence’s own view of the Anabasis was tellingly different. It was, he wrote to George Bernard Shaw, a ‘pretentiously simple’ tale, ‘cunningly full of writing tricks’.
The essays in The Long March, a much needed new companion to the Anabasis, provide explanations of some of these tricks. Whether analysing the Ten Thousand as a mobile Greek polis, considering the text’s ethnographic content, or sketching its religious dimension, all these essays keep firmly in mind what one of the contributors, Christopher Tuplin, calls Xenophon’s ‘characteristic combination of selection and silence’.
A case in point is an incident that occurs in Book IV when the mercenaries under Xenophon’s command are marching through the territory of the Colchians (just inland from the Black Sea city of Trapezus). Xenophon’s description of the effects of some ‘poisonous honey’ on his men is typically graphic:
All the men who ate honeycomb became deranged, suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea, and were too weak to stand up. Those who had eaten a little behaved as though they were drunk, while those who had eaten a lot behaved like madmen, or even like people on the point of death. The ground was so thickly covered with supine men that it looked like the aftermath of a defeat, and morale plummeted.
The full text of this book review is only available to subscribers of the London Review of Books. | <urn:uuid:1b123720-bd4f-4dd1-84bb-89997007d108> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n21/henry-day/being-greek | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952411 | 1,257 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Every morning, New York on the Potomac brings you historic moments that took place on this date. We hope you enjoy Diana Carlton’s “Today in New York History.”
1870 – The YWCA is founded in New York City.
1897 – The New York Times starts using the slogan, “All the News That’s Fit to Print.”
1933 – The first singing telegram was introduced by the Postal Telegram Company in New York.
1934 – A souvenir stamp sheet was issued in New York City to commemorate the explorations of Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr., a U.S. naval officer who led expeditions to Antarctica. It was the first time the U.S. Postal Service had issued an unperforated, ungummed stamp.
1961 – The Niagara Falls hydroelectric project began producing power. | <urn:uuid:22f1f637-6604-4a2e-9c0a-1d41b0cff500> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/44054/today-in-history-niagara-falls-goes-hydroelectric-and-the-first-singing-telegram/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00147-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942946 | 186 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Composer, born at Eutin, Lower Saxony, 18 December, 1786; died in London, 5 June, 1826. His father, Franz Anton von Weber, a nobleman of reduced finances and a former army officer, later became a strolling theatrical manager. This gave young Weber an opportunity for acquiring that stage routine and adaptability which stood him in good stead later; but it also interfered with his general and musical education. His father realized the talents of the youth, and saw that he received the best available instruction in violin, piano-playing, and harmony. Karl enjoyed at two intervals and for a considerable time the theoretical guidance of Michael Haydn at Salzburg, and later of Abbé Vogler in Vienna. Upon the latter's recommendation, Weber was appointed in 1804 conductor of the opera at Breslau. On account of his youth he was unable to enforce discipline, and had to relinquish the post at the end of one year. In 1806 he entered the service of Prince Eugene and Prince Louis of Wurtemburg, as private secretary and teacher of music. In 1810 an indiscretion on his father's part caused him to be exiled. The next three years were spent in composing and concertizing. In 1813 he accepted the conductorship of the national opera at Prague, where he continued until called to Dresden in 1816 by the King of Saxony to organize a German opera company in the Saxon capital.
With the assumption of his duties at Dresden, Weber's real significance as a factor in German national art takes shape. The somewhat frivolous spirit of former years now gave way to seriousness. The romantic literature of the day, with its echoes of the Catholic past and its tendency towards a return to the centre of unity, appealed all the more to him on account of his own family traditions. His familiarity with and love of folk-song, and the fiery liberation poetry of the day, all tended to increase in him the intense national spirit to which his own temperament enabled him in turn to give such remarkable expression. He became, through his musical interpretations of the war and emancipation songs, his operas, and works for the pianoforte, not only the founder of the romantic school of music, but also a powerful factor in the movement for throwing-off the foreign yoke in matters political and artistic. The fame of his works spread over Europe. Their dramatic truth, vividness, and the glowing colours of his instrumentation made Weber the lion of every capital. In Feb., 1826, he went to London for the purpose of producing his opera "Oberon", which he had been invited to compose for Covent Garden Theatre. Weber had suffered from phthisis for a number of years, and the strain involved in the London engagement caused him to succumb. He was buried in Moorfields Chapel. Seventeen years later, through the instrumentality of Wagner, his remains were removed to Dresden. Besides "Der Freischutz", the operas "Oberon", "Eurianthe", "Silvana", "Peter Schmoll", "Turandot", "Rubezahl", "Beherscher der Geister", "Abu Hassan" are the best known. Weber also created a large number of instrumental works, chiefly for the pianoforte. As royal director of music he had charge of the music in the Dresden court church. Two masses and a number of smaller works to liturgical texts, probably written in haste for special occasions, are below the standard of his secular works, and lack liturgical character.
The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed between 1907 and 1912 in fifteen hard copy volumes.
Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.
No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.
Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912
Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online | <urn:uuid:9e03969a-8af6-40b3-ad7f-a1b60a2f37d8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=12241 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00151-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968544 | 1,107 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Public Housing for Miners
Iowa Public Television
For miners, living in the coal camps near Granger, Iowa, conditions had always been bad. Some miners could count on having work only a few hours a week. They needed a better way for getting food on the family table.
They lived in very poor shacks—we may say—four roomed houses; no matter what the size of the family was. There was no running water; there was no electricity. I felt that these people working only part time should be employed at least during their non-working days and non-working months at something.
Father Luigi Ligutti, pastor of the Assumption Church in Granger, sought a way for the miners to grow their own food and have a pride in owning their own homes. Father Ligutti was responsible for obtaining government approval for one of the first public housing projects in the nation.
So he figured if he could get these homesteads out here, we could be working, raise your own meat, raise your own vegetables and even raise vegetables to sell.
Each of the 50 homes were set on approximately five acres of land to provide small garden plots for the occupants.
But when we moved out here it was altogether different. We had running water—which we never had before—and we had a furnace and the conditions were much better then they were in the mining camps.
I believe in human beings. I believe that the human beings had tremendous abilities and possibilities and if properly handled, all human beings can be both socially and economically productive.
Iowa Pathways: Iowa History Resources for Students and Teachers
Home ~ My Path ~ Artifacts ~ Timeline ~ Quest ~ Teacher Resources ~ Project Information ~ SponsorsIowa Pathways © 2005 - 2016 Iowa Public Television | <urn:uuid:9237482c-d1a5-4343-9262-ef63b264febd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.iptv.org/IowaPathways/artifact_detail.cfm?aid=a_000761 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975406 | 362 | 2.703125 | 3 |
In order to give a very brief overview we must first talk about what you think you know about racism, and what Shirley Sherrod knows about racism. As an African-American Person of Color, her perspective deals with growing up in the south amid immense racial discrimination. Racism is very important to this story because one needs to understand just a little bit about this dreadful disease.Unless you're a minority, a minority of color, an African-American Person of Color or of Hispanic origin, then you really don't know what the sting of racism feels like. For African-American People of Color, Black people, whose heritage is largely based on the slavery here in America, you probably never felt the full brunt of this disease, which is based on hatred of your people. And unless you're like Shirley Sherrod, who grew up in the southern part of this great country, and whose father was killed by a White man that was never charged in that murder, then you don't know how Shirley Sherrod really felt after this tragic event or how it molded her. If you consider yourself a Christian, but don't understand how Shirley Sherrod overcame her views of the White man, then you really don't know Shirley Sherrod and you definitely don't know how God works.
Unless you had a cross burned on your lawn and were denied simple things like using a common bathroom, eating at any restaurant of your choice, being able to go to any hotel that you wanted to, being able to sit downstairs in the movie theater, or drink from a public water fountain of your choice, and go to any school in the United States of America, then you really don't know what racism is all about, and you definitely haven't felt the sting of racism.
The timing couldn't any be better for the person or persons who were trying to destroy the career of Shirley Sherrod, an African-American Person of Color. What was done also caused a huge distraction to President Obama's Wall Street Reform Bill, which he signed into law. There was also the Republican Party's refusal to vote again on the Unemployment Extension bill, which passed, but do to what is called cloture, the Republican Party was able to hold up the final vote and the signing of that bill by this 30 hour rule. http://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/cloture.htm
There is a "how to' do everything. As I said in my book "Born In The Wrong Country," " "So you see one needs to be responsible. You see there is a "how to' do many things that we do, things we do every day but take for granted." The key is being responsible; even when you fire someone you need to be responsible because there is a "how to' involved in firing someone too. It's too bad law enforcement can't apprehend a criminal as fast as the USDA fired Shirley Sherrod; ""..she says she was called on her cell phone while driving and told to pull over. Her resignation was then demanded." This is unheard of; it sounds like something from a movie script, but it wasn't; this was real.
When someone wants to try and harm a person's reputation they'll do just about anything, and Andrew Breitbart did just that, or did he? Whether he acted on his own, and without any help from anyone else seems suspect to me; there are just too many in the political circle, who refuse to give President Obama the praise that he deserves. I wouldn't be surprised if this went much deeper; the timing was just too perfect. Though the focus is on Andrew Brietbart, this could also be a distraction of a mass cover-up; politics is dirty. The Obama Administration must be stay on guard to prevent his administration from being sabotaged. When he was running for the Presidency, one major roadblock that was throw into the midst of his campaign was his association with Rev. Wright; however, he was able to rise above all of his obstacles becoming the first African-American Person of Color to win this prized office. Though he won this battle, his winning infuriated those that were out to stop him; now that he's President, his opponents have not become any less angry or aggressive; racism works that way; it is relentless.
First of all, the incident of Shirley Sherrod being forced to step down from her position is shameful; it's unconscionable. Evidently there was a rush to judgment by someone who did not have her best interest in mind. People's lives are very important and deserve to be preserved to the best of ones ability. It is a crime that this was not done, but more of a crime what this person, Andrew Breitbart tried doing to ruin Shirley Sherrod's reputation. What he did was mean spirited, hateful and racist. It's shameful that the NAACP believed what was shown them and hastily commented before watching the entire tape. I know that they retracted their statement, but had they done their homework, their eyes would have opened widely before making such a mishap. The NAACP should be aware of these underhanded schemes; their organization has been in business for over 100 years, and having gone through all kinds of racial strife and the Civil Rights Movement, there just isn't any excuse.
What the White House did in forcing Shirley Sherrod to resign is equally as bad in another way. Who ever was in charge of this and forced Shirley Sherrod to resign sounds like someone that does not believe in the justice of a Black woman or perhaps in any African-American People of Color. Homework and research need to be done before hanging a person out to dry. It is evident that the research wasn't done; they didn't listen to her plea and they didn't listen to the entire tape; I did and I understood exactly what Shirley Sherrod was saying; it's too bad that they rushed to judgment and did not consider the source from which it came. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9NcCa_KjXk&feature=player_embedded | <urn:uuid:9cedd12b-2192-47b3-982a-edd6f46c434e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://opednews.com/articles/What-Shirley-Sherrod-Reall-by-Milton-Lee-Norris-100725-548.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98919 | 1,242 | 2.515625 | 3 |
- Historic Sites
The Measurement That Built America
The little-appreciated U.S. public-land survey not only opened up our frontier but made possible our freedoms
November/December 2002 | Volume 53, Issue 6
Most visitors blamed the South’s idleness on its slave economy, but that wasn’t the only thing that made the Southern frontier different. Throughout the region a nexus of fraud and corruption and the complications of earlier land grants made by French and Spanish governments prevented U.S. public land surveyors from establishing the kind of grid that was spreading into the Midwest. Surveys were forged, boundary markers moved, land officials bribed, and only those with deep pockets and smart lawyers could regard their titles to property as secure. In 1816 one local expert reckoned that “the titles in Kentucky will be Disputed for a Century to Come yet, when it’s an old Settled Country.” That lack of security kept the South from developing the sort of vigorous land market that flourished in the North, where financial institutions in New York and Boston created loans, bonds, and credit arrangements of ever-increasing sophistication to finance deals. And the Southern economy languished for much of the nineteenth century.
Significantly, one Southern state did escape the pattern. Stephen Austin, who brought hundreds of American families to Texas while it was still under Mexican rule, was so disgusted by the confusion of Kentucky’s survey that he measured out the Americans’ property accurately and in rectangles. As a result, much of Texas’s public land came to be divided into plain, easily surveyed squares or oblongs that could be bought and sold without difficulty. When oil was discovered in Texas, late in the nineteenth century, real estate financing was available from institutions and individuals that had already done well in the land market.
The losers in all this were the American Indians. Almost every Indian war fought by the U.S. government from the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 to the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 had its origins in the urge to pry ownership of land from its original occupants, and almost every Indian defeat was followed by a treaty in which they ceded territory to the U.S. government. Immediately afterward the surveyors would arrive with their chains and compasses, and in their wake would come the settlers. “It would be difficult to describe the avidity with which the American rushes forward to secure this immense booty,” Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America . “Before him lies an immense continent and he urges onward as if time pressed and he was afraid of finding no room for his exertions.”
WHAT JEFFERSON NEVER FORESAW WAS THAT THE SQUARED-OFF LAND WOULD BECOME A SOURCE OF CAPITAL, ENABLING SETTLERS TO BORROW, LEND, INVEST.
Yet, as Jefferson anticipated, the survey also gave even the farthest-flung pioneers an interest in a law-based society, for once their square parcels had been registered at the land office, the whole panoply of the law guaranteed their rights to them. And because they received their property from the U.S. government, they had a stake not just in their immediate society but in America itself, a sense of identification that immediately struck the English émigré Morris Birkbeck when he settled in Illinois in the 182Os. “Here, every citizen, whether by birthright or adoption is part of the government,” he wrote, “identified with it, not virtually but in fact.”
What Jefferson never foresaw was that the squared-off land would become a source of capital, enabling settlers to borrow, lend, and invest in other enterprises. A generation after Hutchins started measuring out its wilderness, the state of Ohio possessed “33 printing-offices, 27 banks, 12 cotton mills, 8 paper mills, 3 nail factories, an almost infinite number of stores, grist merchants and sawmills.” This rural capitalism grew to fit in seamlessly with the industrial age in the 1850s and with the expansion of the railroad system across the country, financed by the federal government’s lavish grants of public-survey squares that the railroad companies could then sell to settlers. Thus Jefferson’s yeoman farmers inexorably became part of the capitalist world that went with the democratic distribution of land.
Equally inexorably, so too did the measurements used in the survey. Having decimalized the dollar, Jefferson enthusiastically proposed decimalizing American weights and measures. As a painless way of introducing the change, he argued that the survey’s squares be measured in decimal units (a township would have measured 10 by 10 new decimal miles, each mile being about 6,086 old feet long, and subdivided into tenths, one-hundredths, and one-thousandths). It comes as something of a surprise to discover that George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison all supported Jefferson’s scheme for decimalizing.
But the measures that were eventually chosen for use in the survey, and that thus came to be adopted by every settler in the new Western lands, were archaic Saxon units based on the number 4. The length of the standard surveyor’s chain is usually described as 22 yards, but more important it was also 4 rods, each 16’/2 feet long. In sixth-century Anglo-Saxon England, the cultivation of an area measuring 4 square rods was reckoned as a day’s work; 40 days’ work made an acre, and 640 acres made a square mile. This ancient system was perfectly suited to the U.S. public-land survey because when it came to measuring out squares, a system based on 4 made life very simple. | <urn:uuid:31652929-ecbf-43ab-bfaa-141bd9c6bc4d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.americanheritage.com/content/measurement-built-america?page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00089-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968573 | 1,212 | 3.578125 | 4 |
An article in The Arizona Republic recently talks about a dog named Rico who can learn and remember new words as quickly and easily as a young child. Children learn about 10 words a day with just one exposure to each word, according to an article which appeared in Science journal. This ability is referred to as "fast mapping" and is responsible for the speed and breadth of acquiring vocabulary in preschoolers.
Rico is a 9-year-old Border Collie living in Germany. He was first seen by scientists on a European game show. Amazed with his ability to understand and react to a great number of words, the scientists brought him into the lab for testing. They found that his ability with vocabulary resembled what they formerly thought was unique to children, the ability to absorb new words with ease. He also displayed reasoning and memory skills, a talent not previously credited to dogs.
Rico was shown a toy and told the name for that toy. A month later he would retrieve that named toy with the same reliability as a three-year-old child. Even more amazing, if asked to retrieve a toy that he had never been shown before, he would pick it out of a group of known toys seven out of 10 tests.
Rico's owners have been working with him on retrieving since he was 10 months old. He knows the names of 260 toys including panda and tiger. His language is German, so he understands such words as weihnachtsmann, which means a red doll, and sirikid, a white bunny.
Canine expert Claudio Sillero, of the United Kingdom's Oxford University, said "We know dogs are clever, but this is the first time one has been tested with human psychology techniques and delivered interesting results."
Rico's word knowledge is comparable to that of trained dolphins, sea lions and parrots, but far superior to chimps which are believed to be man's closest relatives. Other dogs will now be tested to find out if Rico is a "Canine Einstein" or simply a dog eager to learn and fortunate enough to have owners interested in providing a challenging environment.
The above story provides room for thought. In about 1800, there was the story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron who was raised by a pack of wolves. Found as a young teen, he was brought into a scientific environment under the direction of Jean Itard to determine what kind of learning could take place with a child raised with no human contact and no language. I wrote a research paper on this years ago so the facts are vague, but the findings were to prove very dynamic in the education of mentally handicapped children. The ability to learn is based both on heredity and environment. No matter the basic intelligence, mental stimulation increases the ability to learn. Our prisons are full of very bright children who have had no mental stimulation.
Dogs react similarly and Border Collies and Jack Russell Terriers are excellent examples, being both bright and high energy. Everyone who owns one knows that you have to occupy their minds and provide physical activity. Without a "job" they can get into lots of trouble. That is why it is vitally important to match the dog to your lifestyle.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste no matter whom it belongs to. It is pathetic to observe the unchallenged mind of a child. Our dogs also are eager to learn. Certainly there are degrees of intelligence in dogs just as there are in people. Dogs who live without mental stimulation and then have offspring who are not stimulated, the intelligence will eventually be bred out of them I would think.
On the other hand, it is amazing what dogs can learn. In dog activities such as musical freestyle, agility, and herding, there are words for many actions and objects. Several words direct the dog to do an action to the right or left. That takes thinking.
I see how much my dogs know and how eager they are to learn. If I work with one, the other two wait impatiently for their turn. Imagine if we taught them one word a day.
A couple of safety cautions: It has been found that grapes and raisins are toxic to dogs and can cause kidney failure. If your dog gets into either of these foods, get him to the veterinarian immediately. Vomiting must be induced before the grapes are digested. Blood work can be done to determine the damage to the kidneys.
Also, as we bring new modern cleaning products into our homes, care should be taken with pets and children. The Swiffer Wetjet contains antifreeze. By walking on a newly cleaned floor and then licking his feet, the dog can ingest enough of the solution to cause liver failure. Read all labels carefully. Allow the floor to dry thoroughly before the dog walks on it and keep all food dishes and food away from the product.
Christy Wrather is a columnist for the Payson Roundup. She can be reached by e-mail at email@example.com or by snail mail at HC1 Box 210, Strawberry, AZ 85544. | <urn:uuid:95362f1f-be50-4f36-aa72-cc0d7fc6fe58> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2004/jun/28/how_smart_are/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00161-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978634 | 1,042 | 2.890625 | 3 |
American Education Week begins Sunday, Nov. 11, and its history is rooted deep in education unionism.
The special week counts among its sponsors NYSUT's two national affiliates - the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. In fact, the NEA was one of the creators and original sponsors of American Education Week.
Distressed that 25 percent of the country's World War I draftees were illiterate and 9 percent were physically unfit, representatives of the NEA and the American Legion met in 1919 to seek ways to generate public support for education.
The conventions of both organizations subsequently adopted resolutions of support for a national effort to raise public awareness of the importance of education. In 1921, the NEA Representative Assembly in Des Moines, Iowa, called for designation of one week each year to spotlight education. In its resolution, the NEA called for: "An educational week ... observed in all communities annually for the purpose of informing the public of the accomplishments and needs of the public schools and to secure the cooperation and support of the public in meeting those needs."
The first observance of American Education Week occurred December 4-10, 1921, with the NEA and American Legion as the cosponsors. A year later, the then-U.S. Office of Education joined the effort as a cosponsor, and the PTA followed in 1938.
In addition to the NEA, AFT and American Legion, other co-sponsors are the U.S. Department of Education, the National PTA, the American Association of School Administrators, the National School Boards Association, the American School Counselor Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National School Public Relations Association, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National Association of Elementary School Principal and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
American Education Week is always celebrated the week prior to the week of Thanksgiving. | <urn:uuid:ce563fe6-7600-405c-b092-d7f699ed4424> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nysut.org/news/2012/november/get-ready-for-american-education-week--nov--11-17 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967622 | 391 | 3.09375 | 3 |
March 3, 2006
NASA Cancels Mission to Visit 2 Asteroids
LOS ANGELES (AP) - NASA on Thursday canceled a mission to visit two asteroids five months after the program was told to stand down because of cost overruns and technical problems.
The cancellation is the latest setback for NASA, which has been forced to delay science missions to focus on developing a new manned spacecraft to return to the moon in the next decade.Earlier this year, the space agency said it had postponed the planned launch of the Dawn spacecraft this summer as it awaited a review by an independent team. The team presented its findings at a meeting with NASA officials and project scientists in January.
The project was capped at around $371 million, project scientists said previously. But the program was ordered to stand down after scientists asked for an additional $40 million last year. Exact costs were not available Thursday.
Dawn was supposed to lift off in June on a nine-year voyage to two of the solar system's largest asteroids, Ceres and Vesta, which reside in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The Dawn mission was put on standdown last October after going over budget and suffering several setbacks that included the rupture of two xenon fuel tanks during testing, forcing engineers to reduce the amount of xenon to be loaded in the tanks.
Asteroids are believed to be remnants from the solar system's formation about 4.5 billion years ago, and studying them could provide clues into how the sun and planets formed.
Dawn would have been the first spacecraft to orbit the two asteroids, which scientists believe formed in different parts of the solar system and had different evolutionary processes.
The Dawn spacecraft was to reach Vesta, 220 million miles from Earth, in 2011. It was then supposed to have reached Ceres, about 258 million miles from Earth, in 2015.
It was to spend several months orbiting each asteroid, photographing the surface and studying the interior composition, density and magnetism.
Dawn was part of a NASA program called Discovery that aims to explore the solar system on what the space agency considers to be a shoestring budget. The program includes the Stardust mission, which returned to Earth in January with samples of comet dust.
The Dawn mission was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
On the Net:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov | <urn:uuid:17361e88-8719-4d7c-b0a9-e3161c5daab3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/413251/nasa_cancels_mission_to_visit_2_asteroids/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973259 | 492 | 2.640625 | 3 |
GWEN IFILL: Finally tonight, a West African country struggles to recover from years of conflict and aims to provide its citizens with very basic needs, including safe drinking water.
Special correspondent Steve Sapienza has another of his collaborations with African journalists covering the continent’s water issues.
His story was done in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
STEVE SAPIENZA: Since 1980, the West African nation of Liberia has been through a cycle of bloody civil war that has claimed over 200,000 lives.
Reporter Tecee Boley survived the turmoil and is now pushing the government to tackle a water crisis that arose during the war years, a crisis that is still claiming lives today.
Radio journalist Tecee Boley wants to know why a reliable supply of clean water to Monrovia’s slums remains outside the reach of government and aid agencies. I met Tecee at the Liberian Women’s Democracy radio station on the outskirts of the capital. Her drive to report about Liberians’ daily struggle to find clean water was undoubtedly shaped by growing up in a war zone.
TECEE BOLEY, Liberian radio journalist: When the war was really hot in Liberia, I would get up early morning to fetch water for my mom. As soon as the shooting subsides, I would go sneak, get a bucket or two, and come indoors. There was no other alternative. We needed the water. Otherwise, we would die.
STEVE SAPIENZA: During the war, tens of thousands of Liberians fled the violence in rural areas in search of food and shelter in the capital. A decade later, Monrovia’s slums remain badly overcrowded, and those who eluded war now face new dangers.
TECEE BOLEY: There’s a high demand for clean water now in these areas because the population overstressed the already limited services.
STEVE SAPIENZA: At the Randalls Road slum, a group of war amputees tells Tecee that their pump hasn’t worked in over one month, a heavy burden to those living on less than a dollar a day.
TECEE BOLEY: The water source itself, when we went to that community, you see there is a hole dug around the well. That means somebody who is physically challenged can’t get there to get the water.
MAN: To get water here is hard. I have to pay someone to get to the well and buy the water and bring it to us, so that we can get water to take bath.
STEVE SAPIENZA: 18 percent of all deaths here are caused by waterborne illnesses like diarrhea, malaria and cholera, according to the World Health Organization.
One recent World Bank study found E. coli, an indicator of widespread fecal contamination, in 58 percent of water sources across Monrovia. These are sobering statistics for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is recognized internationally for her work on water issues.
She pledged in 2008 that water access in Liberia would double in four years. Achieving this target is the job of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation and its managing director, Nortu Jappah.
TECEE BOLEY: I visited a community yesterday, and I want to know why the water supply to that community is irregular.
NORTU JAPPAH, managing director, Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation: Okay, so I think I have talked about the issue of our capacity issue. We ration water. Most of our infrastructure have lived their useful lives, and at the end of the day, most of it needs to be replaced. And we have had constant breakdowns of machines and pumps.
And so it’s our plan that once we have some of these technical issues reckoned with or so, we will be able to get water to Monrovia in its entirety.
TECEE BOLEY: How soon do we expect to see. . .
NORTU JAPPAH: I would assume that probably just by the end of the year.
STEVE SAPIENZA: As proof the government was on target, Mr. Jappah cited a recent project.
NORTU JAPPAH: For the past 21 years, there has not been water on the Somalia Drive area. Just recently, the president and I, we dedicated or opened the first water main since 1990, so people along the Somalia Drive now have pipe-borne water.
STEVE SAPIENZA: Curious to see if rhetoric matched reality, Tecee left the interview and went straight to Somalia Drive. After several hours of fruitless searching, she found no evidence of water flowing from city pipes to local taps.
TECEE BOLEY: Since the war, it only came once.
Tecee did find a local man profiting from the water shortage by reselling bags of water. But he also had seen no proof the city was pumping water to his neighborhood.
MAN: Before the war, there was water all around here, but now we don’t know what is the problem.
STEVE SAPIENZA: Kulah Borbor fled heavy fighting in the interior during Liberia’s civil war and came to West Point, one of Monrovia’s largest slums. She arrived with her husband and four young children, only to face another battle.
KULAH BORBOR, Liberia: When we get here, we started drinking good water. It went bad with a bug that hit our stomach, so he didn’t make it.
STEVE SAPIENZA: When cholera took Kulah’s husband, she thought about going back to her village. But she stayed, and now teaches her neighbors how to purify water and prevent deadly diarrhea in infants. This is lifesaving knowledge in a slum of 60,000 people, where most residents buy suspect water from vendors or fetch water from dirty wells.
TECEE BOLEY: How do you feel when you save someone’s life with that solution you made there?
KULAH BORBOR: I feel happy because I don’t want people to be like me. So, I feel happy, because when I lose my husband, I suffer with my children.
TECEE BOLEY: And the president said that there are water supply to a community like West Point. And, clearly, we went to West Point. There is no pipe water there. There’s no pipe water. The people in West Point will have to buy the five-gallon container of water.
STEVE SAPIENZA: Unfortunately, the rising urban population and waterborne illnesses are spreading faster than city pipes.
TECEE BOLEY: Some of these people who work in government, they have people who are working under them in the various departments. They come back and paint a picture like everything is fine. And, actually, they are not fine. I think the bosses themselves have to go on the field and see the reality.
STEVE SAPIENZA: Tecee’s reporting exposes the gap between the Liberian government’s claim it has addressed critical water problems, and the actual conditions faced by Monrovia’s residents.
Until the government solves the problems, many more Liberians who fled the war, leaving towns and villages behind, risk losing their lives to a new foe: unsafe water.
GWEN IFILL: You can learn more about West Africa’s struggles to get access to safe drinking water. There’s a link to the Pulitzer Center’s stories on our website. | <urn:uuid:1b38cf89-6b32-4746-bd5a-480ffbf03375> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/globalhealth-jan-june12-africawater_04-25/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956287 | 1,607 | 2.75 | 3 |
The Sisters of the Visitation were the fruit of the spiritual relationship between two great saints – St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal. In 1601, Jane was a twenty-eight year old widow and mother of four small children. She took a vow of chastity and began a search for a spiritual director. In 1604, she met St. Francis de Sales. They became lifelong spiritual friends. He shared with her his dream of beginning a religious order for women. It would be different from other orders in that poor health or advanced age would not be a reason to bar women from entrance. They would have no cloister and would instead work in the world, free to undertake both the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. St. Francis wanted these women to embody the spirit of Mary at the Visitation (hence the name, the Sisters of the Visitation).
Unfortunately, there was great opposition to women ministering in the world. As a result, Francis and Jane decided to create a cloistered community based on the same ideals. They would have a spirit “of profound humility toward God and of great gentleness toward the neighbor.” In keeping with St. Francis’ instruction to seek God’s will in all things, they would seek only God and strive for union with Him. There would be far less emphasis on the ascetical practices common to religious orders of that day. Rather, they would focus on the inner spiritual life and an emphasis on simplicity and joy in a life lived in community.
In 1610, St. Jane and her two daughters became the first Sisters of the Visitation. The order spread very quickly. By the time of her death in 1641, there were 86 houses. Today, some Visitation communities continue to be cloistered, while others engage in more active ministry in the world. All continue to stay true to the dream of St. Francis and St. Jane.
Fidelity toward God consists in being perfectly resigned to his holy will, in enduring everything that his goodness allows in our lives, and in carrying out all our duties, especially that of prayer, with love and for love. In prayer we must converse very familiarly with our Lord, concerning our little needs, telling him what they are, and remaining submissive to anything he may wish to do with us… We should go to prayer with deep humility and an awareness of our nothingness. We must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our good angel, and then remain still in God’s presence, full of faith that he is more in us than we are in ourselves. There is no danger if our prayer is without words or reflection because the good success of prayer depends neither on words nor on study. It depends upon the simple raising of our minds to God, and the more simple and stripped of feeling it is, the surer it is. We must never dwell on our sins during prayer. Regarding our offenses, a simple humbling of our soul before God, without a thought of this offense or that, is enough…such thoughts act as distractions — Saint Jeanne de Chantal, from Wings to the Lord. | <urn:uuid:921ffd2e-40b6-4964-8874-1fe9eef489a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://catholicexchange.com/the-sisters-of-the-visitation-celebrate-400-years | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965583 | 649 | 2.625 | 3 |
Have you ever wondered about the safety of your home? Earthquake, super typhoon, wildfires, hurricanes, and tornado are natural disasters that can leave you homeless or problematic because of the potential damages these unavoidable disasters bring to buildings, houses and all types of structure.
Every year, in every part of the world, people die from different natural disasters. So, knowing how to protect your home and loved ones from the random acts of Mother Nature is essential. Having a thorough plan and being prepared for disasters common to your area is vital to remain safe.
Come to think of it! If you are living in an area wherein flashflood, earthquake, wildfires and other natural disaster are common, it is best to disaster proof your home rather than wait for a natural disaster to occur and destroy what you have worked hard for many years. Yes, one can never really prepare for disasters as there is no way to determine the gravity of the situation, especially with earthquake until the disaster has strike. Fortunately, there are ways to lessen the impact of disasters.
In fact, proper arrangements and safety measures can certainly minimize the impact of disaster when it strikes. The following are just some of the things you can do to protect your home from natural disasters.
List of Natural Disasters
Before I discuss the things, you can do to protect your home from natural disasters, let us talk about some of the disasters that affect the different countries worldwide.
Hurricanes – It is a natural disaster characterized by strong winds. The storms can absolutely affect everything on the waters and wind path, so do not be surprised why a lot of people want to prepare for the hurricane.
Wildfires – Wildfires are common in Australia, United States and other grassland and forested areas, wherein there is a severe drought during the autumn and summer. Wildfires often caused by volcanic activity, lightning strikes, and heat waves.
Floods – the most common natural disasters since almost all countries experienced heavy flooding. Heavy rains or non-stop rains for days can cause flash floods, wherein roaring waters accompanied by debris and other elements can cause colossal damage to anything in its path, whether to a person or home.
Earthquakes – This is the most devastating disasters, caused by sudden colliding or shifting of the tectonic plates in the earth crust. The intensity of the earth movement can severely damage any structure.
Tornadoes – It is a natural disaster cause by contact of warm air with cooler air. Tornadoes are dangerous since it can level homes, uproot trees, and destroy vehicles.
Home Disaster Preparedness
- Check The Roof – When there is a tornado or hurricane the roofs often blown away by strong winds. So, it is advisable to check the roof for loose shingles as a sturdy and strong roof can protect your house.
- Cracks Are Warning Signs Not An Art – If your walls have cracks, it is wise to have an architect or foreman checked the cause of cracks. You see, cracks can be a sign of erosion or an indication that the wall need additional steel to reinforce the concrete. Take note, undertaking safety measures may be costly, but you can save more money when you prepare for natural disasters as walls with cracks have the potential to go down.
