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Front Page Titles (by Subject) OF GIVING THE LIE - Essays of Montaigne, vol. 6
The Online Library of Liberty
A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
OF GIVING THE LIE - Michel de Montaigne, Essays of Montaigne, vol. 6
Essays of Montaigne, vol. 6, trans. Charles Cotton, revised by William Carew Hazlett (New York: Edwin C. Hill, 1910).
Part of: Essays of Montaigne, in 10 vols.
About Liberty Fund:
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OF GIVING THE LIE
WELL, BUT some one will say to me, this design of making a man’s self the subject of his writing, were indeed excusable in rare and famous men, who by their reputation had given others a curiosity to be fully informed of them. It is most true, I confess and know very well, that a mechanic will scarce lift his eyes from his work to look at an ordinary man, whereas a man will forsake his business and his shop to stare at an eminent person when he comes into a town. It misbecomes any other to give his own character, but him who has qualities worthy of imitation, and whose life and opinions may serve for example: Caesar and Xenophon had a just and solid foundation whereon to found their narrations, in the greatness of their own performances; and it were to be wished that we had the journals of Alexander the Great, the commentaries that Augustus, Cato, Sylla, Brutus, and others left of their actions; of such persons men love and contemplate the very statues even in copper and marble.
This remonstrance is very true; but it very little concerns me:—
“I repeat my poems only to my friends, and when bound to do so; not before every one and everywhere; there are plenty of reciters in the open market-place and at the baths.”
I do not here form a statue to erect in the great square of a city, in a church, or any public place:—
“I study not to make my pages swell with empty trifles; you and I are talking in private:”
’tis for some corner of a library, or to entertain a neighbor, a kinsman, a friend, who has a mind to renew his acquaintance and familiarity with me in this image of myself. Others have been encouraged to speak of themselves, because they found the subject worthy and rich; I, on the contrary, am the bolder, by reason the subject is so poor and sterile that I cannot be suspected of ostentation. I judge freely of the actions of others; I give little of my own to judge of, because they are nothing: I do not find so much good in myself, that I cannot tell it without blushing.
What contentment would it not be to me to hear any one thus relate to me the manners, faces, countenances, the ordinary words and fortunes of my ancestors? how attentively should I listen to it! In earnest, it would be evil nature to despise so much as the pictures of our friends and predecessors, the fashion of their clothes and arms. I preserve their writing, seal, and a particular sword they wore, and have not thrown the long staves my father used to carry in his hand, out of my closet:—
“A father’s garment and ring is by so much dearer to his posterity, as there is the greater affection towards parents.”
If my posterity, nevertheless, shall be of another mind, I shall be avenged on them; for they cannot care less for me than I shall then do for them. All the traffic that I have in this with the public is, that I borrow their utensils of writing, which are more easy and most at hand; and in recompense shall, peradventure, keep a pound of butter in the market from melting in the sun:—
“Let not wrappers be wanting to tunnyfish, nor olives; . . . and I shall supply loose coverings to mackerel.”
And though nobody should read me, have I wasted time in entertaining myself so many idle hours in so pleasing and useful thoughts? In moulding this figure upon myself, I have been so often constrained to temper and compose myself in a right posture, that the copy is truly taken, and has in some sort formed itself; painting myself for others, I represent myself in a better coloring than my own natural complexion. I have no more made my book than my book has made me: ’tis a book consubstantial with the author, of a peculiar design, a parcel of my life, and whose business is not designed for others, as that of all other books is. In giving myself so continual and so exact an account of myself, have I lost my time? For they who sometimes cursorily survey themselves only, do not so strictly examine themselves, nor penetrate so deep, as he who makes it his business, his study, and his employment, who intends a lasting record, with all his fidelity, and with all his force. The most delicious pleasures digested within, avoid leaving any trace of themselves, and avoid the sight not only of the people, but of any other person. How often has this work diverted me from troublesome thoughts? and all that are frivolous should be reputed so. Nature has presented us with a large faculty of entertaining ourselves alone; and often calls us to it, to teach us that we owe ourselves in part to society, but chiefly and mostly to ourselves. That I may habituate my fancy even to meditate in some method and to some end, and to keep it from losing itself and roving at random, ’tis but to give to body and to record all the little thoughts that present themselves to it. I give ear to my whimsies, because I am to record them. It often falls out, that being displeased at some action that civility and reason will not permit me openly to reprove, I here disgorge myself, not without design of public instruction: and also these poetical lashes:—
“A slap on his eye, a slap on his snout, a slap on Sagoin’s back,”
imprint themselves better upon paper than upon the flesh. What if I listen to books a little more attentively than ordinary, since I watch if I can purloin anything that may adorn or support my own? I have not at all studied to make a book, but I have in some sort studied because I had made it; if it be studying to scratch and pinch now one author, and then another, either by the head or foot, not with any design to form opinions from them, but to assist, second, and fortify those I already have embraced.
But whom shall we believe in the report he makes of himself in so corrupt an age? considering there are so few, if any at all, whom we can believe when speaking of others, where there is less interest to lie. The first thing done in the corruption of manners is banishing truth; for, as Pindar says, to be true is the beginning of a great virtue, and the first article that Plato requires in the governor of his Republic. The truth of these days is not that which really is, but what every man persuades another man to believe; as we generally give the name of money not only to pieces of the just alloy, but even to the false also, if they will pass. Our nation has long been reproached with this vice; for Salvianus of Marseilles, who lived in the time of the Emperor Valentinian, says that lying and forswearing themselves is with the French not a vice, but a way of speaking. He who would enhance this testimony, might say that it is now a virtue in them; men form and fashion themselves to it as to an exercise of honor; for dissimulation is one of the most notable qualities of this age.
I have often considered whence this custom that we so religiously observe should spring, of being more highly offended with the reproach of a vice so familiar to us than with any other, and that it should be the highest insult that can in words be done us to reproach us with a lie. Upon examination, I find that it is natural most to defend the defects with which we are most tainted. It seems as if by resenting and being moved at the accusation, we in some sort acquit ourselves of the fault; though we have it in effect, we condemn it in outward appearance. May it not also be that this reproach seems to imply cowardice and feebleness of heart? of which can there be a more manifest sign than to eat a man’s own words—nay, to lie against a man’s own knowledge? Lying is a base vice; a vice that one of the ancients portrays in the most odious colors when he says, “that it is to manifest a contempt of God, and withal a fear of men.” It is not possible more fully to represent the horror, baseness, and irregularity of it; for what can a man imagine more hateful and contemptible than to be a coward towards men, and valiant against his Maker? Our intelligence being by no other way communicable to one another but by a particular word, he who falsifies that betrays public society. ’Tis the only way by which we communicate our thoughts and wills; ’tis the interpreter of the soul, and if it deceive us, we no longer know nor have further tie upon one another; if that deceive us, it breaks all our correspondence, and dissolves all the ties of government. Certain nations of the newly discovered Indies (I need not give them names, seeing they are no more; for, by wonderful and unheard-of example, the desolation of that conquest has extended to the utter abolition of names and the ancient knowledge of places) offered to their gods human blood, but only such as was drawn from the tongue and ears, to expiate for the sin of lying, as well heard as pronounced. That good fellow of Greece said that children are amused with toys and men with words.
As to our diverse usages of giving the lie, and the laws of honor in that case, and the alteration they have received, I defer saying what I know of them to another time, and shall learn, if I can, in the meanwhile, at what time the custom took beginning of so exactly weighing and measuring words, and of making our honor interested in them; for it is easy to judge that it was not anciently amongst the Romans and Greeks. And it has often seemed to me strange to see them rail at and give one another the lie without any quarrel. Their laws of duty steered some other course than ours. Caesar is sometimes called thief, and sometimes drunkard, to his teeth. We see the liberty of invective they practised upon one another, I mean the greatest chiefs of war of both nations, where words are only revenged with words, and do not proceed any farther. | <urn:uuid:c49a59d2-e707-47d7-9c0e-006cae733e6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1747&chapter=91264&layout=html&Itemid=27 | 2013-05-18T06:34:27Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97343 | 2,423 |
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Tags - sukkoth
‘Lets walk the Mikvah in the city of the King' - City of David and Hezekiah's tunnel
Walking in tunnels are exhilarating story reads and with a flashlight in hand, it feels like a Discovery or National Geographic. City of David and the Hezekiah's tunnel became a physical as well as a non-physical reality, for reasons, I learnt eventually.
Then again, the reason had a season. And this was during my fourth visit to Israel. Past three visits, I have walked past the City of David admiring its entrance and even taking photographs with the golden harp, but never ventured within. This time with the group I was with had Ir David in the itinerary. Being the last day of the Sukkoth holiday and there was also a planned prophetic Wedding Feast to attend on return to the hotel.
King David has been one of my heroes and his war strategies have never ceased to amaze me, beginning with knocking down Goliath. And now, here we were in the King's city considered to have been the original Jerusalem. According to our guide the story is as old as 3,000 years ago, when King David left the city of Hebron for a small hilltop city known as Jerusalem, establishing it as the unified capital of the tribes of Israel.
Our visit began at the observation point overlooking Jerusalem. As I stood there overlooking the excavated site, I felt transported in the timeline, way back to the days of Abraham when the foundations of the city were first laid to present days excavations that made me relive King David's conquest of the Jebusite city. The tour-walk moved down the hillside stone stairs heading underground to some of the newer archeological excavations.
As we walked down the steps to an area marked ‘G' - The Royal Acropolis Water System (Warren's Shaft), we were reminded of Charles Warren's discovery of the ancient underground water tunnel outside the walls of the old city from the Western Wall. Apparently, this was recognized to be similar to the underground water tunnel or ‘gutter' as described in 2nd book of Samuel 5. The stepped wall on this hill in the area is believed to be the retaining wall that many archeologists believe to be the ‘Citadel of Zion' mentioned as King David's conquest of the city (2 Samuel 5:9)
The walking down tour ended at the Gihon Spring. This was the major water source of Jerusalem for over 1,000 years and where, according to the Bible, King David's son, Solomon was anointed king.
Somewhere in between the walk down Pat tugged me impatiently, ‘I have to go to the mikvah. Please come?' I looked at her and shook my head. How did she know that I too was curious about the ‘bath'? I had seen the baths in nearly every excavation site I visited, but a real one? How would one experience that? Still baffled, she tugged me along to the ticket counter for the Hezekiah's tunnel walk. That was the mikvah she wanted to walk and I complied, immediately. As with every ‘planned' visit, we were the last ones, after which the ticket counter shut!
There is an interesting fact about this tunnel, mentioned in the 2nd Book of Chronicles 32:30 of how the city was defended from the Assyrian army. King Hezekiah protected the water system by diverting its flow deeper into the city with a tunnel system. This tunnel was built by digging a 1,750 foot tunnel into the mountain. An ancient stone describes this incredible operation.
This stone reminded me of David Van Koevering's key to Quantum Leap ‘All matter has memory - your words are recorded', in which he narrates Joshua 24:27, ‘And Joshua said unto all the people, ‘Behold this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words often LORD which He spake unto us. It shall therefore be a witness unto you, lest you deny your God.'' And then there was Habakuk (2:11) and Yeshua (Luke 19:40) who said the same thing of stones witnessing. So, were the stones listening at the time? Every word, action and deed done in flesh has been recorded, according to the quantum theory.
Trekking this tunnel has today become a highlight for visitors and for Pat, Shalin, Gabriele and me a sense of duty - the Mikvah. How timely was this? After this we had the Wedding Feast of the Lamb to attend.... I enjoy half-planned last minute head-on programs! ADONAI perfectly plans HIS surprises...
The entrance was more like a cave that was well lit and gave the place a golden glow. We bought our little key-chain torches. I was a little disappointed, thought they would be flashlights, like the days of yore. But the excitement didn't wane. We arrived at to our destination - the 2,700 year old water tunnel one of the wonders of early engineering.
The water was cool and rose knee-high as we walked in, barefoot. The air within was cool; it was very dark; the space between shoulders narrowed as we walked forward, bending in some places. How so natural!.. And so well preserved! There was something about these walls -white lime portion of the wall - that seemed to reflect a golden color and it seemed to say something. It was instant - I allowed Quantum physics to let me hear and the Holy Spirit to pave the way of my thoughts. I allowed my left hand to run through the wall and impulsively pressed my ears, as if to hear something.
The walk was a silent one, with only sound of our feet splashing the water, everyone ‘soaked' in their own thoughts. I wonder if anyone thought as loud as I did... In time, we reached the end that opened into the Pool of Shiloach. Fragments of pillars are seen in the pool, which are remains of the Shiloach Church that was built here. We waited for a while watching children play in this pool and decided to do the same, wondering when would this happen again.
As we were leaving, we were self-introduced to a man who took us around to an ongoing excavation from here that showed us a huge wall painting - an artist's impression of the temple steps; shared Baron Edmond de Rothschild leading philanthropic role in acquiring property in the Land of Israel for rebuilding the Jewish Yishuv (Community); and took us to a nearby area where excavation of steps is yet underway, which he said, may probably have been the way that the Holy Priest would have taken during Sukkoth from the Pool to the Holy Temple for the water libation.
We were curious. Who was this man? He says that he was part of the excavation team.. and he too, wasn't sure why he was there. Looks like he owned a shop there, but there was no forceful sales made.
This was more than I had ever imagined or expected from being obedient to my call from my Abba for this Sukkot trip! History, experience and learning for real are a package deal that only Israel could give me till date in my life! Today when I go through challenges and feel blocked in a dark tunnel, I know now that there is a healing Pool of Shiloach at the other end.
‘Let's walk the Old City Ramparts..
Walk about Zion, go round about her,
number her towers, consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels;that you may tell the next generation that this is God,
our God for ever and ever.
He will be our guide for ever.(Psalm 48:12-14)
.. and see where King David's soldiers stood and what they saw from their vantage points', is what we - Pat, Gabriele, Shalin and I - wanted to do following the ‘water-walking' experience at the Hezekiah's tunnel, all immersed, even in our own memories.
We walked up and down the road from the City of David to the Jaffa Gates and got our tickets. It was a tiny Entrance fee. There seemed to be just a handful of visitors at the time with our little group of four. Adventurous and prepared, were we, all with walking shoes and some water - there was this guide tip - Be prepared for a lot of stone-stairs in varying levels.
One part of the Ramparts Walk begins just outside Jaffa Gate. The entrance is a bit hard to find. Before going through the gate into the Old City, head to the enclosure to the right of Jaffa Gate, as you face the Old City. You'll be walking between two stone walls on a stone path. Follow the signs or ask someone - the entrance is a bit of way down, around a corner to the left. This section takes you from Jaffa Gate to Zion Gate and lets you off near Dung Gate, not far from the Western Wall Plaza and the Jewish Quarter. It offers a stunning view of Old City rooftops, Sultan's Pool, Yemin Moshe, Mt. Zion and the Mt. of Olives. You can also access the ramparts from Damascus Gate follow them to Lion's Gate.
Near the Entrance, there is a stone sit-out. While sitting there, waiting for Shalin to finish her sandwich, I looked around and a thought crossed my mind ‘we are about to walk another piece of Bible history!' What a fun way to get the overview of Jerusalem in the 21st Century, by climbing the olden ramparts (the watch-points, I say) of the Old City and circle the city above. There were moments I wondered what must have passed by the minds of the soldiers standing guard in the varying time periods. Walking on top of the Old City is exhilarating and gives you wonderful view over the new city of Jerusalem through the arrow slits on the turret walls and/or over them.
There are places that I had never seen in my earlier visits, like the cloistered Armenian compound, an old hospital... from each vantage point; we could see the day-to-day Old city life and the exuberance of Sukkoth. The hubbub of city life in this holiday season was worth capturing on film and just drinking in the sight from where each of us stood - bustling markets, sheets hanging on washing lines, a vendor frying falafels, festive dancing on temporary platforms....
The walls of Jerusalem that we see today were built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century when he restored the ancient city walls that served as military fortifications. During 1948-1967, the Jordanian snipers used the ramparts as a vantage point. Multiple bullet holes stand witness to this shooting position on old buildings facing the Old City. Today, the ramparts serve a more peaceful purpose as a choice destination for school field trips, tourists and Jerusalem enthusiasts, I understand.
The walk is about 4 kilometres. You can't circumnavigate the entire Old City in one shot, since access to the ramparts of the Temple Mount is closed off, and the road bisects the walls at Jaffa Gate. We had to descend at the Lion's or Dung Gate and resumed from the Damascus Gate.
It is not advised to walk alone or after dark. Should you wish to experience the Rampart Walk, go for it! And again, the tip to heed: the walk requires a lot of stair climbing and descending. Make sure you're wearing comfortable walking shoes, and that you have enough water with you - once you're on the ramparts, there's no getting off until the end and no refreshment kiosk or bathroom along the way. While this is fun for adults and older kids, avoid taking little children, those fearful of heights and people who have trouble walking.
I have visited and traveled the Holy Land, no better description, for pilgrimage, a tour and even for a Bible feast and have yet not had enough. It is so true when people say, 'The Bible comes alive' - every stone talks here! | <urn:uuid:974a355c-1605-48a6-83d3-68a019d193d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.travelujah.com/blogs/posts/Irene/tag/sukkoth | 2013-05-21T10:07:52Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971733 | 2,564 |
“Like the rest of Washington, the CIA had fallen in love with technology. The theory was that satellites, the internet, electronic intercepts, even academic publications would tell us all we needed to know about what went on beyond our borders” (Robert Baer). I first read this quote in Robert Baer’s memoir, See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA’s War on Terrorism. The book chronicles the former case officer’s career in the Middle East when the area was not yet a priority in US politics. Ultimately, Baer goes on to critique the changes he noticed in the CIA’s infrastructure. He noticed increased federal and military involvement in the civilian organization’s infrastructure, and thus an increase in bureaucracy and a shift from HUMINT (human intelligence) to SIGINT (signal intelligence).
Baer’s critiques are ones that I have taken to heart when I think about how the US organizes its wars. We have developed a love for bureaucratic systems and technological intelligence. The reality is that wars no longer resemble Clausewitz’s “Trinitarian” model and battles are no longer a matter of who holds the superior technology. These are lessons learned broadly from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to more detailed outlines provided by Roger Trinquier. In order to adapt to the post-Trinitarian model, there must be a return to HUMINT and strategic flexibility that is not provided in bureaucratic systems. Essentially, the United States is stuck in a bureaucratic system that promotes the use of technology, which is what prevents the military from developing creative solutions and thoroughly understanding the enemy.
First, to explain the problem with the modern military, I’d like to explain how the military and the subsequent branches working for it are bureaucratic. Sociologist Wolf Heydebrand defines bureaucracy as “a formally rational system of administrative control based on technical knowledge [with] a fixed hierarchical structure with long-term career paths and closely guarded borders.” Considering that a top-down hierarchy is the basic structure of militaries with decisions made by a “chain of command,” I would think it’s fair to say that are elements of a bureaucratic system. Rank and promotion dictates everything within the military, top positions given to those with the most experience.
During the 1970s, the United States underwent a renaissance of liberal thought dubbed neoliberalism. This represented a shift in public desires from organized bureaucracy and stability to dynamic expressionism and individualism. While businesses were taking advantage of this dynamic shift in thought, the government proved slow to change. Michel Foucault noticed that the shift did not completely dismantle bureaucratic systems but brought in a new illusionary liberalism: “Neoliberal governmentality.” As Heydebrand notes: “Neoliberal supply-side policies and practices either transformed the remnants of formal-legal bureaucracy or gave rise to new, imaginative and experimental ways of organizational governance, including subcontracting, outsourcing, project teams, the use of casual, contingent, freelance and temporary labor, and the incipient decline of organized labor.”
The problem here is that the illusion of absolute freedom and innovation is given, but there still exists bureaucratic systems in place that control many aspects of how work is produced. In the case of the military, innovative thinkers tend to have some say in how warfare is organized, but there still exists remnants of bureaucracy and social rules in place in this hierarchical system that cannot give full freedom of expression. As we enter a “post-Trinitarian” model of warfare, our military thinkers and strategists must be flexible, as Sun Tzu wrote, we must be able to shift through unknown terrain like “water.”
Tradition and bureaucracy stifles development of thought. Humans have a history of relying upon technology and technological developments to act for us, and to an extent, I think it has been a great motivator for innovation and social progress. However, “Over the past 300 years, people have long since become accustomed to blindly falling in love with the new and discarding the old in the realm of technology, and the endless pursuit of new technology has become a panacea to resolve all the difficult questions of existence” (Unrestricted Warfare).
Although originating in China, where the communist social structure and different history has created a very different system of thought that my Western-centric thought has difficulty grasping, the question of the limits of technology has stirred my mind. When I look at each new predator drone being built, a new missile system, or a new plane developed for military use, I often think to myself “what’s the point?” If I think about these tools of war being developed from a pragmatic standpoint, I can’t think of any good reason. After entering the “post-Trinitarian” model, the use of planes and tanks are hardly practical. They are extremely inefficient in fighting guerilla adversaries, which as Trinquier proposes, are the future enemies of warfare. An ostentatious presence prevents the homogenized military from winning over the population that terrorist cells embed themselves within.
However, the development of these technologies makes sense when I think about them in terms of the bureaucracy that the US military is stuck in. There was a time when Keynesian investment in military technology stimulated the economy, providing jobs and endorsing companies. The United States fights asymmetrically because it is still beneficial to these companies. Aside from this economic standpoint, the reliance on technology reinforces the idea of a hierarchical military, legitimizing the bureaucracy of warfare.
Planes and tanks that will never be put to practical use are very expensive and require a complex system to ensure that they are protected. These are complex technologies that need to be monitored by a chain of command in order to ensure their safety. Training exercises require that they be taken care of by a variety of people, properly shipped to different base locations around the world, and put into training exercises under strict supervision. The maintenance of these tools requires a complex bureaucracy, and thus the military is put into a cycle. Tradition and bureaucracy ensures the manufacturing of these weapons, and the complex nature of the weapons enforces the bureaucratic nature of the system that created them in the first place.
So now that I’ve explained the traditional hierarchy of bureaucracy in the military, how this bureaucracy develops useless technology, and how this developmental process legitimizes itself, I would like to conclude this essay with how this all prevents what I think is the key to evolving into van Creveld’s “post-Trinitarian” warfare: the acquisition of HUMINT. I began this essay with a quote from Robert Baer, who explains that the primary intelligence gathering arm of the US, the CIA, has been stifled in developing due to a reliance on technology and limitations in innovative thought. In short, what Baer is trying to explain is that the US has rendered itself incapable of truly knowing its enemies. Baer’s critique comes from the fact that it’s easy to justify full-scale military action when a satellite image is placed into the hands of a policy-maker. Either data gathered from the depths of the internet or from a satellite image can provoke aggression. Depending on the scale of the threat, either the military is deployed, as it had been in Afghanistan and Iraq, or we rely further on technology and send drones to “surgically remove” key targets in the war against an idea.
These tactics are ineffective because we are not opening our ears, we are not listening to others, we are not learning what others want, and we do not attempt to understand a different society. The US seems to operate under the assumption that human beings can easily adapt from a dictatorial social structure to a democratic model with ease. However, when we attempt to make that shift, we forget to listen to the needs and desires of others. For instance, the main source of income for Afghani farmers would be heroin produced from poppy fields, a direct conflict of interest with the US. How would the US ensure the relative economic stability provided by the Taliban without forfeiting American societal mores?
As professor Corradi explains in The Dream of Sun Tzu or How to Lose a War, “it did not cross their minds to consult sociologists and anthropologists, who could have explained to them that in Iraq, the primary loyalty is to the clan rather than to the nation.” There is no preemptive attempt to understand whom we plan to fight; policy-makers did not listen to sociologists or anthropologists and continue to make this mistake. Eventually, the situation in Iraq became so dire that the US military employed something that I believe to be conceptually brilliant, but too little too late: Human Terrain Teams. Groups of anthropologists go to the battlefield and interact with local populations, attempting to understand their wants and needs. Why did we wait so long to try this? If we are engaged in a nation-building policy, why not attempt to build a nation based on the social structures of the people and not our own standards? If the United States wishes to move forward in the way we think about war, we have to start trying to understand the people. This will require diplomacy, HUMINT gathering by actually deploying personnel on the fields, and academic understanding of who we plan to help or fight, and why.
I fear that war with Pakistan or Iran could be looming around the corner, always hinted at, and yet again, we have not asked ourselves why Iran pursues a nuclear program or why Pakistan has been supporting the Taliban. In order to fight properly, the US needs to abandon asymmetrical warfare, its reliance on technology, and traditional methods. | <urn:uuid:74b51272-7608-4e73-b2d5-0b0813e036c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lalapaloser.tumblr.com/tagged/war | 2013-05-23T18:38:24Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950815 | 2,005 |
"Kissine offers a new theory of speech acts which is philosophically sophisticated and builds on work in cognitive science, formal semantics, and linguistic typology. This highly readable, brilliant essay is a major contribution to the field."
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 12:02:10 +0100 From: Cornelia Tschichold <[email protected]> Subject: World Englishes
AUTHORS: Melchers, Gunnel; Shaw, Philip TITLE: World Englishes SERIES: The English Language Series PUBLISHER: Arnold YEAR: 2003
Cornelia Tschichold, Institute of English, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
INTRODUCTION This book is a recent addition to the growing number of textbooks on varieties of English around the world. In the preface, the two authors, both from Stockholm University, describe the intended audience of the book as readers familiar with the basics of linguistics and phonetics, thus typically undergraduate students after their first year at a department of English, with English either as their native or a second or foreign language. The book has an accompanying CD, which is sold separately and therefore does not figure in this review.
SYNOPSIS Chapter 1 is a very short chapter on the history of English from 450 to the beginnings of Modern English. The development of the language is illustrated mainly through the most accessible aspect, its loanwords.
Chapter 2 covers the more recent history of English, when the language spread around the globe, first to the so- called 'inner circle' countries, later to the 'outer circle' and finally to the 'expanding circle'. This three- circle model by Kachru is adopted as the organizing principle for the book. The chapter also introduces the distinction often made between English as a second and English as a foreign language, while drawing attention to the problems of terminology and those of differing political viewpoints involved.
Chapter 3 discusses basic terms in language variation and provides the framework for the classification and description of the many varieties discussed in chapters 4 to 6. The authors divide variation into the areas of spelling, phonology, grammar and lexicon, and give a brief overview of the main types of variation in each area. For the description of phonology, Wells' standard lexical sets are introduced. The section on rhythm and intonation explains the concept of stress-times vs. syllable-timed rhythm and mentions high-rising terminals as the most striking phenomena in the area of intonation. The sections on lexis and on the historical origin of varieties introduce a large number of technical terms such as 'heteronymy' or 'substratum'. Other dimensions of classification mentioned include the political stance of some of the more prominent authors in the field, the degree of standardization for varieties and for texts, and the position of a country in the three-circle model.
Chapter 4 portrays the inner circle varieties of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Liberia and the Caribbean. With some exceptions, each of these sections follows the pattern of first giving a brief overview of geography and population, then an account of the general linguistic situation, before the variety itself is described in terms of spelling, phonology, grammar and lexicon. Where appropriate, important internal varieties are briefly touched on as well, such as the main differences between Southern and Northern dialects in England, the two ethnic varieties African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Chicano English in the USA, and Aboriginal English in Australia.
Chapter 5 opens with a discussion of the political questions of language prestige and then tries to identify some common linguistic features of the varieties spoken in these countries. Among the features mentioned are consonant cluster and vowel system simplifications, a trend away from clearly stress-timed rhythm, and more syntactic variety. The countries in this chapter are then discussed in geographical groups, following a similar pattern to that in chapter 4, but giving rather more historical background and extra sections on style and pragmatics. The first variety is South Asian English, with India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as its main countries. The second major variety is African English, with South Africa making a second appearance due to its higher number of speakers who have English as a second language. Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore are dealt with in the group of countries where South East Asian English is spoken. The last section in this chapter very briefly deals with a number of countries with a colonial past: Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus in the Mediterranean, Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, the Seychelles and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Guam in the Pacific, without however giving linguistic descriptions of the English spoken there.
Chapter 6 abandons the geographical perspective in favour of the functions English can be seen to have taken over in the expanding circle from the 18th century onwards. Among the domains where English is making inroads the authors mention global politics and economy, tourism, the education system, the mass media and popular culture, advertising and subcultures. On the more strictly linguistic level, the authors see no trend toward standardization, and argue instead that speakers of lingua franca English need a high communicative competence for dealing with the mixture of non-standard features and the large amount of pragmatic variation found in much intercultural communication. The authors then briefly consider the influence of English on the local languages and the choices involved in choosing a variety of English for education.
In Chapter 7, Melchers and Shaw take a look at the likely developments in the near future and identify US power, globalization and information technology as the most important factors favouring the further spread of English across the globe. They posit that the high visibility of unedited English found in computer-mediated communication could have a destandardizing effect on international English, but that the still considerable influence of the school systems might counterbalance this trend.
Finally, Appendix 1 gives a list of the speakers on the accompanying CD, and Appendix 2 contains a number of pre- and post-reading questions for each chapter.
CRITICAL EVALUATION Everyone teaching a course on the varieties of English around the world probably has their own idea of what the ideal textbook for such a course should cover. One of the authors has taught just such a course for many years, and the book under review is proof of this. Many sections read more like lightly edited lecture notes than a textbook meant to be studied by undergraduate students. The authors include a number of anecdotes in the text, a feature that often works well in class, but much less well in a textbook, and they have the rather irritating habit of writing one-sentence paragraphs, something which many university teachers try to eradicate from their students' essays.
It is clear that balancing the content of such a short book is a difficult task, and the authors should be praised for trying to combine most of the relevant sociolinguistic aspects with a large number of linguistic descriptions of individual varieties in a relatively small book. Apart from the style, most of my criticism therefore relates to details of content. A number of sections in the book seem to be the result of compromises of various kinds: One might argue, for example, about the usefulness of a very short chapter on the roots of English, or whether such a a book is the best place for contemplating the influence of English on other languages via borrowing. Possibly these pages might have been put to better use.
One of my quibbles concerns the notoriously difficult problem of the translations or glosses, which have not received the necessary attention to detail. Dialectal variation is illustrated with a Geordie poem ("A hev gorra bairn / an a hev gorra wife / an a cannit see me bairn or wife / workin in the night"), where the word 'gorra' is claimed to stand for the local pronunciation of 'got to' (p.13).
Generally, the maps in the book are often not very useful as they do not show all areas mentioned in the text and do not distinguish between cities and provinces. To give just one example, among the dialects of England discussed in the text are those of Leeds, Derby, West Wirral and Norwich, but only Leeds can be found on one of the maps. One might also wonder about the necessity of listing statistics on area, population and capital for the countries discussed, given that such data can easily be found elsewhere and is of questionable relevance in this context.
Within the descriptions of the individual varieties, spelling, a very accessible aspect, is not systematically commented on, e.g. South Asian English is said to be "spelt in the British style", but British English does not have a section on spelling. In the more extensive section on phonology most of the comparisons of the lexical sets are clearly useful and could have been extended, e.g. it would have been interesting to see the Australian vowels compared not just to RP, but also to American English vowels. In addition to the concept of lexical sets, much of the data used by the authors comes from Wells as well, which often seems a needless repetition, especially where even the examples are taken straight from Wells (1982), a study in three volumes based on data which is now more than a generation old. On the other hand, a number of sections (Liberian English and AAVE, Caribbean English) are so short, they seem more like appetizers than any kind of solid information. In the sections on the lexicon, the authors' use of the word 'tautonym' to refer to words having different meanings in different varieties seems somewhat idiosyncratic.
The references given in the book are not consistently placed in the further-reading sections, but appear either there (sometimes with comment, sometimes without; sometimes with full bibliographic details, sometimes as author plus year only) or embedded in the text. Sharp (2001) is referred to, but missing in the references. Appendix 2 contains a number of pre- and post-reading questions, which - according to the preface - are meant to remind readers of what they know and to check their new knowledge. This generally is a good idea, but one would expect the pre- reading questions to be clearly easier than the post- reading questions. Some questions sound more like activation questions for a seminar group than questions meant to check on the reader's knowledge.
Comparing the book under review to other books on the market that might be considered as textbooks for courses on world Englishes, one could mention Trudgill and Hannah (1994), a book that gives considerably more linguistic detail on the varieties discussed, but devotes only very little room to varieties in the expanding circle (an aspect which is of much interest to students in potentially expanding-circle countries in Europe) and does not cover the sociolinguistic and political perspectives. The latter aspect can be found in Crystal (1997) to a certain extent, or more thoroughly in Brutt-Griffler (2002). Crystal (1995) provides an widely available source for maps, statistics and historical background. Bauer (2002) is mostly limited to varieties of the inner circle. Jenkins (2003) is very useful as an overview for the debate on the sociolinguistic and political aspects, but does not give linguistic descriptions. Cheshire (1991) and Allerton et al (2002) finally are edited collections of papers that provide accessible further reading on a range of subtopics on world Englishes.
Writing a relatively short textbook of such a scope is a very big bite to chew, and while I would like to congratulate the authors on their choice of content, I wish they had chosen a different style for the book and spent more time on revision and ensuring internal consistency.
REFERENCES Allerton, D.J., Skandera, P. and Tschichold, C., eds. (2002). Perspectives on English as a World Language. Basel: Schwabe.
Bauer, L. (2002). An Introduction to International Varieties of English. Edinburgh University Press.
Brutt-Griffler, J. (2002). World English: A Study of its Development. Multilingual Matters.
Cheshire, J., ed. (1991). English around the world: Sociolinguistic perspectives. Cambridge UP.
Crystal, D. (1995). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge UP.
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a Global Language. Cambridge University Press.
Jenkins, J. (2003). World Englishes: A resource book for students. Routledge.
Trudgill, P. & J. Hannah (1994, 3rd ed.). International English: A guide to the varieties of standard English. Arnold.
Wells, J.C. (1982). Accents of English, vols I - III. Cambridge University Press.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER:
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Cornelia Tschichold teaches English linguistics at
Neuchâtel University. While her research interests focus on
English phraseology, computational lexicography and
computer-assisted language learning, she teaches a wide
range of courses in English linguistics, including courses
on sociolinguistics, the history of English, and varieties
of English around the world. | <urn:uuid:eb43ea76-2540-45c2-ae23-dc27a6a5300d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?SubID=20284 | 2013-05-23T18:31:54Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930054 | 2,754 |
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The Weekly Standard
January 7, 2013
by Lee Smith
An explosion in southern Lebanon last week destroyed what is believed to have been a Hezbollah weapons depot. This latest in a series of mysterious "accidents" in Hezbollah-controlled precincts proved, as one Israeli official wryly remarked, that those who "sleep with rockets and amass large stockpiles of weapons are in a very unsafe place." With the Party of God's overland supply route through Syria choked off by the 22-month-long uprising against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and Israel virtually in total control of the maritime route, Hezbollah's stockpile is being systematically degraded.
Yet the arsenal of Iran's other regional proxy force, Hamas, is growing. The Israeli Defense Forces' campaign against Hamas last month in Gaza targeted Iranian missiles, including the Fajr-5, capable of reaching Tel Aviv and other points north, and destroyed most of them within the first hours of the conflict. But Hamas is already rearming, and it's not clear that Israel or even Muslim Brotherhood-governed Egypt, which is ostensibly capable of controlling the Sinai tunnel networks through which Hamas receives its arms, can do much about it.
Israel's next war with Hamas—a further confrontation is almost inevitable—may well feature not only Iranian missiles smuggled through Sudan, but NATO-quality small arms and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles that come by way of Hamas's most recent weapons supplier, post-Qaddafi Libya.
Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense also zeroed in on Hamas commanders, most notably Ahmed al-Jabari, Hamas's chief of staff, responsible for the group's military operations. It was Jabari who replaced Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, assassinated in a Dubai hotel room almost three years ago in an operation usually attributed to Israel. In a sense, then, Pillar of Defense began back in January 2010 in that most profligate of the United Arab Emirates—which is also a veritable weapons bazaar.
"It's the Casablanca of the Middle East, with all sorts of shady characters, money laundering, and arms deals," says Michael Ross, a former Mossad operations officer. "With the Mabhouh assassination, the UAE authorities had all this video feed of what were allegedly Mossad operatives moving in and out of Dubai, but what they didn't show was footage of Mabhouh meeting with a banker, then with his contact from the IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps]." According to Ross, Mabhouh's briefcase was a treasure trove of information detailing what items Hamas procured from the Iranians and the logistics of getting them to Gaza.
Arms smuggling was a problem in Gaza long before Hamas took control, says Major (Res.) Aviv Oreg, formerly in charge of the al Qaeda and global jihad desk in Israel's military intelligence service and now head of a private consulting firm specializing in terrorism, CeifiT. "In the past, there was a maritime route via Syria or Lebanon, and when the smugglers approached the location they'd put the weapons in large flotation devices with the hope that the current would take it ashore," says Oreg. "Sometimes it got tangled up in fishermen's nets."
When the Israeli Navy interdicted the Karine A freighter in 2002 and stopped a large cache of Iranian-made weapons from reaching Gaza, it not only turned George W. Bush against Yasser Arafat for good, it also signaled that Israel had closed Iran's maritime route to Gaza once and for all. And yet as Israel's 2005 disengagement from Gaza cleared the way for Hamas's 2007 takeover, the outfit sought more sophisticated weapons, and Iran's support. The question for Tehran was how to get arms to their Palestinian clients.
"The ships usually start in the port of Bandar Abbas," says Oreg. "They come through the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, around the Arabian Peninsula, and crossing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, docking in Port Sudan." Occasionally the Iranians will dock in Eritrea, "just to mix things up," but their preferred point of entry is Sudan.
Sudan is critical, agrees Michael Ross. "This is where the parts for Iranian weapons are assembled. The guys in Gaza aren't too swift in putting together complicated systems like the Fajr-5. Some assembly may be required when it hits Gaza, but the more complicated, high-tech aspects of the weapons systems are assembled in Sudan by Iranians, who have a large presence in Khartoum, at places like the al-Yarmouk factory."
In October, an operation widely credited to Israel destroyed this key Iranian weapons depot. Other attacks on Sudanese soil attributed to Israel, such as the spring 2009 series of strikes on weapons convoys, have left some wondering what the government in Khartoum has to gain from painting a big target on its head for the IDF.
Money is part of it, says Matthew Levitt, director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who points to extensive economic cooperation between Iran and Sudan. "But there are also ideological reasons. These are radical Islamists, they've been angry at the world since their president, Omar al-Bashir, was indicted for war crimes, and they don't like Israel."
Even if it were possible to convince Khartoum to sever ties with Tehran, says Oreg, "the Iranians would find a replacement without too much difficulty, Eritrea or Somalia, both places where the central government is incapable of extending control over its territory." In any case, the real problem is Egypt.
Sudanese smugglers, mostly from the Rashaida tribe, transport the weapons from Port Sudan in trucks across the Nubian Desert to the Egyptian border, all the way through Egypt's Eastern Desert along the Red Sea, and through the Suez Canal deep into the Sinai Peninsula. "The easiest way to cut off Hamas's weapons supply," says Ross, "would be to shut down the shipments coming out of Sudan, at the source, rather than in Sinai. The routes are limited, and this could easily be accomplished if the Egyptian military made an effort. But the army has always been the problem. While Mubarak was president, it was the intelligence service under Omar Suleiman that stopped shipments, kept radical elements at bay, and cooperated very closely with Israel. The military looks the other way and just doesn't care."
In fact, since the August jihadist attack in the Sinai that killed 16 Egyptian border guards, the army has been more vigilant, recognizing that its own security, and not merely Israel's, is at stake. The proliferation of foreign fighters in the Sinai, some of them aligned with Egypt's Salafist movement, moreover, poses a big political risk for Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. Judging by his actions during Pillar of Defense, Morsi believes that keeping the peace with Israel is in the national interest. That still leaves plenty of room for him to be outflanked on his right by the Salafists and armed fighters whose prestige rests precisely on the fact that they are fighting Israel. The problem, then, is that if Morsi closes the tunnels, affecting both Hamas and the Sinai jihadists, the latter will turn on him; if he doesn't, the jihadists will eventually come for him anyway.
In any case, he has an excuse for the United States and Israel ready at hand: Practically speaking, it's almost impossible to shut down the entire network of tunnels between Sinai and Gaza—and for that, he can lay some of the blame at Mubarak's feet.
"The nomadic tribes in the Sinai were neglected by the government for years," says Oreg. "There are no roads, no employment, and their main source of income became smuggling—not only weapons into Gaza, but routes into Israel also, smuggling drugs and women." The Tarabin tribe, he explains, is the most dominant—and the wealthiest. "In Sinai, the biggest and most expensive houses belong to smugglers. For one AK-47, a smuggler gets $1,000."
Besides the profit motive for smuggling, there are also geographical issues that make it difficult to close the industry. "With the high mountains in the Sinai," says Oreg, "it's easy for the smugglers to move around, and not even the Egyptian Army can do much about it."
The Gaza side of the border is even more economically dependent on the tunnel networks that, since Hamas took over, have become highly regulated. "After the blockade of Gaza," says Oreg, "everything went through tunnels. All of Gaza's international trade is conducted through the tunnels, thousands of them. Hamas has basically institutionalized the tunnel industry, requiring registration for tunnels and imposing taxes on them. You can make up to $50,000 a month on a tunnel."
Not surprisingly, Libyan entrepreneurs now want a piece of the action. The supply line, according to Oreg, is the same—via Sudan. "But eventually," says Oreg, "they will likely build smuggling networks through the Libyan desert into Egypt." What's different, says Ross, is the materiel. "For instance, they've got FN F2000s, a Belgian-manufactured military assault rifle. The Europeans, in their infinite wisdom, treated Qaddafi like just another client. And so after Qaddafi, people found warehouses full of munitions, and if you're sitting on a stockpile, it's not too tough to make contacts with middlemen and facilitators. What a wild west that's become."
Israeli officials might be worried about the Sinai turning into an Afghanistan on their border, but with Hamas, they're looking at a garrison equipped with Iranian missiles and European small arms. "We saw how much Hamas had at its disposal with Operation Pillar of Defense," notes Ross. "There was no ground incursion this time around, but you'd have seen them breaking out all sorts of stuff, like NATO-quality small arms. We've come a long way from the First Intifada and 8-year-olds throwing rocks."
Lee Smith is a visiting fellow at Hudson Institute and is the author of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics and the Clash of Arab Civilizations (Doubleday, 2010).
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Washington apprised American security officers John Ford and Joe Bezjian of the situation at their base of operations at the American Embassy in Paris, France. Both gentlemen were security professionals but Joe was the technical expert. The embassy invited them to come to Moscow to see if they could solve the mystery. Like the allied search team, they turned up nothing and determined that the Soviets had removed the device. This occurrence added fuel to the concern that the Soviets possessed a new technology that could effectively evade western search equipment and techniques. This was further compounded when an American military attaché, Major Van Latham, stationed at the Mohkavaya building (the American Embassy Chancery building at that time) overheard the ambassador’s voice while monitoring his radio. A frantic search ensued but once again, nothing was found.
In September, Joe and John returned to Moscow to perform another search of U.S. facilities. They searched U.S. Embassy facilities thoroughly and turned up nothing. Joe suspected that his search may have been compromised but decided to make one last effort. As with Ambassador Kennan, he was aware that the renovation of Spaso House presented an opportunity for the KGB to introduce something technical – he just didn’t know what. Discussing the matter with the Ambassador they worked out a plan. The plan included surreptitious delivery of Joe’s search equipment to the house and a bogus classified dictation session by the Ambassador in his study. Joe moved all of his personal effects into a guest room at Spaso House and took up the life of a house guest for several days. He invited people over for dinner, played bridge in the evening, and quietly watched the normal routines of the house and its occupants.
On September 12, the embassy personnel officer, Sam Janey, brought Joe’s disguised search equipment to the house. The two men hid the equipment in a residence safe. According to plan, Ambassador Kennan called his longtime secretary, Ms. Dorothy Hessman, to perform dictation in the ambassador’s study. The ambassador dictated from an old embassy dispatch. The dispatch consisted of an unclassified portion of published diplomatic correspondence and to the uninformed ear could well sound worth collecting.
Soon after Ms. Hessman arrived, Joe and Sam carried the equipment from the safe to the attic. Almost as soon as the equipment warmed up Joe spun his dial and heard Ambassador Kennan’s voice and Ms. Hessman’s typing. Joe’s attentions snapped onto his receiver and a surge of adrenalin sharpened his focus, but he controlled his excitement and continued his quiet hunt using the radio strapped to his chest like a concessionaire at a ball game. Hearing the ambassador’s voice “on the air” Joe sent Sam down to the study with a note to the ambassador. Sam passed the note to Ambassador Kennan and then implored him, via sub-vocal whispers, to “keep on, keep on.” The room charged with an unknown presence lurking beyond the shadows.
Joe carried his equipment slowly down the stairs, entered the study, and started parsing the room, searching for the signal’s origin. He lowered his whip antenna, diminishing the receiver’s sensitivity, and quietly treaded from corner to corner. Ambassador Kennan continued dictating but held his eyes riveted on Joe as he fiddled with his dials and antenna. Using the meter on his receiver and the shifting audio in his headset, Joe tracked the signal to the study’s left rear corner. A corner table displayed many small things including a Zenith radio. Joe pointed to Sam to remove the radio and then in turn pointed at different items for him to remove from the table. Joe heard no effect on the device’s audio as the ambassador continued to read. Above the table hung a large wooden replica of the U.S. Great Seal. After Sam removed all the items from the table Joe’s eyes fixed on the Seal. He approached it delicately, suspecting that it might be covering up something planted in the wall.
Placing his receiver down, Joe picked the Great Seal off the wall gingerly and placed it on an overstuffed chair at the room’s center. The signal dropped off and just as suddenly returned. Joe returned to examine the wall. He slowly scanned back and forth with his eyes and ran his finger tips across the plaster surface seeing and feeling nothing. He slowly turned and fixed his gaze on the Great Seal. He went back to the chair where it sat and began examining it closely. He ran his receiver back and forth across where the Great Seal lay on the chair confirming that the signal emanated from behind the bald eagle’s head. In his excitement, he bumped the wooden Seal and the signal disappeared once again. Fearing that his search had been discovered, Joe told Ambassador Kennan that he had lost the signal but it undoubtedly came from inside the Great Seal. The signal suddenly returned a few moments later but then went off the air – forever.
The ambassador looked at Joe and quietly asked about leaving the device in place to feed prepared information back to the Soviets in a misinformation campaign. Joe assured the ambassador that the Russian operator undoubtedly knew that the search effort was compromised. He felt sure they were listening to his activities and quite probably knew of his discovery of their intelligence operation. Joe advised the ambassador that the device needed to be studied to determine its capabilities. Further, Joe contended, the considerable U.S. effort to discover the device required that it be secured to keep the Soviets from “recovering” it, denying western governments the opportunity to understand and protect themselves from the new technology.
Joe, eager to examine the device, remained uneasy because of the possibility that the device contained a booby trap that might explode and destroy its secrets as well as hurt the person opening the device or the people standing nearby. Joe instructed Ambassador Kennan, Sam, and Ms. Hessman to leave the study. But he was also driven by his curiosity to see what was inside of the wooden carving, enough curiosity to overrule his caution. He carefully examined the Seal and noted a seam in the edge. With a sharp-edged masonry hammer he slowly, deliberately cracked the seal open, splitting the plaster circumference ring and having the seal fall into its front and back pieces. Nothing self-destructed. Hidden within a large carved cavity inside the seal the disassembly revealed a cleverly hidden device called a cavity resonator. The device required no internal power source and uses the basic physical principles of resonance to steal audio from its surroundings. It had no electronic components, just a nonferrous microphone and an antenna crafted to resonate at the appropriate frequency. Much as a diva can explode a piece of glass with her voice resonating until the excess energy causes it to shatter, a cavity resonator can modulate (change) an externally supplied radio signal and use its clever combination of radio-frequency resonance and audio modulation to eavesdrop on nearby conversations. The resonator gave the Soviets a tactical and strategic edge in the battle for Cold War supremacy.
An anonymous Russian had given the wooden replica to Ambassador Averell Harriman as a personal gift sometime in 1945. Initially, Ambassador Harriman did nothing with the seal. It was during the war and his time was limited. After several months in storage, someone hung the seal in the Ambassador’s study. Ambassador Harriman did not remember when, nor who hung the seal. When asked some 15 years later, all Ambassador Harriman remembered was that when leaving his assignment in the USSR the large size of the seal prevented it from being packed into his personal effects. He left it hanging on the wall of the house’s study for his successor.
Following Ambassador Harriman was Ambassador Walter Bedell Smith, soon-to-be director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He remembered the seal quite well. The ambassador remembered only one time throughout his entire Moscow tenure when the seal did not hang in the study. He noticed that a crack had appeared in the Seal’s rim and ordered it repaired prior to the arrival of the Secretary of State, George Marshall, who used the study as his bedroom. Ambassador and Mrs. Smith wanted the room to be as tidy as possible for the Secretary. A Russian handyman took the seal and kept it for approximately a week. The seal reappeared in excellent shape with no indication of a crack on any of its edges, well before Secretary Marshall’s arrival to negotiate with the USSR.
The Seal, apparently, had hung in the study from 1945 until Joe discovered it on September 12, 1953. State Department Security Engineers had examined the Seal twice in 1951 with a metal detector. The detector indicated the presence of the obvious metal screws and studs on the reverse side but nothing in the middle – fooled by the nonferrous brass construction of the resonant cavity. After Joe’s successful technical search, he continued his inspection with hand tools. He and Sam performed a destructive search destroying the wall on which the Seal had hung for so long. They found nothing: no cables, no power source, no indications at all. After they demolished the wall and finished searching for any associated devices at 3 A.M., they posted a Marine Guard in the study.
Joe placed the cavity resonator under his pillow and placed the Great Seal under the bed and settled in for a couple of hours of restless sleep. The next morning he accompanied Ambassador Kennan in his limousine to the Chancery heading directly towards the Kremlin on the way to the embassy. At the chancery, Joe photographed multiple angles of the cavity resonator and the Seal. He carefully packed the seal and resonator in boxes and hand carried them to the communications vault and packaged them in a diplomatic pouch. The next pouch shipment sent them to the Department’s Regional Security headquarters in Paris. Once the pouch reached Paris, Security Engineer Fred Snyder repacked the pouch and hand carried the Seal and the resonator to Washington, D.C. In D.C., it rapidly made its way to Secretary Acheson’s office, who immediately arranged to show it to President Truman. The President ordered the Seal given to the FBI lab for reverse engineering. State Department Security Officer Robert Eckert hand carried the seal and device to the FBI lab for analysis.
President Truman tasked the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to develop countermeasures for cavity resonators. The NRL developed several passive and active devices for revealing resonant cavity devices and sent them to Moscow to be used. Despite diligent searches, no further devices utilizing this technology were discovered. It’s likely the Soviets removed any other devices after Joe made his discovery in order to maintain operations security over their other successes. The U.S. made several copies of both the cavity resonator and the Great Seal for various briefings to Congress and other Agencies. | <urn:uuid:381783c9-a8f1-4889-a5e5-c123787d876f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.securitymanagement.com/article/a-trojan-seal-006971?page=0%2C1 | 2013-05-26T03:06:11Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97499 | 2,240 |
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(Arusha, Tarangire, Ngorongoro)
Experience some of wildest parks in Africa on this adventurous private guided safari through Tanzania. Start with a scenic drive in your 4x4 Land Cruiser exploring Tarangire National Park, known for its large population of elephant, baobob trees and lovebirds. Travel to Lake Manyara, famous for its jungle-like scenery, blue monkeys and abundant birdlife. You may even catch a glimpse of the famous tree climbing lions! Finish up in the fabled Ngorongoro Crater - A UNESCO World Heritage Site. This legendary crater has been likened to "Noah's Ark" for its concentration of all different kinds of wildlife. Drive back to Arusha, stop for a refreshing lunch, and finish with some souvenir shopping before returning home from this unforgettable safari.
Kensington Tours has its own offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Arusha, Tanzania. Our prices include the support of our own dedicated team on the ground! Another reason we deliver unbeatable value.
Airport transfer between your Arusha hotel and Kilimanjaro International airport with private vehicle and english speaking driver.
In the unfortunate event of serious illness or injury, all travellers are covered by this “Flying Doctors” Insurance policy. This emergency evacuation insurance policy covers the cost of the evacuation flight back to Nairobi for treatment. This insurance policy however DOES NOT cover the cost of any medical treatment received.
Mount Meru Hotel is situated at the foothills of Mount Meru in the city of Arusha, Tanzania. The Mount Meru Hotel lies on 9 acres of lush landscape, surrounded by some of Africa’s most breath-taking vistas, rich with a diverse array of wildlife, etched against the fertile slopes of this beautiful mountain. The Mount Meru Hotel, its management and staff members have made every endeavour to ensure that your stay is a rejuvenating and refreshing experience of African hospitality and look forward to meeting you in person.
From Arusha, your guide will drive you to the Tarangire National Park. This commute takes approximately 3 hours to complete.
On this game drive you might notice the swamps, tinged green year round, which are the focus for 550 bird varieties. This park boasts of having the most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in the world. On drier ground you find the Kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird; the stocking-thighed ostrich, the world's largest bird; and small parties of ground hornbills blustering like turkeys. More ardent bird-lovers might keep an eye open for screeching flocks of the dazzlingly colourful yellow-collared lovebird and the somewhat drabber rufous-tailed weaver and ashy starling – all endemic to the dry savannah of north-central Tanzania.
Kikoti Camp is situated above one of the most highly populated wildlife arenas in Africa, Tarangire National Park, where privacy is guaranteed and guests are privy to 35 000 acres of unrefined living species. The dramatic landscape surrounding the camp’s 10 permanent en-suite tents makes for a stunning African experience full of discoveries and sights like no other. Dishes prepared at the camp feature local cuisine of the most tasteful sort, filled with adventurous spices and succulent meats. Vegetables and fruits are gathered from nearby farms, and there are no formalities around meals as it is meant to be a fulfilling, wholesome endeavor. Activities range from bush trekking and bush dining to cultural talks to add to your knowledge on the area.
In the early morning hours, your skilled guide will pick you up and take you for a game viewing drive through Tarangire National Park. The main highlight here is elephant, which mass in enormous numbers during the dry season June to December. General game is also good, although predators tend to be quite difficult to find. From January to May the park is beautiful and offers a more private experience with very low visitor numbers. Year round this is a unique safari experience.
Time permitting, there are many optional activities. Depending on which lodge you're staying at, activities range from nature walks to cultural village visits. Some of these can be prebooked through your destination specialist while others can be booked directly with the lodge upon arrival.
From Tarangire National Park, your guide will drive you to the picturesque Lake Manyara. This drive will take approximately 3 hours.
Enjoy a box lunch while you travel (included in tour price).
On todays game drive you will have to keep your eyes peeled in order to spot some of this area's beautiful and elusive big cats. It will take a keen eye to take notice of the tree climbing lions, or the camouflaged spotted leopards. You should try to look around shaded area during the hotter hours of the day, as the wildlife will be looking for a cool area to relax.
A small and exclusive lodge facing the Oldeani Volcano, only 5 kms. from the Ngorongoro Lolduare gate was built, meant to offer our clients an original experience reminiscent of the atmosphere of the old days.
Descend into the Ngorongoro caldera to view the wildlife on the crater floor. The crater is roughly 20 km/12 mi wide and 600 m/2,000 ft deep, once you've reached the top of the caldera it takes about 45 minutes to descend to the crater floor. The floor is home to a rich and highly concentrated wildlife. Some 20,000 mammals live there, including about 20 black rhinoceros, making the crater the best place in Tanzania to see the rhino. The crater floor also has one of the highest carnivore densities in the world. Lions, cheetahs, hyenas and jackals are commonly seen, while leopards, servals and bat-eared foxes may be seen with some good luck. You'll spend most of the day in the crater.
Private transportation and guide in the Ngorongoro national park.
Enjoy a picnic lunch (included in tour price).
From Ngorongoro, your guide will drive you to Arusha. This drive will take approximately 2.5 hours.
Stop for lunch at the Arusha Hotel in this tourism capital of Tanzania. Shop the local souvenir market.
Includes opportunity to visit local handicrafts market to stock up on souvenirs.
Depart from Kilimanjaro international airport - end of itinerary.
VISA/PASSPORTPassport valid for at least six months, visa and evidence of yellow fever immunization are required for both US and Canadian citizens. Visa may be purchased on arrival at the airport. Single entry visa is $50 per person ($100pp for US citizens), payable in cash (no credit cards). Visas may also be obtained in advance through a visa service. Processing generally takes 5 working days and costs approximately $75.
Please note obtaining a visa is your responsibility. These requirements change often and therefore it is best that you check with the embassy of Tanzania for the most up to date visa information.
NOTE: Only newly printed USD currency and local currency will be accepted in East Africa, any USD currency printed without the new security measures will not be accepted. HEALTHHealth insurance is essential. Guests of Kensington Tours are covered by East African Flying Doctor Services included in the tour price. This coverage guarantees that any member injured or ill while on safari will be airlifted back to Nairobi to the international hospital.
We recommend that you see a health-care provider who specializes in Travel Medicine. The doctor or health-care provider will determine what vaccinations and medication you will need, depending on factors such as your health and immunization history, areas of the country you will be visiting, and planned activities. For more information on travel requirements, visit the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/tanzania.aspx
A yellow fever shot is NOT required for visitors from US/Canada/UK/EU direct, however if you are travelling through Kenya into Tanzania, you will need the vaccine.