- Retrofit or Reinforce Garage Doors – If you want your garage doors to survive during hurricanes and tornadoes the best thing to do is to retrofit your doors to strengthen them.
- Install Shutters – Installing shutters on windows can protect the home and prevent the glass from breaking easily during hurricanes.
- Check Doors from Top to Bottom – Secure the double doors from the top to bottom by adding pins or bolts when needed to strengthen the doors.
- Add Bracing and Straps To Roofs – If you live in a hurricane prone area, you can prevent the roof from flying away if you will secure it with bracing and straps.
- Make A Safe Room – Transform the basement or lower portion of the house into a safe room. The safe room is similar to a shelter or boom proof room, usually found in many homes, in Israel.
- Natural Disaster Home Insurance – Purchasing insurance like for flood damages is imperative to avoid paying for all the water damages or damages from natural disasters.
Below are the other things you can do to protect your home and family from different natural disasters:
Removing the outside antennas, bringing in the furniture inside the house and boarding up the windows in case you do not have a shutter is a good way to protect your home from hurricane. Additionally, turning off utilities and moving the furniture to the second floor of the house can also help.
Preparing for tornado
You can prepare for tornadoes when you add devices like straps, clips, and anchors to secure the wood frame of the house.
Elevating the main breaker or fuse box, as well as the cooling, ventilating, and heating equipment can save you hundreds of dollars yearly, more so when you are living in a flood prone city. Securing the fuel tank to concrete slab can also avoid home disaster. | <urn:uuid:0788b193-cd03-420d-a946-88a15a33019d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cathy.snydle.com/disaster-proof-house.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934335 | 1,037 | 2.984375 | 3 |
(Reprinted from the Glens Falls Post-Star,
July 21, 2005)
Roberts could change history
By Beau Breslin
Almost 70 years ago, a single justice of the United States Supreme Court
altered the entire trajectory of American history. The same may be
The year was 1937, and the country was in the throes of the depression.
Led by FDR and a Democratically controlled Congress, the federal
government had introduced a wide variety of policies aimed at economic
recovery. Price fixing, maximum hour legislation, and minimum wage laws
were important components of a larger initiativecoined the "New
Deal"whose goal was to directly combat the effects of America's
The problem was that not everyone bought into the principles of the New
Deal. For nearly a decade, a slim but powerful majority of the United
States Supreme Court had invalidated many of the most critical New Deal
measures. This conservative majority had consistently argued that
regulations interfering with particular business relationshipsthe
relationship between employers and employees, for exampleviolated
certain basic constitutional provisions.
One member of that slim majority was Justice Owen Roberts. A
Pennsylvanian nominated to the Supreme Court by Herbert Hoover in 1930,
Roberts had, to that point, enjoyed a mostly unremarkable seven-year
career on the High Court. He was not known for his intellect; Justice
Brandeis was considered the intellectual giant on the Court. Nor was he
known for his charisma; that title went to Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Instead, he was viewed as a fairly consistent conservative voice on a
deeply divided court. More often than not, he provided the critical
fifth vote rejecting FDR's New Deal policies.
Then, inexplicably, everything changed.
Justice Roberts switched his vote. Almost overnight, a profoundly
antagonistic court bent on derailing the president's desperate measures
became a deeply sympathetic court. In the blink of an eye, a
conservative majority became a liberal majority.
Justice Roberts' decision to abandon the opponents of FDR's regulatory
scheme and join forces with the liberal wing of the Supreme Court was
noteworthy on a number of different levels. It has famously been labeled
"the switch in time that saved nine." But more importantly it represents
a critical moment in the history of the United States.
It placed the country on a different path, a path to economic recovery.
What was viewed at the time as a relatively innocuous change in judicial
voting patterns quickly became a revolution. In hindsight, perhaps no
one was more responsible for ushering in an entirely new historical era
than Justice Owen Roberts.
Today, we are poised for an equally revolutionary "switch" by a jurist
By all accounts, there is little that Justice Owen Roberts and Judge
John G. Roberts, President Bush's nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor on the Supreme Court, share in common beyond a surname. But
what they do share in common is monumental: the capacity to alter
entirely the course of American history.
Speculation abounds as to why President Bush ultimately selected Judge
Roberts from an impressive list of candidates. But surely the major
reason he settled on the D.C. Court of Appeals judge is that Roberts
represents what O'Connor was nota consistently conservative voice on
the major issues of the day.
So often Justice O'Connor disappointed conservatives by voting with the
liberal wing of the current Court to uphold the central holding in Roe
v. Wade, approve of affirmative action programs, maintain an impregnable
wall of separation between church and state, and so on. If confirmed,
Justice Roberts is far less likely to carry on the legacy of Warren
Court liberalism than was Justice O'Connor. Indeed, those cases in which
Justice O'Connor represented the vital fifth vote in a fragile liberal
majority are all, once again, up for grabs.
Judge Roberts has carefully, and impressively, scripted his career to
avoid any of the pitfalls that could easily derail his appointment.
When he has written, he has been careful to remind observers that as a
lawyer his job is to advocate for his client regardless of his own
personal opinion. When he testified before the Senate Judiciary
Committee during his 2003 confirmation hearings, he was careful to point
out that as a judge on a lower federal bench his responsibility is to
follow Supreme Court precedent whether he likes it or not. But make no
mistake, if he is confirmed as the 109th Supreme Court Justice his
presence on the High Court will alter the constitutional landscape for
many years to come.
Like the "switch in time that saved nine," the switch from Justice
O'Connor to Judge Roberts will likely place the country on an entirely
The dominant constitutional issue will not center on economic freedoms,
as it did in the mid-'30s, but rather on those personal freedoms that
are so contested in contemporary America. The right of women to exercise
their privacy by seeking to terminate their pregnancies or the right of
"enemy combatants" to consult an attorney if detained by the federal
government are the hot-button issues of the day. And yet the
constitutional moment America faces is no less monumental than it was
seven decades ago.
Justice Owen Roberts altered the course of American history by switching
his vote in 1937. The potential is very real that the second Justice
Roberts will have an equally powerful impact on the direction of this
Beau Breslin, 39, is associate professor and chair of the Department of
Government at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.
A nationally recognized specialist in constitutional law and civil
liberties, he published "The Communitarian Constitution" in 2004. The
book examines the tensions between individual rights and the good of the
community. He also is the author of numerous articles and papers on the
Constitution and the judiciary.
Professor Breslin received his bachelor's degree from Hobart College in
Geneva, N.Y. and his master's degree and Ph.D. in political science from the
University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Saratoga Springs with his wife, Martha, and their daughter,
©2005 the Post-Star
Creative Thought Matters. | <urn:uuid:822dbb4d-d976-454e-8f8c-3cc761da6487> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.skidmore.edu/newsitems/features/post-star072105.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963444 | 1,304 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Sailing to Byzantium Theme of Old Age
Growing old just isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. "Sailing to Byzantium" begins as a meditation on the things which age leaves behind: bodily pleasure, sex, and regeneration. As death approaches, the speaker turns towards the possibility of rebirth as a potential solution for the trauma of watching his own body deteriorate. The line between spiritual and physical rebirth becomes blurred as the speaker imagines placing his soul into an art object, something that can outlast all mortal creatures.
Questions About Old Age
- Is the speaker of the poem an old man? How can you tell? If he’s not, how does this change your reading?
- Which does the poem value more: youth or agelessness? What textual evidence allows you to draw your conclusion?
- Does age matter in Byzantium? If so, how?
- How does this poem define old age?
Chew on This
Because he travels to Byzantium, the speaker finds a way to assert the value of the wisdom and strength that he’s accumulated over the years of his life.
"Sailing to Byzantium" isn’t so much a poem about the consequences of aging; it’s a critique of life itself. | <urn:uuid:a1c76a1a-8151-479a-a8cb-12e785678774> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.shmoop.com/sailing-to-byzantium/old-age-theme.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931075 | 275 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Nowadays, computer technology is developing at a very fast pace. Prices have become affordable. Consumers cannot resist the temptation to replace computer systems too often, sometimes neglecting the importance of environmental care. How to help keeping the balance between a technical progress and ecological protection?
The reasons why people rid of old laptop computers can be different - obsolete models, broken or malfunctioning parts, or the combination of many factors. A fast developing technology makes computers outdated at a very quick pace. An additional factor, why people are prone to look for the replacement of currently owned laptop, is low prices. Decreasing prices make it affordable to replace the old computers more often with the latest improved ones.
A laptop computer is a complex system. Since it consists of many parts, the probability that one part can be out of order within a finite period of time is quite high. To make it more clear, let's do a simple math for a single notebook. If probability for one part to fail within one-year period equals, for example, only 0.01%, and the notebook has, for instance, 1,000 parts, the chance of failing one of the parts in a single laptop is around 10% (0.01*1,000). Now let's assume there are 10,000 laptops that people bought in a city. Since the probability that one laptop in each group of 10 has 100% chance to be broken, we get 1,000 broken laptops annually. We could estimate the number of broken laptops worldwide every year. This number is huge - the millions of broken laptops.
Besides the complexity, laptops are pretty fragile devices. A small defect or even damage can be easily introduced by users. So what would you do if only some particular part of your laptop is broken? What if laptop's warranty has expired or does not cover the part replacement? Would you try to find some place to repair? Despite the obvious benefit of repairing - money saving, some people say that it is easier to look for a new laptop. Of course, it is up to user if it is time to say good-bye a non-fully functional or defective laptop. But if you decided to throw out your old PC, think about recycling.
Why is it vital to recycle old laptop computers? When computers decompose, dangerous chemicals contaminate the water supply and the air. The disposal of old computers is a serious problem. If even a very tiny battery can make soil seriously contaminated and causes a water pollution, a much bigger laptop battery creates much more troubles, not to mention about other parts of computer. Additional problem is a growing demand for laptops because their production pollutes the Earth.
First of all, if your computer is still functional, consider donating it to someone, to a charity, or budget-limited organization. If you are buying a new laptop, sometimes the option is to recycle an old one at store. Now many manufacturers offer different computer recycling programs. If your computer is still in a good shape, they may even refurbish it and re-sell. Nevertheless, most components inside of the computer contain valuable resources that can be reused.
Computer technology is moving now at a breakneck speed, sometimes diminishing the importance of environment protection and care about our green planet. Fortunately, more and more laptop users become ecological-minded. They understand that recycling helps converting used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the pollution of the Earth. Some of them have found places to repair; others have learned how to replace broken screen, keyboard, and other parts on their own.
© Alex Smartson. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. | <urn:uuid:2e48e077-49ef-463f-b3ef-906e5289ba34> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://laptop-screen.blogspot.com/2010/06/to-recycle-or-not-to-recycle-laptop.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942465 | 743 | 2.90625 | 3 |
LECTURE #12: Schaeffer & Mackie on God & Morality
I. Schaeffer on the Moral Necessity of Christian Theism
A. The data: (1) man's finitude, yet intrinsic difference from the non-human, and (2) the dilemma of man's nobility + cruelty.
B. Three possible explanations: (1) No rational answer, (2) An impersonal beginning (materialism, naturalism, "paneverythingism"), (3) A personal beginning (theism).
C. Schaeffer's critique of naturalistic ethics: with an impersonal beginning, "everything is finally equal in the area of morals," (e.g., in Hinduism, no ultimate distinction between cruelty and non-cruelty, pp. 24-5) and our moral "motions" are left with "no ultimate fulfillment in the universe."
D. A Personal Beginning:
- Not a divine command theory: "it is God himself and his character which is the moral absolute of the universe." (p. 32)
- Two sub-theories: (1) what man is now he has always intrinsically been (historical continuity), and (2) a discontinuity in space and time, separating us here and now from essential humanity (the biblical view).
- The superiority of the biblical view of a historical Fall:
- We can explain human cruelty without making God bad.
- We can hope for a solution to our cruelty, without abolishing our humanity.
- We have a real ground for opposing evil (p. 31). It is not the case that "whatever is, is right." E.g., Jesus weeping at Lazarus's tomb.
- A complication: some, like Kierkegaard and Reinhold Niebuhr, believe in a non-historical, existential Fall, and yet insist that sin is not essential to human beings, and even that sin is something we have voluntarily imposed upon ourselves. Niebuhr: sin is "inevitable, but not necessary" (essential).
III. Mackie on Objective Value
A. Mackie's critique of divine command theory: God's commands cannot be the basis of all moral obligation, since moral obligations can't be generated by God's commands without the prior fact that we are morally obligated to obey God (114-5). (Next time, we'll consider Adams's response to this objection.)
B. Theism would be the best explanation of the existence of objective values, if there are such things.
C. Mackie argues that we have good reason to reject the existence of objective value, since we can give a simpler, more scientifically appealing explanation of humanity, including our moral motions (feelings, judgments, aspirations, etc.) in terms of ethical subjectivism. Simple naturalism is the preferred metaphysical answer.
- Value-properties (objectively good/bad) "supervene" on natural properties: once we've fixed the natural properties of a situation, the evaluative aspects are also determined.
- This necessary connection between values and their basis in nature is mysterious. It can't be a logical, conceptual or "analytic" connection, since value properties are intrinsically action-guiding, while natural properties are not.
- God as a purposive agent could perhaps create and impose objective values on things -- since He is himself a purposive agent. Mackie isn't very explicit on this point, but an Aristotelian could argue that all finite things have as their intrinsic purpose the faithful imaging of God (God as the final cause of all things). Objective value could be defined as successfully bearing a resemblance to God that God intended the thing to have.
x's F-ness is good = by being F, x bears a resemblance to God that God intended x to have. | <urn:uuid:c0b6bcfb-f102-462a-9bf9-ce056701a6b5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://leaderu.com/offices/koons/docs/chrphlec12.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915338 | 797 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Darkfield Digital Image Gallery
As the premiere synthetic stretch fabric, lycra spandex is the trade name for DuPont's version of the long-chain polymeric fiber. Invented at DuPont by American scientist Joseph C. Shivers in 1959, spandex sprang on the market as a replacement for rubber (latex) in women's foundation garments.
Polyether polyols, soft and rubbery segments of the polyester chain allow spandex to stretch up to 600 times its resting length and then recover its original shape. Urethanes or urethane-ureas constitute hard segments in the synthetic compound that provide rigidity, impart tensile strength, and limit plastic flow. 1,4-butanediol (4 carbons, 10 hydrogens, and 2 oxygens per molecule), a precursor for spandex and the polyurethane used to manufacture car bumpers, has more recently made it on to the drug enforcement watch list as the main constituent for the "date rape" recreational drug, gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB). Phosgene, (1 carbon, 2 chlorine, and 1 oxygen atoms per molecule), known also as mustard gas, is used to make the diisocyanate monomers used in spandex fabrication, but under heightened alert is watched worldwide in illicit bioweapons arsenals. Also key in the production of spandex is the intermediary 4,4'-methylenedianiline (MDA) (13 carbons, 14 hydrogens, 2 nitrogens), which is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a hazardous chemical, capable of causing severe liver damage to exposed humans and animals. At DuPont, macromolecular engineers modify the structure of the polymer by using chemical additives, or change the properties of the spandex polymer, such as how it responds to light and heat, meeting new demands and continuing to expand lycra's use in the marketplace.
Known as elastane in Europe, spandex is always blended with other natural and synthetic fibers such as cotton, wool, silk, and linen. Replacing rubber thread, lycra is lighter and does not decompose when exposed to perspiration, body oils, skin lotions, perfumes, or detergents. Although ladies' undergarments including a 1960s boom in soft-support pantyhose still underlie the spandex market, the remarkable synthetic fiber soon found its way into figure-flattering swimwear and by 1968, hit the slopes with the French Olympic ski team. By the 1970s, bicycle racers traded in their old woolen shorts for snazzy and aerodynamic spandex shorts. Next, there were dancewear, tights, stretch jeans and the venerable icon of the 1980s, the jogging suit, some of which reached the gyms and athletic fields and many that never left the dance floor and the fashion scene. The future for spandex is uncorseted and it is expected to squeeze its way into the upholstery of stylish furniture and automobiles, as well-fitting bed linens, and blended with leather and synthetics for truly comfortable shoes that put a spring in your step.
Once only the domain of DuPont, that company still manufactures the lion's share of spandex but in the United States, glospan, cleerspan, and dorlasten compete against lycra spandex. Bayer also manufactures spandex in Germany, and in Japan, Asahi Chemical Industry and Toyobo are world leaders in spandex production as is South Korea's Tae Kwang Industrial Company. So valuable are trade secrets in DuPont's lycra spandex technology, that in 1989, five DuPont employees from the spandex plant in Mercedes, Argentina tried to extort $10 million dollars for the safe return of some stolen proprietary production documents. After a globetrotting chase that bounded from Wilmington, Delaware to Milan, Italy and Geneva, Switzerland, Swiss police and the FBI staged a sting for the documents that went awry. Eventually the extortionists were nabbed by the long arm of the law in a Geneva parking lot and bounced into prison.
Cynthia D. Kelly, Thomas J. Fellers and Michael W. Davidson - National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Dr., The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310.
Questions or comments? Send us an email.
© 1995-2015 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, software, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.
This website is maintained by our | <urn:uuid:a5983521-90f2-47b4-bd92-72ca5327b893> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/olympusmicd/galleries/darkfield/lycraspandex.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925858 | 999 | 2.984375 | 3 |
There are a couple of ways to think about the inverse
of a function. We can approach inverses by looking at graphs or performing algebraic operations. In either case, it comes down to the basic notion that the inverse
of a function
reverses the x and y coordinates. In other words, for every ordered pair
in a function
there will be an ordered pair
in the inverse
When we look at a graph, a function
is reflected over the line
to create the inverse
of the function. By reflecting over the line
we are achieving the goal of reversing the x and y coordinates.
In the graph
below, the original function
is reflected over the line
(which is shown as a dotted line) and gives us the inverse function
notation indicates that we are talking about the inverse
of a function.
A graphical approach is helpful to:
- show that two functions are inverses of each other or not
- sketch the inverse of a function by reflecting it over the line
above displayed two functions that were inverses of each other. We were told what those two functions were and could look at the graph
and see that they are inverses of each other. But where did those two functions come from? If we are given just an original function, how do we go about finding an inverse
on our own? It goes back to the idea of reversing the x and y coordinates.
Let’s return and re-examine the function
. What is the process used to find the inverse? A step by step process is shown below.
- Write the original function using y = notation. Remember that is just the name of our function and is often used interchangeably with y. So we write as
- Interchange the x and y. Remember this is the foundation behind an inverse. So the equation will now become
- Solve the new equation for y. Remember that equations are usually easier to deal with if we have y on one side and everything else on the other side. In solving for y, we get
We then simplify this equation to
- Change the y to inverse notation. This step just helps to ensure that we clearly indicate the inverse. Back in Steps 2 and 3, we had another y = equation and this step just makes sure we don’t have too much confusing notation. So we end up with the inverse as . This is a good thing since we already showed in the graph that the two functions are inverses.
Let’s use this process when we don’t already know the answer and find the inverse
- Change to y.
- Interchange x and y.
- Solve for y.
- Change to inverse notation.
We now have a four step process to find the inverse
of a given function. In the first example we did, we already knew the answer to confirm our process was correct. But in the second example we don’t already know what the answer is supposed to be. How do you know if two functions are indeed inverses of each other? One way is by looking at the graphs. Another way is algebraically using composition of functions. If you are not familiar with composition of function, click here
to learn more.
We have a function
and a candidate for the inverse
. We can show these two functions really are inverses of each other by finding
AND making sure those two compositions are equal to x
Let’s begin by finding
This is half of our process. We also have to verify
is also equal to x.
We have now confirmed that
are inverses of each other.
If we graphed these two functions we could see that they are reflections of each other over the line
. (Think about folding the graph
along the line
and noticing that the function
and its inverse
are superimposed over each other.) | <urn:uuid:ad7ce51b-5bc2-42c4-af23-9703a437caf5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://algebralab.org/lessons/lesson.aspx?file=Algebra_FunctionsRelationsInverses.xml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937169 | 813 | 4.9375 | 5 |
Cognitive development refers to the change in children’s patterns of thinking as they grow older.
The scientist best known for research on cognitive development is Jean Piaget (see pages 72–75), who proposed that children’s thinking goes through a set series of four major stages. Piaget believed that children’s cognitive skills unfold naturally as they mature and explore their environment.
Psychologist Lev Vygotsky believed that children’s sociocultural environment plays an important role in how they develop cognitively. In Vygotsky’s view, the acquisition of language is a crucial part of cognitive development. After children acquire language, they don’t just go through a set series of stages. Rather, their cognitive development depends on interactions with adults, cultural norms, and their environmental circumstances.
Current research indicates that children have complex cognitive abilities at much younger ages than Piaget suggested. As early as four months of age, infants appear to understand basic laws of physics. For example, a four-month-old infant can recognize that solid objects cannot pass through other solid objects and that objects roll down slopes instead of rolling up. At five months of age, infants can recognize the correct answers to addition and subtraction problems involving small numbers. These observations have led some researchers to speculate that humans are born with some basic cognitive abilities.
Critics argue that researchers who find these results are overinterpreting the behavior of the infants they study. | <urn:uuid:b429987b-d70f-41f5-af88-9094f03f4ad0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sparknotes.com/psychology/psych101/languageandcognition/section5.rhtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958099 | 302 | 3.765625 | 4 |
I've read there are differences between 'like' and 'as' regarding comparisons, the first one being a preposition and the second one a conjunction. Please note the following examples:
I didn't know there was a website like this.
I didn't know there was a great website like this.
I didn't know there was such a great website as this.
I didn't know there was a website such as this.
Are all those sentences correct and considered proper English?
What are the functions of the words "as" and "like"?
Is "such as" a synonym for "like"?
This thread was inspired by the thread http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/as...2-pretend.html by Jasmin165 and by private conversations with emsr2d2 whom I kindly acknowledge.
1 & 2- the same apart from great- the first could mean a good site or a bad one, but there's no real difference.
3 & 4 - 4 is simply giving an example of a website while 3 is saying that the person had been unaware of any website of that standard. | <urn:uuid:6e74f774-8f3f-4868-b28c-84773acbae9e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/130801-I-versus-i?goto=nextnewest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00148-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984346 | 235 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Did you know?
Isandlwana is the worst defeat the British have ever suffered against an indigenous army.
Isandlwana was the first engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War on 22 January 1879. It was the Zulu nation's most glorious moment and an ignominious chapter in British military history - a place where assegai and ox-hide shields triumphed over the most modern weaponry of the day.
Underestimating the Zulu, British commander Lord Chelmsford did not order the encampment he established on 20 January at Isandlwana to entrench and form defensive positions. Little did he know that 20 000 warriors were advancing on his position.
The Zulu army, under Dabulamanzi kaMpande, had outmanoeuvred Chelmsford with the intention of attacking his rear. When a British scouting party detected their position in the Ngwebeni Valley, they decided to go on the offensive.
With the Zulu in pursuit, the scouting party sent a messenger to warn Lieutenant-Colonel Pulleine, the officer commanding Isandlwana, that an attack was imminent. When they reached the camp, kaMpande arranged his force into the traditional horns of the chest of the buffalo formation to encircle the British.
Pulleine decided to meet the Zulu head on in the Battle of Isandlwana and sent out 6 companies. Until noon the British appeared to be holding their own, but then matters changed dramatically. Some have blamed a shortage of ammunition, but it is more likely that Pulleine blundered by spreading his men too thin along a wide perimeter.
In the afternoon, when Pulleine realised his force was about to be encircled, he ordered a retreat back to the camp. The battle continued for another 3 hours until the Zulu overran the camp and killed most of the British contingent.
Travel tips & Planning info
Who to contact
Battlefields of KwaZulu-Natal
Mobile: +27 (0)72 271 1766
The League of Researchers of South African Battlefields
Tel: +27 (0)12 355 6405
Tel: +27 (0)34 271 8306
Fugitive's Drift Lodge
Tel: +27 (0)34 642 1843
How to get here
The Isandlwana battlefield is in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The closest town is Dundee, about a 3 hour drive from Durban, 5 hours from Johannesburg.
Best time to visit
All year round, but winter is better as it is cool and dry.
Around the area
Visit a traditional Zulu homestead to learn more about the Zulu culture.
Exploring the battlefield requires a lot of walking and a fair level of fitness.
Length of stay
Give yourself at least a day to full explore the battlefield.
What to pack
Strong comfortable shoes or boots, preferably those that cover your ankles. Also pack a hat and sunscreen and some bottled water.
Where to stay
There are numerous lodges around the area - the Isandlwana Lodge overlooking the battlefield is particularly recommended for war history buffs.
Homemade Zulu arts and crafts for sale at roadside. | <urn:uuid:a3f37cc7-4096-480b-aecb-fc7b283a21e8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.southafrica.net/trade/en/articles/entry/article-southafrica.net-the-battle-of-isandlwana | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928422 | 673 | 3.421875 | 3 |
EvoRoom is an immersive, room-sized simulation of a rainforest ecosystem modelled after Borneo in Southeast Asia. Designed as part of the evolution and biodiversity unit of a Grade 11 Biology course, it situates co-located students in a simulated rainforest and engages them in a collective inquiry activity.
Implemented within a “smart classroom” research environment, the room is equipped with computers, servers, projection displays, and customized software to coordinate the flow of participants and content materials, as well as to collect data during the activity. During the collective inquiry activities, students take on the role of “field researchers,” working in various group configurations to complete tasks delivered to them on their personal tablet computers. The tablets help to place students in small groups, scaffold their activities, collect observations, and give real-time updates and resources. Student observations and reflections are aggregated and displayed on the interactive whiteboards in real-time.
Running for approximately 12-weeks, the integrated curriculum includes in-class activities, homework, a field trip to the zoo, as well as two collective inquiry activities with immersive simulations. One of the collective inquiry activities focuses on the topic of evolution. Students work individually, in small groups, and as a whole-class to gather evidence of evolution by observing changes in life forms within the simulation as it is advanced (by the teacher) across two hundred million years. The second collective inquiry activity focuses on the topic of biodiversity. Prior to the activity, students are to make predictions about how certain environmental factors or changes (e.g., tsunami, earthquake, low rainfall) that occurred within a single season could change the biodiversity over a five-year time span. In the immersive environment, students are presented with four different versions (“scenarios”) of the rainforest ecosystem, challenging them to explore the differences between these four rainforests and to locate the scenario that resulted from the variable or factor they explored in their earlier predictions.
To date, a pilot study and two design iterations of EvoRoom have been developed and tested as part of my dissertation research. The core design team consisted of two researchers (myself included) and a high school biology teacher. Meeting approximately once per week during the academic school year over two and a half years, we considered design elements and outlined our overall strategy. In the months leading up to the enactments, design meetings widened to include two technology developers, and in the second design iteration, three additional researchers.
In the last iteration of EvoRoom, we were able make use of Zydeco (developed by researchers from the University of Michigan; Quintana, 2012). Students used the Zydeco application on their tablets as they navigated EvoRoom as part of an inquiry activity about biodiversity. Below is a video created to accompany our CHI 2014 paper that features the collaboration:
Lui, M., Kuhn, A., Acosta, A., Quintana, C., Slotta, J. D. (in press). Supporting learners in collecting and exploring data from immersive simulations in collective inquiry. Proceedings of ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2014), ACM Press.
Lui , M. & Slotta, J. D. (2013). Immersive simulations for smart classrooms: exploring evolutionary concepts in secondary science, Technology, Pedagogy and Education, DOI: 10.1080/1475939X.2013.838452
Lui, M., & Slotta, J. D. (2013). Exploring evolutionary concepts with immersive simulations. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (CSCL) – Volume 1, (pp. 304-311). International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS).
Smørdal, O., Slotta, J. D., Moher, T., Lui, M., & Jornet, A. (2012). Hybrid spaces for science learning: New demands and opportunities for research. (Vol. 2, pp. 9–16). Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) – Volume 2, (pp. 9-16). International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS).
Quintana, C. (2012). Pervasive science: Using mobile devices and the cloud to support science education. interactions 19, 76–80. | <urn:uuid:c457ee64-d7ff-4cbc-9ab3-0ab297817bfc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://encorelab.org/2014/01/evoroom/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00197-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925537 | 901 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Joined: Dec. 2005
||Posted: June 06 2006,09:07
I to think it is great you are demostrating this to the kids in your class.
I prefer to setup Samba under Webmin, it is a nice gui that makes since to windows users.
Basics of what you need to do:
Install Webmin www.webmin.com
Make a user / Set password (Best if it is the same username/password as your windows machine)
Make that user a samba user. (Best if it is the same username/password as your windows machine)
Set the samba security to user.
Share a folder. (Extra Credit)
When you login you will be able to see your home directory on the Linux box. On your windows box it maybe easier to disable windows firewall, unless you are going to run this for a while?
Email me and I will give you better answers when I know where you are at in the process.:) | <urn:uuid:fc5a5918-0c36-48eb-9d40-0c6e0b3ce879> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://damnsmalllinux.org/static/act=ST%3Bf=7%3Bt=13744%3Bhl=samba+share.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.885052 | 206 | 2.546875 | 3 |
REDUCE Information Package
REDUCE is an interactive program designed for general algebraic computations
of interest to mathematicians, scientists and engineers. Its capabilities
- expansion and ordering of polynomials and rational functions;
- substitutions and pattern matching in a wide variety of forms;
- automatic and user controlled simplification of expressions;
- calculations with symbolic matrices;
- arbitrary precision integer and real arithmetic;
- facilities for defining new functions and extending program syntax;
- analytic differentiation and integration;
- factorization of polynomials;
- facilities for the solution of a variety of algebraic equations;
- facilities for the output of expressions in a variety of formats;
- facilities for generating optimized numerical programs from symbolic
- calculations with a wide variety of special functions;
- Dirac matrix calculations of interest to high energy physicists.
It is often used as an algebraic calculator for problems that are possible to
do by hand. However, the main aim of REDUCE is to support calculations that are
not feasible by hand. Many such calculations take a significant time to set up
and can run for minutes, hours or even days on the most powerful computers. In
support of this goal, REDUCE has the following characteristics:
- Code stability. Various versions of REDUCE have been in use for over forty years. There has been a steady stream of improvements and refinements
since then, with the source being subject to wide review by the user
community. REDUCE has thus evolved into a powerful system whose critical
components are highly reliable, stable and efficient.
- Wide user base. A particular algebra system is often chosen for a given
calculation because of its widespread use in a particular application area,
with existing packages and templates being used to speed up problem solving.
As evidenced by approximately 1000 reports listed in the current bibliography,
REDUCE has a large and dedicated user community working in just about every
branch of computational science and engineering. A large number of special
purpose packages are available in support of this, with many contributed by
- Full source code availability. From the beginning, it has been possible to
obtain the complete REDUCE source code, including the "kernel." Consequently,
REDUCE is a valuable educational resource and a good foundation for
experiments in the discipline of computer algebra. Many users do in fact
effectively modify the source code for their own purposes.
- Flexible updating. One advantage of making all code accessible to the user
is that it is relatively easy to incorporate patches to correct small problems
or extend the applicability of existing code to new problem areas. World Wide
Web servers allow users to get such updates and complete new packages as they
become available, without having to wait for a formal system release.
- State-of-the-art algorithms. Another advantage of an "open" system is that
there is a shared development effort involving both distributors and users. As
a result, it is easier to keep the code up-to-date, with the best current
algorithms being used soon after their development. At the present time, we
believe REDUCE has the best available code for solving nonlinear polynomial
equations using Groebner bases, real and complex root finding to any
precision, exterior calculus calculations and optimized numerical code
generation among others. Its simplification strategy, using a combination of
efficient polynomial manipulation and flexible pattern matching is focussed on
giving users as natural a result as possible without excessive programming.
- Algebraic focus. REDUCE aims at being part of a complete scientific
environment rather than being the complete environment itself. As a result,
users can take advantage of other state-of-the-art systems specializing in
numerical and graphical calculations, rather than depend on just one system to
provide everything. To this end, REDUCE provides facilities for writing
results in a form compatible with common programming numerical languages (such
as Fortran) or document processors such as TeX.
- Portability. Careful design for portability means REDUCE is often
available on new or uncommon machines soon after their release. This has led
to significant user communities throughout the world. At the present time,
REDUCE is readily available on essentially all workstations and high-end
microprocessor-based machines in the market.
- Uniformity. Even though REDUCE is supported with different Lisps on many
different platforms, much attention has been paid to making all versions
perform in the same manner regardless of implementation. As a result, users
can have confidence that their calculations will not behave differently if
they move them to a different machine.
The most recent release of REDUCE is
available for most common computing systems, in some cases in more than one
version for the same machine.
REDUCE is based on a dialect of Lisp called "Standard Lisp", and the differences
between versions are the result of different implementations of this Lisp; in
each case the source code for REDUCE itself remains the same. The complete
source code for REDUCE is available. On-line versions of the manual and other
support documents and tutorials are also normally included with the
In order to help users choose the best version of REDUCE for their purposes,
we describe the general characteristics of the available Lisps, followed by a
table of the particular versions supported on each machine, and finally the full
names and addresses of the REDUCE distributors.