COUNTRY INFOLanguage: Swahili and English are the official languages. Several indigenous languages are also spoken. Currency: Tanzanian shilling (TZS). Most tourism prices are in US Dollars.ATMs are available in major cities only. Major lodges, some hotels accept credit cards. Time: GMT +3. Electricity: 230 volts AC, 50Hz. Rectangular or round three-pin plugs are used. Communications: The international country dialing code for Tanzania, as well as Zanzibar, is +255.
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DVD Release Date: May 6, 2008 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Number of Discs: 4
Number of Episodes: 30
Running Time: approx. 760 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: N/A
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English, Spanish, French and Portuguese languages; Spanish & Portuguese subtitles; Closed-Captioned.
Special Features: Sony TV DVD Previews; Minisodes
After a long 10-month wait, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings us another season of Bewitched on DVD, this time The Complete Sixth Season! Dick Sargent takes over the role of Darrin Stephens joining Elizabeth Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead, Erin Murphy, and David White all return for more spellbinding and magic at Morning Glory Circle! Also joining the series in a recurring role is Alice Ghostley playing the shy Esmeralda. This is also the season where Samantha gives birth to her second child, Adam. Join the Stephens family as we see Tabitha running away to be in “Jack and the Beanstalk” because she is jealous of her baby brother, Darrin being frozen into a mirror when Sam’s dad Maurice finds out the baby isn’t named after him, Endora being upset at Samantha celebrating Halloween, so she turns Darrin into a warlock. Paul Lynde returns as Uncle Arthur botching his magic hat trick at Tabtha’s birthday party and a Playboy bunny comes out! So join Elizabeth Montgomery in ... Bewitched! (Now the theme music is stuck in your head, isn’t it?)
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
This season is the first season with Dick Sargent as Darrin, as we mentioned...and I think I liked Bewitched the best these last few seasons with Sargent as Darrin. As I mentioned before, Dick Sargent joins the cast in “Samantha and the Beanstalk,” in which Tabitha is jealous of the new baby and runs away to this classic...literally. In “Samantha’s Yoo-Hoo Maid,” Alice Ghostley joins the cast as Esmeralda the bumbling shy witch. Samantha gives birth to her second child and Maurice (Sam’s dad) makes sure that everyone who passes by falls in love with the baby in “...And Something Makes Four.” The very next episode has Maurice raging mad because the new baby is not named after him in “Naming Samantha’s New Baby.” Samantha is working on Halloween costumes for a UNICEF benefit and Endora is dismayed at Samantha for celebrating Halloween in “To Trick or Treat or Not to Trick or Treat.” In the two-part episode, “Daddy Comes For a Visit/Darrin the Warlock,” Maurice gives Darrin a magic watch, giving him magical powers, much to the dismay of Samantha. Esmerelda brings up the real Santa Claus and cannot get him back to the North Pole in “Santa Comes to Visit and Stays and Stays.” Phyllis (Darrin’s mom) catches Samantha using her magic powers and does not really know what to think...what will happen? Find out in “Samantha's Secret is Discovered.” Tabitha wants to go to the park, but Samantha tells her that she has many chores to do around the house...so Tabitha creates “another” Samantha in “Tabitha's Very Own Samantha.” In “Generation Zap,” with a touch of magic, Endora turns a client's sensible daughter Dusty Harrison into a raving sex machine with the hots for Darrin. Mr. Dinsdale, a handsome lady-killer client falls for Samantha because she looks like Serena in “Chance of Love.”
Some famous guests this season include Johnny Whitaker, Deacon Jones, Jack Cassidy, Bernie Kopell, Carol Wayne, John Fielder, Lloyd Bochner, Charles Lane, Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, Henry Gibson, and Danny Bonaduce. Recurring actors include Alice Ghostley, Bernard Fox, Paul Lynde, Sandra Gould, Robert F. Simon, Mabel Albertson, Kasey Rogers, Maurice Evans, and George Tobias.
Like the previous sets, we get nice slim cases! This set is a four-disc set, like the last few, so we have two slim cases, each holding two discs each. However, before we get to the full slim case details, let’s go back to the box. The cover of the box is a nice light purple color scheme. It has the attractive Bewitched logo (saying Elizabeth Montgomery in) in script with a photo of an animated Samantha on top of that. There is a nice photo of Samantha in the middle, with Tabitha & Darrin to the left and Endora to the right in a nice city type of background with a huge moon, reminiscent of the opening credits. The back of the box has synopsis of the show and the set, with three nice snapshots on the left side, and continuing the night city setting.
On the front of each slim case, there are pictures of various cast members. Case 1 has Samantha featured, with an image each of Darrin and Tabitha to the left. Case 2 has another shot of Samantha, with Serena and Endora on top. On the back of each case, there is a listing of all of the episodes on the discs contained inside as well as a brief description of those episodes. All of this is similar to previous sets, so no surprises.
The art contained on the discs is simple, purple in color with the city skyline in the background and pictures of different characters on each disc. Disc 1 has a picture of Samantha, Disc 2 has a picture of Darrin, Disc 3 has a picture of Endora, and Disc 4 has a picture of Tabitha. Disc 1 contain episodes 1-8, Disc 2 contains episodes 9-16, Disc 3 contains episodes 17-23, and Disc 4 contains episodes 24-30 (and the bonus previews crap and minisodes). When you take the discs out, you will see nice photos surrounding the slim case inside. Again, a Sony catalog comes with the packaging. It is not really up to date on some things...it says Married with Children Season 8 coming soon, but that was released already. It does have some actual correct coming soon wordings, such as I Dream of Jeannie S5 and Just Shot Me! S3.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus are simple like the previous sets. Each menu screen on each of the four discs is different. It starts with an animated showcase of Sam (each disc is different) twitching you to the menu screen. Disc one menu is pink, the disc two menu is green, disc three menu is purple, and disc four menu is blue...just as the previous set. They have one thing common; they have an animated Darrin (yes, Sargent version) & Sam. The theme song plays in the background (and it does loop if you stay awhile). The options are... Play All Episodes, Episode Selections, and Languages. The Episode Selections option clouds you to a simple menu where you can choose the episode you want to see (pictures from the episodes are shown in what appears to be picture frames on a wall). Languages allow you to select what Audio and Subtitles you want. Audio is English, French, Spanish or Portuguese. Subtitles are either Spanish or Portuguese. Minisodes and Bonus Previews options are on disc four. The menus are the same as the previous set...well except for the addition of the minisodes.
Video and Audio Quality:
Bewitched has been good in video for previous sets. Although the last set was not as good, though in terms of video quality...but this set is MUCH better! Sony says in the press release that this set is digitally mastered, but the packaging does not say that, but I think it is...because it looks GREAT! Samantha must have uses witchcraft at Sony to fix the problem from the last set! All episodes appear to be unedited with run times all over 25 minutes (mostly about 25:20). The audio track is good, in Dolby Digital mono. There are no major problems, and the volume is at a good level. Chapter stops are available at the right places and we have five chapter stops per episode. The new Sony Pictures logo is at the end of each episode running like 5 seconds. The FBI warning is available at the start of the first episode on each disc...but you can chapter skip it. In all, this set is much better in audio and video than the previous set!
The following are the runtimes for each episode:
1. Samantha and the Beanstalk 25:20
2. Samantha’s Yoo Hoo Maid 25:20
3. Samantha’s Caesar Salad 25:21
4. Samantha’s Curious Cravings 25:21
5. And Something Makes Four 25:21
6. Naming Samantha’s New Baby 25:21
7. To Trick or Treat or Not to Trick or Treat 25:19
8. A Bunny for Tabitha 25:20
9. Samantha’s Secret Spell 25:19
10. Daddy Comes to Visit 25:23
11. Darrin the Warlock 25:20
12. Samantha’s Double Mother Trouble 25:19
13. You’re So Agreeable 25:20
14. Santa Comes to Visit and Stays and Stays 25:19
15. Samantha’s Better Halves 25:20
16. Samantha’s Lost Weekend 25:22
17. The Phrase Is Familiar 25:20
18. Samantha’s Secret Is Discovered 25:22
19. Tabitha’s Very Own Samantha 25:21
20. Super Arthur 25:20
21. What Makes Darrin Run 25:19
22. Serena Stops the Show 25:21
23. Just a Kid Again 25:19
24. Generation Zap 25:21
25. Okay, Who’s the Wise Witch 25:20
26. A Chance on Love 25:23
27. If the Shoe Pinches 25:21
28. Mona Sammy 25:22
29. Turn on the Old Charm 25:21
30. Make Love, Not Hate 25:24
The first two seasons had great extras, but ever since we have not gotten anything at all, just the Sony Previews. Previews for this set are Blonde Ambition (movie), My Mom’s New Boyfriend (movie), Saawanya (movie), The Water Horse (movie), Ladies Night (TV), and ‘80s Hits (TV...but it actually movies, Sony can’t label it right). Just one TV trailer and it is so old. Again, it is not even funny anymore Sony!
We also have two Sony Minisodes from Sony’s Minisode Network. We get a Minisode of The Partridge Family, “Eleven Year Itch” that runs 5:35. Maybe we get this Minisode because Danny Bonaduce guest starred on Bewitched? We also have a minisode of I Dream of Jeannie, “Where’d You Go-Go?” that runs 5:02. I bet we have that because the series is somewhat similar to Bewitched. These are really to promote this online network.
Between seasons four and five, we had a 9-month wait, now between seasons five and six we get a 10-month wait. Therefore, I would guess we would get season 7 in another 9-10 months or so. I hope they go at a faster pace again so we get seasons 7 and 8 faster. There are eight seasons of this show, and we are 75% finished now...just two more sets! Come on Sony, let’s release them faster! As for this set, it is decent, video quality is much better than the previous set that it is so noticeable. Other than that, the set is on par with the last four sets, and of course down from the first two where we got great special features. Get on board Samantha’s witchcraft on season six of Bewitched where the word of the season is “change,” because there is a lot of it...and it is good to have change because it works here! Bewitched! | <urn:uuid:9583961b-6105-4cce-86ec-8dd40d8e45da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sitcomsonline.com/bewitchedseason6dvdreview.html | 2013-05-21T17:37:40Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911097 | 2,655 |
[ A.K.A SEKMINËS – Seventh Sunday after Easter
In Lithuania and in neighboring countries, traditions of Pentecost are
related with the end of sowing and the start of summer labors. This is
a spring gathering and shepherds' holiday. The most distinctive feature
of Pentecost is nature worship. The power of nature was attributed to young,
green birch trees. It was believed that the birch tree can pass her vitality
to the soil, to animals, protect from illness and all evils. On the eve
of Pentecost, village girls dispersed in fields and woods in search of
flowers and greenery that were used to make wreaths. Young men picked branches
off birch trees, which they placed around doors, gates, inside porches
and in living rooms. Wreaths and bunches of flowers decorated the entire
house. Tables were covered with linen tablecloths, garden paths were sprinkled
with sand and greens. It was believed that the souls of the dead, while
visiting homes on Pentecost, rested on birch tree branches. Shepherds decorated
cows with birch wreaths, to keep them calm and together, be good milkers
and to please the mistress of the house so she would be kind and generous
throughout the year.
The writer, B.Buraèas described this tradition of decorating
the herds in his writings, saying that on the night before Pentecost, shepherds
returning home with the herd dressed the animals with birch and marsh marigold
wreaths. They even tied birch branches to cattle horns.
In some regions women placed a piece of bread in a white linen kerchief,
tied it with three double birch branches and tied this kerchief to their
apron sash believing this to be a protection from snake bites. Whipping
with bathing birch- rods in bathhouses was believed to chase all ailments
out of the body. On Pentecost morning, the master of the house whipped
his cows to make them more active while grazing in the fields.
When Christianity came to Lithuania, churches began blessing grasses.
Then on this holiday, churches were decorated with birch trees and other
greenery. People arrived in church carrying bunches of greenery , which
were blessed. These blessed greens were set on fire and their smoke was
used to incense dying persons, new buildings and storm clouds. It was believed
that smoke from Pentecost greens had the power to chase away evil spirits,
protect buildings and send storm clouds away. Wayside crosses and ritual
tables were also decorated with Pentecost greenery.
J.Balys wrote in " Lithuanian Calendar Holidays" how plants are used
in charmings. First of all, many wreaths were twined and each one was given
a man's name. The largest wreath was given the name of the girl who wanted
to know the name chosen name. The wreaths are thrown into the well or into
the pond in the evening, so as not to be seen by anyone. Early in the morning
the girl went to see if her wreath was beside the largest wreath. If it
was, she would marry him.
Before Pentecost one must twine a large wreath of cornflowers with
three branches of rue in it. Before evening this wreath is placed on the
girl's head and fastened to the hair so it would not fall off. He, who
in a dream removes this wreath, will be the one too take away her virginity.
N.Gimbutas in " Baltic Mythology" , wrote that there was tradition
to go to the woods on Pentecost. A birch tree was picked out, decorated
and taken into the village. About hundred years ago this was an important
ritual which involved the entire community.
On this holiday there are fire and water glorification rituals. The
church on Pentecost blessed fire and water. In many regions holy water
was sprinkled on grain seeds, so that they would sprout fast and that birds
would not peck at the grain. Sprinkling with holy water was meant to keep
insects away from the crops and keep ponds and rivers safe from drownings.
To keep horses well and give them shinny coats, their food was also sprinkled
with holy water.
After Pentecost, according to the folk calendar, it was safe to swim
in rivers and lakes, especially if these bodies of water were close to
churches, they were blessed by the priests to protect the swimmers from
drownings. Country folk poured holy water into their wells and ponds for
Pentecost is one bright day in the shepherds' year. This day was begun
by the blare of the herdsman's trumpet before sunrise, awakening the shepherds.
That day, every shepherd planned to take his herd out at the earliest and
play his small horn. Each shepherd made his own small horn for Pentecost
from osier or alder wood and added a hollow cow's horn to give it a better
As the animals were leaving the barn, they were incensed with burning,
dried herbs by the mistress of the house. The herd grazed until noon, then
the shepherds decorated the entire herd and themselves and returned to
the village singing and playing their horns. Then the feasting began, hosted
by the head herdsman.
Shepherds' outings were organized on Pentecost, called shepherds' omelet,
[ a.k.a. pautienë ]. In some regions shepherds stopped at homesteads
in the morning to pick up prepared foods, while in others they asked for
eggs, flour, butter, milk and salt so that they could bake their own omelet.
In Dzûkija the following greeting was voiced, " happy Pentecost,
spent happily and peacefully with horses neighing and cows mooing. I was
sent to you by the oxen for bread, for milk by the cows, by sheep for flour,
by hogs for bacon and fat, by the motley hens for eggs, by the rooster
for pancakes and by the shepherds for money". If some households gave nothing,
the returning herd was decorated with nettle wreaths and brooms tied to
the cows' horns, so that everyone would know about the stinginess of that
household.. However, most homeowners were generous because they knew that
by not giving the cows' milk would be decreased.
After collecting all he goodies, the shepherds went to feast, picnic
in the woods. After the omelet was baked, the shepherds went into the forest,
climbed a tree and called out to wolves and bears to come and have breakfast
with them, saying, " if you do not come out now, you will never come out
during the coming year". This is an ancient prayer, an incantation.
In some regions of the Highlands [ a.k.a. Aukðtaitija ], shepherds
were allowed to sleep in while the herding in the morning was carried out
by girls. They herded out very early, before the larks awakened. Hearing
the larks, village lads came out playing reed and pan pipes. They also
brought food, lit bonfires. The important ritual was made up of a game
called " Arrange a Wedding". The prettiest girl was chosen to play the
bride and a lad was chosen to play the groom, while other girls dressed
as bridesmaids. After the wedding rites, the newlyweds were taken to bed
in a granary, a tent made of tree branches. After that came their awakening
and the end of the wedding ritual games. People in ancient times believed
that peoples' sexual love and fertility stimulate earth's productivity.
On the second day of Pentecost, the hired hands together with the owner's
sons carried on in the same manner as the shepherds. They provided drinks
and music while maidens prepared the food. The maidens walked along fields
of grain, singing songs with magical meanings:
You osier, clover,
Green bush, clover,
How tall you grew, clover,
At the first gate, clover,
The sun rose, clover,
At the second gate, clover,
The moon trundled, clover,
At the third gate, clover,
The maiden walked, clover.
Entire families visited the rye fields. Checked both theirs' and neighbors'
fields and shared farming advice. In some regions, hired hands brewed beer
before Pentecost so that they could treat the owners after their walks
in the grain fields. Everyone gathers to eat and drink , while the young
people sing and dance.
Girls had separate amusements. They sat in a nice spot on a hill, twined
wreaths, cast lots, told tales, sang and walked around grain fields.
When Christianity spread throughout Lithuania, priests turned these
ancient walkings around grain fields into blessings of the grain fields.
People gathered in one farmstead upon the priests' arrival and went together
to bless the grain fields. Feasting took place after the blessing.
This tradition disappeared at the beginning of 20th
century, when villages broke up into individual farms. | <urn:uuid:3a16fd44-7721-48a6-a5a5-3373efd12ec3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ausis.gf.vu.lt/eka/customs/pentecost.html | 2013-05-24T01:56:57Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969552 | 2,021 |
Republican Senators need more proof that the increase in super tornadoes and Level 5 hurricanes is caused by global warming, which they view as a myth (although the New York Times recently had a front page story listing the proof, and also the theory that human activity affects the weather.) So here’s a mantra for them to repeat in the shower before going on Fox News: “UFOs cause monster tornadoes. After all, one theory is as good as another, right? A theory is a theory is a…” Wait a minute, isn’t gravity a theory? Since they’ll never actually read a science book in their lifetime, someone should point out to them that some “theories” are never anything more than a “theory.” Like the theory that pollution accumulates. Oh wait, that’s a LAW, isn’t it? (The law of conservation of mass and energy. Thermodynamics also has a role.) In any event, maybe Wal Mart should acquire Warehouse 13, and get some help in fighting this stuff (as shown in the video below.) Since many Wal Mart shoppers and Fox News watchers believe in UFOs and alien beings from dying planets, (but don’t believe our planet is affected by anything WE do) it’s a marriage made in a hotter place—the Earth of the future. With Warehouse 13 as just another big box store, maybe then all the conspiracy nuts will be happy that the government isn’t hiding everything from them, and the NRA can use a new slogan: “From my bold red hands!”
Terminator 5: Family Die will be perhaps the most unique and original of the series, although Arnold is absent from the script. Inspired by Family Guy, the plot begins with the singularity (that moment when computers become sentient, often suggested as being 2045.) Instead of SkyNet, the entity is one massive ego—Sky Guy—who offers humans (and this means you) one year to either commit suicide with a katana (a la Tarantino) or download your consciousness into a machine to become a robot (with quantum help from Sky Guy, who figured out how in under an hour.) Meaning no one ever needs to eat or pollute or sleep again. Would you do it? Could you give up Coke and Pepsi, after so many billions spent in commercial brainwashing? What about French fries? Your party’s political views? In the movie, the Way family (in Shanghai) is the First Family, the test case family everyone is tweeting about. Because you can’t kill them, no matter how much you might want to. They are bullet and bomb proof. So…what’s it gonna be? Wanna be like them? Time is running out to decide. Humm. Do we hold onto our vices and delusions or live forever with a sky high I.Q.? Now there’s a plot.
Matrix 4: Evolutions will also hit the big screen on the same day, April 1, 2014, with all your favorites reprising their roles. Unfortunately, it’ll be a spoof with cheaper special effects. The plot revolves around people giving up on looking for work or risking more babies, and taking the red pill (instead of the little blue one), then staying in their alien cubicles to watch reality TV, particularly Duck Dynasty and Mob Wives. J.J. Abrams will direct, since his command of science is on the level of Daffy Duck.
Max Payne INTERVIEWS Max Brooks
And now an interview with World War Z writer Max Brooks, interviewed by video game gunman Max Payne.
Max Payne) So, dude, I see you were on Sons of Guns and The History Channel, talking about weapons to buy to use against zombies. And you’re not even a cartoon character like me. What gives?
Max Brooks) I love guns. Sue me.
MP) Okay, I just did on behalf of Marvel Comics and Rockstar Games.
MB) That was quick.
MP) Not really. Any twelve year old can change the clip of a Bushmaster quicker. …So, the Discovery Channel and History Channel believe in zombies, do they?
MB) Actually, I was talking about hordes. You know, crowds of young men attacking castles and caves and places like that throughout history. Hordes.
MP) Oh, I see. You mean like at soccer matches or monster truck rallies. But why are the examples shown all dead men come back to life? Where exactly has that happened lately?
MB) Congress, returned from recess? Just kidding. Okay, well…how about right now? You, for instance.
MP) I was never alive, Max.
MB) What about the other guy, Mark Wahlberg?
MP) He’s not here right now. I am. And I’m not a horde, looking to eat only very rare and never ever medium or well done meat for some nutjob reason no one has ever explained. It’s just me, here, right now, Max…with your weapon of choice.
MB) Stop aiming that thing at me!
MP) Why not? I’m not real. I’m just a character in a violent video game played by kids whose dads ignore them. So this gun can’t be real either, right? Stop sweating! You’ll be fine. Here, let me show you…
MP) Oh, I know what you’re thinking… Did he fire thirty shots or only twenty-nine. Tell the truth, in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But bein’ this is the most popular assault rifle in the world…
That’s right, the moon is destined to become a giant billboard in the sky. So look elsewhere for inspiration or romance. Who is behind this? The exclusive and shocking details are revealed in the video below…
The body of union boss Jimmy Hoffa, missing since 1975, has been found after an exhaustive search by the FBI costing taxpayers $69 million dollars. Apparently Hoffa had taken a boat ride with three mafia enforcers, and as in the Sopranos scene when Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero got taken out by Tony, Pauli and Patsy, he was shot 18 times in the chest for whispering sweet nothings to the Feds (in this case, something about “the grassy knoll.”) The three hour boat tour then strayed out of Jersey into the Bermuda Triangle, and fate took it to Greenland from there. John Stossel is set to take up the case as soon as he finishes with the boondoggle known as the Mars Mission, first proposed by Bush, and set to cost taxpayers upwards of a Trillion dollars—and all to plant an American flag on the barren world (sponsored by Directv, ESPN, and Coca-Cola.) Stossel’s take on this? “Wow, there’s so much waste everywhere I can’t freaking cover it all! I’ll get to it, okay? Give me a break!” When we asked him about Mars, he said, “As Time magazine put it, going to Mars is ridiculous since money will have to be cut from other NASA projects to do it…stuff that’s actually producing real science, like probes and space telescopes, or working on better propulsion systems. Not to mention health research, education, and filling potholes in the economy the size of Rhode Island!” We at NEN agree, but for the record have found one reason in favor of the Kardashians going to Mars: to discover how the Martians managed to reverse their population boom, and what they did with all those plastic bottles.
Coke Formula Exposed!
The formula for Coke has been hacked by the Chinese, and they have sent the ingredients to WikiLeaks. Appears that there is no trace of cocaine in the formula anymore, presumably because cocaine is so expensive. The most astonishing fact about the formula is what it DOESN’T contain. Not only is there no sugar, (since that’s too expensive, and has been replaced by the addictive high fructose corn syrup, a cheaper manmade product that can lead to diabetes,) but there is no happiness either! That’s right: happiness is not part of this product, although it’s advertised as being the main product, with slogans like “Open Happiness.” For the full formula, go here.
In other news, celebrities gathered aboard the Celebrity Century to witness a rare South Pacific meteor shower consisting of debris from the Sandusky Comet. No one survived. The ship’s black box was recovered from 5400 feet by robot submersible. Luckily, the sports, music and film stars who perished were all C and D List. Celebrity Cruises reports that everyone who is anyone are still safe, and offers condolences to “those who is not.”
Two non-gay men in the suburbs of Boston didn’t watch the Superbowl. When reached via satellite phone by ESPN’s Rio office, Bob Stockwell said, “We went for a walk.” Authorities in America have been alerted, and the men will be rounded up for examination by psychiatrists. NEN has learned that ESPN found out about the men through its worldwide surveillance network, which monitors cable subscribers (wherever you see a little red light flicker, it has taken your x-ray.) The network has supercomputers in Rio, London, and 600 feet beneath Disneyland, funding provided by Coca-Cola and the fast food chains of PepsiCo (additional funding provided by Merck, Pfizer, and United Healthcare.) When asked if they didn’t realize that walking on deserted streets during the Superbowl was also a criminal act indicative of Anti-American sentiment, and punishable by waterboarding, Leonard Meade said, “No, are you thinking of deporting us? If so, we’ll be happy to show up at any of the top twenty airports, where we’ll sign anything you wish.” ESPN is considering asking for that, depending on what the strip-searches and other examinations turn up. Unknown to them, however, the men meant the top twenty airports in the world, not just in the U.S.. Of the World’s 20 Best Airports, not one is in the United States. Number one is South Korea, a country with a booming economy because the U.S. pays their defense bill. Number two is Shanghai, then Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Beijing. Etc. Meanwhile, the U.S. needs to spend trillions to repair degrading infrastructure, but only seem to find money from taxpayers to build new stadiums. In related news, astronomer Frank Abagnale has released this statement, “Keep things in perspective, people. One mountain-sized rock among zillions casually straying into our path unnoticed, and it’s lights out for the human race. This puts the ‘glory’ of the greatest athlete or politician or movie star or prima donna on the same level as the lowest clerk sorting Washington’s swizzle sticks in China. And if your trust is in God, I hate to say it but He doesn’t watch Sports Central, either. You need to step back about 1500 light years to a star called Deneb, at the apex of Cygnus. Sports transmissions won’t start reaching it for another 1400 years, and yet it is within our own galaxy, which, by the way, is one of billions. Deneb doesn’t stand out too much because there are stars which look brighter only because they are closer. But the closer you got to Deneb the more impressed you would be. Come within a hundred million miles of Deneb and your spaceship would not survive, much less your ball team, even with the heaviest shielding NASA and Sports Illustrated could devise. How bright is it? Okay, sports fans. You love comparing things, and keeping scores about ‘star performers.’ Let’s give our Sun a score of 1 and Deneb a score of 200,000. That’s right. It is 200,000 times as bright as our Sun, a blue white supergiant that puts out 100,000 times the Sun’s energy. It has 20 times the mass, and 200 times the radius. And it is by no means the brightest star in the galaxy. If you want to stray to a nearby dwarf galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, you would find R136a1. The score? Against our Sun’s ’1′ R136a1 has clocked a score of…wait for it… ’8,700,000.’ And you were worried about some comment made about Beyonce’s lip-syncing?” | <urn:uuid:8486138d-9810-407f-b712-ab9366159d90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://notentertainmentnews.wordpress.com/tag/science/ | 2013-05-24T01:44:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948663 | 2,707 |
Geotags, aerial synths, street synths… capturing events as they happen. If you can mark it on a map, then this is the place to talk about it.
There are some really cool places in the world that I'd love to see synths of, but for lack of time and money haven't been able to make it to (yet). Here's my list. What about other people, what would you like to see?
• Shiptons Arch, China
• Angel Falls, Venezuela
• Nazca lines, Peru
• Bungle Bungles, Australia
• some bones in dinosaur national monument, Colorado/Utah
• Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia
• K2/Baltoro Glacier, Pakistan http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=35.759607~76.548615&style=h&lvl=11&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&cam=-54.055532~-37.330167&scene=-1&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
• Deer Cave, Malaysia
The Ice Hotel!
[Insert large cavern system here] preferably shot both as a walk-through (and back!) but also as panoramics in areas of interest so we get lots of donuts.
Another one high on my list would be an aerial synth of the Grand Canyon, preferably done about 200' below the altitude of the rim so you're down in it the whole way. Ideally, photograph it using a hemispherical array of cameras all synchronized to a single shutter control so you get instant donuts every time an exposure is taken.
But you know what would be tops on my list? For the Mars rover teams to submit their pictures as massive synths. MWAHAHAHAHAHAA! I'd love to boldly go where no man has gone before. Ok, so little wheeled robots have, but...
I realize I'm posting things that aren't likely to be picked up by someone local to the place who says, "Sure! That's easy enough!" but these really are the places I'd love to see synthed.
How about New Zealand. Not exciting? I'm talking about someone Synth'ing their Bungie trip from the walk up, to the jump off, the way down, and the bounce back up.
That camera had better be strapped onto their helmet...
Fracture - this thread was meant to be list of all the places in the world we'd like to see a synth of where we currently don't have one. We actually have OK coverage of NZ, but havent seen any taken while bungie jumping. That would be fairly cool, skydiving as well.
Can you guys think of any more places/situtation we need synths of?
Son Doong Cave In Vietnam
While I was replying to a thread about collaborative synths, this came to mind:
I know Photosynth won't synth water, but a closer statement would be that it won't synth the water's surface. Underwater there are loads of fixed points to tie images together. Soooo...
I'd love to see a synth of a coral reef. That would be a BLAST.
Even better, I'd love to figure out a way to tie the below-water images to the above-water shots and have someone on the reef and someone else on shore doing a collaborative synth. You'd be able to "stand on the beach" at the beginning of the synth, and "dive underwater" to see the reef.
(Oh PLEEEEZE tell me someone is interested in doing this! I don't have an underwater housing on my camera!!)
I think Tom's onto something here. I think the transition from above water to below water would be the absolute hardest part, but I too would LOVE to see this.
A good polarizer and a really careful choice of angles might work. I've had underwater features show up in a couple of synths I've done this way. It might be enough to tie the two, though the other direction would be a LOT harder.
(Anyone on the Big Island with an underwater housing for their camera? I'll do the dry-land photography!)
Cave systems in halong bay/Cat Ba island Vietnam would fit your suggestion TBenedict, and I'd love to see them
http://images.google.com/images?q=halong bay cave system&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7HPEA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi
Also synths of reefs.. excellent idea. There are a huge team of underwater photographers in Egypt and some awesome dive sites I'm sure the Devs here could fire off some emails to camel divers & they could use it for promo work ;) ;) One possiblility would be the use of a glass bottom boat to ease the transition from land to water?
I'd particularly like to see some underwater wrecks, starting underwater at the boat near a shallow reef and descending down. Some well phrased emails would definately start off a few clusters of this type of synth!
Any series of photos from space... The saturn mission has some good stuff going around Titan - their pictures are already in the public domain as well, I reckon they might be up for some synthing..
I honestly think you're right, the above/below beach/reef synth should ideally be done by underwater photographers.
I REALLY like the idea of the glass bottomed boat for the transition. That or something similar on a smaller scale.
I'm still interested in doing this, but I hope an honest to goodness underwater photographer beats me to it. It will be far better done.
Your mention of space synths (of which I think NASA has done several) gave me an idea... I'll try to get this one done later in the week (time permitting.)
Okay, I'm now obsessed with large scale underwater reef synthing... Underwater photography is tough, normally holiday divers don't have the equipment to balance the red shift (deeper water has less blue light) it's a pain to have to add/remove coloured slides for every photo.. (sorry--going off topic there)
I emailed one dive centre in Sharm el Sheik but they haven't responded so I have sent emails out to dive centres I have worked at in the past suggesting they make a synth map a part of their dive master/master scuba diver course or make a synth to use for promos, there are centres where professionals dive the same reefs month in month out, 20 photos per dive, 70 dives per month... Anyways, I'll let you know if I get any success synth fishing :D
Also, to return to the thread topic - I'd love to see a synth from the front of a train, some rapid fire photos might do the trick from trains both ways?
*deeper water has less red light... doh!
Glad to see you taking point on this, Mister_Blondie! I don't even qualify as a holiday diver, and my equipment is nil. I really like the direction you're taking with that, especially the idea of using photos from centers where professionals are in there all the time. I'd really like to see how that turns out!
I don't know about the front of a train, but a while back Darius posted a link to a "drive through" synth where someone was taking pictures from inside a car, coming and going. The technique works quite well. At the speeds most trains go, though, you might need a pretty high frame rate to pull that off. Glad you thought of doing it both ways. For the viewer to be able to turn around and go back, that's essential.
No dice on the space synth I hoped to do this week. I'll have another chance next week, so I'll give it another go then.
A sculpture park. A whole big sculpture park...
Here's an fantastic attempt at a sculpture park: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=97153326-97b4-4df7-ba8d-aaf9851fa34d
This is pushing the upper limit of the synther as it is, so a park larger than this would be very difficult. The overhead view in this one is great.
awesome, thanks :)
I'd like to see some Mt Everest base camp synths.
This takes a step out of the realm of the real world, but I'd absolutely love to see Michael Chesko's miniature model cities thoroughly synthed.
He's worked on models of New York City, but also has a fictional city of his own design, entitled 'Britannica'. I happened to bump into his work on Robyn Miller's blog some time ago and have been hooked on the idea of synthing his models ever since.
You can find one of Robyn's Britannica posts here: http://tinselman.typepad.com/tinselman/2008/08/stop-and-smell.html
Unfreakin'real. I second that, Nathanael. I'd be willing to be there are no small number of photographers who would be ready to jump at the chance. (I WOULD!)
I would love to synth Jack Lewis's house, "The Kilns".
Short of being able to tackle it myself, though, I'd truly enjoy someone else doing a good job of it. | <urn:uuid:aa71c29b-fc84-4974-ab2d-24a501adf539> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://photosynth.net/discussion.aspx?cat=a03647b9-821e-439b-8dbc-ae0239d6870d&dis=af7481c3-563f-44ee-8c43-034792821894 | 2013-05-24T01:37:21Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932575 | 2,037 |
Don D. Lyon
ANDOVER — Don D. Lyon, 70, of Andover died Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010. He was born Nov. 30, 1939, in Parsons to Lloyd and Eloise (Woodruff) Lyon. He served in the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Lyon retired after 35 years with Shelter Insurance. He married Ruby Cosby on Jan. 17, 1959, in Miami, Okla. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a cruise. She survives. Mr. Lyon was a devoted husband and father. He was an avid sports fan, especia...
Roland W. Brown
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Roland W. Brown, 84, of Kansas City, Mo., died at St. Luke’s Hospital on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010. He was born to Phillip T. and Lena (Bolter) Brown and raised in Brimfield, Mass. He graduated from Hitchcock Free Academy in 1944. A World War II veteran, he volunteered and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He earned his degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Kansas in 1950. He began his career at Charles D...
OSWEGO — Dorothy Garland, 80, of Oswego died at her home on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010, after a long struggle with cancer. She was born June 30, 1930, in McCune to Everett and Bessie Nutt. She is survived by her husband, Larry Garland; six children, Jeri Sanders of Chetopa, Alan Atwood of Johnston, R.I., Robin Atwood and Rodney Atwood of Omaha, Neb., John Atwood and Lori Atwood of Oswego; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two ...
Arden Walker ‘Jim’ Day
AUSTIN, Texas — Arden Walker “Jim” Day, 93, a former Parsons resident, died Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010, in Austin, Texas, where he had lived the past two years. He was born July 15, 1917, in Springfield, Mo., to William Walker and Gertrude Estella (Nash) Day. The family moved to Parsons in 1926, when he was 9 years old. He graduated from Parsons High School in 1935. He began his career with the Katy Railroad in Parsons in 1936, working in the...
Helen V. Mohney
Helen V. Mohney, 93, a resident of the Good Samaritan Society of Parsons, died there at 6:23 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010.
She was born Jan. 19, 1917, at Elizabeth, Pa., to Lawrence H. and Margaret (Daugherty) Sadler. She grew up in Parkersburg, W.Va., and graduated from high school there.
She continued living in Parkersburg until moving to Wichita in 1957, where she was employed by the Boeing Aircraft Co. In 1976 she moved to Parsons.
Steven Dale Fontes
CHERRYVALE — Steven Dale Fontes, 52, of Cherryvale died Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010, at Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita. He was born Dec. 25, 1957, in Providence, R.I., to Joseph A. and Anita M. (Doquette) Fontes. He attended schools in West Warwick, R.I. Mr. Fontes did landscape work. Survivors include five sisters, Doreen M. Hopkins of Cherryvale, Janet D. Benson of Independence, Jeanette G. Teauge of Chautauqua, Diane C. Barne...
Schuyler J. ‘Bud’ Blair
ERIE — Schuyler J. “Bud” Blair, 91, of rural Erie died Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, at the home of his daughter, Marcia Schuette, in Jackson, S.C. He was born July 24, 1919, in rural St. Paul to Ed and Elsie Blair. He grew up and attended school in St. Paul and was a 1936 graduate of St. Paul High School. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army. He was a farmer. He married Dorothy Jean Houghton on March 30, 1946, in Pittsburg. She pre...
Leonard I. Nunnink Sr.
ST. PAUL — Leonard I. Nunnink Sr., 89, of St. Paul died at 2 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010, at Prairie Mission Retirement Village in St. Paul. He was born Jan. 31, 1921, in St. Paul to Charles and Mary (Linden) Nunnink. He grew up in St. Paul and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was a retired building contractor and a member of St. Francis Catholic Church in St. Paul. Survivors include his wife, Lois Nunnink of the home in S...
Helen V. Mohney
Helen V. Mohney, 93, a resident of the Good Samaritan Society of Parsons, died there at 6:23 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010. Her son, Robert Mohney of Parsons, survives.
The service will be at 2:30 p.m. Monday at Good Samaritan Society. Burial will be in Memorial Lawn Cemetery. The family will receive friends at Carson-Wall Funeral Home from 6 to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Complete obituary details will be provided later.
Margaret L. Forshey
Margaret L. Forshey, 59, of Parsons died at 12:25 a.m. Monday, Oct. 18, 2010, at Labette Health. She had been in failing health. She was born on Dec. 17, 1950, at Lawrence to Howard and Juanita (Divine) Forshey. She grew up at Parsons and attended Parsons schools. She resided in several states until she moved back to Parsons in 1984. She worked as a convenience store clerk. She enjoyed playing bingo, fishing and visiting with family and fr...
Dorothy F. Scott Larez
CHANUTE — Dorothy F. Scott Larez, 87, former resident of Wichita, died Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010, at Heritage Health Care Center in Chanute.
She was born June 30, 1923, in Parsons the daughter of Samuel Jefferson Sr. and Mattie (Russell) Coots. She was the last survivor of seven children. She was raised in Southeast Kansas, but lived her adult life in Wichtia and San Jose, Calif.
She married Marvin Scott, who preceded her in death Aug. 18, 1995. ...
Schuyler J. ‘Bud’ Blair
ERIE — Schuyler J. “Bud” Blair, 91, of rural Erie died Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, at the home of his daughter, Marcia Schuette, in Jackson, S.C. He was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy Jean (Houghton) Blair, on July 10, 1998.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lakeview Cemetery near Erie. The Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home in Parsons is in charge of arrangements.
Complete obituary details will be announced.
Online condolences m...
Thelma Louise Marnell
WICHITA — Thelma Louise Marnell, 86, of Wichita died at 7:15 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010, at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. She was born Feb. 19, 1924, in Greenbush to John and Esther (Brophy) Marnell. She grew up and attended school in Greenbush and St. Paul and was a graduate of St. Paul High School. She was a sister at the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in Wichita. While in Parsons, she taught school at St. Patrick Catholic School. S...
Debbie L. Head
Debbie L. Head, 59, of Parsons died early Monday, Oct. 18, 2010, at her home. She had been in failing health several years. She was born Dec. 11, 1950, in Parsons to James B. and Mary Ann (Shores) Head. She lived in Erie and Wichita as a small child. In 1955 she moved to California. She graduated from high school in Oakland, Calif., and attended junior college at Stockton, Calif. She was employed in Stockton as a nurse assistant and in the...
Roger Dale O’Kane
Roger Dale O’Kane, 62, a former longtime Altamont resident, died Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010, at his home. Obituary details and funeral arrangements are pending.
Opal F. Overman
OSWEGO — Opal F. Overman, 91, of Oswego died Friday, Oct. 15, 2010, at St John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin.
The service will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the First United Methodist Church, Oswego. Burial will follow in the Oswego Cemetery.
Online condolences may be left at www.murdockfuneralhomes.com.
Arthur Dale ‘Art’ Graves
BARTLETT — Arthur Dale “Art” Graves, 92, longtime Bartlett farmer and rancher, died at 2:11 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010, at Chetopa Manor.
He was born July 3, 1918, in Neosho, Mo., to Loa and Pearl (Bendure) Graves. As an infant, he moved with his family to Bartlett where he attended Lake Creek School.
He married Lois Neely on March 9, 1941, in Independence. Following marriage, they made their family home in rural Bartlett. During the 1950...
Arthur D. ‘Art’ Graves
BARTLETT — Arthur D. “Art” Graves, 92, a longtime Bartlett resident, died at 2:11 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010, at Chetopa Manor nursing home. He is survived by his wife, Lois Graves, of the home. Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home in Chetopa will announce obituary details and funeral arrangements later. Online condolences may be left at www.forbeshoffman.com.
Alex Fred Denton
OSWEGO — Alex Fred Denton, 91, of Oswego died on Oct. 13, 2010, following a short illness. Fred served five years in the U.S. Navy from 1941 to 1946. He married Goldie L. Page on Aug. 4, 1948, in Independence. He bought and managed Denton Hardware in Oswego from 1962 to 1985. From 2002 to 2007, he served as a volunteer at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin. He enjoyed raising his cattle on the family farm. Fred was an avid support...
John R. Pranker
John R. Pranker, 54, of Parsons, died early Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010, at his home. He was born Sept. 9, 1956, in Lake Charles, La., to Edward Jr. and Jessie Mary (Parmentier) Pranker. As a young boy, he grew up and attended school in Ash Grove, Mo. He worked as a mechanic. He married Patty Midgett on Jan. 6, 1979, in Steelville, Mo. She survives. Other survivors include two sons, Michael Pranker of Joplin and William Pranker of Pittsburg; ... | <urn:uuid:53731f91-1561-4604-97f6-6f4d4bb41aac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.parsonssun.com/pages/obituaries/push?class=&x_page=47&per_page=20&rel=&k_group=1 | 2013-05-24T01:38:57Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974923 | 2,444 |
Joint Press Availability With Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis
Secretary of State
Madam Secretary, I think that we have had very good talks, so we have touched upon many issues. Let me highlight the most important one. Greece and the U.S. are natural friends and allies, and I am not only talking about mutual economic interests, which are, of course, important, but I’m talking about our joint passion for freedom and liberty. And this is something which comes – overcomes national borders. Friends prove themselves in difficult times, and as we know, Greece is doing through difficult times right now. The United States (inaudible) firm and steadfast manner, in a decisive manner. We have – we believe that we shall come out of this difficulty victorious. Many on both sides of the Atlantic have bet on the collapse of Greece, and they have been proven wrong. We will continue to prove them wrong, and this – and to this, our collaboration will be very important.
We have also discussed the opportunities which appear in this country for investment, for tourism, which we expect and we hope will interest – is of interest to everybody in this hall. We have also discussed issues relating to our normal job, the foreign affairs issues. We have reviewed the discussions, political discussions and the Contact Group for Libya. We will be in touch and we will be in touch in September in our efforts to revise the peace process.
We have also talked about the Balkans, which is a top priority for Greece, but this is a vision which we share with the U.S.. We want peace, stability, and security in our region. We want to do away with the nationalist feelings of the past and for all the countries in the region to build a relationship of cooperation under our joint European home. I have told the Secretary of State that instead of trying to rewrite history, this is a good opportunity for us to write history, to make history, and this is something we should all try to achieve.
Also, we have the 2014 agenda which we have also discussed. I also had the opportunity of informing the Secretary about the negotiations on the Cyprus issue. I believe that it is possible to make progress, but this, of course, mainly requires political will on the – on behalf of Ankara. We have also discussed the efforts to normalize Greek-Turkish relations, the progress achieved, the remaining difficulties. And I am especially happy in conclusion, my dear Hillary – I’m especially happy to say that later on today we will be signing an MOU to do away with the smuggling of antiquities. And with this opportunity, we will have – we will visit the Acropolis museum together with my friend, minister of culture of Greece.
Ladies and gentlemen, here beside me stands a lady who is a friend of Greece, a friend of Hellenism, a person who has forged strong bonds of trust with the Greek-American community, which is a permanent bond linking Greece to the United States. Welcome to Greece, Madam Secretary.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Stavros, and it is a great pleasure for me to be here for this meeting, and I am greatly honored that I am your first foreign minister visitor. But you are becoming quickly a veteran in just one month in office. And I am also pleased to be here during these challenging times to demonstrate unequivocally the strong support that the United States has for Greece. We know that we are your friend and we are your ally and we are proud to be both. We stand by the people and Government of Greece as you put your country back on a path to economic stability and prosperity.
It is, for us, essential because we have a lot riding on our relationship together. As a NATO ally, we appreciate Greece’s partnership on a shared agenda that spans the globe. The foreign minister and I have just completed a very productive conversation, not just about Greece’s immediate challenges but about the full range of issues that form the core of our enduring alliance. We discussed our ongoing efforts in the NATO coalition operations to protect civilians and help the Libyan people claim a better future. Our diplomatic and military efforts are gaining momentum, and we are grateful for Greece’s engagement and support, especially your willingness to host coalition military assets at Souda Bay and other sites close to Libya.
We also are concerned about what’s going on in Syria, and we have condemned the violence. And I appreciate Greece’s support in speaking strongly against the attack on our Embassy and the French Embassy in Damascus. We will work together as part of the international community to support a vision for a Syria with representative government, respect for civil liberties, equal protection for all citizens under the law.
We will also continue to work with Greece to support democratic transitions across the Middle East and North Africa. We commend the Greek Government for seeking a constructive approach in consultation with the United Nations to addressing the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza and working to avoid the risks that come with attempts to sail directly to Gaza.
At a moment when domestic issues are rightly taking center stage here in Greece, we remain grateful for Greece’s continued engagement in meeting the shared challenges we confront. I appreciate the work that Prime Minister Papandreou and the government are doing to resolve many longstanding issues and integrate the Western Balkans into European and transatlantic institutions.
Now, of course, Greece and the United States are bound together by far more than our shared challenges. We are bound together by our shared values. In fact, we are grateful for Greece’s contribution to those values and their enduring legacy. Millions of Americans claim Greek ancestry, and last year President Obama was pleased to welcome Prime Minister Papandreou to the White House to celebrate Greece’s entry into our Visa Waiver Program. That makes it easier for Greeks to visit family and friends in the United States. And later today, as the minister said, we will be signing a cultural preservation agreement to make it more difficult for looters and smugglers to make that same trip carrying Greece’s historic treasures. That will protect tourism and ensure that the remarkable cultural heritage of this country remains in the hands of the Greek people.
And finally let me say just a few words about the economic situation in Greece. Americans know these are difficult days, and again, we stand with you as friends and allies. The United States strongly supports the Papandreou’s government’s determination to make the necessary reforms, to put Greece back on sound financial footing, and to make Greece more competitive economically. Committing to bring down the deficit and passing the medium-term fiscal strategy were vital first steps. We know these were not easy decisions. They were acts of leadership. And those acts of leadership will help to build a better economic future.
Now the challenge will be to keep moving forward with the same determination and commitment to make good on the fiscal targets and continue to deliver reform that drives future growth. Now, in many cases, these changes will require immediate and sustained implementation. And while the payoff for these sacrifices may not come quickly, it will come. We know that. We can look around the world and point to successful examples. And we also know that the price of inaction would have been far higher now and far into the future. The steps ahead will not, they cannot, be pain-free, but there is a path forward to resolve Greece’s economic stability and to restore Greece’s economic strength. I have faith in the resilience of the Greek people and I applaud the Greek Government on its willingness to take these difficult steps. Greece has inspired the world before, and I have every confidence that you are doing so again. And as you do what you must to bring your economy back to health, you will have the full support of the United States.
And so again, Minister, thank you for this opportunity to visit with you and thank you also for this chance to express from my heart our strong support for what Greece and particularly the Greek people are facing, but also to reiterate our confidence that this will be the path forward that will pay off, not only now but for generations to come.
QUESTION: Good morning, Madam Secretary. You have said that rising deficits are a national security issue for the United States, so it’s presumably also the case for Greece and parts of the EU. Are you concerned that the Europe crisis, the debt crisis, might undercut NATO’s ability to finance its missions? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Christophe, I am not. I think the NATO alliance is undergoing some very important analysis about how we will continue to be the strongest military and operational alliance in the history of the world. The NATO allies know how important this alliance is to our own security and to those problems that are over the horizon but which affect the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic community. So yes, will there be some changes that we will foresee in the future? Of course. What has made NATO such a strong, vibrant, enduring alliance is that we have had to evolve and reform our own internal processes from time to time. But the United States not only has great confidence in NATO, we are committed to the fulfillment of the strategic vision that was adopted unanimously at the Lisbon summit and which we think provides the foundation for what needs to be done in the future.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) I have a question to both of you. You referred to the economic crisis. Both the U.S. and Europe are suffering because of an economic crisis. This – last year we were talking about Greek crisis. This year we’re talking about European crisis. You did mention some things, nevertheless society is feeling gloomy, and I would like to ask you politicians can you offer an optimistic message to society, tell people that what they are sacrificing will pay off?
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMBRINIDIS: (Via interpreter) There is no question that today’s Greece has nothing to do whatsoever with Greece of two years ago. There is no question that despite the doomsayers, we are proceeding and that we shall come out of this victorious. Of course, we have no magic solutions, but there is no question the sacrifices that the Greek people have made have not only done away with the very real past risk of default but will create a sound basis for recovery.
And of course, we need the Greek measures, but we also need European solidarity. The European solidarity, which we believe and hope will express itself in a key manner in the near future, is very important because in a united Europe, hope or the light at the end of the tunnel is not about each individual country, but it is about our immense economic power when we all stand together more than 500 million people in 27 countries. This message was a bit lost on – was almost lost in some member-states recently, but the fact that Greece has regained in credibility with the sacrifices and the important measures that we are taking has brought us back to the forefront of – to the center of discussion and has brought us, I believe, at the forefront of a Europe of growth which will offer jobs to our citizens, to their citizens.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, of course, I agree with what the minister said, and let me just put it into context from what we see looking from the United States toward Greece. We believe that the recent legislation that was passed will make Greece more competitive, will make Greece more business-friendly. We think that is essential for the kind of growth and recovery that is expected in the 21st century when businesses can go anywhere in the world and capital can follow. We think that will provide a firm financial footing on which Greece will be able increasingly to attract businesses and create the jobs that Stavros said are absolutely important for the Greek people. Because businesses seek consistent, predictable regulatory and taxation regimes. Investors seek a level playing field. They expect transparency, streamlined procedures, protection of commercial and intellectual property rights, effective contract enforcement, all of which was part of your reform package.
Therefore, I am not here to in any way downplay the immediate challenges, because they are real, but I am here to say that we believe strongly that this will give Greece a very strong economy going forward. There are lots of analogies – having to take the strong medicine that tastes terrible when it goes down and you wish you didn’t have to, or the chemotherapy to get rid of the cancer. There are all kinds of analogies. But the bottom line is this is the best approach and we strongly support it.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMBRINIDIS: Thank you very much. Hillary, thank you so much. | <urn:uuid:880dd21f-cdd2-4bb0-802e-66a6aff84e4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.state.gov/md168669.htm | 2013-05-19T02:07:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963944 | 2,611 |
Written by Mary Kay Barton
An insidious plan to install the “New World” state-supported religion – Environmentalism
“Agenda 21” was first introduced to the world at the 1992 UN-sponsored “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro. It addresses virtually every facet of human life and describes in great detail how the concept of “sustainable development” should be implemented at every level of government. (click map to enlarge)
“Agenda 21 proposes an array of actions which are intended to be implemented by every person on earth…. It calls for specific changes in the activities of all people.… Effective execution of Agenda 21 will require a profound reorientation of all humans, unlike anything the world has ever experienced.” [emphasis added] Agenda 21: The Earth Summit Strategy to Save Our Planet, United Nations (1993)
“The Sustainable Development Challenge Grant program is also a step in implementing Agenda 21, the Global Plan of Action on Sustainable Development, signed by the United States at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. All of these programs require broad community participation to identify and address environmental issues.” Environmental Protection Agency, 63 Fed. Reg. 45157 (August 24, 1998).
On January 26, 2012, I attended the final meeting in Batavia, NY for the Finger Lakes “Regional Sustainability Plan,” part of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s $10 million statewide program to have regional Planning Departments orchestrate “sustainability” plans described in NYSERDA’s “Cleaner, Greener Communities” Program. Following is my take on what is going on across New York State in regard to these extensive plans in the making.
As those who have studied the United Nations’ “Agenda 21” plan know, “Sustainability” is a key buzzword that is part-and-parcel of the UN’s Agenda 21 agenda. It’s also meaningless and malleable – allowing activists and planners to bend and shape it to serve their agendas.
the Hollywood crowd loves sustainable development, Agenda 21 and Al Gore.There is no doubt that the “Sustainability” Plan currently being devised by Planning Departments across the state, all of which are acting “under NYSERDA’s thumb” (as one planner phrased it at their first meeting in Batavia), is Agenda 21, under development and in practice (think carbon taxes, “green” energy transfer-of-wealth schemes, and one-world governance). No wonder
At the “open-house style” meeting in Batavia, folks were asked to read the poster boards relevant to each part of the overall plan: Land Use, Water Use, Agriculture, Forestry, Waste Management, Economic Development, and Energy – and then use sticky notes to post their comments on the boards for each particular segment of the plan.
Free-market economists sharply differentiate between central government planning and decentralized market planning (See F.A. Hayak's, Road to Serfdom, pages 34 - 35). Thus, while many see little wrong with developing an overall plan, remember that their coercion crowds out your own planning. And while different aspects of the extensive plans look good at first glance, the devil is in the details.
The fact that NYSERDA is the bureaucracy overseeing this process is the tell-tale warning sign, as the development of renewable energy across the state and ways to regulate hydrocarbon use and carbon dioxide emissions is the overarching goal in each area of the plan.
This should leave everyone very wary about the remaining $90 million – which came from the Northeast’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) ratepayer dollars, and which will be offered as “grants” (the proverbial “carrots” used to lead the sheep) to guide our communities into “compliance” with the overall underlying agenda – that of Agenda 21(video series, part 1 on left).
Who knows where the money will come from for Governor Cuomo’s proposed billion-dollar “Green Bank” and $1.5 Billion dollar Solar fund? Remember when Obama President Obama said there were other ways of “skinning the cat” besides cap-and-trade?
One of the biggest warning flags I noted at the meeting (besides the “green” energy push and carbon regulation goals) was on the chart regarding “Land Use.” I noted one line that said, “Home Rule” interferes with inter-municipal cooperation.…” The obvious subliminal message here is that “Home Rule” is a bad thing.
Our municipalities’ long-held, Constitutional right to “Home Rule” is being progressively undermined through this whole process of State-led planning. We are unwittingly, slowly and methodically giving over total control to unelected bureaucrats, planners and activists, who are devising these “green” “sustainability” plans – which are part and parcel of Agenda 21 (which many officials and bureaucrats insist they still know nothing about).
The sad reality is that most of these planners are not at all educated about energy and power. As I was getting ready to leave the meeting, one of the FL Planners asked me what I had thought of the display.
I told him straight out that the obvious push for “unreliables” (aka “renewable”) like wind is a complete waste of our tax- and rate-payer dollars. I told him that while I am certainly all for scientifically-vetted, economically-sound energy-innovation, industrial wind was the biggest scam to ever come down the pike.
Sadly, he responded with the decades-old propaganda line, “Well, we have to do something. Oil is responsible for so much of our pollution.”
I responded, “I’m not talking about oil – which is used for transportation. I’m talking about unreliable wind power – which is used for electricity!”
He tried to argue that eventually we would end up going to all electric vehicles. I just laughed, and said, “Sir, I’m afraid you’ve drank the Kool-Aid! I couldn’t even make it home and back in an electric car.” And imagine trying to recharge car batteries using expensive, intermittent, bird-killing wind turbines!
Thankfully, a local guy who does get it stepped in and said, even if electric vehicles became more prevalent, they could never be used to do the kind of heavy work required on our farms.
As our conversation proceeded, we had the attention of the entire small crowd that was in the room – which played out great, as the facts totally destroyed this planner’s entire argument.
Not one of the five planners who were there knew what “Capacity Value“ was, nor that wind provided virtually NONE. I told him that wind is not the future, and in all actuality, there is a direct correlation between RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE power, and increased health and longevity in this country, which he could verify by doing a little research.
I ended up leaving a copy of John Etherington’s The Wind Farm Scam: An Ecologist’s Evaluation and Robert Bryce’s Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future with one of the head planners there.
Hopefully, they will actually read them and reverse course, so that New York State can cut its budget, preserve the environment, and safeguard our neighbors’ quality of life and property values – all at the same time. As it is now, the energy-illiterate planners guiding the development of (UN-initiated) “Sustainability Plans” in New York State (Governor Andrew Cuomo and his cohorts at NYSERDA) are not basing their decisions on sound science, but on politics surrounding the UN’s “New World,” state-supported religion of “Environmentalism.”
As Paul Driessen stated so well: "Climate alarmism and pseudo-science have justified all manner of regulations, carbon trading, carbon taxes, renewable energy programs and other initiatives that increase the cost of everything we make, grow, ship, eat, heat, cool, wear and do – and thus impair job creation, economic growth, living standards, health, welfare and ecological values."
Whether the “Sustainability Plans” are in New York State or Timbuktu, there is nothing at all that is “sustainable” about any of this.
Mary Kay Barton is a retired health educator and New York State small business owner, and a tireless advocate for scientifically sound, affordable and reliable electricity for all Americans. She has served over the past decade in local water quality organizations and enjoys gardening and birding in her National Wildlife Federation “Backyard Wildlife Habitat.” | <urn:uuid:b34abff3-91bb-4af6-9073-fd2a89982cd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rightsidenews.com/2013030732132/life-and-science/energy-and-environment/new-yorks-sustainability-plan-aka-agenda-21/print.html | 2013-05-19T02:24:37Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949649 | 1,903 |
"Silver Linings Playbook" is a frequently hilarious, often poignant romantic comedy about two deeply damaged people. At the center of it is Bradley Cooper, who strikes notes of despair not previously explored in his more mainstream films like "The Hangover" and "Wedding Crashers."
While his co-stars Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence and Jacki Weaver are all past Oscar nominees (or, in De Niro’s case, Oscar winners) whose work has been celebrated, Cooper’s biggest kudo to date was being named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. On Wednesday, he won best actor honors from the National Board of Review for "Silver Linings Playbook." It’s not belittling his work in the "Hangover" films to say that we didn’t know he had this in him.
In David O. Russell’s sharp, smart film, Cooper is a revelation as a bipolar man struggling to readjust to life after a stint in a mental institution.
This film and this role are a challenging mixture of comedy and drama. Was that intimidating?
I was very nervous starting out because nobody had ever given me the opportunity to do something like this before. I thought, “I don’t know if I can do it, and I certainly know that if it’s David O. Russell directing, I can’t fake it.”
Was there a lot of rehearsal?
No. It was very much, Show up having done your work. Without the rehearsal process, the exploration occurs on film. There is no, “Let’s nail the scene.” With David it’s all about, “Let’s explore the scene.” There are these emotional buoys to get to, but there are many ways to get there.
This is your second movie with Robert De Niro. Why do you like working with him?
It’s the safest place you want to be on the field. It’s like saying you’re going to do this two-on-two basketball game, and Michael Jordan’s your partner.
Was De Niro helpful during filming?
I was trepidatious about many aspects of this film, and Robert De Niro was a big part of the reason that I thought that I could possibly do it. He allayed any fears I had by saying, “Don’t worry. You’re from Philly, you know this.” He said, “Your mother should play your mother. We should screen test her. Let me talk to David.” I said, “Bob, hold on, I don’t think my mother needs to play my mother.”
David said he saw a lot of anger in you. Did you know that was there?
He’s talking about the character I played in "Wedding Crashers," that he saw a lot of real anger in me, not acting anger. We talked about our past. I’m 37, and I’m a lot different than I was at 25 and, yeah, there are parts of my life that I was ruled by anger, I guess. I never thought the first thing you get from me is anger. But you know what, he’s a very sensitive guy, and he might not have been wrong.
There is such a strong sense of place in the film. This Philadelphia suburb is almost a character in the movie, no?
Very much like "The Fighter." He’s in a real sweet spot with that, David O. Russell. It’s something that interests him and inspires him, stories about specific cultural entities. The house also is almost a character in this movie, and one almost believes we’re living in that house. David had people cooking as we were shooting so you could smell the food.
Football culture dominates this movie. You grew up in Philly, were you an Eagles fan?
Huge Eagles fan.
Is it as violent a culture as it is in the film?
Philly is notorious. Philly is the town that throws batteries at the opposing team and famously threw an ice ball at Santa Claus.
Have you experienced that culture at all?
My father was old school, and he would take us to games all the time. When he grew up, the idea of stadium was a huge deal and we would wear ties. Man, oh man, that’s asking for trouble, because I had this bowl haircut and blond hair and looked like a girl with a tie on. As I got older I took him to Eagles games, and that was kind of wonderful. Right before he died -- the Sunday before he died -- I took him to the Green Bay-Philly playoff game.
The movie has a lot to do with fathers and sons. Did you draw on your own relationship with your father?
You draw on everything. In this film, Philadelphia, that house, the smell of the gravy, the creaking of the stairs just like my grandparents’ house helped. All of that makes the imaginary feel very real.
Did you research what it’s like to be bipolar?
What I’ve learned about bipolarity is that it’s like snowflakes: No two are the same. It’s about how do I find that in my life, by using my experience and what I’ve observed. That meant exploring things in my life and people I know, and that also meant looking at documentaries, footage, tons of stuff.
You don’t want to overpower the audience with the condition, because they’re not going to come on board. We found that in the first week of shooting. I tried some things that felt real, and David thought it’s just too much, we needed to dial it down a bit.
One thing you seemed to do was alter your speech to signal that something is a bit off about this guy.
This guy doesn’t have a filter when he speaks because things are processed differently. He speaks in a completely different pattern than the way I talk, and that pattern was guided by David O. Russell and the way it was written.
Is the film trying to remove the stigma associated with mental illnesses?
It’s not for us to say. I remember watching Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Thomas Anderson being interviewed after a screening for "There Will Be Blood," and they were asked, “Is this an environmental indictment?” And they said, “Uhh, it’s about this guy.” From knowing David and going through this process, he had one objective and that is to tell an authentic story about people who are very dear to his heart. The more specific you make it, the more things that can be extracted. If you try to start with a big idea, it could become pedantic.
You seem to be doing personal projects after appearing in more mainstream fare. Are you enjoying the rewards of being bankable?
I never was like, “I’m going to make three movies like "The Hangover" which will finance my friends’ movies and then work with the directors I’ve longed to work with my whole life.” It’s really simple: I just want to work with great directors.
From De Niro to co-star Jennifer Lawrence, you have frequent collaborators. Are you trying to create a sense of community through your work?
I’m always looking for a sense of community in life and work. There’s a reason why Martin Scorsese works with Robert De Niro for six movies and then Leonardo DiCaprio for six movies. Because when it works, cinema is a collaborative art form.
To that end, you are working with David again. What is your next project about?
It’s an untitled project about Abscam. In the late ’70s in New Jersey and Delaware, there was a takedown of politicians through an FBI sting operation. It’s not a good guy/bad guy thing. Just like "The Fighter" wasn’t really about fighting, it’s the same thing. It’s about this world.
What about directing. Is that in the cards?
Oh yeah, dying to. If I had a project, I’d be doing it right now. There’s one that me and my friend are writing. We’re adapting this series of books by Dan Simmons called "Hyperion," but it’s a massive story. It’s like saying, “There’s this thing called "Avatar" that I’m looking to get my hands on.”
What does it mean to you to be in the Oscar conversation?
If I’ve learned anything from the 10 years I’ve been in this business, it’s don’t ever listen to hype. I remember doing "Kitchen Confidential," this TV series. After shooting the pilot and that got picked up, someone said, “Sit back, your life’s about to change. You’re going to get an Emmy.” I said, “Really?” Three episodes aired. They canceled it after three.
What do you think about awards?
They are ridiculous, in the sense that, How can you pick the best of a subjective art form? That said, I grew up watching the Oscars. I don’t think I’ve ever missed an Oscars show. I’ve definitely succumbed to the pageantry of it all as a lover of film, while at the same time recognizing that it means nothing. If you ask somebody do you know what was the best movie the year that "Goodfellas" came out, I would be reluctant to think that people would say "Dances With Wolves." Yet that won Best Picture.
Are there any performances this year that you’ve been impressed with?
Yes, Sam Rockwell in "Seven Psychopaths." I know that he’s had a lot of success, but I still think he’s under appreciated. I loved what Tom Hardy was doing in "The Dark Knight Rises." I wish I could have seen his face more, because I think it was so clear that he was tapped in. | <urn:uuid:a03c0fe6-e0f3-4af2-838f-10ce6d5fd35e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thewrap.com/awards/column-post/silver-lining-playbooks-bradley-cooper-goes-mental-67556 | 2013-05-19T02:09:27Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979356 | 2,187 |
Texas Sate School Board
Dear Mrs. Leo,
I read about the ugly confrontation you recently had with Barney the Dinosaur. I know at first glance, it may have seemed like just another attempt by the secularists to poison our children's minds with science, but their choice of Barney hints at an even more sinister purpose.
Just take a look at him. He's as purple as a church deacon in The Castro on a Saturday night. Don't you doubt for a moment why he's colored in that hue. He's purple for a purpose. He's telling the world he's out and proud and here to recruit our children by pushing his homosexual agenda in their schools.
He's a huge threat to our efforts to put God back into the classroom. And you, as one of God's staunchest defenders on the school board, have to stop him. Now, you're not going to get anywhere challenging his science curriculum or attacking his homosexual agenda. We've been trying to defeat both for years without success. You need to take another approach; you need to bring him into Christ's fold.
I suggest you try to convert him to Mormonism. Yes, I know it's kind of cultish and all, but it does offer an advantage you can't find in any other sect--it will bleach the purple right out of his 5000 year-old hide. According to Mormon scripture, his skin will turn "white and delightsome" once he joins the Lord's team. Then, he'll be useless to the Gay and their scientist co-demons.
Heterosexually yours in a chaste and biblically appropriate kind of way,
Gen. JC Christian, patriot
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Political Cartoon is by Nate Beeler in The Washington Examiner.
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I'm sure a lot of you were wondering what happened to Ann Coulter this election season. The right has trotted her out to wage culture wars reliably ever since 1998. But she hardly was visible at all this year.
Well, if you happen to be one of those lost souls who belongs to the Conservative Book Club, then you received one of these e-mails in your Inbox this week from Coulter.
[Click here to see the full letter.]
As you can see, it's a letter that starts out by teeing off the emerging right-wing meme attempting to blame Barack Obama for the current economic meltdown, mostly by noting that Wall Street firms donated more heavily to Obama's campaign than to John McCain's:
If you've been wondering why the financial industry is in meltdown -- and taking your 401(k) or investment portfolio down with it -- now you know.
Let's face it: The former frat boys who populate Wall Street today understand economics as well as the pinko professors whose courses they snored through.
Now, it's true that Democrats were heavily preferred by Wall Street campaign donors this year, but that has far more to do with their historic preference for lining up behind the perceived likely winners of a given election season. And even a blind pig -- or a right-wing pundit -- could sense before the season even started that the Republican brand was giving off the distinct odor of fetid slop.
But if those same Wall Street pinko-educated frat boys are as ignorant of economics this year as Coulter claims, then wouldn't they have been equally so in 2000 and 2004, when they gave heavily instead to Coulter's then-preferred candidate, George W. Bush? Something doesn't exactly add up here.
That's all just throat-clearing, though, for Coulter's main pitch: She's selling you a financial newsletter written by a fellow named Mark Skousen, whose PhD in economics seems to impress Coulter mightily (if only she gave as much credence to people who actually won the Nobel Prize in economics).
Three years ago, Skousen was selling the same scam through the Heritage Foundation, promising super-hot stock tips if only you subscribed to his pricey investment newsletter. No word on how that hot tech stock actually did -- but I'd wager it performed about as well the return on assisting former Nigerian prime ministers.
Skousen, however, is not just your average "conservative economist." He actually is an adherent of the same far-right school of "libertarian" economics as Ron Paul: he advocates a return to the gold standard, the dismantling of the IRS and the Federal Reserve, and most of the other conspiratorial nonsense that accompanies these theories. Like Paul, he's a devotee of the Ludwig Van Mises Institute, which promotes much of this malarkey, and he's likewise actually a Bircherite in libertarian clothing. Indeed, Paul was one of the headliners at Skousen's "FreedomFest" earlier this year in Las Vegas.
Like most of the Bircher wing of the libertarian movement, Skousen consistently takes a far-right political position on labor issues, too. He wrote a piece denouncing "card check" union organizing just last month.
Skousen is the nephew of the late noted John Birch/Mormon figure W. Cleon Skousen; his brother, Joel Skousen, is famous for promoting Patriot-style "New World Order" conspiracy theories. All three of them promote the far-right version of "constitutionalism," which is all about the belief that secret elites manipulate the economy and the political process, wield the IRS and Federal Reserve as political weapons along with a huge federal bureaucracy, all of which violates the original unamended (or "organic") Constitution.
So this is what Ann Coulter is reduced to these days: Shilling for Patriot-style right-wing moneymaking scams.
But then, I guess it isn't surprising that Coulter is heading down this same path. During the past campaign, she actually came out in support of Ron Paul.
Well, fools and their money are soon parted. And anyone foolish enough to take their investment advice from Ann Coulter will get everything they deserve.
But I'm wondering when we'll see Coulter turn up in late-night infomercials for gold Liberty Dollars with her own image stamped on them. Because that's the road -- the one leading to ignominious obscurity and irrelevance -- she's headed down.
And I can't think of a more deserved fate.
With the resolution of Missouri for McCain and NE-2 for Obama, the final EV count is 365-173. Which makes the winner of our Presidential Forecast Contest reader Roger Lewis, who had the only entry which correctly guessed the exact number of Electoral Votes. (Full list of entries here). Interestingly, no one got all the states (even ignoring NE-2) correct. It was the MO/IN combination that was difficult - only two entries correctly gave MO to McCain and IN to Obama. Roger had the two states wrong, but still nailed the total EV count since both states had 11 EVs.
Johnny, tell Roger what he's won:
Roger, you've won an assortment of credentials to Democratic Conventions, both from this year and from years past. You've also won an official Obama-Biden yard sign, and other Obama "stuff".
Thanks to everybody for taking part.
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Go Gators! Just to kick off our nightly college football discussion. Just kidding.
This is an Open Thread.
Chris Cillizza has the scoop: Barack Obama has cut a new 60-second radio ad in support of former state Rep. Jim Martin's Senate campaign in Georgia. In the ad, which was obtained by The Fix moments ago, Obama thanks everyone who voted for him on[...]
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During a White House meeting last week, a group of governors asked President Bush and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about their backup plan for Iraq. What would the administration do if its new strategy didn't work?
The conclusion they took away, the governors later said, was that there is no Plan B. "I'm a Marine," Pace told them, "and Marines don't talk about failure. They talk about victory."
Pace had a simple way of summarizing the administration's position..."Plan B was to make Plan A work."
And now, as the White House scrambles to get a Status of Forces agreement signed:
Q: I just have a quick one on Iraq. The Hill is being briefed on the final agreement. What happens if the Iraqi parliament does not approve it on Monday -- or Sunday or Monday? Do you have to then go to the U.N., or what happens there?
MS. PERINO: Well, our focus is on Plan A, and trying to get Plan A to work, which is to get this agreement done...
Q: So you don't think there's any Plan B that's going to take place?
MS. PERINO: We think we're on a good trajectory right now.
Once again, with lives on the line, the White House is flying by the seat of their pants.
Rupert Murdoch’announced today that Fox News’s top executive, Roger Ailes, has signed a five year contract extension with News Corp. “Roger has done a remarkable job building FOX News into a force in journalism and built a great asset for News Corporation,” said Murdoch in a statement. Ailes said that he looks “forward to carrying out Mr. Murdoch’s legendary vision in the future.”
I bought a copy of the homeless written and sold Street Sense magazine today, after seeing this[...]
Read The Full Article: | <urn:uuid:5d32b67c-910a-4ca5-b95a-7f00616dbb71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://leftword.blogdig.net/archives/date/20/November/2008/6 | 2013-05-22T00:43:01Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969379 | 1,991 |
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|Calling all fair-skinned beauties!|
|26-07-2004, 04:10 PM||#1|
In the make up polls and the Faces threads I have noticed that there are a number of girls who also seem to linger down the Ivory end of the foundation spectrum. While I have my base routine perfected (or close enough to) I have a fear of using colour on my face that is any more daring than a rosy lipgloss or a smoky grey eyeshadow - I just have no idea what would suit my colouring
So I'd like anyone else with pale skin to fess up what is your cosmetic collection and how you wear it (like if you find certain products go together nicely). It'd be nice if you could include your hair/eye colour to so I can compare it to me - I'm a golden blonde with blue eyes and annoyingly white skin with pink cheeks ops:
|26-07-2004, 04:14 PM||#2|
I'm a dark brunette with very dark brown eyes and similarly annoying pale skin.
I wear whatever takes my fancy
I think cool tones suit me more... so I often play with green and blue eyeshadows, as well as more neutral shades.
My preferance is always for pink cheeks and pink lips though, with occasional dalliances with plummy reds for my lips
Fav green shadows are:
Stila Irma La Douce (warm golden olive)
Stila Jade (true green)
Laura Mercier Mermaid (very light soft green)
A variety of Shu greens for more vivid looks
Bloom Lagoon (wild peacock green)
Stila Blue Confections Palette
Dior Denim Palette
All mentioned in the thread about which lipglosses brunettes wear
Don't be afraid to try colours because you're pale... I think a lot of colours actually help to brighten up a pale face
|26-07-2004, 04:17 PM||#5|
I am very very pale Im the lightest foundation colour in all brands ive tried, and even they seem to dark on me!
I have blue eyes and dark brown hair. I have a few freckles, but they have faded alot. Unlike you tho, i have very white cheeks!
I think your lucky to have a natural rosy sheeks-as i wear heaps of blush to avoid the pasty look hehe. I like pink and rose colours on my lips aswell
I avoid bright coloured eyeshadows ans i think they are to bright against the fair skin(even though it looks stunning on some people)Im not talented ebough to use them
I also prefer the smokey eyes look, as it seems to soften the dark eyeliner rather then leaving a harsh line
Im sorry im not much help - I would also be very interested in everyones ideas for fair skin
|26-07-2004, 04:50 PM||#6|
I'm very boring with make-up I'm afraid. Most days (well every day actually!) I just wear brown/beigy colours on my eyes, if I'm making an effort for a night out or whatever I'll wear purpley shades, but very muted ones. Always pink lipsticks and rarely wear blush - in fact I don't think I even own one any more, like you I can have quite rosy cheeks and always feel like a clown if I wear blush!
My skin is pale with fading freckles, hazel eyes and dark brown hair.
Sorry, that's probably not much help!
|26-07-2004, 04:51 PM||#7|
Miss-k from your description I think I have very similar colouring to you.
I also don't use a lot of different colours in my makeup though I have found that warm brown, aqua/greeny blues, soft pinks and soft grey work quite well on the eyes. I'm also a fan of smokey eyes, I think its very reliable and tends to suit any outfit.
|26-07-2004, 04:58 PM||#8|
This is great so keep the ideas coming! Also feel free to name names if you have a fave star product..
|26-07-2004, 05:07 PM||#9|
We sound to have very similar colouring, miss-k! I too have golden blonde hair, blue eyes, naturally rosy cheeks and a few freckles. I'm a MAC C2 or NC20 as a guide. In most other brands I am the palest foundation they have.
Until about 2 years ago I was VERY scared of colour on my eyes so only wore taupes. Then I branched out with a lilac, got heaps of compliments when I wore it and since then I have gradually built up a collection of about every colour under the sun! Along with the lilac I personally like a pale grass-green on my eyelids as it looks fresh and brings out the blue in my eyes.
I'm cool-toned so tend towards those and they seem to suit me better. Some eye shadows that suit me that I reach for regularly are:
* Stila kitten - a champagne sort of shimmer
* Stila heather - a shimmery pale pink
* MAC vex - a pearly grey/green with pink reflect
* MAC paint in canton candy - a fairy floss pink
* MAC fiction - a forest green frost
* MAC shroom - pearlescent beige
* MAC aquadisiac - shimmery aqua
* Bloom moss - a velvety green
* Bloom lagoon - a blue/green
* Bloom olive - a velvet khaki/olive
* Isa Dora quad of silvers and greys (can't remember the name)
* Clinique storm cloud - a blue/grey
* Clinique south beach - a beige shimmer
* David Jones sonny & Cher duo - shimmery silver and lilac/grey
* Several Red Earth light greens and blues (hurry, as the stores leave Australia very soon - sorry, can't remember all the shade numbers)
* Rimmel saucy mint - a pale green
The lilac I first started out with was a Revlon duo but I'm at work and don't have it on me to check the name. I'm not even sure if it's still around but you'd be able to find something similar in other brands. I think Stila and MAC have similar (their ranges are quite large in terms of eye shadow and the quality is good too).
In summary for eyes I really like:
* Light greens
* Silvers/shimmery greys
* Shimmery nudes
* Pale pinks (but be careful of application so as not to look tired, sick or as if you've been crying)
As for lipsticks and glosses, I love mostly pinky shades because my lips aren't very pigmented naturally. Some of the ones I use the most often include:
* Bloom wand lipgloss in cutie pie
* Bloom wand lipgloss in tint
* MAC lipglass in lovechild
* MAC lipstick in plum dandy
* Chanel lipgloss in praline
* JT in fraise
* Revlon superlustrous lipgloss in plum pearl
* L'Oreal glam shine gloss in muse
* Bobbi Brown lipgloss in ruby sugar
* Clinique almost lipstick in black honey
* Clinique almost lipstick in bronze lilac
* Clinique lipstick in blushing nude
* Clinique lipstick in nude splash
* Dior addict ultra gloss lipstick in ultra mauve #680
* Maybelline wear n go lipstick in go spice
* Chanel lipstick in calypso
* Laura Mercier sheer lipstick in healthy lips
If you have naturally rosy cheeks then I'd suggest a sheer blush. My current fave for this is Chanel irrellee blush in be-bop. It's a really light blue-based pink shot with silver shimmer and is very subtle but it can be layered. I also like Clinique's mocha pink. It's less sheer but an almost universally flattering shade.
If you want to bronze up a bit in the summer, I'd suggest MAC bronzing powder in golden. I only bought it yesterday but so far so good. Most bronzers I've tried either go too orange or look like dirt on my face but this gives a healthy glow with only a hint of shimmer.
I would advise you go to a counter that you feel comfortable with and get the sales assistants to try things on you and see what you like. Buy a few things and enjoy experimenting. Then, if you are on a tight budget you can look for similar shades in Priceline but I would suggest getting a few staples that you can always rely on.
Hope this helps and hope you have fun discovering all the goodies that await you!
A smile increases your face value!
|26-07-2004, 05:14 PM||#10|
|Post a Reply »|
|Thread||Thread Starter||Forum||Replies||Last Post|
|Sun advice for really, really, really fair skin!||Alex21||Beauty: Skincare and Fragrance||6||26-10-2004 04:09 PM|
|Fair Skinned Models||GLamTaSTiC||Show coverage Models and Designers||9||14-10-2004 01:55 PM|
|Fair Skin||GLamTaSTiC||Beauty: Skincare and Fragrance||5||14-10-2004 02:18 AM| | <urn:uuid:90dd575f-7432-4fd8-b79b-347dc310ec2a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.vogue.com.au/showthread.php?t=15770 | 2013-05-24T08:28:47Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908368 | 2,116 |
On Oct. 3, Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds unveiled their blueprint for giving all Iowa children a world-class education. This fall, they will hold town hall meetings to seek Iowans’ feedback on how to improve the blueprint. They will issue final recommendations, with a price tag, before the 2012 Legislature convenes.
Below are some questions Iowans have asked about the blueprint. To read the entire blueprint, to comment on the proposal or to see the schedule of upcoming town hall meetings, please go to: https://governor.iowa.gov.
It’s worth noting that Iowans are not questioning the need to transform education. Iowans understand that our schools have slipped in national rankings in reading and math, and that our children must be able to compete in an increasingly demanding global economy. It will take Iowans working together to make the necessary changes.
Question: How much will the blueprint cost?
Answer: No price tag is attached yet. When Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds release final recommendations before the start of the 2012 Legislature, the cost will be included. For now, they want to hear from Iowans about the right vision for our state.
Question: Master teachers would teach just 50 percent of the time and coach/evaluate/plan the other 50 percent. Why take the best teachers out of the classroom half the time?
Answer: By working outside their own classroom half-time, master teachers will improve the education of many more students. Master teachers will help other teachers improve instructional practices and pinpoint strategies for students struggling to learn. They likely will be co-teaching in other classrooms at various times.
It’s also important to realize master teachers will not be the only outstanding teachers in a school. Mentor teachers, many career teachers and some apprentice teachers also will be outstanding. Not all, however, will want to be master teachers – whose job description includes working a much longer school year, as well as setting achievement goals and collaborating on how to reach them.
Question: Is it fair that not all teachers can be master teachers?
Answer: About 5 percent of teachers would be master teachers, according to the blueprint. Approximately 15 to 20 percent would be mentor teachers, about 60 percent would be career teachers and about 20 percent would be apprentice teachers. This four-tiered system will build far greater support for teachers to do their jobs well. Teachers will work together more often to improve their practice rather than teaching largely in isolation.
All teachers can’t be master teachers, nor will that job appeal to everyone. Career teachers, however, would be able to earn additional income in numerous ways, including taking on additional academic responsibilities, teaching hard-to-fill subjects, such as math and science, or earning certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Question: How much will teacher pay be raised in the four-tier system?
Answer: No specific salary levels are listed in the blueprint, but the intention is to substantially boost the state minimum beginning teacher salary beyond the current $28,000 a year to attract more top talent. Increases for career, mentor and master teachers would be a percentage of apprentice teacher pay. Each district will set apprentice pay locally. Districts also will decide annual cost-of-living adjustments.
All newly-minted teachers will be part of the four-tier system. Current teachers will choose whether to be paid under the four-tier system that rewards performance, or stay in the existing system, based on years of experience and education credentials.
Question: How do the four tiers differ from the current schedule for paying teachers, which is based on years of experience and education credentials? Answer: Besides providing more professional support for teachers and paying higher salaries in the early years of teaching, the four-tiered system sets higher expectations for teachers based on a more sophisticated definition of performance.
It does this by strengthening the evaluation system for teachers. Currently, most teachers receive satisfactory evaluations, though they are not equally good at their jobs.
The new approach will focus more on differentiating effective from ineffective teaching. It will focus on counting student academic progress, though how much has yet to be determined. Under the new system, evaluations will be based on multiple observations throughout the year by master teachers and principals. Now, teacher evaluations are sometimes infrequent and superficial.
Evaluations and professional development will be strengthened for all teachers, whether they are part of the four-tier system or the existing salary schedule. The difference will be how they are paid.
Question: How is it reasonable to rate teachers based on student academic progress at schools where attendance is poor?
Answer: It’s critical that all parents make sure their children understand the value of education and get them to school on time every day. Some schools have a bigger challenge with attendance than others, and that will have to be factored into how school progress is measured. At the same time, research shows some teachers routinely make more academic progress with students year after year than other teachers. This can’t be ignored.
Question: Isn’t retaining third-graders who can’t read mean-spirited?
Answer: In the early grades, students learn to read. But from fourth grade on, they read to learn. It is crucial that third-graders finish that school year reading at a basic level, or better, so they can do well in math, science and other subjects.
Iowa’s proposed third-grade literacy plan is based on Florida’s highly successful program. In 2002, when Florida launched the program, its fourth-graders scored 214 in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In 2009, they scored 226, compared to the 221 that Iowa fourth-graders scored. Florida’s Hispanic fourth-graders scored 223, higher than fourth-graders in 31 states.
As Florida has done, Iowa would strengthen literacy instruction from early childhood on to avoid the need to hold children back at the end of third grade. If retention is necessary, however, children would have the opportunity to attend summer school after third grade, in an effort to start fourth grade on time. Children who still need to repeat third grade would receive a new, more intensive reading program from highly-qualified teachers. No one would be held back in third grade more than once.
It may seem mean-spirited to end social promotion if children aren’t reading, but not if you consider the repercussions of being illiterate for the rest of their lives.
It also will be critical to strengthen literacy instruction in upper elementary grades and in middle school so students continue to gain ground.
Question: Will Iowa’s school year be longer than the current 180 instructional days?
Answer: The blueprint does not establish a longer school year for all students. It does, however, ask teachers to work additional days: Five days each for apprentice and career teachers, 10 days for mentor teachers and 20 days for master teachers. Those days could be used to offer more instruction to students needing extra help to catch up, depending on local needs. Given the interest expressed so far in a longer school year for all students, we will take a look at that possibility.
Question: What about top students? Will the blueprint improve their education?
Answer: The blueprint calls for higher academic expectations for all students, including those who are the most advanced. This includes promoting competency-based learning. For example, if students can test out of geometry, they should be allowed to receive credit and move on to other math courses. That will make it possible to take college-level courses sooner while still in high school.
Question: How will the blueprint help students needing special-education services?
Answer: Getting a great teacher in every classroom and a great principal in every building will better serve all students, including children receiving special education services. Presently, Iowa has many first-rate teachers and school administrators, but we need all educators to fit that description.
Question: Why does the blueprint put so many new tests in place?
Answer: The blueprint adds only one new test, the Program for International Student Assessment. A representative sample of ninth graders would take that test every three years to see how Iowa stacks up against top school systems globally.
Otherwise, the proposed tests, for the most part, would replace tests already given.
A new kindergarten assessment would replace the kindergarten tests already used in some districts. Students in grades three through eight would still take an annual standardized test, but instead of paper and pencil, the goal is for the tests to be computer-based. Students who answer correctly then respond to progressively harder questions. These tests would reflect the Iowa Core/Common Core standards.
In addition to this annual standardized test, teachers need access to better information from tests given throughout the school year to pinpoint what students need help learning. These so-called formative tests would be aligned with the Iowa Core/Common Core standards.
All high school juniors would take a college entrance exam to measure college and career readiness and to give them one of the keys to four-year higher education. The state would pay for the exam. Sixty-one percent of Iowa students already take the ACT.
High school students would be required to pass end-of-course exams in certain subjects, such as English language arts, biology, algebra and U.S. history or government, in order to graduate. These measurements would set clear expectations for the solid foundation of knowledge and skills all students need to be successful.
High school teachers already typically require students to take exams, but the end-of-course tests would be the same in all high schools. That will assure more consistency statewide.
Students who fail end-of-course exams would receive intensive remedial help and would have multiple opportunities to retake the exams.
We’d like teachers to help set state policy on what constitutes proficiency on the end-of-course exams, which together would serve as a high school exit exam.
We will answer more frequently-asked questions as we move ahead through the fall to improve the blueprint. Thank you for your commitment to Iowa’s good schools and to ensuring our children receive the world-class education they deserve.
- Linda Fandel, special assistant for education in the Branstad-Reynolds Administration
- Jason Glass, Iowa Department of Education director | <urn:uuid:f63bcba8-f132-46dc-87df-a5a5f5c999d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2525&Itemid=4423 | 2013-06-18T22:58:47Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959652 | 2,138 |
Posted on Thursday, April 8th, 2010 by Hunter Stephenson
/Film will be recapping and discussing each episode of the third season of Breaking Bad. A spoiler warning applies after the jump for the recaps and for the comments section. Meth heads and readers’ thoughts welcome. For previous recaps, click here.
The third episode of the third season, “I.F.T.” continues the series’ slow burn this year and we have to admit, the percolating (and/or slightly tedious?) tension has us counting the days until death knocks on someone’s door. It was an ep highlighting connections and inevitable reveals. Until the final seconds, the meaning of the titular acronym rained a mystery—and when viewers figured it out, I’m pretty sure Walter White was considering a revision to his “honesty is good” policy. Or perhaps he simply reacted by storming out for a signature bender in his tighty-whities.
Other reveals dealt with the degrees of separation between the Cousins of Death and a pivotal character from the series’ past, and an unexpected flashback on Danny Trejo’s thug.
The Cousins of Death
The bald hombres still haven’t muttered a single word of dialogue. Do you think their tongues were cut out as kids—a Juarez bar mitzvah of sorts? After the Cousins steal an old plebe lady’s wheelchair-friendly van (and slay her?), they transport Tuco’s mute uncle inside of it–we’re given the uncle’s informal name: Don “Tio” Salamanca—to a business meeting with Gus at his spooky chicken coops.
In a small-confine meeting, the Cousins are identified to viewers as the vengeful cousins of Tuco and the nephews of his mean-faced, bell ringing uncle. Makes sense. We also discover in the opening minutes that they’re responsible for the death of Danny Trejo’s thug/DEA informant named Tortuga, under the employ of a Mexican cartel kingpin named Juan, who’s present at the poultry farm sit-down as well. (Note: I found the decapitation of Tortuga from a Cousin’s machete lacking in the oomph department. The force displayed in this act was reminiscent of a machete scene in the most recent season of Big Love, only this time it wasn’t supposed to be funny.
After so much foreboding emphasis on the Cousins’ badassery, would it not be grand if Walter White wiped them off the earth without breaking a sweat? I found myself in need of a big surprise after “I.F.T.”
On his home turf, Gus persuades the Mexico crew and Tio to refrain from murdering Walter. His request and vegetable platter, however polite, don’t go over well with this brooding party. “They are not…like you and I,” Juan casually warns Gus, in a one-to-one chat outside as the twins eyeball him through a window. Is this the start of a bigger turf war? And it might be me and I’m not suggesting anything tasteless: I do sense a bit of President Obama in the tidy look and dress, analytical tone, and cool demeanor of Gustavo.
In the past, Skyler has quietly displayed a righteous etiquette in her vices, and here she seems to use Walt’s refusal for divorce to fulfill sexual fantasies with her middle-aged boss and restless ex- Ted. The title doesn’t beat around the bush: ”I fucked Ted,” she tells Walt, who doesn’t shed a tear or loose his temper. At least, before the episode is over.
Nor has Skyler washed her hands of Ted’s dirty book keeping—is it secretly a guilty pleasure?—and she continues to smoke near her baby, Holly. It was eerie seeing mother and child locked in the bedroom as Skyler smoked, knowing the Cousins had sat on the bed with an ax days ago.
In confidence, we see Skyler inform her female divorce lawyer that Walter is a dealer of meth, a “cook,” and watch her shoot down the lawyer’s advice to turn him over to the cops and formally split asap. Leaving Walter Jr. with the baggage of an incarcerated father would do more harm than good she says.
Skyler is testing the waters here, and when she calls the cops to have Walter removed from their home, I wondered at that moment if the more prominent police officer made note of her hesitance to explain the reasons why, or about her decision not to press further. During her talk with the cop, Walter cheaply picks up Holly to solidify an empathetic bond with the cop’s partner. A nice touch by Cranston and the writers.
It’s all become a game to Mr. W. Headstrong yet calculated compared to the loss of control and blindness we’ve seen him display in the first two episodes, Walter finally shows Skyler his giant bag of money. She finds it on the living room floor and it reminded me of a dog that drags a dead catch indoors, seeking its owner’s approval. Walter tells his wife he didn’t steal the money. No, he earned it from doing… unspeakable things. Relief.
Walt proceeds to verbally lay out the money’s use in a Walt-less future: college tuition(s), graduations parties, health care, groceries, gas, the mortgage. Somehow he forgets to mention a funeral(s). Speaking of dogs, can Skyler use a few hundred dollars to buy and care for a family pet? As we see, even Aqua Teen Hunger Force does little to lighten the mood in the Whites’ casa. At the very least, these people need to purchase a few functional lamps.
Bummertown. The first two eps saw Jesse accepting his role as the bad guy and somehow finding a dark inner calm and peace. It was a facade. Tucked in a sleeping bag on the barren floor of his newly purchased slash former home, Jesse repeatedly calls Jane to hear her voice mail. Over and over and over. We guess Jane doesn’t have a lingering Facebook page or never made a sex tape for, or with, him before she OD’d.
Jesse’s first house guest is Saul Goodman, who lovingly brings a cactus (IMPORTANT: it’s a metaphor!) as a house warming gift, and then urges him to return to cooking like the Andrew W.K. of meth producton. Later, we see Jesse slip on a gas mask in the ol’ RV. Fresh batch, fresh start. Jesse could use a pet. How about a pug in a top hat?
The past comes back to circle and bite Hank in the form of a call about a promotion that would send him back to El Paso, where his panic attacks rocked his confidence and sanity last season. After “I.F.T.” I’m most interested to see where the next few eps take Hank. Instead of using drugs, or hell just smoking pot, to escape his problems or taking the advice of a shrink, Hank confronts his stress by going Roadhouse on two tall biker fuckers in a bar. His belly bulging, I’m not sure I buy the victory, but the musical aid of ZZ Top in a brawl should never be underestimated.
If Hank’s unprofessional, unprovoked use of force was an attempt to kibosh the promotion, the loyalty of his DEA partner, Steven, ironically keeps him up the ladder for now. Will Hank give in and taste meth before season’s end? A black cloud hangs over him. We’re interested to see if his working and personal relationship with Steven, who has thus far been underdeveloped and under-seen, is addressed.
Now that we think of it, we are dealing with a lot of troubled, bald men this season. More and more, Hank’s loneliness and Walt’s are sending these men down a chaotic, work-obsessed path.
- Mike the Cleaner seemingly places Gus‘s client standing above Saul‘s when he tells him Saul need not find out how close Walter came to death at the hands of the Cousins. Interesting.
- In the ep’s end credits there is a dedication to “a friend” named Shari Rhodes. She was the show’s casting director who passed away last year. Follow-up: I assumed a painting seen in the Whites’ kitchen in “I.F.T.” was a portrait of Rhodes in tribute, but the painting was present in season two.
Breaking Bad airs Sundays at 10 p.m. EST on AMC. For previous episode recaps, click here.
If you’re interested in the production design of season three, here is a brief feature about director of photography Michael Slovis and the production designer Mark S. Freeborn. The part where they discuss Jesse’s preference for the color red confirms a trend you may have noticed during the first episodes of the season.
Hunter Stephenson can be reached at h.attila/gmail and followed on Twitter. | <urn:uuid:35d64915-5123-49d5-8a2c-890e45c98463> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.slashfilm.com/breaking-bad-recap-episode-3-ift-is-a-slow-burn-and-a-saucy-acronym/ | 2013-06-18T22:45:45Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953368 | 1,972 |
Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/09/iphone_roundup/
The iPhone: Everything you needed to know
The tears, the laughter, the previous coverage
It's just a few hours to go till Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse throw open their doors to anyone wanting to buy an iPhone.
While you're waiting, you might want to take a virtual walk down memory lane, so we've pulled together six months' worth of iPhone coverage in one easy link fest. You don't have to believe the hype, but you can't deny it's out there.
iPhone to solve UK unemployment
Not content with redefining the mobile phone and computer industries, the iPhone can now take credit for creating new jobs and saving the UK economy, apparently.
UK iPhone customers to get fairer usage
O2 has decided that iPhone users on its network won't be limited by their "fair usage" policy, and really will get "unlimited" access to the internet. But other customers signed up for "unlimited" contracts will have to wait and see if O2 decides all their usage is fair too.
How many $$$s does Apple make from an iPhone?
Lots from the phone, even more from the revenue sharing
Motorola: Apple will not open the iPhone
The senior director of entertainment products at Motorola questions whether Apple will truly "open up" the iPhone.
Operators say 'told you so' on iPhone security
Operator talking-shop the OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal Alliance) has published its white paper on handset security, saying something along the lines of Symbian Signed is a good idea, and that if Apple had listened to it the iPhone would never have been cracked.
Apple: 1.4m iPhones sold, 250,000 unlocked
More than a quarter of a million people have purchased Apple iPhones and unlocked them, the handset's manufacturer admitted last night.
Apple opens up iPhone to app developers
The iPhone and iTouch are to get a Software Developers Kit in February next year, allowing developers to create proper native applications for the platform and allowing it to properly compete with other smart phones, Steve Jobs announced on the company's website today.
Orange's Apple deal to bear unlocked iPhones
Orange will indeed offer Apple's iPhone on France, but the most interesting aspect of the two firms' partnership will be the availability, for the first time, of officially unlocked handsets.
Apple prepares iPhone WebApp catalogue
Apple is about to launch a consolidation portal hosting WebApps for its glorified slates, the iPhone and iTouch, whilst developing proper applications with Electronic Arts and others.
Hackers hit back at iPhone update
The war between Apple and the hackers is heating up, after a 'fix' for the recent iPhone update was posted online. Apple's recent update for the iPhone's firmware rendered unlocked iPhones - those that had been modified either through software or other means to work outside of AT&T's network - unusable, and the firm has so far refused to back down from its hardline stance.
Apple posts iPhone update, bricks unlocked handsets
Apple has posted the anticipated iPhone 1.1.1 update. The release, which adds support for the Wi-Fi connect iTunes Music Store, does indeed, as expected, returns unlocked handsets back to their AT&T-only status.
VoIP says hello to the iPhone
UK-based VoIP provider Truphone last night demonstrated its ability to place a VoIP call from an Apple iPhone, as well as some Facebook integration.
The iPhone arrives, but is O2 being taken for a ride?
Yesterday Apple announced that O2 would have the exclusive rights to their iPhone in the UK, with punters paying £279 for the phone and signing up to an 18-month contract.
Jobs hits London to announce O2 iPhone deal
Apple has finally confirmed that O2 has won the exclusive rights to carry the iPhone over its UK network from next month. Steve Jobs made the announcement at its flagship UK store in London this morning.
Apple restricts ringtone rights
Yes, it seems unjust that Apple can charge you twice for an iPhone ringtone. But that's the way the fair-use cookie crumbles.
iPod Touch: How the Jesus Phone was really John the Baptist
So was nine months of relentless iPhone hype and froth just a distraction? Not quite, but you could be forgiven for thinking so. I believe Apple's most important product of 2007 was actually announced this week, and its significance has been slow to sink in. It might be one of the cleverest moves Apple's ever made.
Apple lobs $100 credit at iPhone buyers
Much to our surprise, Apple mavens have revolted against Steve Jobs. And he's trying to appease them.
Apple slashes iPhone prices
No, Steve. We didn't miss that last bit.
This morning, after announcing a boatload of brand new iPod and iTunes gizmos , Steve Jobs had one final piece of news for all you Apple lovers out there: He was dropping the price of the iPhone. Little more than two months after it debuted at $599, the 8GB status symbol is now available for just $399.
US teen trades hacked iPhone for Nissan 350Z
A New Jersey teenager has cut a deal to trade a hacked iPhone for a new set of wheels and three further iPhones, Yahoo! reports.
iPhone unlock procedure posted
A utility claiming to be the world's first software tool for unlocking the Apple iPhone was launched yesterday, even as hardware hackers said they'd figured out how to get the same result by tweaking the gadget itself.
Apple puts refurbished iPhones on sale
Want a cheaper iPhone? Apple has begun offering refurbished handsets for $100 less than it charges for freshly made models.
iPhone thumb trim hoax gets online media buy-in
Claims that Thomas Martel, 28, of Bonnie Brae had his oversized thumbs "whittled" to make using his iPhone easier have turned out to be a marvellous hoax perpetrated by the North Denver News, though one that fooled many online news sources.
Jesus Phone needs an exorcist
Security researchers have discovered a security flaw in Apple's iPhone that could allow miscreants to wreak havoc on users of the highly-revered device, which has been dubbed the Jesus Phone by its more blindly faithful users.
What's al-Qaeda's take on the iPhone?
In a fortnight during which just about everyone on the planet, excluding naturally those in a coma or temporarily indisposed up some tributary of the Amazon, has offered their two bits' worth on the launch of Apple's iPhone, it comes as a bit of a surprise that al-Qaeda has dismally failed to contribute to the brouhaha.
Why the iPhone is a success
Two weeks after the iPhone virus started spreading, the verdict has to be that Steve Jobs has got it right.
Sick to death of the bloody iPhone? Click here
We have some absolutely splendid news today for those among you who are heartily sick and tired of the bloody iPhone - those very silly people down at Blendtec have done the decent thing and stuck the infernal device in the blender.
iPhone hackers disclose vulns and hunt for clues
The game is on for hackers trying to spot security vulnerabilities in Apple's iPhone and already they're scoring points. Less than 72 hours after the iPhone's introduction, researchers have reported at least one flaw that could allow an attacker some level of control over the device, while other hackers have uncovered passwords hiding in Apple software that could prove key in gaining root access, they said.
iPhone autopsies conducted
It hasn't taken long for many of the Apple iPhones acquired over the weekend to be taken home and taken to bits as hardware fans and chip analysts alike try to find out what kind of kit the "revolutionary" handset is packing.
Apple's first handheld: the Newton MessagePad
Some say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and when you consider the history of the PDA, that statement holds many truths.
iPhone contract charges unveiled
AT&T and Apple have announced what the iPhone will cost customers over the two-year contract they'll be obliged to sign - and it's pretty-much what AT&T charges customers already.
Ballmer: Apple's iPhone will be a niche player
So did Microsoft CEO Steve 'Monkey Boy ' Ballmer actually claim Apple's iPhone strategy is "flawed" or "bust", as a fair few bloggers picking up on his USA Today interview suggested? Not quite.
Why the Apple phone will fail, and fail badly
That's us, hoist by the petard of our excitable headline writers. But this remains a good run-through of the mobile phone market and Apple's place in it. We shall see, soon enough, if the novelty wears off® | <urn:uuid:50022c7f-1410-4d50-be9e-05411ec98289> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/09/iphone_roundup/print.html | 2013-06-18T22:28:08Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947614 | 1,871 |
BSA Supply No. 35859
In learning about astronomy, Scouts study how activities in space affect our own planet and bear witness to the wonders of the night sky: the nebulae, or giant clouds of gas and dust where new stars are born; old stars dying and exploding; meteor showers and shooting stars; the moon, planets, and a dazzling array of stars.
- Describe the proper clothing and other precautions for safely making observations at night and in cold weather. Tell how to safely observe the Sun, objects near the Sun, and the Moon. Explain first aid for injuries or illnesses such as heat and cold reactions, dehydration, bites and stings, and damage to your eyes that could occur during observation.
- Explain what light pollution is and how it and air pollution affect astronomy.
- With the aid of diagrams (or real telescopes if available), do each of the following:
Do the following:
- Explain why binoculars and telescopes are important astronomical tools. Demonstrate or explain how these tools are used.
- Describe the similarities and differences of several types of astronomical telescopes.
- Explain the purposes of at least three instruments used with astronomical telescopes.
Do the following:
- Identify in the sky at least 10 constellations, at least four of which are in the zodiac.
- Identify at least eight conspicuous stars, five of which are of magnitude 1 or brighter.
- Make two sketches of the Big Dipper. In one sketch, show the Big Dipper's orientation in the early evening sky. In another sketch, show its position several hours later. In both sketches, show the North Star and the horizon. Record the date and time each sketch was made.
- Explain what we see when we look at the Milky Way.
At approximately weekly intervals, sketch the position of Venus, Mars, or Jupiter in relation to the stars. Do this for at least four weeks and at the same time of night. On your sketch, record the date and time next to the planet's position. Use your sketch to explain how planets move.
Do the following:
- List the names of the five most visible planets. Explain which ones can appear in phases similar to lunar phases and which ones cannot, and explain why.
- Find out when each of the five most visible planets that you identified in requirement 5a will be observable in the evening sky during the next 12 months, then compile this information in the form of a chart or table. Update your chart monthly to show whether each planet will be visible during the early morning or in the evening sky.
Do the following:
- Sketch the face of the Moon and indicate at least five seas and five craters. Label these landmarks.
- Sketch the phase and the daily position of the Moon, at the same hour and place, for a week. Include landmarks on the horizon such as hills, trees, and buildings. Explain the changes you observe.
- List the factors that keep the Moon in orbit around Earth.
- With the aid of diagrams, explain the relative positions of the Sun, Earth, and the Moon at the times of lunar and solar eclipses, and at the times of new, first-quarter, full, and last-quarter phases of the Moon.
With your counselor's approval and guidance, do ONE of the following:
- Describe the composition of the Sun, its relationship to other stars, and some effects of its radiation on Earth's weather. Define sunspots and describe some of the effects they may have on solar radiation.
- Identify at least one red star, one blue star, and one yellow star (other than the Sun). Explain the meaning of these colors.
List at least three different career opportunities in astronomy. Pick the one in which you are most interested and explain how to prepare for such a career. Discuss with your counselor what courses might be useful for such a career.
- Visit a planetarium or astronomical observatory. Submit a written report, a scrapbook, or a video presentation afterward to your counselor that includes the following information:
- Activities occurring there
- Exhibits and displays you saw
- Telescopes and other instruments being used
- Celestial objects you observed
- Plan and participate in a three-hour observation session that includes using binoculars or a telescope. List the celestial objects you want to observe, and find each on a star chart or in a guidebook. Prepare an observing log or notebook. Show your plan, charts, and log or notebook to your counselor before making your observations. Review your log or notebook with your counselor afterward.
- Plan and host a star party for your Scout troop or other group such as your class at school. Use binoculars or a telescope to show and explain celestial objects to the group.
- Help an astronomy club in your community hold a star party that is open to the public.
- Personally take a series of photographs or digital images of the movement of the Moon, a planet, an asteroid or meteoroid, or a comet. In your visual display, label each image and include the date and time it was taken. Show all positions on a star chart or map. Show your display at school or at a troop meeting. Explain the changes you observed.
Atomic Energy, Chemistry, Computers, Geology, Photography, Radio, Space Exploration, and Weather merit badge pamphlets
- Bond, Peter. DK Guide to Space. DK Publishing, 1999.
- Brunier, Serge, and Akira Fujii. The Great Atlas of the Stars. Firefly Books, 2001.
- Covington, Michael A. Astrophotography for the Amateur, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
- Davis, Kenneth C. Don't Know Much About Space. HarperTrophy, 2001.
- --------. Don't Know Much About the Solar System. HarperCollins, 2001.
- Harrington, Philip, and Edward Pascuzzi. Astronomy for All Ages. Globe Pequot Press, 2000.
- Henbest, Nigel, and Heather Couper. DK Space Encyclopedia. DK Publishing, 1999.
- Lambert, David. The Kingfisher Young People's Book of the Universe. Kingfisher Books, 2001.
- Moore, Patrick, ed. Astronomy Encyclopedia. Oxford Children's Books, 2002.
- Price, Fred W. The Planet Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Schaaf, Fred. 40 Nights to Knowing the Sky: A Night-by-Night Skywatching Primer. Owl Books, 1998.
- Stott, Carole. New Astronomer. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1999.
- Trefil, James. Other Worlds: Images of the Cosmos from Earth and Space. National Geographic, 1999.
CDs, DVDs, and Videos
Amazing Universe III. Hopkins Technology, 1995, CD-ROM.
IMAX Cosmic Voyage. Warner Home Video, 1996, DVD.
Distant Suns: The Virtual Desktop Planetarium. Virtual Reality Laboratories, 1994, CD-ROM.
Savage Sun. Discovery Channel, 1999, videocassette.
The Solar Empire: A Star is Born. Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel, 1997, videocassette.
21027 Crossroads Circle
P.O. Box 1612
Waukesha, WI 53187-1612
Web site: http://www.astronomy.com
Sky and Telescope
49 Bay State Road
Cambridge, MA 02138-1200
Toll-free telephone: 800-253-0245
Web site: http://skyandtelescope.com
Organizations and Web Sites
9201 Ward Parkway, Suite 100
Kansas City, MO 64114
Web site: http://www.astroleague.org
Astronomy Watch: Tonight's Sky and Astro Events
Web site: http://www.astronomy-watch.com
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Headquarters Information Center
Washington, DC 20546-0001
Web site: http://www.nasa.gov
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
950 North Cherry Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85719
Web site: http://www.noao.edu
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
520 Edgemont Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903-2475
Web site: http://www.nrao.edu
The Planetary Society
65 North Catalina Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91106-2301
Web site: http://planetary.org
Web site: http://www.skymaps.com
Solar System Exploration: The Planets
Web site: http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/features/planets/planetsfeat.html
Space Telescope Science Institute
3700 San Martin Drive
Baltimore, MD 21218
Web site: http://hubblesite.org
Web site: http://www.spacewander.com
Web site: http://www.SpaceWeather.com | <urn:uuid:5305d5cb-3106-4582-9060-6ebda0d0b467> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://councils.scouting.org/sitecore/content/Home/BoysScouts/AdvancementandAwards/MeritBadges/mb-ASTR | 2013-05-19T10:17:34Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.80375 | 1,876 |
After much anticipation regarding health care reform, 1994 ended without passage of any national legislation. The debate will probably resurface in the new Congress, since the issues and concerns surrounding the U.S. health care system still exist. However, it is unlikely that the discussion will be framed with the same sense of urgency as in 1994. Furthermore, results of last November's elections suggest a considerably reduced probability that health care reform will entail a total overhaul of the system. Nevertheless, some action can be expected at the national and state levels on issues such as pre-existing conditions and the accessibility of health insurance. Although some form of universal coverage may continue to be viewed as a goal, the time span for its achievement will likely be lengthened.
Despite the absence of major health legislation at the national level, the delivery and financing of U.S. health care have undergone, and will continue to undergo, modifications. Similar to the pattern of recent years, much of the change will continue to be initiated at the state level. While quality of care remains a major element of the debate, cost has been the major driving force behind many of the changes.
The desire to control sharply rising costs appears to have steered the U.S. health care system in the direction of managed care. Recent trends suggest that enrollment in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) for 1994 is close to 50 million, with market penetration approaching 20% . Although surveys differ as to the estimated level of enrollment, they are consistent in pointing to significant growth in recent years. Existing and prospective competition have precipitated a consolidation within the various industries that encompass the health care system. Barring any dramatic shift in course, these market forces are expected to intensify during the remainder of the 1990s.
National Health Expenditures
Many of the cost issues and other concerns over health care in this country led to a focus on the level and growth of national health expenditures. The latest estimates from the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) put 1993 health care expenditures at $884.2 billion, representing an increase of 7.8% over spending in 1992 . This was the slowest growth rate recorded by national health expenditures since 1986. As shown in the Figure 1, total health care spending is projected to exceed $1 trillion in 1995. The annual growth rate for the 1990 to 1995 period is expected to average 8%, compared to 9.9% for the previous 5 years.
According to Health Care Financing Administration data, spending on personal health care totaled $782.5 billion in 1993, an increase of 7.2% over the prior year. Table 1 shows a breakdown by type of expenditure and source of payment. Hospital care and physicians' services combined accounted for more than three-fifths of personal health expenditures. In the past, the relatively low out-of-pocket share for these categories has been singled out as a main cause for the sharp increase in expenditures. Although this share remains low for both categories, especially hospital care, each showed relatively slow growth in 1993. Among the various categories, home health care continues to display the fastest growth, by far, while "other professional services" continues to record above-average growth.
Although the growth rate for health care spending has slowed in recent years, it remains above that of the overall economy. National health expenditures were equivalent to 13.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1993. Current estimates for 1995 put the ratio of national health expenditures to GDP at 14.3%. Just 5 years prior, spending on health care represented 12.6% of the goods and services produced in the United States, with the ratio 10 years ago at 10.8% .
The rising share of resources being channeled into US health care, as evidenced by this ratio, remains one of the focal points of the ongoing debate in the United States. The extent of the health care claim on resources is even more apparent when viewed in a context of marginal analysis, ie, looking at incremental changes . The $70 billion increase in national health expenditures projected for 1995 represents 18% of the expected dollar increase in Gross Domestic Product. Thus, despite a discernible slowing in spending on health care, still almost one-fifth of new economic resources in 1995 will be devoted to this category of spending.
International comparisons have also played a central role in the questions regarding resource utilization and health care in the United States. The latest data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show US health care spending at a significantly above-average percentage of gross domestic product. In addition to the current relatively high share of gross domestic product, the data show that during the 1985 to 1992 period, the United States exhibited a larger increase in the share compared to other major industrial countries. Interestingly, Canada, whose single-payer system has been touted as a possible model for the United States, came in second in terms of both relative share and growth since 1985.
Medical Care Inflation
Clearly, one of the most notable developments regarding health care costs has been the dramatic slowing in medical care inflation as measured in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures price changes for a specific "market basket" of consumer goods and services. The difference in importance among various items between the medical care CPI and health insurance plans explains, in large part, why cost experiences have shown gains substantially greater than the medical Consumer Price Index. Other factors include technology advances, higher utilization, and the rise in catastrophic cases.
Although disagreement over some of the technical aspects of the Consumer Price Index persist, the deceleration in the medical care component of the CPI has been too significant to be dismissed. As indicated in Table 2, the increase for 1994 is estimated at just 4.8%-the smallest increase since 1973. This result followed a gain of 5.9% in 1993, and was substantially below our forecast of a year ago .
Much of the difference from the projection was reflected in a sharp slowing among hospital and related services. The categories in this grouping, ie, rooms, inpatient services, and outpatient services, are displaying their slowest price increases since the mid-1980s-a period when prospective payment and diagnostic related groups were adopted into Medicare. Physicians' services also contributed to the lower-than-expected rise in the medical care component of the Consumer Price Index for 1994.
While some of the slowing in the medical care CPI can be attributed to a lower level of general inflation, a significant narrowing of the gap between the two suggests the presence of factors specific to medical care. Projections for 1995 show the gap narrowing further, despite a slight increase in medical care inflation.
Although the health care issue is viewed nationally, many of the developments regarding health care are transpiring at the regional level. State health expenditure data prepared by the Health Care Financing Administration reveal significant regional variations . According to the data supplied by the HCFA in 1993, New England has the highest spending relative to the country as a whole, with the Rocky Mountain states at the other end of the scale. The fastest growth for the period was recorded in the southeast, at 10.3% annually, followed by New England and the mid-eastern states. The far west, at 8.2%, exhibited the slowest growth. Not surprisingly, the high-cost, high-growth regions were the same as those with an above-average proportion of the population aged 65 and older. The Plains states were an exception. Although showing the largest proportion of older residents, their spending and growth were about average.
The factors that differentiate health care from other parts of the economy have been widely discussed: consumers do not pay directly for a large proportion of expenditures; suppliers are intricately involved in the demand decisions; technology advancements increase demand and, in many instances, do not improve productivity.
Despite these attributes, health care is not immune to market forces and the laws of economics. Although much of the industry remains on a nonprofit basis, cost pressures are significantly influencing behavior. Mergers and acquisitions have become commonplace, as firms jockey for position in the new environment.
Summary and Conclusions
The cry for health care reform has diminished somewhat. Nevertheless, more changes are forthcoming. For the foreseeable future, health care will demand a rising share of resources. Earlier estimates put the proportion of health expenditures to Gross Domestic Product at almost 17% by the year 2000.