The distributed versions of REDUCE are based on two easily available
- Portable Standard Lisp (PSL). This is currently the Lisp used most widely
for running REDUCE. It evolved from the original Standard Lisp definition, but
now contains many more facilities. It is quite efficient in its use of both
space and time, and has been optimized for algebraic computation. All PSL
versions of REDUCE are distributed with sufficient PSL support to run on the
given computing system. PSL is supported on many architectures and is an ideal
system for those wanting to run REDUCE as a standalone system. The current
principal developer of PSL is the Konrad Zuse Center, Berlin (ZIB).
- Codemist Standard Lisp (CSL). This is a Lisp system written completely in
ANSI C, which makes it very easy to port to a new machine. Like PSL, it is a
faithful implementation of Standard Lisp and has been optimized for running
REDUCE. It requires a very small memory partition for its Lisp support.
Furthermore, most of the REDUCE facilities are supported as machine
independent pseudocode, which is quite compact. In the worst case, the
performance of this system is about a factor of two slower than PSL, though in
many cases it matches PSL performance. However, the memory use is smaller. All
CSL versions are distributed with sufficient CSL support to run on the given
computing system. This is an ideal system for those wishing to embed algebraic
calculations in a C-based programming environment. The developer of CSL is
Various versions of REDUCE are available free of charge from
contact this site for further information.
Obtaining Further Information about REDUCE
You can obtain a current copy of this information form at any time from the
REDUCE home page. In addition
to general information about REDUCE, this server has pointers to the network
library, the demonstration versions, examples of REDUCE programming, a set of
manuals, and the REDUCE online help system.
To register for the electronic mail forum, or for further information, please
contact: Anthony C. Hearn, RAND, 1776 Main Street P.O. Box 2138 Santa Monica CA
90407-2138 Telephone: +1-310-393-0411 Ext. 6615 Facsimile: +1-310-393-4818
Electronic Mail: email@example.com | <urn:uuid:948929bb-b355-4b71-8539-b0361c437b38> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://reduce-algebra.com/info-package.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917995 | 1,700 | 2.90625 | 3 |
(un'gyoo-lit) [L., unguis, a hoof; -atus suffix meaning
Literally, "ungulate" refers to any animal with hooves - a hoof being an enlarged toenail (see below). However, in practice, the use of the name "ungulate" has been inconsistent. While it was originally used to refer to the orders Artiodactyla (even-toed) and Perissodactyla (odd-toed) - the "true" ungulates - over time the term expanded to seven different extant Mammalian orders . . . some of which have no hooves whatsoever! This broadening of the definition was based on presumed family relationships - relationships that recent advances have shown to be artificial. As a result, ungulate is now understood to have no taxonomic significance, and its definition has returned to its original descriptive roots: a mammal with hooves.
COUNT THE HOOVES: some ungulates and their feet.
What is a HOOF?
A hoof is really just a modified toenail. Hooves, claws, and nails are all composed of two structures: the unguis (a scale-like plate; our finger- and toe-nails) and the subunguis (a softer layer, found as a very fine layer on the underside of our fingernails) which connect the unguis to the pad of the digit. Unlike claws and nails, hooves are the principal point of contact between the legs and the ground - as a result, ungulates are said to have unguligrade limbs.
In ungulates, the tough unguis encircles the tip of the digit as a cylinder, enclosing the subunguis within in. Since the unguis is harder than the subunguis, it does not wear down as quickly, resulting in a firm (sometimes sharp) leading edge to the hoof. The pads of the digits lie behind the hooves - these pads touch the ground in perissodactyls and some cetartiodactyls, while only the hooves bear weight in other ungulate cetartiodactyls (notably the Suiformes and Ruminantia).
In many cetartiodactyls, only the central two digits touch the ground. The lateral digits are often reduced (if they are present at all) and only touch the ground in soft terrain. Because of this, these lateral digits are called "false hooves" or "dewclaws".
The development of hooves illustrates a major innovation in the evolution of a cursorial (running) lifestyle, pushed on early ungulates by fast-running predators. Hooves have such an extensive structure because they support all of the body weight of ungulates. Why is this important? Since only the hooves touch the ground, the rest of the parts of the foot have essentially become parts of the leg, substantially increasing the length of stride. Modern ungulates have taken this to the extreme: the metapodials (the bones between the wrist/ankle and the digits) are often as long as the other parts of the legs. Raising the heel and digits off of the ground also increases the number of joints which move the legs forward - this increases the rate of stride. Coupled together, these two factors have given modern ungulates the speed needed to survive, an evolutionary imperative which would not have been possible without the development of hooves.
UNGULATE: A mammal with HOOFS or HOOVES?
The 1964 Edition of Webster's Dictionary gives the plural of hoof as "HOOFS, rarely HOOVES". Over the past few decades, usage patterns of the plural forms of hoof have changed: the online Merriam-Webster's Dictionary (2006) gives the plural as "HOOVES, also HOOFS." Officially, either is correct!
is an UNGULATE?
The Historical Perspective
Anatomy and paleontology have historically been the main tools used to determine evolutionary affinities. The two orders of true ungulates were grouped together early on, on account of their similar leg structures and (of course) their hooves. Even the names of the orders - Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla - were created in tandem, implying that the number of toes was the main difference between the even- and odd-toed ungulates.
Since the hoof was the defining character of the ungulates, feet were the focus of researchers trying to decipher their origins. The large flat nails of elephants, hyraxes, and sea cows - collectively called the "paenungulates" ("almost ungulates") - were thought to represent an evolutionary intermediate between traditional claw-like nails and true hooves. Originally placed at the base of the ungulate lineage, continued research suggested that the paenungulates were more specialized than the true ungulates, nesting them firmly in the ungulate family tree . . . thereby requiring that the definition of ungulate be expanded.
Anatomical studies and fossil findings connected these five orders (along with several extinct groups of ungulates) to a single common ancestor - the early ungulate order Condylarthra from the Paleocene Epoch (65 to 54.8 million years ago). It also became apparent that Condylarths had evolved into other mammals as well, namely the aardvark (Tubulidentata) and the nail-less whales and dolphins (Cetacea). Because of the (presumed) common ancestry of these orders, a taxonomic infraorder - Ungulata - was created, encompassing all descendants of Condylarthra . . . and as a result, the definition of "ungulate" was expanded to include animals without a single hoof!
UNGULATE: The Modern Definition
For many years, "ungulates" were grouped together based on a relationship to an extinct ancestor, not on the basis of hooves. The morphological family tree (above) was the accepted classification of mammals, and was continually being fine-tuned as new fossil evidence was uncovered. (The position of cetaceans next to Artiodactyla was only resolved in the late 1990s). However, recent advances in molecular technology have painted a vastly different picture of how the different groups of mammals are related, relying on similarities in genetic codes rather than appearances. While the first few studies were greeted with skepticism, the consistency of genetic markers has caused a paradigm shift in modern mammal taxonomy (see the Molecular Tree below). This has had two major implications for ungulates:
While the order Cetacea was thought be from a Condylarth lineage, the strength of this tie was not realized until genetic research found a strong affiliation with hippopotamuses. In fact, based on genetic markers from several genes, it has been determined that Cetacea is actually a SUBSET of the order Artiodactyla. Merging two well-defined orders together challenged many established beliefs, and only recently has the result - the order Cetartiodactyla - been widely accepted.
Molecular research has also caused the Ungulata to evaporate from mammalian phylogenies. As seen in the family tree to the left, the members of the former infraorder Ungulata are now widely spaced apart. The "true" ungulates - Cetartiodactyla and Perissodactyla - remain closely allied, although these groups are far more closely related to pangolins (Pholidota), bats (Chiroptera), carnivores (Carnivora), and insectivores (Eulipotyphla) than they are to the paenungulates. Based on molecular AND fossil evidence, the branch of the tree containing the true ungulates arose on the continent of Laurasia, and hence, they are titled the "Laurasiatheria". As for the paenungulates, although they are no longer associated with the true ungulates, they DO have a strong evolutionary relationship with each other. These four orders, along with the the elephant shrews (Macroscelidea) and tenrecs and golden moles (Afrosoricida), form the "Afrotheria", so named due to an evolutionary history in Africa.
But what of the Ultimate Ungulate Page?
When this website first started, Ungulata (without cetaceans) was still accepted as a taxonomically-based (if paraphyletic) grouping. Even as the close ties between cetaceans and ungulates were established, their specialized nature meant that there were never any plans to add these "distant relatives" to the Ultimate Ungulate roster. Cetaceans still represent a highly specialized group of mammals, and, even though they are now included within an ungulate order, their presence here would make very little practical sense. Similarly, there is little justification for including the (unrelated and un-hoofed) paenungulates on an ungulate website (perhaps the Paenultimate Paenungulate Page will come into being in the future!?). Which leaves us with the true ungulates: "Artiodactyls" and Perissodactyls; two groups of large, herbivorous animals equipped with hooves. Although they no longer form a good taxonomic group, their similar biologies makes it convenient to continue using the name "ungulate" in a descriptive sense. UltimateUngulate.com is thus focussing in on TRUE ungulates with HOOVES, returning to the initial definition of ungulate, first put in place when humans started classifying animal life! | <urn:uuid:e92875d7-8425-440d-9b68-bec30251216d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ultimateungulate.com/whatisanungulate.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94716 | 2,056 | 3.765625 | 4 |
The Toco toucan is at home in South America's tropical forests but recognized everywhere. The toucan's oversized, colorful bill has made it one of the world's most popular birds.
The 7.5-inch-long (19-centimeter-long) bill may be seen as a desirable mating trait, but if so, it is one that both male and female toucans possess. In fact, both sexes use their bills to catch tasty morsels and pitch them to one another during a mating ritual fruit toss.
As a weapon, the bill is a bit more show than substance. It is a honeycomb of bone that actually contains a lot of air. While its size may deter predators, it is of little use in combating them.
But the toucan's bill is useful as a feeding tool. The birds use them to reach fruit on branches that are too small to support their weight, and also to skin their pickings. In addition to fruit, Toco toucans eat insects and, sometimes, young birds, eggs, or lizards.
Toco toucans live in small flocks of about six birds. Their bright colors actually provide good camouflage in the dappled light of the rain forest canopy. However, the birds commonly keep up a racket of vocalization, which suggests that they are not trying to remain hidden.
Toucans nest in tree holes. They usually have two to four eggs each year, which both parents care for. Young toucans do not have a large bill at birth—it grows as they develop and does not become full size for several months.
These iconic birds are very popular pets, and many are captured to supply demand for this trade. They are also familiar commercial mascots known for hawking stout, cereal, and other products. Indigenous peoples regard the bird with a more sacred eye; they are traditionally seen as conduits between the worlds of the living and the spirits. | <urn:uuid:3262790e-f05d-4b3d-8051-773a6df7317b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/articles/toucan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00107-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977831 | 399 | 3.125 | 3 |
Chloramines - combined chlorine problems
Pool water problem - combined chlorine (chloramines)
Chloramines are the result of insufficient free chlorine and usually result in a strong chlorine odor in and around the swimming pool. Chloramines are formed as a product of nitrogen and active chlorine (hypochlorous acid - HOCl). The nitrogen is most commonly introduced into the pool water as ammonia in the form of sweat and (unfortunately) urine.
Chloramines (combined chlorine) are poor sanitizers and have a gaseous tendency. The presence of chloramines (and dichloramines/ trichloramines in particular) cause the following physical symptoms:
- red, burning eyes;
- burning sensation in nose, throat and lungs;
- dry, itchy skin and dry hair;
- breathing difficulty leading to "swimmers' asthma" particularly in young children.
In addition to these, the pool has a tendency to discolor, becoming milky or green with algae due to the low sanitizing ability of the combined chlorine.
Testing for combined chlorine in pool water
All good chlorine test kits and pool test strips allow you to determine free chlorine as well as total chlorine. Combined chlorine is calculated from these values as follows:
combined chlorine = total chlorine - free chlorine
The combined chlorine value should never exceed 50% of the free chlorine value and should ideally be as close to zero as possible.
Some cheaper test kits that use liquid reagents (drops) offer one value for the chlorine test. If the reagent bottle is marked "OTO" then you are only testing total chlorine and should consider a better test kit.
Destroying combined chlorine compounds
A shock treatment using either chlorine or a non-chlorine sanitizer will ensure the destruction of the nitrogen compound combined with the chlorine. The pungent smell disappears and the free chlorine level goes up providing complete sanitization of the pool water.
Pool water chemistry formulae - chloramines
- HOCl + NH3 = NH2Cl + H2O
hypochlorous acid + ammonia = monochloramine + water
- NH2Cl + NH3 = NHCl2 + H2O
monochloramine + ammonia = dichloramine + water
- NHCl2 + NH3 = NCl3 + H2O
dichloramine + ammonia = trichloramine + water | <urn:uuid:fc67a312-15c0-4ac9-8f77-44786454f8c6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.poolwizard.net/problems/chloramines.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.89044 | 497 | 2.796875 | 3 |
“What is all this technology doing to our brains?” The second film of the three-part series "Let It Ripple: Mobile Films for Global Change" by Tiffany Shlain explores this question and offers guidance on how parents can best nurture their children’s minds.
Filmmaker Tiffany Shlain’s latest film, Brain Power, explores the connection between the child mind and the Internet and suggests a unique analogy between the two. This is the second film in Shlain’s three-part series “Let It Ripple: Mobile Films for Global Change.” Her first installment, Connected, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and won 13 awards worldwide for its look at the interdependence of today’s connected world. Brain Power draws on new research about early brain development to explore the significance of connections and interaction, curiosity and creativity, and illustrates how parents can best nurture their children’s growing brains. We chatted with Shlain about the idea behind her new film, her inspiration, and what she hopes viewers will take away from Brain Power.
Tiffany Shlain is a filmmaker, founder
of the Webby Awards, and co-founder
of the International Academy of Digital
Arts and Sciences. Her films have been
selected for prestigious film festivals
and have won numerous awards.
What inspired you to make this film?
The questions that were implanted in me as a child, about the human drive for connection, led to my [first] feature film, Connected, which explores what it means to be connected in the 21st century. As I started traveling to screenings of Connected, there was one question that nearly every audience asked: “What is all this technology doing to our brains?” Concurrently one of my mentors and supporters for Connected began supplying me with new research on early childhood brain development. That led to creating Brain Power, about the importance of nurturing children’s brains in early development and relating that to the importance of nurturing the Internet—our global, extended brain—as it’s in early development as well.
Where did you get the idea for the brain-Internet connection you make in the film?
As my team and I plunged into research on Brain Power, we quickly realized that a lot of the language used to describe the growth of the brain was a lot of the same language that is used for the Internet. The Internet was like a global brain. We wanted to take that idea further. Soon it became clear [to us] that the stage the Internet is in today is actually like a child’s brain. As we dug further into this idea, we realized this parallel would be a powerful lens to give insight to both.
Why do you think viewers should watch the film?
I think there are many questions under the surface: Is it okay for my children to play with my iPhone? What does this mean for our future? Is my brain changing for the better or for the worse? Will it all keep changing faster and faster? Brain Power explores those questions by bringing it back to the root: We are responsible for how both our children’s brains and our global brain (the Internet) are growing.
What message do you hope viewers take away from the film?
The analogy in the film suggests that both a child’s brain and the Internet are in critical stages of early development—and that we need to be very mindful about how we nurture both. Ultimately it’s all about creating a better future. And a better future all starts with nurturing the youngest brains on the planet.
Brain Power will premiere in New York City this fall; details were still to be announced at press time. Check letitripple.org for updates.
How to Monotor What Your Kids are Watching on TV
Children and Technology: Ensuring Your Child's Online Safety | <urn:uuid:19ad1f5a-643e-4fdf-9aa7-173eef0591e4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nymetroparents.com/article/brain-power-connection-between-childs-mind-and-internet-20120823 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95042 | 799 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Ask any Ashkenazi American Jew about his family’s arrival in the United States, and you’re likely to hear a certain story. With minor variations, it goes something like this: “My great-grandfather was called Rogarshevsky, but when he arrived at Ellis Island, the immigration officer couldn’t understand his accent. So he just wrote down ‘Rogers,’ and that became my family’s name.”The rest of the (long) story is at Azure, which "presents the best in Jewish thought from Israel and around the world."
Most American Jews accept such stories as fact. The truth, however, is that they’re fiction. Ellis Island, New York City’s historic immigrant-absorption center, processed up to 11,000 immigrants daily between 1892 and 1924. Yet despite this incessant flow of newcomers, the highest standards of professionalism were demanded of those who worked there. All inspectors—many of whom were themselves immigrants, or children of immigrants — were required to know at least two languages; many knew far more, and all at the native-speaker level. Add to that the hundreds of auxiliary interpreters, and together you’ve covered nearly every possible language one might hear at Ellis Island. Yiddish, Russian, and Polish, in this context, were a piece of cake.
Nor were inspections the brief interactions we associate with passport control in today’s airports. Generally they lasted twenty minutes or more, as inspectors sought to identify those at high risk of becoming wards of the state. But perhaps most significantly, Ellis Island officers never wrote down immigrants’ names. Instead, they worked from ships’ manifests, which were themselves compiled by local officials at the point of embarkation. Even overseas, passenger lists were likewise not generated simply by asking immigrants for their names. Rather, they were drawn from passports, exit visas, and other identification papers. The reason for this was simple: Errors cost the shipping company money. A mistake on a manifest, such as a name that was not corroborated by other documentation (whether legal or fraudulent), would result in the forced deportation of the person in question back to his point of departure—at the shipping company’s expense. Of course, many Jewish immigrants’ names were changed upon coming to America. Without exception, however, they changed their names themselves.
25 October 2010
The myth of Ellis Island name changes | <urn:uuid:6923fc6f-e697-4c24-b7a2-5ac20608e606> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2010/10/myth-of-ellis-island-name-changes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00044-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983501 | 508 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Send all comments, questions, suggestions, or request for
noncommercial use to email@example.com
Review and Practice on Classification of
Review of Types of Matter
- A pure substance has a constant, defined composition
and cannot be separated into simpler substances by physical means.
There are two types of pure substances, elements and compounds.
- Elements are pure substances that are made of only
one type of atom. The periodic table is a table containing all
- Compounds are pure substances that are made of more
than one type of atom, and can be decomposed or broken down into
its elements by chemical means.
- A mixture is composed of more than one element and / or
compound. Different mixtures of the same substances can have
different compositions (i.e., a mixture of water and sodium
chloride may be 80% water and 20% sodium chloride, or 20% water
and 80% sodium chloride.) There are two types of mixtures,
homogeneous and heterogeneous.
- A homogeneous mixture has the same composition of
elements and / or compounds throughout. If you observed a
homogeneous mixture under a microscope, you would see that the
particles of various components are evenly distributed. A
homogeneous mixture is also called a solution.
- A heterogeneous mixture has different regions or
areas with different compositions and properties. The substances
in a heterogeneous mixtures are not evenly
Practice on Identifying Types of
Is mercury an element, compound, or mixture?
Is table salt, sodium chloride, an element,
compound, or mixture?
Is (pure) water an element or compound?
What type of mixture is coffee?
What type of mixture is household vinegar?
What type of mixture is air?
Tap water is a(n)
Fourteen carat gold is a(n)
Carbon dioxide is a(n)
Vegetable soup is a(n)
The ocean is a(n)?
Iron is a(n)
Concrete is a(n)?
Wood is an?
and Physical Properties | <urn:uuid:d98c9677-0dc6-4f61-8d3a-fdbd5a692b75> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mrwiggersci.com/chem/Tutorials/Ch3-Rev-Pract-Classify-Matter--Blacksburg.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00122-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.88369 | 447 | 3.796875 | 4 |
The problem of fluvial erosion into bedrock remained a hot topic in 2002, and several important improvements were made to quantitative models of bedrock incision. In particular, the role of sediment flux in modulating bedrock incision and its representation in models has been an outstanding issue. Recent laboratory results support theoretical claims that coarse bedload sediment has two opposing roles in bedrock erosion (Sklar and Dietrich, Geology, v. 29, p. 1087). At low concentrations of sediment, an increase in sediment provides more tools with which the water can abrade the bedrock. At high concentrations, increased sediment loads actually protect the channel bed as particles form a carpet of mobile sediment.
In a complementary pair of papers, Whipple and Tucker (Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 107, art. no. 2039) and Tucker and Whipple (Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 107, art. no. 2179) considered the topographic implications of simplified representations of sediment flux in bedrock erosion. Their results suggest that steady-state channel characteristics, in particular, the observed power-law relationship between river slope and the drained area, may be insensitive to the detailed nature of the erosion process. They further suggest that future testing of quantitative fluvial erosion models should focus on transient responses of basins to climatic and tectonic variations. Finally, consideration of randomly generated surfaces (Schorghofer and Rothman, Geophysical Research Letters, v. 29, art. no. 1633) showed that a power-law relation between slope and area can also occur where the slope does not depend on basin area in any causal way. Thus, the degree to which the morphology of fluvial channels reflects the operative processes remains an important and vibrant research avenue.
Important advances in the modeling of hillslope erosion were also made in 2002. Soil creep has typically been modeled as a linear function of surface slope, which leads to parabolic hillslope profiles. However, recent laboratory simulations (Roering et al., Geology, v. 29, p. 143) of disturbance-induced creep demonstrate that the transport rate depends nonlinearly on slope. Interestingly, the power spectrum of the transport rates is well described by 1/f noise, which is commonly associated with fractals and self-organized criticality. Natural examples of nonlinear creep on hillslopes have been attributed to disturbances driven by biotic processes, such as tree throw and animal burrowing (Roering et al., Geology, v. 30, p. 1115).
In addition to such advancements in our understanding of geomorphic transport processes, a number of studies emphasized the importance of spatial and temporal variability in those processes. For example, Roe and co-authors (Geology, v. 30, p. 143) developed a quantitative parameterization of orographic lifting and explored its influence on channel profiles. This process is responsible for substantial spatial variations of precipitation associated with mountain ranges, and the feedback between topography and precipitation may influence the concavity of stream profiles. Similarly, a model simulating the stochastic variability of precipitation intensity in time was also developed using a cellular automata approach (Crave and Davy, Computers and Geosciences, v. 27, p. 815). Within this model, the form of the precipitation distribution has important impacts on the roughness and drainage density of simulated topography. A stochastic distribution of storm events, coupled with a threshold shear stress for bedrock erosion, can also strongly alter the relationship between channel gradient and rock uplift rate (Snyder et al., Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 108, art. no. 2117). This effect may explain why channels experiencing dramatically different uplift rates exhibit relatively subdued differences in gradient in coastal channels in California. Finally, seasonal variations in discharge were shown to significantly influence the rates and spatial distribution of bedrock incision along a channel cross-section in Taiwan (Hartshorn et al., Science, v. 297, p. 2036). Observations indicate that vertical incision is driven by relatively frequent floods, while rare events associated with super-typhoons play a larger role in widening the channel.
Expanding to longer time scales, variability in precipitation and discharge during the Holocene-climatic variability-has been argued to be responsible for periodic storage and excavation of large amounts of sediment in Himalayan channels (Pratt et al., Geology, v. 30, p. 911). Elevation-invariant cosmogenic ages of fluvially carved bedrock surfaces in the Marsyandi suggest that sediment delivery appears to be strongly modulated by variations in precipitation. Enhanced monsoonal precipitation appears to increase landsliding and temporarily overwhelm the transport capacity of the fluvial system.
Finally, climatic variability and associated variations in sediment flux may
control the generation and preservation of fluvial terraces. A quantitative
model that simulates both vertical incision and lateral valley widening by bedrock
channels was developed (Hancock and Anderson, GSA Bulletin, v. 114, p.
1131). According to this simple model, an increase in the ratio of water discharge
to sediment flux promotes valley incision while a lower ratio promotes valley
widening. Furthermore, strath terraces do not necessarily coincide with periods
of steady climatic forcing. In a field study of Holocene terraces in the Olympic
Mountains, Wegmann and Pazzaglia (GSA Bulletin, v. 114, p. 731) present
data that appear to support some of these predictions. Vertical incision seems
to occur over brief periods of time while lateral movement of channels and valley
widening may occur over protracted periods.
Back to index | <urn:uuid:490e1411-26a9-4ff6-be82-e4b1f4ce7598> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.geotimes.org/july03/high_geomorph.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91972 | 1,175 | 2.703125 | 3 |
CIA World Factbook
This site provides concise information for most countries. It is organized in a manner that makes it easy to compare countries in a wide variety of categories.
The Century Foundation
This site has two figures that summarize data on wealth. Professor Edward N. Wolff of New York University compiled it from data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Census in 1998.
Chinese Internet Information Center
Daily world news can be found at this site. It also has an excellent search engine and links to other major Chinese media.
This site will help students get a quick definition for unfamiliar terms. It also provides a thesaurus and the top ten sites for the term they are investigating.
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
This site provides a history of the IMF and World Bank. It also has a search engine to examine the economy of specific countries.
United for a Fair Economy
This site contains very readable charts on wealth distribution in the United States. The information was collected by the Federal Reserve in 2001. The next report will be available in the spring of 2003.
A World Connected
This site contains articles on globalization, links to globalization-related websites and organizations. It defines commonly used terms and presents materials that are both pro-globalization and anti-globalization.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
A brief history of the WTO can be found here as well as current information about the world economy. It has a search engine to provide detailed information on many countries.
World Bank Data & Statistics
"Almost all the data reported in this site are derived, either directly or indirectly, from official statistical systems organized and financed by national governments."
TimeAsia.com: "The Pen is Nastier Than the Sword"
This Time/Asia link contains excerpts from Wei Hui's Shanghai Baby and Mian Mian's Candy. The literature-based activity in the teachers' guide uses these excerpts.
Selected Stories: Lu Hsun
This link leads to the work of Lu Hsun (alternate spelling Lu Xun) whose stories, written from 1918 to 1926, introduce the modern challenge toward authority in China. "The Story of Ah Q" or the shorter "A Madman's Diary" would be especially appropriate for a student who wishes to read more. Lu Hsun, as this website notes (though some scholars disagree) was "chief commander of China's modern cultural revolution, [and] was not only a great thinker and political commentator but the founder of modern Chinese literature." As early as in the May 1918 issue of the magazine New Youth, Lu Hsun published one of his best stories, "A Madman's Diary." This was his "declaration of war" against China's feudal society, and the first short story in the history of modern Chinese literature. Thereafter he followed up with a succession of stories such as "The True Story of Ah Q" and "The New Year's Sacrifice," which cut through and sharply attacked stark reality in the dark old society. These stories were later included in the three volumes Call to Arms, Wandering, and Old Tales Retold, and have become treasures in the Chinese people's literary heritage.
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, Vintage, ISBN 0679721886
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0804106304
"Can China reform its economy?" by Mark L. Clifford and Dexter Roberts, BusinessWeek, Sept. 29, 1997, issue 3546, p. 116
The article provides an excellent overview of President Jiang Zemin's reforms and the future restructuring of the Chinese economy. | <urn:uuid:283245d2-6226-4412-b6ef-5af1ef974e34> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/red/resources.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93516 | 742 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Shares are often surrounded by mystique but the principle behind them is simple and straightforward. Shares, also known as equities, provide you with part-ownership of a company so when you invest in shares; you are buying ‘a share’ of that business. Companies issue shares to raise money and investors buy shares in a business because they believe the company will do well and they want to ‘share’ in its success.
Companies do not have to be quoted on the stock market to issue shares. When businesses start out, many of them raise money from outside investors, who are given a share of the company in return. These investors tend to be friends, family or benefactors and their shares are known as unquoted because the companies are not listed on any stockmarket.
Even if a company states that it is a ‘PLC’ (Public Limited Company) it does not necessarily mean it is listed on a Stock Exchange. This is just a legal status for the company.
When a company wants to raise money more widely, it can apply to become publicly listed or quoted on an exchange, such as the London Stock Exchange. Once it has gone through the approval process the company then has its shares admitted to trading on an exchange and its shares can be bought by individual investors and large, investing institutions, such as pension funds and life assurers. Companies have to satisfy certain legal and financial criteria before their shares can be listed on a stockmarket and the shares are known as quoted because their prices are quoted every day on a stock exchange.
Owning shares in a company means that you are entitled to a say in its affairs. All PLCs have annual meetings, where shareholders vote on matters such as the company’s accounts, directors’ appointments and pay packages.
Companies also hold meetings for shareholders when they are about to make big changes to their business, such as buying or selling parts of the company or raising fresh capital.
Trading in shares is executed by stockbrokers, who buy and sell shares on behalf of investors. Increasingly, investors buy shares over the internet, using online broking services.
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You are accessing the London Stock Exchange Annual Report Service powered by PrecisionIR.
You will be redirected in five seconds | <urn:uuid:3a4f3165-6f85-4a46-8d99-ad3290115ec9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.londonstockexchange.com/traders-and-brokers/private-investors/investing-in-shares/about-share/investing-share.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00051-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977256 | 472 | 2.625 | 3 |
Our Mission Statement: "A Society dedicated to the education and preservation of the Psalmodikon and Sifferskrift music. "
Introduction to the PsalmodikonThe Psalmodikon is a very simple musical instrument, namely to play chorals on. It has the Greek word "Psalmos" - a song). The most simple and least expensive Psalmodikon exists of a narrow wooden box of white wood and a board of where to put on the tacks to hold the steel string. A saddle or a tone divided (classified) catchboard is glued on with a little elevation, over which a string is stretched. The string is fastened on the right side with a tack, and twists on left side around a screw.
The Psalmodikon is a one-stringed instrument played with a bow. It was used for teaching songs and hymns in rural Scandinavian churches too poor to afford organs.
By writing this introduction to the use of the Psalmodikon, I have the intention to my contribution of the betterment of church song in this country. Therefore, the Psalmodikon, for the common people is very superior remedy to teach themselves and learn chorals must be more and more widespread. this has not existed in our language and I have not known of my introduction to the Psalmodikon before this and is long awaited.
May 12, 1840 - Christiania Norway - J. A. Lindeman | <urn:uuid:44a565b8-eb22-4793-9e36-3100ac814070> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.psalmodikon.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940704 | 300 | 2.984375 | 3 |
We've all heard the statistics: 2 out of 3 people are overweight, 1 out of 3 people are obese, 2 out of 5 people will develop cancer in their lifetime, 1 out of 2 people will die from heart disease or cancer, and for the first time in recorded history, some people are now projecting that the lifespan of today's children will be less than that of their parents' due of the rise of many chronic diseases and health conditions.
Basic health today generally is the sum of three broad components: what we eat, the toxic burden of our body as a result of the toxins in our environment, and our lifestyle/outlook on life (which includes attitude, exercise, spirituality, etc.). Of these, the easiest to address because we all have to eat is considering our food choices.
When food is cooked, all enzymes, most vitamins and many minerals are destroyed, thus the cooking process removes most of the nutrition from our food before it even reaches our mouth. This fact, along with the rise of big agricultural farming practices which produce more and more food containing less and less nutrition is why so many of our bodies cry for more and more food to make up for the lack of nutrition we get, thus one of the main causes in the rise of obesity.
Eating raw and living foods consists of aligning our bodies back with our natural way of eating. A raw diet consists of fruits, vegetables, live sprouts, sprouted nuts and seeds eaten in their natural (preferably organic) state and prepared foods heated below 112 degrees. 112 degrees is the point where enzymes, the building blocks of life, start to be destroyed by the cooking process.
Some of the many benefits of eating raw include: weight loss with little or no effort, dramatic overall health improvement, huge increase in energy (one of the main reasons being because the raw diet digests so quickly and moves through the body 3 to 4 times quicker than cooked food, much energy is freed up for other needs besides digestion), clear, more vibrant skin, amazing improvements with blood sugar disorders, big benefits relating to healing arthritis, and greater mental clarity and a brighter outlook on life.
In addition, and of great importance, is how the raw diet benefits people suffering from cancer. Cancer cannot survive in an alkaline environment. One of the main benefits of eating raw is we create an alkaline internal environment. The two leading causes of acidifying the body are eating sugar and animal products - thus, our current cancer "epidemic". There are now many raw/living food health retreats that are having astronomically successful cancer cure rates just by putting people on a raw food diet.
In summary, raw vegan food brings our bodies back into balance and allows us to have the health and longevity which is our birthright. As raw consciousness goes mainstream, more and more foods, products, books, restaurants and raw lifestyle choices are coming into being making this an easier and easier transition. And, speaking of transitioning, if it fits your personality or if you have a serious health challenge, jump right in and go 100% raw, if that's what feels right. A more realistic goal might be 80% raw, which is where the phenomenon of the body mounting an immune response in reaction to the cooked food you just ate, ceases and the real "raw magic" begins. Make it all about adding good things in, not about giving anything up. | <urn:uuid:4c0ab258-070b-4395-b872-f7f2fab18262> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://rawvegansource.com/content/why-raw-11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955518 | 692 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Marine processes and coastal landforms
As most (86%) of the New Zealand population is urban and no part of the country is more than 130 km from the sea, most New Zealanders live, work, and play in the coastal zone and its resources are exploited in manifold ways. It is therefore surprising that scientific studies aimed at understanding coastal resources and underpinning sustainable management of the coastal zone are quite recent (Hume et at. 1992), although the volume of research and the coverage of the coastal zone has increased dramatically in the last decade. The shape of the islands results in a long (11000 km), varied coastline in relat ion to land area, and our 3.3 million population enjoys a comparatively long 3.3 metres of shore per person (Kirk 1987 ). These simple statistics suggest that the coastal zone has high importance for the community (not to mention the fact that the bulk of national commerce depends upon our ports). | <urn:uuid:2bddfe46-6b2f-4e39-a591-30b324d512f3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/3602 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914028 | 188 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Comparing: Object 140 vs. T-62A vs. Object 907
An experimental medium tank. Developed between 1953 and 1958 in Nizhny Tagil to replace the T-54. Two prototypes were built, but in 1958 the project was terminated in favor of the Object 430.
Development of the first Soviet post-war medium tank started in 1951. In 1961, the T-62 tank with a smoothbore gun was deployed. At the same time a variant, the T-62A, with a rifled gun was also deployed. In March 1962, mass production of the T-62A was discontinued. The T-62 tank was mass-produced from 1961 through 1975, with a total of twenty thousand vehicles manufactured. Later modifications of the vehicle are still in service.
The decision to start development of a next-generation medium tank was made on July 13th, 1953. Development was carried out by Research Institute No. 100. The project was submitted in March 1954, and at the beginning of 1955 the hull of the new vehicle was tested for shell resistance. However, later the project was canceled.
|Tank data page||Tank data page||Tank data page||Tank data page|
|Battle Tiers||10 11||10 11||10 11|
|Speed Limit||55 km/h||50 km/h||55 km/h|
|Speed Limit Back||20 km/h||20 km/h||20 km/h|
|Horse power / weight|
|Max Climb Angle|
|Hard terrain resistance|
|Medium terrain resistance|
|Soft terrain resistance|
|Damage (Explosion radius)|
|Damage / min|
|Rate of Fire|
|Accuracy||76.6303 %||%||82.9974 %|
|Neto Credits Income||-12058.3||25014|
|Winrate||50.7692 %||%||61.1111 %|
|Kills per Battle||1.05148||1.54629|
|More stats @ vbaddict.net||More stats||More stats||More stats| | <urn:uuid:93474576-12eb-4b68-8a2e-a325be34b584> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://tank-compare.com/en/compare/object-140/t-62a/object-907 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00028-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.81793 | 449 | 2.546875 | 3 |
As a financial planner, I’m often asked when people in general should start learning about good saving habits and how to plan for the future. My answer is “right from the very beginning.”
It’s vital to teach children the importance of a good work ethic and of being financially independent from a young age.
What you see is what you’ll get
The way that you perceive money is often learned from what you saw in your childhood. Therefore, if you’re constantly borrowing money or spending indiscriminately, chances are that your children will absorb the same habits. It’s no coincidence that in certain cities, some neighborhoods are populated by families who haven’t worked for a generation or two.
You can’t tell the future
Another reason to educate your children towards financial independence is that you never know what the future may bring. You might think that you will always be able to provide financial support for your married kids, but what happens if your investments take a nosedive or you need the money for unforeseen medical expenses?
Furthermore, as anyone who has supported adult children will tell you, money and family often don’t go together. Tensions surrounding money issues are the cause of many major rifts between the generations.
When do you start?
When your children are little, you can give them two small coins each day. Get them to put one inside a charity box and the other inside a piggybank for saving. Show them after a week or two how the money has piled up and they can buy themselves an inexpensive present. Show them how their charity can help other people.
As your kids get older, base an allowance on chores done around the house to instill the concept of working for money. If your children want a new toy or gadget, don’t just give it to them. Teach them how they’ll get the money for it by saving some of their allowance, doing a babysitting job, or mowing lawns,
Take your children to the store with you and show them how you choose products, how to work out when a special offer really does save you money and when it’s just a slick marketing ploy. Tell them that the money in the ATM doesn’t just appear at the touch of the button. It has to be paid into the bank first. Similarly, credit cards always have to be paid for, and when you write a check, you aren’t simply “inventing” money that isn’t there.
As your children grow older, they need to learn basic money and budgeting skills that, sadly, are not taught enough at school. Hopefully, they will carry these skills with them into the future and learn how to work for their money and save successfully.
The gifts of financial knowledge and independence are the greatest presents you can give to your children, and it’s never too early to start.Doug Goldstein, CFP®
About the Author: Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, is the director of Profile Investment Services, Ltd, a financial planning and investment services firm specializing in working with Americans living in Israel who have investment accounts in America. Doug’s newest book, co-authored with Susan Polgar, about using chess strategies to improve your finances, Rich As A King can be purchased at www.richasaking.com. He is a licensed financial professional both in the U.S. and Israel. Securities offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc., Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, FSI. Accounts held at Pershing LLC., Member NYSE/SIPC, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. Neither Profile nor PRG gives tax or legal advice. Before immigrating to Israel, it is advisable to consult with a tax attorney who is knowledgeable about Israeli law. Contact at firstname.lastname@example.orgThe author's opinion does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Jewish Press.
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If you promote any foreign religions, gods or messiahs, lies about Israel, anti-Semitism, or advocate violence (except against terrorists), your permission to comment may be revoked. | <urn:uuid:f0343110-b2d5-4882-b6c1-3c16c1fad6bd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/goldstein-on-gelt/when-should-you-teach-your-children-about-money/2013/06/05/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00102-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957174 | 916 | 2.59375 | 3 |
The Sahel region, extending from the west to the east coast of northern Africa, is one of the world’s driest areas. With a drastic decrease in rainfall over the past few decades and, thus, ever shrinking surface water reserves, the people in the Sahel continue to suffer from some of the worst periods of drought and rely mainly on underground water resources.
To address the urgent water shortage and to help Sahel countries make use of their underground water supplies in a sustainable manner, the IAEA assists Sahel Member States to improve the understanding of their underground water systems through the use of isotope techniques, while contributing to numerous international and regional multidisciplinary initiatives to develop effective water management programmes in the Sahel region.
Isotopes complement the conventional water assessment methods by providing useful information about the quality and availability of underground water, stored in major aquifer systems hidden under the dried surface of the Sahel. Isotope techniques are also used to investigate climate change and identify its impacts on groundwater recharge and quality.
The isotope data can later be used to formulate optimal water management strategies and climate change adaptation policies to help countries sustainably meet the current and future water demands in the region.
Transboundary management issues
“Natural resources, such as water do not know, or do not have [state] borders”, explains Adnane S. Moulla, research scientist from Algeria.
Many aquifers stretch beneath several African countries. Groundwater use, however, may vary from one country to another, raising concerns of fair distribution of the shared groundwater resources and triggering transboundary water management problems.
Due to the lack of understanding of how exactly aquifers function and the absence of guidelines or standards for groundwater use in most of the Sahel countries, overuse, pollution and degradation of groundwater resources are some of the major threats facing the Sahel aquifers.
As the demand for limited water resources grows, the transboundary management issues related to shared aquifers become more pressing. The Sahel countries have now recognized the need for the establishment of technical, legal and institutional frameworks for the management of their shared water resources in a cooperative and integrated manner.
The IAEA helps Sahel countries use isotopes to monitor and assess certain characteristics of their shared aquifers to better understand how transboundary groundwater systems work, how much water can be extracted by each country without tapping water reserves of another, and what impact human activities have on their aquifers. Such information is fundamental for the development of effective and integrated regional water management programmes to ensure the sustainability of shared aquifers and their water quality.
Supporting the regional initiative
Working with other international organizations, such as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), the IAEA is currently implementing a large scale, four year project on water resource management in the Sahel region. The project covers five major aquifer systems: the Iullemeden Aquifer System, the Liptako-Gourma-Upper Volta System, the Senegalo-Mauritanian Basin, the Chad Basin, and the Taoudeni Basin. These major transboundary aquifers are shared by thirteen African Member States.
The new technical cooperation project aims to support the regional initiative to enable a rational and sustainable management of shared groundwater resources in the region that will contribute to socioeconomic development.
Through the project, the IAEA will help the Sahel region to build human resource and infrastructure capacity to support the sustainable use of isotope hydrology in groundwater resource management projects.
Read more about the TC water project in the Sahel region:
Integrated and Sustainable Management of Shared Aquifer Systems and Basins of the Sahel Region | <urn:uuid:6213b74e-cfa5-46eb-9a61-e30677ce54a4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.iaea.org/technicalcooperation/Home/Highlights-Archive/Archive-2013/03222013_World_Water_Day_Sahel1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901525 | 776 | 3.390625 | 3 |
“What a wonderful choice I’ve made. With so many more birds than mammals I will be on the winning side for sure.”
But the mammals were not that easy to defeat. Although there were fewer of them, they had sharp teeth and claws and were much larger than the birds.
To make matters worse, Bat awoke to a very windy day. The wind made it difficult for the birds to control their attacks. Before long it was clear that the mammals had won that day's battle. | <urn:uuid:99b3fbb5-f5d4-4b48-8610-428867b413ac> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/bats/story2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.995108 | 106 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Fascinating bit of history from the London Review of Books:
The world's first aerial bombing mission took place 100 years ago, over Libya. It was an attack on Turkish positions in Tripoli. On 1 November 1911, Lieutenant Cavotti of the Italian Air Fleet dropped four two-kilogramme bombs, by hand, over the side of his aeroplane. In the days that followed, several more attacks took place on nearby Arab bases. Some of them, inaugurating a pattern all too familiar in the century since then, fell on a field hospital, at Ain Zara, provoking heated argument in the international press about the ethics of dropping bombs from the air, and what is now known as 'collateral damage'. (In those days it was called 'frightfulness'.) The Italians, however, were much cheered by the 'wonderful moral effect' of bombing, its capacity to demoralise and panic those on the receiving end.
The rest here. | <urn:uuid:3aecb56e-a5e6-451e-a335-fdfa1a068420> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/03/the-worlds-first-aerial-bombing-libya-100-years-ago/72770/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973635 | 198 | 2.734375 | 3 |
105 Years of Film Music: Part One - The Silent Era
The first part in an ongoing special series on the history of film music
Saturday, January 25, 2014
For over a century, music and movies have been making magic together. Music composed for films grew out of a rich and varied classical tradition, while taking on special attributes of its own. David Garland presents a series of programs on the history of film music. Heard on Movies on the Radio on the last Saturday of each month for the next ten months, the series will cover the styles and innovations in the soundtrack field, decade by decade.
This first program is the one exception to that chronological rhythm, in that it features music from the Silent Era, which spanned from the Lumière Brothers first public film showing in 1895, to the introduction of the "talkies" in 1927. Garland shows that right from the start, movies were inspiring resourceful composers to create music of depth and power.
Featured are the original scores for silent film classics such as "Metropolis," "Nosferatu," "The Birth of a Nation," "Battleship Potemkin," and "The Gold Rush," written by composers such as Camille Saint-Saens, Dimitri Shostakovich, Charlie Chaplin, and others. | <urn:uuid:9faf1551-d9b8-4c3c-b21f-5759b69965fd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wqxr.org/story/105-years-film-music-part-one-silent-era/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00074-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954825 | 267 | 2.53125 | 3 |
A girl about to taste some pumpkin pie.
- Taste is the acting of eating or drinking, the sense of noticing flavors in food or drink, or a liking for something.
- An example of a taste is a sampling of soup, a taste of soup.
- An example of a taste is the sense controlled by the buds on the tongue, the taste buds.
- An example of a taste is an interest in and appreciation of good books, a taste for good books.
- Taste is defined as to try a food or drink or to notice the flavor of something.
- An example of to taste is to sample a slice of pumpkin pie.
- An example of to taste is to notice red pepper in a complex sauce.
- Obs. to test by touching
- to test the flavor of by putting a little in one's mouth
- to detect or distinguish the flavor of by the sense of taste: to taste sage in a dressing
- to eat or drink, esp. a small amount of
- to receive the sensation of, as for the first time; experience; have: to have tasted freedom at last
- Archaic to appreciate; like
Origin of tasteMiddle English tasten ; from Old French taster, to handle, touch, taste ; from Vulgar Latin an unverified form tastare, probably ; from an unverified form taxitare, frequentative of Classical Latin taxare, to feel, touch sharply, judge of, frequentative of tangere: see tact
- to discern or recognize flavors by the sense of taste; have the sense of taste
- to eat or drink a small amount (of)
- to have the specific taste or flavor: sometimes with of: the milk tastes sour; the salad tastes of garlic
- to have a sensation, limited experience, or anticipating sense (of something)
- a test; trial
- the act of tasting
- that one of the five senses that is stimulated by contact of a substance with the taste buds and is capable of distinguishing basically among sweet, sour, salt, and bitter: the flavor of any specific substance is usually recognized by its combined taste, smell, and texture
- the quality of a thing that is perceived through the sense of taste; flavor; savor
- a small amount put into the mouth to test the flavor
- the distinguishing flavor of a substance: a chocolaty taste
- a slight experience of something; sample: to get a taste of another's anger
- a small amount; bit; trace; suggestion; touch
- the ability to notice, appreciate, and judge what is beautiful, appropriate, or harmonious, or what is excellent in art, music, decoration, clothing, etc.
- a specific preference; partiality; predilection: a taste for red ties
- an attitude or a style reflecting such ability or preferences on the part of a group of people of a particular time and place
- a liking; inclination; fondness; bent: to have no taste for business
Origin of tasteME < OFr tast < the v.
in (good, poor, etc.) taste
to one's taste
- pleasing to one
- so as to please one
verbtast·ed, tast·ing, tastes
- To distinguish the flavor of by taking into the mouth.
- To eat or drink a small quantity of.
- To partake of, especially for the first time; experience: prisoners finally tasting freedom.
- Archaic To appreciate or enjoy.
- To distinguish flavors in the mouth.
- To have a distinct flavor: The stew tastes salty.
- To eat or drink a small amount.
- To have experience or enjoyment; partake: tasted of the life of the very rich.
- a. The sense that distinguishes the sweet, sour, salty, and bitter qualities of dissolved substances in contact with the taste buds on the tongue.b. This sense in combination with the senses of smell and touch, which together receive a sensation of a substance in the mouth.
- a. The sensation of sweet, sour, salty, or bitter qualities produced by a substance placed in the mouth.b. The unified sensation produced by any of these qualities plus a distinct smell and texture; flavor.c. A distinctive perception as if by the sense of taste: an experience that left a bad taste in my mouth.
- The act of tasting.
- A small quantity eaten or tasted.
- A limited or first experience; a sample: “Thousands entered the war, got just a taste of it, and then stepped out” (Mark Twain).
- A personal preference or liking: a taste for adventure; a play that was not to my taste.
- The ability to recognize and appreciate what is beautiful, excellent, or appropriate: has good taste in clothes.
- The sense of what is proper, seemly, or least likely to give offense in a given social situation: a remark made in bad taste.
- Obsolete The act of testing; trial.
Origin of tasteMiddle English tasten, to touch, taste, from Old French taster, from Vulgar Latin *tastare, probably alteration of Latin *taxare, probably frequentative of tangere, to touch; see tag- in Indo-European roots.
(countable and uncountable, plural tastes)
- One of the sensations produced by the tongue in response to certain chemicals .
- (countable and uncountable) A person's implicit set of preferences, especially esthetic, though also culinary, sartorial, etc. .
- Dr. Parker has good taste in wine.
- (uncountable, figuratively) A small amount of experience with something that gives a sense of its quality as a whole.
(third-person singular simple present tastes, present participle tasting, simple past and past participle tasted)
- To sample the flavor of something orally.
- (intransitive) To have a taste; to excite a particular sensation by which flavour is distinguished.
- The chicken tasted great, but the milk tasted like garlic.
- To experience.
- I tasted in her arms the delights of paradise.
- They had not yet tasted the sweetness of freedom.
- To take sparingly.
- To try by eating a little; to eat a small quantity of.
From Middle English tasten, from Old French taster from assumed Vulgar Latin *taxitÄre, a new iterative of Latin taxÄre (“to touch sharply"), from tangere (“to touch"). Replaced native Middle English smaken, smakien (“to taste") (from Old English smacian (“to taste")), Middle English smecchen (“to taste, smack") (from Old English smeccan (“to taste")), Middle English buriÈen (“to taste") (from Old English byrigan, birian (“to taste")). | <urn:uuid:170471d1-65b6-4f40-9354-39eb6ad41e89> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.yourdictionary.com/taste | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393093.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915917 | 1,465 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Insect parts. Rodent hair. And other unmentionables. These are what the FDA found in some 12 percent of imported spices. The findings, released Wednesday, are part of a comprehensive look at the safety of spice imports that is years in the making. Federal authorities also discovered that nearly 7 percent of spice imports examined by federal inspectors were contaminated with salmonella, a toxic bacteria that can cause severe illness in humans, the New York Times reported today.
And the prime offenders for these contaminated spices? The study pointed the finger at spice imports from Mexico and India. According to the FDA, spices from those two countries have been found to have the highest rate of contamination. Unfortunately, nearly 25 percent of the spices, oils and food colorings used in the United States comes from India, according to the FDA.
Worst of all, there are no easy answers to clean up the situation, experts say.
Background according to the Times: The high levels of filth from insects and rodents is a problem that is not easily resolved because, unlike with salmonella contamination, simply cooking or heating the spices will not rid the products of the problem. Insects can also be a source of salmonella contamination.
So does the report give you pause the next time you reach for the spice rack? Tell us in the comments. | <urn:uuid:397fe2f0-47c4-4908-a82b-1f3a113ec3ad> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/10/like_it_spicy_this_might_turn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00141-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952662 | 272 | 2.625 | 3 |
Origin of Algebra
Date: 9/14/96 at 14:39:40 From: Anonymous Subject: Origins of Algebra Who found or used algebra for the first time?
Date: 9/18/96 at 20:2:53 From: Doctor Jodi Subject: Re: Origins of Algebra Hi David! Descartes was the first person to use algebra in the modern sense of letting letters be substituted for unknowns. He wrote about the connections between algebra and geometry in his book THE GEOMETRY. Hope this helps. Let us know if you have more questions. -Doctor Jodi, The Math Forum Check out our web site! http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
Search the Dr. Math Library:
Ask Dr. MathTM
© 1994-2015 The Math Forum | <urn:uuid:f0a36537-72ea-4d69-959b-cb8d84a1b1c5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/57563.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.874888 | 168 | 2.859375 | 3 |
RESEARCHERS TEASE OUT ONE CRITICAL ROLE OF TUMOR-SUPPRESSOR GENE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists are taking the first steps to find out how a gene that is mutated in many cancer cells functions in healthy cells.
The researchers hope that learning how this gene, called Rb, operates in health cells will give them a better idea of how cancer develops and progresses.
While mutations in Rb, are linked to several types of cancer including the childhood disease retinoblastoma, Rb normally keeps cell division in check. That means Rb is a tumor suppressor gene, which keeps cells from growing out of control. Scientists believe that Rb is linked to two key processes that frequently malfunction when cancer begins – proliferation (cell growth), and apoptosis (cell death).
But they don't know how Rb, which is found in every cell of the body, does this. New findings reported in the December 23 issue of Nature begin to shed light on the gene's role in cells.
The researchers found that in mice, a lack of Rb during embryonic development kept red blood cells from fully maturing.
"While we don't think this finding has a specific link to cancer development, it is a first step to getting at the basic mechanism of how Rb works," said Gustavo Leone, a study co-author and an assistant professor with the Human Cancer Genetics Program at Ohio State University.
"Knowing how Rb works in normal cells could help us to someday understand how tumor-suppressor genes function in tumor development and growth."
Leone was part of a team of researchers led by Antonio Iavarone, a professor with the Institute for Cancer Genetics at Columbia University.
The researchers studied red blood cells and macrophages taken from the liver tissue of mouse embryos bred to lack Rb. Macrophages are scavenger cells -- they eat up foreign material such as bacteria and viruses. In the developing embryo, macrophages bind to red blood cells, and this binding forces red blood cells to lose their nuclei. A mature red blood cell lacks a nucleus.
Leone and his colleagues surmised that the reason why the red blood cells from the embryos without Rb never lost their nuclei was due to a reduction in the number of macrophages in these fetal mouse livers.
"Without Rb, the number of mature macrophages in the fetal liver was markedly reduced," said Leone, who is also a geneticist with Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
The researchers identified part of the molecular pathway that may help explain this reduction in mature macrophages: Cells carry a gene called Id2, an inhibitor protein that, in this case, probably kept macrophages from maturing. In a normal cell, it's thought that Rb counterbalances Id2's inhibitory effects.
Since Id2 went unchecked, macrophages did not fully develop and therefore couldn't bind to immature red blood cells.
In order to test this idea, the researchers created a mix of embryonic liver cells – some had the Rb gene, while others did not. Interestingly, the red blood cells from the embryos that lacked Rb immediately bound themselves to the Rb-containing macrophages.
“This binding restored the red blood cells' ability to give up their nuclei and, therefore, mature,” Leone said.
Knowing how Rb functions in normal cells could clue scientists in to the gene's behavior as a tumor suppressor and why it mutates. It could also ultimately help scientists understand how other types of cancer progress.
"Cancer cells are altered in so many different ways that it's hard to conduct controlled experiments with them," Leone said. "That's why we need to figure out what Rb normally does, as opposed to studying a mutated version of the gene in a cancer cell. This may also help us uncover the mechanisms that cause mutations in other tumor-suppressing genes."
Leone and Iavarone conducted the study with Emerson King and Anna Lasorella, both with Columbia University, and Xu-Ming Dai and E. Richard Stanley, both with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health. | <urn:uuid:f85d0490-73f7-4c98-acc2-e40a9c2ef59c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/rbsole.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955993 | 893 | 3.265625 | 3 |
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The river shown in the photographs is the Caristales, which is located near the town of La Macarena in Colombia , South America .
The river, world famous for its colorful display, has been called:"the river that ran away to paradise," "the most beautiful river in the world" and "the river of five colors".
During Colombia 's wet season, the water flows fast and deep, obscuring the bottom of the river and denying the mosses and algae that call the river home the sun that they need. During the dry season there is not enough water to support the dazzling array of life in the river. But during a brief span between the wet and dry seasons, when the water level is just right, the many varieties of algae and moss bloom in a dazzling display of colours. Blotches of amarillo , blue, green, black and red - and a thousand shades in between - coat the river.
The part of the river where the colourful blooms occur is quite isolated and is not accessible by road. Adventurous tourists can now fly into La Macarena and then make their way to to the river site on foot as part of guided tours. The site was effectively closed to tourists for several years because of guerrilla activity in the region along with concerns about the impact of unregulated tourist traffic. However, the site was re-opened to visitors in 2009.
So far, some 1,000 people have visited Caristales, including around 100 foreign tourists.
The tours will follow four clearly marked and authorized paths and one is no longer permitted to stay overnight or cook, as this was ruining the area previously.
Originally posted by CalibratedZeus
Too bad this is in Columbia since I would love to see the river with my own eyes.
Originally posted by SSimon
reply to post by CalibratedZeus
yeah it must be a guerrieros trick to attrack rich poeple and abduct them | <urn:uuid:e08e5951-acdf-4800-9b0c-080f7dd6612c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread593671/pg1%0D | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96497 | 452 | 2.53125 | 3 |
How to make invisible ink at home and whats the color of the soap ,yeah you might be thinking I am out of my head asking you these things. Just trying to make things light. Read this quick tips and have fun on weekends .
How to make invisible ink at home?
This one is super cool for kids when they can see a message coming out from no where and that from a paper. Here is the recipe.
- Write your message on a piece of paper with a brush or toothpick using lemon juice.
- Let it dry completely.
- To read the message heat the paper for a while (for instance hold it close to a light bulb) until the words become visible.
Warning: Do not hold paper too close to the heat and be careful not to let it get too hot!
Chemical explanation: Lemon juice is a mild acid that weakens the paper upon contact.So when you heat the paper the part with the juice burns before the rest making your message visible.
So what do u you think can u try it ?
Ok so lets see what we got next. I am little sleepy because its almost 4 20 am and I need a coffee!! But hey Do you know Why Coffee keeps u awake any idea ?
Why coffee keeps you awake?
Before we start knowing why it keeps us awake why u think we feel sleepy sometimes even we are not tired u got it the chemistry start from there. So the reason is ADENOSINE.
This is a hormone which is found in our brain and this actually bind with our receptors(nerves end points) and blocks it,as a result our neural activity goes down. So now we are clear with the reason, So now coffee has caffeine which is similar to adenosine and it binds to receptors instead of adenosine.
So when cells don’t find it they speed up instead of slowing down. But why we get excited after drinking a coffee and if u drink more your muscles will get tensed. The reason is our body releases another chemical because of such high activity of brain , its called Adrenaline , the “fight” hormone.Thus you get more energy in your body and you feel excited and wake up!!
Why we use alloys in daily life instead of pure metal?
Pure metal does not have strength. (Except for Titanium. We can make products using pure Titanium. But we still usually use Titanium alloy.) Pure metal also does not have the specific features which we desire. So we add other metal elements to bring out these features. For example, the body of an airplane, which is made of Al-Cu alloy (duralumin), has a streamlined shape to reduce air resistance.
The metal has to be soft in order to make such a shape (Al is used as a base because it is soft), however, it would change shape if it remains soft. So we add Cu (and a small amount of Mg and Zn). Then the compound CuAl2 is created gradually as time passes, and the material becomes rigid. Thus, the material is soft when we make the shape, but it becomes rigid after that.
What is the original color of the soap?
The soap without coloring is off white i.e kind of light beige. A few drops of food coloring in the final step to give a better look so people feel happy when using it.Man I cannot imagine a soap without colours ? Do you ? | <urn:uuid:c17fe31b-9ad1-46af-8271-032ffd51df4a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.technospot.net/blogs/chemistry-in-daily-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00193-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940303 | 708 | 3.234375 | 3 |
The simple act of running in an exercise wheel delays the onset of some symptoms of Huntington's disease in a mouse model of the fatal human disorder according to research published in the open-access journal BMC Neuroscience. These findings add insights into the pathogenesis of the disease and suggest possible preventive therapeutic targets.
Huntington's disease affects up to one person in every 10 000, but clusters in families and certain populations. Affected people develop clusters of a defective protein in their neurons and shrinkage of brain areas associated with movement. The disorder causes disability and eventually death, but does not normally manifest until after people have had children, allowing the disease gene to be passed on.
"Although Huntington's disease is considered the epitome of genetic determinism, environmental factors are increasingly recognised to influence the disease progress", the researchers write.
The research team from the University of Oxford and the Howard Florey Institute, University of Melbourne, report findings of a study in mice with the genetic mutation that causes Huntington's in humans. Just as mentally stimulating these mice by enriching their environment had previously been shown to delay onset and progression of motor symptoms, so does the simple physical activity of running in a wheel.
"Of particular interest was the fact that the wheel exercise was started in juvenile mice, much earlier than in a previous study that showed more limited protective effects of physical activity", explains Anthony Hannan of the Howard Florey Institute. This finding suggests that the protective effect has a specific time window.
Hannan notes "Physical activity did not postpone all the motor symptoms delayed by environmental enrichment, which suggests that sensory stimulation, mental exercise, and physical activity could all be used for the benefit of human sufferers". Early intervention is also possible in people who will develop Huntington's, because genetic diagnosis is possible.
Density of protein aggregates in neurons and shrinkage in brain regions in mice that had benefited from physical activity were as advanced as in those raised without wheels, the authors suggest therefore that benefits stem from stimulation of neuronal receptors and other molecules that prolongs normal function and delays motor deficits.
Notes to Editors
1. Wheel running from a juvenile age delays onset of specific motor deficits but does not alter protein aggregate density in a mouse model of Huntington's disease
Anton van Dellen, Patricia M Cordery, Tara L Spires, Colin Blakemore and Anthony J Hannan
BMC Neuroscience (in press)
During embargo, article available here:
After the embargo, article available at journal website:
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request at email@example.com on the day of publication
2. BMC Neuroscience is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of cellular, tissue-level, organismal, functional and developmental aspects of the nervous system. BMC Neuroscience (ISSN 1471-2202) is indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, BIOSIS, CAS, Scopus, EMBASE, Thomson Scientific (ISI) and Google Scholar.
3. BioMed Central (http://www. | <urn:uuid:50eef738-8d5a-4398-a733-30b47e97e7ee> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-03/bc-pad032808.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926947 | 665 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Why cite sources?
When you present your research, whether in a paper, on a web page, or in some other format, the bibliography of sources you have consulted documents and gives credit for any quotations or ideas you have used from other people's work. When you document sources appropriately, others interested in your research are able to follow your research path and retrieve the information you used.
Use Information Ethically
In a research project, you will use information and ideas from your research sources to support the statements you make. Whether those sources are books, articles, government documents, web pages, email, images, or any other types of sources, you must use them fairly and credit them appropriately.
How should you use information from research sources?
When you find ideas or information from a source that you want to use in your paper or presentation, rephrase that material into your own words. Use exact quotations sparingly--only when a phrase is unique or when rephrasing will lose the essence of the idea. The Writing Resource Center at your college can provide additional information on ethical use of sources.
Why must you document information from research sources?
You document, or cite, the information and ideas you use from your sources to give credit to the author or creator and to allow your readers to follow your research path.
Keep a record of all the information you will need from each source for your bibliography--author, title, journal title, date of publication, publisher and place of publication of a book, volume and issue number of a journal, page numbers. If your source is from the internet, such as a web page or email, record the address and date you accessed the document. You may want to save the document or print it out so you will have it as it existed on the date you accessed it.
Sometimes it is difficult to know whether you need to cite an idea or not. If you are unsure, talk with your professor.
How does copyright law affect your research projects?
Unless they are "public domain" or are so old they have passed out of copyright, all the sources you use are copyrighted. Since copyright law allows "fair use" for educational purposes, you may use information from copyrighted sources in class papers and presentations without securing permission from the copyright holder. These uses do not constitute publication.
When you put information up on the web, you are publishing that information; therefore, you do have to consider copyright law. When you use information, ideas, or images borrowed from another source, you may need to secure permission from the copyright holder. For more information on copyright law, see Copyright in Fast Facts.
Need more help?
When you need help on your research project, talk to your professor, stop by the Services Desk at the Library, make an appointment to talk with a Reference Librarian, or talk with someone in the Writing Resource Center on your campus. | <urn:uuid:6aa6e3e7-7a0f-4a02-96ee-336e8392e8b7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://libraries.claremont.edu/help/researchtips/ethicaluse.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909908 | 591 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Is Cocaine Deadly?
In the early 1990s, Chris Farley was one of the best-known faces of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. The beloved comedian had an energetic style and impeccable delivery, earning him riotous laughs from the audience. By 1997, however, fans and the press noted a significant change in his appearance and demeanor. Farley appeared sweaty, flushed, and hoarse at public appearances. He sought treatment for drug addiction numerous times before being found dead in his apartment by his younger brother. An autopsy report found that Farley died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin.
What is Cocaine? A Party Drug?
In certain social circles, cocaine is known as a recreational party drug. Users may claim to use the substance only occasionally in social situations. However, scientific research demonstrates that cocaine is highly addictive and potentially fatal. Social users of cocaine often fall prey to its addictiveness, dealing with increasing cravings and tolerance for the drug.
How Does it Affect the Brain?
The physiological effects of cocaine are well characterized. The drug is a stimulant of the central nervous system, leading to feelings of euphoria. As it reaches the brain, it causes the release of a special brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is typically released in response to a pleasurable stimulus, such as food being made available. It is strongly tied to reward circuitry. Cocaine prevents dopamine from being recycled in neurons, causing excessive stimulation of the brain’s reward circuits. The result of this is feelings of extreme pleasure and euphoria.
Over time, use leads to major changes in the brain’s reward system. The first time someone uses cocaine, they often experience extreme euphoria. In many cases, subsequent highs fall short of the initial experience. This causes cocaine users to take more and more of the drug to try to recapture that amazing high. The effects of cocaine on the brain’s reward system lead to addiction as an individual begins to require the drug to feel good. Substance abuse treatment programs such as Best Drug Rehabilitation help an addicted individual break this cycle, leading to restored normal brain activity.
Side Effects of Cocaine Use
Using cocaine results in a number of undesirable side effects. Common side effects of cocaine use include high blood pressure, increased heart rate, cardiac arrhythmia, increased body temperature, significant perspiration, dilated pupils, and constricted blood vessels. Many people experience headaches, abdominal pain, nausea, and other gastrointestinal problems. Cocaine also causes appetite suppression, meaning that many people do not get enough to eat. They may lose weight or experience nutritional deficiencies.
Some cocaine side effects depend on the method of use. People who snort cocaine may have frequent nosebleeds, chronic runny nose, hoarseness, difficulties swallowing, and impaired sense of smell. Ingesting cocaine orally leads to reduced blood flow to the intestines, causing numerous gastrointestinal complications. Individuals who inject cocaine have an increased risk of contracting HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and other blood-borne illnesses.
Cocaine use also leads to a variety of mental side effects. Cocaine users may experience paranoia, irritability, restlessness, anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, problems with thinking, and other mental problems. In severe cases, cocaine use may cause psychosis, in which the individual experiences hallucinations and loses touch with reality.
Why is Cocaine Deadly?
Cocaine use can lead to several deadly incidents. One of the most common fatal side effects of cocaine use is a heart attack. Because the drug acts as a central nervous system stimulant and affects blood flow, it may cause blood vessel blockage and other cardiovascular problems. Heart attacks and strokes are not uncommon side effects of cocaine use. In most cases, individuals undergo respiratory arrest after suffering a seizure or heart attack. Experiencing a cardiac incident can happen after just one use of cocaine or even when using small doses.