Although there is no magic number regarding this proportion, its relative level in the United States strongly suggests that changes need to take place. It would appear that the population prefers that changes be instituted through the private sector, and not through extensive government involvement and regulation. | <urn:uuid:754dcd80-3cf0-4ddf-9673-55383c3544f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cancernetwork.com/display/article/10165/74898 | 2013-05-19T10:24:04Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957145 | 1,746 |
In the golden age of the worker, when worker’s rights were freshly won and the unions were widely respected as groups that helped tip the scales away from the bourgeois and towards the proletariat, one of the greatest threats to the newly rejuvenated working class was automation. “One day, the robots will come and destroy everything we’ve worked for in the name of profit,” they would say. Instead, the robots came and made things more efficient, safer and increased productivity greatly. Then, the politicians and the upper class came and destroyed everything they worked for in the name of profit.
In our time, it is a pretty safe bet to say it is no longer a golden age for the worker. It is, however, seemingly a golden age for independent games. Enter Vessel, the fluid based puzzler and first game from the liberated ex-EA employees over at Strange Loop Games. Vessel approaches the automation issue from a steampunk perspective, where liquid based lifeforms called fluros have been invented by the game’s protagonist, who looks a surprising amount like Bruce Campbell, M. Arkwright. These creatures have become prevalent in society, taking over the majority of factory and manual labor jobs in almost every industry. As the story progresses, you come to find out that these formerly mindless creatures have begun to evolve and pursue their own goals. In the process, they’ve stopped a multitude of important machines. Ever the scientist, Arkwright decides to investigate the fluros’ evolution, repair the machines and find a way to bridge the gap between humanity and the fluros.
This story, like many indie games, is told in a very minimalistic way. There is no dialog, really, with the protagonist’s thoughts conveyed through journal entries that offer a small bit of insight into the game’s world – although they mostly exist to give you a basic rundown of the various mechanics that come into play. This leaves the real story, and especially the fairly surreal ending, mostly up to your interpretation. There are times where that can be a cop out, but this is not one of those times. I always found that games, and really all forms of entertainment, that use an “up to interpretation” story only work when the content is strong enough to prop it up, and Vessel’s certainly is.
The gameplay here absolutely shines. Strange Loop created their own engine from the ground up in order to handle the fairly complex fluid physics present here, and the attention to detail shines. The engine’s ability to handle dynamic liquid simulation puts Vessel a sea apart from its competition. The multiple different liquids all flow, accumulate, evaporate and react in a completely logical manner. Containers can fill up, overflow and be emptied. Pretty much anything you can do with water, you need to do in Vessel to make your way through its large amount of varied, and progressively more difficult, puzzles.
I can’t put enough emphasis on how well designed those puzzles really are. Vessel is very well paced, and the way it introduces the game’s concepts steadily is novel. It doesn’t give you many clues as to what you should do with the knowledge it gives you, and there aren’t any big red arrows or signs saying “HIT THIS BUTTON” or “MAKE STEAM HERE” so you’ll have to do all the leg work yourself. Like the minimalism in the story, the minimalism in feedback given to the player works because of the way the game is made. Of course, a scientist wouldn’t need, or even want, everything spelled out to him easily. He would want to experiment, document and improve on his methods to solve these problems. Vessel, and its emphasis on the player figuring out the interactions between not just fluros and the environment, but fluros and other fluros, is as close to the scientific method as we are going to see in a puzzler.
These interactions between the various types of fluros, as well as the various types of material they can be made out of, comprise the bulk of the problem solving. Some levels will see you needing to open up a number of doors so you can place a fluro on a button, while others will need you to find ways for two fluros of differing materials to collide so that the gas or steam they create can open up a different area. It is quite a rewarding experience when you finally do get all your little water creatures and lava creatures and “You Can’t Do That on Television” slime creatures to do what you need them to do.
Even Vessel’s aesthetics are exceptional. I always felt that, despite my “gameplay before graphics” attitude, it was the experiments with art direction indie games tend to take that really drew me to them originally. I was always a retro gamer. Even as games got more and more advanced, I still clung to my love of the 16 bit era. When the AAA console games started moving towards realism and billions of polygons, I was quite happy to find people creating 2D games still. The advancements in tech, and even in artistic ability, within the gaming industry have been so large that these 2D platformers and puzzlers end up looking just gorgeous. Vessel – with its colorful backgrounds and great lighting – is as good a looking as any indie game has ever been. The music even shines, as it features a number of pieces from well-known composer Jon Hopkins, all arranged adaptively. The music adjusts to what you are doing and it ends up adding so much to the game’s feel.
While this all might sound entirely perfect, I have to burst the bubble a bit. There are some issues that show that Vessel is slightly wet behind the ears, with a handful of problems that break the fluidity of the game’s flow. Sorry, I’m way under my quota for liquid puns here. I have to catch up or else they revoke my membership to the Shitty Pun of the Month club.
While the puzzles are legitimately among the most well designed I’ve seen in quite a while, the platforming elements fall a bit short. The controls aren’t always as responsive as you would like, and jumping can be a bit iffy in some situations. Also, for people who aren’t really used to using the brain pathways that lead to being good at puzzle games, Vessel’s lack of hand holding might be a significant barrier to enjoyment. Most stages are intuitive enough that you’ll figure it out, but some take a significant amount of experimenting. There are even a few that suffer from design choices, like one type of fluros that will follow you around and hit switches but is frustratingly slow, or a puzzle where you know exactly what you have to do but simply can’t get the fluros to cooperate.
Compared to the rest of the game, these problems are barely spit in the ocean of awesomeness. Vessel is easily one of, if not the best, indie games of 2012 so far. It is well designed, gorgeous to look at, and incredibly entertaining. Strange Loops has created a game that is more coheisive than most, with absolutely everything – from the graphics to the music to the puzzles – combining to put emphasis on the setting and mood. It is even a good ‘bang for your buck’ purchase as it offers you around 10 to 12 hours of squirting entertainment, which would usually cost you way more if you were looking for squirting entertainment on the internet. Hell, I was so engrossed in it I pretty much sat down and played the whole thing in a single sitting.
I really have to pee.
Here’s the Rundown:
+ Well paced and intelligently designed puzzles with incredibly well done physics
+ Great to look at and listen to
+ Long for an indie game, and well worth the money
- Lack of hints or overt direction could turn off some gamers
- Occasional technical issues, including a save bug that is in need of a patch
- Some puzzles can become frustrating due to hiccups with the fluros
8 and 8.5 represent a game that is a good experience overall. While there may be some issues that prevent it from being fantastic, these scores are for games that you feel would easily be worth a purchase.
Vessel was developed by Strange Loop games and published by Indie Loop for the PC, and eventually for the XBLA and PSN . The game was released on March 1, 2012 with an MSRP of $14.99 on the PC. XBLA and PSN release dates have not been confirmed yet. The game was purchased by my main squeeze because she is a goth chick and thus immediately attracted to anything steampunk. It was played for around ten hours until completion. Specs of the PC used are as follows: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83ghz, Nvidia Geforce 570 GTX GPU, 8GB RAM, and Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. I would write more but all this sloshing water is really taxing on my bladder. | <urn:uuid:5e5fb2a3-8727-40ad-bd10-a65fa0618f75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ripten.com/2012/03/11/ripten-review-vessel-pc/ | 2013-05-19T09:48:44Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970383 | 1,906 |
Anti-Jagged1 antibody (ab85763)
- Product nameAnti-Jagged1 antibodySee all Jagged1 primary antibodies ...
- DescriptionRabbit polyclonal to Jagged1
- Tested applicationsWB, ICC/IF more details
- Species reactivityReacts with: Human
Predicted to work with: Mouse, Rat, Xenopus laevis, Zebrafish
Synthetic peptide conjugated to KLH derived from within residues 1200 to the C-terminus of Human Jagged1.
- Positive controlThis antibody gave a positive signal in the following whole cell lysates: MEL-1; HeLa; HEK293
- Storage instructionsStore at +4°C short term (1-2 weeks). Aliquot and store at -20°C or -80°C. Avoid repeated freeze / thaw cycles.
- Storage bufferPreservative: 0.02% Sodium Azide
Constituents: 1% BSA, PBS, pH 7.4
- Concentration information loading...
- PurityImmunogen affinity purified
- Clonality Polyclonal
- Research Areas
Our Abpromise guarantee covers the use of ab85763 in the following tested applications.
The application notes include recommended starting dilutions; optimal dilutions/concentrations should be determined by the end user.
Not yet tested in other applications.
Optimal dilutions/concentrations should be determined by the end user.
- FunctionLigand for multiple Notch receptors and involved in the mediation of Notch signaling. May be involved in cell-fate decisions during hematopoiesis. Seems to be involved in early and late stages of mammalian cardiovascular development. Inhibits myoblast differentiation (By similarity). Enhances fibroblast growth factor-induced angiogenesis (in vitro).
- Tissue specificityWidely expressed in adult and fetal tissues. In cervix epithelium expressed in undifferentiated subcolumnar reserve cells and squamous metaplasia. Expression is up-regulated in cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Expressed in bone marrow cell line HS-27a which supports the long-term maintenance of immature progenitor cells.
- Involvement in diseaseDefects in JAG1 are the cause of Alagille syndrome type 1 (ALGS1) [MIM:118450]. Alagille syndrome is an autosomal dominant multisystem disorder defined clinically by hepatic bile duct paucity and cholestasis in association with cardiac, skeletal, and ophthalmologic manifestations. There are characteristic facial features and less frequent clinical involvement of the renal and vascular systems.
Defects in JAG1 are a cause of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) [MIM:187500]. TOF is a congenital heart anomaly which consists of pulmonary stenosis, ventricular septal defect, dextroposition of the aorta (aorta is on the right side instead of the left) and hypertrophy of the right ventricle. This condition results in a blue baby at birth due to inadequate oxygenation. Surgical correction is emergent.
- Sequence similaritiesContains 1 DSL domain.
Contains 15 EGF-like domains.
- Developmental stageExpressed in 32-52 days embryos in the distal cardiac outflow tract and pulmonary artery, major arteries, portal vein, optic vesicle, otocyst, branchial arches, metanephros, pancreas, mesocardium, around the major bronchial branches, and in the neural tube.
- Cellular localizationMembrane.
- Entrez Gene: 182 Human
- Entrez Gene: 16449 Mouse
- Entrez Gene: 29146 Rat
- Entrez Gene: 140421 Zebrafish
- Omim: 601920 Human
- SwissProt: P78504 Human
- SwissProt: Q9QXX0 Mouse
- SwissProt: Q63722 Rat
- SwissProt: Q90Y57 Zebrafish
- Unigene: 224012 Human
- Unigene: 22398 Mouse
- Unigene: 88804 Rat
- Unigene: 83677 Zebrafish
- AGS antibodyAHD antibodyAWS antibody
- CD 339 antibodyCD339 antibodyCD339 antigen antibodyHeadturner antibodyHJ1 antibodyHtu antibodyJag 1 antibodyJag1 antibodyJAG1_HUMAN antibodyJagged 1 antibodyJagged1 (Alagille syndrome) antibodyJagged1 antibodyJAGL1 antibodyMGC104644 antibodyOTTHUMP00000030278 antibodyProtein jagged-1 antibodySer 1 antibodySer-1 antibodySer1 antibodySerrate 1 antibodySerrate-1 antibodySlalom antibody
Anti-Jagged1 antibody images
All lanes : Anti-Jagged1 antibody (ab85763) at 1 µg/ml
Lane 1 : MEL-1 (Human embryonic stem cell, male cell line) Whole Cell Lysate (ab27198)
Lane 2 : HeLa (Human epithelial carcinoma cell line) Whole Cell Lysate
Lane 3 : HEK293 (Human embryonic kidney cell line) Whole Cell Lysate
Lysates/proteins at 10 µg per lane.
Goat polyclonal to Rabbit IgG - H&L - Pre-Adsorbed (HRP) at 1/3000 dilution
developed using the ECL technique
Performed under reducing conditions.
Predicted band size : 134 kDa
Observed band size : 160 kDa (why is the actual band size different from the predicted?)
Additional bands at : 105 kDa,40 kDa. We are unsure as to the identity of these extra bands.
Exposure time : 20 minutes
ICC/IF image of ab85763 stained HeLa cells. The cells were 100% methanol fixed (5 min) and then incubated in 1%BSA / 10% normal goat serum / 0.3M glycine in 0.1% PBS-Tween for 1h to permeabilise the cells and block non-specific protein-protein interactions. The cells were then incubated with the antibody (ab85763, 5µg/ml) overnight at +4°C. The secondary antibody (green) was ab96899, DyLight® 488 goat anti-rabbit IgG (H+L) used at a 1/250 dilution for 1h. Alexa Fluor® 594 WGA was used to label plasma membranes (red) at a 1/200 dilution for 1h. DAPI was used to stain the cell nuclei (blue) at a concentration of 1.43µM. This antibody also gave a positive result in 100% methanol fixed (5 min) Hek293, HepG2 and MCF7 cells at 5µg/ml, and in 4% PFA fixed (10 min) HeLa, Hek293, HepG2 and MCF7 cells at 5µg/ml.
ICC/IF image of ab85763 stained HeLa cells. The cells were 4% formaldehyde fixed (10 min) and then incubated in 1%BSA / 10% normal goat serum / 0.3M glycine in 0.1% PBS-Tween for 1h to permeabilise the cells and block non-specific protein-protein interactions. The cells were then incubated with the antibody (ab85763, 5µg/ml) overnight at +4°C. The secondary antibody (green) was ab96899, DyLight® 488 goat anti-rabbit IgG (H+L) used at a 1/250 dilution for 1h. Alexa Fluor® 594 WGA was used to label plasma membranes (red) at a 1/200 dilution for 1h. DAPI was used to stain the cell nuclei (blue) at a concentration of 1.43µM.
References for Anti-Jagged1 antibody (ab85763)
ab85763 has not yet been referenced specifically in any publications. | <urn:uuid:7f4a0374-b9cf-4fcd-a09b-4fb009ea24bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abcam.com/Jagged1-antibody-ab85763.html | 2013-05-22T07:34:15Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.790845 | 1,735 |
The Georgia High School Association will place schools in regions for the 2010-14 academic years on Dec. 2. Each day this week, the GHSF Daily staff is going to look at a different classification and tell you how we’d do the regions, starting with Class AAAAA.
These are not projections. We’d have more luck predicting the exact scores of every game this week than how the GHSA will divide up the regions. Our goal is simply to bring to light some of the questions and challenges that define the GHSA’s task next week.
Here’s how we’d do Class AAAAA:
1-AAAAA (6 teams)
Camden County (moved from 3-AAAAA)
Valdosta (playing up)
Going down: Houston County, Northside, Warner Robins
Notes: Four current 1-AAAAA schools were assigned to Class AAAA because of declining enrollment. Schools may choose to play in higher classes than the ones they’ve been assigned. We expect Valdosta to play up while the Houston County schools (Warner Robins, Northside, Houston County) play in AAAA. Do we think the GHSA is going to put Camden County in this region? We’ll believe it when we see it. But here’s the logic: The average road trip for Camden County in the new Region 1-AAAAA would be 121 miles. The average trip in Region 3-AAAAA would be 107 miles. But in 1-AAAAA, there are only five opponents. Let’s do the math: Five road trips times 121 miles is 606. Seven road trips times 107 miles is 749. In other words, Camden will travel less in a six-team Region 1-AAAAA than an eight-team Region 3-AAAAA. We realize that Camden pays many Savannah schools to give up their home football games and come to Camden, but that’s irrelevant because the travel for the region overall is the same whether Savannah comes to Camden County or vice-versa. GHSF Daily asked Camden County football coach and athletics director Jeff Herron about his school moving to Region 1. His answer: “I still don’t see how we could with the consideration we must give to the other sports. It would force all of our other sports to play all of their games on the weekends [because of long travel on week days]. But, with that few of schools [in Region 1], the region schedule might be easier to pull off. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.”
Redan (playing up)
Shiloh (moved from 8-AAAAA)
South Gwinnett (moved from 8-AAAAA)
Stephenson (playing up)
Going down: Douglass, Greenbrier, Union Grove
Notes: Five of the eight current Region 2 schools have been dropped to AAAA, leaving Luella, M.L. King and Newton as the only legitimate AAAAA schools. We suspect Stephenson and Redan will play up and remain with M.L. King, their DeKalb County neighbor. We see Douglass, Greenbrier and Union Grove taking the plunge, although Union Grove might want to stay with fellow Henry County school Luella. Regardless, the big question is how to fill out this depleted region. There are two ways to do it: One is to merge what’s left of Region 2 with what’s left of Region 4, as both regions lost significant membership. That would form a catch-all southside metro Atlanta region that stretches 67 miles from Newnan to Covington. The alternative? Force some Gwinnett County schools to join. Those Gwinnett schools that border DeKalb (in order of the likelihood of joining Region 4) are South Gwinnett, Shiloh, Parkview, Meadowcreek and Norcross. It’s only 42 miles from Luella to South Gwinnett. Also don’t rule out Brookwood and Grayson, though neither borders DeKalb.
Beach (playing up)
Bradwell Institute (playing up)
Groves (playing up)
Jenkins (playing up)
Johnson, Savannah (playing up)
Savannah (playing up)
Windsor Forest (playing up)
Moved: Camden County (to 1-AAAAA)
Notes: It’s expected that the seven Savannah-area schools will play up again, leaving this region intact except for the possible move of Camden County to Region 1. One source in Savannah told us that even Richmond Hill from Class AAA and Benedictine from AA are considering AAAAA. If that happens, the GHSA will have even more reason to put Camden County – which is isolated in the southeast corner of the state – in Region 1.
Campbell (from 6-AAAAA)
Langston Hughes (new to AAAAA)
Marietta (from 5-AAAAA)
South Cobb (from 5-AAAAA)
Going down: Chapel Hill, Lovejoy, Morrow, Mundy’s Mill, Riverdale
Notes: Region 4 picked up Langston Hughes from South Fulton but lost four Clayton County schools, plus Chapel Hill, so it needs rebuilding. Unless this region merges with Region 2 (as discussed above), there’s no alternative but to draw from Cobb County schools. Note that Pebblebrook, a school in south Cobb, already competes in Region 2. South Cobb is the most eligible candidate. After that, we picked Marietta and Campbell, but McEachern and Hillgrove are suspects, too.
Hillgrove (new to AAAAA)
Going down: East Paulding
Moved: Marietta, South Cobb (to 4-AAAAA)
Notes: Region 5 would love for the GHSA to let Hillgrove (promoted) replace East Paulding (demoted) and let that be that. But holes in regions 4 and 2 make this complicated. Southern Cobb County schools such as South Cobb, McEachern and Marietta are nervous that they will be moved to Region 4. Meanwhile, the Cherokee County schools (Cherokee, Etowah, Woodstock) might hope those Cobb schools remain in Region 5, freeing them up to play in a region with Forsyth County and North Fulton schools.
Chattahoochee (playing up)
Going down: Kell, Pope
Moved: Campbell (to 4-AAAAA)
Notes: Kell and Pope are now AAAA material, and they might be content to play in the smaller class because East Marietta neighbor Sprayberry already is there. But they also have strong rivalries with Walton and Lassiter in all sports and might choose to remain in AAAAA. Campbell, a Cobb school that’s the geographical odd ball in the current 6-AAAAA, could end up in Region 5 or even Region 4. Also pay attention to Chattahochee, a North Fulton team that was demoted to AAAA. The largest school not assigned to AAAAA, Chattahoochee has reason to play up and compete with most of the other North Fulton schools (Alpharetta, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Northview and Roswell).
Mountain View (new to AAAAA)
West Forsyth (new to AAAAA)
Going down: Chattahoochee, South Forsyth
Notes: This might be a simple trade of Chattahoochee and South Forsyth for Mountain View and West Forsyth. But if Region 8 loses a couple of southern Gwinnett teams, those most subject to moving from 7 to 8 are (in order) Norcross, Duluth, Peachtree Ridge, Collins Hill and Mountain View. Meanwhile, North Forsyth and West Forsyth would prefer to play with North Fulton and Cherokee schools, so there could be a shift in that direction. Current region member Chattahoochee was dropped to AAAA but could play up, but we’re putting the ‘Hooch in 6-AAAAA for now.
Archer (playing up)
Moved: Shiloh, South Gwinnett (to 2-AAAAA)
Notes: Archer, which opened this year in Gwinnett County, is the second-largest school assigned to AAAAA and might opt to play in this Gwinnett-dominated region rather than AAAA. Gwinnett would love to have two regions of nine Gwinnett schools each. Lanier High will open as Gwinnett’s 18th school next year and would project to go in Region 7. But the trouble is the void in Region 2 with DeKalb and Newton county schools. See Region 2 notes for that explanation. South Gwinnett and Shiloh are anxious. Also keep an eye on Stephenson and Redan. If those DeKalb schools choose to leave AAAAA, then Region 8 could simply absorb M.L. King, Luella and Newton but at the expense of sending a few of its current members over to 7-AAAAA, setting off a domino effect that could open the door for a Forsyth-Cherokee-North Fulton region.
Georgia High School Football Daily is a free email newsletter. CLICK to join the mailing list | <urn:uuid:58872f1b-4deb-4717-9733-e9d45f2e250e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-high-school-sports/2009/11/23/georgia-high-school-football-daily-spotlight-reclassification-in-class-aaaaa-will-camden-move-to-region-1/ | 2013-05-24T15:50:25Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940348 | 1,946 |
Havre Daily News Sports Editor
The scores may not indicate it, but Tuesday was a pretty good day for the Havre High track teams. The Pony boys and girls were both soundly defeated by Class AA CMR in dual action at Great Falls' Memorial Stadium.
The CMR boys defeated Havre 92-52, while the Rustler girls crushed the Ponies 107-37. However, with forecast of cold weather for the coming days, a day of competition was better than a day of practice.
"I'd much rather have a Tuesday meet than a Tuesday practice," HHS head coach Mark West. "It's good to go out and compete instead of working out in the cold."
The Ponies not only got to compete, but got the chance to compete against a very good Rustler team.
In the boys, CMR won 11 events, led by double winners John Michelson in the 1,600 and 3,200, Philip Churchill in both hurdles events, Chris Vuckovich in the triple jump and javelin and Jeff Hansen in the shot put and discus. The Rustlers also got wins from Jacob Pearson in the 800, Kellan Carter in the high jump and Alex Smith in the 100.
Havre's Scott Robinson was solid, leading the Ponies to a sweep in the 200 as Derek Verploegen finished second and Kyle Finneman was third. Robinson also added easy wins in the 400 and long jump.
"Scott was pretty solid," West said. "He really looked good in the 400 and it was nice to sweep the 200."
Cody McLean continued to perform well in the pole vault, tying for first with CMR's Josh Anderson and Eric Hubner with vaults of 12-6.
"Cody has been very consistent in the pole vault," West said. "His heights keep going up."
Also scoring points for Havre were Ted Wells in the 100, Tom Knudson in both hurdles events, Marcus Campbell in the 1,600 and 3,200, Ricky Houim in the shot put and discus, Robert Brooks in the 800 and Ryan Horne in the long jump.
"Ricky had a nice day," West said. "He had couple nice throws in the shot and placed in the discus. It's been a long time that we've had a guy score points in the shot and discus consistently for us. I was a little disappointed with our performance in the 100. I felt like that it was a race we should win and place a few kids in."
While West would have loved to score more points, he was happy for his boys to compete on the Memorial Stadium track.
"State is being held there so it was big for our runners and throwers to get used to the surroundings," he said. "The girls got to compete there last week, but we wanted to make sure the boys ran there before state."
It was last weekend at the Optimist Invitational in Great Falls where West knew his girls would be in trouble against a powerhouse CMR squad.
"They are just so strong in so many events," West said. "When I saw them last week, I knew they were going to be almost impossible to beat."
The CMR girls racked up a whopping 107 points, thanks to wins in all but four events. Standout Shantell Marquis won the 200 and 400, while finish second in the 100 hurdles, teammate Brianna Perry took home both hurdles events and the high jump and Sydney Best won the 100 and 800.
"Marquis is an unbelievable athlete," West said. "We miss not having Mandi Nystrom and Casea Pollington. They would have scored us some points, but CMR just has so much more depth than us in every event."
Havre got the bulk of its points from the usual suspects - Carmen Neuens and Lena Suek. The sophomores each won two events to pace the Ponies.
Neuens continued to perform well in the long jump, winning for the third time in three tries with a leap of 16-2. Neuens also won the triple jump, narrowly missed out on winning the 100, recording a personal best of 13.03. She also placed third in the high jump.
"Carmen had a nice day," West said. "She ran a great time in the 100 and was solid in the jumps. She probably should have won the high jump, but she is just a little off in that event."
Suek took home wins in her best events in the discus and javelin, while finishing third in the shot put. Suek won the javelin easily with a toss of 127-11, while she edged CMR standout Kelsey Hopkins in the discus with a throw of 110-9.
"Lena had another nice day," West said. "She is throwing so well right now."
Havre's other points came from second-place finishes from Kelsey West in the 200, Darci Briere in the 1,600, Kelsey Malsam in the 3,200 and Amanda Reinke in the pole vault. The Ponies got third-place finishes from Kim Jestrab in the 400 and Larissa Hand in the triple jump.
"We had a lot of PR's from our girls," West said. "Kelsey (West) had a personal best in the 200 and Kelsey (Malsam) had a good time in the 3,200."
Regardless of scores, West was happy with his teams' performances, and looks at it as another chance to improve.
"We're starting to come around," he said. "Our kids competed hard which is what you want to see. I really think we are peaking at the right time, and all that hard work is starting to pay off."
The Ponies will be in Whitefish on Saturday for a meet featuring several Class A opponents.
"Depending on the weather, I really think it should be a good meet for us," West said.
CMR 92, Havre 52
100 - 1. Alex Smith, CMR 11.49; 2. Ted Wells, HAV 11.52; 3. Luke McKinley, CMR 11.55
200 - 1. Scott Robinson, HAV 23.64; 2. Derek Verploegen, HAV 23.82; 3. Kyle Finneman, HAV 24.14
400 - 1. Scott Robinson, HAV 53.53; 2. Alex Smith, CMR 55.95; 3. Parker Jones, CMR 57.30
800 -1. Jacob Pearson, CMR 2:10.70; 2. Tyler Dolan, CMR 2:14.56; 3. Robert Brooks
1,600 - 1. John Michelson, CMR 5:03.05; 2. Marcus Campbell, HAV 5:06.3; 3. Robert Brooks, HAV 5:08.4;
3,200 - 1. John Michelson, CMR 11:01.3; 2. Marcus Campbell, HAV 11:07.1;
100 Hurdles - 1. Philip Churchill, CMR 15.76; 2. Tom Knudson, HAV 16.55; 3. Calvin Fry, HAV CMR 22.29
300 Hurdles - 1. Philip Churchill, CMR 44.44; 2. Tom Knudson, HAV 45.36; 3. Calvin Fry, CMR 45.80
400 Relay - 1. Havre 45.15
1,600 Relay - 1. CMR 3:40.56
Pole Vault - 1. (tie) Cody McLean, HAV 12-6; Josh Anderson CMR 12-6; Eric Hubner, CMR 12-6
Long Jump - 1. Scott Robinson, HAV 19-1; 2. Tyson Wald, CMR 18-8; 3. Ryan Horne, HAV 17-2
High Jump - 1. Kellan Carter, CMR 6-6; 2. (tie) Drew Savage, CMR 5-10; Cody Vukasin, CMR 5-10
Triple Jump - 1. Chris Vuckovich, CMR 37-8; 2. Luke McKinley, CMR 35-10
Shot Put - 1. Jeff Hansen, CMR 52-10; 2. Ricky Houim, HAV 49-3; 3. Justin Clark, CMR 40-8
Discus - 1. Jeff Hansen, CMR 164-2; 2. Andrew Voorhees, CMR 133-1; 3. Ricky Houim, HAV 128-3
Javelin - 1. Chris Vuckovich, CMR 151-10; 2. Zach Garrity, CMR 151-08; 3. Tyson Wald, CMR 137-11
CMR 107, Havre 37
100 - 1. Sydney Best, CMR 13.01; 2. Carmen Neuens, HAV 13.03; 3. Kelsey Hopkins, CMR 13.15
200 - 1. Shantell Marquis, CMR 27.11; 2. Kelsey West, HAV 27.93; 3. Holly Heffley, CMR 28.05
400 - 1. Shantell Marquis, CMR 1:00.65; 2. Amanda Berringer, CMR 1:07.09; 3. Kim Jestrab, HAV 1:09.1
800 - 1. Sydney Best, CMR 2:31.16; 2. Marilee Woyth, CMR 2:34.5; 3. Kasha Kiddrick, CMR 2:40.16
1,600 - 1. Marilee Woyth, CMR 5:38.7; 2. Darci Briere, HAV 5:49.9; 3. Kasha Kiddrick, CMR 5:55.2
3,200 - 1. Kirsten Jensen, CMR 12:44.3; 2. Kelsey Malsam, HAV 13:09; 3. Kasandra Maloney, CMR 13:39.46
100 Hurdles - 1. Brianna Perry, CMR 16.4; 2. Shantell Marquis, CMR 17.47; 3. Melissa Fry, CMR 18.36
300 Hurdles - 1. Brianna Perry, CMR 50.42; 2. Melissa Fry, CMR 51.37
400 Relay - 1. CMR 52.68
1,600 Relay - 1. CMR 4:28.67; 2. Havre 4:37.60
Pole Vault - 1. (tie) Adrianna Aafeldt, CMR 8-0; Alexa From, CMR 8-0; 2. Amanda Reinke, HAV 7-0
Long Jump - 1. Carmen Neuens, HAV 16-2; 2. Brianna Perry, CMR 14-5; 3. Kasey Aafeldt, 13-4
High Jump - 1. Brianna Perry, CMR 4-10; 2. Kelsey Hopkins, CMR 4-8; 3. Carmen Neuens, HAV 4-8
Triple Jump - 1. Carmen Neuens, HAV 31-4; 2. Kelsey Aafeldt, CMR 30-5; 3. Larissa Hand, HAV 29-1
Shot Put - 1. Kelsey Hopkins, CMR 35-3; 2. Nikki Oleson, CMR 33-5; 3. Lena Suek, HAV 32-9
Discus - 1. Lena Suek, HAV 110-9; 2. Kelsey Hopkins, CMR 108-5; 3. Nikki Oleson, CMR 102-4
Javelin - 1. Lena Suek, HAV 127-11; 2. Kristen Tuttle, CMR 117-5; 3. Nikki Oleson, CMR 89-3 | <urn:uuid:4b46f336-14e4-424d-996b-18d76c6b9015> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://havredailynews.com/cms/news/story-131867.html | 2013-05-24T15:43:25Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935797 | 2,528 |
Bollig, Walls named first team all-state
Tribune Sports Editor
Chanute High School seniors Matt Bollig and T.J. Walls have been awarded the highest honor a high school football player can receive.
Both were named First Team All-State by the Kansas Football Coaches Association. Bollig was named first team all-state at quarterback, while Walls was named first team all-state at wide receiver.
“I’m real proud of them both,” Chanute Coach Don Simmons said.
Simmons explained ...
St. Paul splits at Welch tourney
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Jets drop two, Devils split at Wildcat Winter Classic
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CCA girls second at Manhattan tourney
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Blue Comets host Titans in home-opener
The Chanute High School basketball teams will host Columbus tonight in the home-opener of the 2009-10 season. The girls play at 6 p.m. with the boys to follow.
Chanute’s girls are coming off a 54-46 loss to the Independence Bulldogs.
Columbus lost its season-opener as well, falling to Girard 68-43. Girard led 25-4 in the first quarter.
As far as the boys, Independence defeated Chanute 58-51 in overtime.
The Comets shot just 5-of-...
Blue Comets gain valuable experience
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NCCC women win fourth-straight
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor CHANUTE—The Neosho County Community College women’s basketball team overcame a nine-point deficit and raced past Highland 84-80 on Saturday afternoon at the Panthers Gymnasium. With the win, Neosho County improved to 2-0 in the Jayhawk East and 4-6 overall. It was the fourth-straight win for the Panthers, as well. Kristin Aldridge scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Panthers. Bjonee Reaves...
Panthers shut down Scotties
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Royster girls second at Burlington tourney
BURLINGTON—The Royster Middle School eighth grade girls basketball team took second place at the Burlington Tournament on Saturday.
In the championship game, Burlington edged Royster 30-29 in double overtime.
Burlington came into the game undefeated and the Rockets gave them a battle.
Royster Coach Steve Slane said the title game was one he’ll always remember.
“The championship game was one of the most enjoyable games I’ve been i...
Area hoops roundup
Tribune staff NEODESHA — A young Humboldt club got its feet wet on the road Friday with a 47-29 victory over Neodesha. Three freshman were in the seven-man rotation and 6-4 frosh Noah Thornbrugh was the top rebounder with 13 and second-leading scorer with 14. Tevin Strack, 6-1 senior, led the Cubs with 19 points. The defense was stingy as Humboldt led 23-10 at the half. Neody outscored the Cubs 12-7 in the third quarter before Humboldt clos...
Blue Comets let one slip away
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor INDY—It’s safe to say the Chanute Blue Comets may be shooting a lot of free throws over the next few days. The Blue Comets missed eight free throws late in the game and the Independence Bulldogs took full advantage. With those extra opportunities, Independence pulled off a 58-51 come from behind win over Chanute in overtime on Friday night at Independence Middle School’s Losey Gym in the 2009-10 season ope...
Bulldogs hold off Blue Comets
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor INDY—A buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter gave the Independence Bulldogs all of the momentum—and they never gave it up. Led by Kelby McGrath’s 31 points, Independence defeated Chanute 54-46 on Friday night at Independence Middle School’s Losey Gym in the first game of the 2009-10 season. The game was tied at nine when McGrath hit a 30-footer at the first quarter buzzer. The shot seemed to defla...
Panthers earn 'emotional' win over 'Hounds
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor FORT SCOTT—The storylines were numerous. A former coach was taking on the current coach, while a former player was going up against her former team. In the end, the Neosho County Community College women’s basketball team pulled out a 91-84 come-from-behind win over the Fort Scott Greyhounds on Wednesday night at Arnold Arena. The Panthers simply made the plays down the stretch to pull out the win, offensi...
Defense leads Panthers to victory
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor FORT SCOTT — Using defense to create offense, the Neosho County Community College men’s basketball team raced past Fort Scott 80-63 on Wednesday night at Arnold Arena. The Panthers forced 22 turnovers, grabbed 12 steals and converted many of those miscues into easy hoops in transition. “For us, it always starts with defense,” Neosho County Coach Jeremy Coombs said. “As the year goes on, I think our press i...
CHS wrestling: tough tourney awaits
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Season begins on Friday for CHS hoops
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The quest for a league title begins on Friday night for the Chanute High School girls basketball team.
The Blue Comets will hit the road to take on the Independence Bulldogs in the 2009-10 season-opener.
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Royster girls knock off Pittsburg
Tribune staff The Royster Middle School eighth grade girls A basketball team defeated Pittsburg 33-20 on Tuesday night. “They beat us earlier in the year and we did some good things,” RMS Coach Steve Slane said. “We played more under control and we will have to continue doing that with the opponents we have coming up. As you can see, the scoring was balanced and we did a good job of playing around some people getting in foul trouble. Overall...
Comets too much for Yellowjackets
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor CHANUTE—Andy Albright admitted he was extremely nervous as his Chanute High School wrestling team stepped on to the mat for the first time this season. He didn’t need to be. The Blue Comets earned win after win against Fredonia on Tuesday night at the CHS Gymnasium. When the night ended, Chanute had earned a 48-21 win. The Class 3A Yellowjackets were overmatched in a few matches, but for the most part, g...
Erie boys have high expectations
Anthony Cook Parsons Sun Mike Casteel, head coach of the Erie High School basketball team, knows that the high expectations for his team mean nothing at this point. The Red Devils were recently predicted to finish third in the CNC League in its preseason poll. However, the pollsters haven’t done a good job of evaluating the school’s basketball team in the past. “We know it means absolutely nothing right now,” said Casteel. The eighth-year ...
New coach set to lead Erie girls
The hardwood is a familiar place for Erie High School girls basketball first-year head coach Briana Volmer.
Volmer, a graduate and standout center for the Labette County High School Grizzlies, most recently played college basketball at Missouri Southern State University. Her first head coaching experience in basketball will come Friday evening when the Red Devils take on Baxter Springs.
The team is previously coming of... | <urn:uuid:2ff59308-db7b-4fde-a761-9c07cf5ae664> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chanute.com/pages/sports/push?class=prev_page&per_page=20&rel=prev&x_page=6&k_group=2 | 2013-05-24T15:32:21Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951512 | 2,289 |
France and England resume their recent rivalry as UEFA Women's EURO 2013 Group C comes to an end in Linkoping.
• Seven of their 15 meetings have been drawn over 90 minutes with France winning six and England two. France lead the goal count 17-14.
• Two of the first nations to set up women's national teams, England beat France 3-0 in Brion on 22 April 1973 and 2-0 in Wimbledon on 11 November 1974. That was England's last defeat of Les Bleues.
• There was a 0-0 draw in Longjumeau in February 1977 and in July 1988 it finished 1-1 at Riva Del Garda in the unofficial Mundialito, which England went on to win.
• In one of Hope Powell's last games for England before stepping up to become coach, England lost 3-2 to France on 15 February 1998 in Alencon. Sue Smith also started and Rachel Brown and Rachel Yankey came off the bench. Sandrine Soubeyrand started for France.
• On 15 September 1999, Powell's England lost 1-0 to France in Yeovil. The following August France won 1-0 in Marseille, a game played ahead of a charity match between Les Bleus and the FIFA All-Stars. Soubeyrand and Sonia Bompastor started against Sue Smith, Yankey and substitutes Casey Stoney and Rachel Unitt.
• Their first two competitive meetings were in a play-off to reach the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, France winning 1-0 at both London's Selhurst Park and in Saint-Etienne. Powell fielded Stoney, Unitt, Fara Williams, Yankey and Sue Smith. France boasted Sabrina Viguier, Soubeyrand, Bompastor and second-leg substitute Laura Georges.
• They were paired together in the same 2007 World Cup qualifying group, drawing 0-0 in Blackburn on 26 March 2006. Brown, Stoney, Unitt, Anita Asante, Karen Carney, Williams, Eniola Aluko, Kelly Smith, Yankey and substitute Alex Scott lined up against Sarah Bouhaddi, Georges, Viguier, Soubeyrand, Élise Bussaglia, Bompastor and Camile Abily.
• It all came down to the final qualifier in Rennes when France needed to win to pip England to earn a place in China. Williams gave England a 63rd-minute lead and, despite Luidvine Diguelman levelling with two minutes left, France missed out.
• Bouhaddi, Georges, Soubeyrand, Bussaglia, Bompastor, Laure Lepailleur and substitutes Élodie Thomis and Abily faced Brown, Alex Scott, Unitt, Asante, Carney, Williams, Aluko, Kelly Smith, Yankey and subs Stoney and Sue Smith.
• With Bruno Bini now at Les Bleues' helm, England played France at the first Cyprus Cup in March 2009 and drew 2-2. Goals from Corine Franco and Thomis were cancelled out by Stoney and Carney.
• Brown, Stoney, Asante, Stephanie Houghton, Williams, Carney, Sue Smith and Kelly Smith plus substitutes Alex Scott and Aluko faced Bouhaddi, Georges, Viguier, Soubeyrand, Thomis, Louisa Nécib, Bussaglia. Gaëtane Thiney and Eugénie Le Sommer came on.
• The teams met again in the March 2012 Cyprus Cup, France winning 3-0 through goals from Nécib, Marie-Laure Delie and Thiney. Bouhaddi, Bompastor, Wendie Renard, Ophélie Meilleroux, Corine Franco, Abily, Bussaglia and Le Summer also started while Laetitia Philippe, Laure Boulleau, Camille Catala and Thomis were substitutes. England's team included Stoney, winning her 100th cap, Karen Bardsley, Alex Scott, Laura Bassett, Houghton, Jill Scott, Asante, Kelly Smith, Carney, Ellen White and Jessica Clarke with Carly Telford, Fara Williams and Rachel Williams among the substitutes.
Selected previous meetings
9 July 2011: England 1-1 France, aet 3-4 pens (J Scott 59; Bussaglia 88) – BayArena, Leverkusen, FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-final
England: Bardsley, A Scott (Houghton 81), Unitt (Rafferty 81), J Scott, F White, Stoney, F Williams, E White, K Smith, Yankey (Asante 84), Carney.
France: Bouhaddi, Georges, Soubeyrand (Thomis), Bompastor, Abily, Lepailleur, Nécib (Brétigny 79; Le Sommer 106), Bussaglia, Thiney, Delier, Viguier.
• An injury-hit England team nearly reached their first semi-final, but it was Les Bleues who earned a last-four bow. Karen Bardsley saved France's first penalty from Abily, but Claire Rafferty and Faye White missed England's last two either side of Le Sommer's crucial conversion.
20 October 2012: France 2-2 England (Delie 59 83; Houghton 34, J Scott 39) – Charléty, Paris, Friendly
France: Bouhaddi, Franco, Georges, Meilleroux, Boulleau, Soubeyrand (Catala 46), Abily, Nécib, Thiney (Thomis 46, Hamraoui 90+2), Le Sommer, Delie.
England: Bardsley (Chamberlain 70), A Scott, Stoney, Bradley (Bassett 79), Houghton, J Scott, Asante, Carney, Aluko (F Williams 46), E White (Susi 79), Yankey (Duggan 46).
• Not long before these sides were drawn together they met for an exciting friendly. Houghton's superb free-kick and Jill Scott's header were eventually cancelled out by Delie's double.
• There have been many important youth meetings between these nations, most notably the 2010 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship final in Skopje where France beat holders England 2-1.
• When Bini and Powell coached the respective U18 sides they recorded 1-1 qualifying draws in 1997/98 and 2000/01.
• England have had only one competitive women's win in 14 games at all levels against France: 3-1 in the 2007 U19 group stage in Iceland. Bradley, Natasha Dowie and Ellen White scored for England, with Delie having made it 2-1. Jessica Clarke and Dani Buet also played for England.
• France achieved the only perfect record in qualifying, winning their eight games with 32 goals scored and two conceded. Eleven different players scored.
• They are on a run of 23 straight qualifying group victories going back to a June 2007 loss in Iceland.
• France were the best European performers at the 2012 Olympic tournament, finishing fourth after beating Sweden 2-1 in the quarter-finals then losing 2-1 to Japan in the semis and 1-0 to Canada for bronze.
• Before losing their Olympic opener 4-2 to the United States they had won 17 games in a row. They reached the FIFA Women's World Cup semi-finals for the first time in 2011, losing to the United States and then being beaten by Sweden for third place.
• When they made the UEFA Women's EURO 2009 quarter-finals it was the first time France had progressed from any senior group stage.
• England began qualifying with a surprise 2-2 draw in Serbia, having been two up and, although they were held 0-0 in the Netherlands, they then beat the Dutch 1-0 in Manchester to finish top.
• Most of the England team were in Powell's Great Britain Olympic squad that reached the quarter-finals on home soil, having reached the same stage at the 2011 World Cup.
• England's run to the 2009 final (lost 6-2 to Germany) was their best run since reaching the inaugural two-legged 1984 decider. Powell was part of a team that lost 1-0 to Sweden in Gothenberg and won the return 1-0 in Luton before they were defeated on penalties.
• In recent years Olympique Lyonnais have proved something of a nemesis for Arsenal LFC when these nations' two biggest clubs have met in the UEFA Women's Champions League/UEFA Women's Cup.
• Arsenal's defence of the trophy in 2007/08 was ended in the quarter-final stage by debutants Lyon. The first leg was goalless at Stade de Gerland but Lyon won the return 3-2, Arsenal having come from behind to lead through Kelly Smith and Yankey only for Abily and Thomis to turn the tie.
• Alongside Abily and Thomis were Georges, Bompastor, Lepailleur and Nécib while Arsenal also included Asante and Carney.
• Lyon hosted a second qualifying round group the next year and beat Arsenal 3-0 with both sides already through. Goalscorer Abily, Georges, Bompastor, Abily, Nécib and Thomis faced Carney and Yankey.
• In the 2010/11 semi-finals, Lyon beat Arsenal 2-0 in front of 20,123 fans before winning 3-2 away. Bouhaddi, Renard, Georges, Nécib, Thomis, Viguier, Abily, Bompastor and double goalscorer Le Sommer took on Houghton, scorer Ellen White and Yankey.
©UEFA.com 1998-2013. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:d9f21245-cac5-4775-bc02-914ca73bcaa7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/matches/season=2013/round=2000175/match=2010728/index.html | 2013-05-22T14:25:39Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928379 | 2,088 |
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5/8/09 - Joanna and Andy at the Kentucky Derby in May, 2009: http://andysamberg.blogspot.com/2009/05/andy-samberg-joanna-newsom-and-akiva.h...
Updated 12/11/10: Apparently youses want to see Andy naked. So we're including some images of that amongst this article. LOL ==========...
10/20/09 Update: We're updating to let you know that Kristen Wiig joining the Weekend Update desk was just a rumor. Seth squelched the r...
Update: Adding some NBC videos, because Hulu wants to know when you were born. Grrrr. Added all the videos and a backstage video as well. En...
Andy Samberg VS Bill Hader - Impression Off This was a segment of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. This is the first episode of the ...
So apparently the Bacon and Legs bar/restaurant for the new Andy Samberg / Adam Sandler comedy has upset the local folks. Here is more... ...
Don't let stomach issues get in the way of the party. Commercial - Pepto-Bismol Ice Bill Hader ... announcer (voice) Taran Ki...
Question: Who's Jorma Taccone's Wife? Jorma theme today! Answer: Marielle Heller Click for more info: http://www.imdb.com/nam...
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Andy Samberg SNL Promotions
- Andy & Anne Hathaway 2
- Andy & Emma Stone
- Andy & Amy Poehler
- Andy & Gabourey Sidibe
- Andy & Jennifer Lopez
- Andy & Charles Barkley
- Andy & Blake Lively
- Andy & January Jones
- Andy & Megan Fox
- Andy & Justin Timberlake
- Andy & The Rock
- Andy & Steve Martin
- Andy & Paul Rudd
- Andy & Anne Hathaway
- Andy & Shia Lebeouf
- Andy & Ashton Kutcher
- Andy & Ellen Page
- Andy & Seth Rogan
- Andy & Drew Barrymore
- Andy & Ludacris
- Andy & Jamie Pressly
- Andy & Scarlett Johansson
Some Favorite Andy Samberg Posts
- Andy as Jewey Fallon - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
- Andy & T-Pain are glad that Jorma isn't on the boat
- Andy in Show Choir
- Andy in Rose Bowl Promo: Football Taping
- Andy's 2009 favorites
- MacGruber movie review
- Should SNL show digital shorts instead of domestic violence?
- John Hamm to host SNL again in January
- Andy in Nature of the Beast
- Why is SNL featuring so many young and attractive hosts?
- Saturday Night Live 12/5/09 - Blake Lively & Rihanna
- Andy nominated for a Grammy
- Andy & Blake Lively - SNL Promo
- Andy hangs with the SNL crew
- Blake, Taylor, and James hosting
- Does Andy have a big butt?
- Reba digital short
- Andy Samberg in The Mellow Show
- 10 ways to fix SNL (I wish this was a joke)
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt - SNL Promos
- Andy Samberg & Friends - Comedy Central's report
- What SNL Alumni should host SNL?
- in Lady's Guide To Throwing A Party
- "Get Out" Digital Short
- Andy & January Jones - SNL Promo
- Andy Samberg and Friends - Kristen's Review
- Andy Samberg and Friends - Stephanie's Review
- January Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Host SNL
- Full Episode: SNL 11/7/09 - Taylor Swift
- Taylor Swift gets Kanye'd already
- Andy Samberg Halloween costumes
- Should SNL cast members exploit commercials?
- Supports the elephants
- Night of Too Many Stars
- Loves his sweatshirt and Joanna Newsom
- Space Chimps 2?
- Yo Gabba Gabba - Behind the scenes
- Taylor Swift is hosting SNL
- National Bosses Day (Like a Boss)
- On the Ground - Behind the scenes (video)
- Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (videos - 10/13/09)
- on Yo Gabba Gabba (video)
- His Elle shoot (video)
- SNL, 9/26/09 - Megan Fox & U2
- Andy and friends at the Emmys
- Andy Samberg and Jimmy Fallon at the MTV VMAs
- Andy Samberg behind the scenes of "Cloudy" Video
- Andy Samberg on Martha Stewart
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4.0 Laser-Sharp Lessons
NETWORKING >> Each section contains key Action Items located within the downloadable Action Guide >> Click to Download Action Guide.
Did you know that the energy put out by a normal light bulb is equal to the energy put out by a laser beam? A laser has a very tight beam and is very strong and concentrated. A light bulb, on the other hand, releases light in many directions, so the light is comparably weak and diffuse. The difference between the two allows the laser, with focused energy, to have the power to do very fine and delicate surgery, artistic etching, as well as play the broad, full sounds of an orchestral overture.
Does that sound like the kind of precision you want from your networking
activities? I’ve found that there are three ways to bring your networking
efforts into laser-sharp focus to build your business:
1. When talking about what you do at networking groups, focus on one aspect of your business at each meeting.
Remember, your goal in the networking process should be to train a sales force, not close a sale. Therefore, each time you have an opportunity, you should focus on a specific product or service which you offer, and then train people how to refer you in this area.
Too often we try to cover everything we do in one introduction. When you
have the chance to be in front of the same group of folks regularly, don’t
make the mistake most people make by painting with too broad a brush.
Laser-sharp networking calls for you to be very specific and detailed about
one thing at a time.
Sometimes I hear businesspeople say they have a “full service” business. I
think saying this alone is a mistake; full service doesn’t really mean
anything to people who don’t understand the details of all the services you
offer. Instead, talk about what you specialize in or what you’re best known
for. There’s something that sets you apart from the competition—let others
know about that aspect of your business.
2. When asking for referrals from your networking partners, be very specific about what you want.
Identify specific people to whom you wish to be introduced. Personal
introductions can open doors for you that would’ve otherwise remained
closed. If you don’t know the name of the manager of another business
you wish to meet, find out—then ask specifically for a referral to that
Give vivid examples of the type of referral you wish to receive. I’d
recommend reviewing a case study from a current client or past
successful referral with your networking partners. Define what the needs
were of that prospect and how your business met those needs. Be as
detailed as you can be so your networking partners can really visualize
the experience and have a clear picture of how you were able to meet
this person’s needs. This will give them clarity and focus when they
meet another person with the same needs.
3. Meet with each person in your networking circle one on one.
Do this away from the general networking session, to deepen the relationship and dial-up the focus of your networking efforts. I can’t stress enough the importance of deepening the relationships with your networking partners. To really maximize the energy of the partnerships you’re forging with your referral sources, it’s critical to spend time with them. Just going to a social function or sitting side-by-side at some type of conference or networking event isn’t enough. You have to be face-to-face, talking and exploring commonalities and complimentary aspects of each of your businesses to be as powerful a referral source for each other as you can be.
In our increasingly fast-paced society and business climate, it’s important to take your time to get to know your referral sources and cultivate long-lasting and mutually profitable relationships. It’s true that “time is money,” but I also know that without investing a good chunk of your time in one-on-one relationships, you won’t have the kind of strong and deeply focused referral sources you need for successful word-of-mouth marketing.
By focusing your efforts like a laser beam, you’ll fine-tune your networking message and increase your results.
Is there a specific type of networking organization to which these
These techniques apply to most networking organizations, but the one to
which they best apply is a strong-contact network or business development network—groups like BNI, which meet every single week. The more specific you are the easier it is for them to hang their hat on some concept of what you do, and the easier it is for them to refer you—because you’ve educated them over time.
Do you have any success stories that illustrate that principle: “specific is terrific”?
Twenty years ago I was at a BNI meeting where a person, who was a printer that specialized in business forms, stood up at a meeting and said, “I’ve never really mentioned that I really love designing forms—not just printing them. I’ve brought in a couple of examples of the work that I do in designing forms.”
One of the members at the meeting stood up and said, “I was literally
going to go down the street after this meeting to some other company and
have them do a design for me so that I could take it to you to get printed.
I had no idea that you also design forms. I’ve got a referral for you today,
and I wouldn’t have had that if you hadn’t stood up and described, very
specifically, this aspect of your business.”
The more laser-specific you are, the more likely you are to have people
remember aspects of your products and services and be more effective at
Do you have any success stories of an individual who asked for a
specific introduction to a person by name?
I had someone at a networking meeting stand up and say, “I’m looking for
someone who knows…” and then he named a real estate agent who lived
in Southern California. This particular agent was the number one real
estate agent for the franchise that he was referring to for about the last 10
years. He continued, “I’m looking for someone who might know this
individual because I can’t get past the secretary to talk to the agent.”
The person who sponsored him into this networking event stood up and
said, “John, I know that agent. She’s my sister-in-law.” He said, “My
goodness, your sister in law? Why didn’t you ever tell me that?” And she
said, “Why didn’t you ever ask?”
You have to be specific about what you’re looking for and sometimes just
putting it out there to your networking partners is all it takes—that laser specificity rings a bell with people. They’ll say, “Gee, I know somebody who
knows that person.” Or, “I know somebody who can help that person.”
It’s really a great argument for being part of one of those strong-contact networks where you have that opportunity to be face-to-face with one another on a regular basis so you can bring specific requests to them, week after week.
Being the founder of the world’s largest strong-contact network, it would
be hard for me to argue with you on that one. I certainly agree. But diversity is key in all your networks. Participating in chamber groups and service clubs is also good. But no doubt, the laser-specific technique is most applicable to groups like BNI, where you’re meeting on a regular basis.
The third technique you’ve recommended was to meet with each person in your networking circle one-to-one. Do you have a specific list of topics you recommend you cover when meeting one-to-one?
In the book I co-authored with Robert Davis, Business By Referral, I recommend “GAINS Exchange.” It’s an acronym that stands for: goals,
accomplishments, interests, networks and skills. What I recommend at the one-to-one is that you sit down and you do an exchange of information, of your GAINS. At first blush you might look at that and say, “That’s not asking for any business.” No, it’s not, but it is all about building the relationship.
The more I get to know you, the more I build a relationship, and the better the chance we establish trust. And knowing particularly your areas of interests and skills and goals gives me an opportunity to make a connection with you. It even helps you find overlapping interests that help to build the relationship over time.
ACTION ITEMS: Complete the Action Items in your Action Guide.
Explain what separates you from your competition.
Describe how you met a customer’s need or plan to do so.
Identify three potential customers, partners or others you want to be referred to and who might refer you to them from within your network.
1) Referred by:
2) Referred by:
3) Referred by:
Explain what you want the referring person to convey to your potential customers or other individuals.
Now that you know what you want your referrals to say, set up an opportunity for a one-to-one and get your message to each of them, BUT only if the relationship has been cultivated and you have developed credibility with them. Never skip the “farming” process of a relationship. | <urn:uuid:83c75709-9783-4370-9f72-9cdd3a7d71b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usentrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/networking/laser-sharp-networking/ | 2013-05-24T22:43:05Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960105 | 2,074 |
Lahair Club Not Just for Men
Bryan Lahair cranked a three-run homer to tie the game and then later doubled and scored, leading the Cubs to an 11-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Cactus League action at sunnny and warm Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa this afternoon, in what was the first-ever appearance by the Reds at HoHoKam Park. (The Reds relocated their Spring Training camp from Sarasota, FL to Goodyear, AZ this year).
Battling for a spot in the Cubs starting rotation, lefty Sean Marshall did nothing to hurt his chances, throwing three very solid innings (49 pitches - 33 strikes, 4/3 GO/FO). He allowed just a solo HR to Reds third-baseman Juan Francisco (a LH hitter, BTW) and a single to Wladimir Balentien. He struck out two (Jay Bruce and Paul Janish), and didn't walk anybody. Marshall threw strikes and got outs.
Meanwhile, Reds starter Homer Bailey shut out the Cubs through the first two innings, before the Cubs broke-through with a single run in the bottom of the 3rd. James Adduci sliced a double into the LF corner (he had three hits today, for a total of five over the last two games), advanced to third on a Starlin Castro ground out (three ground outs for Castro today), and scored when Darwin Barney grounded a single into RF that scooted just beyond the reach of Reds second-baseman Brandon Phillips.
Adduci has been working with new Cubs hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo on elevating his swing such that he might perhaps hit some HR (Adduci is a big guy, and looks like a 25+ HR hitter, except he hits mostly singles). But while he hasn't hit a HR yet, the extra work in the batting cage seems to have helped Adduci's overall approach to hitting. He has suddenly turned into an aggressive, ferocious hitter the last few days, after struggling at the plate early in camp. With his ability to play all three OF positions (and 1B), and with his plus-speed (he runs VERY well for a big guy, with 35 SB last year at AA Tennessee), he might actually be in the mix for the 4th OF gig, especially if Sam Fuld continues to struggle at the plate, and if the Cubs want Tyler Colvin and Brad Snyder to play every day at AAA. Piniella seems to really like Adduci. (BTW, Adduci's dad played in the big leagues with STL, MIL, and PHI back in the 1980's).
2009 Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the year (and NRI RHP) Casey Coleman entered the game in the top of the 4th, and really struggled with his control throughout his two innings of work (39 pitches - just 18 strikes, including a 25-pitch 4th inning where he threw just nine strikes). Coleman also struggled with his control in his last outing, and that's no way for a young pitcher to make a favorable impression on a manager who hates walks as much as Lou Piniella does.
Coleman walked Brandon Phillips leading off the 4th inning, before surrendering a long HR over the left-centerfield fence to Juan Francisco (the husky third-baseman's second round-tripper of the day), and then escaped what could have been a much-worse inning when Yonder Alonso hit a rope-liner right at shortstop Starlin Castro, allowing the Cubs to double Wladimir Balentien (who had walked with one out) off 1st base (Balentien was running on a 3-2 pitch). Then with one out in the 5th, Paul Janish homered over the LF fence, giving the Reds a 4-1 lead.
But that was the last time the Cubs trailed, as they rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th, scoring all of the runs on one swing of the bat, the Bryan Lahir game-tying three-run tater off Reds RHP Micah Owings that the powerful ex-Mariners 1st baseman ripped over the RF fence with two outs, following an Adduci single and a Barney walk.
With Micah Hoffpauir having had a terrible Spring at the plate so far, Lahair may be passing Hoffpauir on the depth chart behind Derrek Lee. Barring an injury to D-Lee, neither Hoffpauir nor Lahair are going to make the Cubs Opening Day 25-man roster, but Lahair might get the call over Hoffpauir later in the season (like maybe on September 1st, when rosters expand) if the Cubs wish to add a LH power-hitting 1B at that time.
Rule 5 RHP Mike Parisi pitched the 6th and 7th for the Cubs, and was a perfect six up/six down (L-9, Ks, F-9, P-3, 3-U, and 6-3, on 21 pitches - 16 strikes), probably further solidifying his spot in the Cubs bullpen. Being a Rule 5 player, the Cubs are going to give Parisi a longer look than they might give to another pitcher who isn't subject to getting reclaimed by his former team (in this case, the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals), but he still has to perform well in Spring Training outings if he wants to make the Cubs 25-man roster. And so far, he has performed very well indeed.
While Parisi was holding-off the Reds, the Cubs scored five runs off Reds NRI RHRP Jon Adkins, and then two more off LOOGY Pedro Viola.
Chad Tracy led-off the Cubs 6th with a line-single to left-center, and then Alfonso Soriano pulled a line-drive double into the LF corner (Sori's second hit of the game). For some reason (brain fart, perhaps?), temporary 3rd base coach Ryne Sandberg (Mike Quade was with the split squad in Las Vegas) inexplicably decided to send Tracy home. But Tracy was obviously a dead duck, so much so that he turned around half-way home and tried to get back to 3rd base, where he was tagged out for the 1st out of the inning. But DH Bobby Scales picked-up Tracy (and Sandberg), following the gaffe with an RBI double, a sharply hit grounder down the 1st base line and into the RF corner that scored PR Ty Wright (up from Minor League Camp) from 2nd base with the go-ahead run. Koyie Hill followed with a line single to right, advancing Scales to 3rd, and then after Adduci struck out swinging, Hak-Ju Lee (also up from Minor League Camp) lined a two-run double into the LF corner, scoring Scales and Hill (and the speedy HJ Lee was standing on 2nd base before K. Hill even hit 3rd!). While Starlin Castro may be the Cubs top position-player prospect going into the 2010 season, Hak-Ju Lee (rated the #1 prospect in the Northwest League by Baseball America in 2009) is not far behind. Lee sprays line-drives from foul line to foul line.
Now up 7-4, the Cubs added four more in the 7th. Lahair almost decapitated Reds first-baseman Miguel Cairo with a lead-off low-flying line-drive double smoked down the first-base line, advanced to 3rd base on a Tyler Colvin single to left-center, and, after Chad Tracy struck out looking against Reds lefty reliever Pedro Viola (who had just entered the game), scored on a Ty Wright line-drive single to LF. Bobby Scales then hit into a FC (advancing Colvin to third), and Colvin and Scales both scored on a double off the top of the LF fence (a near HR) by catcher Chris Robinson. (With Uncle Lou having seen Robinson actually get a key two-out RBI extra-base hit, the Cubs might be more-willing to call-up Robinson if Geovany Soto or K. Hill get hurt, something they were not willing to do last year when Soto went on the DL in August). Adduci then plated Robinson with an RBI single to right to complete the Cubs scoring for the day.
RHRP Jeff Stevens (in contention for a job in the Cubs bullpen, but having a bad Spring) worked the 8th inning for the Cubs (18 pitches - 11 strikes, 1/2 GO/FO), allowing just a one-out double to NRI OF Josh Anderson (an outstanding diving-try near-miss by LF Ty Wright), but no runs.
RHP Esmailin Caridad worked an easy 1-2-3 16-pitch 9th (Kc, 5-3, F-8) to finish-off the Redlegs and send Cub fans home happy.
Besides Lahair's big day (he also made an outstanding catch in foul territory, reaching into the stands to grab a pop up), James Adduci and Tyler Colvin had three hits a piece, and Darwin Barney reached base three times on two singles and a walk. Barney also made a sterling defensive play in the top of the 2nd, ranging far to his left, diving to make the stop, and then nailing the base-runner at 2nd base with a throw from his knees.
While one Cubs squad trounced the Reds in Mesa, the other squad was in Las Vegas, edging the White Sox 8-7. Ryan Dempster threw three innings of one-hit ball in the hitter's paradise known as "Cashman Field," allowing just one unearned run, walking none, while striking out two.
The Cubs play the Angels tomorrow afternoon in Tempe. | <urn:uuid:a7aaa77f-feb0-46ef-a9e5-3eda76d21fe2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecubreporter.com/comment/155559 | 2013-05-24T23:09:03Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966169 | 2,051 |
|Scientific Name:||Carcharias taurus (Southwest Atlantic subpopulation)|
|Species Authority:||Rafinesque, 1810|
|Taxonomic Notes:||See Compagno (1984, 2001) for a detailed discussion of the taxonomical background for this species and for its separation from the genus Odontaspis. Off India it appears to have been referred to as C. tricuspidatus (Compagno 1984) but this name was synonymized with C. taurus (Compagno 2001).|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Critically Endangered A2abcd ver 3.1|
|Assessor/s:||Chiaramonte, G., Domingo, A. & Soto, J.|
|Reviewer/s:||Musick, J., Dudley, S., Soldo, A., Francis, M., Valenti, S.V. & Kyne, P.M. (Shark Red List Authority)|
A large migratory coastal shark with one of the lowest reproductive rates known among chondrichthyans, giving birth to only one or two large young every two years. As a result, annual rates of population increase and ability to sustain fishing pressure are extremely low. Although the species is widespread in subtropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea, regional populations are isolated and are not thought to mix. In the Southwest Atlantic, the species ranges from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (21°S) to San Matías Gulf, Argentina (41°30’S). Although it is not directly fished in this region, it does have commercial value as a bycatch in benthic trawling and gillnet fisheries and is harvested throughout this range by commercial, artisanal and recreational (mainly in Argentina) fishing. In Uruguay, this species has been taken for over 50 years by the artisanal fleet and it formed an important component of gillnet catches off southern Brazil in the 1980s. Catches have declined dramatically off Uruguay from 784 kg per fishing day in 1985 to 32 kg per fishing day in 2001 and off southern Brazil from a CPUE of 11.7 to 0.3 sharks per 1,000 meters of net during the 1980s and 1990s, respectively. Recent surveys (2005) also appear to indicate that catches in the gillnet fisheries off southern Brazil have declined considerably relative to levels in the 1980s. Aggregations off Brazil were also targeted by spear-fishers for sport in the 1970s and 1980s. This species is assessed as Critically Endangered due to a combination of a severe depletion along the Brazilian coast since the 1970s and declining trends in the Uruguayan coastal fisheries. Coastal fishing pressure is intense and continuing within its range along the South Atlantic coast of South America. The species is listed as threatened with over-exploitation on Annex II of the Brazilian federal law of Threatened and Overexploited Aquatic Species. However there are no known species-specific management measures in place for it within the region and protection measures are urgently required.
Carcharias taurus has a broad but disjunct distribution in littoral and sub-littoral waters, primarily in subtropical to warm temperate regions around the main continental landmasses, except in the eastern and central Pacific (Compagno 1984, 2001; Gilmore et al. 1983). It is not known from deepwater, unlike Odontaspis ferox.
Southwest Atlantic subpopulation: in the Southwest Atlantic C. taurus ranges from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (21°S) to San Matías Gulf, Argentina (41°30’S) (Menni 1986, Soto 2001).
Native:Argentina (Buenos Aires, Rio Negro); Brazil (Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo); Uruguay
|FAO Marine Fishing Areas:||
Atlantic – southwest
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Population:||Morphometric and meristic analysis indicate that the Southwest Atlantic subpopulation is a probable “closed group” with common characteristics, but not a distinct species (Sadowsky 1970, Compagno 2001). Although there is no information on the population size of C. taurus in the Southwest Atlantic, past and present fishing pressures have led to significant declines in catches (see Threats section below).|
|Habitat and Ecology:||
Carcharias taurus generally occurs in warm-temperate and subtropical waters, ranging from the surf zone and shallow bays to approximately 200 m depth on the outer continental shelf. The species is most usually found on or near the bottom in reef areas but may occasionally occur in midwater or at the surface (Compagno 1984). Embryonic oviphagy and intra-uterine cannibalism occurs in this species and only two large pups are produced per litter every second year (Gilmore et al. 1983, Goldman 2002, Goldman et al. in press). As a result, annual rates of population increase are very low, greatly reducing its ability to sustain fishing pressure. Size at birth is about 95 to 105 cm TL (Gilmore et al. 1983).
Maximum size attained is 300 to 320 cm TL (females) and 220 to 270 cm TL (males) (Compagno 2001). Age and size at maturity varies regionally. Age at maturity is reported at 7.7 years (females) and 4.5 years (males) in the Southwest Atlantic by Lucifora (2003). Lucifora (2003) reports size at maturity in the Southwest Atlantic as 218 to 235 cm TL (females) and 193 cm TL (males). Longevity is estimated at 18.3 years in females and 12.8 years in males in the Southwest Atlantic (Lucifora 2003).
Average reproductive age is 17.1 yrs from demographic analysis (Goldman 2002). Natural mortality is MHoenig = 0.205, MJensen = 0.211 and MPauly = 0.198 from analyses from the Southwest Atlantic (Lucifora 2003).
Because this species typically inhabits shallow inshore areas it is rarely, if ever caught by large-scale industrial fisheries operating on the high seas. However, its nearshore distribution makes it susceptible to small-scale multi-species and artisanal fisheries as well as recreational fisherman, spearfishers and shark control programs. As a bycatch in other fisheries it is often reported as unidentified shark or not reported at all and as such the extent of the impact that these fisheries have had on C. taurus is unknown for most of its geographic range. Consequently this species could be at a high risk of unrecognized depletion in many countries.
The sand tiger is not subjected to directed fishing in South America, but nevertheless does have commercial value (including the jaws) as a non target catch in benthic trawling and gillnet fisheries and is harvested throughout its regional range by commercial, artisanal and recreational (mainly in Argentina) fishing (Chiaramonte 1998, Nion 1999, Lucifora et al. 2002). Coastal species are the most important commercial elasmobranchs in the Southwest Atlantic and coastal fishing pressure is intense in this region (Bonfil et. al. 2005). The exposure of its coastal habitat to fisheries and its vulnerable life-history characteristics provide little capacity for recovery.
Captures of C. taurus from Central-North Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil have declined dramatically throughout the 1980s and 1990s from a CPUE of 11.7 to 0.3 sharks per 1000 meters of net (Soto 2001) (a decline of approximately 97%). In Rio Grande do Sul C. taurus were fished with gillnets during the 1980s, at which time the species was considered abundant and could be captured in aggregations (Vooren et al. 2005). However there are no records of the species from monitoring of the shore based fishery during the summer of 2003, and the species occurred in only 3 of 43 fishing trips (11 individuals captured in total) by the Passo de Torres gillnet fishery monitored during November-March 2005 (Vooren et al. 2005). Vooren et al. (2005) note that this species is now considered rare in this area and that the scarcity of recent records of neonates is of great concern. Adult C. taurus can still be found inshore along the coast between Tramandaí and Saint Simão (30 to 31°S) (Vooren et al. 2005). Although no information exists on the population size of C. taurus, fishing pressure is intense and continuing within its coastal habitat off southern Brazil. Large aggregations of C. taurus were also systematically wiped out in Santa Catarina state, Brazil, by spear fishermen in the 1970s and 1980s.
In Uruguay, this species has been taken for over 50 years by the artisanal fleet. Captures increased in the late 1970s, mainly in summer, reaching a peak in the mid 1980s. Thereafter there was a continued decline, with catches decreasing from 784 kg per fishing day in 1985 to 32 kg per fishing day in 2001 (A. Domingo pers. obs). Only occasional captures are recorded from 2000 to the present. There are also occasional captures in the trawl net and longline fisheries.
Lucifora (2003) estimated that 889 sharks (CI 95%=625 to 1,140) were captured by anglers during three consecutive summers (1999-2001) in Anegada Bay, Argentina. Out of 175 sharks observed, 153 suffered serious injuries of the internal organs caused by hooks. Crespo and Corcuera (1990) report extensive damage to shark catches in gillnets by marine mammals (sea lions bite out the belly of entangled sharks and eat the liver).
|Conservation Actions:||Further studies of the biology and reproduction of this species in the Southwest Atlantic are needed. This species has been listed as a species threatened with over-exploitation on Annex II of the Brazilian federal law of Threatened and Overexploited Aquatic Species since 2004 (Vooren and Klippel 2005). Also the prohibition of trawl fishing within three nautical miles from the coast of southern Brazil is now being enforced satisfactorily. However, the species is still caught as bycatch in the legally permitted coastal gillnet fisheries and offshore trawl and gillnet fisheries. It is recommended that the species is protected throughout its inshore range along the Southwest Atlantic coast of South America, particularly in areas of critical habitat and areas where the adult population still exists. A management plan is being considered for development for this species in the Bahía San Blas Reserve (Anegada Bay, Argentina).|
|Citation:||Chiaramonte, G., Domingo, A. & Soto, J. 2007. Carcharias taurus (Southwest Atlantic subpopulation). In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 19 June 2013.|
|Feedback:||If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please fill in the feedback form so that we can correct or extend the information provided| | <urn:uuid:4df33a97-e517-4b04-b82b-274197b189ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/63163/0 | 2013-06-19T12:48:31Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918119 | 2,399 |
What can you do to create a healthier personal environment?
Assess your nest.
Working with a home inspector, public health professional, contractor, or other construction expert as a guide, ask yourself some questions to evaluate your current house or apartment's environmental health:
- Are you free of the "big three?" Radon, mold, and lead are all common home toxins. Radon testing is widely available, and best practices exist in new construction to minimize radon entry into the property. Check for moisture problems that act as hotbeds for mold growth, and look into mold testing if necessary. Finally, lead is present in many older homes' paint and pipes. Call your local public health department for information on testing for and eliminating lead in your home.
- How well-ventilated is your home? While solid construction decreases your home's energy loss, a home that is too airtight can seal in indoor air pollutants. Proper ventilation also helps control moisture and reduce risk of mold and other environmental health concerns. Simple fixes to increase ventilation include installing ceiling fans and operable skylights and windows.
- Does your landscaping contribute to your environmental health? Large lawns traditionally require greater pesticide use, and increase air and noise pollution generated from mowing. Consider planting perennial groundcovers, native foliage, or other low-maintenance landscaping. Even better, landscape with edible plants and devote a portion of your yard to organic vegetable gardening.
Before you rent or begin new construction, consider these additional questions:
- Will your new space support recycling/reuse with storage space for cans, bottles, paper, and other items?
- What is your potential home's proximity to major noisemakers like airports, railroad tracks, or highways?
- What will keep you warm? Although most mainstream commercial insulations are considered safe, check out some healthy alternative insulation, including those made with recycled denim and other cloth, wool, icynene and nanogel.
- How big is your planned home? Small is good. A well-planned home with less square footage uses fewer building and maintenance resources.
Clear the air.
Consider these steps toward improving indoor air quality:
- In your home, radon and mold tend to be the most serious barriers to indoor air quality. Relatively inexpensive tests exist to assess your home's mold and radon levels.
- The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offers guidelines about common workplace air quality complaints, which usually focus on temperature, humidity, lack of outside air ventilation or smoking. Find out more .
- For employees in farming and industrial fields, on-the-job outdoor air quality is also a concern. Each state has a department of environmental health within its main health department that can advise workers and employers on outdoor air quality regulations. To find your state's health department, visit the Centers for Disease Control site.
- If you smoke, stop. If you live with someone who smokes, insist on a strict outdoor smoking policy. Approximately 3,000 American adults die of lung cancer each year due to secondhand smoke exposure. In young children, secondhand smoke increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and asthma.
Know your H20.
Increase your water quality with these tips:
- The longer water has been sitting in pipes, the more lead it may contain. Run or "flush" your tap for up to two minutes, depending upon how long it's been between uses.
- Since hot water is more likely to contain lead, only drink, cook and make baby formula with cold water.
- The only way to be totally certain about your home's water quality is to have it tested. This is especially important for people in high-rise buildings, where "flushing" the pipes may not be as effective. Your local water supplier, health department or university can offer information about credible testing resources.
- Water filters have been shown to increase purity. Filters can range from simple pitcher-based systems to more elaborate reverse-osmosis home units.
- Remember that bottled water is not necessarily of higher quality than regular tap water. And according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 60 million plastic bottles a day are manufactured, transported and then disposed of in U.S. landfills, compromising your community's environmental health.
Green your cleaning.
Are your cleaning products messing up your health? While we're far from knowing the health impact of all chemicals used in cleaning agents, you can easily (and very inexpensively) create your own house-healthy cleaners. Some tips:
- Mix either vinegar or baking soda with warm water in a spray bottle, and you've got an effective, all-purpose cleansing agent.
- Bypass commercial air deodorizers, many of which contain formaldehyde. Instead, add cinnamon, essential oils, cloves, or any herbs you like to a pan of boiling water, and let the sweet steam deodorize.
- On laundry day, reach for Borax (sodium borate). This natural mineral acts as a stain-remover, bleach alternative and detergent booster. Baking soda can remove stains and deodorizes, and cornstarch absorbs greasy stains and starches your clothing. Lemon juice can also double for bleach.
- Salt (sodium chloride) is a mild abrasive for cleaning bathrooms and kitchens.
- Consider hiring a "green" cleaning service, or ask your traditional housekeeper to use the methods and products you find healthiest.
Increase your chemical awareness.
While it's impractical to try to have no contact with chemicals, you can reduce your chemical exposure in relatively simple ways:
- Some beauty products contain chemicals that are anything but pretty. For example, nail polish, body lotions, and perfumes often contain phthalates, a controversial substance linked to birth defects in animals and possibly humans. Shampoos that attack dandruff might also play havoc on your health; the active ingredient selenium sulfide is a neurotoxin and possible carcinogen. Hair dyes often have coal tar, another chemical linked to cancer. So read labels, and choose a product that will be as lovely for your health as it is for your appearance.
- Don't create toxic trash. If you're tossing old medications, resist flushing them down the toilet, where they can invade water supplies. Also consider calling your local recycler, many of which accept old cleaning products, paint, oil and other chemicals that create even more treacherous landfills.
- Be sure to air out your garments after a trip to the drycleaners. Dry cleaning employs a chemical called perchloroethylene, which is actually toxic to humans. Some environmentally conscious cleaners use methods that do not contain "perc;" seek them out. Better yet, when possible choose clothing that only requires a trip to your laundry room, not a professional cleaner.
- Be mindful of plastic use. Some plastics contain bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-like chemical potentially linked to cancer. Experts also advise against microwaving food in plastic containers; although research is inconclusive, the heating process is thought to release chemicals from the plastic into your food. Reusing plastic bottles is another source of controversy. Some experts think reuse is safe if you carefully wash and dry the bottles between each use, while others feel that wear and tear on the plastic causes toxic chemical leakage. An always-safe alternative is glass. Finally, you can reduce the amount of plastic produced by recycling. Look at the bottom of your plastic container for a number from 1-7. Items labeled 1 or 2 (usually soft drink, jjuice, water, milk, and detergent containers) are eligible for curbside recycling. Numbers higher than 2 are either unrecyclable or require special drop-off at a recycling center.
Reduce the roar.
Decrease sound pollution at home and work with these simple suggestions:
- Employ low-tech solutions like earplugs and heavy curtains to block street noise.
- White noise machines and noise-cancelling headphones also create quiet.
- Double-paned windows reduce outdoor noise, including jet traffic.
- Before you begin new construction projects, communicate with your architect and/or contractor about noise reduction options. Some building materials and methods offer greater sound absorption or masking than others.
- When you are engaged in construction projects, or if you work in construction or another noisy trade, always wear hearing protection on the job.
- Be mindful about your personal noise production. For example, are you really watching your television, or is it simply on as "background noise?" Could you use a push mower instead of a power model, a shovel rather than a snow blower? Could you bike instead of drive? Select "vibrate" rather than the latest ringtone? Even small actions increase the peace.
Raise your EMF awareness.
It is important to note that research on EMF exposure is ongoing. But these easy actions just might improve your wellbeing:
- When possible, use a land line rather than your cell phone.
- Use a hands free device or speaker phone function if using a cell phone.
- Do not stand directly in front of your microwave oven while it's in use, or simply use your conventional oven.
- Limit your computer time.
- Use manual versions of personal care tools: an old-fashioned toothbrush rather than an electric model, or a razor instead of an electric shaver.
- Don't sleep under an electric blanket.
- Sit several feet from your television screen.
Enjoy local and organic foods.
The foods you choose not only impact your health from a nutritional standpoint, but from an environmental angle as well. Think about these fast facts:
- Eating locally grown produce means less transportation is required to get that apple from the tree to your table. This translates to reduced air and noise pollution in your community.
- Organic farming doesn't employ the pesticides often used in non-organic methods. That means that eating organic produce may reduce your ingestion of chemicals, and that pesticides will not leach into local water supplies. Joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) food plan might "cleanse" your diet and help your water supply.
- Research indicates that raising livestock increases greenhouse gas emissions, pollutes water supplies, and contributes to land degradation and deforestation. Food for thought next time you're choosing between a steak and a salad. | <urn:uuid:b14cf72c-25cd-4f12-b45a-f2431b43201b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/print/770?quicktabs_2=1 | 2013-06-19T12:41:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926708 | 2,149 |
Terms & Conditions
In these conditions 'we, us or our' means Sussex Cruise Club. 'You' and 'your' means each and every person named on the booking form. 'Principal/Supplier' means anybody other than us that is responsible for providing services to you, for example, an ATOL Operator, tour operator, cruise holiday company, insurance company, car hire company, flight or hotel wholesaler. "ATOL Operator" means a tour or cruise operator that is licensed by ATOL. "ATOL" is a protection scheme for flights and air holidays, managed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Sussex Cruise Club is a trading name of the Woods Travel Group. We recommend you read the details below as you are bound by them.
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by the Sussex Cruise Club and whilst we endeavour to keep the information up-to-date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of or in connection with the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of the Sussex Cruise Club. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
We act as an agent for principals/suppliers. This means that we obtain bookings for and on behalf of principals/suppliers. All bookings are subject to the relevant principals'/suppliers' terms and conditions. Details of the principals'/suppliers' terms and conditions are provided in their current published brochure or can be found on their website. A binding contract will be formed between you and the relevant supplier on the earlier of payment of the required deposit or once written confirmation of booking has been issued. It is your responsibility to read and understand the principals'/suppliers' terms and conditions and request further clarification when you make a booking if necessary.
It is your responsibility to check that details stated on booking forms, confirmations or (if earlier) invoices received are correct and inform us of any inaccuracies as soon as possible any changes to these details. We shall not be liable for any incorrect bookings where we have not been notified of any errors within the requisite time period. All names provided must be the same as in the relevant passports. Please note that we are only the agent for the principal/supplier.
3. Price and Payment
Our discounts apply to the basic cruise package price unless otherwise specified. This excludes all extras such as flight supplements, port taxes, excursions, travel insurance, car hire, hotel stays and parking surcharges and amendment or cancellation charges. Our discounts may not be used in conjunction with any other supplier promotion or discount offer unless otherwise specified. Some cruise lines may withhold certain promotions or free gifts associated with a cruise due to the high level of discount that we offer. Please ask staff at time of booking.
We reserve the right to charge in addition to your holiday price, a fee equivalent to 2% of your holiday payment when paid by credit card.
To enable us to forward the appropriate funds onto the supplier to ensure that it reaches them before or by their due date ("The principal/supplier Due Date") we must have received full payment from you by the due date stated on our invoice ("Sussex Cruise Club/Woods Holidays Ltd confirmation"). This date is calculated so as to fall at least seven days prior to the principal/supplier Due Date.If you fail to make payment by the our due date, this may result in the cancellation of your booking by the principal/supplier.
4. Cruise Line Discount Vouchers
Any discount letter or voucher received by you from a principal/supplier as a result of a complaint by you can be used when booking to reduce the principals'/suppliers' full price only. When discount letters or vouchers are used to make bookings through us they do not further reduce our discounted price, unless advised by us, instead we will apply our discount to the reduced principals'/suppliers' price.
5. If You Change or Cancel Your Booking
Amendment to or cancellation of your booking may result in additional charges in accordance with the principals'/suppliers' booking conditions. We do not charge for cancellations but if you make several requests to amend the same booking you will be asked to pay an administration charge and any further cost we incur in making such further amendments or cancellation.
Any amendment or cancellation of any booking must be confirmed in writing to us. You should contact us as soon as possible. Our administration costs could increase the closer to the departure that changes are made.
You are strongly advised to purchase comprehensive travel insurance to cover all aspects of your holiday. We can offer you travel insurance at the time of booking through a limited number of insurers. No additional fees will be charged for this service. All of our cruise consultants have completed and passed the ABTA Travel Insurance Training Programme. The Sussex Cruise Club/Woods Holidays Ltd are appointed representatives of ITC Compliance Limited which is authorised and regulated by the FSA (their registration number is 313486) and which is permitted to advise on and arrange general insurance contracts.
We will only be liable to you for our own negligence or breach of our obligations. We are not liable for the acts and omissions of principals/suppliers and we shall not be liable for any loss of profit, business related or indirect losses suffered by you. Any disputes shall be subject to English law and the jurisdiction of English courts.
8. Liability - Visa Requirements
Any information given by us or our staff to you as to the visa requirements for British and non-British Citizens is given for general guidance only and forms no part of the contract between us and is followed or acted upon entirely at your own risk. You should always confirm any information with the relevant Embassy or Consulate. We shall not be liable for any such advice or recommendation.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have a valid and up to date passport for your holiday as we cannot be held responsible for any problems arising from incorrect documentation. Many countries require passports to be valid for at least six months after your return date. Please make sure you check the validity for each destination you are travelling to, we will not be held responsible for any mistakes made with insufficient documentation.
10. Your Duties
You must inform us prior to booking of any medical problem or disability that could affect your ability to complete your travel arrangements.
We are committed to protecting your information and for keeping your account details private. When you make a booking you consent to your information being passed on to principals/suppliers and to other credit checking companies or as required by law. In addition where you have consented to us doing so, we will add your details to our customer database, for our own marketing purposes. You may therefore receive statements and information relating to our services and any offers that we believe will be of interest to you. You can choose to no longer receive these by contacting us.
As the contract for your travel arrangements is between you and the principals/suppliers, any queries or concerns that you may have relating to the travel arrangements should be addressed to them. If you encounter a problem whilst on holiday, this must be reported to the principal/supplier or their local agent immediately. If you fail to do this there will be less opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint. If you wish to complain when you return home, you should write to the principal/supplier as soon as you return or at least within 28 days. You will find the name and address plus contact details in your travel documents. We will of course provide assistance with this if you wish. If the matter cannot be resolved and it involves us or another ABTA member then it can be referred to the arbitration scheme arranged by ABTA, see www.abta.com
We are members of ABTA (D0685 & V8552). This means that any money you pay to us for bookings is protected under the bonding arrangements that we have with this organisation or otherwise held in trust if we become insolvent. ABTA also provide an arbitration service for you or us if you have booked a package through us.
|Terms and conditions apply to all bookings created from 01/11/10 until further notice.| | <urn:uuid:f47587c2-b38e-43d5-8887-3da45e689c34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sussex-cruiseclub.co.uk/terms | 2013-05-20T02:23:10Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942706 | 1,821 |
Certain national infrastructures are so vital that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating impact on the defense or economic security of the United States. These critical infrastructures include telecommunications, electrical power systems, gas and oil storage and transportation, banking and finance, transportation, water supply systems, emergency services (including medical, police, fire, and rescue), and continuity of government. Threats to these critical infrastructures fall into two categories: physical threats to tangible property ("physical threats"), and threats of electronic, radio-frequency, or computer-based attacks on the information or communications components that control critical infrastructures ("cyber threats"). Because many of these critical infrastructures are owned and operated by the private sector, it is essential that the government and private sector work together to develop a strategy for protecting them and assuring their continued operation.
NOW, THEREFORE, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Establishment. There is hereby established the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection ("Commission").
(a) Chair. A qualified individual from outside the Federal Government shall be appointed by the President to serve as Chair of the Commission. The Commission Chair shall be employed on a full-time basis.
(b) Members. The head of each of the following executive branch departments and agencies shall nominate not more than two full-time members of the Commission:
One of the nominees of each agency may be an individual from outside the Federal Government who shall be employed by the agency on a full-time basis. Each nominee must be approved by the Steering Committee.
Sec. 2. The Principals Committee. The Commission shall report to the President through a Principals Committee ("Principals Committee"), which shall review any reports or recommendations before submission to the President. The Principals Committee shall comprise the:
Sec. 3. The Steering Committee of the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection. A Steering Committee ("Steering Committee") shall oversee the work of the Commission on behalf of the Principals Committee. The Steering Committee shall comprise four members appointed by the President. One of the members shall be the Chair of the Commission and one shall be an employee of the Executive Office of the President. The Steering Committee will receive regular reports on the progress of the Commission's work and approve the submission of reports to the Principals Committee.
Sec. 4. Mission. The Commission shall: (a) within 30 days of this order, produce a statement of its mission objectives, which will elaborate the general objectives set forth in this order, and a detailed schedule for addressing each mission objective, for approval by the Steering Committee;
(b) identify and consult with: (i) elements of the public and private sectors that conduct, support, or contribute to infrastructure assurance; (ii) owners and operators of the critical infrastructures; and (iii) other elements of the public and private sectors, including the Congress, that have an interest in critical infrastructure assurance issues and that may have differing perspectives on these issues;
(c) assess the scope and nature of the vulnerabilities of, and threats to, critical infrastructures;
(d) determine what legal and policy issues are raised by efforts to protect critical infrastructures and assess how these issues should be addressed;
(e) recommend a comprehensive national policy and implementation strategy for protecting critical infrastructures from physical and cyber threats and assuring their continued operation;
(f) propose any statutory or regulatory changes necessary to effect its recommendations; and
(g) produce reports and recommendations to the Steering Committee as they become available; it shall not limit itself to producing one final report.
Sec. 5. Advisory Committee to the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection. (a) The Commission shall receive advice from an advisory committee ("Advisory Committee") composed of no more than ten individuals appointed by the President from the private sector who are knowledgeable about critical infrastructures. The Advisory Committee shall advise the Commission on the subjects of the Commission's mission in whatever manner the Advisory Committee, the Commission Chair, and the Steering Committee deem appropriate.
(b) A Chair shall be designated by the President from among the members of the Advisory Committee.
(c) The Advisory Committee shall be established in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.). The Department of Defense shall perform the functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act for the Advisory Committee, except that of reporting to the Congress, in accordance with the guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services.
Sec. 6. Administration. (a) All executive departments and agencies shall cooperate with the Commission and provide such assistance, information, and advice to the Commission as it may request, to the extent permitted by law.
(b) The Commission and the Advisory Committee may hold open and closed hearings, conduct inquiries, and establish subcommittees, as necessary.
(c) Members of the Advisory Committee shall serve without compensation for their work on the Advisory Committee. While engaged in the work of the Advisory Committee, members may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in the government service.
(d) To the extent permitted by law, and subject to the availability of appropriations, the Department of Defense shall provide the Commission and the Advisory Committee with administrative services, staff, other support services, and such funds as may be necessary for the performance of its functions and shall reimburse the executive branch components that provide representatives to the Commission for the compensation of those representatives.
(e) In order to augment the expertise of the Commission, the Department of Defense may, at the Commission's request, contract for the services of nongovernmental consultants who may prepare analyses, reports, background papers, and other materials for consideration by the Commission. In addition, at the Commission's request, executive departments and agencies shall request that existing Federal advisory committees consider and provide advice on issues of critical infrastructure protection, to the extent permitted by law.
(f) The Commission, the Principals Committee, the Steering Committee, and the Advisory Committee shall terminate 1 year from the date of this order, unless extended by the President prior to that date.
Sec. 7. Interim Coordinating Mission. (a) While the Commission is conducting its analysis and until the President has an opportunity to consider and act on its recommendations, there is a need to increase coordination of existing infrastructure protection efforts in order to better address, and prevent, crises that would have a debilitating regional or national impact. There is hereby established an Infrastructure Protection Task Force ("IPTF") within the Department of Justice, chaired by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to undertake this interim coordinating mission.
(b) The IPTF will not supplant any existing programs or organizations.
(c) The Steering Committee shall oversee the work of the IPTF.
(d) The IPTF shall include at least one full-time member each from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Agency. It shall also receive part-time assistance from other executive branch departments and agencies. Members shall be designated by their departments or agencies on the basis of their expertise in the protection of critical infrastructures. IPTF members' compensation shall be paid by their parent agency or department.
(e) The IPTF's function is to identify and coordinate existing expertise, inside and outside of the Federal Government, to:
(f) All executive departments and agencies shall cooperate with the IPTF and provide such assistance, information, and advice as the IPTF may request, to the extent permitted by law.
(i) provide, or facilitate and coordinate the provision of, expert guidance to critical infrastructures to detect, prevent, halt, or confine an attack and to recover and restore service;
(ii) issue threat and warning notices in the event advance information is obtained about a threat;
(iii) provide training and education on methods of reducing vulnerabilities and responding to attacks on critical infrastructures;
(iv) conduct after-action analysis to determine possible future threats, targets, or methods of attack; and
(v) coordinate with the pertinent law enforcement authorities during or after an attack to facilitate any resulting criminal investigation.
(g) All executive departments and agencies shall share with the IPTF information about threats and warning of attacks, and about actual attacks on critical infrastructures, to the extent permitted by law.
(h) The IPTF shall terminate no later than 180 days after the termination of the Commission, unless extended by the President prior to that date. Sec. 8. General. (a) This order is not intended to change any existing statutes or Executive orders.
(b) This order is not intended to create any right, benefit, trust, or responsibility, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any person.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 15, 1996 | <urn:uuid:08bd6deb-ef3c-4375-ada5-79e986911293> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo13010.htm | 2013-05-20T02:47:39Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933073 | 1,900 |
a TCAD Lab
Introduction to TCAD Simulation
The existing semiconductor industry is now fundamentally built on the assumption to design almost every aspect of a chip in software first.
Process simulation provides the ability to optimize and control the various processing steps such as implantation, oxidation, diffusion, etching, deposition etc. Prophet and TSuprem are tools of choice on nanoHUB.org for this endeavor. Learning about the basics of process simulation may be, however, daunting at first and there are 4 simplified process labs available in this tool set that guide students towards full blown process simulation.
Device simulation either takes in process simulation data or assumes certain device geometries, doping profiles etc. and simulates electrical device performances. PADRE and Schred are tools of choice on nanoHUB.org for this simulation step. PADRE is a full-fledged simulation environment for semiclassical device simulation. It has a complicated input language that may be inappropriate for usage in class room environments, when simple device modeling concepts need to be introduced. Drift-Diffusion Lab, PN junction Lab, MOScap, and MOSFET are simplified GUI-driven tools that enable students (and professionals) to easily configure PADRE without messing around with the PADRE input language.
Circuit simulation ultimately provides system level design capabilities. nanoHUB.org has a sinple interface to the Berkeley Spice3f4 for such usages.
This nanoHUB “topic page” provides an easy access to selected nanoHUB Semiconductor Device Education Material that is openly accessible and usable by everyone around the world.
We invite you to participate in this open source, interactive educational initiative:
- Contribute your content by uploading it to the nanoHUB. (See “Contribute Content”) on the nanoHUB mainpage.
- Provide feedback for the items you use on the nanoHUB through the review system. (Please be explicit and provide constructive feedback.)
- Let us know when things do not work for you – file a ticket through the nanoHUB “Help” feature on every page
- Finally, let us know what you are doing and your suggestions improving the nanoHUB by using the “Feedback” section, which you can find under “Support”
Thank you for using the nanoHUB, and be sure to share your nanoHUB success stories with us. We like to hear from you, and our sponsors need to know that the nanoHUB is having impact.
Semiconductor Process Modeling
Semiconductor process modeling is a vast field in which several commercial products are available and in use for production in industry and to some extent in education. nanoHUB is serving a few applications that are primarily geared towards education. The four tools entitled ‘Process Lab …’Oxidation, Oxidation Flux, Concentration Dependent Diffusion, and Point Defect Coupled Diffusion are all educational front-ends to the general Prophet tool in aTCADlab.
The Oxidation Lab in aTCADlab simulates the oxidation process in integrated circuit fabrication. It is supported by a supplemental document that describes the theory and potential experiments that can be conducted.
The Process Oxidation Flux Lab in aTCADlab simulates the oxidation flux in the oxide growth process in integrated circuit fabrication. It is supported by a supplemental document that describes the theory and potential experiments that can be conducted.
The Concentration Dependent Diffusion Lab in aTCADlab simulates the oxidation flux in the oxide growth process in integrated circuit fabrication.
The Point Defect Coupled Diffusion Lab in aTCADlab the point-defect-coupled diffusion process in integrated circuit fabrication.
PROPHET in aTCADlab was originally developed for semiconductor process simulation. Device simulation capabilities are currently under development. PROPHET solves sets of partial differential equations in one, two, or three spatial dimensions. All model coefficients and material parameters are contained in a database library which can be modified or added to by the user. Even the equations to be solved can be specified by the end user. It is supported by an extensive set of User Guide pages and a seminar on Nano-Scale Device Simulations Using PROPHET.
TSuprem4 simulates the processing steps used in the manufacture of silicon integrated circuits and discrete devices. The types of processing steps modeled by the current version of the program include ion implantation, inert ambient drive-in, silicon and polysilicon oxidation and silicidation, epitaxial growth, and low temperature deposition and etching of various materials.Because of the way TSUPREM-4 is licensed, it is available only to users on the West Lafayette campus of Purdue University. Note that you must use a network connection on campus, or else you will get an 'access denied' message.
The Drift Diffusion Lab in aTCADlab enables a user to understand the basic concepts of DRIFT and DIFFUSION of carriers inside a semiconductor slab using different kinds of experiments. Experiments like shining light on the semiconductor, applying bias and both can be performed. This tool provides important information about carrier densities, transient and steady state currents, fermi-levels and electrostatic potentials. It is supported by two related homework assignments #1 and #2 in which Students are asked to explore the concepts of drift, diffusion, quasi Fermi levels, and the response to light.
PN-Junction Lab in aTCADlab: Everything you need to explore and teach the basic concepts of P-N junction devices. Edit the doping concentrations, change the materials, tweak minority carrier lifetimes, and modify the ambient temperature. Then, see the effects in the energy band diagram, carrier densities, net charge distribution, I/V characteristic, etc.
There is a significant set of associated resources available for this tool.
- a demo of this tool
- a Primer on Semiconductor Device Simulation.
- a Learning Module entitled PN Junction Theory and Modeling which walks students through the PN junction theory and let’s them verify concepts through on-line simulation.
- Homework assignment on the depletion approximation (on the undergraduate level)
- Homework assignment on the depletion approximation (on the undergraduate level)
- PN Diode Exercise: Series Resistance
- Exercise: PIN Diode
- PN Diode Exercise: Graded Junction
- Basic operation of a PN diode - Theoretical exercise
- PN diode - Advanced theoretical exercises
- Schottky diode - Theoretical exercises
(Image(/resource_files/tools/bjt/5_BJTenergy_nonequil.gif, 120 class=align-right) failed - File not found)/www/nanohub/resource_files/tools/bjt/5_BJTenergy_nonequil.gif The Bipolar Junction Lab in aTCADlab allows Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) simulation using a 2D mesh. It allows user to simulate npn or pnp type of device. Users can specify the Emitter, Base and Collector region depths and doping densities. Also the material and minority carrier lifetimes can be specified by the user. It is supported by a homework assignment in which Students are asked to find the emitter efficiency, the base transport factor, current gains, and the Early voltage. Also a qualitative discussion is requested.
The MOScap Tool in aTCADlab tool enables a semi-classical analysis of MOS Capacitors. Simulates the capacitance of bulk and dual gate capacitors for a variety of different device sizes, geometries, temperature and doping profiles.
- Exercise: CV curves for MOS capacitors
- MOSCAP - Theoretical Exercises 1
- MOSCAP - Theoretical Exercises 2
- MOSCAP - Theoretical Exercises 3
- MOS Capacitors: Theory and Modeling
(Image(/images/tool/schred/schred.jpg, 120 class=align-right) failed - File not found)/www/nanohub/images/tool/schred/schred.jpg Schred Tool in aTCADlab calculates the envelope wavefunctions and the corresponding bound-state energies in a typical MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) or SOS (Semiconductor-Oxide-Semiconductor) structure and a typical SOI structure by solving self-consistently the one-dimensional (1D) Poisson equation and the 1D Schrodinger equation.
- Schred: Exercise 1
- SCHRED: Exercise 2
- Schred: Exercise 3
- Quantum Size Effects and the Need for Schred
- Schred Tutorial Version 2.1
The MOSfet Lab in aTCADlab tool enables a semi-classical analysis of current-voltage characteristics for bulk and SOI Field Effect Transistors (FETs) for a variety of different device sizes, geometries, temperature and doping profiles.
- MOSFET Exercise
- Exercise: Basic Operation of n-Channel SOI Device
- MOSFET - Theoretical Exercises
- MOSFET Operation Description
PADRE in aTCADlab is a 2D/3D simulator for electronic devices, such as MOSFET transistors. It can simulate physical structures of arbitrary geometry—including heterostructures—with arbitrary doping profiles, which can be obtained using analytical functions or directly from multidimensional process simulators such as . A variety of supplemental documents are available that deal with the PADRE software and TCAD simulation:
- User Guide (HTML)
- Abbreviated First Time User Guide
- [tools/padre/faq/ FAQ]
- A set of course notes on Computational Electronics with detailed explanations on bandstructure, pseudopotentials, numerical issues, and drift diffusion.
- [resources/1516/ Introduction to DD Modeling with PADRE]
- [resources/1516/ MOS Capacitors: Description and Semiclassical Simulation With PADRE]
- A Primer on Semiconductor Device Simulation
SPICE3f4 in aTCADlab s a general-purpose circuit simulation program for nonlinear dc, nonlinear transient, and linear ac analysis. It was developed at the University of California, Berkeley. Version 3F4 was released in 1993. Circuits may contain resistors, capacitors, inductors, mutual inductors, independent voltage and current sources, four types of dependent sources, transmission lines, and the four most common semiconductor devices: diodes, BJT’s, JFET’s, and MOSFET’s. SPICE has built-in models for the semiconductor devices, and the user need specify only the pertinent model parameter values.
- [resource_files/tools/spice3f4/spice3f4.swf Demo: Getting Started]
- [tools/spice3f4/faq/ FAQ]
About aTCADlab Constituent Tools
The aTCADlab has been put together from individual disjoint tools to enable educators, students, and profesionals to have a one-stop-shop in TCAD tools education. It therefore benefits tremendously from the hard work that the contributors of the individual tool builders have put into their tools.
As a matter of credit, simulation runs that are performed in the aTCADlab tool are also credited to the individual tools, which help the ranking of the individual tools. We do also count the number of usages of the individual tools in the aTCADlab tool set, to measure the aTCADlab impact and possibly also improve the tool.
In the description above we do not refer to the individual tools since we want to guide the users to the composite aTCADlab tool. We cite the individual tools here explicitly so they are being given the appropriate credit and on their rspective tool pages are being linked to this aTCADlab topic page.
Process Lab: Oxidation, Process Lab: Oxidation Flux, Process Lab: Concentration Dependent Diffusion, Process Lab: Point Defect Coupled Diffusion, Prophet, tsuprem4, Drift-Diffusion Lab, PN Junction Lab, BJT Lab, MOSCap, Schred, MOSFet, Padre, and Spice3f4. | <urn:uuid:7eafd738-6c02-4120-903b-cf1120bcd152> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nanohub.org/topics/aTCADLab?version=4 | 2013-05-22T21:47:17Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.865863 | 2,620 |
- Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy - http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com -
Easter Brunch SGCC-Style
Posted By Susan On April 1, 2012 @ 4:31 pm In Holidays,Recipes,SGCC Rewinds | 13 Comments
Of the great triumvirate of Christian holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter), Easter is my favorite. While I love eating myself into oblivion at Thanksgiving, and Christmas (the gifts are nice too), I actually enjoy the fact that Easter isn’t as food-centric. I find it to be a much more relaxing and low-key holiday than the others, which in turn means less stress for me. And, I’m all about less stress these days! While, it would be unthinkable in my family to have Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner in a restaurant (gasp!), the same does not apply to Easter. Unless we’re invited to someone’s home, we almost always enjoy our Easter meal at one of our favorite restaurants.
On the other hand, if your family is anything like mine, they will be clamoring for food long before the time a 4:00 dinner reservation rolls around. To stave off the hungry horde, I always prepare a few dishes ahead of time that can either be warmed up in the oven or simply served cold that morning. Here are some great “stress-less” brunch ideas from the SGCC archives for a lovely, laid back, Easter Sunday brunch.
Fresh, ripe strawberries are blended with yogurt, sour cream, lime juice and honey to make this rich and lush chilled soup. It’s like a cross between a mousse and a smoothie. Frozen berries can also be used in a pinch. Whip it up a day or two in advance, although it may not last that long.
Chicks in a Nest
Chicks in a Nest is a great dish to serve for a brunch buffet. Each serving is completely self-contained and can just be picked up and popped on a plate. The “nests” are made from shredded potatoes that are baked in a muffin tin, which are then served filled with scrambled or poached eggs. You can shred your own potatoes or use a bag of the pre-shredded kind, like I did. The potato nests can be made a day ahead and crisped up in the oven before serving.
A strata is casserole made with bread, eggs and whatever cheese, meats or vegetables you feel like putting into it. Think of it as a savory bread pudding. This one is filled with onions, ham, mozzarella and Swiss cheese. The best thing about a strata is that it’s meant to be made in advance. In fact, it really must be put together and allowed to sit for several hours or overnight before baking. For your trouble, you’re rewarded with a puffy and golden mass of cheesy, meaty, eggy goodness.
A kugel is actually a Jewish dish, commonly served on holidays and special occasions. It’s a baked casserole, sweet or savory, that is usually made with egg noodles or potatoes, and often with cottage or cream cheese. In this savory version, I’ve blended cottage cheese, sour cream and a velvety chevre with noodles and assorted vegetables for a sumptuous dish with a subtle tang. A dusting of panko crumbs on top gives it a little crunch and extra texture. This kugel is best baked up a day ahead and served at room temperature.
This light and luscious chicken salad is chock full of fresh and dried fruits and nuts bathed in a creamy dressing punctuated with fresh herbs. You can use any combination and quantity of fruits, nuts and herbs that you like, and it always turns out great. Served in big, juicy, hollowed out tomatoes, pineapple boats or avocado halves, this Tutti Frutti Chicken Salad really sings Springtime!
This lovely little salad features crisp tender green beans, potatoes, sweet grape tomatoes and thin slivers of red onion. I pair it with a zesty vinaigrette, accented with Dijon mustard, lemon, garlic, honey and fresh herbs. Serve it either warm or chilled and topped with some chopped hard boiled egg for extra richness. It makes a lovely complement to any meal.
This pasta salad is quick and ridiculously easy to put together. And, it’s full of zesty, bold flavors. The dressing is simply a mixture of mayonnaise, lemon juice and store bought pesto sauce – the kind you find in the refrigerator section at the supermarket. You can serve it as is, or punch it up by mixing in some poached chicken, tuna or tasty little salad shrimp. Any way you serve this Presto Pesto Pasta Salad, your guests will be dishing out the complements!
Pizza Rustica
Of course, no Easter Sunday brunch at Chez SGCC would be complete without a few traditional Italian Easter pies, like this Pizza Rustica. It’s a big, cheesy, meaty, creamy hunk of a pie stuffed to the gills with six different kinds of cured and fresh meat. Yes, I said SIX! One slice is pretty much a complete meal in itself. A Pizza Rustica does take some time to put together, but trust me, it is worth the effort. Plus, it can be made a few days in advance and is best served at room temperature.
Torta di Riso
Torta di Riso is a rich and creamy egg and ricotta based dessert pie filled filled with cooked Arborio rice and delicately flavored with the essence of orange. Think of it as rice pudding in a crust. This pie is usually made using a traditional rolled pie crust. But, I’ve made it a little easier to make and more interesting to eat by using layers of paper thin phyllo dough to envelope my filling. The phyllo gives this torta a delightfully crispy, buttery crust that shatters beneath your teeth as you bite into it. It’s simply amazing!
And, we certainly can’t forget dessert, especially when it’s a luxuriously rich and creamy cheesecake like this one! My version of this Italian classic is made with both ricotta and mascarpone cheeses, giving it a super silky smooth texture. I flavor it with the heady combination or pure vanilla and a splash of orange flower water, that is sure to make both you and your guests swoon.
Buttery Lemon Bars
Lemon Bars are a quintessential Springtime treat. This version boasts a rich and buttery shortbread crust topped with an ultra-lemony curd that is the perfect balance of sweet and tart. These are honestly the best lemon bars I’ve ever eaten – bar none!
Article printed from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com
URL to article: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2012/04/01/easter-brunch-sgcc-style/
URLs in this post:
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/easter-brunch.jpg
Sumptuous Strawberry Soup: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2008/06/18/summertime-an-the-livin-is-easy/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/strawberry-soup.jpg
Chicks in a Nest: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2009/07/31/breakfast-at-tiffanys-roundup-chicks-in-a-nest/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ChicksinaNest1.jpg
Anytime Ham, Cheese and Egg Strata: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/08/10/anytime-egg-ham-and-cheese-strata-recipe/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Egg-Strata-2.jpg
Vegetable Noodle Kugel: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2009/01/29/savory-vegetable-noodle-kugel-for-rfj/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/kugel-23.jpg
Tutti Frutti Chicken Salad: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2009/08/25/tutti-frutti-chicken-salad/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/chicken-salad-1.jpg
Green Bean and Potato Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/07/28/green-bean-and-potato-salad-with-dijon-vinaigrette-recipe/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/green-bean-dijonnaise-2.jpg
Presto Pesto Pasta Salad: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/06/28/presto-pesto-pasta-salad-recipe/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pesto-pasta-salad-4.jpg
Pizza Rustica: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2008/03/15/baking-with-mom-part-1-pizza-rustica/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pizza-rustica.jpg
Torta di Riso: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2010/03/24/sgcc-encore-torta-di-riso-for-easter/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/torta-di-riso.jpg
Italian Ricotta Cheesecake: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/02/20/la-tavola-della-mia-famiglia-italian-ricotta-cheesecake-recipe/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ricotta-cheesecake-1.jpg
Buttery Lemon Bars: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/03/20/buttery-lemon-bars-a-recipe-in-pictures-or-what-was-i-thinking/
: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/lemon-bars-1.jpg
Copyright © 2009 StickyGooeyCreamyChewy.com. | <urn:uuid:41677772-38a3-4c75-bc5f-6ac1ebf9406a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2012/04/01/easter-brunch-sgcc-style/print/ | 2013-05-22T21:24:04Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.876027 | 2,502 |
Ruby Lee Fleming
Ruby Lee Fleming, age 76, of Forrest City, died Friday, Nov. 12, 1999, at St. Vincent Hospital in Memphis.
She was born Sept. 16, 1923, to Mark and Charity Smith in Palestine and she was a retired school teacher.
She is survived by four sons, Lawrence Fleming of Palestine, Walker Fleming III of Oklahoma City, Okla., Charles Fleming of Cordova, Tenn., and Everett Fleming of Denver, Colo.; four daughters, Helen Johnson of Leander, Texas, Charity Smith, of Sherwood, Ruby Bridgeforth of Cordova, Carolyn Hughley of Columbus, Ga.; and a sister, Artelure Gamble of Forrest City.
Visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1999, at Clay Funeral Home. Services will be held at Salem Baptist Church on Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999, at 1 p.m. with burial to follow in Mark and Charity Smith Cemetery in Palestine with Rev. Robert Cowan officiating. Clay Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Davie Cal Ware
Davie Cal Ware of Hughes, age 17, died Wednesday, Nov. 10,1999, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Forrest City.
Davie is survived by his parents, William and Johnetta Dobbins of Hughes and David Smith of Kentucky; three sisters, LaTonya Williams of Pine Bluff, and Glenda Dobbins and LaToya Dobbins of Hughes; a brother, D.C. Smith of Mississippi; his grandparents, James and Johnnie Mae Ware of Hughes, Mrs. Willie B. Sims of Hughes, Ethel Dobbins of Hughes; a great-grandmother, Otelia Porter of Hughes; a great-grandfather, Cal Smith of Hughes.
Visitation will be Saturday, Nov. 20 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Hughes High School Gym in Hughes. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m. at the gym with burial to follow in Paradise Garden under the direction of Anthony Funeral Home.
John A. Gauw
John A. Gauw, age 84, of Belmont, Mich., died Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1999.
Mr. Gauw had attended Alton Bible Church in Lowell, Mich.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Jean Gauw in 1996.
Mr. Gauw is survived by three sons, Rev. Daniel Gauw of Forrest City, James Gauw and John Gauw both of Lowell, Mich.; one brother, Richard Gauw of Florida; one sister, Jeanette Van Ostrom of Jenison, Mich., and eight grandchildren.
Services were held today, Nov. 19, 1999, at the Reyers North Valley Chapel. Burial was held in Alton Cemetery in Lowell, Mich., under direction of Reyers North Valley Chapel.
Memorials may be made to Raybrook Manor, 2121 Raybrook S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49546.
Gladys Thomas Waters
Gladys Thomas Waters, age 94, died Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999, in Sidney, Ark.
She was born Feb. 7, 1905, in Haynes, to Phillip and Altha Matthews Long, and was a member of the Marvell Baptist Church.
She was preceded in death by her husband John Parsons Thomas in 1947.
She is survived by a son, Custer Thomas of Marianna; a granddaughter and two great grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20, 1999, graveside at Marianna Memorial Park with Rev. Steve Walters officiating. Morgan Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Elizabeth Louise "Betty" Carder
Ms. Elizabeth Louise "Betty" Carder, age 62, of Forrest City, died Sunday, Nov. 21, 1999, at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis.
Ms. Carder was born Dec. 27, 1936, in Earle. She was the daughter of Guy B. Carder and Mary Elizabeth Johnson Carder. Ms. Carder was a former employee of Pepsi-Cola Company and Baptist Memorial Hospital. She was a Methodist, a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and an Army Veteran.
Ms. Carder is survived by her father, Guy Carder of Kansas City, Mo.: a brother, B. Guy Carder of Kansas City, Mo., and a sister, Mary Carolyn Carder of Roeland Park, Kan.
Visitation will be tonight from 6 to 7 p.m. at Stevens Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 10 a.m. at the Mt. Vernon Cemetery in Forrest City under the direction of Stevens Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the American Heart and Lung Associations or to the St. Francis County Humane Society.
Sammy N. Griffin
Sammy N. Griffin, 41, of Forrest City died Friday Nov. 19, 1999, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.
Mr. Griffin was born June 20, 1958, in Hughes and was the son of LeRoy Griffin and Paralee Crawford Griffin.
He is survived by his wife, Fannie Fryar Griffin of Forrest City; his mother, Paralee Crawford Griffin of Forrest City; eight stepsons, Micheal Fryar, Eddie Fryar, Dennis Fryar and Melvin Fryar, all of Forrest City, Tony Fryar, Anthony Fryar, Gerald Fryar and Don Fryar all of Tulsa, Okla.; three sisters, Betty Green and Nancy Williams, both of Forrest City, Margaret Griffin of Hughes; a brother, LeRoy Griffin Jr. of West Memphis and seven grandchildren.
Visitation will be held Thursday, Nov. 25, at Woodhouse Mortuary from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Funeral services will be held Friday, Nov. 26, at 12 noon at New Light M.B. church with Rev. Jessie McClure officiating. Burial will follow at Casteel Cemetery under the direction of Woodhouse Mortuary.
Dale W. Horton
Dale W. Horton, age 70, of Newcastle died Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999, at his home.
Mr. Horton was born Nov. 15, 1929, in Newcastle to Earl Eugene Horton and Dora Armstrong Horton. He was a member of Forrest Chapel Methodist Church, a retired farmer and businessman and a member of Crowley's Ridge Shooting Resort.
He is survived by his wife, Ann McLeod Horton of Newcastle; a daughter, Kim Hoffman of Little Rock; a son, Steve Horton of Forrest City and three grandchildren.
Graveside services will be held Friday, Nov. 26, at 10 a.m. at Loughridge Cemetery in Newcastle with Rev. Lisa Anderson officiating. Funeral serivces are under the direction of Stevens Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Loughridge Cemetery or a charity of the donor's choice.
Imogene S. Couchman
Imogene S. Couchman, 91, of Kansas City died Monday, Nov. 22, 1999, at the Kingswood Health Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Mrs. Couchman was born Oct. 8, 1908, in Pikes City, Ark., and was the daughter of Ed and Blanch Slaughter. Mrs. Couchman was a school teacher and a member of First United Methodist Church where she served in the choir and was the wife of Rev. Herchalle J. Couchman.