Another major cause of death related to cocaine is that cocaine users often use the drug with other substances. For example, Chris Farley and John Belushi both died after using a “speedball,” or combination of cocaine and heroin. Using cocaine and alcohol causes the liver to produce a chemical called cocaethylene which increases the risk of death.
Cocaine is also dangerous because of its potential impurities. Street dealers often cut cocaine with other substances to increase their yield. Pure cocaine is a white, pearly crystalline powder. Dealers often cut it with sugar, baking soda, ephedrine, meth, toxins, or local anesthetics. This leads to the drug having an off-white color or different texture. Some of the substances used to cut cocaine, such as the compound levamisole, are toxic and increase the user’s risk of death.
Let Us Help
It is a common myth that only serious, chronic cocaine users are at risk of death. However, even first-time users or those who only use cocaine recreationally may suffer a fatal seizure, stroke, or heart attack. Unique biological factors, method of use, and impurities in the drug cause serious side effects. As a result, cocaine addiction is a serious — and often fatal — medical condition that requires immediate care. If you or a loved one are struggling with a cocaine abuse problem, please contact Best Drug Rehabilitation today and we can help. | <urn:uuid:c9c4b0a4-1f23-4a2d-bd58-100c58a555e8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bestdrugrehabilitation.com/drugs/cocaine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00020-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935858 | 1,104 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Published on March 13th, 2013 | by James Ayre0
Life On Mars, Analysis Of Rock Sample Taken By Curiosity Shows That Life Could Have Thrived There
March 13th, 2013 by James Ayre
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity recently used its rock drill to take a sample of the material inside of a Martian rock for the first time. Now that an analysis has been done on that material it is very clear that Mars could have very likely supported microbial life in its ancient past.
The analysis confirmed and identified the presence of many if the key ingredients to life as we know it. Nitrogen, hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon, were all present in the powder that Curiosity took from the inside of a sedimentary rock found near an ancient stream bed on Mars last month.
“A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “From what we know now, the answer is yes.”
Evidence of this earlier more-habitable environment comes from “data returned by the rover’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instruments. The data indicate the Yellowknife Bay area the rover is exploring was the end of an ancient river system or an intermittently wet lake bed that could have provided chemical energy and other favorable conditions for microbes. The rock is made up of a fine-grained mudstone containing clay minerals, sulfate minerals and other chemicals. This ancient wet environment, unlike some others on Mars, was not harshly oxidizing, acidic or extremely salty,” NASA stated in a recent press release.
The bedrock where the sample was obtained is located within a very old network of stream channels that descend from the top of Gale Crater. The bedrock “is fine-grained mudstone and shows evidence of multiple periods of wet conditions, including nodules and veins.”
“Clay minerals make up at least 20 percent of the composition of this sample,” said David Blake, principal investigator for the CheMin instrument at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.
The clay minerals were formed as a result of the interaction of “fresh water” with igneous minerals that are Ali present in the sediment, including olivine. “The reaction could have taken place within the sedimentary deposit, during transport of the sediment, or in the source region of the sediment. The presence of calcium sulfate along with the clay suggests the soil is neutral or mildly alkaline.”
“Scientists were surprised to find a mixture of oxidized, less-oxidized, and even non-oxidized chemicals, providing an energy gradient of the sort many microbes on Earth exploit to live. This partial oxidation was first hinted at when the drill cuttings were revealed to be gray rather than red.”
“The range of chemical ingredients we have identified in the sample is impressive, and it suggests pairings such as sulfates and sulfides that indicate a possible chemical energy source for micro-organisms,” said Paul Mahaffy, principal investigator of the SAM suite of instruments at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Curiosity will soon be taking more drill samples in order to confirm these results.
“We have characterized a very ancient, but strangely new ‘gray Mars’ where conditions once were favorable for life,” said John Grotzinger, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. “Curiosity is on a mission of discovery and exploration, and as a team we feel there are many more exciting discoveries ahead of us in the months and years to come.”
Curiosity will remain working in the “Yellowknife Bay” area for at least a few more weeks, and then will begin its long drive up Mount Sharp. “Investigating the stack of layers exposed on Mount Sharp, where clay minerals and sulfate minerals have been identified from orbit, may add information about the duration and diversity of habitable conditions.”
Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/MSSS
Keep up to date with all the most interesting green news on the planet by subscribing to our (free) Planetsave newsletter. | <urn:uuid:a6629354-9204-44ba-8956-17ea46607ba5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://planetsave.com/2013/03/13/life-on-mars-analysis-of-rock-sample-taken-by-curiosity-shows-that-life-could-have-thrived-there/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946222 | 916 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Of the various methods of preparing meat, roasting is that which most effectually preserves its nutritive qualities. Meat is roasted by being exposed to the direct influence of the fire. This is done by placing the meat before an open grate, and keeping it in motion to prevent the scorching on any particular part. When meat is properly roasted, the outer layer of its albumen is coagulated, and thus presents a barrier to the exit of the juice. In roasting meat, the heat must be strongest at first, and it should then be much reduced. To have a good juicy roast, therefore, the fire must be red and vigorous at the very commencement of the operation. In the most careful roasting, some of the juice is squeezed out of the meat: this evaporates on the surface of the meat, and gives it a dark brown colour, a rich lustre, and a strong aromatic taste. Besides these effects on the albumen and the expelled juice, roasting converts the cellular tissue of the meat into gelatine, and melts the fat out of the fat-cells.
If a spit is used to support the meat before the fire, it should be kept quite bright. Sand and water ought to be used to scour it with, for brickdust and oil may give a disagreeable taste to the meat. When well scoured, it must be wiped quite dry with a clean cloth; and, in spitting the meat, the prime parts should be left untouched, so as to avoid any great escape of its juices.
Kitchens in large establishments are usually fitted with what are termed "smoke-jacks." By means of these, several spits, if required, may be turned at the same time. This not being, of course, necessary in smaller establishments, a roasting apparatus, more economical in its consumption of coal, is more frequently in use.
The bottle-jack is now commonly used in many kitchens. This consists of a spring inclosed in a brass cylinder, and requires winding up before it is used, and sometimes, also, during the operation of roasting. The joint is fixed to an iron hook, which is suspended by a chain connected with a wheel, and which, in its turn, is connected with the bottle-jack. Beneath it stands the dripping-pan, together with the basting-ladle, the use of which latter should not be spared; as there can be no good roast without good basting. "Spare the rod, and spoil the child," might easily be paraphrased into "Spare the basting, and spoil the meat." If the joint is small and light, and so turns unsteadily, this may be remedied by fixing to the wheel one of the kitchen weights. Sometimes this jack is fixed inside a screen; but there is this objection to this apparatus, that the meat cooked in it resembles the flavour of baked meat. This is derived from its being so completely surrounded with the tin, that no sufficient current of air gets to it. It will be found preferable to make use of a common meat-screen. This contains shelves for warming plates and dishes; and with this, the reflection not being so powerful, and more air being admitted to the joint, the roast may be very excellently cooked.
In stirring the fire, or putting fresh coals on it, the dripping-pan should always be drawn back, so that there may be no danger of the coal, cinders, or ashes falling down into it.
Under each particular recipe there is stated the time required for roasting each joint; but, as a general rule, it may be here given, that for every pound of meat, in ordinary-sized joints, a quarter of an hour may be allotted.
White meats, and the meat of young animals, require to be very well roasted, both to be pleasant to the palate and easy of digestion. Thus veal, pork, and lamb, should be thoroughly done to the centre.
Mutton and beef, on the other hand, do not, generally speaking, require to be so thoroughly done, and they should be dressed to the point, that, in carving them, the gravy should just run, but not too freely. Of course in this, as in most other dishes, the tastes of individuals vary; and there are many who cannot partake, with satisfaction, of any joint unless it is what others would call overdressed. | <urn:uuid:05c1c518-3312-4aa3-9096-e7d089055406> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vintagerecipes.net/books/bookofhouseholdmanagement/roasting_2.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965206 | 909 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Tunnel Breakthrough Marks Milestone in Metropolitan Water Reliability, Quality Project
REDLANDS, Calif. (BUSINESS WIRE) - With a loud roar and a cascade of dirt, a 250-ton mechanical mole punched through the earth's surface today, leaving in its wake a large-diameter tunnel, eight miles long, to serve as a critical water line for Southern California.
The breakthrough completes the 220-foot-long tunnel boring machine's year-and-a-half journey through the rocks and dirt up to 800 feet beneath the Badlands mountain range in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as part of Metropolitan Water District's Inland Feeder project.
"Today, Metropolitan breaks through not just to the other side of the mountain, but to the future," said Phillip J. Pace, chairman of MWD's board of directors. "This is an important milestone for our Inland Feeder project, a vital link in securing a more reliable, higher quality water supply for Southern Californians, while helping to protect the environment in Northern California."
The Badlands tunnel is the longest of three tunnels needed for the nearly 44-mile-long Inland Feeder, a high-capacity, gravity-fed water delivery system stretching from the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains to the Colorado River Aqueduct in the Riverside County community of San Jacinto.
When completed in 2007, the Inland Feeder will offer Metropolitan the flexibility to deliver water from the San Francisco Bay/ Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Northern California during strategic times -- primarily during the winter when water is abundant and when it will minimize impacts to its ecosystem.
The feeder also will improve the quality of Southern California's water supply by allowing more uniform blending of water from the state project with Colorado River supplies, which have a higher mineral content.
"Southern California is facing increasingly limited periods of time when water can be drawn from the Bay/Delta and delivered to our region," Pace said. "So when water is available, we must be prepared to move large volumes of water during a relatively short time, and then store them for use during dry periods and emergencies."
First envisioned nearly 15 years ago, the Inland Feeder will deliver water to be stored in surface reservoirs, such as MWD's Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet in southwest Riverside County, and groundwater basins for later use.
The project will help lessen the impact on the delicate ecosystem of the Bay/Delta estuary by enabling Metropolitan to take water during high flows. Studies show that during high-flow periods, significant amounts of fresh water flow into the ocean through the San Francisco Bay.
Dr. William J. Patzert, noted climate change expert and research oceanographer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said the Inland Feeder can help Southern California cope with future weather pattern uncertainties, which may bring more rain and less snowpack to Northern California, and longer periods of drought to Southern California.
"History shows that changes in climate and weather are inevitable, bringing significant uncertainties in our climate future and our water demands," Patzert said.
"Projects like the Inland Feeder will help accommodate the inevitable changes in climate and weather our region will experience. By understanding our climate past and carefully considering our climate future, Metropolitan has made a thoughtful investment in all our futures."
With the completion of the Badlands dig, the Inland Feeder project stands nearly 70 percent complete. The two additional tunnels -- each about five miles long -- to be burrowed beneath the San Bernardino National Forest have been put out to bid, with construction expected to begin in early 2003. | <urn:uuid:95de3450-3d63-4243-9736-25427e0e0c4b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wqpmag.com/tunnel-breakthrough-marks-milestone-metropolitan-water-reliability-quality-project | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00148-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925411 | 743 | 2.59375 | 3 |
If you are an average adult, you probably qualify for being a time-pressured person. That is, you most likely have more things to do than you have time to do them. If this is the case, one of the things you may not do that you should do is exercise.
It is an unfortunate fact that 6 out of 10 adults lead totally sedentary lifestyles. Even more problematic, only 1 out of 10 adults performs sufficient physical activity to attain measurable fitness benefits. No wonder a recent Ohio University study showed that 75 percent of American adults are overweight. Approximately the same percentage of men and women will experience low back pain, and about 50 percent will die from heart disease.
Perhaps because it doesn't take time, dieting is the preferred approach to weight loss for many people. According to a Tufts University study, 1 out of 2 women and 1 out of 4 men are presently dieting to reduce their bodyweight. Although low calorie diets may produce temporary results, the 33 billion dollars spent annually on diet programs has proved unsuccessful for permanent bodyweight improvements.
But why do less than 10 percent of dieters keep the weight off? Because keeping fat off is closely related to keeping muscle on. You see, average adults have two problems. One, they are adding about 15 pounds of fat every decade of life. Two, they are losing about 5 pounds of muscle during the same time period. So what the bathroom scale registers as a 10-pound weight gain actually represents a 20-pound change in body composition. If the body were a car, this would be analogous to driving a bigger automobile with a smaller engine.
While it is obvious we need to reduce our fat stores, it is just as necessary to replace our muscle tissue. We need larger engines (muscles) to burn more calories (both awake and asleep), so that we can eat reasonable amounts of food without gaining fat weight.
At this point, you may think that I am going to recommend regular aerobic exercise such as walking, cycling or stepping. You're right. Aerobic exercise is almost as effective as dieting for reducing body fat. In addition, it conditions your cardiovascular system and reduces your risk of heart-related diseases. But it does not replace muscle tissue, and it does take time . . . more on that later.
My best advice, however, is to do regular strength training to replace muscle tissue and recharge your metabolism. In addition, strong muscles may reduce your risk of osteoporosis (Tufts University research), colon-cancer (University of Maryland research), diabetes (University of Maryland research), low-back pain (University of Florida research), high blood pressure (University of California research), arthritic pain (Tufts University research), and depression (Harvard University research).
Perhaps you are convinced that a combined activity program (aerobic exercise and strength training) is a better health and fitness approach than dieting. Indeed it is, but you still may not have enough time for such an active lifestyle. After all, most of your active friends probably spend at least an hour a day on their exercise program.
Hour-Per-Week Exercise Program
We recently completed a study with time-pressured people to determine the practical benefits of relatively brief exercise sessions. This research, conducted at the South Shore YMCA, required the participants to train just 20 minutes a day, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, for a one-hour-per-week exercise commitment. | <urn:uuid:c6495317-2465-4f49-bfee-b93b02c736dc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.healthy.net/Health/Essay/Brief_Exercise_Sessions_For_Time_Pressured_People/221 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960162 | 706 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Of course there are no photographs of Mason’s craft. When I first discovered the strange case of the Aerial Steamboat, I was the Chief of Education for the Ohio Historical Society and wrote a short article for the society’s newsletter, Echoes, that was illustrated by Jim Baker, a Columbus cartoonist who produced newspaper comic strips and illustrated comic books on Ohio history. Last year my colleague Greg Bryant, a National Air and Space Museum registrar, produced an Aerial Steamboat model based on Jim Baker’s vision. While both the drawing and the model show the boat hull sheathed in wood, rather than covered in silk, and with a forward propulsion system not described in the newspapers, my guess is that Mr. Mason would recognize the craft depicted.
And now the most important question: Who cares about any of this? Well, I do. If we are to believe the articles published in the Cincinnati papers, and there seems no reason to doubt them, then Albert Mason, or Masson, was the first person in history to produce a heavier-than-air craft, powered by a prime mover, that was actually intended to fly.
The problem is, I don’t know any more about this fellow than I did when I first ran across his name 40 years ago. The point of this story is not simply to introduce readers of Air & Space to an interesting if somewhat arcane bit of aeronautical trivia, but also to spread the word in the hope that someone can help me discover a bit more about this long-lost aerial dreamer.
Tom D. Crouch is a curator of aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum. | <urn:uuid:557a2859-cdfd-414f-9df7-45fda49fe51a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/above-and-beyond-the-oldest-powered-flying-machine-2048893/?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00136-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963063 | 341 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Chinese massage is the name for a family of massage therapies practiced within traditional Chinese medicine . In traditional Chinese practice, massage is one of the fundamental treatment modalities, along with dietary regulation, herbal medicine, acupuncture/moxibustion, and therapeutic exercise .
Massage as a part of Chinese medical treatment goes back about 4,000 years. Written massage textbooks began to appear as early as the fourth century b.c., along with the earliest Chinese medical texts. Massage appears to have developed alongside both therapeutic exercise (qigong ) and acupuncture , as it depends on the same understanding of the meridians and the flow of qi in the human body. The type of massage known as qi healing, or curing with external qi, was developed by master teachers of qigong.
Chinese massage is not intended to be an experience of pampering or relaxation . It is a form of deep tissue therapy that conveys the following benefits:
- speeding the healing of injuries and clearing bruises
- stimulating blood circulation and regulating the nervous system
- removing scar tissue
- easing emotional distress
- curing some conditions affecting the internal organs
- increasing flexibility in the joints and improving posture
- relieving chronic pain
- maintaining wellness and functioning as a form of preventive care
- improving athletic performance
- strengthening the body's resistance to disease
Other benefits include the fact that some forms of Chinese massage do not require extensive training and can be used at home.
The techniques of Chinese massage are inseparable from the philosophical belief system that underlies traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese massage is holistic in its orientation, which means that massage is understood to affect the patient's entire being, not just his or her physical body.
Several concepts are important in understanding all the major forms of Chinese massage, including qi, jing luo, xue, and jin.
Qi, sometimes spelled chi or ki, is the basic life energy animating the universe as well as human beings. The word can be translated into English as "breath" or "air." Qi can be transferred or transmuted. In humans, the digestive tract extracts the qi from food, while the lungs extract it from the air. When these two forms of qi meet in the bloodstream, they form human qi, which then circulates throughout the body.
The meridians or channels (jing luo ) are a network of energy pathways that link and balance the various organs. The meridians have four functions: to connect the internal organs with the exterior of the body, and connect the person to the environment and the universe; to harmonize the yin and yang principles within the body's organs and Five Substances; to distribute qi within the body; and to protect the body against external imbalances related to weather. When the jing luo are blocked so that qi and blood cannot circulate, the person experiences physical pain.
The acupoints (xue ) are locations on the body where qi tends to collect and can be manipulated or redirected. They are connected to different body organs through the meridians.
The soft and connective tissues (jin ) and the joints all affect the flow of qi along the meridians. Thus one function of Chinese massage is to relax the patient's jin.
In general, Chinese massage emphasizes movement and communication. The basic purpose of massage is to restore free movement to the patient's qi and blood. Chinese massage therapists use a range of techniques to accomplish this: they press, knuckle-roll, squeeze, knead, dig, drag, pluck, tweak, hammer, push, stretch, hammer, vibrate, knock, and even tread on the body with their feet. Massage accomplishes its purpose in three ways: it "jump-starts" the activity of qi and blood, it regulates their movement and disperses stagnation, and it removes external causes of blockage (cold and damp). Since Chinese practitioners regard massage as affecting all dimensions of the patient's being, they think of it as involving communication between the therapist's qi and the patient's qi. In Tui na massage, the patient is allowed or even encouraged to talk while the therapist is working. This practice often helps the patient to release stored-up feelings.
Tui na massage
Tui na massage takes its name from two Chinese words that mean "lift and press." It requires the controlled use of very deep but constantly moving pressure, repeated hundreds of times. The practitioner pushes hard with the ball of the thumb, then rubs lightly around the area being treated. A therapist using this form of massage might spend as much time on one of the patient's joints or limbs as a Western therapist would spend massaging the entire body. Tui na is used to treat a wide variety of conditions that would require a team of physiotherapists, chiropractors, and physicians specializing in sports medicine to treat in the West. One Chinese medical book lists over 140 conditions that can be treated with Tui na, including disorders of the internal organs as well as sprains, pulled muscles, arthritis, and sciatica , a pain in the lower back and back of the thighs.
Chinese pediatric massage
Chinese pediatric message, or xiao er tui na, is a form of Tui na massage adapted to the special needs of children from birth to 12 years of age. The Chinese believe that a child's energy system is different from an adult's because children have fewer physical and emotional barriers in place. Their qi is therefore more accessible to treatment. The acupoints and techniques used in pediatric massage are different from those used with adults. A massage oil, typically sesame oil , is often used with children. The sessions are much shorter than those for adults, usually only 15–20 minutes, but they may be repeated several times a day for children who are seriously ill. Pediatric massage is used to treat such chronic conditions as asthma, bedwetting , and nightmares as well as teething, colic, nausea, fever, constipation , and the common cold . Parents often learn the basic techniques of pediatric massage as preventive health care for their children or to treat minor illnesses.
An mo massage
An mo is a type of massage used for health maintenance and to restore vitality. Its name means "press and stroke" in Chinese. It can be used at home but is also part of martial arts , qigong, and athletic training. An mo differs from Tui na massage in that it is a full-body balanced treatment. An mo combines yang techniques to break up stagnant qi and activate its flow, followed by yin techniques to soothe and calm the body. An mo has a set pattern of movements and techniques that the therapist follows, but these can be adjusted to the patient's needs. A session of An mo massage may last as long as two hours, particularly if there is a strong qi communication between the therapist and the patient.
Dian xue massage (acupressure)
Dian xue, or "point press," is familiar to many Westerners as acupressure . It uses the same acupoints on the body as acupuncture, but relies on pressure from the fingers rather than needles. Dian xue can be used by massage therapists to stimulate two different acupoints, one with each hand, while the area of the body between the points is stretched or twisted to maximize the flow of qi. Dian xue can be given in the home, and is sometimes used by acupuncturists when needles cannot be used.
Qi healing massage
The Chinese name of this form of massage is wai qi liao fa, or "curing with external qi." In qi healing, a qigong master who has practiced the art for many years transmits qi directly to the patient. Qi healing massage represents one strand of Chinese traditional practice in which healers passed on their own discoveries of the healing arts only to their closest disciples.
Chinese massage is usually given with the patient lying on one side on a couch or seated on a chair or stool. The patient typically wears thin cotton clothing, particularly if the massage is being given in a public hospital or clinic. In smaller communities, the practitioner may work directly on the patient's skin. Touching the skin directly is thought to improve communication with the patient's qi; it also allows the application of herbal preparations to the skin.
Tui na massage is preceded by taking a full case history using the traditional four examinations of Chinese medicine (verbal interview; visual observation, which includes close examination of the tongue; listening to the patient's breathing and coughing; and touching, which includes taking twelve separate pulses). The massage therapist uses the information from the four examinations to identify the root complaint, the underlying pattern causing it, and the principles that will govern the treatment.
Apart from giving a case history prior to receiving Tui na massage, no special precautions are necessary.
Side effects are usually limited to some soreness, particularly after the first session of Tui na massage. This discomfort usually goes away after several more sessions. Pediatric massage is said to have few or no side effects. On rare occasions, patients have experienced headaches or mild stomach upset. These side effects are attributed to the imbalance or stagnation in the patient's qi prior to treatment.
Research & general acceptance
In recent years, Chinese massage has become widely accepted in the West. A growing number of Western practitioners are not only studying Chinese massage, but also obtaining their training and certification in Shanghai and other centers of traditional Chinese medical education. Many alternative treatment centers in the United States now offer Chinese massage along with Western forms of bodywork. Still another indication of the wider acceptance of Chinese forms of treatment is the emergence of hybrid massage therapies that combine Chinese techniques with those derived from other Oriental traditions of massage or from Western practices.
Training & certification
In China itself, massage is part of the curriculum of traditional Chinese schools of medicine, since it is an important aspect of primary health care. Graduates of these schools must pass rigorous examinations and government licensing procedures before setting up their practices. In addition, it is common for Chinese physicians to visit other practitioners as patients in order to learn about specialized techniques for treating specific conditions with massage. Lastly, many Chinese physicians come from families that have produced several generations of healers; younger practitioners often learn the techniques of massage from older family members. The master/apprentice model of teaching is still followed in traditional Chinese medical training.
Chinese Massage Therapy: A Handbook of Therapeutic Massage. Compiled at the Anhui Medical School Hospital, China. Translation. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 1983.
Mercati, Maria. The Handbook of Chinese Massage: Tui Na Techniques to Awaken Body and Mind. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 1999.
Reid, Daniel P. Chinese Herbal Medicine. Boston: Shambhala, 1993.
Stein, Diane. "Chinese Healing and Acupressure." In All Women Are Healers: A Comprehensive Guide to Natural Healing. Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press, 1996.
Svoboda, Robert, and Arnie Lade. Tao and Dharma: Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 1995.
American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM). 433 Front Street, Catasauqua, PA 18032. (610) 266-2433.
American Foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (AFTCM). 505 Beach Street, San Francisco, CA 94133. (415) 776-0502. Fax: (415) 392-7003. firstname.lastname@example.org.
Rebecca J. Frey, PhD
Frey, Rebecca. "Chinese Massage." Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (June 25, 2016). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3435100182.html
Frey, Rebecca. "Chinese Massage." Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine. 2005. Retrieved June 25, 2016 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3435100182.html | <urn:uuid:b6a72be7-0d12-487b-b645-c7f15d8669fb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3435100182.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926955 | 2,530 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Elation is not a common response when told you have an incurable disease, but for many who have endured countless mysterious symptoms, and often gone misdiagnosed for years, being told they have celiac disease is a chance to reclaim health. “The day I went on a gluten-free diet was the best day of my life,” says Alice Bast, 48, of Philadelphia. “My doctor had given me a recipe to live.”
Once considered an obscure malady, celiac disease now affects one out of every 133 Americans, according to a watershed study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2003. Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disorder, meaning the immune system treats gluten—the elastic protein in wheat, spelt, barley, and rye—as a toxin. Celiac disease is four times more common today than it was five decades ago, according to 2009 research performed at the Mayo Clinic. For every person with celiac, experts believe there may be many more who have nonceliac gluten intolerance, “a condition in which you may experience a wide range of digestive problems in response to gluten, but unlike celiac, there is no appreciable damage to the intestine,” says Joseph Murray, MD, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist.
Diagnosis has improved in recent years, and with a 28 percent annual growth in the gluten-free food market, those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance have many more options these days. Still, the gluten-free journey isn’t without its bumps and roadblocks. Here’s how to navigate easily through every shopping trip, and each meal—and nourish yourself while avoiding gluten. | <urn:uuid:2a8b9923-5085-4516-b96c-df82dd35ae13> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://deliciousliving.com/print/health/what-celiac-disease | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964815 | 345 | 2.625 | 3 |
Alchemy is the ancient art of changing base metals into gold or silver. In the medieval era, alchemists also believed in the Philosopher’s Stone, an elixir that could cure all illnesses and make people live forever.
An old legend tells how, centuries ago, an alchemist was bending over a boiling pot filled with a strange mixture from which he hoped to make gold. When he looked up, he saw the Devil at the window. He rushed out, grabbed the Devil by his tail and pulled it off. When he threw the tail into the magic pot, the mixture turned into gold.
Egyptian priests knew how to get pure gold from the earth. They also knew how to make glass, soap, dyes, stains, drugs and poisons, and could perform many other feats. The Moors who conquered Spain brought alchemy to Europe. An Englishman translated the old Arabic writings that contained all the knowledge of the Egyptian and Greek alchemists.
Alchemists were terrified of having their secrets stolen by rival alchemists, or by the ruler of the land in which they lived–all rulers are permanently short of ready cash. In order to protect their secrets, they used codes and symbols to disguise their ingredients and methods from the casual reader, thief or spy.
Famous alchemists include Isaac Newton and John Dee. “I believe in the elemental truth of all great religions of the world. I like your Christ but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ,” stated Mohandas K. Gandhi. THE END | <urn:uuid:cb7c1c37-d8f4-4bdf-b1b5-a6ad931a8820> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.examiner.com/article/alchemy-prologue | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965851 | 324 | 2.625 | 3 |
Tennessee State Bird
Adoption of the Tennessee State Bird
In 1933, the Tennessee Ornithological Society initiated a statewide campaign of education in connection with a vote to adopt an official state bird to represent the state. The purpose of the vote was to determine the preferences of the people of Tennessee. Over 70,000 people cast votes that gave the mockingbird (15,553) a small, but winning edge over the robin (15,073). Finishing after the top-two contenders were the cardinal (13,969 votes), the bobwhite (10,460 votes), the bluebird (9,125 votes) and others (8,751 votes).
The mockingbird was adopted as the state bird of Tennessee by Senate Joint Resolution No. 51 on April 19, 1933. It read, in part:
The Tennessee Code
The Tennessee state bird was adopted by Senate Joint Resolution, rather than an act of the Legislature, and is not recorded in the Tennessee Code.
Mimus polyglottos (Northern Mockingbird): University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Animal Diversity Web.
State Bird List: List of all of the state birds.
Tennessee Bird Watching: A Year-Round Guide: by Bill Thompson, III and the staff of Bird Watchers Digest.
A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America: Peterson Field Guide: Roger Tory Peterson.
State Birds & Flowers 1000-pc Puzzle: Created at the request of The National Wildlife Federation this design is a beautiful and informative puzzle featuring every state bird perched on the appropriate state flower.
Bird Feeders and Accessories: Backyard Birding > Bird Feeders & Accessories from Amazon.com.
State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols: A Historical Guide, Third Edition - Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Greenwood Press, 2002
State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols: A Study based on historical documents giving the origin and significance of the state names, nicknames, mottoes, seals, flowers, birds, songs, and descriptive comments on the capitol buildings and on some of the leading state histories, Revised Edition - George Earlie Shankle, Ph.D., The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938 (Reprint Services Corp. 1971)
Source: Tennessee Code, (http://22.214.171.124/tennessee/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=fs-main.htm&2.0), April 14, 2005
|| STATE MAPS
Site designed exclusively for NETSTATE.COM by NSTATE | <urn:uuid:a45b7dee-fe73-422a-9aa8-4b3f8d61744d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/birds/tn_mockingbird.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00069-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.860709 | 544 | 3.265625 | 3 |
obbligato (ŏbləgäˈtō) [key] [Ital., = obligatory], in music, originally a term by which a composer indicated that a certain part was indispensable to the music. Obbligato was thus the direct opposite to ad libitum [Lat., = at will], which indicated that the part so marked was unessential and might be omitted. Misunderstanding of the term obbligato, however, resulted in a reversal of its meaning; when a violin part, for example, is added to a song it is called a violin obbligato, whereas it may be a superfluous ornament for which ad libitum would be a more precise direction.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:2c75c2da-2b90-4740-98f9-52eb3b36cf03> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/entertainment/obbligato.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00062-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966013 | 170 | 3 | 3 |
Climate Change Could Be Responsible For Fall Of Roman Empire
- Jan 17, 2011 3:18 PM EST
- [num] Comments
Climate change may seem like a recent phenomenon, but the Earth has undergone several significant environmental shifts in the past. In fact, climate change may have been one of the contributing factors to the fall of the Roman Empire.
In addition to various political and cultural influences, researchers say that the centuries of unpredictable weather experienced by the Romans is likely one of the key components to the empire's demise. The researchers analysed tree rings from over 9,000 trees to determine the environmental history of Europe over the last 2,500 years.
"Relatively modest changes in European climate in the past have had profound implications for society," Penn State's Michael Mann told New Scientist.
This isn't the first time that climate change has been linked to cultural changes. For years scientists have debated whether or not climate change can be linked to civil wars in Africa. | <urn:uuid:82fc7033-fa68-40e7-b387-35dacce83504> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://goodcleantech.pcmag.com/pollution/278433-climate-change-could-be-responsible-for-fall-of-roman-empire | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00184-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931974 | 197 | 3.15625 | 3 |
In honor of Latino/a Heritage Month, the Oregon Multicultural Archives presents “The Braceros Collection” a photographic exhibit documenting the Bracero Program in Oregon.
In 1942 the United States government signed a labor agreement with Mexico that allowed its male citizens to work as farm laborers throughout the U.S. It was known as the Braceros Program. All 102 photos of The Braceros in Oregon Photograph Collection are available online: http://oregondigital.org/digcol/bracero/
Dates: September 12 – October 26
Location: OSU Valley Library, 5th Floor, 8:30am – 5pm
Exhibit Curation: Natalia Fernandez, Oregon Multicultural Librarian
Exhibit Design: Christy Turner, OSU Libraries Special Collections and Archives Research Center Student Worker | <urn:uuid:50af2337-c10c-400c-b021-2d87b7dfdaf0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wpmu.library.oregonstate.edu/oregon-multicultural-archives/2012/09/14/braceros-exhibit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.878249 | 170 | 2.875 | 3 |
||June 2, 2000
Mattawa’s roots buried in history
(Ontario archives photo #14507-18)
|This early photograph of Mattawa looking south across the
Mattawa River, shows Explorers Point and part of the Hudson’s Bay complex
on the left foreground and the separate school and the original St-Anne’s
Church on the right.
None of the places in the Community Voices distribution area has a longer
and more diverse history than Mattawa. Situated on an alluvial plain on
both sides of the Mattawa River where the Mattawa joins of the Ottawa River,
the view is a spectacular. The wide expanse of water, the Laurentian Mountains
in Quebec in the distance, joined and accented by the railway bridge, is
This community of about 1000 households and 2500 people has a history
going back hundreds of years to when the Algonquin people stopped here
regularly to rest and repair their birchbark canoes after, or prior to,
attempting the Mattawa River run while hunting or delivering furs.
Two groups of Algonquins under Antoine Kiwiwisens and Amable du Fond
settled here more permanently in the early eighteen hundreds. Their hunting
territory was to the northwest and southwest of the Mattawa River respectively.
Their names remain on our maps today. Amable du Fond built the log house
that remains as one of the town’s oldest buildings. It served as a chapel
and infirmary at one time.
The 1901 Mattawa census shows 30 families (7.5 percent of the population)
as native. The descendants of Chief Antoine recently formed a group called
the Antoine Algonquin First Nation “to represent the interests of Algonquins
and improve relations with non-Algonquins.” They recently provided a number
of photographs for a new display at the Mattawa Museum to show some of
Four hundred years ago the French, who had control of what was to become
Canada, wanted a route to the west that was away from their British enemies
on the Great Lakes. Most students learned how Etienne Brule, the first
white man in the area, traversed the Mattawa in 1610 and lived with native
people to the west for many years. Champlain followed, exploring and mapping
the land. Other explorers, missionaries, and fur traders followed. The
stories of the Courier de Bois and Voyageurs are some of the most exciting
in Canadian history.