She is survived by two sons, Henry Couchman of Kansas City, Mo. and Dwayne Couchman of Forrest City, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be Saturday, Nov. 27, at 10 a.m. at Thompson Wilson Funeral Home in McCrory, followed by a graveside service at 11 a.m. at Odd Fellow Cemetery also in McCrory.
Ernestine Henry, 48, of Forrest City died Saturday, Nov. 20, 1999, in her home.
Mrs. Henry was born Nov. 26, 1950, in Forrest City.
She is survived by her mother, Mildred McGaughy of Forrest City; two daughters, Sherea Henry and Marya Henry, both of Forrest City; seven brothers, Willie Cole of Detroit, Mich., Horace McGaughy Jr. of Ann Harbor, Mich., Roosevelt McGaughy and John McGaughy, both of Ypsilanti, Mich, Eugene McGaughy of Forrest City, Wallace McGaughy of Jonesboro, Calvin McGaughy of Lonoke; three sisters, Barbara McGaughy and Mable Futrell, both of Little Rock, Shirley McGaughy of Forrest City; and five grandchildren.
Visitation will be held Friday, Nov. 26, at Clay Funeral Home from 1 to 5 p.m. Services will be held Saturday, Nov. 27, at 2 p.m. at Rising Sun M B Church with Rev. B.T. Cooper officiating. Burial will be at Casteel Cemetery under the direction of Clay Funeral Home.
Rev. William Clyde Hankins Sr.
Rev. William Clyde Hankins Sr., 93, of Marshall Texas, died Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999, at the Colonial Park Nursing Home in Marshall. He was born July 21, 1906, in Pine Bluff, the son of William Henry Hankins and Joana Isabelle Glover Hankins.
He was a retired missionary and minister. He was pastor of churches in Texas in the 1930s, went to Brazil in 1940 and served until his retirement in 1965. After retirement he pastored churches in Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas, one of them being First Baptist Church of Forrest City. At the time of his death he was a member of the Central Baptist Church of Marshall.
Rev. Hankins is survived by two sons, William Clyde (Bill) Hankins of Marshall and Jerry Otis Hanks of Indianapolis, Ind.; two daughters, Nona Goodman of Marshall and Nina Eunice Hankins of Campo Grande M.S., Brazil, S.A.; and 15 grandchildren.
Visitation was held Thursday, Nov. 25. Additional services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 29, in the Zion Baptist Church in Henderson, Ky., under the direction of the Benton-Glunt Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the Hankins Fund at First Baptist Church, Forrest City. | <urn:uuid:f0700bf1-9461-4182-af4c-b5c5de74b0e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.genealogybuff.com/ar/stfrancis/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/6 | 2013-05-22T21:44:34Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950883 | 2,183 |
Why Would Delta Airlines Buy a Refinery?
It will take years to determine whether the purchase was a coup or a serious miscalculation.
After deducting $30 million in subsidies from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where the refinery is based, the cost of acquiring the 185,000 barrel per day (or bpd) Trainer refinery complex just south of Philadelphia will come to $150 million. Delta must spend another $100 million to convert Trainer’s existing infrastructure to increase jet fuel output, putting the total cost of the acquisition at $250 million.
Rising Jet Fuel Costs for Delta
The rationale behind Delta’s purchase is that it gives the airline greater control over its supply chain and allows it to better manage its biggest expense, jet fuel, which constitutes 37% of the company’s costs. In 2011, Delta spent $12 billion on jet fuel. That makes the refinery's purchase price just a hair over 2% of its yearly jet fuel spend.
“Our crude fuel costs are up 10% on a compounded growth rate over that two-year [2009-2011] period. But you can see the eye-popping number that’s out is the crack spread for jet fuel. That’s up a compounded growth rate of 73% over the last two years,” said Delta president Edward Bastian in a conference call."
[Editor's note: The crack spread measures the difference in cost between an unrefined barrel of crude oil and an equivalent amount of jet fuel. The jet fuel crack spread has risen 40% in 2012, pushing jet fuel above $140/barrel in comparison to a barrel of crude oil at $86.56 at today's spot prices.]
Also from Delta president Bastian on the same call: “And it is the part of the business that we have the most difficult time in managing, very difficult to hedge the crack spread. Jet fuel market is a thinly traded market and it’s by far and away the largest cost issue we have in the company.”
Despite the large crack spread, whether it's $20 or $50, only about $5 of that amount goes to the actual physical cost of distilling jet fuel from crude oil. The remaining amount is pure profit for refiners and that is what Delta wants to capture. In buying Trainer, Delta is trying to cut out the middle man.
Under the arrangements of the acquisition, BP (BP) will supply the crude to be refined at Trainer, and Delta will swap gasoline and other refined products from Trainer for jet fuel from Phillips 66 and BP elsewhere in the US through multi-year agreements.
Trainer Will Save Delta $300 Million a Year.
Delta has said that its new refinery will enable it to cut down fuel spending by $300 million and ensure the availability of jet fuel in the northeast. Production from the refinery, combined with the agreements with Phillips 66 and BP, will be able to provide 80% of Delta’s jet fuel demand in the US.
Because of the fuel cost savings Delta projects it will enjoy by owning an oil refinery, some industry experts assert that the company will be able to gain a leg up against its competitors in the east coast market.
Philip Verleger, Jr., a consultant on energy and commodity markets who publishes Petroleum Economics Monthly, said that by purchasing Trainer and thereby limiting the supply of jet fuel for its competitors, Delta could gain a $4,000-$5,000 advantage on every transatlantic New York to London flight. He compared Delta’s strategic advantage to that of Southwest’s (LUV) when the latter used hedging as a tool to gain a cost advantage for many years over competitors who did not hedge.
“Delta will be able to cover a large portion of its jet fuel needs at the major New York airports at a cost substantially below that of its competitors,” Verleger told Aviation Week. “This advantage would be particularly useful in the very competitive North Atlantic market, where Delta goes up against American [Airlines], British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, United (UAL) and Virgin Atlantic, among others.
“With Trainer, Delta could match the competition's prices and pocket profits from lower-cost fuel,” he continues. “Alternatively, it could follow Southwest's example and initially pass the cost savings on to consumers. This would force larger losses on other airlines or cause them to exit the market.”
Analysts who cover the aviation industry seem to concur that this was a smart move by Delta, with a Deutsche Bank research note from April 30 saying that the deal results in a “new vertical with compelling economics.” Stern Agee and Maxim Group also reiterated Buy ratings on Delta after news of the acquisition broke.
However, not everyone is convinced that this is a game-changer in a good sense for Delta.
Making the Economics of a Refinery Work.
One obvious question comes to mind: If oil giant Phillips 66 couldn’t make the economics of Trainer work, why would Delta, even if it is tasking former Murphy Oil (MUR) refinery manager Jeffrey Warmann to run operations at Trainer?
“Plants shut for a reason, and it's not usually the incompetence of their owner," Kevin Waguespack, vice president of the energy consultancy Baker & O'Brien, opined to CNN. “How can Delta do any better than a large, sophisticated refiner like Conoco?”
Even though Delta said it will modify Trainer to more than double jet fuel output from 23,000 bpd to 52,000 bpd, jet fuel can at most make up 30%-35% of the crude output. The remainder of the crude it receives will be refined into non-jet fuel products, which Delta will then swap for more jet fuel in their agreement with counterparties, BP and Phillips 66.
So, if jet fuel spreads are as high as Delta says they are, it means that the airline will get a lower ratio of jet fuel in their exchange deal, since presumably, Phillips 66 and BP will not be willing to take a loss. In effect, Delta will still be paying market rate for jet fuel, except that it will be using refined products instead of money as payment.
Optimizing the Return on Capital.
Gregory Millman from the Dow Jones company also questions the less-than-optimal return of capital given that the refinery will be refurbished to maximize jet fuel output. As he points out, typically, refiners adjust outputs to maximize returns. For example, during the summer, gasoline is in greater demand and is more profitable, so refineries generally produce more gasoline in the summer, and more heating oil in the winter for the same reason.
However, Delta’s Trainer facility will be locked into producing a standard ratio of 30% jet fuel, even when it might offer a greater return than other products.
“Why is this a problem?" asked Millman. "Optimizing for refinery returns is better for shareholders than optimizing for airline returns. US refiners produced a return on capital of about 25% over the last 12 months, according to S&P Capital IQ, while US commercial airlines earned only a 11% return on capital. (Delta, by the way, produced a 12% return on capital.)”
Minyanville reached out to Delta, and a spokesperson asserted that the economics of the refinery deal were sound.
“When you think about Trainer's economics, remember that we're capturing refining costs that are pure mark-up and not actually related to the physical cost of producing the fuel,” said a Delta spokesperson.
“Jet fuel is the highest margin product any refinery can produce at the moment, and the fact that we're investing in Trainer's infrastructure to make the most jet fuel possible will immediately improve its performance financially. If crack spreads fall -- really only possible if crude oil prices plunge -- then as an airline, we will be saving billions of dollars annually because of that situation.”
Trainer's Working Capital.
Another aspect of the deal Millman cited was that working capital seemed to be missing from Delta’s plan for Trainer. According to him, a refinery like Trainer would need between $100 million and $200 million in working capital, especially since Conoco reported that it had liquidated $180 million in inventory, most of which came from Trainer.
“Using the $180 million inventory figure from Conoco as a rough approximation for the working capital requirements of Trainer, we can expect working capital will increase Delta’s real investment in Trainer by 72% -- over and above the airline’s $250 million investment. That’s $430 million, half of Delta’s 2011 bottom line,” Millman wrote.
Delta, however, said that the deals it wrangled with BP and Phillips 66 eliminated both front-end and back-end risks for the airline.
“We think the problem with some of the analyses on Trainer is that people are assuming we're running it as a standalone entity and facing the same market challenges that refineries are looking at. Through the agreement we have with BP to source, transport, and deliver crude oil to us -- they have the balance sheet risk of that -- we have no risk on the front end. We don't even own the oil until it gets into our refinery. On the back end, the swap agreements we have with BP and Phillips 66 remove any risk of us holding products we don't use -- also a huge piece of why this makes sense for us,” Delta told Minyanville.
“Delta is simply buying all the jet fuel produced by its subsidiary and faces no balance sheet risk. Indeed, in terms of working capital, we are optimistic that the windows of purchasing and swapping the products could make Trainer actually working capital positive for Monroe. All we've said is that our partner agreements supply us with the necessary working capital for Trainer.”
Of course, owning a refinery also comes with environmental liabilities. An energy banker at a midsized investment bank Minyanville spoke to who declined to be named said that refinery flares, which often emit toxic fumes, were a potential source of huge liabilities.
“If they ever want to sell Trainer, they have to clean the site, too, since they can’t just shut it down. How does Delta handle that?” he said.
Apparently, Delta has nothing to worry about on the environmental liability front, the airline told Minyanville.
“Our subsidiary Monroe Energy owns and operates the refinery. Delta has no risk as an entity to any claims: Monroe has reached agreements with BP and Phillips 66 that essentially say that we have zero environmental liability at Trainer going backward from the moment we take possession, and we have a very firm indemnification setup that minimizes our ongoing exposure by operating Trainer.”
Trainer Is an "Unbelievable Bargain."
In spite of the questions raised by some, Delta believes that its Trainer investment is “anything but” risky, since the $250 million it will spend on the acquisition is how much an airline would spend to buy a Boeing (BA) 777 at list price.
“We did a test to see what our savings would have been in the past six years had we bought this refinery six years ago. [We found that] we would have saved between $300 million and $500 million every year. The difference is that six years ago, refineries weren't for sale at rock-bottom prices. In fact, they cost billions of dollars,” Delta told Minyanville.
“The huge drop in US gasoline demand has made refineries such as Trainer unbelievable bargains; we feel we've spent $150 million on an asset with a book value well in excess of $1 billion.”
Will Delta’s bold move pay off? Only time will tell, said Robert Mann, an airline consultant in Port Washington, New York.
"It's clearly a very innovative approach, but I think it will be a number of years before we know whether it actually works out."
Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:3b588ca1-8a3e-4f51-b0e3-907cab544170> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/transportation/articles/dal-cop-psx-luv-bp-mur/5/31/2012/id/41367?page=full | 2013-05-22T21:38:33Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950542 | 2,526 |
Top 25 'money' free agents
A look at potential free agents with a lot riding on the last few games
Updated: December 14, 2012, 2:28 PM ET
By Chris Sprow | ESPN Insider
NFL free agency has historically been a great example of lemon economics. Don't think citrus -- think used cars. The basic theory says that if the original owner would even allow the player (or car) to be purchased, it greatly diminishes the product. It's an information disconnect, and the original owner knows more. The eyes squint and the brow furrows after a look under the hood: "So -- why don't you want it?"
Same with the NFL, historically. Players have such a short shelf life because of injuries that to even get to free agency at all carries a stench. We know Mario Williams has had a great career, but surely Houston knew something the market didn't. In this league, it's always been that, if you like a player, you wrap him up. A change of system could be akin to dumping the new sports car for a minivan as the family changes, but everyone seems to agree: The original owner got the best years of the car, just as the Texans got the best years of Williams. Free agency is one part money, two parts hope.
At least, that used to be the case. Things might be shifting. The salary-cap reality after the last CBA should allow a few more players teams truly don't want to lose to hit free agency. And we're going to see dividends. You can knock Williams, but what about Vincent Jackson? What about Brandon Carr?
Below I've listed not a ranking of the top free agents but rather, a list of players who have perhaps the most on the line down the stretch in terms of their future market values; I've also added some possible fits for them. (So don't mistake this for a "top free agents" list. And the team fits for each player are possibilities, not predictions.)
1. Joe Flacco | QB | Current team: Baltimore Ravens
He has started 77 of 77 possible NFL games, carries a 53-24 record as a starter, has a 98-55 career TD-INT ratio and won't turn 28 until January. So how is Flacco going to become an unrestricted free agent at a position where even the Romo-coaster won't be subjected to such an indignity? How high his ceiling extends is clearly a question, and the rest of the regular season will dictate dollars. Baltimore dumped offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and has the worst defense of Flacco's tenure. It all points to: "It's on you, Joe."
Fit: Most would be shocked if he were anywhere but Baltimore next season.
2. Mike Wallace | WR | Current team: Pittsburgh Steelers
[+] EnlargeMike Wallace
Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesMike Wallace needs to impress in the remainder of the season to increase his market value.
He'll be an unrestricted free agent, and Wallace needs to finish strong. He's in the midst of his worst NFL season in terms of efficiency, has been the third-best WR on his own team a season after he was openly considered maybe the best in the game and has admitted he can "lose focus" at times. Not exactly the best selling points for his free-agency brochure. Wallace needs to treat the end of this season like an audition.
Fit: Mark Sanchez loses excuses if his numbers stay flat with Wallace around in 2013.
3. Ryan Clady | OT | Current team: Denver Broncos
He has never missed a start 77 games into his NFL career and is among the top five left tackles in the game, and the QB he protects, Peyton Manning, gets the ball out so quickly that he's a joy to block for. So what does Clady have to play for? He's an unrestricted free agent and the top left tackle available, which means he could be headed for about $50 million in guarantees if he's fully healthy. In a league of players paranoid about health, Clady could be excused for playing in bubble wrap.
Fit: Denver should make it work, but Arizona should offer stadium naming rights.
4. Greg Jennings | WR | Current team: Green Bay Packers
At 29, Jennings has never caught fewer than 45 passes in a season. So far in 2012, he has just 17 catches and has been sidelined for most of the season with an abdominal injury. With James Jones, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb already around -- not to mention Jermichael Finley -- Green Bay likely won't beat out big offers for Jennings. But he needs to get back on the field and show something to draw interest. Now that he's practicing in full pads, we're about to gauge his market.
Fit: Miami makes a lot of sense, but keep an eye on Detroit, which suddenly has legit questions about who will be No. 2 behind Calvin Johnson. Jennings grew up a Lions fan in Michigan.
5. Wes Welker | WR | Current team: New England Patriots
You could argue that teammate Sebastian Vollmer has more cash to play for (and likely will land the bigger deal), and you could argue that Welker is a creation of the system, an extended handoff for Tom Brady. But that the New England offense lost Rob Gronkowski and hasn't skipped a beat is a credit to Welker, who will reach 120-plus catches this season for the third time in his career. And, as an unrestricted free agent, he might be ready to prove he's more than a system creation.
Fit: Clearly, it's New England, but Welker would be really interesting in Denver, Dallas or even Washington.
6. Cliff Avril | DE | Current team: Detroit Lions
He reportedly turned down three years and $30 million to accept the franchise tender of $10.6 and play for a bigger deal, but Avril needs to finish really strong if he wants big money. He has 9.5 sacks, but he benefits from great play elsewhere on the Detroit D-line, and he has just 18 hurries this season, per Pro Football Focus.
Fit: Even with Jason Babin, Jacksonville could use another 4-3 DE and could afford Avril.
7. Aqib Talib | CB | Current team: New England Patriots
He has a ton of talent and a history of off-field problems, but if Talib can finish strong for the Patriots, not only does he create a market for himself with New England but he could draw interest from all over the league. This is a guy who is quite literally playing for a job as an unrestricted free agent at age 26.
Fit: Even less total money might be more appealing if the offer is from the Patriots.
8. Jairus Byrd | S | Current team: Buffalo Bills
He's not a star, but maybe he should be. Byrd has a Pro Bowl under his belt, as well as a season when he led the NFL in interceptions. Plus, Pro Football Focus has him rated as the top cover safety in the NFL. He'll be an unrestricted free agent in a market that's short on impact at the safety position. Byrd also will have a history of good health; if he finishes this season, he'll have played in 48 consecutive games. If he stays healthy, he'll be in line for a huge deal.
Fit: Dallas could desperately use a safety who covers this well. But so could Detroit, New Orleans, the Jets and maybe even Pittsburgh.
9. Danny Amendola | WR | Current team: St. Louis Rams
Dangerously close to attaining the "fragile" label, Amendola could be back for the last few weeks, and he will want to be able to walk into unrestricted free agency with full health. He caught 85 passes in 2010 and profiles as an unbearded Wes Welker. If Amendola can stay healthy, St. Louis has every reason to keep him around. But, as lemon economics teaches us, if the Rams don't make a big push to retain him, it'll be instructive for the market as a whole. The last few games matter.
Fit: St. Louis is a great fit, but what if he becomes a cheaper replacement for Welker in New England?
[+] EnlargeSebastian Vollmer
Icon SMISebastian Vollmer has played well this season and could get major money -- from the Pats or others.
10. Sebastian Vollmer | OT | Current team: New England Patriots
The Patriots have their future at left tackle in Nate Solder and might not be willing to go big on a deal to keep Vollmer, a right tackle who missed the bulk of 2011 to injury. But if he finishes strong -- and New England opts to devote free-agency resources elsewhere -- Vollmer could get big money after what has been a very good season.
Fits: Indy, Chicago, Arizona and Dallas should all pick up the phone.
The next 10
11. Randy Starks | DT | Current team: Miami Dolphins
You don't find many good defensive tackles available in free agency, but Starks qualifies, and he has missed just one start since Week 1 in 2009. Carolina would be a good fit.
12. Michael Bennett | DE | Current team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
He has 9.0 sacks, and cracking double digits could get this unrestricted free agent some extra scratch. New Orleans would be a good system fit.
13. Dashon Goldson | S | Current team: San Francisco 49ers
How much can the Niners spend to keep this defense together? They might let Goldson go, and the 2011 Pro Bowl participant will get looks. Carolina should call.
14. Reggie Bush | RB | Current team: Miami Dolphins
This isn't a ranking of best free agents, but Bush belongs here because, if he can stay healthy for a few more games, it'll be the difference between multiple bids versus just hoping to land somewhere. Almost any offense can use a player with his diversity of skills, and he's underrated as an inside runner. How about a change-of-pace complement to Trent Richardson in Cleveland?
15. Victor Cruz | WR | Current team: New York Giants
He's a restricted free agent, and the Giants won't let him go anywhere. But how he finishes, and his end-of-season health status, could help determine in what manner the Giants compensate him going forward.
16. Branden Albert | OT | Current team: Kansas City Chiefs
He's no star, but he might be the third- or fourth-best tackle on the market, and he's been healthy throughout his career, although recent back issues have slowed him down. A strong finish without questions about his back will improve his market.
AP Photo/AJ MastDwayne Bowe won't play this week, and his market value is very much up in the air.
17. Dwayne Bowe | WR | Current team: Kansas City Chiefs
He's way down on this list because he likely won't be back in the lineup this season. He has a lot on the line, however, because the play of Jon Baldwin could help determine how much K.C. is willing to offer to keep him around.
18. Jake Long | OT | Current team: Miami Dolphins
He might be headed for injured reserve, which is a shame because it could mean the end of his tenure in Miami. The development of rookie Jonathan Martin could make the perennial Pro Bowler expendable. If he's fully healthy, his phone will be ringing.
19. Steven Jackson | RB | Current team: St. Louis Rams
If he finishes the season healthy, there could be a market for Jackson and the Rams could bring him back. If he gets hurt, he might have to move on. How about working in with Doug Martin in Tampa when LeGarrette Blount moves on?
20. Chris Houston | CB | Current team: Detroit Lions
He might be the best available corner on the market, and the Lions could choose to franchise him, given the state of their secondary. But if they want to franchise elsewhere, if Houston can finish well (and healthy), he'll have a robust market.
21. Andy Levitre | G | Current team: Buffalo Bills
22. Henry Melton | DT | Current team: Chicago Bears
23. Brian Hartline | WR | Current team: Miami Dolphins
24. Erin Henderson | LB | Current team: Minnesota Vikings
25. Jermon Bushrod | OT |Current team: New Orleans Saints
"Vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria uti nescis" -- Maharbal, 216 B.C.E. | <urn:uuid:55044d4a-4dac-459c-b72b-1fd73e0f2a7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.falcfans.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17848 | 2013-05-25T06:06:34Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967838 | 2,642 |
DERAILING THE VOYAGE
by Michelle Erica Green
15 March 1998
A few weeks ago, as many of you know, I was completely and totally fed up with Voyager, with fandom, with fan clubs, with television, even with fan fiction. I posted an outline for a story with an introduction that's been building really for two years; I made a bitchy, misogynistic statement I am now ashamed of, expressing my current extreme dislike for Janeway and Chakotay, and I announced that I was never writing any more fan fiction. At around the same time, I made a necessary break with the fan club I founded, Now Voyager. I know that some of you have wondered whether my decision to leave had anything to do with my relationship with Kate Mulgrew, and the answer is no. I still like Kate and respect her as an actress. My leaving had more to do with fan politics and professional conflicts than anything else.
I have had an extraordinary thing happen since I decided to gafiate. (For those of you not familiar with that term, it's an anagram for Get Away From It All, which goes back to Classic Trek fandom and possibly before that.) I have received an unbelievable number of letters telling me not to go. I relate this not to brag, because while some of the letters were about my stories, most were about something more general: the J/C net community, the need for fanfic to counteract canon, the obligation we have as writers and as feminists to one another to challenge the claptrap put before us on the screen. It made me think about what I'm doing here, and why I'm going to risk exposing myself by linking my public and private fan personas.
I started reading a.s.c. and what was then known as a.s.f.s. a few weeks before Voyager went on the air. At the time, Christine Faltz was in the midst of posting her TNG opus "O Captain My Captain," and Janis Cortese and GG-MEE were in the midst of posting some terrific stories which made me appreciate Julian Bashir for the first time. The only fanfic I'd written since high school was a Kira/Odo story, on a dare from Kimberley Junius, the editor of Deep Spaces. I was a little uncomfortable about the idea of just plunging in and posting on the internet. But when the new series came on the air, and the only stories about it seemed to be either mindless smut or political epics, I decided I really wanted to know what Kathryn Janeway might be like when she wasn't acting as captain of Voyager. My first thought -- don't shoot me, folks -- was to write a Janeway/Paris story. I was intrigued by her backstory with his father and the obvious tension between them. Plus someone was posting dares to get Janeway laid before the end of the pilot. But during the week after "Caretaker," I couldn't quite get a handle on it, and then I saw "Parallax" and noticed what I hadn't noticed in Chakotay the week before. I wrote "Uniform" that night. I believe it was the first serious J/C story posted to a.s.c.
The feedback was amazing. I'd like to believe it was my writing that people enjoyed, but I know better; the PWP, sketchily characterized since we knew almost nothing about Janeway and Chakotay at that point, with lots of unreasonable assumptions (that Janeway never loved Mark, that Chakotay missed Starfleet), had virtually nothing to do with the people the characters had become even a few weeks later. Not that that mattered. People just wanted stories about these characters and the chemistry between them. The movement seemed already to have started; when, a few weeks later, Janet Coleman wrote "Remember Us" and Ruth Gifford came up with "Kathryn," it already seemed pretty much settled. J/C was going to be as big as P/C -- bigger even, because it had the net to power it all along.
I have never enjoyed any reading experience as much as I enjoyed the explosion of fanfic in those early months of Voyager, and I'm including graduate school in English literature in that experience. I don't just mean the J/C -- I mean all the love affairs with Voyager, C/P and J/B and even some of the P/T in those days. I also read stories which were not at all relationship-driven, but I'll confess that those didn't hold as much appeal for me. I've never watched Trek for the science fiction; I read Gibson and Kress and watch movies for that. I dig the character interaction, always have, I was a K/S fan before I knew there was a term for it (and boy was it a relief to attend my first con and discover that it was not merely my personal perversion but a full-blown phenomenon!) Nonetheless, I was a latecomer to TOS, and even though I belonged to a DS9 fan club from early on, I never had the emotional attachment to Kira that I had to Janeway. It was a lot like falling in love, except that in this case I could share the experience with a hundred other like-minded people who understood completely.
I should know by now never to say "never," particularly about writing; I suppose it is possible that on some later date, a Voyager story will sieze me by the throat and demand to be written, so that I can get no other writing done until I commit the words to print, and then I will feel guilty enough or egotistical enough to post them just to see if people are glad to see them. So I eat my words, I don't swear beyond a shadow of doubt that I will never write another Voyager story. But I wish I could.
It's interesting how many people have written the past few days to tell me that they are entirely down on the show, and only watching because of the fanfic. Do you all realize that if we had turned our television sets off at the beginning of this season, declared that we were NOT watching a show about an ineffectual captain and a babe in a catsuit, left the franchise and made a dent in the new, improved ratings (which were actually lower for the month of January this year than ever in the history of the franchise, but that is another rant entirely), TPTB might actually have done something to improve the show instead of taking it for granted they could put out whatever shit they wanted in the name of the young male demographic and we all would watch anyway, and rehash and rewrite if we felt compelled to do so? (If you need to know my opinion on Voyager's fourth season, check out my reviews; I have written up every single Voyager episode, so you can also read my extremely lengthy "Resolutions" review, my wishy-washy "Coda" review, and assorted columns, rants, and songs of praise.)
Of course I have read Henry Jenkins, Constance Penley, and Janet Murray -- Henry's a friend from ACAFEN-L, the Academic Study of Fandom list, and he introduced me to Janet -- so I know all the theories that fanfic is a process similar to the construction of oral collective myth, that we are writing legends which will resonate through the mass consciousness of our descendants, siezing our society's myths from the evil corporate minds which claim ownership and returning it to the hands of the consumer, etc. Sounds very progressive and Marxist and feminist and radical and all those good things, but I don't really think it happens. We write fanfic for a miniscule segment of the viewing audience. The rest of the audience members probably do some rewriting of their own, and talk about the show with their friends and complain and occasionally write to TPTB or to their local papers, but we're not really hooked up in an idealized net beyond the JetC groups and a handful of other interconnected fan groups, several of which have opposing goals anyway in terms of what we'd like to see in canon. The Chakotay/Paris Support Group, for instance, whose existence I support entirely in theory because I love anyone who tries to rewrite a show in her own mental image, nevertheless tends to promote the ongoing pairing of two characters I cannot abide together beyond the occasional PWP. I wouldn't complain if I heard that the producers were pairing up Chakotay and Paris in canon because I would be so damn delighted to see an ongoing gay relationship on Star Trek, but I wouldn't get excited about it in a visceral sense, either -- you see what I mean?
I wanted Janeway and Chakotay together for a number of reasons, most of which have been belabored in the essays which are linked at the bottom of this page. Some were ideological, and had to do with how I view female sexuality and women in power. Some were purely personal -- I like the way Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran look together, I like the chemistry between their characters. Some undoubtedly stem from the horrible backwards evil romance novelist in my subconscious who gets off on the idea of a Starfleet captain and a Maquis rebel getting it on, against all odds, an ingrained heterosexist stereotype that I'd love to get rid of but it's been in my head a lot longer than intellectual resistance to it. The problem is that that Janeway and Chakotay no longer exist. I'm not sure they've existed since early second season, though I was willing to rationalize a lot before and after "Resolutions." In truth, "Coda," the most J/C-filled episode of the third season, was dreadful writing, cliched, typical damsel in distress crap. If that's what it's going to mean to have J/C, then I don't think I want J/C. And if it's going to mean contrived, badly executed disagreements like the one in "Scorpion," or rationalizing Chakotay's alien-of-the-week amnesiac episodes like "Unity" and the upcoming "Unforgettable" -- well, forget it. Who needs this pairing? And, more to the point, who needs this half-baked, oft-boring show?
What we need are a new version of Janeway and Chakotay -- not Janeway and Chakotay, who are dead for me now, but different characters on a different show with producers who give a shit about relationships and characterization and depth. I'm inclined to suggest X Files, but Carter's universe is such a dark one, so antithecal to traditional optimistic Trek, that I understand why people don't see it as any sort of substitute. If we want better women characters on television, better romantic pairings, better relationships, we have to demand them by NOT settling for what we're given as if it's acceptable. We need to write our own for the screen, not just for one another, to try to create them someplace where EVERYONE can see them. I can't justify putting out for the system anymore; I feel like Benjamin Sisko in "Far Beyond the Stars" when his editor told him to self-publish his stories if no one wanted to read about a black captain in mainstream pulp fiction. If a tiny group of internet fans are really the only people in the world who believe that a female captain can have sexuality and humor and power at the same time, then something's really fucked up. The actress who plays Kathryn Janeway says she doesn't believe it. The executive producer who created the character seems not to believe it, if Mosaic and "Coda" are any indication. This is a pretty fundamental problem.
I wish we could choose whom we fell in love with: I wish I were infatuated enough with Xena to write about her, or with Scully (well, I have written about her, but nothing I would dare post, since I tend to write as darkly for her universe as her universe seems to call for). I wish the interior lives of men interested me so much that I could retreat happily into slash fandom and not worry about the way women are characterized on television. For some perverse reason, though I disavow Kate's fan club and all of Kate's stupid comments about feminism, and though I disavow Taylor's sniveling Kathryn with her crushes on father figures and her lack of confidence in her place in the universe, I haven't got my own ideal of Kathryn Janeway completely out of my system, or I wouldn't feel this upset, this betrayed, this compelled to do something to right the injustices of her universe.
Rewriting the fictional 24th century isn't going to accomplish that, though. It's what we do in the here and now that is going to count -- what we write for ourselves and for one another, how we raise our children, what we do with our work and volunteer efforts. Maybe television is the wrong medium to get the message across, or maybe it's just the Trek franchise, the optimism based on life in an ideal world where prejudices have miraculously been eradicated and suffering is no more. I don't have any answers. I just know that I'm not going to find them in Voyager.
Michelle, Your Cruise Director
Founder, Now Voyager
Oldest surviving member of the RBLS
Veteran of The J/C Clinic and The Janeway/Chakotay Fold on AOL
My Home Page | <urn:uuid:f330ee04-1408-4e25-ba83-d0aff0925e35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.littlereview.com/getcritical/trek/rant1.htm | 2013-05-25T06:00:14Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982354 | 2,807 |
"The ideas of science make it so important for humans — it’s part of what makes being human worth being human, the ideas of science,”
Dr. Lawrence Krauss said.
On July 13, Dr. Krauss sat down with radio show host and producer Krista Tippett for the final interview in her week-long series based around the theme, “Inspire, Commit, Act.”
“The ideas change our perspective of our place in the cosmos, and to me, that’s what great art, music, and literature is all about. When you see a play, or see a painting or hear a wonderful piece of music in some sense, it changes your perspective of yourself, and that’s what science does in a profoundly important way and in a way with content that matters.”
Dr. Krauss is a theoretical physicist and foundation professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration and physics department at Arizona State University. He is a frequent contributor to publications such as The New York Times and Scientific American. He has authored many books, including, The Fifth Essence: The Search for Dark Matter in the Universe; Fear of Physics; and Atom: An Odyssey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth…and Beyond.
In his conversation with Ms. Tippett in the Hall of Philosophy, Dr. Krauss discussed his own experience with religion, the excitement and beauty of science, scientific progress and the universe, how science can provide comfort, a positive understanding of life and provided a short lesson on the recently discovered Higgs boson particle.
Dr. Krauss was reared in a Jewish household, but religion was always considered the root of tradition and social machination rather than as a source of ideas:
“I read the Bible, I read the Quran, I read a bunch of things when I was a kid and went through phases where those myths appealed to me. And then I grew out of it — just like Santa Claus.”
Early in his life, his mother, who hoped he would become a doctor, pushed Dr. Krauss toward science. Reading about scientists and science further sparked his attention. As he, he focused his scholarship on physics.
“Physics was always, by far, the sexiest of the disciplines and still is by the way."
Scientists do the work they do because it is fun and exciting, Dr. Krauss said. In our world and society, it is becoming increasingly common to view science from a narrow, utilitarian lens; essentially, people see science as the physical technologies it creates rather than the ideas it fosters.
“To me, one of the most exciting things about science is the ideas. Science has produced the most interesting ideas that humans have ever come up with."
Dr. Krauss lamented that we live in an era where it has been both common and acceptable to be science illiterate. That is dangerous, especially when everything around us that keeps us alive is fueled by scientific research. It is shocking that the presidential candidates do not have a debate centered around science, he said.
In 1996, Dr. Krauss published The Physics of Star Trek. The physicist said he liked science fiction until he realized how much more exciting the scientific ideas, discoveries, and questions behind it could be.
“People imagine science fiction as an imaginative rendering of science, when in fact science is a far more imaginative rendering of science fiction.”
In the Star Trek narrative, two very important ideas are posited.
“The Star Trek future is a better place because of science. And I can’t resist saying it here, now that I think about it. It was one of the reasons in Star Trek that basically they’ve dispensed of the quaint notions, the myopic views of the 21st century, including most of the world religions.”
“All of the interesting questions that I can see in science, and for the most part in scholarship, are based on the topic of origins.”
In his work, Dr. Krauss asks questions about the origins of the universe, life, and consciousness. He asks questions that seem to combine both scientific and spiritual curiosities.
One vast difference, Dr. Krauss said, can be found hidden within the word “choice.” In religion, philosophy or theology, many questions and questions of origins are started with the word “why.” Dr. Krauss said he believes asking questions with the word “why” implies a presumption that there is a greater meaning, a greater significance, when in fact, no evidence points to that.
Science alters the kinds of questions we ask, because science is always progressing, pushing at the frontier and finding new knowledge so new questions must be asked, he said.
Two hundred years ago, when Darwin was studying and writing, he worked on understanding the origin of the diversity of species — he never attempted to define the origin of life, or the origin of matter, and he laughed off the notion that one ever would, Dr. Krauss said.
“But today, that’s exactly what we’re talking about,” he said.
The scientific world is full of ideas, questions, discoveries and failures. Often the information gathered by scientists challenges preconceived notions about the nature of the universe or religious beliefs.
“Being uncomfortable is a good thing, because it forces you to reassess your place in the cosmos. Being too comfortable means you’ve become complacent and you stop thinking. And so being uncomfortable should be a spiritually uplifting experience.”
One of the most important and widely discussed scientific discoveries in recent history is the Higgs boson. In his lecture, Dr. Krauss traced the recent progressions in scientific thought and understanding, which have allowed for the revolutionary finding. He discussed how that has expanded the scientific frontier and allowed for the eruption of a new set of questions and ideas.
The importance of the discovery reflects and celebrates a change in the understanding of the universe that took place approximately 50 years ago, Dr. Krauss said.
There are four basic forces of nature: electromagnetism, gravity, and strong and weak forces. At the start of the 1960s, only one of the forces — electromagnetism — was thought to be understood. By the end of that decade, scientists understood three of the four forces, Dr. Krauss said.
The realization that all forces could be understood by one mathematical formalism prompted that growth in understanding, Dr. Krauss said.
“You know you make a breakthrough in science when two things that seem very, very different suddenly are recognized as being different aspects of the same thing."
In the ’60s, scientists proposed that electromagnetism, a long-range force that works across long distances, and weak force, a force that is responsible for nuclear reactions on the sun and is prompted by short-range interactions between nuclei, were fundamentally the same.
Forces are understood in physics as the exchange of particles. Historically, it was theorized that electromagnetism was a long-range force because the particle exchanged was a photon, which was massless. It was also thought that in weak force, particles were exchanged over minute distances, because the particles were massive.
But with the realization that those particles could be explained by the same math formula, the proposal came that those particles were essentially the same and massless, Dr. Krauss said. The only way that could be possible would be if there were an invisible field with which massless particles could relate.
“If this invisible field permeates all of space, you can’t see it, but if the particles that convey the weak force interact with that field and get slowed down like swimming through molasses, get retarded because of that interaction, they act like they’re massive, whereas the photon doesn’t — it remains massless. Then everything would work.”
Scientists are not in the business of creating forces, Dr. Krauss said. So following that proposal, physicists have been at work trying to detect that invisible force. Because if something exists, it should be detectable, Dr. Krauss said. If the field exists, scientists proposed that if they hit it with enough energy in a small enough region, an observable particle should be produced. That is what Higgs scientists think they have discovered.
“What’s really beautiful is every time we make a discovery in science, we end up having more questions than answers. Having discovered the Higgs does not close the book. We still don’t understand why this Higgs field exists in the universe, and by why I mean how."
Mystery drives science, Dr. Krauss said. Though concepts such as religion, mysticism and other similar schools are based in mystery, the difference is science has changed the language of mystery and progresses with the gathering of real knowledge.
“Science has moved beyond, has taken us beyond our childhood.”
In the lecture, Ms. Tippett discussed the value of religion and spirituality for aiding, preparing, and comforting someone who is on his or her deathbed. She asked Dr. Krauss what science would be able to say to a dying person.
“Every single thing that religion provides, rationality, empiricism, and science can provide. And not only that — they can provide it better.”
People should be taught the truth about death — that it is a natural, necessary part of life and that it will happen. The meaning of life is the meaning you make of it, Dr. Krauss said. That knowledge should be instilled in people not just on their deathbeds, but throughout their lives, so they make decisions in a way that reflects that reality. Moral and ethical decisions cannot be made or decided without a basis in reality, Dr. Krauss said.
“If the stars tonight realigned themselves and said ‘I am here,’ in Greek — presumably, ancient Greek — then I’d say, ‘Maybe there’s something to all of this.’ ”
He said, though, that when there is no evidence of something, it becomes highly unlikely.
“It seems to me the knowledge that the meaning we have is the meaning we make should inspire us to do better.”
Ms. Tippett asked Dr. Krauss whether he would appreciate or understand religion more if he experienced it in a different way. She read Dr. Krauss a passage from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Jewish theologian:
“It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion — its message becomes meaningless.”
Wise people can come from any background, Dr. Krauss said. Wisdom is born of experience and knowledge, and there have been many wise thinkers and writers from religion, such as Maimonides. However, he said, he is often confused by why people who are so wise feel they still need religion.
“There’s beauty in the paintings that Leonardo da Vinci and others, Michelangelo and others, did in context of religion. That’s just a response to the culture of the time, and I don’t see why given what you know now you can’t have that same wisdom without discarding the provincial basis of it.”
In the closing minutes of the lecture hour, Ms. Tippett and Dr. Krauss discussed the scientific refutation of the historical precedent to create “us versus them” scenarios, which often lead to prejudice, violence, and inhumanity. He said:
“Science can provide a realistic basis of understanding how artificial and myopic the definitions of us versus our enemies are. We’re made of their atoms. And every atom in our body was once inside a star that exploded. One of the most poetic things I know about the universe is that we’re all stardust. These are amazing things and they have content and they’re true.”
This article appears courtesy of The Chautauquan Daily. Photo by Eric Shea. | <urn:uuid:cedf4c56-1b4d-4716-a818-3a5e63b9cc1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onbeing.org/comment/41013 | 2013-05-25T05:44:46Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962953 | 2,634 |
NEW YORK -- In the most devastating terrorist onslaught ever waged against the United States, knife-wielding hijackers crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center yesterday, toppling its twin 110-story towers. The deadly calamity was witnessed on televisions across the world as another plane slammed into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed outside Pittsburgh.
"Today, our nation saw evil," a grim-faced President Bush said last night in a televised address to the nation. He said thousands of lives were "suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror."
With the country on a war footing, the nation's aviation system was shut down, government buildings around the country were closed, along with major skyscrapers and a variety of other sites, ranging from Disney theme parks to the Golden Gate Bridge and U.N. headquarters in New York.
In his first prime-time Oval Office address, Bush asked the nation to find comfort in Scripture as he mourned the deaths and vowed to avenge their killings. He said the United States would find and punish "those behind these evil acts," and any country that harbors them.
Establishing the U.S. death toll could take weeks. The four airliners alone had 266 people aboard and there were no known survivors. Officials put the number of dead and wounded at the Pentagon at about 100 or more, with some news reports suggesting it could rise to 800.
In addition, a union official said he feared 300 New York firefighters had died in rescue efforts at the trade center and dozens of police officers were missing.
"The number of casualties will be more than most of us can bear," a visibly distraught Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.
An army of 10,000 workers brought in dogs and lights last night as they began heading into ground zero to search for survivors and recover bodies.
All that remained of the twin towers by then was a pile of rubble and twisted steel that stood barely five stories high, leaving a huge gap in the New York City skyline and making the Empire State Building once again the city's tallest structure.
No one took responsibility for the attacks. But federal authorities identified Osama bin Laden, who has been given asylum by Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban rulers, as the prime suspect. The Taliban denied such suggestions.
Investigators descended on Logan International Airport in Boston yesterday, trying to determine how terrorists commandeered two nearly identical jets that took off moments apart and then crashed them into the trade center.
The Boston Herald, quoting a source it did not identify, reported that authorities had seized a car at Logan that contained Arabic-language flight training manuals. The source said five Arab men had been identified as suspects, including a trained pilot. At least two of those men flew to Logan yesterday from Portland, Maine, the Herald said.
The luggage of one of the men who flew to the airport yesterday didn't make his scheduled connection. The Boston Globe reported the luggage contained a copy of the Koran, an instructional video on flying commercial airliners and a fuel consumption calculator.
The FBI refused to comment on the reports.
A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, cited "strong information" implicating bin Laden. The official said Bush is considering a wide range of military options targeting bin Laden and, perhaps, Afghanistan.
Authorities also were focusing some of their efforts on possible bin Laden supporters in Florida based on the identification of a suspected hijacker on one of the manifests of the four jets that crashed, law enforcement sources told The Associated Press.
The sources said the FBI was preparing to search locations in central Florida that had links to the suspected bin Laden supporter on a jet manifest, the officials said.
U.S. intelligence intercepted communications between bin Laden supporters discussing the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, according to Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Also aided by harrowing cell phone calls from at least one flight attendant and two passengers aboard the jetliners before they crashed, U.S. officials began assembling a case linking bin Laden to the devastation.
The people aboard planes who managed to make cell phone calls each described similar circumstances: The hijackers were armed with knives, in some cases stabbing flight attendants. The hijackers then took control of the planes.
Among the victims was Barbara Olson, the wife of Solicitor General Ted Olson. She had telephoned her husband twice during the hijacking, telling him that the terror-stricken passengers had been herded to the back of the aircraft. "What do I do?" she reportedly asked her husband.
"She called from the plane while it was being hijacked. I wish it wasn't so, but it is," her husband said.
At the World Trade Center, the dead and the doomed plummeted from the skyscrapers, among them a man and woman holding hands.
"People were jumping out of the windows from all the way at the top," said John Fay, a window washer at the World Trade Center. "I must have seen 15 people jump out of the windows. It was horrific."
"Freedom itself was attacked this morning and I assure you freedom will be defended," said Bush, who was in Sarasota, Fla. A speech on education was scrapped, and Bush headed to Louisiana's Barksdale Air Force Base and, in midflight, authorized Vice President Dick Cheney to put the U.S. military on high alert worldwide.
Bush said the government offices deserted after the bombings yesterday would open today.
More than nine hours after the U.S. attacks began, explosions could be heard north of the Afghan capital of Kabul, but American officials said the United States was not responsible. "It isn't us. I don't know who's doing it," Pentagon spokesman Craig Quigley said.
Congressional leaders of both parties, joined by most members, made a joint evening appearance on the steps of the Capitol as a demonstration of American resolve above political alliances.
This is how yesterday's mayhem unfolded:
At about 8:45 a.m., a hijacked airliner crashed into the north tower of the trade center, the 25-year-old, glass-and-steel complex that was once the world's tallest.
Clyde Ebanks, an insurance company vice president, was at a meeting on the 103rd floor of the south tower when his boss said, "Look at that!" He turned to see a plane slam into the other tower.
The enormity of the disaster was just sinking in when 18 minutes later, the south tower also was hit by a plane.
"All this stuff started falling and all this smoke was coming through. People were screaming, falling, and jumping out of the windows," said Jennifer Brickhouse, 34, Union, N.J.
The chaos was just beginning. Workers stumbled down scores of flights, their clothing torn and their lungs filled with smoke and dust.
Donald Burns, 34, was being evacuated from the 82nd floor when he saw four people in the stairwell. "I tried to help them but they didn't want anyone to touch them. The fire had melted their skin. Their clothes were tattered," he said.
Worse was to come. At 9:50, one tower collapsed, sending debris and dust cascading to the ground. At 10:30, the other tower crumbled.
Mayor Giuliani advised people to leave the lower part of the city and an exodus on foot ensued, sometimes by people covered in blood who had lost their shoes in the carpet of ash.
"If you are south of Canal Street, get out. Walk slowly and carefully," Giuliani said. "If you can't figure out what else to do, just walk north."
The attack at the World Trade Center shut down vast stretches of New York, stranding millions of people in their homes, offices and on the streets. Many could not get home or reach loved ones by phone.
New York City's primary election, to select candidates for mayor and other city offices, was called off.
The cause of the collapse of the twin towers was most likely the intense fire fed by thousands of gallons of jet fuel on board the two jetliners that crashed into the buildings, experts on skyscraper design said.
The high temperatures, in the thousands of degrees, probably weakened the steel supports, these experts said, causing the tower walls to buckle and allowing the floors above the crash sites to fall almost straight downward. That led to failures of the rest of the buildings.
In Washington, D.C., at about 9:30 a.m., a hijacked passenger plane sliced into the Pentagon, triggering a thunderous explosion and fierce fires in the five-sided headquarters of the American military.
The surprise assault, the first in the history of the 58-year-old building, came within an hour of the attack on New York and set off a state of emergency in the nation's capital that swiftly shut down the government.
American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 carrying 58 passengers and six crew members, was on a flight from Dulles International Airport west of Washington to Los Angeles when it flew low and slammed into the concrete-walled structure.
A half-hour after the Pentagon attack, United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
All that remained after the Boeing 757 crashed into an open field were a crater about eight to 10 feet deep, and 30 to 50 feet wide, pieces of debris no larger than a phone book, said Capt. Frank Monaco of the Pennsylvania State Police.
Today, authorities will begin trying to recover the flight's voice data recorder, debris and victims' remains. There were 35 passengers and seven crew members aboard. | <urn:uuid:d7547971-42be-407b-a9f1-335ef58f616d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/None-of-us-will-ever-forget-1065529.php | 2013-05-25T05:52:07Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97534 | 2,008 |
Broderbund Partners With A&E Television Networks and Genealogy.com To Launch Family Tree Maker(R) Version 9 - The #1 Software for Building A Family Legacy.NOVATO, Calif., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ --
Broderbund LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol.
LLC - Logical Link Control ., a leading publisher of print productivity and rich media software and Genealogy genealogy (jē'nēŏl`əjē, –ăl`–, jĕ–), the study of family lineage. Genealogies have existed since ancient times. .com, LLC, a division of A&E Television Networks, today launched Family Tree Maker(R) Version 9, a software product that helps individuals discover their family roots and create heirloom quality printouts, such as ancestor trees, books, multimedia scrapbooks and family home pages. This latest version offers new and enhanced features with sophisticated research tools to help beginner and expert users uncover ancestors and preserve family history. Family Tree Maker also incorporates robust Internet functionality, leveraging the strength of Genealogy.com's website, enabling access to family data and other tools and resources for building family trees This is an index of family trees available. It includes noble, politically important and royal families as well as fictional families and thematic diagrams. Europe
"We are committed to improving Family Tree Maker, the #1 brand in its category for over ten years, and make it even easier to preserve, organize and share your family legacy," said Rob Armstrong, General Manager, Genealogy.com. "Discovering your family history should be fun, and with the holiday season around the corner, the new version is perfect for creating unique gifts for relatives to treasure forever."
The introduction of Family Tree Maker 9 coincides with the designation, by the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Senate, of October as Family History Month. In a unanimous vote, the Senate cited the millions of Americans who are researching the history of their families.
Leveraging the power of the Internet
Family Tree Maker users get easy access to a wide variety of resources through the Genealogy.com website. For example, individuals can work offline on their ancestor tree and connect to www.Genealogy.com to ask for guidance on a message board, or comb through the website's extensive data. Family Tree Maker searches Genealogy.com's proprietary records for useful leads and information about ancestors. These records and indexes include Immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. , Birth, Death, Will, Cemetery, Marriage, Social Security, Military, Land, U.S. Census and Passenger Lists. Genealogy.com's website also includes free online classes, articles and advice from professional genealogists, and an extensive collection of proprietary data.
"Family Tree Maker represents the next generation of software products that use integrated web connectivity to enhance the product and user experience with more information and services," said Eric Winkler Winkler may refer to:
New & Enhanced Features of Family Tree Maker Version 9
-- Individual Facts Card -- Display and edit the family information for a
specific individual while in any tree or report view.
-- Add Images to Sources -- The user can now attach scanned or other
digital images of source material directly to his source information
stored in Family Tree Maker with ease.
-- Show Siblings -- In addition to the wide selection of trees already
available in Family Tree Maker, the user can now show a more complete
heritage of a family member by also including siblings of direct
ancestors in all the Ancestor Trees.
-- Print photos directly from your scrapbook A Macintosh disk file that holds frequently used text and graphics objects, such as a company letterhead. Contrast with "clipboard," which is reserved memory that holds data only for the current session.
Scrapbooks are a wonderful way to catalog and preserve precious
memories of an individual. Now, the user can print images directly from
his Family Tree Maker scrapbook or even from tree views that include
-- Store e-mail addresses in your Family File
Many users are now using their computers to work on their family
history and correspond via e-mail with family members near and far.
Now, users can store e-mail addresses in their Family Files and include
them in their reports.
-- Quickly See Your File History
Family Tree Maker now includes a list of the most recently viewed files
at the bottom of the File Menu. Whether viewing a file sent by a
relative or working on multiple Family Files, the user will find it
easier than ever to move between files.
According to according to
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.
2. In keeping with: according to instructions.
3. a 2000 study by Maritz Marketing Research, more than 60 percent of adult Americans (approximately 120 million people) are intrigued by their family roots, making genealogy one of the hottest hobbies around.
Pricing, Availability and System Requirements To be used efficiently, all computer software needs certain hardware components or other software resources to be present on a computer system. These pre-requisites are known as (computer) system requirements and are often used as a guideline as opposed to an absolute rule.
Family Tree Maker ships September 26, 2001 and is available for Windows Me/98/95 and has been preliminarily tested on Windows XP The previous client version of Windows. XP was a major upgrade to the client version of Windows 2000 with numerous changes to the user interface. XP improved support for gaming, digital photography, instant messaging, wireless networking and sharing connections to the Internet. . Family Tree Maker 9 is available at retail and through www.broderbund.com, at an estimated street price of $69.99 for the Deluxe Version, $49.99 standard version and $99.99 for the Collector's Edition. Other versions of Family Tree Maker 9 are available through www.Genealogy.com and www.AandE.com.
Broderbund has become synonymous with synonymous with
adjective equivalent to, the same as, identical to, similar to, identified with, equal to, tantamount to, interchangeable with, one and the same as innovative technology and high quality software, and is a leading publisher of productivity products worldwide. Its proprietary and licensed brands, including The Print Shop, PrintMaster, Family Tree Maker and Dragon Naturally Speaking, are category leaders. Broderbund's flagship brand, The Print Shop, has sold more than 17 million units since its introduction in 1984. The company has more than 40 million customers in homes, businesses and schools worldwide.
Broderbund operates expressit.com, the company's award-winning website, which is visited by more than one million people every month. It offers greetings, photo albums, more than one million graphics and other products and services.
More information about Broderbund can be found at www.broderbund.com.
Genealogy.com is a division of A&E Television Networks. The company enriches the lives of its customers by providing the tools, resources, and community that empower them to uncover and share their unique family stories. Headquartered in Fremont, CA, it designs, develops, and markets genealogy software Genealogy software is computer software used to collect, store, sort, and visualize genealogical data. Genealogy software will often generate kinship charts based on the data entered. applications and online resources that enable family history enthusiasts to research, organize, and document their heritage at home or away. Its software programs are also distributed at retail by Broderbund. Developing software since 1984, Genealogy.com continues to be the leader in the genealogy technology space, producing the # 1 selling family tree software -- Family Tree Maker -- for more than a decade. The company also provides extensive online genealogy resources, including subscriptions that give researchers continuous, easy access to valuable family history information.
NOTE: Broderbund, the Broderbund logo, are registered trademarks of Broderbund LLC in the United States and/or certain other countries. Family Tree Maker is a registered trademark of Genealogy.com, LLC in the United States and/or certain other countries.
CONTACT: Farnoush Deylamian of Broderbund LLC, +1-415-382-2610, or [email protected]; or Juan J. Davila of A&E Television Networks, +1-212-210-1331, or [email protected].
MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here | <urn:uuid:fe8237ff-9e3d-4e38-99cf-2bf96718f2dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Broderbund+Partners+With+A%26E+Television+Networks+and+Genealogy.com+To...-a078867295 | 2013-05-25T05:52:32Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915855 | 1,906 |
August 2, 2012
August 2, 2012
Alumni Robert ’68 and Jane Weir have shown their support for the University of Maine by establishing a professorship through a bequest to the School of Forest Resources in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture. Their gift will provide faculty and student support to advance silviculture at the School of Forest Resources.
“Our gift is a way for us to give back to the University of Maine,” says Jane.
Bob, who graduated from UMaine with a bachelor’s degree in forest sciences, is a native of Fairfax, Vt. He began his college education at the University of Vermont and later transferred to UMaine. He went on to earn his master’s degree and Ph.D. in forestry at North Carolina State University.
“I was admitted to graduate school in part because they recognized the quality education I had received at UMaine,” Bob says.
As a master’s and doctoral student, Bob worked tirelessly for the North Carolina State University Industry Cooperative Tree Improvement Program. The goal was to help trees grow faster, stronger, and healthier through experiments in selective breeding. Years of research and hard work paid off when Bob rose to director of the program in 1977. He remained in that position for 23 years and also served as associate professor of forestry.
From 2004 to 2011, Bob was appointed as vice president of product development for CellFor, a Vancouver-based company that specialized in tree cloning technology.
Jane was born in Augusta and moved to New York at age 13. She returned to her home state for college and enrolled at UMaine, majoring in history. She quickly became involved in campus activities and participated in Greek life through Alpha Omicron Pi.
After Bob’s graduation, the Weirs moved to North Carolina. Jane completed her education at NC State University and opened her own yarn retail store, Great Yarns. Jane operated the store for 17 years before leaving it in trusted hands when she returned to Maine.
By far, Bob and Jane’s fondest memories of UMaine were when they met and fell in love. The soon-to-be couple lived in the same dormitory complex. Jane worked in Stoddard Hall cafeteria where the forestry majors would eat breakfast and saw Bob nearly every morning.
“I would be dragging through the line, barely awake,” Bob recalls. “And I’d see this perky, cute girl putting scrambled eggs on my plate saying, ‘Good morning! Isn’t this a great day in which to excel?’”
The Weirs returned to Maine in 2007 and settled in West Bath. They soon became involved in UMaine’s Mid-Coast Alumni Association after a chance meeting with fellow alumni Joy and Grog Johnson. After discovering that Joy, Grog and Bob graduated the same year and knew some of the same classmates, the Johnsons encouraged them to join the Alumni Association.
“We attend as many events as we can and are happy to connect with people with a common past and the same passion for UMaine as we have,” says Jane.
Since joining the Mid-Coast Alumni Chapter the Weirs have reconnected with members of the UMaine community including Provost Susan Hunter, NSFA Dean Ed Ashworth, and School of Forest Resources Director Bob Wagner. Their involvement in the University of Maine led them to make their generous donation to the School of Forest Resources.
“We wanted to give back to the place that provided us with a great foundation for life,” says Bob.
The University of Maine is a great place for non-traditional students, say Dr. Wayne and Wendy Waterman of Bangor, both of whom earned bachelor’s degrees from the University of Maine in 1992 when they were well into adulthood.