By 1763, when the British took control, there was no white settlement
at Mattawa and points west throughout the Lake Nipissing and the French
River District. The British formed the Northwest Company to compete with
the Hudson’s Bay Company for furs and had early trading posts at Mattawa,
the Sturgeon River, and other locations. In 1821 the Hudson’s Bay Company
took over the ailing Northwest Company and in a few years the fur trade
was only a shadow of its former self. The Hudson’s Bay Company’s “Mattawa
House” was established an 1784 as a branch of the Temiscaming trading post
to serve the fur traders. It served the area through the quiet period leading
up to the lumber era when supplying goods to the lumber trade and settlers
became big business.
Britain needed timber for its shipbuilding. The shores of the Ottawa
and Mattawa Rivers were covered in huge white pine suitable for the squared
timber they wanted. Settlement followed the lumbermen, and by 1850 Mattawa
was catering to their needs and those of the few settlers. When Mattawan
Township was surveyed in 1864 there were some settlers already squatting
there waiting to claim a homestead.
After Confederation Canada wanted to open up the “New Ontario” and began
to build colonization roads including one from Pembroke to Mattawa in 1874
and eventually on to Lake Nipissing. The 1871 census showed 400 people
in the Nipissing District. By 1881 there were 2300 and by 1891 12,000.
The coming of the railway in 1881, expanded roads, and free land were having
an impact on settlement.
The lumber era was an exciting time in Mattawa with sawmills close at
hand and logging throughout the area. A half-dozen hotels catered to the
itinerant logger. Much of this history is reported in Leo Morel’s 1980
book Mattawa the Meeting of the Waters where he writes about all aspects
of the town’s growth—the churches, the hospital, the schools, outstanding
personalities etc. Copies of the book are still available at the Museum.
Gerald Therrien’s fine new book Mattawa Our Timeless Town adds to the Morel
story and has more contemporary material. It is available in various locations
including the Museum (Profits from both books go to the Museum).
The Museum has undergone a recent refurbishing with new displays, updated
displays, a new security system etc. It is well worth a visit and you can
have a look at the books mentioned above while there. If you are from out-of-town
take time to a walk out onto Explorers Point to see the view and see if
you can find the three crosses shown on the cover of Therrien’s Book (See
chapter six for the theories of why they are there).
A profile of various heritage activities in the Mattawa area will be
provided next week to encourage a visit to experience the Mattawa area
Heritage Perspective Home Page | <urn:uuid:061e6428-a2cf-414e-84a1-c1e1b0bd89a8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pastforward.ca/perspectives/columns/june22000.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946943 | 1,202 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Wolf protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) should end because the gray wolf has been brought back successfully from the brink of extinction. The US Fish Wildlife Service (FWS) published the somewhat controversial announcement about the gray wolf on Friday. As a result of its recovery, they propose to remove it from the Endangered Species list.
According to the FWS, the gray wolf species recovery effort has been so successful that it has exceeded its population targets in some areas by as much as 300 percent.
When the gray wolf was added to the endangered species list for the lower 48 states in 1974, there was only a tiny population remaining in Minnesota. Now there are over 6,000 of the animals in the Great Lakes and Northern Rockies region.
As a result, the FWS considers the federal effort complete. They want to turn the job of wolf management over to state and local authorities so that they can concentrate on the population that is still endangered — the vanishing Mexican wolf, Canis lupus baileyi. There are only about 75 remaining Mexican wolves in the United States.
They are now offering a 90-day comment period on the federal proposal to end protection for most gray wolves.
The problem, I think, is that anybody who gets out in the field and has eyes in their head can see for themselves that the Bald Eagle (2007) and the Peregrine Falcon (1999) recovery efforts were an amazing success. If you get out there and you know where to look, you’re going to find a Bald Eagle.
The gray wolf is quite another story. They clearly haven’t moved back into all of their historical territory, but the FWS said that it’s unrealistic to expect that they can.
“Does the wolf have to occupy all the habitat that is available to it in order for it to be recovered? Our answer to that question is no,” FWS park director Dan Ashe told the Associated Press.
However, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), an endangered species advocacy group, thinks that the current population of the gray wolf is still too small and too fragile to warrant removing federal protection.
According to the CBD, gray wolves still only inhabit five percent of their historic range in the lower 48 states. Noah Greenwald, the endangered species representative director for the group, said:
“This is like kicking a patient out of the hospital when they’re still attached to life support. Wolves cling to a sliver of their historic habitat in the lower 48, and now the Obama administration wants to arbitrarily declare victory and move on.”
Greenwald and others have also pointed out that ranchers are often given permission to kill wolves by the states when federal protection is removed. In the northern Rocky Mountains region where full protection has already been lifted, CBD said that 1,100 have been killed — which is a scarily large percentage of the total wolf population.
What are your thoughts on the proposal to lift the Endangered Species Act federal wolf protections?
[wolves photo by A.J. Gagnan via Shutterstock] | <urn:uuid:155df951-250e-4c05-9fd4-deb2552ac649> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.inquisitr.com/692391/wolf-protection-to-be-lifted-for-almost-all-wolves-in-lower-48-states-feds-announce/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956586 | 633 | 2.984375 | 3 |
This spring, state legislators awarded $20 million to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to establish a research plant to commercialize researcher Lonnie Ingram’s patented technology for producing ethanol from the woody parts of plants.
Now, UF officials are extending an offer to businesses and professional organizations to help make that plant a reality. The plant will further establish UF’s reputation as one of the nation’s leading institutions for alternative fuels research, said Ingram, a distinguished professor of microbiology and cell science.
“I think it’s wonderful that our state has made this level of investment in new technology for renewable fuel production,” Ingram said.
The new research and development facility, to be built at an as-yet undetermined location in Florida, will be used to improve production, making it faster and more efficient, he said.
“This is a giant step forward in our efforts to commercialize cellulosic ethanol technology,” said Jimmy Cheek, UF senior vice-president for agriculture and natural resources.
Unlike conventional ethanol production, which uses feedstocks that contain glucose, such as corn, cellulosic ethanol technology produces fuel from inedible material in plant cell walls.
Ingram created the world’s first genetically engineered E. coli bacteria capable of converting the sugars present in plant fibers into ethanol. His work at UF was granted U.S. landmark patent No. 5,000,000 in 1991, and he and colleagues have been working to improve and refine the process ever since.
The technology is licensed to a Massachusetts-based company called Celunol, which built a pilot plant in Jennings, La., in 1999. The facility, which has the capacity to produce 50,000 gallons of ethanol a year, is testing potential ethanol feedstocks, ranging from sugar cane to trees.
Meanwhile, across the street from the Jennings plant, Celunol is revamping a vacant oil refinery into a demonstration facility capable of producing 1.4 million gallons of ethanol a year.
The new Florida plant will help that effort by allowing experimentation and rapid implementation of improvements in the process. It also will serve as a test facility for full scale commercialization and as a training ground for engineers and scientists.
“We’ve demonstrated in a lab and on a small scale that the technology works, but there are several opportunities for improvements to get this technology fully commercialized,” Cheek said.
To that end, IFAS officials are seeking a collaborator that has built-in infrastructure to help house the plant, including roads, steam and electric power, and a steady stream of nearby feedstock — anything from sugar cane remnants to tree limbs — to make the ethanol.
It will be at least 1.5 to 2 years before the plant is producing ethanol, Ingram said. Initially, the plant is expected to produce 1 million to 2 million gallons each year, but eventually that amount will be 7 million to 10 million gallons a year.
The plant could be built anywhere in the state, although it would be best located near gasoline and ethanol blending facilities on either coast, he said.
Ingram said the UF cellulosic ethanol plant is one of a number of alternative fuel projects going on around the country, as the oil importation problems and higher gasoline prices have made the search for alternative fuels a priority.
Federal officials have announced that the Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture had selected 11 projects to receive a total of $8.3 million for biofuels research to accelerate the development of alternative fuels.
Of that amount, UF is receiving $750,000 for a 36-month project that looks at the potential for sweet sorghum as a potential feedstock for ethanol production.
UF’s Wilfred Vermerris and co-researcher Gebisa Ejeta of Purdue University will study ways to boost the fermentable sugar in the sorghum plant to improve its use in ethanol production. | <urn:uuid:07306a6f-7024-4d99-9d48-b0d5340ffd68> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://southeastfarmpress.com/florida-moves-ethanol-plans-forward | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00079-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951741 | 826 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Pronunciation: (grist), [key]
1. grain to be ground.
2. ground grain; meal produced from grinding.
3. a quantity of grain for grinding at one time; the amount of meal from one grinding.
4. Older Use.a quantity or lot.
5. grist for or to one's mill, something employed to one's profit or advantage, esp. something seemingly unpromising: Every delay was so much more grist for her mill.
to grind (grain).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease. | <urn:uuid:ea0433d1-d32b-471a-96f5-fd3d6dc581a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dictionary.infoplease.com/grist | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00014-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907568 | 132 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Indiana and the Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established in 1933 as a program of the New Deal in FDR's first one hundred days. It was a public work relief program for unemployed single men, providing training, education and work for young men. It was designed to help curb high unemployment in urban areas as a result of the Great Depression. The program was also designed to conserve and develop the nations' natural resources, primarily forests and soil, but also wildlife and water resources. The average CCC enrollee was a single, unemployed male between the ages of 18-25 years. They lived in camps and received $30 a month as well as food, clothing and medical care. They were required to send home $22-25 to their families. At its zenith in 1935, the CCC had more than 500,000 enrollees in over 2,600 camps.
CCC, Third Corps Area: typing class with WPA instructor
The CCC provided conservation work in every state, as well as the territories of Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Work projects varied from state to state. They included bridges, fire towers, service buildings, roads, trails, small reservoirs and dams, and soil terracing. The CCC also was involved in flood control, providing irrigation, drainage, ditching and channel work. But the first and primary goal of the CCC was forest culture, including the planting of trees and shrubs, timber stand improvement, seed collection and nursery work. That also included forest protection, such fire prevention, fire fighting and insect and disease control. Between 1933 and 1942 the CCC was responsible for planting more than 2 billion trees, slowing soil erosion on 40 million acres of farmland and developing 800 new state parks. It constructed 13,000 miles of hiking trails and almost 1 million miles of fence. It stocked rivers with 1 million fish. During its existence, the CCC planted 2.3 million trees, or 12 for every Depression era American. This represents half of the trees planted in U. S. History. The national media nicknamed the CCC "Roosevelt's Tree Army." As the CCC progressed, its work included the conservation of human resources by developing recreation and outdoor facilities in parks, public camps, picnic grounds, shelters, rest areas and creating lake and ponds.
The CCC became one of the most popular New Deal programs among the general public. It provided work and training for a total of 3 million men. The CCC also provided a program for conservation of the nation's natural resources. The CCC was never meant to be a permanent program and depended on emergency and temporary legislation for its funding and existence. With the world war approaching, more emphasis was given to projects related national defense. Although President Roosevelt wanted to continue the CCC, it was abolished it in 1942.
Bloom, P. (November/December 2008). ""Boys" to men: Civilian Conservation Corps, hard corps work forged lives and parks." Outdoor Indiana Magazine. Wells Library, ET2--Indiana Collection. HC 107 .I6O9.
Couch, P. E. (1944). Educational emphasis in civilian conservation camps of the seventh corps area. Bloomington:Indiana University.
Brown mss Papers 1933-1955. Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Maher, N. M. (2008). Nature's new deal : the Civilian Conservation Corps and the roots of the American environmental movement. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. Business/SPEA Information Commons (B-BUSSPEA) S930 .M155 2008
Salmond, J. A. (1967). The Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942; a New Deal case study. Durham, N.C.:Duke University Press. Wells Library SD143 .S17
Quigley, B. (2005). African Americans and the Civilian Conservation Corps. Traces of Indiana & Midwestern History.17(1):44-47
Map of Indiana showing state forests and game pres[erves] in charge of or having C.C.C. camps under the direction of the Division of forestry. (1939). Indiana Division of Forestry. Indianapolis: Wm. B. Burford pts. co.
Wenzl, A. K. (2003). The implementation and impact of the National Park Service's design guidelines on Civilian Conservation Corp [i.e. Corps] stonework in Indiana's state parks. Thesis/dissertation. Not owned at IU.
Find others by using IUCAT or IU WorldCat, using the subject: Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.)--History.
Articles indexes are found in America: History and Life: http://www.libraries.iub.edu/scripts/countResources.php?resourceId=14
"Spirit of CCC". The original was a 4x6 foot oil painting, created by Harry Rossoll in 1938. Harry Rossoll later became well known as one of the artists of
Indiana Historical Society has several CCC collections:
The Indiana State Park System owes much of its history to the CCC:
"Indiana State Parks traces its history back to 1916. Colonel Richard Lieber, an Indianapolis businessman and German immigrant, recommended that a state park system be created as part of Indiana's celebration of its centennial. Lieber became a national leader in the state parks movement and assisted other states in forming their own systems as well. He became the first Director of the Indiana Department of Conservation, serving for more than a decade."
"One of the very special things about our state park system and its rich history lies in the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Many of the roads, shelters, restrooms, gatehouses, and bridges etc. still in use today were built by these young men during the Great Depression. We still marvel at the craftsmanship, the simple, rustic design and the way these facilities have remained to set the tone for all that has followed."
U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service
"The New Deal" in Indiana | <urn:uuid:18e89437-13a1-403d-b2ae-83591f921479> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.indiana.edu/%7Elibsalc/newdeal/CCC.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403508.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936835 | 1,263 | 3.53125 | 4 |
01/31/2012 // Riverdale, NJ, USA // Green Air Filters // Lynne Laake
(Air Filters News) – All commercial properties — from offices and factories to health care facilities and schools — have good reasons to boost their energy efficiency. Doing so, after all, isn’t just good for the planet, lowering carbon emissions and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. It’s also good for the pocketbook. Indeed, studies have found that 10 to 20 percent of all electrical power in buildings is consumed by heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, and the use of more efficient systems can keep energy use, and costs, down.
In the case of commercial air filters, there’s another key benefit of sustainable designs: The more efficient the filter, the better its performance over its service life, reducing the risk of dangerous particles entering the indoor air, and boosting air quality, comfort, and health.
But reaping the environmental, economic, and health benefits of energy efficient air filters is not always straightforward. Not all commercial air filters are alike, and too often, commercial customers have difficulty honing in on the most sustainable models. While leading air filtration companies like Camfil Farr have made important strides in developing next-generation clean air solutions, users are often wooed by less expensive designs that fall short — and require significant energy and replacement costs — in the long term.
Fortunately, that’s changing, thanks to a new energy efficiency classification system introduced in the European market by Eurovent Certification. The idea is simple: to grade air filters according to their energy consumption over their service life, with filters that have the lowest energy consumption receiving an “A” and filters with the highest — and least ideal — energy consumption receiving a “G.” At a glance, commercial customers that have much at stake on their filter purchases — indoor air quality, energy costs, and health of employees — can identify the models that will serve them best.
The new classification recognizes that air filters don’t always stand the test of time. Traditionally designed filters, for example, tend to see a dramatic performance decrease as they are loaded with more and more dust (in technical terms, their pressure drop will constantly increase). This means more and more energy is required to drive air through the filter. The result: increased energy use, and costs, even as performance degrades.
Newer designs, like those developed by Camfil Farr, are designed to maintain peak efficiency throughout the air filter’s service life. So performance is maintained — keeping the air healthful — while energy use is kept to a minimum. In fact, commercial customers that have switched to Camfil Farr clean air solutions been able to reduce their HVAC energy costs by up to 40 percent a year. Premium air doesn’t have to come at a premium cost.
The new classification system, which is being embraced by Camfil Farr in Europe, makes it easy for customers to select truly sustainable air filters — and get the efficiency, and the performance, they need.
The world leader in air filtration systems, Camfil Farr provides clean air solutions for hospitals, hotels, office buildings, educational institutions, and pharmaceutical and biotech companies. We provide the tools to achieve sustainability, maintain high air quality, and reduce airborne infections — all while lowering total cost of ownership. Camfil Farr customers go green without ever sacrificing performance. For more information about our energy efficient air filters, visit us online at www.green-air-filters.com, or call us toll-free at 888.599.6620.
Url: Clean Air Solutions Company | <urn:uuid:52b02355-1d37-4e2f-bac7-652a3c299b10> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wiredprnews.com/2012/02/01/new-classification-system-for-air-filters-homes-in-on-efficiency-savings_2012020125355.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93705 | 756 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Community and Students
Program Information - English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
The primary focus of this program is for non-native English speakers to become literate in English communication through life-skill curricula for speaking, reading, writing and listening.
The programs are also designed to assist individuals who live in a family or community environment where a language other than English is the dominant language.
An integrated English literacy civics education program may be included assisting immigrants or refugees to acquire the basic skills needed to function as a parent, employee or citizen through citizenship education preparation. | <urn:uuid:b14fb6a0-8520-47a7-bf6f-2a9d1a48f658> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://schools.utah.gov/adulted/Community-and-Students/Program-Information/ESOL.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00007-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940935 | 118 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Cinco de Mayo is more than a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage. With its American roots planted during the Civil War, the fifth of May is also a celebration of freedom and victory over odds. Over the years the holiday has become more mainstream, with celebrations that bring together music, art and cuisine shaped by the rich culture and international influences of Mexico and Latin America.
Avocados, cilantro, and chili peppers are a few key ingredients for traditional Cinco de Mayo dishes. Each of these sees significant retail and sale activity during the holiday week, and each comes with its own unique story.
Cilantro’s origins are based in southern Europe and Asia. It is actually the fresh leaves of the coriander herb, and has become such a staple in Tex-Mex and Mexican cooking that it is often referred to as “Mexican parsley.” Cilantro was brought into Mexico by Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s, and then into the U.S. In 2010 California produced almost 87 million pounds of cilantro with a market value of over $25 million. According to USDA Market News, part of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), you’re 7 times more likely to see sale ads for cilantro during Cinco de Mayo week.
Chili peppers, another staple for holiday dishes, are believed to have all originated in the country of Bolivia. Even though there are more than 25 varieties to choose from, most stores in the U.S. carry three types: jalapenos, serranos and poblanos. And, while chili peppers have their roots in North and South American cuisine, India is now the largest producer, consumer and exporter of chili peppers in the world.
Avocados, like Cinco de Mayo, originate in Mexico. They were introduced to the US in 1871 by Judge R.B. Ord of Santa Barbara, and are now bought by 43 percent of all U.S. households. USDA Market News reports that from 2011-2012, the U.S. produced 1.1 billion avocados—that’s enough for a whopping 700 million cups of guacamole! And, according to the California Avocado Commission, Americans are expected to consume just over 87 million pounds of avocados for Cinco de Mayo 2013.
These facts and figures are just one aspect of the comprehensive reporting done by USDA Market News, a part of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). We have been providing market information on cotton, dairy, livestock and grains, poultry and eggs, and fruits and vegetables for over 90 years. By visiting USDA Market News online you can view hundreds of pre-made commodity reports or create a custom report to see only the information you need.
Keep your holiday plate full of healthy and tasty international flavors by making one of our Cinco de Mayo recipes (PDF). The MyPlate initiative is all about making it easier for consumers to find the how-to resources they need to make healthier choices. Join the conversation and learn more about MyPlate by liking our Facebook page, following us on Twitter (@MyPlate), and visiting MyPlate Recipes on Pinterest! | <urn:uuid:1f21c569-c8d2-4e2a-a205-7eaffd7863b8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/05/03/the-international-influences-of-cinco-de-mayo-favorites/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00103-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949392 | 655 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Past Issues Table of Contents Cultural Guides Cover Stories Columns
February 14, 2002 Vol. 4 No. 11
Our Founding Father's Secret Society:
The Largest Fraternal Organization in the World
by Mina Diamos and Anna McWillie
To honor our Presidents, we at NoHo>LA started digging, and we heard that all the Presidents of the United States have been Freemasons. Then we heard that 44 of them have been Freemasons (how many Presidents have there been, anyway?) But our most reputable source states that 12 Presidents of the United States were/are Freemasons.
Nobody really knew much about Freemasons, except that they're father or grandfather was one and that they wear those cool looking hats called a "fez." Mystery surrounded what they were really all about, and many Freemasons were defensive when asked about their organization.
As we dug further, the walls got higher - dead Presidents and dark magic, secrets of the trade, secrets of the dead Presidents. One of their symbols is on our currency, the seeing eye in the pyramid. We heard that everyone who signed the Declaration of Independence was a Freemason, that all the signatures on our Constitution belonged to Freemasons. Have our founding fathers and leaders to this day been part of an elite secret society dedicated to keeping us non-Freemasons, mostly women, thieves, and murderers, in the dark?
The special handshake, secret initiation rites, women not allowed, it got us going, starting with myths dating back to ancient Egypt in The Secret Teaching of All Ages: an Encyclopedic Outline of Masons, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy by Manly P. Hall, founder of the Philosophical Research Society on Los Feliz. In this tome are the mysteries of mankind, starting with the god Hermes, the messenger, probably a collection of ancient people who wrote hundreds of books dealing with the science of what is called Hermetics.
In his introduction and preface, Hall explains why science and knowledge was shrouded in secrecy throughout ancient history, that it has to do with powerful knowledge getting into the wrong hands or discovery by a society which persecuted "pagans." The sacred truths were thusly presented symbollically so that only the initiated could understand.
The 17th century brought a reformation of learning, and the secret teachings of esoteric fraternities and medieval scholars obsessed with mysticism became mainstream (well, not quite, but coincidentaly, that is around the time Freemasons came into full documented history.) The irony, he states, is that now, "The young are no longer invited to seek the hidden truths, dynamic and eternal, locked within the shapes and behavior of living beings."
As to the character of our Founding Fathers, here are 6 Presidents who were Freemasons. (As far as we know, Abraham Lincoln was not a Freemason.)
George Washington - "First in War, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". From farmland in Virginia, George Washington as a youth first turned to surveying as a profession, but the responsibiltiy of running the family estates of Mount Vernon soon fell on his shoulders, and for 20 years he enjoyed the life of a gentleman farmer. But his contented life was interupted by patriotic feelings and the call to arms in a war for independence. His leadership led to the office of the first President of the United States in 1789.
James Monroe - America's 5th president was from Virginia and a true patriot leaving college at age 16 to join in the battles of the Revolutionary War. He later studied law under Thomas Jefferson, which led to a carreer in politics. His natural aptitude in diplomacy won him an appointment as minister to France, but he opposed Washington's federation policy and was recalled in 1797. He became president of the United States in 1816 after serving as Governor of Virginia. The Monroe Doctrine established the separation of Europe and the Americas.
Andrew Jackson - was a soldier who stood against the British in our fight for independence. He was captured and held as a prisoner for a short time, but refused to shine the boots of the British resulting in a sabre's scar across his face. Noted for his interest in politics, he became a candidate for the office of Presidency in 1824 but was defeated by John Quincy Adams. His popularity never diminished, and when he ran for office again in 1828, he was elected our 7th President. His devotion to democracy and military exploits were valuable assets for candidates who followed.
James Buchanan - Elected 15th president of the United States in 1856, James Buchanan was our only bachelor President. Although a northerner, he defended the southerners' belief regarding slavery. However, he felt the institution was morally wrong and was active in the elimination of the proslavery movement, creating a split in the democratic party, thus paving the way for Lincoln's nomination as president in 1860. His many mistakes as President almost obscured the fact that he was a man of unpeachable honesty and of the highest patriotism.
Warren Gamaliel Harding - was our 29th president and a country boy from Ohio, who upheld the belief that America's chief concern should be America, and strongly opposed internationalism. In his approach to the White House he slowly overtook more popular candidates ending in an overwhelming popularity with his "front porch" campaigning. To promote peace by securing international understanding and good will was his aim as President of the United States.
Harry S. Truman - A farm boy from Missouri, he proved his leadership in times of emergency during his service in World War l. Harry Truman was one of our bravest Presidents, having to fill the shoes of Franklin D. Roosevelt after his death while World War II still raged on. This was a job Truman inherited as Vice President of the United States - left to clean up the mess while facing the issues of the "Cold War" in Korea and the advent of the atomic bomb. With a reluctant first lady, who preferred to live in Missouri with her mother, Truman accomplished a "labor of Hercules" as our 33rd president.
Rumored To Be Masons
Benjamin Franklin, Francis Scott Key,
Merriwether Lewis & William Clark,
Neil Armstrong & "Buzz" Aldrin,
Gene Autrey, Michael Caine, "Buffalo Bill"
Nat King Cole, Jack Dempsey, Walt Disney,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Duke Ellington,
Gerald Ford, Henry Ford, Clark Gable,
Alex Haley, Franz J. Hayden, Bob Hope, Harry Houdini, Burle Ives, Al Jolson, Rudyard Kipling, Louis B. Mayer, Glenn Miller, Mozart, J.C. Penney, The Ringling Bros., Roy Rogers, Will Rogers, Peter Sellers, William Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, John Wayne, and H.G. Wells.
For a complete list of individuals purported to be Masons, check out the website: www.lodge542.com/famous.
Truth and Fiction
by Lois Becker and Bryan Carrigan
A little grist for the grind stone: The Pythagoreans, the antecedeants for the Masons, once executed one of their members for leaking their secret knowledge (they thought they'd unlocked the secret of the universe and creation through geometry and such knowledge wasn't suitable for the un-initiated). Of course, if that member hadn't leaked the secret, we wouldn't have the pythagorean theorem, which is one of the secret codes of the universe. Makes you wonder what the Masons were sitting on, and what leaked out when, and how it changed the course of civilization.
The origin of Freemasonry is shrouded in the fogs of time and myth. Some take the stories handed down by the order as literal fact, while others interpret them on a more symbolic level. Throughout history, certain kinds of knowledge have been considered dangerous and subversive. Secret societies have sprung up as a way of keeping such "mysteries" alive among a select group, while protecting those whose ideas might be misunderstood and who might, as a result of their knowledge or beliefs, be persecuted by the authorities. The origin of Freemasonry is believed by some to be connected to these kind of ancient mysteries and secret societies.
Others claim the order is merely an "institutional brotherhood, devoid of secrets or mysteries, combatting superstition, seeking to create a bond of mutual helpfulness...[and] ever striving to establish itself as a vital factor in the intellectual, moral, and spiritual development of the human race." -Delmar Duane Darrah 33, The Evolution of Freemasonry
By locating its beginnings back many thousands of years, the myths of Freemasonry set the order above the laws of nature and, at the same time, appeal to the human appetite for the marvellous.
Pythagoras was a philosopher and mathematician. His forty-seventh problem of Euclid is a symbol in Freemasonry.
According to one tradition, King Solomon was the forefather of the order. The Temple of Solomon is the source of much Masonic symbolism.
During the Middle Ages, a simple monk known as Peter the Hermit made it his mission to rescue Christ's tomb from Moslem possession. His preaching roused others to action, and 600,000 men set out on the first crusade. Only 25,000 reached Jerusalem, but they captured the city and held it for nearly a century. One company of soldier-monks particularly distinguished itself protecting the thousands of pilgrims who came to pray at the holy sites. Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, allowed them to live on Mt. Moriah, near the site where the Temple of Solomon once stood. From that they took their name - the Knights of the Temple or Knights Templar. Whatever one thinks of the Crusades, they marked the beginning of a process that set in motion vast populations, shook feudalism to its roots, and introduced Europe to new cultures and new ideas.
When Christopher Columbus brought the world further out from the darkness of the Middle Ages, he opened the way for the development of Freemasonry. The beginnings of organized Freemasonry date only to the year 1717. The organization was resented for its secretive, elitist nature and was a regular object of attack and ridicule from the 1720s on. The Vatican felt threatened by the Freemasons and did its best to destroy them. Queen Elizabeth I had the order thoroughly investigated. The resulting report was so favorable that gentlemen began to join the order.
Scottish Poet Robert Burns was made a Mason on July 4, 1781. Frederick the Great was himself a Mason and is reputed to have been the founder of Scottish Rite Freemasonry. Empress Maria Theresa issued an edict decreeing that all Masons assembling in Vienna should be apprehended. But Emperor Joseph I, who was himself a member, exerted his influence on his brethren's behalf.
In America the early Lodges attempted to supplement their weak finances with lottery monies. An 18th century rogue named Joseph Balsamo, aka Comte Cagliostro, invented "Egyptian Masonry," combining his knowledge of occultism with his knowledge of Freemasonry. Cagliostro established lodges throughout Europe, even admitting women to his Egyptian Rites. But he went too far when he started a lodge in Rome. The Pope had him tried by the Inquisition and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He is still remembered as the greatest Masonic trickster of all time.
It is unknown when the first Freemason set foot on American soil. However, in 1827, while surveying Nova Scotia, Dr. Charles T. Jackson discovered a large flat stone, on which were engraved Masonic symbols and the date 1606, possibly the work of some early French pioneer.
In 1829 Freemasons were wrongly blamed for the kidnapping and murder of one William Morgan of Massachusetts, presumably for revealing the secrets of the order. This provided the perfect fuel for the Anti-Masonic movement, which swept the U.S.
When Freemasonry went from being an association of craftsmen to a speculative society, it took some of the old tools with it. The plumb, square, level, trowel, gauge, and rough ashlar were used by the society's early ritual builders as symbols to teach moral truths. Symbols and ritual practices from various other sources, including cultures, both ancient and modern, were added to the mix along the way. This has sometimes led to fanciful interpretations of the historic relationship between the Freemasons and the cultures from which they borrowed.
Freemasonry has been accused of trying to create its own religion, built around an imaginary character called the widow's son. But this character, a worker in brass, was never meant to replace the Messiah, merely to provide a model of Masonic integrity. Masonry is concerned only with improving the moral and social features of the individual.
Featured are a collection of turn-of-the-century Masonic fobs, from Serendipity on Magnolia. At left features an elk, representing many Elk's lodges, and the eye of God in the pyramid, the secret handshake, red, blue and white enamel on gold. At center is a gold fob bearing the compass and right angle representing Freemasonry. At right is a rare fraternal order fob with the Shriners symbol containing a ruby and inset with ivory and mother of pearl; the knight's face plate is movable, and the flip side features a skull and cross bones.
More fraternal order fobs can be found at Serendipity 3414 W. Magnolia Blvd Burbank 818-843-7944.
Building the Modern Masons
by Bryan Carrigan & Anna McWillie
To pair down War and Peace: Tolestoy's Mason character was a wealthy prince who turned to the Mason's when he realized his wife didn't love him. His life had lost meaning and the secret society filled the void, but not in a meaningful way. For Tolestoy and his character, his salvation came not through the love he thought he deserved, but the love he could give - when Napolean's forces burn Moscow, he risks (and I think loses his life) saving a stranger from a burning house.
Tolestoy was always funny that way. He kept searching for intellectual solutions to human problems, even though in every one of his novels, its the human solution that solves the problem. He kept writing 'em without ever believing the lesson he learned in each of his novels.
There has been a great desire over the past few hundred years to associate Freemasons with ancient occult practices and secret learnings. There is a correlation between the efforts of preserving science and knowledge suppressed during the Middle Ages and the high moral ideals of Freemasonry. But the origins of Freemasonry were really far more practical than the romantic and mysterious legends and allusions.
During the Middle Ages, the lodges of operative masons were wooden sheds at the construction site of a cathedral. The builders - stonecutters, masons, carpenters - kept their tools there, and probably rested there mid-day, but did not sleep there.
These lodges gradually became club house places, where the builders/workers would discuss business. The lodges began being regulated by local chapters, which started laying down rules for them. "The oldest known rule for a lodge was lain down in 1352 by the chapter in York," says Daniel Hoehr, The Bond for Friendship Lodge No 890 G.C., in "Remains of Medieval Operative Customs in our Initiation Ceremony."
These builders were labourers, recruited mainly from rootless people, often serfs fleeing from their feudal lords. They found shelter in towns as far away from home as possible, and if they were not found within a year and a day, they became freemen and citizens of the town, where, as such, they could find jobs building cathedrals and the likes of.
While the origins of the Freemasons is debatable, and much of their activities over the years have shrouded in secrecy, the present form of the organization is easily recognizable. One of their largest and most well-known activities is their charitable work. Collectively, the Masons contribute roughly 2 million dollars a day to charity, most visible in the form of the Shriner's Hospitals for Children. In addition, the pediatric medical care provided at these facilities is supported by Shriners, and the Shriners provide funds to support individuals with learning disabilities and eye, heart and auditory conditions. All of these services are free to the public. Shriners also provide financial support to families whose children are undergoing medical treatment.
Freemason lodges are found all over the world, to this day. It continues to be the largest fraternal order in history. Although only men can join, and membership cannot be solicited, there are affiliated organizations for women and young adults: the Eatern Star, Rainbow Girls, and Demolay for young men.
The various initiation rites date back to eighteenth century England, where the necessary qualities for membership in the organization were a belief in God and loyalty to the King. Candidates had to be men of "good report," and the Masons were forbidden from accepting the membership of thieves, murderers or those otherwise lacking in character. While these characteristics have blurred over the years as the Masons have spread beyond England and the Anglican Church, loyalty to ones country and religious conviction still remain important. However, the ideal quality for a candidate, that he be a man of "good report" has never waned, and the phrase is repeated heavily in the current initiation rites.
3rd Degree Freemason and Shriner Alan Galespie, of Philadelphia, states that Freemasons have to do with people who work with a ruler and straight edge, right angles, and that it is all about doing the correct thing. Freemasons avoid confrontation, have excelent ethics, do the right thing for society, and, by the way, love to sing and dance - party and have a good time!
Nothing but goodness and wonderful stuff - but don't try to discover or disclose their secrets, which are passed on verbally - that is an extremely serious offense definitely not to be taken lightly by anyone. Based on the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, and the Golden Rule, it is open to men of every nationality and religion.
Asking Galespie why his father joined had Freemasonry with his brother-in-law when he was 35, he said, probably business reasons.
There are presently two rites practiced: the Scottish Rite and the York Rite. There are 3 degrees of Freemasonry achieved to become a Shriner. Achieving higher degrees, like Worshipful Master, has to do with learning and memorizing certain secret material. Andrew Higgs, of Le Petit Chateau restaurant in No. Hollywood, states that the Shriners stand for The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and that Shriners can graduate to the next level, becoming Jesters. He sees them as service clubs, like the Lions and the Kiwanis, engaging in charitable activities for the community. The highest possible degree is the 33rd Degree in the Scottish Rite and a Member of the Order of The Knights Templar in the York Rite.
For More info about Freemasonry
No Hollywood Lodge
www.lodge 542.com 818-755-9304.
The Philosophical Research Society
Library and Book Store 3910 Los Feliz Blvd
www.yahoo.com enter freemason
for many sites and locations of lodges as well as research materials.
Top Industry Insider Talks about Hollywood, Television, and Those Damn Racial Wrinkles
Interview with Yvette Lee Bowser
by L. Charelian
I recently had the privilege to sit down and talk with television writer/creator/executive producer Yvette Lee Bowser. Yvette has the rare distinction of being the first black woman ever to achieve one of the holiest of Hollywood grails: creating and producing a hit primetime sitcom. Living Single, which starred an ensemble cast including Queen Latifah and Kim Fields, ran on Fox for four years and now resides in syndication heaven. Another of her creations, For Your Love, currently airs on Sunday nights at 9:30pm on the WB. Because Los Angeles is a town driven and obsessed by the film and entertainment industry, and in honor of Black History Month (and because she is just a swell person) we share her story.
L How old were you when you created Living Single?
L Is that when you formed your production company, SisterLee Productions?
L You started working for Mr. Bill Cosby on A Different World as an apprentice
writer. What did you actually do?
Y I was a glorified scrub. I got coffee, made sandwiches. I wasn't paid, but I had access to the writer's room where I was a sponge for a year and a half, soaking it all up. I contributed ideas for storylines and characters from the beginning.
L You're a Stanford graduate. Is working in television what you always aspired to do?
Y When you're young, black, and educated there are three things that you're supposed to be - a doctor, lawyer, or an engineer. I applied to law school, but never went. I got sidetracked serving sandwiches. (laughs)
L How did it feel the first time you saw your name in the show credits?
Y It was exciting. I was undercredited, and the recognition was overdue, so it meant a lot. But that's pretty par for the course in Hollywood.
L For Your Love, starring your good friend Holly Robinson Peete, has been on the air for how long?
Y Four seasons.
L Congratulations. Does Holly's character "Malena" reflect what's currently going on in your life? Is writing the episodes sort of like good therapy?
Y Writing is the best therapy, it's always been extremely cathartic for me. I've seen my life unfold on A Different World with the college years, and Living Single was about me and my experiences as a single woman. For Your Love is the second chapter. It deals with my relationship with my husband and my friends and their significant others. We've just started to get into the baby stories (Yvette has a toddler and a four-month old.)
L Is there an underlying theme to your work, or are you going for pure entertainment?
Y The theme is the truth. Honesty entertains. Certainly there are fantasy shows that entertain as well, but I feel I've been able to entertain people by telling honest stories exposing some of the truths we don't always want to talk about. That's the subject of my most recent development project, which is about a nuclear family that happens to be interracial.
L What can you tell us about that?
Y I hope to do a very funny, smart comedy that deals with race in an honest way. If I don't get this particular idea advanced this year I'll keep trying, because I think race is something that needs to be exposed and dealt with. Maybe if we can have a good laugh, we'll all be less uptight about it.
L Sort of like what Will and Grace has done for gay issues?
Y If we can have Will and Grace, we should be able to have an interracial couple on television loving each other and dealing with each other like anyone else. They will have specific issues that they'll have to confront being interracial, what I call "racial wrinkles." And there will be the kids who have to deal with the influence from both white and black cultures.
L What are your feelings about the television industry as a whole now?
Y I think there is still a racial divide, but there are those of us who continue to strive to close the gap. Often shows or projects in development don't last or get as far as they should because there aren't very many executives of color in a position to greenlight projects or support them. The press has made such a big deal over how blacks and whites have different viewing tastes and it's become a self fulfilling prophecy. I think we've seen plenty of shows over the years that featured African Americans that were watched by white viewers in huge numbers. The industry has created this phenomenon of separatism. The dynamic of segregation in programming creates "Must See TV" and what I call "Not For You TV," with black programs all sort of lumped together. Those nights that are programmed as "urban" nights can work very well, but they also deserve to be promoted as programs that anyone can watch.
L Which has given you the most challenges in this business - race or gender?
Y: Race. But I've encountered both. I've run shows for the last nine years, and often even though I have a certain amount of respect, I'll be sitting with male writers who work for me, and the male executives will be giving the notes and looking at them, not me. But I do feel that my bigger challenges have been racial.
L You once had a project in the works called The Miseducation of Piper Fein. At the time, you described her as a person who "takes adversity and turns it around for her benefit," a real fighter. Do you see that in yourself?
Y Absolutely. Actually, Piper was a pet project of mine that had tremendous creative differences involved. But it was so personal to me that I didn't want to make the substantial changes required. It's very hard to take notes on your own life.
L What is the most enjoyable aspect of your job? The least?
Y (laughs) I get to laugh all day long. I get to amuse people. I enjoy the family feeling you can have on a production, and I've been fortunate enough to have spent significant time on three shows where that existed. The least enjoyable aspect is taking notes from the studio and network, when they tell you what's not working, what they'd like to see. What can be tough about writing shows that are very universal is you'll often get executives who want to tell their story, they don't want you to tell your story. Then you have to be firm and say, "This is the story I know how to tell best." There's a lot of compromise, but that's part of the process and you come to accept it.
L Who or what has been the biggest inspirational influence in your life?
L You are married to your wonderful husband Kyle, you have two beautiful children, the big house, your career in television. Do you feel you have "made it"? What does really making it mean to you?
Y I feel I have made it because I've made all of it work together. It's not always 24/7, but in the overall picture of marriage, children, spirituality, and career my life is very well balanced. I've found a way to stay grounded and feel I haven't really changed. That sometimes surprises people, and when they point that out, it makes me laugh.
L But a lot of people do change when they make it.
Y A lot of people do, but I don't understand that because I never expected to change.
L Your singular accomplishments in television make you a very rare bird. Since you've broken the ground, do you know of any other women of color who have joined you in becoming creator/producers?
Y Oh, yes, there are several. Eunetta Boone has "One on One" UPN, Winifred Hervey, "Steve Harvey" on the WB and "In the House," Sara Finney & Vida Spears created Moeisha, Susan Fales, my mentor Showtime. Felicia Henderson, So, they have done it, I was just kind of in the right place at the right time to be the first African American woman to create a hit show.
L What is the best advice you can give any aspiring up-and-coming producer/writer/
director hopefuls out there?
Y Don't lose focus of your own goals and what you want to say. Remember to maintain your integrity, and even more so your dignity because Hollywood will damn sure try to take it away. (laughs)
L Yvette, thank you so much.
Y Thank you.
An Evening Visit to Debbie Reynolds's Dance Studio
by Michelle Malik
Debbie Reynolds, darling of the MGM musicals of the 1950's, philanthropist, memorabilia collector, and tireless Vegas show woman, established The Debbie Reynold's Professional Studios in the late 1970s. Located far north on Lankershim Blvd., this dance factory is where some of Hollywood's brightest stars and a new generation of Hollywood hopefuls take lessons and rehearse for shows.
Transformed from an old post office and then a furniture store, the studio has a very seventies look to the exterior, an unassuming white front with an ominous dark strip around its center, something like a valley roller skating rink. At its entrance in the back, are two large opposing Egyptian bird-human sculptures, apparently souvenirs of the set of Cleopatra and a rusted, antique mail scale from the post office days. Upon entering, one is greeted with wall-to-wall lobby cards and souvenirs from Debbie's films and several autographed photos from well-knows who have taken classes or rehearsed there like Priscilla Presley, Patrick Swayze, and Phyllis Diller. Like most dance studios, Debbie Reynolds's offers a host of basic fare like basic and intermediate ballet and tap but is infused with a lot of modern dances like hip hop, jazz/funk, lockin' and breakin,' and turns classes. Salsa Brava also rents out a few time slots a week at the studio to teach eager movers and shakers enticing Latin steps.
An import from Kansas, spunky dance instructor Patsy Metzger has been with the studio for several years teaching jazz, tap and tumble classes to children and adults. Her students have ranged from TV's Blossom, Mayim Bialik, and Tia and Tamera Mowry and their brother Tahj. Patsy also recently choreographed a Jimmy Buffet concert. Patsy's kids' class for jazz is a group of ten to thirteen year olds who have their warm-up memorized, taking spins and leaps across the floor and sliding on their knees with protective shoulder pads. There are definite elements of ballet used, since, Patsy says, that ballet is really the basis for all dancing. Most of Patsy's students also take jazz and tap classes to have all their bases covered.
Rowdy Metzger, Patsy's son is one of the ballet instructors at the studio. His early Monday night class is small with a mixture of boys and girls. He emphasizes concentration, taut hips and shoulders and conducts his pupils in a complicated shifting of feet. Rhythm is essential, and he keeps time like a metronome, tapping the floor in time to the moves. In the older class that follows, Rowdy used a jazzy ragtime version of "Brother Can You Spare a Dime" on piano to emphasize a few choice steps to his students.
Ramon Baynes, a relatively new transport to the studio, is an intense, talented jazz funk instructor from Cambridge Massachusetts who has been dancing since he was eleven years old. On the night of my visit, Ramon choreographed his crew to a fusion of kicking, hip shaking, pointing and snake-slithering moves, where every muscle of the body was used. His students were intent as they sweated to a powerful Aaliyah tune.
Theresa Espinosa, who toured with Janet Jackson and Jennifer Lopez, teaches hip hop classes at the studio. Her style includes a lot of funk and some jazz and modern dance influences. In addition to her regular warm-up and new dance routine instruction for each class, she offers a unique free style class once-a-month to her hip hop students, combining funky moves with the theory of hip hop. She encourages her students to be totally confident and not take themselves too seriously, to lose their inhibitions and find their own style. First she had them walk to the beat of a popular song, asking them to listen for the elements of rhythm that called out to each one individually and move to it. By the end of the class, she had her students, many of whom also attend Ramon's class, gathered around in a circle, encouraging each other as they each took the center - going all out with exciting, unique moves.
Chonique & Lisette teach a new flavor of hip-hop which incorporates cutting edge combinations of hip-hop, jazz, funky salsa, and even musical theater from their own backgrounds. Other faculty members include Lane Bradbury teaching ballet, Dante -hip hop, Chris Dupre -jazz, Eric Ellis -jazz, Flo Master -lockin' and breakin', Cindy Fancher -ballet, Stan Mazin -tap, Rosemarie Rand -turns, Thommie Retter -tap, Chance Taylor -tap, Nancy Valencia -jazz, Josie Walsh -ballet, and Nalani Wilson -beginning hip hop. Classes cost $10 for non union and $9 for union, however, the more classes you take the more money you will save per class.
Who would have thought that the charming gal who starred in one of my personal favorites Singin' in the Rain' would have offered so many diverse dances to an enthusiastic new crop of dancers?! Although Debbie is often on a project that takes her out of Los Angeles, she sometimes returns to her theater to rehearse for a show. So even though she isn't always around, the Debbie Reynolds's Professional Rehearsal Studio 6514 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood is open seven days a week with classes starting in the afternoon through evening. For more information, give them a call at 818-985-3193 and ask for the friendly studio manager Margie or e-mail them at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Telephone 818 769 8414 Fax 818 980 7463 Email email@example.com
5140 Lankershim Blvd, Suite One, No Hollywood, Ca 91601
Art, Music, Film, Theater, Literature, and Style for Los Angeles | <urn:uuid:26b2dc2c-79b5-46e7-a2f1-9edd32ca2aca> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://thetruthissecretsecretum.blogspot.com/2007/11/vatican-and-largest-fraternal.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00018-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968826 | 7,140 | 2.53125 | 3 |
What is the difference between license and licence? Are both variations accepted in US and UK?
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In British English license is the verb and licence is the noun. American English uses license for both noun and verb.
The Corpus of Contemporary American English has 10263 incidences for license and just 91 for licence. The British National Corpus, in contrast, has 4217 for licence and 333 for license. Of those, 129 were for noun uses of license.
From this we can say that in the United States, the spelling license is nearly universal and licence is virtually unknown (with a ratio of more than 100 to 1 in favor of license). In Britain, the spelling licence is much more common than license, but the more common spelling is only about 13 times more common, so license is a small minority but not unknown spelling.
Update Oct 15, 2014:
Here we can see that British use of "license" reached a nadir in the 1950s, but has been on a steady upswing since the 1960s. According to this graph, in recent years use of "license" accounts for about 1/3 of uses of both spellings in Britain. | <urn:uuid:44f5987e-367b-4423-8345-52c140a19f71> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/2882/license-and-licence | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957692 | 263 | 2.8125 | 3 |
government, through its various agencies and branches produces
a vast quantity of information on practically any subject.
Many of these publications are distributed by the United States
Government Printing Office (GPO) to depository libraries across
the country. The Federal Depository Library Program ( FDLP)
was established by Congress to ensure that the American public has
access to its Government's information. This program involves the
acquisition, format conversion, and distribution of depository materials
and the coordination of Federal depository libraries in the 50 states,
the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. The mission
of the FDLP is to disseminate information products from all
three branches of the Government to nearly 1,300 libraries nationwide.
Libraries that have been designated as Federal depositories maintain
these information products as part of their existing collections
and are responsible for assuring that the public has free access
to the material provided by the FDLP. Weber State University's
Stewart Library is a selective government depository, selecting
approximately 45% of the documents available. University of
Utah , BYU and USU are other depository libraries in the area.
Utah State University Library is the regional depository for the
FDLP and therefore selects 100% of the available documents.
Government Documents are
arranged by the Superintendent
of Documents Classification Number. Publications are
grouped together by the issuing agency.
- Federal Register (FR) lists U.S. federal agency announcements
and information, such as presidential documents, agency meetings,
grant opportunities, and proposed federal regulations. The GPO publishes
a new edition of the Federal Register every business day,
Code of Federal Regulations
- The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is a codification of the
general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by
the Executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
The CFR is divided into 50 titles which represent broad areas
subject to Federal regulation. Each title is divided into chapters
which usually bear the name of the issuing agency.
Statutes At Large
- AE 2.111 - The United States Statutes at Large, commonly
referred to as the Statutes at Large is the official source for
the laws and resolutions passed by Congress.
U.S. Code -
Y 1.2/5: Finally, the law is codified in the United States Code.
The codification process involves collating the original law and
all subsequent amendments. It brings all laws on the same subject
together and eliminates all repealed, superseded, or expired laws.
The U.S. Code includes all of the general and permanent laws of
the United States. The U.S. Code is arranged by subject into 50
titles and is fully revised every six years. Between revisions,
annual cumulative supplements are issued. It is important to note
that the U.S. Code is composed only of those laws currently in effect.
Public Papers of the
President AE 2.114 - A "cumulated annual volume
of presidential messages, transcripts, and public speeches and statements".
Some proclamations, executive orders, and similar documents are
not included, but reference to their inclusion in the Federal
Register, Code of Federal Regulations, and Weekly Compilation
of Presidential Documents is made. At the present time, coverage
of Presidents' statements extends back to the Hoover administration
Documents of U.S. Democracy - From GPO Access
U.S. Reports -
JU 6.8: Supreme Court Cases
Finding Books & Documents
Use the WSU
online catalog to find location and availability of documents,
CDs and other media in Stewart Library The Online Catalog
lists many, but not all, government publications available at WSU.
To find documents not
in the catalog, use the Catalog
of U.S. Govt. Publications , an index to government
documents from GPO Access. This database indexes government
documents since 1976.
To locate older documents
use the print version of the Monthly Catalog,
located in Government Document Reference, 1st Floor North
- GP 3.8. Many of the documents are found in the Microforms
area of the library located in Microforms - 1st Floor South.
Reference Table 2A contains
many finding aids and information about government documents.
Print Indexes to Federal
Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly
Catalog of United States Government Publications
1900-1971 GP 3.8/7: Government Documents Reference.
Subject Guide to U.S. Government Reference
Sources Z 1223.Z7R63 - Reference Table 2A.
List of Classes The List of
Classes is the official listing of publications available for
selection by depository libraries participating in the Federal
Depository Library Program. GP 3.24: The most
recent edition is located on Reference Table 2A.
U.S. Serial Set Index 1789-1969
Index to Congressional and department reports. J
74.C5 - Government Document Reference
Cumulative Title Index to United States
Public Documents 1789 - 1976. J 83.C7 -Government
Guide to U.S. Government Publications
Z 1223.Z7 A574 - Reference Table 2A.
Using Government Information Sources
J 83.S4 - Reference Table 2A. "A guide to basic government
information sources used for answering reference questions.
Separate chapters cover search strategies and basic searching;
specific topics such as, foreign countries, climate, elections,
maps, education, and legislative histories; agency searches;
and various types of statistical searches."
Articles & Documents
Government Search Use this search engine to find documents
of all types on the internet. This searches federal, state
& city sites.
One stop guide to all government web sites.
Search Elite Multidisciplinary database. Full text
articles from many sources.
- A collection of major political science journals in full
text. Usually from their beginnings to 3 - 4 years ago.
Muse - Full text of recent articles for World Politics,
Journal of Democracy and other related journals.
- Full text of news, business & legal information from over
Sciences Abstracts - Coverage includes a wide range of
interdisciplinary fields covered in of social sciences journals.
- Online links to popular agencies. Use Google
Government Search to find agencies not listed here.
Facts & Figures
of the United States - Since 1878, the Statistical Abstract
has been the single most authoritative source of facts about the
people, institutions and economy of the country. This is a
publication of the Census Bureau and is compiled from government
and private sources and is an excellent place to start when looking
for statistics. This is an annual and covers a broad range of topics,
mostly United States, but includes some international. Most recent
edition is located at the Reference Desk. Older editions in Government
Documents - AE 2.108/2. Online
of the United States - Social, economic, political and geographic
development from colonial times to 1970. Data after 1970 can be
found in the Statistical Abstract, which includes an historical
appendix linking the historical series to specific tables in Statistical
Abstract. C 3.134/2:H 62/789-970. Reference Table 5B.
of the United States - Millennial Edition contains more than
37,000 annual time series of quantitative historical information
covering virtually every quantifiable dimension of American history:
population, work and welfare, economic structure and performance,
governance, and international relations, all from the earliest times
to the present. Online
Census Bureau Home Page
The American Factfinder is the Census Bureau's primary vehicle
for distributing:2000 Census of Population and Housing, 1997 Economic
Census, American Community Survey, 1990 Census of Population and
Housing. You can use American FactFinder to find statistics about
population, housing, industry and business.
Community Survey " The
American Community Survey is a new nationwide survey designed to
provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing. It is
a critical element in the Census Bureau's reengineered 2010 census
States Historical Census Browser - From the University
of Virginia which presents data on the people and the economy of
the United States from 1700 to 1960.
Congressional Universe - full-text of proposed legislation
and status, legislative histories, congressional committee information,
campaign contributions and PAC activities, articles from" National
Journal" and more.
A full-text database which includes major legislation (by bill number,
subject, and title), bills (full text, summaries, and status), public
laws, the Annals of Congress, the Congressional Record and the Congressional
Record Index, roll call votes, Congressional committee reports,
historical documents, and information about the legislative process.
Years: Bill Summary & Status and Public Laws: 1973-present;
Bill Text, Roll Call Votes, Congressional Record: 101st Congress
(1989-1990) - present; Major Legislation, Committee Reports:
104th Congress (1995-96) - present.
Office of the Clerk - House of Representatives
On-line Information Center. At this site, you can obtain copies
of House documents, including public disclosure forms, made available
by the Clerk as part of his official duties. You can also find historical
information about the House of
Representatives and information about its Members and Committees.
- Congress.org is a free, public service of Capitol Advantage.
Record - The Congressional Record is the most
widely recognized published account of the debates, proceedings,
and activities of the United States Congress. Congressional
Record--printed by the Government Printing Office on a daily, over-night
basis, and after a session is over in bound form--is widely considered
to be an essential, full record of legislative proceedings.
& Election Guide
Science Resources from University of Michigan Government Document
Parties - links from University of Michigan Document Center
and Registration Data - from the U.S. Census
& Public Opinion
Utah Print Resources
Statistical Abstract of Utah HA 661.S 723 - Most recent edition
is located at the Reference Desk.
Utah Facts Utah Facts discusses issues such as tax rates, utility
costs, transportation, education systems, cost of living and quality
of life. HA 663.U82 Reference Collection. Utah
Facts 2004 2006
State & Local Government in Utah Contains a description of the
structure, operation, function, and finances of state and local
government in Utah - their departments, commissions and agencies.
JK 8425 1992.U8 - Reference. | <urn:uuid:e2bf28b3-8d65-43a2-81a1-ec208b716541> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://library.weber.edu/ref/government/polysciguide.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.855889 | 2,233 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Women who are riding a donkey take on some water in Lake Chad, Nov. 25, 2006. The lake that once provided adequate livelihoods for 20 million people in west-central Africa, has lost 90 percent of its surface area in 30 years.
"Climate Change a Stumbling Block to Africa's Economies"
Op-Ed, The Daily Nation
September 15, 2009
Author: Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa
African countries have in recent years recorded considerable economic gains.
Sub-Saharan African economies are projected to grow by 3.7 per cent in 2010 compared with 1.3 per cent for industrialised countries and 2.5 per cent for developing countries, excluding India and China. But this hopeful outlook now faces new threats from climate change.
According to the World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change, released today, a two-degree Celsius warming above pre-industrial levels could permanently reduce Africa's annual per capita consumption by four to five per cent. The report calls for urgent action to ensure that Africa's prospects are not undermined by climate change.
Africa's greenhouse gas emissions have been modest because of its low levels of industrial output. Yet the continent is likely to suffer disproportionately from climate change. African countries are therefore right to demand that international climate negotiations be based on principles of historical justice.
The report calls on industrialised countries, which have released most of the greenhouse gases, to lead the way in charting a new low-carbon economic path. In addition, the report calls for financial support to enable developing countries adapt to climate change and lay the foundation for low-carbon economies.
Fragile ecosystems are a dominant feature of sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly two thirds of its surface area is dry land or desert, which makes it highly vulnerable to droughts and floods. Much of the continent's political instability is associated with the fragility of its ecosystems and low levels of technological competence to compensate for the natural deficiencies.
Africa's economies are also highly dependent on natural resources. Nearly 80 per cent of its energy comes from biomass and a third of its gross domestic product comes from rain-fed agriculture, which supports 70 per cent of the population.
Stress is already being felt in critical areas such as water supply. Today, 20 African countries experience severe water scarcity and another 12 will be added in the next 25 years. Economic growth in regional hubs such as Nairobi is now being curtailed by water shortages.
The drying up of Lake Chad (shared by Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger) is a grim reminder of the dramatic ecological challenges that lie ahead. The lake's area has decreased by 80 per cent over the last three decades, with catastrophic impacts.
Lake Victoria is receding as well and projected reductions in the rivers in the Nile region signal difficult times ahead.
Uncertainty over water supply affects decisions in other areas such as hydropower, agriculture, urban development and overall land-use planning.
Water scarcity is emerging as a security issue. This is mainly because the continent's 63 trans-boundary river basins together account for over 90 per cent of its surface water. Africa has yet to develop effective mechanisms for sharing such resources.
Africa already faces chronic food shortages.
Climate change will compound the problem. Rainfall variability is projected to increase, undermining the potential to support existing crops. These impacts are emerging at a time when much of Africa has lost its traditional crops.
It is difficult to breed crops for a rapidly changing climate. A two-degree Celsius increase in temperate could wipe out up to 15 per cent of Africa's species. This would also affect non-agricultural sectors such as tourism that are dependent on wildlife diversity and pre-empt development of fish farming and game ranching.
To forestall the impact of climate change on species, Africa will need to double conservation areas in face of growing demand for land. The drama surrounding Kenya's Mau Forest is a hint of the politics of ecological change that lies ahead.
Most of Africa's protected areas lack long term funding. Industries such as tourism that benefit from wildlife contribute too little to conservation efforts. There is also the little-known Madrid-based World Tourism Organisation (WTO) that could play a key role in raising awareness on the role species diversity plays in tourism.
Professor M.S. Swaminathan, the father of India's Green Revolution, warned in a recent issue of Science magazine that most of the crops we depend on are not diverse enough to withstand climate change. "If their production is affected by a natural calamity, their prices will increase and food-deficient countries are likely to face riots and worse."
He called for a massive effort to identify genes that would enable crops to withstand climate change. For example, he is working on identifying salt-tolerant genes from mangrove, which can help crops grow in salty water. For much of Africa, attention should be on identifying genes that confer drought-tolerance to crops.
Climate change will also have direct impacts on human health by altering the patterns of the spread of diseases. Changes in rainfall and temperature have resulted in more malaria cases in highland areas of Rwanda. It is estimated that nearly 900 million Africans will be exposed to malaria by 2030 as a result of climate change.
These projections do not include the emergence of new infectious diseases arising from ecological change and human mobility.
Africa's capacity to detect new diseases, develop diagnostic tools and manufacture new drugs is not catching up with the rise in the threat level.
But behind this seemingly dismal outlook lies a unique opportunity for Africa to lead the way in adopting low-carbon growth strategies. Countries need to complete their demand for historical justice with the design of climate-smart policies.
They can build climate-smart economies that take advantage of the vast amounts of scientific knowledge available. It is estimated that growth in such knowledge is doubling every 14 months.
Building climate-smart economies will involve taking deliberate steps in at least four key areas: infrastructure; technical education; business development; and international diplomacy.
Infrastructure is essential for adapting to climate change. Take energy, for example.
More than 550 million Africans have no access to electricity. Nearly half of African countries have a power crisis.
The continent can therefore lead the way in investing in clean energy. Eastern Africa, for example, can generate over 2,500 megawatts of electricity from geothermal energy using existing technologies, compared to the current world output of 8,100 megawatts.
Similar adjustments should be made in agriculture. Conventional crops need to be complemented by more resilient food sources such as tree crops. Breadfruit (Artocarpus alitis), which has been a staple in Pacific islands, is a prime candidate for adoption in diverse African regions.
Creating climate-smart infrastructure will require greater investment in higher technical training. Ministries dealing with agriculture, environment, water, energy and transportation could play key roles in training local experts in the design of climate-smart infrastructure.
Similarly, African countries will need to invest in fostering "green jobs". Universities and institutes could help foster the incubation of enterprises that promote sustainability.
The new Victoria Institute of Science and Technology in Kisumu, for example, seeks to advance the use of "green technologies" in economic renewal.
Finally, advancing climate-smart growth strategies will demand new diplomatic leadership.
African ministries of Foreign Affairs will need to strengthen their capacity to engage in science and technology diplomacy.
A look into the future of climate change reveals disruptions that will take on wartime proportions. Responses must therefore match the challenges. Leaders who do not take climate change seriously will be punished by their young followers who have grown up in the age of environmental enlightenment.
The best way to avert political turmoil is to act in time and treat the situation as a state of emergency. That means now.
Calestous Juma teaches at Harvard Kennedy School and was a major contributor to the World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change. firstname.lastname@example.org
For more information about this publication please contact the STG Coordinator.
Full text of this publication is available at:
For Academic Citation: | <urn:uuid:bf3c5f55-fc59-4989-874b-2f56a0538150> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/19555/climate_change_a_stumbling_block_to_africas_economies.html?breadcrumb=%2Findex | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930099 | 1,691 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Scientists began understanding isotopes about a century ago as they came to realize the number of neutrons — neutral particles — found in the nuclei of the same kind of element can vary. They would put this information to profound use by mid-century with the development of atomic weapons.
But in the last decade they have turned their knowledge of isotopes to a far broader use in an emerging field called isoscapes, a term coined by Texas A&M University’s Jason West. This field essentially allows scientists to read fingerprints of the natural world.
What do I mean by this? The rain in Texas, for example, has a different combination of isotopes than the rain in China. Also different are the ratios of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur found in samples of the victim’s hair, teeth, nail, and bone from different parts of the world.
Isoscapes have been used to validate products: ratios of carbon and of the hydrogen in water can help tell whether an expensive brand of bottled water really comes from the exotic spring listed on its label. It’s also been used in crime fighting, Chemical & Engineering news reports:
British police went to (chemist Wolfram) Meier-Augenstein with a long lock of hair from a Vietnamese man who had died after being dumped at a hospital emergency room in England. The police knew his identity from a worldwide fingerprint database, but they did not know how the murdered man, an illegal alien, came to the U.K.
Meier-Augenstein’s team chopped the 14-cm-long hair, which represented about 14 months of growth, into 5-mm increments. From isotope ratios in the different sections of hair, the team proposed that the man had been in the Ukraine a year before his death, had then traveled to Germany, and finally ended up in the U.K. How and when he traveled from Vietnam to the Ukraine could not be determined from isotope ratios because the hair sample did not include that period of his life.
The police later discovered that the man had hired human traffickers to get him illegally into the U.K. through Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, the murdered man had to repay his debt by working in a gang-run marijuana-growing operation, Meier-Augenstein says. When a rival gang stole a large crop harvest from the victim, he was killed by his own gang for failing to protect the valuable product. The isotope-based map was just one of many forensic tools that helped convict two men for the murder, but it was essential for piecing together the murdered man’s life trajectory.
Such analyses are not easy, but the databases of isotopes from around the world are improving all the time.
The technology is now being used in scientific fields from climate change to studying animal migratory patterns. It’s a powerful combination of basic knowledge gained a century ago combined with modern technology. | <urn:uuid:23eabda9-e1e6-46f4-ab88-a1070dbcfe75> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2011/06/not-scifi-or-csi-scientists-use-nuclear-chemistry-to-fingerprint-the-natural-world/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969926 | 600 | 3.140625 | 3 |
By Euripides (485-406 BC)
A Study Guide
Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...© 2012
.......Alcestis is a tragedy centering on a doomed king whose wife volunteers to die in his place. Alcestis is also categorized as a satyr play, a drama with the structure and serious theme of a tragedy but which incorporates comic scenes. The best Greek playwrights each staged a satyr play and three tragedies at the Great Dionysia, a yearly festival at Athens presented in the name of the god of wine, drama, and ribald merriment, Dionysus (known as Bacchus to the Romans.) The satyr play was intended as comic relief from the three ponderous and profound tragedies that each playwright presented.
....... A satyr was a minor deity with the the head and trunk of a man and the horns, ears, and legs of a goat. It became associated with Dionysus because of its love of wine, revelry, and lechery. In a satyr play, satyrs acted as the chorus, a group of persons who commented on the action of a play (the way a movie narrator comments on plot developments) and often conversed with the characters.
.......Euripides debuted Alcestis in Athens in March of 438 BC at the theater on the south side of the Acropolis. The occasion was the Great Dionysia, the festival described under Type of Work.
.......Euripides based the play on part of a Greek myth centering on Alcestis, the daughter of King Pelias of Iolcos. This myth was the subject of a play of the same name written by Phryinicus many decades before Euripides wrote his version of the myth.
.......According to the myth, Alcestis was a young woman of surpassing beauty. After many suitors called upon her, her father decided that he would give his daughter to the man who could yoke a lion and a boar to a chariot. With the help of the god Apollo, Admetus—the king of Pherae in Thessaly, Greece—completed this seemingly impossible task and married Alcestis. One day, when Admetus was fated to die, Apollo again helped Admetus by persuading the Fates to let him live. However, the Fates decreed that another person must die in his place. Only one person agreed to do so, Alcestis. Euripides retells the rest of this myth in his play, summarized below.
.......The action takes place in a single day at Pherae, an ancient community in southeastern Thessaly. Thessaly was a region of central Greece that stretched eastward to the Aegean Sea.
Admetus: King of Pherae in Thessaly, Greece.
Alcestis: Young wife of Admetus.
Apollo: God of the sun, medicine, and prophecy. After a conflict with Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, Zeus punished him by forcing him to serve a mortal for a time. Apollo chose to work for Admetus. Because Admetus treats the great god with kindness and respect, Apollo becomes a friend of Admetus. After the Fates mark Admetus for death, Apollo persuades them to allow him to live. But they set a condition: another must die in his place.
Death (Thanatos): Death personified comes calling at the palace of Admetus and demands the victim who must die in place of Admetus. He will not leave until he has another soul to populate the Underworld.