UMaine understands the specific issues relating to older non-traditional students and recognizes their diverse learning styles, experiences, and multi-faceted lives, according to Wayne, a neurosurgeon at Eastern Maine Medical Center, and Wendy, a stay-at-home mom who has been teaching childbirth education and doing postpartum doula work for the past 16 years. She also is certified to teach prenatal yoga. The couple met while living in York Hall, UMaine’s residence hall for non-traditional students. Wayne graduated from the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture,while Wendy earned her degree from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The parents of three children, Wayne and Wendy are devoted alumni who have generously supported the University’s Annual Fund over the years.
“As successful alumni we believe in giving back to the University so others can have the opportunity to have the same wonderful experience we did and ultimately become active, engaged professionals and citizens,” says Wayne. “One of the appealing things about UMaine is that it is a major research university but still is a personal, close-knit community.”
As a young boy growing up in New Jersey, Wayne and his family would spend each Thanksgiving at the camp they built in Jefferson, Maine, near Damariscotta. He attended the University of Maine at Augusta for one year before returning to New Jersey to start his own construction company. Because the allure of Maine was still strong, he decided after five years to continue his education at the flagship campus, selling all his equipment to finance the move back to Orono. Majoring in biochemistry, he thrived at NSFA where he enjoyed his classes and his professors who, he says, presented lively lectures, found ways to connect with all their students, served as caring mentors, and allowed for an open and honest learning environment.
“I got a great science foundation thanks to the availability and diversity of the course offerings in virology and molecular biology,” says Wayne who earned a medical degree from the Midwest College of Osteopathic Medicine in Chicago and practiced medicine for several years in Philadelphia.
A natural childbirth instructor who has held numerous jobs including as a paralegal, property manager, and private investigator, Wendy spent part of her childhood near Boston and moved to Bremen, Maine, when she was 14. She enrolled at UMaine after learning about the wonderful educational opportunities from a CLAS faculty member. Majoring in psychology “because it applies so broadly to many professional fields,” Wendy says UMaine opened up a whole new world for her and Wayne.
“Our years in Orono were important to both of us. Living in York Hall with other non-traditional students enabled us to meet people who fully appreciated our educational opportunities because we all had experience in the working world. We had fun but we were committed students who valued the way UMaine initiated programs and services that improved the university experience for nontraditional students.
“The wonderful education I received at the College of Liberal Arts has had a positive impact on every aspect of my life.”
The experiences of Wayne and Wendy Waterman at UMaine have provided them with noteworthy forward momentum in both their personal and professional lives. The University is proud to have such engaged and dedicated individuals among our alumni.
The University of Maine College of Engineering named the Stephen W. Cole Concrete Laboratory during an April 26 ceremony at Boardman Hall.
Cole, a UMaine alumnus, graduated in 1968 with an associate degree in engineering technology followed by a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1972. He went on to found S.W. Cole Engineering, Inc., in Hermon, Maine, in 1979. He retired from the company in 2007.
Attending the dedication ceremony was a standing room-only crowd including UMaine President Paul Ferguson, College of Engineering (COE) faculty and staff, S.W. Engineering, Inc., employees, both past and present, members of the engineering community, and friends and family.
“This generous gift in honor of Steve Cole will help us maintain a high quality facility that is a critical piece of our program,” said Civil and Engineering Department Chair Eric Landis. “We feel it is essential for students to get a true hands-on experience, and in the case of concrete, that means getting their hands dirty. Concrete is the most-used manufactured material and it is important that civil engineering students have a good feel for how it is produced and what can go wrong when it is placed. The only way to learn that is through hands-on experience with the material.”
COE Dean Dana Humphrey applauded Cole’s leadership and his ability to help solve problems but step away once the solution was in place. He pointed out that Cole was key to establishing a two-year technical degree in civil engineering technology at Eastern Maine Community College to fulfill a need cited by area construction and engineering firms for employees with quality control and materials testing expertise. And he noted that Cole helped create the Maine Engineering Promotion Council (MEPC), a non-profit organization to advance interest among middle-school students in the engineering profession.
“The MEPC is one of the reasons that the UMaine College of Engineering has seen record enrollments,” Dean Humphrey said.
S. W. Cole President Paul Kohler said he met Cole when he took a class that Cole was teaching at UMaine. He went to work for S. W. Cole in 1985 and has been there ever since. “One thing, among many, that I have always admired about Steve is his desire to provide opportunity to young professionals,” Kohler said. “He made it fun to learn and work in this business and he always made time to listen to your opinions and views.”
Kohler also noted that the foundation laid by Cole has served the company well. “Although things have changed since Steve’s retirement, I am very confident that if he came back tomorrow he would recognize that the underlying principles he founded are still the guiding principles we operate by today,” he said.
After a standing ovation, Cole thanked those in attendance and said he was humbled by the dedication. He said he was especially proud to have his name on the firm as it continues to thrive under the new generation of ownership.
S.W. Cole, an employee-owned firm of more than 90 scientists, engineers, and technicians provides geotechnical engineering, geo-environmental consulting, and construction materials testing for projects throughout New England.
“It’s my second semester working here,” Flynn said “This is a good opportunity to get work experience, help the university, and I really enjoy talking to alumni. Pledges and credit card gifts can range from anywhere from $19.89 in honor of a person’s graduation year to as much as $1,000 or a given night. Of course, some nights are better than others.” Flynn has generated over $8,400 and 112 pledges, making her one of the programs top callers.
Funds raised during the sessions are used to help with department, college and university wide needs such scholarships, technology upgrades, student travel to conferences, laboratory equipment, textbooks for students in need, and activities.
“This program is definitely moving in the right direction when you consider that it is the first real comprehensive tele-fundraising effort by the university,” said Ullysses Tucker, Jr., Director of Annual Giving at UMaine. “I have a wonderful group of callers; plenty of energy in the room on a nightly basis and in many ways they serve as ambassadors for our institution because they are the first real contact with many of our graduates in years. It’s great listening to the conversations as the proud past connects with the bright future.”
The students also update demographic information, spread the word about campus events and activities, and more importantly, secure support to offset diminishing funds from the state. In only fourteen weeks of calling (the program runs from September-April when classes are in session), the students have generated nearly $160,000 ($41, 000 in credit cards gifts) and over 2500 pledges.
While Flynn is excited about obtaining donations, she takes a practical approach to her work.
“This job experience has definitely helped me academically and socially,” she said. “I’ve learned to talk with a variety of people, and now when I have to make a presentation for class or when I graduate and have to be in front of people, I will have more confidence in my speaking ability and communication skills.
“I’ve also learned how important support is to UMaine,” Flynn added. It’s encouraging to talk with people who have been through the same thing, and who now are in a position to – and want to – give back. Someday, I hope to be able to do that myself and help students.” | <urn:uuid:aa341bd5-5ee0-43b0-b2a1-67bf69f1dbb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://umaine.edu/development/news-and-events-2/ | 2013-06-19T19:06:12Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972838 | 2,673 |
Crown Complex, Southbank
Nobu is among the most famous japanese restaurants in Melbourne. The story behind the success of Chef Nobu Matsuhisa is a pretty inspiring one. With a striking experience in Peru, you can see its influence in Nobu’s menu with modern dishes that mix south american and japanese cuisine.
However, when I heard about the “franchise” Nobu (with 25 restaurants in the world) one question came immediately to my mind: is Nobu (the person) still a chef or became a businessman? To answer this question, I went myself to this renown restaurant to test its reputation…authenticity? creativity?
With a range of prices of this level, I was expecting a beautiful interior decoration and a very intimate dining experience. The decor was indeed appealing but the whole atmosphere was not adequate for a personal dining experience.
The first feeling my girlfriend had when we went downstairs to the dinning room (upstairs being the bar) was “are we in a yumcha place?”. The place was packed with not much space between people and loud music in the background. When the waitress was speaking, we could barely hear what she was saying. I had to lean on the table or yell to chat with my gf. Because everyone has to speak up in this noisy basement, we could almost hear the conversation on the table beside…For this range of restaurant, Coco offers a more personal ambiance for a delightful experience.
Service was pretty good. We arrive on time for our booking but the table was not ready yet. Complimentary champagne helped to wait on the ground floor with the view on the Yarra river.
Despite the busy period, dishes came without a long wait, our waitress was efficient and explained us the dish ( when we could hear it). With such prices, you would expect excellent service and I think Nobu does not fail here. The only thing I would recommend is for the non-japanese staff (most of them I think) to work on their japanese pronunciation. Hearing “irashaimase” with so many different tones and mispronunciations is not a good start to show authenticity to customers. It felt so weird; like the restaurant was overdoing to convince (themselves?) it is indeed a japanese restaurant.
Value for money/taste
Prices are very high and excellent service is not enough to justify such values. I need to be impressed at the first mouthful, to get a “woah” effect, to be blowed away, to levitate at the end of the meal. During most of the meal, I didn’t levitate a single nanometer above my chair. I’ll describe each dish we had and then put the price at the end so YOU can put this in perspective
Oyster with a trio of sauces (6 pieces)
Oysters were very fresh and tasty. Not too big but this doesn’t bother me, I prefer small and delicious oysters. The 3 sauces were interesting as they exhibit distinct flavors The first one with lemon, coriander and a bit of chili. This refreshing south american flavor matches with the oyster in a “classic” way (lemon juice/oyster) with a little kick at the end as the chili leaves a nice after-taste. The second one, more japanese with ponzu sauce is a classic japanese dressing for oysters that I really start to enjoy. It doesn’t replace my french favorite shallot vinegar with a dark bread, salty butter and dry white wine. The third one was made with an onion dressing that reminded me of how oysters are cooked or baked in Mainland China with more intense flavors. Quite interesting one.
I was expecting a lot from this dish. Being in Japan for 6 months, Toro (fatty part of the tuna) is something you fall in love instantaneously. Unfortunately, no nostalgia hit me during this dish, served in a micro serve. We had a tea spoon to eat this, the caviar…well you can probably count them with the fingers of your hands and I’m not kidding. The tuna was tender but it didn’t melt the way I remember back in Japan with a strong tuna flavor that transports you into the sea.Tthe sauce is just an improved soy sauce with wasabi. That was merely at the level of a good negi-toro from a kaiten sushi in Japan but at least in Japan I wouldn’t have to pay…..$45! Yes, $45 for this! This is really crossing the line, this is really overpriced. I know toro is a rare item here but it doesn’t justify $45. If you can’t find a descent toro, either lower your price or just don’t serve it. With the overfishing of tuna, I would vote for the latter option.
Scampi Inaniwa pasta salad tossed in ceviche dressing and creamy mentaiko
This dish was the best savory dish we had this night. The scampi were fully seasoned and very creamy, the perfect way to eat scampis. A full lobster-like flavor from each bite was something I would have enjoyed even more if the pasta or udon were not that bland. Ceviche dressing, you mean lemon juice? I have the chance to have a chilean girlfriend and I had plenty of ceviche (fish cured in lemon juice and herbs). I didn’t get any feeling of having a taste of ceviche mixed with these udon. So is “ceviche dressing” just a fancy name for lemon juice for non-initiated customers who are easily impressed with names they don’t understand but are willing to pay the full price?
Beside this, I couldn’t taste much from the mentaiko (fish roe). I really enjoyed the texture of the udon and its firmness harmonises nicely with the scampi but I’m not sure if the chef was looking for a light citrus flavor to cleanse our palate or was just in lack of inspirations (and seasonings).
$40…..I wouldn’t pay that much for this dish, again, it’s because scampis are rare and highly seen as a small lobster but the dish needed more depth to justify $40. By the way, no need to remind you that there was ONE scampi.
Soft Shell Crab with Umeshu Amazu Cherry Tomatoes, Peach Aji Amarilo Salsa
A failed attempt to mix Asia and South America. The soft shell crab was nicely fried (not difficult from all the soft-shell crabs I ate) but there was no magic with the sauce. Just pieces of peach mixed with white wine or umeshu ( I couldn’t tell to be honest) sitting beside. With a beautiful presentation, the sauce and the crab were two distinct items with no consonance on the plate leaving me baffled for…$28
I actually went there with this insurance. I have a friend who highly recommended the desserts at Nobu and I was honored to met Chef Yuko to receive a description of her piece of art. This is truly remarkable (and don’t forget I ate a lot of dessert in France and in Japan). There is too much happening on one dish but I’ll try my best to describe it:
Green tea financier – like a small compact sweet madelaine with delicious bitter contrast at the end with the green tea flavor
A japanese donut filled with melting chocolate and banana to die for and surprisingly not too heavy
A chocolate fondant and green tea ice cream – the chocolate used for the fondant is a high class french chocolate delivering full dark chocolate flavors. The fondant was served warmed with a melting core of chocolate in the middle. The cool green tea icecream is a delicious alternative to vanilla icecream with chocolate fondant.
Sweet light pudding with infused fruits and a little crispy biscuit.
Mandarin and mango sorbets were so refreshing, a good cleanser between these flavors.
A sort of green tea and peach parfait was also a delight with crispy crumbles contrasted with peach and green tea mousse.
My favourite was the Suntory whisky cappuccino layered with crunchy coffee crumble, coffee crème, milk ice cream and whisky foam. The whole coffee was visually recreated with so different layers all surprising in texture and in taste. Fantastic!
Only $28! I really don’t get it. For the whole meal, there were single dishes above $40 and here, we have a symphony of desserts for $28. I think they need to lower the savory dish prices if they want a consistent menu.
Hard one to score. It’s a weird mix. Dishes were trying to be creative but failed in my opinion. The cooking staff must be japanese from what I tasted. Fortunately, Chef Yuko is able to show you the beautiful dessert you can find in Japan, a patisserie inspired by France but well balanced with light textures and japanese green tea flavors.
I would never go back to Nobu. You want a high class japanese restaurant? Continue your walk in Crown to go up in the towers for Coco. Your money will be better spent there. With such high prices, nothing has succeeded in impressing me beside the desserts of Chef Yuko.
Let’s face it, Nobu is a business, not a restaurant. The place is packed to make profit and forgets about the unique dining experience it should deliver. Nobu should visit Melbourne and do a bit of cleaning in how he envisions his melbournian restaurant. Nobu are for people who doesn’t know about japanese food and who is just looking for a place to impress by its reputation, people who are more focused on appearances than authenticity.
In my experience (it’s going to sound very funny and probably not politically correct), if you enter a japanese restaurant with non-japanese waiters, there is a high chance it’s either very tasty but very pricey or simply bland dishes covered by excellent service…Nobu is unfortunately a bit of both | <urn:uuid:761e63f5-ba43-418a-aab9-f47cc3d5ad01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vbladev13.wordpress.com/ | 2013-06-19T18:58:00Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964472 | 2,163 |
|Sheldon Silver, Speaker • Adele Cohen, Chairwoman • Fall 2005|
I was proud to be appointed Chairwoman of the Assembly Legislative Commission on Science and Technology this year. The Commission, created in 1979, is dedicated to providing the Legislature and the public with up-to-date information on technological and scientific issues facing our society. I am pleased to have this opportunity to update you on the work we have done on behalf of the citizens of New York State.
This year, the Commission focused its work on alternative energy technologies and strengthening accountability for the State’s investment in research and development (R&D).
As evidenced by ever increasing heating bills and rising prices at the pump, there is a growing need to further promote energy efficiency and R&D of alternative energy technologies. New York is poised to be a leader in advanced energy and environmental technology development, manufacturing and installation, all of which create jobs for New Yorkers. But to achieve these objectives, government must take the lead. I am working to advance legislation to encourage more research and development of alternative energy sources.
To improve accountability, the Commission examined how to effectively measure the impact of the State’s significant investments in R&D at universities and other entities statewide. We have an obligation to let the public know how its money is spent.
In order for the Commission to be the most effective, the concerns of New York State citizens must be heard and examined. With your help I can be a strong advocate for progressive public policy in the area of science and technology. Please feel free to contact me with concerns or suggestions at either my District or Albany office or contact the Commission staff directly at: (518) 455-5081, [email protected], or NYS Assembly Commission on Science and Technology, Agency Building 4, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12248.
Adele Cohen, Chairwoman
Roundtable on Alternative Energy
On March 11, 2005, the Commission along with the Task Force on University-Industry Cooperation held a Roundtable discussion with researchers, economic development officials, utility personnel, and private sector representatives on “Alternative Energy” at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. Discussion focused on the differences and similarities between New York City and Upstate in terms of needs; public policy issues regarding alternative energy development and deployment; the importance of connecting energy policy with economic development; and how we can continue to encourage the use and development of alternative energy.
Money to support the State’s renewable or alternative energy programs comes from a Systems Benefit Charge (SBC) levied on investor-owned utility companies and administered by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). NYSERDA’s programs are intended to develop both the wholesale and retail markets for alternative energy through support for research and development, demonstration projects, wind power plants, distributed generation, and green power marketing. Local users of renewable energy, Brooklyn Brewery and the New York Aquarium, participated in the Roundtable. They agreed that to facilitate growth of New York State’s renewable programs, our programs needed to become less cumbersome. The participants all agreed that more of an effort should be made to better publicize programs in the State and encourage new companies to start projects. Many consumers and businesses are unaware of what programs exist and how they can be accessed.
It was also agreed that New York has much to offer as a center for the development of alternative energy in terms of research, manufacturing and use. Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) staff attending the Roundtable noted that their “Energizing the Future” report projected over 43,000 new jobs in the renewable energy industry by 2013. Others also cited potential growth of the renewable energy industry as a partial result of New York’s adoption of the Renewable Portfolio Standard or RPS (a requirement that a percentage of all electricity sold in the state must come from renewable energy technologies).
New York State government could best assist this goal by encouraging more research in renewable energy technologies. Participants also recommended that the State should provide additional research and development funds to support alternative energy research projects, and make funds available to match federal awards that would spur research.
Responding to concerns discussed during the roundtable about encouraging commercialization of new alternative energy technologies, the Commission developed legislative proposals introduced and adopted in the Assembly this year.
The Commission will continue to focus on Alternative Energy issues and is planning another roundtable on the subject in Syracuse later this year. We will be developing additional legislative initiatives to encourage further development and deployment of these technologies.
Accountability and Assessment of the State’s Research and Development Investment
New York State is home to many world-class research institutions and the State has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development (R&D) at our colleges and universities to stimulate economic growth, and ensure global competitiveness. We expect these investments to spur discoveries leading to the development of new technologies, the formation of new companies, and the expansion of existing firms creating jobs for New Yorkers. Much of the State’s investment focuses on institutions engaging in cooperative agreements with public and private entities intended to foster development and eventual commercialization of new products and processes. However, an assessment of the effectiveness of public investments in R&D has not been routinely incorporated in State policy, nor has a standard set of evaluative metrics been identified.
Accountability of Science and Technology Programs in the State Budget
Some important steps to improve accountability were taken in the SFY 2005-2006 budget when we replaced the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR ) with the new NYS Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation. The new foundation, governed by a board which includes representation from the private sector, government and higher education, will administer many of the State’s R&D programs. With new administrative structure, funds will also be distributed to Regional Partnerships comprised of local economic development organizations, and academic research institutions. These new Partnerships will allocate funds to help commercialize innovative products and processes for emerging technology sectors, including biotechnology, nanotechnology, bioinformatics, software design, innovative energy efficiencies and environmental technologies, as well as other related purposes to spur regional economic growth.
This new partnership includes much-needed reporting requirements at the State and the regional levels. The reporting requirements are fully spelled out in budget language and will include information on how public dollars are being spent as well as information on the outcomes of this investment. These include the number of full-time public, private, and nonprofit sector New York jobs created as a direct result of the state’s investment; the number of new businesses created; the number of patents awarded to the college or university and the income derived from the sale or license of intellectual property.
Roundtable on Evaluating the Effectiveness of Publicly-Funded Research and Development
On June 14th, the Commission co-sponsored, along with the Committees on Higher Education and Economic Development, Job Creation and Commerce, the Task Force on University-Industry Cooperation and the Subcommittee on Manufacturing, a Roundtable discussion in Albany on how to effectively assess the impact of the State’s investment in R&D. Attendees represented New York State public and private institutions of higher education, private industry and nonprofit research organizations.
The Roundtable discussion focused on significant questions related to evaluation of investment choices and how the results of those investments are measured. In a very spirited and provocative exchange, a wide range of issues relating to accountability were discussed. This included the complexity and difficulty of measuring the economic impact of R&D investments, the importance of emphasizing social returns on investments from the public perspective, and the need to incorporate evaluation/planning in initial project selection. Discussion focused on process issues, what sorts of measures should be used, the impact of current State investments, and how they are/should be assessed.
Several participants observed that evaluation criteria and expectations most logically should be designated at the initiation of R&D investments. Utilizing external third party evaluators might be the most effective, albeit expensive, approach. The discussion reflected that measures can be identified, but deciding on which to use is difficult. For example, while there may be the desire to try to make a direct connection between investment and jobs created, using the number of new jobs created may not be the best indicator of success. It was noted that R&D investment leading to the creation/expansion of a company will generate jobs and economic activity outside of the company; therefore, one should look at the number of new enterprises formed or other impacts. A great difficulty in looking at the impact of public R&D investment comes from the tension between the frequently conflicting goals of encouraging high-tech industry and providing a stimulus to economically depressed regions.
The Roundtable concluded with a commitment to continue the dialogue on R&D funding assessment and to move forward on this important issue of accountability.
In the coming year, the Commission will continue to work in partnership with the Task Force on University-Industry Cooperation to further examine how the effectiveness of State’s investment in R&D can be assessed. The Commission expects to hold further roundtables or hearings on this important topic as well as continue its research efforts into the policies and activities at research institutions throughout the State in order to assure that NYS citizens enjoy increased economic opportunities and improvements in their quality of life as a result of State investments in R&D.
For additional information, contact:
NYS Assembly Commission on Science and Technology
Agency Building 4 • Empire State Plaza • Albany, NY 12248
518.455.5081 • [email protected]
New York State Assembly
[ Welcome Page ] [ Committee Updates ] | <urn:uuid:26c55380-13e1-4bcf-9bd7-f515f14e149d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/comm/SciTech/20050822/ | 2013-06-19T18:53:05Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936761 | 1,994 |
Says the giant African land snail "carries human meningitis."
Adam Putnam on Sunday, October 30th, 2011 in an interview on the CBS News show "Sunday Morning"
Ag chief Adam Putnam says Florida's giant snail 'carries human meningitis'
Florida is now home to a slime-oozing plant-chowing snail the size of a teacup Chihuahua, and Adam Putnam wants to make sure that's temporary.
The giant African land snail can grow up to 8 inches, live nearly a decade, devour indiscriminately, lay 500 eggs at a time and snack on stucco for the calcium to build its shiny brown shell striped with cream.
It's a backyard horror and an agricultural nightmare.
Putnam, the state's agriculture commissioner, also says it carries disease.
The 1,000-snail invasion of a South Florida neighborhood became news in mid September. It's the biggest outbreak reported since the 1960s, when the state spent $1 million over the course of a decade battling three smuggled-in snails of a Miami boy that became 18,000.
Last weekend, CBS News Sunday Morning featured the snails along with other invasive species, from Illinois' Asian carp (fish) to Georgia's kudzu (plant). Southwest Miami homeowners described the "disgusting," "slithery," "juicy" pests. Putnam explained the public threat.
"With something like the snails we've got the trifecta," Putnam said. "It carries human meningitis, so people are concerned. It eats 500 different plants, so agriculture's concerned. And it eats houses, so homeowners are very concerned."
Leaf- and stucco-chomping? Check. Just ask the snails' Miami neighbors. But disease-carrying? PolitiFact Florida decided to check it out.
About that disease: Your brain and spinal column are protected by membranes called meninges. When they get inflamed, that's meningitis. Often there's a bacteria or virus that causes the swelling, but you might also hit your head, get cancer or take certain drugs and end up with the illness. Or get a fungus. Or a parasite.
Around the world, giant African land snails are known for carrying a parasite, one that spends part of its life in rats, that can cause a rare form of meningitis. (Most people fully recover without treatment.) It's known as the rat lungworm, or Angiostrongylus cantonensis. Snails — and prawns and crabs and frogs — pick up baby rat lungworms from rat droppings. Other animals who chow down on tasty raw crab or frog legs or snail guts pick up the larvae and can end up with the brain infection. Animals can also get it from eating unwashed snail-slimed greens, or from rubbing snail mucus into their eyes or noses or mouths.
That group includes humans.
Who eats giant snails? Plenty of folks, if not so many in the United States. Just consider escargot, the tasty French preparation of smaller, corn-fed snails doused in butter, garlic and herbs. Their meatier big brothers are an important protein source in coastal Nigeria. You can order them in a New York restaurant for $10. But it's not cooked snails that are the problem — for the same reason most folks don't eat raw shrimp or raw meat in general, for that matter. You heat them first, to kill uninvited disease-causing guests. It's the undercooked or raw ones that can be a problem. And also other exposure to slime.
Take two cases of meningitis in Louisiana: In one, an 11-year-old boy had eaten a small raw snail on a dare. In another, a 22-year-old had eaten two raw legs from a green tree frog — also on a dare.
(Note to America's youth: Don't do dares!)
Then there is Florida's infamous case of giant snail slime exposure last year, where an African holy man poured the stuff into mouths of followers hoping for healing. Instead, they got violently ill — though not of meningitis.
In England, giant African land snails are novelty pets that live in terrariums and sometimes crawl on their owners.
Where's the meningitis worry?
Snails that don't have a chance to pick up baby rat lungworms can't give them to you. Pet snails that haven't lived in the wild don't carry the parasite, which require rats to complete their life cycle. No parasite-incubating rats, no rat lungworms. No snail-caused meningitis.
The parasite is found in snails in the South Pacific, Asia, Australia and the Caribbean. It shows up in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, with sightings in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Florida had its rat lungworm scare in 2003, when a gibbon at Miami Metrozoo suddenly fell ill. It could have been a sign the rat lungworm had made it into the state's rats, snails, frogs and shrimp. Or it could have simply been infected monkey food from overseas. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services dispatched a biologist, John Teem, to test snails around the zoo, said spokesman Sterling Ivey. He never found rat lungworm.
He's tested some of the state's apple snails — an invasive species — and hasn't found rat lungworm.
This year, when the Southwest Miami neighbors started to notice their garden snails seemed larger and more prolific than normal, Teem tested those, too. Even in the giant African land snails, he didn't find rat lungworm.
The state health department doesn't track meningitis caused by the parasite. Neither do the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's exceedingly rare in the United States. Even in Hawaii, where the parasite's common, just five such cases in one year prompted academic study.
On Sunday, TV-watchers saw Putnam, the state's agricultural authority, warn them on national television about the snail's triple threat: house-eating, plant-devouring and disease-carrying. He didn't mention the disease hasn't been found in the state — and where it's been found in America, it's exceedingly rare. Or that to get it, you've got to eat a raw snail or get its mucus in your eyes or nose or eat unwashed snail-slimed produce.
Frequently, information sources point out that the giant African land snail can carry a meningitis-causing parasite. Putnam said, "We've got the trifecta," and said the snail "carries human meningitis." He leaves out some crucial details — most importantly, that the parasite that causes the disease hasn't yet been found in the state. And for that, we rate his statement Half True.
Published: Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 at 11:47 a.m.
CBS News Sunday Morning, "The threat of invasive species," Oct. 30, 2011 (Video, quote at 7:42)
E-mail interview with Sterling Ivey, communications office, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2011
E-mail interview with Jeffrey Dimond, public affairs specialist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oct. 31-Nov. 1
E-mail interview with Jessica Hammonds, press secretary, Florida Department of Health, Nov. 1-2, 2011
E-mail interview with Natasha Hochberg, assistant professor of epidemiology and medicine, Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine, Nov. 1, 2011
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, "Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Identifies Giant African Land Snails in Miami-Dade County," Sept. 15, 2011
Miami Herald, "Giant snails invade Miami subdivision, spur local alert," Sept. 15, 2011
KGW NewsChannel 8, Portland, "Giant snails invade southern Florida," Sept. 17, 2011
ABC News, "Giant African snails invade Miami Florida," Sept. 16, 2011
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Pest Alert, April 2011
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Giant African snail, revised April 2011
Honolulu Zoo, African Land Snail, accessed Nov. 2, 2011
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, "Nutritional and sensory profiling of the African giant land snail fed commercial-type and leaf-based diets in a rain-forest ecology," September 2011
Buka New York, Menu, accessed Nov. 2, 2011
Amateur Entomologists' Society, "Giant African Land Snail caresheet," accessed Oct. 31, 2011
PetSnails.co.uk, Frequently Asked Questions, accessed Nov. 2 2011
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Finding of No Significant Impact, October 2011
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Environmental assessment, last modified Oct. 7, 2011
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Meningitis, accessed Nov. 2, 2011
Emerging Infections Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Endemic Angiostrongyliasis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," July 2011
U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Not All Alien Invaders Are From Outer Space," accessed Oct. 31, 2011
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Angiostrongylus cantonensis FAQs," updated Nov. 2, 2010
Illinois Department of Public Health, "Giant African snails prompt public health warning," May 6, 2004
Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, "Giant African snail advisory," Aug. 14, 2009
Louisiana Office of Public Health, "Eosinophilic Meningitis," accessed Nov. 1, 2011
Miami Herald, "Giant African snails smuggled into Florida for use in religious ritual, authorities say," March 11, 2010
Emerging Infections Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Parastrongylus cantonensis in a Nonhuman Primate, Florida," December 2004
Emerging Infections Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Full Recovery from Baylisascaris procyonis Eosinophilic Meningitis," June 2007
Oxford Journals, Clinical Infectious Diseases, "Eosinophilic Meningitis due to Angiostrongylus and Gnathostoma Species," 2009
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, "Eosinophilic Meningitis Attributable to Angiostrongylus cantonensis Infection in Hawaii: Clinical Characteristics and Potential Exposures," 2011
Snail Busters blog, About, accessed Nov. 2, 2011
We want to hear your suggestions and comments. Email the Florida Truth-O-Meter with feedback and with claims you'd like to see checked. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise. | <urn:uuid:35fd441f-3f11-4d19-967a-273fe015477a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/nov/03/adam-putnam/florida-ag-chief-adam-putnam-says-floridas-giant-s/ | 2013-06-19T19:19:45Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939993 | 2,341 |
Here’s a question I’ve been pondering for a while: would you rather be the only straight male on a planet of nothing but gay dudes or the only straight male on a planet of nothing but lesbians. Now, keep in mind that this is a mental exercise, not some kind of dorky game where you attempt to beat the system, so that means that NO, none of the women will EVER find you attractive or kiss you or fuck you or become curious about being with a man. That’s not happening, and NO you won’t suddenly figure out that you just love cock. It’s this simple: You’re trapped on one of these planets, you’re never getting the kind of sex you want while you’re on it and you’re never getting off of it, but otherwise you’ve got a pretty normal life, the stipulation being you’re stuck on a highly specialized gay planet of your choice.
(Okay, to digress here for a moment, I find these fantasy-duality questions to be fascinating. The decision making that goes into figuring out the lesser of two evils and the speed [or reluctance] with which someone comes up with an answer says a lot about them as a person. The one thing that drives me so fucking nuts, however, is when someone tries to ‘beat’ the question. When I ask if they’d rather, for example, cook and eat their dog or fuck their sister, they say something like, “I’d rather cook and eat my HOT dog” or “Oh, fuck my sister. I’d fuck her out of like, five bucks! Ha! You weren’t specific!!!!” Ooooh! Good one. You found a [pretty questionable] semantic loophole in a question designed to pass the time and be an interesting and fun theoretical exercise and rendered it useless by being a dirty diapered pansy that thinks [falsely] that you’re some kind of mental Houdini. That’s lamer than cheating at solitaire. It’s not clever, it’s pointless and all it does is paint you as some lame ass spoil sport that doesn’t even have the balls and uh…dignity, I guess to say something like “Hey, you know what? Fuck your dumb questions. I don’t like ‘em,” which, let’s be honest, is also a move for total dilduses, but at least it’s not couching relentless babydom in the guise of being somehow mentally dexterous [all while sounding like a complete jackoff]. Know what I’m saying?)
So, now that my ranting aside is out of the way, back to the question: Let’s answer the big ticket item first: what about straight women? How come they don’t get to play? Well, if you recapitulate this question for straight women, you’d be the only straight woman on a planet of gay dudes or the only straight woman on a planet of lesbians, and frankly, neither of those is all that terrible. SURE, you wouldn’t be able to have the kind of regular sex you want to have, but you’d have (on either planet) tons of really good potential friends. I mean, on the gay planet, you’d be the ultimate fag hag (if you’ll pardon the vulgarity). Literally the only woman out there to rap about how (for example) “jim is hot, but just too strung out these days, right? Right. BUT, his living room is so well put together!” Shit like that. You’d get a lot of good attention and be very popular, as the gay dude-straight woman alliance is very strong. AND you’d be surrounded by people that weren’t gonna rape you or generally creep you out. That’s already a step up from this planet.
On the lesbian planet, things would be weird, but it’s a planet of women, so it’d be peaceful and full of crafts and dreamcatchers and shit like that and your boundaries would generally probably be respected and you’d get to have all that sort of sisterhood of the pants bullshit that seems to be popular with women but is completely lame to men. You get the idea. It’s not that good of a question to pose to straight women (it’s okay…but not great). Now, for straight men, whole other story (oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that there’s a total equivalent for gay women and men…but we’re living on that planet now, and most queer identified people have already lived a long moment or two where they feel trapped on a planet where they’re the only person like them, so yeah).
Anyway, here’s the general situation: as a lone straight dude on a planet full of lesbians, you’ve got a few things to contend with: 1) you’re kind of a zoo animal, in that you’re visibly different and casually interesting, but really not much else. You serve no real purpose other than maybe being kind of a quirky companion, not unlike being a pet flamingo or birthday clown or something. 2) Your desire to fuck these women would eventually top out at maximum insanity and you’d probably wind up either cutting your dick off, jumping off a cliff or assaulting someone, depending on what kind of person/monster you are. 3) You’d be stuck on a planet full of women. You know when you’re out and you’re trying to fuck someone and you end up hanging out with just them and their female friends? It’s maybe casually fun the one time. Maybe even twice…hell, maybe you become legit friends with the whole squad of girls and you’re the dude that they refer to as “one of the girls” and you even LOVE that…it’s still not hanging out with guys. You know? It’s not the same. It’s not worse, but there’s just something about being the only one of a gender in a room that’s weird after a while, and after a while of being on some planet where you’re the only dude in every room, you’d get a little bummed if for no other reason than you’d be completely marginalized all the time.
Also, the only sports would be women’s basketball and women’s tennis and women’s hockey and women’s football and softball and gymnastics and shit, and since you’re already walking around on like defcon 10 for horniness, you’re probably not watching gymnastics or tennis, which leaves you with really crappy choices (sorry ladies). Yeah. That’s the main set of problems as I see it with the lesbian planet.
Plusses on the lesbian planet include peace, personal safety, kindness, pretty girls everywhere, and you probably don’t have to tip very much.
Now, the gay planet would be a depraved party the likes of which I don’t really dare imagine. You’d be marginally interesting as a straight guy, but you could probably just blend in and pretend to be a gay guy as so not to get uh…raped, which is what men do to people (don’t believe me? Look at prisons. Look at police blotters. Men are the rapists, pretty much in the vicinity of all the time. On a planet of nothing but men, gay or straight or some third thing, there’s gonna be rapists, and if you’re the only dude of your kind, be you the only gay guy on a straight planet, or the only straight guy on a gay planet, some asshole’s gonna decide it would be rad to stick his dick in you regardless of how you feel about it. It’s an ugly truth. Sorry). Now, you’d think that would be the deal breaker right there, eh? But let’s just keep going for the fuck of it.
The dude planet is probably full of all sorts of monuments to depravity, like glory holes and octagons and places that want to get you falling down drunk and it’s probably a violent mess of a place (to reiterate: this is NOT because it’s gay dudes, it’s because it’s men in general. Men are depraved. That’s just how it is.) There would be no women, which would suck, and urine and blood would be all over the place.
That said, the sports would be good, you’d have a lot of dudes to hang around with, there’d be glory holes for when the loneliness got the best of you and uh…well, I think you see where I’m going here. I’m picking the gay planet.
Yeah, it’s scary and messy and it stinks like piss and all that, but you know what? I’m a man. I’m scary and messy and I stink like piss (not really, ladies) and since I’m definitely not getting laid on the women’s planet…let’s say that I’m not having ideal sex on either planet just to keep it simple…since either way I’m not having anything even remotely close to my ideal sexual experience, I’d rather hang out with the dudes. I guess that’s all there is to it.
Sorry lesbians, I love you too…but you know how it goes. I’m a guy. And, probably you don’t really want me on your planet anyway…Eh, I guess maybe I could play you music. I mean, on the gay planet they’ve got Elton John and Crudos and all sorts of rad stuff. What do you guys have? Indigo girls? KD Lang? Tracy Chapman? Hey…as much as I love “fast car” I think I’m sticking with the planet with the Scissor Sisters and the Alkaline Trio. | <urn:uuid:28c9b6db-c41c-4bcd-ae6f-242ffc20115f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://badsandwichchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/01/query-for-dogs-of-war.html?showComment=1294291384175 | 2013-05-20T11:46:19Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944277 | 2,188 |
By Andrew Schwartz, Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Tuba player Andrew Schwartz holds a bachelor’s of music from the University of Hartford. He did graduate work at The Manhattan School of Music and is working on an MBA at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business, where he is president-elect of the Graduate Business Association. He is an intern at Atlanta-based music startup Tunefruit. Schwartz's story first appeared on CNN iReport.
(CNN) - It’s no secret that education in America is broken. We can’t define a good school, let alone figure out a way to measure success. Yet when money is tight, as it is right now because of the forced budget cuts, the first thing to be cut is always the arts. And that’s a tragedy.
I spent six years in music school before making a switch to business school. I was convinced that I was going to be a musician. I loved music. I was good at it, and I was willing to do anything to get to the top. But then I realized that, even at the top of the music game, the job security isn’t there. So I dropped out of grad school and am now earning an MBA.
But through that transition, I’ve realized why music needs to be a cornerstone of education. Music is an art and a science, and it's one of the best ways kids can learn creativity and those mythical critical thinking skills. The focus of the curriculum isn’t forcing everyone to learn about Bach or Mozart. It’s about learning how to think, rather than what to think.
That “how” is the holy grail of education. It’s exactly what makes a good scientist, a good entrepreneur or a productive member of society. I don’t play the tuba anymore, but I think the lessons I learned from it are actually more ingrained into me now that I have some distance from the actual medium I learned them in. Here is just a portion of the many life lessons I learned through music:
Work hard and it pays off
This one came early on in my short-lived musical career. I wasn’t a very good musician when I first started out. It was obvious why: I only practiced an hour a day. But Katie down the street practiced four hours a day. My solution was to kick it up to six hours a day until I was just as good as she was. I had to make up for lost time, and I soon overtook her.
Make it happen
An amazing musician once said to me: “Make it happen."
There will always be obstacles in your way. My junior year in college, my quartet was making a recording for an international tuba competition. (Seriously.) It seemed almost impossible for us to get together to record, but we found one time: 10:00 p.m. on a Thursday. We had all been in class since about 8 a.m., and I had a serious sinus infection. It might have been the coffee and more meds than a doctor would recommend, but I’m convinced that these simple words cleared my head and allowed me to power through the pain and exhaustion. We made the semifinals.
By LZ Granderson, CNN contributor
Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @locs_n_laughs.
(CNN) - It seems everyone knows a college degree is important but few have a plan to keep it affordable.Just this past academic year, tuition went up twice as fast as inflation and the cost of textbooks rose faster than tuition. Meanwhile, The New York Times recently reported that "wages have fallen to a record low as a share of America's gross domestic product."As a result, the average 2011 graduate left school with $26,600 in student loan debt, helping to push the country's total student loan debt past $1 trillion.
Combine that with an unemployment rate for recent college graduates of 8.9%, and you see the impetus behind the First World question du jour - "Is college really worth it?" That's a question that is easily answered by the 23% unemployment rate for folks without a bachelor's.
In an ironic showing of big government, Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, both conservatives, decided to introduce plans in which state institutions charge less for STEM degrees (science, technology, engineering and math) than liberal arts degrees.
"We're spending a lot of money on education, and when you look at the results, it's not great," Scott told a crowd in Tallahassee in 2011. "Do you want to use your tax money to educate more people who can't get jobs in anthropology? I don't."
That's a pretty good zinger but it doesn't pass the smell test.
First of all - to borrow language from the GOP script - I don't think the government should be picking winners and losers. And state officials massaging tuition costs to lure students away from fields they don't approve of does just that.
There is a difference between an education and training. Just because the vocational outcome between the two might be different doesn't mean it's government's role to assign its value to society.
Not to mention the initial outcomes are not always black and white.
By Peter Smagorinsky, Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Peter Smagorinsky is a Distinguished Research Professor of English Education in the University of Georgia College of Education’s Department of Language and Literacy Education.
(CNN) - “Do you want to use your tax dollars to educate more people who can’t get jobs in anthropology? I don’t.”
– Florida Gov. Rick Scott , October 2011
Scott, in this statement, articulates a belief held by many: that education is an entirely pragmatic experience. If a course of study does not produce a useful trade or skill, then it is of little value. What, after all, has anthropology ever done to improve the human condition, except to help us understand our past, perhaps so that we won’t repeat its errors?
Here’s an error you can dig into (if you’re an anthropologist, or perhaps a structural engineer): Dating back to at least the ancient era, when I was a schoolboy in Alexandria, Virginia, people have believed that school-based arts and music programs are frivolous extras that should be the first items on the financial chopping block when budgets are tight. Who actually becomes an artist or musician? Why support a curriculum that doesn’t directly lead to employment?
In Florida, this idea is now realized in a plan to charge engineering majors less for their tuition than English majors, because the technological revolution requires graduates in science, technology, engineering and math, not people who can read poems and write papers about them. I have not yet seen what the Florida plan provides for music majors, but I suspect that soon they’ll be paying a lot more for their courses than even those effete English majors. (Full disclosure: I was an English major at Kenyon College and got a master’s and doctorate in English education at the University of Chicago.)
Education in Rick Scott’s sense is entirely utilitarian. The arts has traditionally been defended on aesthetic grounds because of their contribution to truth, beauty, goodness, and the human spirit, as people like Howard Gardner of Harvard University have long asserted. The aesthetic argument has rarely successfully challenged the pragmatic argument because the premises follow from such different assumptions, and because utilitarian premises are impervious to appeals to beauty. If you don’t believe me, go to Moscow and gaze upon the Soviet-era architecture, which is all business and no pleasure. And it’s plug-ugly.
I contend, though, that music’s inclusion in the curriculum can be defended entirely on utilitarian grounds. Music has often provided the social updraft that gives young people a worthwhile activity through which they can find a way to succeed in mainstream life. School music programs in this sense are cost-effective and of great long-term value to society, rather than serving as a wasteful distraction to the real business of education, which is to produce today’s workforce. Or so Gov. Scott would have us believe.
By Michael Bérubé, Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Michael Bérubé is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor and director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at Pennsylvania State University, and the 2012 president of the Modern Language Association.
(CNN) - Almost every college student who considers majoring in English - or French, or philosophy, or art history - inevitably hears the question: "What in the world are you going to do with that?" The question can come from worried parents, perplexed relatives, or derisive, incredulous peers, but it always implies that degrees in the humanities are “boutique” degrees, nice ornaments that serve no practical purpose in the real world. After all, who needs another 50-page honors project on the poetry of Charles Baudelaire?
Well, strange as it may sound, if you’re an employer who needs smart, creative workers, a 50-page honors project on a 19th century French poet might be just the thing you want to see from one of your job applicants. Not because you’re going to ask him or her to interpret any poetry on the job, but because you may be asking him or her, at some point, to deal with complex material that requires intense concentration - and to write a persuasive account of what it all means. And you may find that the humanities major with extensive college experience in dealing with complex material handles the challenge better - more comprehensively, more imaginatively - than the business or finance major who assumed that her degree was all she needed to earn a place in your company. | <urn:uuid:f05af3b2-bc7c-4c42-b1dc-e49fff91ab73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/category/school-subjects/humanities/ | 2013-05-20T11:46:45Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964467 | 2,122 |
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Formerly : Arahmas Resort & Spa
Naiyang / Naithon
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Recent customer reviews
February 27, 2010
A very nice and quiet resort~
- a peaceful getaway
- nice pool and view of Nai Yang beach
- spacious rooms and good service
Both me and my bf enjoyed this resort a lot as we like quiet getaways. It is very close to the airport but far from city centre(transportation cost a bit more). The rooms are very nice and spacious. Next time we'll definitely get a pool access room as it's more convenient.
February 25, 2010
-Price (booking through Agoda in advance gave an excellent rate)
- Pool (amazing)
- Breakfast (varied and fantastic)
We had an excellent time at Adamas. The resort was everything we wanted- quiet, luxurious and comfortable.
The pool in particular was excellent. There were plenty of sunbeds and it is so big that you never feel cramped or stifled.
The breakfast was excellent- a good variety of western and asian cuisine. The restaurant menus were fairly limited, and although expensive compared to the restaurants in the Nai Yang beach area (10 minutes walk down the beach) it was not prohibitvely so by western standards (under £10GBP for most main courses).
One word of advice- take a decent handheld torch. It will prove invaluable for the late-night walks back from the restaurants down the beach!
Hotel Feature Tip:
Bring a torch for those night time walks down the beach.
United States of America,
February 24, 2010
A Boutique Gem
Excellent food, hotel design and landscaping is very appealing
Needed a place to stay close to the airport (15 mins drive). This hotel is truly a unique gem located in the middle of nowhere - however, its 100 meters from the beach with a beautiful view. If you want quiet relaxation, this place fits the bill. The employees are all very attentive to your needs but lack in the area of the English language (nothing that wouldn't bring me back however). The infiniti pool is really lovely and faces the beach view as well as the cafe. The lobby is completely open air - no walls which lends to a very 'spa' atmosphere. The breakfast restaurant is quite nice. The food is so delicious - the chefs in the kitchen really cook up fantastic food - ALL of it is sooo good! Didn't use the spa but I would bet it's fantastic because everything else was!!
February 18, 2010
4 night stay
Lovely quiet resort. Excellent pools. Easy beach walk to all the local restaurants and shops.
Great resort for a relaxing holiday. Breakfast buffet was excellent. We got an very good deal on our 4 night stay through Agoda. Even though the resort was full, we hardly saw any guests and it was lovely and quiet. After staying at Karon beach, a bit of peace and quiet was just what we needed.
Walk up the beach to enjoy the many local restaurants.
Families with young children
February 17, 2010
- close to the airport
- the pool is nice and connects the entire resort
- Staff is very nice
If you are looking for a resort to relax at the pool - that's it.
The water at the beach is only about 20-30cm high and you have to walk for 10 min. (!!!) till you reach deeper water.
Food is good but expansive.
Families with young children
February 17, 2010
5 star hotel but not really
Rooms with direct pool access.Close to the airport
We've stayed at the Adamas for five nights during mid-February. We had the direct pool access rooms which were wonderful as it felt like having your own private pool.
We've liked the fact that Adamas was extremely close to the airport since we were travelling with babies.
If you are looking for some peace and quiet then Adamas is your place as it is quite remote from everything.
We didn't find the reception staff very friendly as they ignore our requests via email. Then when you arrive to the reception, they all look very busy so they don't have to help you. When they don't want to accommodate you then pretend they don't speak English which is quite rude.
However, the housekeeping and waiting staff are very nice. They made sure we had everything in order especially Yan who was always friendly to us. He even played with our baby.
I would rate the food a 2 out of 5. It's always a hit and miss. We were running out of choices by the third night. One more thing, avoid ordering any desserts. The ice cream tasted more like a lollipop as it was made of sweetener of something artificial. The tiramisu was horrible. We've learned to avoid any desserts by the third night.
Towards the end of our stay, we would get lunch on the beach area rather than staying in for a meal.
The spa had inflated prices so we ended up getting a massage by the beach. Which was good and cheap!
The beach was very shallow and not very clean water. I wouldn't recommend it for people who are there for a beach holiday. This is definitely a place where you would just stay within the resort and nothing else.
Overall, we've survived but wouldn't go back to Adamas again.
United States of America,
February 15, 2010
Adamas is worth your stay
Quiet, secluded, relaxing, privacy, a place to get a good tan + good customer service. GORGEOUS pool, private beach
I was VERY pleasantly surprised by how clean, luxurious and inviting the hotel looked, for only being about a 10-15min taxi ride from Phuket Airport. DEFINITELY a place worth staying, esp if you get rooms on discount.
- They offered a free upgrade immediately
- Customer service is wonderful
- THE ROOMS: big, clean, beds are spacious, with the pool access are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i loved jumping right into the pool from our back door. DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER!!!
- Pool is clean daily
- Breakfast buffet is a good mixture of Asian and Western.
Take a METERED taxi from the airport. We paid $190 Baht include $100 Airport surcharge. Hotel taxi service is more expensive, so if you want to save $, walk down the road and hire through locals.
February 13, 2010
Our stay at Adamas resort was the second part of our trip - so comparing it to three other resorts this one was the worst by far. It looks great however the service and facilities were a little stale. The pool access from the rooms is not that inviting - the highlight is walking along the beach into nai yang which is beautiful.
Mamma mia's restaurant and Kobi's Bar
February 11, 2010
Hotel stay at Adamas
Great scenerio; lovely food at the restaurant
February 10, 2010
Fantastic stay - great value
Great facilities, Big Pool, Free Games Room, Nice Accommodation, Great Food, Very Clean
Adamas was a fantastic stay for us, one that exceeded our expectations. The facilities were very nice, very clean and easy to use. The service at reception, the restaurants and the pool were excellent, towels are provided at the pool which makes it easy. The pool is also very big. Very relaxed atmosphere with live music. Nai Yang Beach is very nice if you walk a little way up - quite quiet, very relaxing.
The food served at Adamas is very nice but also very expensive (comparatively). If you want to pay less than half price, just walk 10 minutes up the beach and eat at one of many restaurants that are literally on the beach - a great experience.
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Customer Reviews - The Imperial Adamas Beach Resort, Phuket
- A Place of Luxury and Relaxation - The Admas Hotel had everything we wanted in a getaway retrea
- A very nice and quiet resort~ - Both me and my bf enjoyed this resort a lot as we like quiet
- Adamas Resort & Spa, Phuket, Thailand - Despite booking six months early via Agoda our room had been
- Adamas Resort & Spa -
- Beautiful resort with friendly and helpful staff. - when my daughter became very ill with sun poisoning, the sta
- Beautiful secluded property - Everyone was very helpful, even as we arrived at 1:00 a.m.
- close to airport with amazing pool - we only stayed here one night (group of 7 young adults) as o
- Don't waste your time or money - I was really looking forward to a nights stay in this 'luxur
- Excellent choice - quality and value - Adamas Resort is gorgeous - lovely grounds and big BIG swimm
- Excellent -
- Great holiday - The hotel is high class and really nice place to stay, but I
- great hotel. i liked. - i request some adaptor to connect my computer, hotel no prov
- Great Location for a very relax place - the place is very close to the airport so it's very convenie
- Great place somewhat isolated. - We had a very relaxing stay. Staff was extremely nice and he
- Great pool access and beautiful location - Stayed 2 nights, we could make ourselves really relaxed. Roo
- Great service and pool access was really nice - This hotel is perfect for couples with small children. It's
- Great staff, Large Resort and Queit - Unfortunately the beach was not the best. At all times the t
- Impressive, beautiful hotel, great breakfast - From walking into the main reception area, this hotel is imp
- Loved the hotel, loved the staff - We booked the first night at Andaman Legacy with a group of
- miles form anywere not that nice for the money - miles from anywere very small room had small baby they put m
- nice hotel, but far from anything! - very quiet. more suited to older couples. drinks and dinner
- Nice pool access room - After travelling 19 hours we chose this resort as it is clos
- Our peaceful holiday - We were pleasantly suprised when we were upgraded to our own
- Overall good - A huge swimming pool and you can access to pool in your room
- Perfect Get Away! - the resort is in a very remote location not so far from the
- Pleasant, peaceful, nice atmosphere.. -
- Plesant stay - we stayed for four days. As soon as we got there we got upg
- Poor hotel in a poor location - this was a poor hotel. the immediate beachfront was just san
- Pretty Resort - Reasonable Price - My husband and I stay in this resort for 3 nights. We booke
- Quiet hotel, for couple or family - quiet hotel, 45 minutes from patong beach, low season and on
- Quiet, peaceful hotel, wonderful friendly staff - My boyfriend was injured during a boat island tour, so we we
- Really nice hotel - the hotel was very nice. it was the last hotel of our trip a
- Relaxing heaven - The resort has very good interior design. Good sea view and
- Super Duper isolated - Rooms - A lot of mosquitoes and the room amenities were not
- This was a fantastic stay . - We had great stay as were upgraded to Pool villa with own po
- Tranquil surrounding with large room - annual retreat to this resort has become habitual. it is a n
- Very nice - Our room was awesome, food sucked, and was way over priced b
- Very nice - Very good hotel. Good service. Beautiful beach. The staff we
- Very quiet, but got an upgrade! - A rather bizarre experience really not that it was at all ba
- Very Romantic Setting - The resort was perfect if your looking to be far away from e
- wanderful seaview, very quiet - It's super nice a hotel and we went during the low season so
- We basically had the place to ourselves! - We were coming back from Krabi late afternoon and had to fin
- Well made hotel with well trained staffs. - first i got there in lobby, i was very welcomed by staffs wh
- Wonderful Hotel - Beautiful big rooms that are decorated nicely. Large clean b | <urn:uuid:c42a4de5-54e3-4037-80cc-e776f14384a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agoda.com/asia/thailand/phuket/the_imperial_adamas_beach_resort/reviews-page-35.html | 2013-05-20T12:10:27Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970232 | 2,827 |
Buying a new MF camera
I'd like to photograph in medium format. So I'm looking to buy my first MF camera.
With 35mm I mostly like the smaller camera's. Like an Olympus XA for example. Since I take it far more easily with me.
But I guess Medium Format is for the more controlled photographs. It's not the camera you take with you every time.
Camera's that got my interest:
Mamiya 6 (Expensive) + slow lenses for low light photography
Fuji Ga645 (Sound?) + slow lens for low light photography
Fuji Gs645w (Zone Focus=Portrait :( ) + slow lens for low light photography
Mamiya Universal (Slower lenses/Fragile?) + mostly very slow lenses for low light photography
Pentax 67 with grip (Camera porn)
I think I'd love the mamiya 6. Only problem is it's fairly expensive. I'm able to buy the body near where I live reasonably priced, around 300 euro. But than I have to search a lens which isn't too expensive which seems to be impossible.
The Fuji Ga 645 seems to stand up well against the mamiya 6. Things that scares me are the focus, it's AF. And is it really laggy? Or am I just worried too much? I'm not really a sports photographer nor a birds photographer but I don't like to have to press the button 4 times to get the picture. Also the sound it makes is it okay? Or more than okay?
The Fuji Ga 645 has certainly my interest since it's priced around 300 - 400 euro. (Things to watch out for when buying one? I heard of the Lcd?)
The Gs645S or W downside seems to be zone focus? Good thing about zone focusing is that it's fast. Downside is the accuracy. Or am I wrong?
Mamiya Universal has most of the time very slow lenses. At first I loved how it looked, but the more I'm exploring the net the more I find myself attracted to the other camera's.
Pentax 67 with the grip of course! It's very sexy. Professional looking. It has wide range of lens choices. Some are pretty fast for MF.
It's bulkier than the Mamiya 6 and the Fuji's which will make me think twice before taking the camera with me though. I certainly want one in the future, but maybe now is not the time? As a first camera?. Also when they are reasonably priced in or near my country they come and go very quickly. (Too quick)
You probably will advise me a Mamiya 645 system or the Rb67 but I don't like those. I don't know why, they seem so ultra bulky not practical.
Mael you forgot the texas leicas meaning the bigger Fuji Rangefinders with fixed lens but with a good rangefinder and that fixed lens is very good. They are not as lightweight as the 6 and the GA though. Another choice would be the Bronica RF645 it usually costs less than the six and the lenses aren't bad either. The GA645 is a good camera the AF is not the most precise in the world but is still decent. The GA is also a lot more affordable than the Mamiya six. The P67 is heavy and not really a walk around camera. A good compromise between speed portability and interchangeable lenses is the mamiya c330 it's a TLR with interchangeable lenses and shows the parallax error/correction in the finder the drawback it is heavier than the six and lacks metering. The advantage is the price of the lenses, the body and its close focussing ability. Zone focussing is a bit hit and miss furthermore wide cameras are not the best choices for portraits.
My Advice would be to get either the GA645 or the Mamiya C330 both great cameras for little money.
Thanks for the fast reply.
I know I didn't add the texas leica's aka Fuji Gw690. But I haven't seen those a lot in my country. And their pricing comes close to a Mamiya 6 with lens.
The Bronica RF645 is also pretty rare I think?
TLR's and Foldables (old ones) are indeed less expensive. But no metering, slower, and more fragile. I'd like to have something not too fragile.
Is the Fuji Ga645 60mm f4 good for portraits too? I'm having an option for around 300 Eur.
I don't shoot a ton of portraits, just sometimes. I'm more all-round Portrait-Archetecture-Objects-Rooms-Spaces-Landscapes-Street-...
Fuji Ga645 60mm f4 or Ga645 Zi Zoom?