Heracles (Roman name, Hercules): Son of Zeus and great hero of Greece. A friend of Admetus, he is scheduled to stop overnight at the palace of the king while traveling to another place on one of his adventures.
Eumelus: Son of Admetus and Alcestis. The child chants a lament when his mother dies.
Sister of Eumelus: This child observes the action. The author does not identify her by name.
Chorus: Older men of Pherae who sing or chant songs about the unfolding action. They also advise the king and sing prayers for him and his family.
tone is generally serious, but Heracles' drinking and
merrymaking add a comic touch.
.......The great god Apollo steps forth with his unstrung bow from the palace of Admetus, the king of Pherae, a city in Thessaly, Greece. Apollo bemoans the humiliation he has endured as a common laborer for a mortal, Admetus. Apollo's abasement was the result of a conflict with Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods. First, Zeus killed Apollo's son, Aesclepius, with a thunderbolt. (Aesclepius was a god of medicine and healing. He had saved so many humans from death that Hades, the god of the Underworld, lodged a complaint with Zeus that Aesclepius was robbing him of the souls of the dead. To satisfy Hades, Zeus killed Aesclepius.) In retaliation, Apollo killed the one-eyed giants (called Cyclopes) who made Zeus's thunderbolts. Zeus then sentenced Apollo to work in the service of a human being. On earth, Apollo happened upon the kingdom of Admetus and carried out his sentence by tending Admetus's oxen.
.......Apollo found Admetus to be a noble and kindly man. Consequently, he acted to prevent the death of Admetus when he was fated to die. The Fates—three goddesses who control human destiny—agreed to postpone the death of Admetus if Apollo could produce someone willing to die in the place of Admetus. Apollo discovered that not one of the king's friends—and not even his own mother and father—was willing to die for him. However, his young wife, Alcestis, agreed to die in his place.
.......As Apollo stands in front of the palace, Death approaches him and lays claim to Alcestis. When Apollo tries to persuade him to allow Alcestis to live, Death refuses to give her up, noting that he especially prizes young victims like Alcestis. Angry now, Apollo tells Death that both humans and gods revile him. He then says a man will be coming to wrest Death's prize from him. This man is to visit Admetus during a stopover on a mission to fetch a horse-drawn chariot belonging to Diomedes, a Thracian.
.......After Apollo leaves, Death enters the palace to cut off hair from the head of Alcestis with his sword, a ritual that consecrates a human to the gods of the Underworld.
.......Two choruses of men enter the scene. The first chorus observes that the the palace seems very quiet. The second chorus wonders why none of the king's relatives is around to tell them whether Alcestis, a very good wife to the king, is still alive. Because they hear or see no activity signaling the preparation of funeral rites, the choristers think she must still be alive. Yet they note with sadness that this is the day she is fated to die. The men agree that only the son of Apollo, Aesclepius—who had the power to raise the dead—could save her now. But he himself is dead, slain by the thunderbolt of Zeus.
.......A servant comes from the palace weeping. She tells the men that Alcestis yet lives but is near death. The palace has already prepared for her funeral. The chorus leader tells the woman, “Let her know then that she will die glorious and the noblest woman by far under the sun.”
.......The servant tells the men just how noble. When Alcestis became aware that the day of her death had arrived, she bathed herself, put on fine attire, and prayed to the earth goddess that she would watch over her orphaned son and daughter and, when they are older, marry them to noble spouses. Admetus weeps for her as she declines in her illness. The chorus petitions Zeus and Apollo to find a way for the royal family to escape tragedy.
.......The palace door opens. Royal guards lead Alcestis, supported by Admetus in her weakened condition, outside so that she may look upon the light of day one more time. Her boy and girl cling to her. Attendants and servants follow with a throne for her to sit on. Alcestis says she can see the boatman Charon, who ferries the dead across a lake to the Underworld. Growing weaker, she falls back on the throne and says,
My children, my children,.......Admetus calls out to the gods for help.
.......Alcestis then asks Admetus to watch over the children and to remain unmarried after she dies. A stepmother, she says, would be envious of the children and treat them poorly. Saying she has done her duty as a mother and wife, she bids farewell. Admetus assures her that he will do her will. He also says he will mourn her death for the rest of his life. When the time comes for him to die, he says, he will leave orders to bury his body in her coffin. In the Underworld they will once again be together.
.......She commends her children to him and says her last good-bye, then slumps over. The children and the father grieve, as do all gathered around them. Servants then carry her body into the palace.
.......Heracles enters and tells the chorus he plans to call upon Admetus. When the chorus inquires about his business, he says he is on a quest to seize the four-horse chariot of Diomedes, a Thracian. The chorus warns him that the horses tear apart men who try to put a bit into their mouths. Their breeder is the son of Ares, the god of war. Thus, Heracles faces a formidable task.
.......Admetus comes out of the palace, greets Heracles, and invites him to stay in the palace in guest quarters. Although Admetus says he is in mourning, he does not tell Heracles who has died. Heracles says he does not wish to impose on Admetus when he is grieving. Therefore, he says, he will find another place to lodge. But Admetus insists that he stay and directs a servant to take him to his quarters and order food for him. Heracles goes inside, followed moments later by Admetus.
.......A short time later, Admetus comes back out with servants bearing the body of Alcestis. Pheres, the father of Admetus, arrives at the palace with finery to adorn the body of Alcestis. He speaks words of comfort for Admetus and praises Alcestis as a great and noble woman. But Admetus is angry that his father and mother refused to help Admetus when he was marked for death and stood by while Alcestis volunteered to die in his place. Admetus says he no longer considers himself the son of Pheres. Even though his father is very old, Admetus says, he lacked the courage to die in his son's place.
.......The chorus leader urges Admetus to cease railing against his father. There is already a surfeit of sorrow in the house of Admetus.
.......Pheres then reproaches Admetus, saying he dutifully reared Admetus and passed on to him his kingdom. But, he says, he is under no obligation to die in his son's place. He likes life just as much as his son, he says. He then accuses Admetus of shameful behavior—namely, that he refused to accept his fated death and allowed his wife to die in his stead. He then calls his son a coward. They exchange further insults. But the words of Pheres seem to carry more weight. Why didn't Admetus accept death so that his wife would live? Admetus orders him to go away.
.......After Pheres leaves and Admetus moves on with the funeral procession, the servant who escorted Heracles to his quarters comes out of the palace. Talking to himself, he criticizes Heracles for accepting Admetus's invitation to lodge in the palace at a time of mourning. When food was set before the guest, the servant says, he ordered additional fare. Then he drank so much wine that he began singing. Heracles then comes out and scolds the servant for treating him coldly and for “worrying about a grief that does not concern your house.” (Heracles is still unaware that it was Alcestis who died.) When he tells the servant that he ought to stop worrying and enjoy a drink of wine with him, the servant informs him of the death of Alcestis and tells him that the household is attending to her burial in a tomb on the outskirts of the city. Heracles then vows to force Death to release Alcestis. If Death is lurking at the burial site, Heracles will deal with him there. However, if he is not there, Heracles will go to the Underworld and carry Alcestis back to the light of day.
.......After Heracles leaves and the servant returns to the palace, Admetus comes back from the funeral deeply distraught. He says he now envies the dead and wishes that he could dwell in the Underworld. He says he should have been the one who died. Now he has to live the rest of his life in pain. When he goes inside and sees the things that remind him of his wife, his desolation will drive him back outside, he tells the chorus. But when he leaves the house, he will not be able to endure the sight of women his wife's age. And people will mock him as a coward for allowing his wife to die in his place.
.......Heracles approaches with a veiled young woman whom he says he won in a public contest. He asks Admetus to keep her for him until he returns from his quest for the four-horsed chariot. However, if he dies during his mission, Heracles says, Admetus may keep her as a servant. Admetus asks Heracles to take the woman elsewhere for safekeeping. Having a young woman in his house would remind him of his loss of Alcestis. In addition, it would cause scandalous public rumors. But Heracles insists that he take her. Admetus relents and tells his servants to take her into the palace. Heracles then says Admetus himself must take the woman in. Admetus, upset by now with Heracles' insistence that he take her against his will, refuses. Heracles nevertheless asks him to offer his hand and take her. Admetus turns around to avoid looking at her, then reaches out his hand.
.......Heracles then pulls off the woman's veil and tells Admetus to look at her. When Admetus turns around, he sees Alcestis. In his astonishment, he first thinks she is a ghost. Heracles tells him to embrace her. When Admetus does so, he realizes it is indeed Alcestis. Overjoyed and deeply grateful to Heracles, Admetus asks him how he was able to retrieve her. Heracles says he pulled her away from Death at the site of her tomb.
.......Admetus asks Heracles why Alcestis does not speak. Heracles replies that three days must pass, during which she will become purified of her consecration to the gods of the Underworld, before she can speak again. Admetus wishes Heracles well and takes Alcestis into the palace.
Admetus vs his parents: Neither of them agrees to die in his place.
Love: Alcestis demonstrates her profound love for
Admetus by surrendering her own life so that he may
live. In doing so, she also surrenders the joy of her
children and her own desires for the future.
Admetus: a Changed Man
Dr. Gilbert Murray, a professor of Greek at Oxford University in England, published a translation of Alcestis in 1915. In an introduction to the book—entitled The Alcestis of Euripides—Murray analyzed Admetus. The following excerpt from the introduction presents his analysis........What was Admetus really like, this gallant prince who had won the affection of such great guests as Apollo and Heracles, and yet went round asking other people to die for him; who, in particular, accepted his wife's monstrous sacrifice with satisfaction and gratitude? The play portrays him well. Generous, innocent, artistic, affectionate, eloquent, impulsive, a good deal spoilt, unconsciously insincere, and no doubt fundamentally selfish, he hates the thought of dying and he hates losing his wife almost as much. Why need she die? Why could it not have been some one less important to him? He feels with emotion what a beautiful act it would have been for his old father. "My boy, you have a long and happy life before you, and for me the sands are well-nigh run out. Do not seek to dissuade me. I will die for you." Admetus could compose the speech for him. A touching scene, a noble farewell, and all the dreadful trouble solved—so conveniently solved! And the miserable self-blinded old man could not see it!
.......Euripides seems to have taken positive pleasure in Admetus, much as Meredith did in his famous Egoist; but Euripides all through is kinder to his victim than Meredith is. True, Admetus is put to obvious shame, publicly and helplessly. The Chorus make discreet comments upon him. The Handmaid is outspoken about him. One feels that Alcestis herself, for all her tender kindness, has seen through him. Finally, to make things quite clear, his old father fights him openly, tells him home-truth upon
home-truth, tears away all his protective screens, and leaves him with his self-respect in tatters. It is a fearful ordeal for Admetus, and, after his first fury, he takes it well. He comes back from his wife's burial a changed man. He says not much, but enough. "I have done wrong. I have only now learnt my lesson. I imagined I could save my happy life by forfeiting my honour; and the result is that I have lost both." I think that a careful reading of the play will show an almost continuous process of self-discovery and self-judgment in the mind of Admetus. He was a man who blinded himself with words and beautiful sentiments; but he was not thick-skinned or thick-witted. He was not a brute or a cynic. And I think he did learn his lesson ... not completely and for ever, but as well as most of us learn such lessons.
.......Alcestis begins when Apollo presents background information explaining events that led to the main concern of the play—that Alcestis must die in place of Admetus. This introduction, or prologue (Greek: prologos), continues when Apollo tries to persuade Death not to claim her. The prologue ends when Apollo and Death leave the stage.
Parode, Episode, Stasimon
.......The lines that chorus members sing when they first appear make up what is called a parode (or parados). The lines that the characters speak as the plot unfolds make up what are called episodes. For example, the first episode consists of the dialogue between the servant and the chorus. The lines that the chorus sings between episodes of action make up what are called stasimons.
Kommos and Exodos
.......The lines making up the lamentation scene near the end of the play make up what is called the kommos. This scene begins when Admetus, his children, and the other mourners return from the funeral of Alcestis. It ends when Heracles arrives with Alcestis. The lines making up the final scene of the play—that is, the exit scene—are called the exodos.
Greek Theater: Structure
Definition and Background
....."A contest of plays in 535 [B.C.] arose when Pisistratus, the ‘tyrant' whom the common people of Athens invested with power, brought a rustic festival into the city [Athens]," drama critic John Gassner writes in Masters of Drama. Such contests became regular features of the festivals, and the theaters in which they were held were specially built to accommodate them.
Major Sections of the Theater
.....(2) A stage called a proscenium. The staged faced the west to allow the midday sun to illuminate the faces of the actors.
.....(3) An orchestra in front of the proscenium to accommodate the chorus.
Other Theater Sections
.....Skene: Building behind the stage. First used as a dressing area for actors (and sometimes an entrance or exit area for actors), the skene eventually became a background showing appropriate scenery.
.....Paraskenia: Extensions or annexes on the sides of the skene.
.....Parados: Passage on the left or right through which the chorus entered the orchestra.
.....Thymele: Altar in the center of the orchestra used to make sacrifices to Dionysus.
.....Machine: Armlike device on the skene that could lower a "god" onto the stage from the heavens.
Study Questions and Essay Topics | <urn:uuid:25a0eb7b-3e40-41d4-b9f9-b59b21f46dcb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides9/Alcestis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973179 | 4,527 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Philadelphia, PA, May 8, 2012 It is increasingly recognized that chronic psychotropic drug treatment may lead to structural remodeling of the brain. Indeed, clinical studies in humans present an intriguing picture: antipsychotics, used for the treatment of schizophrenia and psychosis, may contribute to cortical gray matter loss in patients, whereas lithium, used for the treatment of bipolar disorder and mania, may preserve gray matter in patients.
However, the clinical significance of these structural changes is not yet clear. There are many challenges in executing longitudinal, controlled, and randomized studies to evaluate this issue in humans, particularly because there are also many confounding factors, including illness severity, illness duration, and other medications, when studying patients.
It is therefore critical to develop animal models to inform the clinical research. To accomplish this, a group of researchers at King's College London, led by Dr. Shitij Kapur, developed a rat model using clinically relevant drug exposure and matched clinical dosing in combination with longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging. They administered either lithium or haloperidol (a common antipsychotic) to rats in doses equivalent to those received by humans. The rats received this treatment daily for eight weeks, equivalent to 5 human years, and underwent brain scans both before and after treatment.
Dr. Kapur explained their findings, "Using this approach, we observed that chronic treatment with haloperidol leads to decreases in cortical gray matter, whilst lithium induced an increase, effects that were reversible after drug withdrawal." Gray matter was decreased by 6% after haloperidol treatment, but increased by 3% after lithium treatment.
"These important observations clarify conflicting findings from clinical trials by removing many of the confounding effects," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry. "Whether these changes in brain structure underlie the benefits or side effects of these medications remain to be seen. However, they point to brain effects of established medications that are not well understood, but which may hold clues to new treatment approaches."
"Whilst these intriguing findings are consistent with available clinical data, it should be noted these studies were done in normal rats, which do not capture the innate pathology of either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder," Kapur added. "Moreover, because the mechanism(s) of these drug effects remain unknown, further studies are required, and one should be cautious in drawing clinical inferences. Nevertheless, our study demonstrates a new and powerful model system for further investigation of the effects of psychotropic drug treatment on brain morphology."
|Contact: Rhiannon Bugno| | <urn:uuid:f0f966b8-4f80-4b13-be8d-d2ff97bf545e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/Psychiatric-medication-effects-on-brain-structure-24854-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00076-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939848 | 515 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Natural gas is often seen as the “bridge fuel” to a clean-energy future—it’s abundant, reliable, and has about half the emissions of coal. Today, a couple of reminders of just how tricky it can be to really make that gas-powered energy revolution a reality.
In California, state regulators are concerned that new emissions rules from the Environmental Protection Agency could actually “retard” the state’s efforts to clean up its energy mix, The Wall Street Journal reports today.
How’s that? California plans a massive increase in the use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power—but needs new natural-gas fired power plants as backup. New EPA rules on greenhouse-gas emissions from big emitters—power plants and the like—will now require permits for gas-fired plants. That could actually set back California’s green dreams, the paper reports:
In a Dec. 24 letter to the EPA, the California Energy Commission, which oversees energy policy in the state, said the EPA’s proposal “will likely retard, rather than facilitate,” reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions from its electricity sector.
Half a world away, Britain is doing its own gymnastics to meet two often irreconcilable goals: Cleaner energy and energy security. The U.K. is racing ahead with ambitious plans for offshore wind power; last Friday’s offshore tender would provide enough clean energy, on paper, to supply one-quarter of British electricity needs.
But, as in California, all those wind farms require lots of new natural-gas plants to act as backup power. Unlike the U.S., most European countries aren’t awash in natural gas—most import it from Russia, Norway, or North Africa.
The U.K., in particular, is worried that its drive for cleaner energy, which will require more natural gas at least until wind farms and a new generation of nuclear plants are built, will actually undermine its energy security.
With variations, that’s a theme that repeats itself across the Continent (as well as in the U.S), with three energy goals often at odds with each other—cleaner energy, cheaper energy, and energy security.
Natural gas offers a seemingly easy way to tackle one of those challenges. That doesn’t make it a silver bullet for all of them. | <urn:uuid:d21b0345-bb85-4bb0-a148-d8950e0a1788> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2010/01/11/gas-pains-the-problems-with-a-gas-fired-bridge-to-clean-energy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948612 | 496 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Ontogeny: development of an individual
from the moment the egg is fertilized up till adulthood.
Opaque area: non-transparent part.
Pellucid area: transparent part.
Neural fold: fold related to the head.
Neural tube: extension related to the head.
Heart: blood-pumping organ.
Omphalomesenteric arteries: vitelline duct.
Wing buds: beginning of the formation of the wings.
Limb buds: beginning of the formation of the legs. | <urn:uuid:8575756c-57c1-4e2e-afaf-0c82ca5107dd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.infovisual.info/02/063_en.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.699596 | 114 | 2.8125 | 3 |
What works best? Drawing on existing knowledge, please tell us how we should go about addressing the hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition challenges head on.
Combined issues are population, poverty and local knowledge/technology. I do not want to give examples or lesson learned, because these are an enigmatic issues that compound socio-cultura-political isses. In order the poor to be able to eat (have jobs) people should be empowered in socio-economi-political aspects.
Population - how to control population growth, how to provide knowledge and skills to the low income? Unless there is a goodwill and political justice there will be no improvement. understanding local knowledge and issues are paramountly more important than simply asking. It must relate to the people's culture. What education should relevant to certain type of community? This is not at all a charity endeavor. How we boost moral and confidence to the poor to rely on themselves based on their norms and values, while the political authorities support the need of the common? Are the people constituted by a duality of society (modern/capitalist versus traditional/bazaar)? If they are, does the respective 'society' enjoy equal share in terms resources including life cycle space (urban or rural)?
Poverty - where is the locus of the poverty cycle or trap? Urban and/or rural? What are the opportunities for poor to get access for education and jobs? What is the government strategy to alleviate or reduce it? What the government has done that really affect the poor? In a very micro aspect the poor demand equal shares for space to participate in economic and political engagement. The poor should have equal access to urban services (including transport) and 'business activities'.
Local Knowledge and Technology - we have explore people's knowledge as well as technology they have (emic approach). How we enhance, improve what the people already have? Do not dictate them with an alien knowledge and technology. Cases have shown this impositon will not sustain since they lack of knowledge as well skills to maintain.
In short, knowing yourself to overcome problems and get the most suitable solutions.
Cette consultation thématique est conduite par la FAO et le PAM en partenariat avec « The World We Want »
La consultation est facilitée par le Forum Global sur la Sécurité Alimentaire et la Nutrition (Forum FSN) | <urn:uuid:78d74080-093b-425d-9686-7c32b7e74a52> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fao.org/fsnforum/post2015/fr/node/397 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00098-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.898351 | 486 | 2.625 | 3 |
Definitions of appropriate
a. - Set apart for a particular use or person. Hence: Belonging peculiarly; peculiar; suitable; fit; proper. 2
v. t. - To take to one's self in exclusion of others; to claim or use as by an exclusive right; as, let no man appropriate the use of a common benefit. 2
v. t. - To set apart for, or assign to, a particular person or use, in exclusion of all others; -- with to or for; as, a spot of ground is appropriated for a garden; to appropriate money for the increase of the navy. 2
v. t. - To make suitable; to suit. 2
v. t. - To annex, as a benefice, to a spiritual corporation, as its property. 2
n. - A property; attribute. 2
The word "appropriate" uses 11 letters: A A E I O P P P R R T.
No direct anagrams for appropriate found in this word list.
All words formed from appropriate by changing one letter
Browse words starting with appropriate by next letter | <urn:uuid:e47f9533-6243-4848-b1d0-46d9d9af5095> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.morewords.com/word/appropriate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.851965 | 235 | 2.9375 | 3 |
The most sustainable wood choices for your building projects are woods that are grown locally and are well managed. Depending on where you live, the best type of sustainable wood will vary. However, nature tends to be smarter than we are. If your local wood producer is managing certain types of trees, they will likely work well for your building projects.
For example, Mathew Kelty, who teaches about forest ecology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst said “In the northwest, Douglass fir is everywhere. There is also a lot of western red cedar, which is soft, but doesn’t decay. It’s often used for shingles for that reason.” Kelty added that in the northeast region a lot of spruce and fir is used due to its abundance. DIY Resource: http://www.networx.com/article/managed-forests-make-for-more-sustainabl
The idea of sustainable wood products is larger than what specific woods to use. Sustainability in relation to wood products has more to do with appropriate land management, biodiversity of plants and animals, and the integrity of the soil according to Emily Boss, director of the Massachusetts Woodlands Institute. “We prefer to use the term ‘responsible management’ of wood over ‘sustainable,’” said Boss. “Responsible management is the goal,” she added.
When you are looking for sustainable wood products, it is important to know if they are certified woods and by whom. One of the best certifications comes from the Forest Stewardship Council. The FCS logo is an excellent indicator that you have chosen woods that have been properly and responsibly managed. It is also a good idea when researching local sustainable wood sources to look at certifications your state provides. Boss said in Massachusetts, for example, a new certification was created approximately a year ago called the Commonwealth Quality program. There are also similar programs in Vermont and Maine, Boss said. “There are no quick answers (regarding sustainable wood products). But, FCS takes into account how the workers are being treated, indigenous people’s issues; there are a lot of variable when talking about sustainable wood products,” said Boss.
The best sustainable woods travel the least distance from harvest to consumer. “Local soft and hardwoods use less energy to transport. If you are supporting a local business, you can get to know then, know how high their land management standards are,” said Boss. Boss said that good land management also take invasive species such as bittersweet and and wild rose into account as they take over and are destructive to native trees and plants.
Boss said that typically in the New England region, oak, white pine, sugar maple, red maple, and birch are the most commonly used woods for lumber production. It’s also good to know where the wood is being processed. In other words, do you have a local saw mill? DIY Resource: http://www.hometalk.com
Beware of using tropical woods such as teak, rosewood or ebony for custom woodworking. Many tropical areas of the world where these woods are harvested have not been responsibly managed, and over-harvesting often causes environmental, political and social harm to indigenous peoples.
To sum up how to find the most sustainable woods, look for certified woods from managed forests that travel the shortest distance from harvest to consumer. | <urn:uuid:8d0f27ca-e23b-4406-b617-6632737131e4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.networx.com/article/managed-forests-make-for-more-sustainabl | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00134-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959474 | 715 | 2.75 | 3 |
Surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States have successfully carried out the first nearly complete face transplant in history. A French team at Lyon University was the first to perform a partial face transplant in 2005.
AFP - US surgeons have replaced 80 percent of a woman's face in what is considered the world's first nearly complete facial transplant, the Cleveland Clinic has announced.
It was the first such operation in the United States and the fourth known facial transplant to have been successfully performed to date. The procedure took place in recent weeks on a patient disfigured by a traumatic injury.
The hospital was due to hold a press conference Wednesday on the breakthrough surgery, after initially revealing the news on Tuesday without giving further details about the patient, who does not want to be identified.
Facial transplants are controversial because they carry heavy risks and are performed to improve a patient's quality of life rather than as a life-saving operation.
The risks include failure of the transplanted tissue and complications from anti-rejection drugs, which the patient must take for the rest of their life.
Bioethicist Dr. Arthur Caplan voiced stressed there were major ethical concerns involved with the procedure.
"It's one thing to go through life with a terribly distorted, mangled, injured face. It's another thing to have it slough off in a failed experiment," he told CNN television.
"No one hopes we'll have to deal with that ... possibility in this transplanted face," he said, suggesting that if the transplant failed, the patient would be in the direst straits.
"You would be there almost unable to breathe or eat and have to do it artificially," he said.
"I think you have to go in here saying to the person who tries this, 'if you get in that situation, we would be willing to either not give you treatment that would keep you going, or maybe give a lot of morphine to push you out of the picture to help you to die.' ... I know it's a radical thing to say. Imagine living with no face."
Carson Strong, a professor of human values and ethics at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, echoed concern about the potential dangers of a rejection of the transplant.
"One case is merely an anecdote. It doesn't create a scientific basis to say it's safe for a patient to do this," Strong told The Washington Post.
If the graft fails "you could reasonably say the patient would be much worse off at that time than he or she had been before the transplant had been attempted," Strong added.
Doctors in France performed the first partial face transplant in 2005 on a 38-year-old woman, Isabelle Dinoire, who was disfigured in a dog attack.
In 2006, a Chinese man underwent a facial transplant including the connection of arteries and veins, and repair of the nose, lip and sinuses. A bear had mauled the 30-year-old farmer as he looked for stray sheep.
A 29-year-old man French man underwent surgery in 2007. He had a facial tumor called a neurofibroma caused by a genetic disorder.
The tumor was so massive that the man couldn't eat or speak properly.
The Cleveland Clinic became the first US hospital to approve the procedure four years ago.
Maria Siemionow, director of plastic surgery research at the clinic, performed the surgery along with a team of seven other doctors, according to clinic officials.
Siemionow has conducted extensive research transplanting the faces and limbs of laboratory rats.
A facial transplant involves the use of donor tissue to repair severe face disfigurement caused by burns, tumors, malformations or trauma, such as car crashes.
Date created : 2008-12-17 | <urn:uuid:368c5fd4-2ac2-46d9-95ab-f1327be911ad> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.france24.com/en/20081217-us-surgeons-perform-first-near-complete-facial-transplant- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974433 | 770 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The patellofemoral, or knee, joint is one of the most complex and often injured joints in the body. Because of the excessive demands placed on this joint through daily walking, running, stair-climbing and other basic activities, the joint is prone to stiffness and overuse. Luckily, you can increase strength in this joint through a well-designed resistance training program. Talk with your doctor or physical therapist before beginning any resistance training program.
Build strength in the tibia, femur, muscles and connective tissues within the joint and muscles through resistance training. Perform two or three resistance training sessions per week on nonconsecutive days.
Select six to eight exercises that require flexion and extension of the knee. Examples include squats, lunges, stair-climbing and step-ups. Use free-weight exercises, because these load the axial skeleton and force new muscular and connective tissue adaptations to a greater degree than machine exercises.
Begin with light weight to promote general anatomical adaptation in the muscles and connective tissues within the knee joint. Perform two or three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions of each exercise, followed by one minute or less of rest between sets. Use less than 67 percent of your maximum load for each lift.
After four to six weeks, begin to overload the knee joint and accompanying muscles by increasing the weight used for each lift. Build hypertrophy in the surrounding muscles by performing multiple sets of six to 12 repetitions, using 67 percent to 85 percent of your maximum load. Rest one or two minutes between sets.
Gradually progress in the amount of weight you lift to continue to build strength in the knees. Increase the load for each lift by 5 percent when you can successfully perform two repetitions beyond your predetermined target for two sets in a row.
On days you don't resistance train, perform 30 minutes of general cardiovascular activity that emphasizes flexion and extension of the knee. Examples include walking, running, cross-country skiing and dancing.
- Always perform a 10-minute cardiovascular warmup before lifting weights to increase blood flow to the muscles and connective tissue in the knee joint.
- Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (3rd Ed.); Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle
- Arthroscopy: The Knee Joint
- Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:d110276e-c382-4739-9053-450598b68704> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/stronger-knee-joints-9216.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922267 | 486 | 3.046875 | 3 |
A few years ago, I asked this question on a final exam in my graduate course on human learning and memory. I recently came across photocopies of the answers students gave. At first, I was puzzled as to why I had made those photocopies. But as I looked through them, I remembered that I had made those copies because I was impressed with how well a number of students had answered that particular question.
Many of the answers were not only good answers, but were also characterized by a certain enthusiasm - triggered, perhaps, by the challenge of trying to tell something useful to an actual or imagined younger sibling. One student commented, for example, that "first of all, I would explain to my sister that people are not, in general, good judges of what's best for them in studying and learning. So, she should listen to me very carefully, since some recommendations may seem counterintuitive."
One student wrote the following preamble to her answer: "I have learned a variety of techniques that I would share with a younger sibling, but since I don't actually have a younger sibling, I plan to use the techniques myself."
Following are samples of the advice my students said they would provide to a younger sibling on taking notes, studying, and preparing for exams.
ON TAKING NOTES
ú "In taking notes in class and from readings, to the extent possible, try to listen or read the entire idea, then write down notes based on what you've heard or read. Often we are tempted to write quickly to get down as much as possible while the professor is speaking or while we are reading paragraph by paragraph. Waiting to write down notes until the entire 'idea' has been presented can be a method of creating meaning for yourself. You won't be distracted between trying to write and trying to listen. And you can use the notetaking part of your activity as a way to organize what you've learned. Summarize it and make it meaningful for yourself rather than blind verbatim notetaking."
ú "Find out what types of tests you will need to take in a given course and consider taking notes consistent with such tests. For instance, rather than only following the outline in class, you might try, when studying, to reorganize your notes around some central concepts if it will be an essay test. Try to make the processes you study with similar to those you will need at test; this is transfer-appropriate processing."
ú "Avoid studying as passive reading of text and notes. Summarize readings and notes, generate new examples of material, and group/chunk information into meaningful categories. Doing so will maximize the encoding/associations to memories already in place and will also incorporate the benefits of generation - better memory for examples and structures that you yourself generate."
ú "Don't study everything at once; rather, space out your study sessions. This will allow for some forgetting, which is necessary for effective relearning. It will also increase how strongly the info is stored in your long-term memory, because the info will be encoded multiple times across multiple conditions."
ú "You should space your study of different topics rather than going through them one at a time until finished. Spaced study sessions work better than massed study sessions, but if you socialize too much and have to do it all the night before, mass your study because massing produces better recall on the short term (try to avoid this, however)."
ú "Don't always study at your desk in your room. Why? Contextual variation results in higher recall and lower retroactive interference. Introduce variety: Study in the library, alone, with friends, with and w/out background noise, in your room, indoors/outdoors. This will maximize the # of retrieval cues available for recall of any piece of info. (& so ^ recall) and result in less cue overload (fewer items of info associated per cue). (Don't even sit in the same seat every lecture, if you don't have to.)"
ú "Elaborate on what you study. Connect it to what you already know. Incorporate it into your general knowledge. Make it rich and semantic (you won't have a fragment-completion test)."
ú "Go to lecture. Even if the same material is covered in the lecture and book, the instructor - if he or she is good - will provide a different organization of the material. Different organizations lead to better performance on inference tasks (which are heavily tested in college, hopefully) than does providing the same organization. And study with other people. The argument is much the same: You'll benefit from the different organizations imposed by the other students."
ú "Always read the material in advance - thus, the lecture serves as study and, to some extent, retrieval practice. And you will be able to learn more information from the lectures by association to cognitive structures that the readings put in place."
ON PREPARING FOR AND PERFORMING ON AN EXAM
ú "Educate your subjective experience. Make real assessments of what you know and don't know. That means when you're studying for math and statistics, do the problems without looking at the answers. With the answer in front of you, you'll feel as though you could answer the problem, but that may not be true."
ú "Be wary of professors who make you feel as though you know all there is to know about a subject. Your impression may be based on the crutch of his or her understanding rather than on your own."
ú "At the end of each study session, generate recall questions that could potentially be tested on an exam and then begin the next study session by answering them. This - number one - has the tremendous benefit of creating organization of information, fostering elaborate and complex encoding, and - number two - constitutes transfer-appropriate retrieval processes for the exam. Answering questions at each study interval will also potentiate subsequent learning by showing you what you don't know (educating your subjective experience)."
ú "Use retrieval practice when studying. That is, test yourself on the material rather than just reading it over and over, because retrieval practice is more potent than reading, and it is more like the actual test."
ú "When you take the test, mentally reinstate your study conditions. Remember where you were, what you did, and so forth."
It might be a relatively rare event when an issue of the Observer falls into the hands of a college-bound high school senior (although APS increasingly has been reaching out to high school teachers and students, so it's not as rare as you might think). Nonetheless, I thought it might be useful to make some of my students' answers available in this column. After all, readers of the Observer tend to be keenly interested in learning and teaching, and many of us are parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and friends of college-bound students. And aside from any concern we may have for a real or hypothetical younger sibling, it is in our self-interest to learn how to learn.
©2001 American Psychological Society
Current location: APS | APS Observer | <urn:uuid:27b3308d-d620-410f-8008-0e04911baddb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://web.uvic.ca/psyc/skelton/Teaching/General%20Readings/How%20to%20Succeed%20in%20College.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966049 | 1,470 | 2.703125 | 3 |
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