TLRs are much less fragile than RF since the Rangefinder can't get out of alignment something that does happen even on the Mamiya six. Furthermore most TLR are made completely out of metal the newer RFs are more fragile than any Mamiya or Rollei TLR. The 60mm lens should work for portraits just don't get to close to the subject or you will get some distortion. Wideangles are better suited to environmental portraits were the photographers wants to show the subjects surroundings. Some TLR like the later Rolleiflexes do have metering btw but are expensive. If you can get the GA for 300Euros get it it's a great camera.
Originally Posted by MaŽl
MaŽl, you seem to suggest that both the Fuji GS645S and GS645W are zoned-focussed. That's not true; the GS645S is rangefinder focussed.
I actually traded in my Texas Leica, a Fujica GW690, for the GS645S. While the GW690 was sturdier, and produced a stunning 6x9 negative, the GS645S has the following advantages:
- smaller and lighter, which means easier to carry and less imposing to your subjects
- includes a light meter
The lens on the 645S is a nice "normal-wide" which can work for portraits. I ruled out the 645W because of zone focussing and the wide lens being less useful for portraits.
Ow, that is good news!
Than indeed I'm interested in the Gs645S!
Fuji Ga645 (60mm f4) vs Gs645S
You might consider the Mamiya RB67. While it is big and heavy(I use a tripod) it is not that expensive.
I see that you're unhappy with all of them due to slow lenses for low light. MF will always have slower lenses than 35mm and LF will have even slower lenses that's a given. Even if you can get fast lenses I don't think it would help much in term of low light shooting. If you have to do low light hand held and/or subjects move then I don't find any film camera works well for that. But if the subject doesn't move then it's not a problem with slow lenses. Besides, I don't know about you but I can't shoot wide open even with 35mm and doing so with MF I would have much shallower depth of field. I know a lot of people love to take picture with an f/1.2/ f1.4 lens wide open but I never find an image that I can successfully make with such a shallow depth of field.
Buying a new MF camera
Mael, Have you considered a Pentax 645? They are great cameras with some very sharp lenses and the first 645, the manual focus cameras, are fairly inexpensive. I have used one for the past 10 years and have been very satisfied with the reliability as well as the quality of the images and 15 shots to the roll of 120 film is a good thing. I used a Pentax 67 for many years before my 645 and was very pleased with the image quality, but it is considerably heavier than the 645. The 645's meter is center weighted almost a spot and was very accurate as well. Check it out.
On the low light, that is true. It's just a point a made, but maybe a useless point. Sorry for that.
Maybe me learning to use a flash could do wonders :)
About the Pentax 645 is not my taste, it's very bulky unpractical looking. I'd take a Pentax 67 any time over the 645.
I think the pentax 67 is for a future purchase.
Right now it's between the Fuji Ga645 (60mm f4) and the Fuji Gs645s. The Bronica Rf645 is nice too! But seems to be more expensive like the Mamiya 6. | <urn:uuid:649dba7f-0b35-4f46-8986-037ff26dbfbb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.apug.org/forums/medium-format-cameras-accessories/print-114291-buying-new-mf-camera.html | 2013-05-20T11:30:26Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969903 | 1,824 |
Now, after more than 20 years as a regular "Today" viewer, Wurtzel tunes to CBS most mornings.
Multiply such defections and you have the chief reason for television's changing fortunes in morning news, where ABC's "Good Morning America" has ended NBC's epic 17-year winning streak on "Today." ABC is growing—"GMA" has 110,000 more viewers each day this year than last—but not as much as NBC is slipping (437,000 viewers a day since last year).
Wurtzel, 57, left last spring because of "Today" co-host Ann Curry.
"Ann's interview style was like chalk on a board to me," she said. "She leaned toward her interviewee and whispered her questions like someone had died. The more serious the interview, the quieter she got. When she replaced Meredith (Vieira), I tried to adjust and accept, but she just didn't work for me. Katie (Couric) and Meredith were relatable, empathetic and funny. Ann just seemed out of place."
Executives at NBC were quietly reaching the same conclusion and moved to replace Curry with Savannah Guthrie.
Then came June 28, 2012, Curry's last day as co-host. She cried in bewilderment at her perceived failure at losing the job she had sought for years, as her uncomfortable
Suddenly, a problem for NBC became a BIG problem. Even people who didn't particularly like Curry loathed the way she was dispatched. Except for two weeks during the Olympics, "Today" hasn't sniffed first place in the ratings since. During the first six months of 2012, "Today" averaged just under 5.2 million viewers each weekday. Since July 2, the audience has dropped to 4.59 million, according to Nielsen, the company that measures TV audiences. Without the two weeks of the London Olympics, the average is 4.3 million. That's a stunning drop, even accounting for typical lower viewership in the summer.
An informal survey of three dozen viewers who have left or are considering leaving "Today" turned up various explanations, including a feeling that the show had leaned too far in the direction of lighter, pop culture fare. The Curry dismissal was clearly a tipping point, however.
William Runge, a manager at an educational cable network who lives in suburban Winston-Salem, N.C., likened the treatment of Curry to "a public flogging."
"The PR machine at NBC spent an enormous amount of time and effort convincing me that the 'Today' show team was actually part of my family, 'America's First Family," said Runge, 46, citing the show's advertising slogan. "Guess what? They were right. These did feel like family members. So this is how you are going to treat a member of your family?
"You can debate for hours whether Ms. Curry was right for the role," he said. "That's not the point. She was doing her job and was barely 11 months into it when they canned her in the most humiliating way possible."
The move was "heart-wrenching," said Isabelle Langelier, a 40-year-old manager at a drug company from Montreal. "It made me feel sick for her. And it made me turn the channel, probably permanently."
"While I thought Ann Curry's interviews were a little hokey at times, she is clearly the most genuine person in TV news," said Sarah Rosenthal, 53, a graduate student and mother of three from West Chester, Pa. "After her unceremonious dumping, I turned it off. I have nothing against Savannah, and adore Natalie Morales, but there is just a different tone to the show."
Even worse for NBC, a significant number of viewers appear to blame co-host Matt Lauer for the move. The network has consistently denied tabloid reports that Lauer was unhappy with Curry. "Today" Executive Producer Jim Bell said late last month that Lauer was being treated unfairly. Firing Curry was Bell's decision, he said.
Some awkward public moments haven't helped. When Curry reappeared on "Today" during the London Olympics to introduce a story she had done, Lauer twice remarked that it was good to see her again. Curry didn't return the sentiment to the man she worked with for 15 years.
Two years ago, Lauer's positive "Q" score was 23—meaning 23 percent of people who knew him considered Lauer one of their favorite broadcasters, according to Marketing Evaluations Inc., a company that measures public sentiment toward well-known personalities. Now his positive score is 14. At the same time, "Good Morning America" co-host Robin Roberts' positive "Q" score jumped from 20 to 27.
Langelier felt there was a perception that Lauer was "king" and others on the show aren't equal to him. Lyle Nelson, 40, a salesman from Avondale, Ariz., said Lauer was "not someone I'd like to have a beer with."
"There is something about Matt Lauer, whether or not he was the reason for Curry's firing, that has changed and I do not like watching the show anymore," said John Friia, a 20-year-old aspiring journalist from Malverne, N.Y.
Fortunately for NBC, viewers don't seem to be taking out their unhappiness on Guthrie.
Producers often say that viewing decisions for morning television can be intensely personal, since people are essentially inviting these personalities into their homes at an intimate time of day when they were getting ready for work. Feeling a part of the TV "family" they see on air is part of it, and sometimes the reasoning seems strange. Nelson said, for example, that he didn't like the couch on "Today" because it looked uncomfortable.
"In today's doom and gloom news programs, the 'Today' show gave me a lift to get my day started," said Taren Robin, 48, from Paris, Ky. "I don't get that lift anymore, and I am in mourning over the fact. I haven't found anything I like better to take its place."
At least one-third of people who responded to a Twitter request to discuss the show cited its content for their discontent.
"I used to be a regular 'Today' show viewer but got tired of their formula," said Dan Laufer, 35, a sports marketer from Washington, D.C. "Five minutes of hard news followed by an animal rescue story, the Kardashians and then pop culture or fashion. It's OK with me—in moderation."
Joan Pierce is a 64-year-old retired nurse from Oklahoma City, Okla., who watched "Today" for 40 years. Now she says: "I don't care what Lindsay Lohan does."
"I was fed up with the lack of actual news reporting, and more intense focus on silly, irrelevant things like women's fashion or the newest celebrity's recipe for a dinner I could never find the time or money to cook," said Zach Beale, a 23-year-old college student in Savannah, Ga.
Biting as they may be, at least those complaints offer "Today" the seeds of potential recovery. "Good Morning America," particularly in its second hour, has an even greater pop culture emphasis. Bell said his show will try to draw a greater contrast with its ABC rival in coming months. A recent ad with Lauer touts the "informative" nature of the show. Curry, who has kept her job with NBC as a hard news reporter, appeared on "Today" during the past month interviewing Libyan President Mohammed Magarief and reporting from Syria.
CBS has already tried to position itself as a newsier alternative in the morning. Because "Today" has a richer history and often twice as many viewers, it would be in better position to reach people who want this.
NBC announced this week that Willie Geist, an engaging and popular member of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" team, will join "Today" as a co-host of the 9 a.m. hour and occasionally appear earlier.
"What I loved about the show were the hosts, reporters and the stories," said Miriam Sajecki, a marketer from Staten Island, N.Y. who has watched "Today" for more than 20 years. "It was always delivered in a friendly, engaging and informative manner. Some of that has changed in that I miss the chemistry that was displayed with the prior hosts ... and some of the stories 'Today' was known for. It has evolved into forgettable reports without giving me the important news and educational stories."
Still, Sajecki is a loyalist. "I will continue to watch the 'Today' show and wake up to it every weekday," she said.
NBC needs devoted fans like Sajecki to turn things around.
It will take some time. | <urn:uuid:e918bf02-bf08-4338-9e8f-0130d7a19e50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.montereyherald.com/leisure/ci_21748216/where-have-today-show-viewers-gone | 2013-05-20T11:54:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985176 | 1,855 |
Equal opportunity in employment means opportunity not just for some but for all. NASA provides equal opportunity in Federal employment regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a parent.
EEO covers all human capital and employment programs, management practices, and decisions including, but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, merit promotion, transfer, reassignments, training and career development, benefits, and separation. NASA supports employee exercise of rights under EEO law. Reprisal against individuals who engage in protected activity will not be tolerated. NASA supports the rights of employees to exercise all available rights under the civil rights statutes. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codee/policy.html
To ensure the effective implementation of the NASA and JSC equal opportunity policy, which is to provide equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment, regardless of their race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a parent; to help reduce and to ensure against discrimination; and to promote the full realization of equal opportunity through a continuing affirmative employment program and diversity management
The Federal laws prohibiting job discrimination enforced by EEOC are:
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;
Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments.
Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 , which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government; and
The Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other things, provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.
In addition to the above laws which are enforced by the EEOC the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978(CSRA) prohibits discrimination and reprisal against federal employees. The CSRA contains a number of prohibitions, known as prohibited personnel practices, which are designed to promote overall fairness in federal personnel actions. The CSRA prohibits any employee who has authority to take certain personnel actions from discriminating for or against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability. It also provides that certain personnel actions cannot be based on attributes or conduct that do not adversely affect employee performance, such as marital status and political affiliation.
The CSRA also prohibits reprisal against federal employees or applicants for whistle-blowing, or for exercising an appeal, complaint, or grievance right. The CSRA is enforced by both the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
How are whistleblowers protected?
In addition to the discrimination prohibitions covered by the above laws, Executive Order (EO) 11478 as amended by EO 13087 and 13152 states that it is the policy of the Government of the United States to prohibit discrimination in employment because of sexual orientation, or status as a parent.
Assuring that all employees or applicants for employment are provided the needed resources (within reason) to perform the task of the job.
Yes, we can handle the complaint through the informal process towards resolution but the complaint will not continue through the formal process. The EEO counselor will discuss other grievance avenues such as Merit Systems Protection Board, Union, and Office of Special Counsel.
Anyone who feels they have been discriminated against because of their age, race, gender, color, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a parent, should contact OEOD as soon as possible. Employees are encouraged to review the, complaint process , prior to contacting OEOD.
Contractor employees can file a discrimination complaint with JSC if certain criteria are met. They may also file with their company or directly with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). To determine if you meet the criteria to file a complaint with JSC, please contact OEOD at 281-483-0607.
Generally you have 45 days to contact OEOD from the day of the incident. The EEO counselor can provide additional information.
It is filed against the current Agency Administrator.
After the incident is reported to OEOD, you will be assigned a counselor who will explain the entire complaints process and your rights and responsibilities.
The processing of an EEO discrimination complaint dealing with the employment practices of a federal government organization begins with what is called the informal complaint process (also called the pre-complaint process). During the informal process, an EEO counselor will meet with you to discuss your concerns and will provide you with information concerning your rights and responsibilities with regard to the EEO discrimination complaint process. During the informal process there will be opportunities to explore and possibly achieve resolution to the EEO issue(s) through either counseling or possibly “ADR.” There are time constraints placed on the length of the informal process. If no resolution of your issue(s) is achieved during the informal process, you will be advised of your right to file a formal EEO discrimination complaint with the Agency.
The formal complaint process begins once you send your complaint to the Agency at NASA Headquarters Complaints Division. You will first receive notification that the Agency received your complaint, then the Agency will perform a jurisdictional* review of your complaint and inform you if your complaint is accepted or dismissed by the Agency. If your complaint is accepted, an investigation will begin and you may be offered “ADR” in an effort to resolve your issue(s). You will receive a copy of the investigation report once it is completed. At that point you may request a hearing before an EEOC administrative judge or request a final decision from the Agency. In either case, you should receive some type of final action notification from the Agency. If you disagree with the final agency action you may file an appeal to the EEOC or file a civil action. There are time restrictions associated with different parts of the formal process, and both you and the Agency have appeal rights along the way. A flow chart of the EEO discrimination complaint process may be found at this link
* Jurisdictional – within the timeframes dictated by EEOC guidelines.
Yes, in most cases you have the right to remain anonymous during the initial phase of the discrimination complaints process. In certain cases, such as harassment where prompt and effective action is required by the Center, your anonymity will be protected to the extent possible and information will be shared only on a need to know basis. The EEO counselor can provide more information on this subject.
Also, if the complaint is not resolved at the informal phase, it can proceed to the formal phase if you choose to file a formal complaint. If it proceeds to the final phase, you will send your complaint to the NASA Headquarters Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, where your identity can no longer be kept confidential.
Yes, in most cases (see question above for exceptions) complaints brought to the OEOD will be kept confidential between you, the EEO counselor, EO Director and if you elect ADR counseling, the ADR Program Manager.
ADR refers to a variety of approaches used to resolve conflict outside of some formal administrative or legal forum. Many of these approaches involve the use of a neutral individual such as a mediator who can assist disputing parties in resolving their disagreements. The techniques or methods used in ADR include approaches such as arbitration (binding or non-binding), conciliation, cooperative problem-solving, dispute panels, facilitation, fact-finding, mediated arbitration, mediation, mini-trials, Ombuds, peer review, and settlement conferences. ADR increases the disputing parties' opportunities to resolve their issues prior to or during some formal administrative procedure or litigation (which can be very costly and time-consuming). In the EEO complaints arena at NASA, the term ADR is normally used to mean mediation. Mediation is a process entered into voluntarily by each of the parties to a dispute. This process involves the disputing parties and an impartial and neutral “third party” (the mediator) who is acceptable to each of the disputing parties. The objective of mediation is to assist the parties in voluntarily reaching an acceptable resolution to the issues in dispute.
Yes, any time during the formal process NASA headquarters can offer ADR again and will arrange for ADR. If you decide to elect ADR during the formal stage, the formal investigation will continue unless a resolution is reached.
Yes, you have appeal rights during the formal stage. Initially after your complaint and the counselor’s report are reviewed, Headquarters will notify you in regards to whether your complaint was accepted or rejected. If accepted, the formal investigation process will begin. If the complaint is rejected, Headquarters will send a letter explaining the reasons the complaint was denied and will inform you of your appeal rights should you decide to do so.
Disparate, unfair treatment as a result of filing an EEO complaint, or participating in protected activity.
Yes, you may withdraw a complaint at any stage of the process. | <urn:uuid:99a0682d-75bc-4f1d-8323-69a5dc5910bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oeod/did_you_know/did_you_know.html | 2013-05-20T12:02:02Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940942 | 1,945 |
Huffington Post released an article today that looks at the impact of sewage overflow from Superstorm Sandy in New York and New Jersey. The article points out how storm surge will result in overflow events and how rising sea levels will only exacerbate these events resulting in more severe discharges.
The 11 billion gallons of untreated or partially treated sewage spilled due to storm surge in New York and New Jersey must be seen as a warning for all coastal cities. We must consider this warning as we rebuild Miami-Dade’s sewage system. As sea levels rise storm surges will increase in intensity and frequency. Miami-Dade’s facilities must be built to withstand these storm surges to avoid the kind of spills seen in the northeast.
“Princeton, N.J.-based Climate Central said that future sewage leaks are a major risk because rising sea levels can make coastal flooding more severe…The collective overflows – almost all in New York and New Jersey and due to storm surges – would be enough to cover New York City’s Central Park with a pile of sewage 41 feet high, Climate Central said.”
Read More Here:
Sandy Sewage Report: 11 Billion Gallons Of Untreated or Partially Treated Waste Was Released. www.huffingtonpost.org
On April 9, 2013 Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper, along with 131 other organizations, undersigned a letter to the United States Senate urging them to oppose advancing the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (S. 601). This letter, put together by the Water Protection Network, points out significant problems in this bill:
“Particularly troubling are the streamlining provisions (Sections 2033 and 2032) which will force agency staff to make uninformed decisions, to rubber stamp unacceptable projects, and prioritize deadline compliance over effective review. They do this by:
Requiring the Corps of Engineers to carry out the shortest review possible; Establishing arbitrary and unreasonably short deadlines for the public and resource agencies to comment;
Establishing arbitrary deadlines for resource agency decisions and recommendations;
Allowing the Corps to elevate multiple technical and substantive disagreements all the way to the President; and
Directing the Corps to impose multiple and ongoing fines on resource agencies that miss deadlines or disagree with the Corps on issues fully within the expertise of the resource agencies.
These provisions also could give the Corps control over reviews that are clearly outside of its jurisdiction, including consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, review under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, and reviews under laws governing activities in coastal areas and public lands.
Additionally, the bill threatens to exacerbate our nation’s fiscal deficits by rolling back long- established cost-sharing rules and expanding federal responsibilities into areas that have been the financial responsibility of non-federal project sponsors. If enacted as reported, the bill will result in overspending, overcapacity, and substantial and unnecessary damage to the nation’s major estuaries and harbors. Title VIII of the bill would immediately more than double spending on harbor maintenance without assurance of the cost-effectiveness or true need for the dredging. In addition, the Title eliminates the current 50 percent non-federal cost share for maintaining deep draft harbors from 45 to 50 feet of depth, making these costs 100 percent federal responsibility. The provision also makes dredging and maintenance of all approach channels to berths along federal navigation channels and all upland confined disposal of contaminated dredged sediments a 100 percent federal responsibility, rather than the current 100 percent non-federal responsibility. No one has ever even estimated the costs of such an expansion. This would likely cause increases in dredging of contaminated areas that otherwise never would have been contemplated, increasing toxic releases into the nation’s bays and estuaries. We strongly urge rejection of this title as representing a major setback for the nation’s water policy that will be both environmentally-damaging and represents an improper shift of spending and water project responsibility to the taxpayers.”
For more information on the 2013 WRDA see: http://www.waterprotectionnetwork.org/sitepages/downloads/WRDA_2013_NWF_Memo_EPW_Committee_3-18-13_Final.pdf
It is difficult to consider ourselves surrounded by nature in Miami, FL. In the city, on the interstate, or in the supermarket it is easy to think of ourselves removed from the nature of Muir’s Yosemite or Thoreau’s Walden pond. An essay called “Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature” by Jenny Price, suggests that we reconsider how we think about nature in our city. She writes about nature in L.A., but her message applies to all cities.
Miami is confronted with a decrepit sewage system and the problems that this system is causing for the health of our environment. Our connection to nature is real whether we recognize it or not. We must consider difficult questions like “how are we connected to the nature around us?”, “how do we affect the health of the nature around us?”, and “how do we depend on the nature around us?”. As we move into a future full of challenges like Climate Change these questions are going to become more and more important.
I would encourage everyone to read this article by Jenny Price:
As Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper reflects on a successful clean-up this past week-end, it seems appropriate to consider another clean-up that happened two weeks ago.
On Sunday, March 3rd, Sean Bignami, was jogging on Virginia Key and came across an enormous pile of trash left over from the 9 mile music festival the night before.
Sean spoke with staff who where standing around the festival site who said they could not pick up the trash because the wind was blowing it around. Sean took pictures and videos of the scene with his phone and posted them online along with a request that people join him the next day to help clean up the area.
Four graduate students joined Sean the following morning and picked up enough trash to fill 25 garbage bags!
Sean was unable to get a satisfactory response from the festival supervisor or the Miami parks department regarding accountability for this trash or penalties for the negligence on the part of the festival organizers.
The systems in place that are designed to prevent the festival from leaving piles of trash failed, and it is unclear if the festival will be held accountable. Regardless of this failure, the immediate response from concerned residents must be seen as a message to institutions who ignore the sanctity of our Bay. Biscayne Bay is home to concerned stewards, like Sean Bignami, who will not stand quietly while polluters leave trash on our shores.
Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper wishes to celebrate the stewardship shown in this story. Thank you Sean, and all who came out to help clean up after the 9 mile festival left their trash to be blown into the Bay!
See the article Miami Newtimes blog posted about this story here:
On Sunday, March 17, 2013, Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper and Sierra Club put on a clean-up at Peacock Park in the Grove. Volunteers paddled nearby waters and gathered a huge amount of trash. Thank you to the stewards of Biscayne Bay who volunteered their time to put a dent in the amount of trash in our waters.
Thank you for a successful clean-up!
There is plenty of trash to pick up in Biscayne Bay.
Join Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper and the Sierra Club this Sunday, March 17th, for a paddle clean up at Peacock Park in the Grove (2820 Mcfarland Road, Miami, FL 33133). The clean up will start at 9 am and end at 2 pm. We will launch next to the boardwalk. Please bring your own gloves and trash bags. The Sierra club has a limited number of canoes, so we are encouraging attendees to bring their own kayaks, canoes, or paddle boards. If you do not have a boat, please contact Mark at Sierra Club to reserve a canoe. (contact Mark with any questions: [email protected]/ 305 632 7514)
(Miami, February 28, 2013) - Samples of beach water collected at Dog Beach on Virginia Key did not meet the recreational water quality standard for enterococci. By state regulation, the Florida Department of Health is required to issue an advisory to inform the public in a specific area when this standard is not met.
An advisory for Dog Beach on Virginia Key has been issued because two consecutive samples collected at the beach exceeded the federal and State recommended standard for enterococci (greater than 104 colony forming units per 100ml for a single sample).
Additional beach water samples at the Dog Beach on Virginia Key have been collected and further results are pending.
The advisory issued recommends not swimming at this location at this time. The results of the sampling indicate that water contact may pose an increased risk of illness, particularly for susceptible individuals.
The Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County has been conducting marine beach water quality monitoring at 17 sites, including Dog Beach on Virginia Key, weekly since August 2002, through the Florida Healthy Beaches Program. The sampling sites are selected based on the frequency and intensity of recreational water use and the proximity to pollution sources. The water samples are being analyzed for enteric bacteria enterococci that normally inhabit the intestinal track of humans and animals, and which may cause human disease, infections, or illness. The prevalence of enteric bacteria is an indicator of fecal pollution, which may come from storm water run-off, wildlife, pets and human sewage. The purpose of the Florida Healthy Beaches program is to determine whether Florida has significant beach water quality concerns.
For more information please visit the Florida Healthy Beaches Program Website: http://www.doh.state.fl.us and Select “Beach Water Quality”, from the A-Z Topics List.
We just posted the second edition of the Paddle Out Guide. We are excited to be able to provide you with this updated material. Keep this guide close to your kayak or canoe as an aid in your exploration of our beautiful Biscayne Bay. We have posted the guide below for your convenience, but you can always find the Paddle Out Guide at bbwk.org/paddle-out. Go out and enjoy our Bay!
Thank you Julie for speaking at the Grassroots festival on behalf of BBWK
Thank you to everyone who came out to see Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper (BBWK) speak at the Sustainability Fair this weekend at the Grassroots festival!
Julie Dick, a BBWK representative, spoke about our current projects and initiatives, helping connect the festival to some of the issues that face the Bay that surrounded the event.
BBWK was invited to speak alongside the Center for Biological Diversity, Surfrider Miami, and the United States Green Building Council Florida Chapter. We are honored to have shared the stage with such great organizations.
Thousands of people attended the festival, many of whom camped along the water. We are happy such a festive event took place amidst the beauty of our Bay.
Virginia Key and Key Biscayne are barrier islands which are, by their nature, exposed to the elements.
On February 15, 2013 the Village of Key Biscayne sent Carlos Gimenez, Mayor of Miami, a letter asking Miami-Dade County to take another look at the plans to improve the central wastewater treatment plant located on Virginia Key. Key Biscayne is concerned that the plans do not adequately consider the impacts of climate change, such as increased sea levels and stronger storm surges, and do not include funding for flood mitigation. Considering Virginia Key is a barrier island, and therefor more vulnerable to weather and flooding, makes these oversights in planning for a wastewater treatment plant on this Key particularly alarming.
Key Biscayne supports the County’s immediate plans to address Clean Water Act outflow violations, deteriorated conditions at the Virginia Key facility, and of sewer lines identified as being at risk of rupturing, including the 54 inch under-bay line from Miami Beach to Fisher Island to Virginia Key. At the same time, the Village of Key Biscayne, situated just south of Virginia Key, is relying on the County to protect their natural environment. As long as infrastructure improvement plans do not address these long-term issues the residents of the adjacent island community of Key Biscayne will be understandably concerned for their quality of life. Key Biscayne is already plagued by foul odors from the central wastewater facility and occasional sewage spills.
Community voices like key Biscayne, calling for better sewage infrastructure, are the impetus for Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper’s legal initiatives for this issue. If the County will not address the concerns of local residential and business communities, or the needs of our fragile natural resources, then legal action may be the only way we can ensure that the County properly address these issues. | <urn:uuid:2cb3abbd-7305-4de9-8d53-6b9b8e8641a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bbwk.org/ | 2013-05-23T04:54:10Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935963 | 2,697 |
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SOURCE Academy of Country Music
TELECAST TO AIR LIVE FROM MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA IN LAS VEGAS
Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network
CHEAT TWEET: Performers added to the @ACMawards April 7th on CBS! #ACMs
ENCINO, Calif., March 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions announced today that Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town are scheduled to perform as part of the 48th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS. This is the second round of artists announced as performers on this year's broadcast. The ceremony, which will be co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, honors country music's top talent, as well as the industry's hottest emerging artists. It is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.
These artists join previously announced performers Luke Bryan, Kelly Clarkson, Hunter Hayes, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, George Strait and The Band Perry, as well as the 3rd Annual ACM Fan Jam, headlined by Brad Paisley along with special guests Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes, and New Artist of the Year Presented by Kohl's nominees Brantley Gilbert, Jana Kramer and Florida Georgia Line. LL Cool J has also been tapped to make a special appearance during this year's ACM Fan Jam, emcee'd by Storme Warren.
Jason Aldean is nominated this year for three Academy of Country Music awards, including his third consecutive nod for Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year, as well as Vocal Event of the Year for "The Only Way I Know" with Luke Bryan and Eric Church. Aldean recently played his first-ever Madison Square Garden show, which sold out in just seven minutes, when his "2013 NIGHT TRAIN TOUR" rolled into New York City for one of its many sold-out stops. Aldean has solidified his stadium headliner status with upcoming sold-out shows at the University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium, two nights at Boston's Fenway Park and Chicago's Wrigley Field.
Kenny Chesney has won eleven Academy of Country Music Awards, including four Entertainer of the Year Awards and the Crystal Milestone Award, an award that has only been given to five acts in the Academy's history. He is nominated this year for Vocal Event of the Year for "Feel Like a Rock Star" with Tim McGraw. Chesney's current single, "Pirate Flag" is burning up country radio - becoming his 8th Top 25 debut and being named USA Today's Song of the Week. The song is the first single off of his upcoming Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Records album Life on a Rock, set to be released on April 30. He has just kicked off his "No Shoes Nation Tour" on March 16 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL.
Eric Church leads with seven ACM award nominations, including Male Vocalist of the Year and his second consecutive nod for Album of the Year and Video of the Year. He is twice nominated for Song of the Year for "Springsteen," as both artist and composer. Church also earned nominations for Single of the Year for "Springsteen" and for Vocal Event of the Year for "The Only Way I Know" with Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. His third album, "CHIEF," reached Platinum and received several end-of-the-year "top album" accolades from NPR, Rolling Stone, SPIN, iTunes and the Los Angeles Times. Church is a three-time GRAMMY nominee including a nod for Best Country Album, and his second and third single releases, "Drink In My Hand" and "Springsteen," reached #1 on the country radio charts. Church's forthcoming live album release, "Caught In the Act: Live," is currently available for pre-sale and will be released on April 9.
In his record-shattering career, Tim McGraw is a fifteen-time ACM award winner, and has sold more than 40 million albums as well as dominated the charts with 33 #1 singles. Since the release of his debut album in 1993, he has also won three GRAMMYs, twelve Country Music Association Awards, and ten American Music Awards, while simultaneously maintaining a parallel career as a successful actor in such films as "The Blind Side," "Country Strong," and "Friday Night Lights"-as well as hosting "Saturday Night Live," a rare honor for a singer in any genre. McGraw is also spotlighting the hottest music of the summer and calling on his friends to help kick off the 2013 touring season for ACM PRESENTS: TIM McGRAW's SUPERSTAR SUMMER NIGHT. The CBS-broadcasted special will feature high-octane performances and musical collaborations from Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Ne-Yo, Pitbull, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum and more to be announced, for a two-hour, star-studded concert event benefitting ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music dedicated to improving lives through the power of music.
Reigning Entertainer of the Year, and seven-time GRAMMY winner, Taylor Swift, received five ACM nominations, including her fourth consecutive nod for Entertainer of the Year. If Swift wins Entertainer of the Year, this will be her third consecutive win in that category. Swift is nominated for the sixth time for Female Vocalist of the Year and for the fourth time for Video of the Year for "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." She also received a double nomination for Album of the Year for Red as artist and producer. Swift is the first artist since the Beatles (and the only female artist in history) to log six or more weeks at #1 with three consecutive studio albums, and she is the only female artist in music history (and the fourth artist ever) to twice have an album hit the one million first-week sales figure. Swift recently scored her fourth consecutive #1 single from her RED album, and just kicked off her highly-anticipated "The RED Tour," playing to capacity crowds at 66 stops (including 13 stadiums) through North America until September 21.
Carrie Underwood is nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, marking her eighth consecutive nomination for this category – she has won three times. She is also nominated for Album of the Year for Blown Away. Having won a total of ten ACM Awards, Underwood is also a two-time Entertainer of the Year winner. In 2010, she was honored with the ACM Triple Crown, an award presented to an elite group of country music artists who boast wins for New Artist, Male/Female Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year. Underwood is currently on her critically-acclaimed international "Blown Away Tour," which began at London's historic Royal Albert Hall and is now making its way through North America.
Lady Antebellum is an ACM award-winning trio comprised of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood. The band recently received their fifth ACM Award nomination for Vocal Group of the Year, an award they have won for three consecutive years. The seven-time GRAMMY-winning trio's current single, "Downtown" is the lead single off of their upcoming fourth Capitol Nashville release Golden, scheduled to come out May 7. The track hit big out of the gate, becoming the trio's highest-charting debut on the Country radio charts.
Little Big Town leads ACM award group nominations with four nods, including their seventh nomination for Vocal Group of the Year. They are also nominated for Album of the Year, Single Record of the Year for "Pontoon" and Video of the Year for "Tornado." The Grammy-winning country group, consisting of members Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman, and Jimi Westbrook, first entered the music scene over thirteen years ago, and their fifth studio album, Tornado, debuted at the top of the Billboard Country Chart where it stayed in the #1 position for five consecutive weeks. The album produced by Jay Joyce, includes two-time platinum-selling #1 hit single "Pontoon," and follow-up single and title-track "Tornado," which also peaked at the #1 position. The foursome has played in front of over 4 million people to-date and is currently headlining their Tornado Tour across the US and Canada. They will join Keith Urban on tour later this summer.
About the Academy of Country Music Awards
The 48th Academy of Country Music Awards is dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry. The show is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network. Allen Shapiro, Orly Adelson and R.A. Clark are executive producers. Barry Adelman is producer, and Bob Bardo is the executive in charge of production. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.
©2012 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:799deea7-9544-4ff5-b6ff-6e980229c70f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cw15kxvo.com/story/21670867/jason-aldean-kenny-chesney-eric-church-tim-mcgraw-carrie-underwood-taylor-swift-lady-antebellum-and-little-big-town-to-perform-at-the-48th-annual | 2013-05-23T04:41:14Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965835 | 2,049 |
In order to understand the degeneration of the Socialist (Second) International, Karl Korsch in 1920 applied an historical materialist analysis to Marxism. He related Marxist praxis to the level and nature of class struggle. He posited three periods of Marxist activity. The first period ended about 1850, involved the revolutions of 1848 and the Chartist Movement. This revolutionary period gave rise to the “original” and revolutionary Marxism of Marx and Engels. The second period lasted until the 1917 Russian Revolution, and was characterized by the defeat of the Paris Commune and a partial absorption of the working class into simple trade unionism. Marxism, in its turn, became reformist during this period. The Third Period began with the Russian Revolution and revolutionary Marxism was restored with revolutionary thinkers like Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg.
This is not the place to debate the merits of Korsch's three stages, but only to consider applying historical materialist analysis to the anarchist movement in an attempt to understand its ideological Odyssey. Can the anarchist movement be placed in periods related to the level of class struggle in those countries where it had some prominence?
Like Marxism, anarchism developed just prior to and during the Revolution of 1848. This early anarchism was based mainly on the writings of Pierre Proudhon. But unlike Marxism, “Proudhonism” was not a fully developed revolutionary anarchism. In many aspects it was gradualist and reduced class struggle to the formation of worker mutualist societies. (Proudhon was opposed to strikes) Most workers at this time were artisans and mutualism was natural to them. Anarchism's First Period would be roughly 1840 until the late 1860's. During this time, Proudhon influenced the nascent workers movement in France, Southern Europe and part of Latin America.
By the late 1860's, however, a growing class struggle in those countries where Proudhon's thought had influence, began to move anarchism in a more militant direction. (1) Bakunin is the chief anarchist theoretician of this period which lasts until the defeat of the Paris Commune and the crushing of the Spanish and Italian revolts. Thus anarchism's Second Period lasts from about 1868 to 1874.
Post-1874 sees a period of reaction, as well as the “Long Depression” which effects many of the advanced economies up until the mid-1890's. Class struggle wanes, or is severally repressed in the countries where anarchism has any presence. But rather than heading in a reformist direction, an important section of the movement goes the opposite way, into ultra leftism. Two crucial aspects of revolutionary anarchism are ignored, seemingly pushed aside as irrelevant, these are the need to be directly involved in the people's struggles and the need for organization, rejected for “propaganda of the deed” and small autonomous action groups. This Third Period lasts until the late 1890's.
Propaganda of the deed proves an abject failure. Anarchists are marginalized and the social democratic parties get the upper hand, except for Southern Europe and Latin America. At the same time, the 1880's and 90's see a process of industrialization occurring, almost world-wide. Former peasants and artisans are converted into wage workers and the class struggle heats up. Anarchists return to the working class and involve themselves in the formation of revolutionary labour unions, (syndicalism). We can date anarchism's Fourth Period from the late 1890's. Syndicalism develops into a mass movement comprising millions of workers. Anarcho-syndicalists are involved in the Mexican and Russian revolutions, as well as risings in other countries such as Argentina and Brazil.
But Fourth Period anarchism had a flaw. While involved in the people's struggles and the creation of mass organizations, most syndicalists fell into a kind of economic determinism and also underestimated the need for a distinct revolutionary organization. For most Third Period syndicalists, revolution meant the workers occupying and running the work places and the need to deal politically with the state was ignored. The defeat of the Spanish Revolution in 1938 brings the Third Period to a close. At the same time, with few exceptions, workers become integrated into communist, social democratic or even worse, business unions and the parties supported by these tendencies. Autonomous class struggle, which found its theoretical and practical expression in syndicalism, for all intents and purposes, ends at this time, With the defeat of syndicalism, anarchism once more becomes separated from the working class. Essentially, the end of autonomous struggle is the end of anarchism as a proletarian movement.
The Fifth Period begins in 1939 and goes until 1968. This time, unlike the propaganda of the deed period, anarchists do two things – they immerse themselves in theory and attempt to develop a reformist anarchism, a “practical” anarchism that can be applied in a time when mass working class revolt, let alone revolution seems a hopeless fantasy. A major concern is why the working class failed to bring about the libertarian socialist revolution. Sexuality, child rearing practices, pedagogy, and culture are all examined and it is shown how these have an effect upon the workers consciousness and practice. A Gramcian struggle for hegemony ensues as anarchists strive to bring liberatory practice into daily life and overcome those factors which create a subservient population. (The one area where anarchism does have some input into the working class is the promotion of workers control and these ideas begin to resurface in the mid-1960s.) The Post 1939 “movement” allows anarchism to survive. Its ideas have an influence far beyond the small numbers of adherents. Liberatory practices begin to permeate society and the most obvious example of this is the formation of early New Left and the counter-cultures of the 1960s.
1968 signals that anarchism has entered a new phase, the Sixth Period. Autonomous class struggle is back again. Non-syndicalist unions start talking about workers control. Syndicalist unions begin recruiting again, though they remain very much a minority tendency within anarchism. Anarchism at this time is overwhelmingly counter-cultural, except for countries where it has deep roots like France, Italy and Spain. Permanent anarchist organization begins in countries that had not seen such in 40 years. The far-left is largely Marxist Leninist during this period, but anarchism is now a contender, something it wasn't in the Fourth Period.
The Seventh Period begins in 1980 and sees the complete defeat/capitulation of the orthodox left everywhere. The working class, at first combative, is beaten down and defeated. Anarchism suffers as well. While not eliminated, numbers are down and some organizations fragment. But the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, and the re-establishment of “democracy” in Latin America leads to a proliferation of anarchist groups. Anarchists are now found almost everywhere, but the movement is “a mile wide and an inch deep” and is still largely counter-cultural. (Counter-culture seems to be the way that anarchism enters new areas and attracts youth.)
The Eighth (and present) Period is signaled by the Battle of Seattle in 1999 and the Argentine Revolt of 2000. Seattle makes vast numbers of people aware of anarchism. The rebirth of class struggle in France, Spain and Mexico 1994-5 gave rise to the invigorated syndicalism of the French CNT, the Spanish CGT and the libertarian communalism of the Zapatistas, and laid the base for this period. The far left is now basically “the anarchists,” . More than a decade into the Sixth Period, the growing, if not dominant tendency in anarchism is working class oriented, and organizational. Furthermore, the influence of anarchist ideas goes far beyond the actual number of anarchists. Today, it is a rare socialist who is not in favor of worker-management, worker coops and popular power exercised through neighborhood councils. Even if, as some cynical anarchists claim, these socialists are not sincere, it still shows the influence of these ideas that they have to raise them in the first place.
Looking at anarchism in relation to the actual level of class struggle and how this struggle is reflected in anarchist praxis enables us to have a deeper understanding and appreciation of our movement. Western society has an underlying notion of free will and thus we have a culture of finger-pointing and blame. (You freely chose to do this, you vile creature!) Unconsciously, the left shares this culture. People who deviate from what is considered correct in terms of theory and practice are deemed to have done so for negative motives. While “selling-out”, ignorance and stupidity are factors, they don't explain everything. By examining anarchist praxis in the manner above, we realize that most of what happens, including those aspects we disagree with, are the natural responses to a given set of conditions rather than malfeasance and stupidity. The worst we can say about our past errors is that they were short-sighted.
Realizing the almost cyclic nature of the movement and the different periods that it can be divided into, can help us overcome any future errors made as a short-sighted reaction to changed conditions. For example, no period of reaction is so all-encompassing that we have to resort to propaganda of the deed to keep anarchism alive. While anarchism lost its proletarian base in the 1950's, this did not mean this was permanent and that militant, class struggle anarchism was gone forever.
At the same time, aside from the disastrous propaganda of the deed, much has been gained from anarchism's various phases, in spite of the errors committed. An incredible amount was learned from the Fourth or syndicalist phase. Indeed, this period really put anarchism on the map as a serious tendency in the workers movement. The Fifth Period developed anarchist understanding of society to a remarkable degree, making much of the earlier anarchism seem crude by comparison. Without the counter-culturalism of the Sixth and Seventh Periods, it is unlikely that so many youth would have become attracted to anarchism.
1. Many of these Proudhonist associations began to take on a more militant stance. | <urn:uuid:22366a7d-f575-424c-a6ab-2cd2ca043c46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://porkupineblog.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html | 2013-05-25T13:07:25Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956601 | 2,068 |
How do medieval-themed restaurants get it wrong?
By Mark Schatzker
Posted Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004, at 5:01 AM PT
For some people, renting Camelot on DVD just isn't enough. Neither is a trip to the museum, nor sitting down to read A Short History of the Middle Ages. These people want something closer to the real thing. So they visit a medieval-themed banquet to experience the food of that bygone era.
Since 1983, when its first "castle" opened in Kissimmee, Fla., Medieval Times Entertainment Inc. has served over 20 million diners. Today, the company operates eight restaurants across North America; the newest castle, in Hanover, Md., opened last year. Not to be outdone, Las Vegas' Excalibur Hotel & Casino serves about 10,000 rogues and wenches a week.
But there's one problem. Medieval-themed feasts aren't medieval. The vegetable soup (dragon tail soup), bland roast chicken (baby dragon), baked potato (dragon egg), and doughy desserts certainly seem pre-modern, not to mention pre-food-processor. It's like the food is the culinary equivalent of the classic stereotype that casts medieval people as belching, rugged simpletons. But throngs of bachelor partiers, group tourists, and amateur historians are being deceived about what it was like to chow down en masse during that long, dark period of history between the fall of the Roman Empire (fifth century) and the Renaissance (15th century).
Here's how they get it wrong:
Myth No. 1: Medieval food was bland.
Medieval chefs used spices as enthusiastically as the boy bands of today use hair products. Yes, medieval chefs did serve plain roasted meats, but they also served many meat dishes that featured thick, gooey sauces very heavily flavored with ingredients like ginger, sugar, vinegar, wine, raisins, mace, cloves, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, and honey. "Mawmenny," a typical dish, consisted of ground beef, pork, or mutton boiled in wine, which was then served in a wine-based sauce thickened with pounded chicken and almonds, then flavored with cloves, sugar, and more almonds (this time fried), and then festively colored with an indigo or red dye. Medieval food, in fact, was not unlike Indian food of today: sweet and acidic flavors combined, spices used by the handful. If anything, the concentrated, bold flavors would overwhelm the modern palate.
Myth No. 2: Medieval chefs were lousy when it came to presentation.
In the days of courageous knights and fair maidens, presentation went way beyond the present habit of dribbling some raspberry coulis or balsamic reduction around a central, tiered heap. Medieval feasts were all about display. Peacocks were cooked, then returned to their skin to be ceremoniously presented in their original plumage. Animals were stuffed inside other animals like culinary matrioshka dolls—a pig stuffed with a rooster, which would itself be stuffed with roasted pine nuts and sugar. A recipe called "glazed pilgrim" consisted of a pike boiled at the head, fried in the middle, and roasted at the tail; this was then served alongside a roast eel. Food coloring was used liberally: red (sandalwood), yellow (saffron), green (mint or parsley juice), black (burnt bread crumbs).
Myth No. 3: Medieval feasts were merely big.
While a Medieval Times castle seats anywhere from 900 to 1,500 people a night, and the Excalibur's Tournament of Kings about 2,000 (a thousand at each seating), no present-day medieval feast comes even close to approaching the enormity of some of the Middle Ages' heavy-hitters. We don't know exactly how many people attended the marriage feast of Henry III's daughter in 1251, but we do know that they gorged on 1,300 deer; 7,000 hens; 170 boars; 60,000 herring; and 68,500 loaves of bread. Feasters at the enthronement party for England's Archbishop of Neville in 1465 consumed 1,000 sheep; 2,000 pigs; 2,000 geese; 4,000 rabbits; and 12 porpoises and seals. No less than 11,000 eggs were eaten at a 1387 feast for Richard III. By comparison, the Excalibur goes through a paltry 2,000 Cornish game hens each night.
Myth No. 4: Medieval feasters ate off pewter plates.
Actually, they ate off rectangular pieces of stale bread called "trenchers" (which were fed to dogs or peasants once the meal was finished).
Myth No. 5: Medieval feasters had atrocious manners.
True, the tined fork was still centuries away from making it into the cutlery drawer, and even kings ate with their hands. Nonetheless, etiquette was alive and well in the Middle Ages. A medieval dinner guest avoided boorish behavior such as blowing on his soup (he might have foul breath), scratching his head (a dislodged louse might find itself drowning in the gravy), wiping his hands on the tablecloth, licking the serving dishes, picking his nose, or drinking out of a shared cup with a full mouth (backwash is an age-old problem). And if the lords and ladies of the era had possessed cell phones, it's safe to say they would have turned them off.
Myth No. 6: Medieval feasters ate in set courses.
The idea of eating one main dish during every course, which is called service à la russe, didn't become popular in Europe until the 19th century. Before that, grand meals were eaten much the way North Americans eat Chinese food today, with many dishes served simultaneously. At the coronation of Richard III in 1483, for example, there were three courses, each of which included at least 15 different dishes. The third course, which was never eaten because the feast ran late, included three meat, two fish, five bird, and two fruit dishes. Courses would often end with a "sotelty" (subtely); similar to an amuse-bouche, a "sotelty" was an ornamental offering, usually made from dough or marzipan, which showed off the chef's skill. Often, they resonated with the political theme of the occasion. All the sotelties (there were three, one for each course) served at the coronation banquet for Henry VI cited his politically hopeless claim to the throne of France—the second sotelty, for example, depicted Henry in between his father and the Sigismund, the holy Roman emperor who supported his claim.
Myth No. 7: Medieval people ate food they couldn't possibly have eaten.
A tomato might seem medieval when used as the foundation for the Excalibur's "dragon's blood soup" (not to be confused with Medieval Times' "dragon tail soup"), but medieval people simply could not have eaten food that wasn't present in their world. Tomatoes didn't make it to Europe until Spanish conquistadors brought them back from South America in the 1500s. The same goes for potatoes (dragon's eggs). Similarly, the Excalibur's roast Cornish game hen is a recent chicken breed that was popularized by a 1960s poultry mogul.
Medieval food was many things—garish, over the top, unsubtle. But it wasn't crude. And neither were medieval people. So, the real question is: Where does the familiar medieval stereotype come from? As with all questions of intellectual decline, Hollywood deserves some blame. (The studios had a thing for bringing the Middle Ages to the big screen in the '50s: Knights of the Round Table, Prince Valiant, The Black Shield of Falworth, The Black Knight.) Yet historical stereotyping, wherever you find it, is symptomatic of a deeper societal ill. Gustave Flaubert famously wrote, "Our ignorance of history makes us slander our own times." When it comes to slander caused by ignorance, history is sometimes on the receiving end, too.
Those still craving their history fix can take solace, however. After all, medieval people must have attended the odd crappy feast, too. During an evening of inappropriate food, some of them surely wondered: What is the king thinking? My own such moment came during a medieval-themed feast near the Tower of London, which was hosted by "Henry VIII." Not only did it feature a historically inaccurate king—Henry VIII was a Reformation king—and historically inaccurate food, it culminated with a historically inaccurate conga line. Indeed, since the dawn of dinner parties, people have found themselves asking: Am I the only one who thinks this dinner is lame? So, while the medieval feast of today may not be historically authentic, it gets you to that bygone era just the same.
Mark Schatzker is a Toronto-based journalist and a writer at large for Toro magazine. | <urn:uuid:a1bda0a8-c6be-45e5-9d04-a5ea9a6b2faa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?47380-The-SolAARium-Discuss-the-craft-of-writing-Alphabetical-Index-in-the-1st-Post&p=3225876&viewfull=1 | 2013-06-20T01:58:55Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97172 | 1,892 |
Quotes of the day
posted at 10:31 pm on January 30, 2013 by Allahpundit
Sen. Marco Rubio is having a moment. He’s a charismatic senator from a battleground state whose Cuban heritage and support for immigration reform are helping his party begin a new courtship with Hispanic voters. This much we know. But Rubio is exploiting an opportunity that goes beyond simply good timing and the right last name. He is getting the chance to be first at bat in a larger effort: the post-election audition for GOP leadership. Of all the would-be Republican stars—and the list is long and likely to grow—Rubio is getting a chance to show exactly what it looks like to move the party in a new direction…
The most important political skill is midwifery. The leader who moves the Republican Party into a new era, where it is more attractive to middle-class voters, minorities, and younger voters, will need to communicate a vision as well as communicate back to the base how he is not selling out the party’s core principles. In this effort, Rubio will get a crack at showing key presidential governing skills—the ability to nurse complex legislation by identifying common interests with Democrats while working with Republicans friends through a mixture of cajoling, flattery, and strong-arming.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, an unlikely ally of Obama’s on this issue, appeared on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show on Tuesday and recognized the Right’s discomfort with easing immigration laws. Like Obama, his defense of immigration reform seemed to be yoked to American exceptionalism.
“It doesn’t feel right in some instances to allow people who have come here undocumented to be able to stay. I know some people are uncomfortable with that notion,” said Rubio, a son of immigrants. “But I would just say this to you: If this country goes downhill, there’s nowhere else in the world. There’s nothing else. There’s no replacement for it. There’s no alternative for America. It’s either us or no one.”
And so perhaps now Republicans in Congress have two reasons to cast a risky vote in favor of conditional amnesty. The first, of course, is the fact that 70 percent of Hispanic and Asian voters supported Obama in the 2012 election, a reflection of a demographic tsunami threatening to destroy the GOP. The second is that, setting aside blind prejudice and “us-versus-them” mentalities, immigration reform is essentially conservative.
It seems the conservatives who are most skeptical of immigration reform don’t oppose the merits of Rubio’s framework, so much as they simply refuse to believe it would ever be enacted or enforced.
In other words, they simply don’t trust that the law will be obeyed. They believe Democrats can do whatever they want, and the best conservatives can hope for is to slow them down and not give them any ideas.
This is very destructive for democracy. I wish I could say the cynicism and paranoia was entirely unfounded.
Rubio’s bill is nothing but amnesty. It isn’t even “amnesty thinly disguised as border enforcement.” This is a wolf in wolf’s clothing…
The only thing the newly legalized illegal immigrants won’t get immediately is citizenship. Rubio claims that under his plan, they won’t be able to vote or go on welfare. But in practice, they’ll have to wait only until the ACLU finds a judge to say otherwise…
With Hispanics on track to become the largest ethnic group in California this year, the state that gave us Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan is incapable of electing any Republican statewide anymore. Taxes keep going up, and there’s no one left to pay the bill.
That will be our entire country if Republicans fall for Rubio’s phony “Enforcement First!” plan. Perplexingly, some Republicans seem determined to turn the whole nation into California, in the foolish hope of winning one last election.
“There are Republicans who will tear up their Republican voting cards over this,” said Dan Stein, the president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which opposes the bill.
Rubio is widely considered to be among the party’s top-tier contenders in 2016, but this wasn’t necessarily a fight he needed to be involved in. Not only does the effort contain the chance of angering hardcore primary voters, but Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, would be able to get Hispanic voters and those pushing for a more moderating voice on immigration within the party merely by his presence.
“Rubio has tried to neutralize [the anger on the right] because of the credibility he has with Tea Party folks, but once real measures are put down in black and white you are going to see the bloggers and talk-show hosts on the right become less and less polite,” said Mark Krikorian, the director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which is devoted to limited immigration. “Rubio’s stock among conservatives is going to start going down over the next six months, and I think he has pretty much doomed his chances for 2016.”
At least two 2012 polls provided some evidence that support for large-scale immigration alienates white voters.
Fifty-seven percent of “white working-class Americans … agree that illegal immigrants taking jobs that would otherwise be filled by American citizens are responsible for our current economic problems,” said an August survey of 2,501 Americans by the Public Religion Research Institute…
That poll was echoed by a Quinnipiac University poll whose results are a mirror of the Latino Decisions survey.
Quinnipiac’s poll showed that 27 percent of voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania said Obama’s de facto amnesty policy made them less likely to vote for the president’s re-election. Only 11.5 percent of voters in the two states said the policy made them more supportive of Obama, said the survey.
Public attitudes about immigration: Immigration policy is not a top priority for the U.S. general public or for Hispanics. According to a recent survey of U.S. adults, 39% said that dealing with the issue of illegal immigration should be a top priority for the president and the Congress, placing 17th on a list of policy priorities (Pew Research Center, 2013). For Hispanics, one-third said the issue of immigration was extremely important to them personally, behind issues like the economy and jobs, education and health care (Lopez and Gonzalez-Barrera, 2012).
Attitudes about immigration policy priorities: Among U.S. adults, 28% say the priority for dealing with illegal immigration should be given to tighter restrictions on illegal immigration while 27% say creating a path to citizenship should be the priority. A plurality (42%) says both tactics should be given equal priority. (Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 2012). Latinos are more likely than the general public (42% versus 27%) to say the priority should be a path to citizenship for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. Just 10% of Latinos say priority should be given to better border security and enforcement. Latinos (46%) and the general public (42%) are about equally likely to say priority should be given to enforcement and legalization (Lopez, Gonzalez-Barrera and Motel, 2011).
Yes, there will be fewer whites and more minorities in the future, and Republicans will have to adjust. But the situation is more complicated than that.
Start with the obvious: If demographics were determinative, then Republicans shouldn’t have gained 63 seats in the House of Representatives in 2010—the largest midterm shift since 1938—while also taking 30 governorships…
The major impediment is the harsh rhetoric of some Republicans regarding immigration. The solution is less about policy than about respect for the Hispanic community. If federal immigration law is reformed with substantial Republican support—including for a long and demanding but achievable process of earning legal status—the GOP can consistently earn 35%-40% among Hispanics. Having Sen. Marco Rubio as the GOP spokesman on immigration issues will hasten the GOP recovery.
Demography isn’t destiny because nothing is permanent in politics—and Democrats’ insistence to the contrary will likely lead them to overreach, ignoring issues such as jobs, anemic growth and deficits in order to tackle gun control and climate change.
McCain said he hoped to get at least 80 votes for any bill that eventually comes to the floor, although he conceded that there would be naysayers…
If the issue isn’t resolved, McCain said that some states, like his own — which have large Hispanic populations — “will go from Republican to Democratic over time.”
“I think it’s a danger,” McCain said of Republicans permanently forfeiting the Hispanic vote.
Breaking on Hot Air | <urn:uuid:27fa5132-4ddd-41b0-9ab1-a2f7434c15a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hotair.com/archives/2013/01/30/quotes-of-the-day-1276/comment-page-8/ | 2013-06-20T02:23:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955661 | 1,865 |
Free the Trucks
By Bill Gerdes
From the Shrimp Pimp to Bacon Mania to Border Grill, the food truck phenomenon is the culinary zeitgeist of the moment. Contestants on Top Chef have competed in food trucks, there’s the Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network and Food Truck Revolution on the Cooking Channel. Mobile cooking is the new molecular gastronomy with chefs scurrying to throw away their beakers and fire up the trailer in their backyard. In Southern California we’re lucky to live in the Mecca of mobile cooking and one can find a solitary food truck or a whole slew of them at various locales, with many trucks operating seven days a week. Chef Roy Choi’s Kogi trucks are the breakout stars of the movement, often drawing lines of up to an hour for the fusion-filled Korean-Mexican tacos. Choi’s success has helped spearhead a culinary movement that has redefined how we enjoy food in the area—unless one lives in the IE.
“A Nation Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand”
That’s due to the fact that Riverside and San Bernardino counties are the only two in the state with a ban on most food trucks. We’re the only citizens in the state unable to enjoy trucks with such names as Fishlips Sushi, the Buttermilk Truck and Chomp Chomp Nation. We’re the only people deprived of Dogzilla Hot Dogs and the Flying Pig truck. Lincoln famously said that a nation divided against itself cannot stand. Is it fair that most of the state gets to enjoy some of the most creative cooking going today while those of us in the Inland Empire content ourselves with the occasional food truck festival, currently the only way most of us in the area get to sample what the rest of SoCal takes for granted?
The festivals themselves are great, and there are an increasing number around the area. There’s the I.E. Food Truck Fest happening Oct. 8 at the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, another at the Fairplex in Pomona Sept. 11; there were a couple of huge ones in June and another in downtown Riverside, the belly of the beast where the trucks got banned in the first place. While the festivals are unique, and one gets to sample a slew of varied grub, having to wait for a festival to try a truck taco becomes a tad irksome. If I loved the Grilled Cheese Truck do I really have to wait for the next festival? Or drive an hour to Los Angeles? The real question here is whether this explosion of festivals is a sign that San Bernardino and Riverside counties may soon be legalizing the trucks? That we’ll get a taste of what L.A and the O.C. have been blessed with during the truck binge? This food writer sure as Hell hopes so—how many mediocre burger shacks can one guy endure?
Roach Coach vs. Gourmet Eatery
Riverside County officially banned most food trucks in 1980. At the time the ban may have made sense. The popular image of the “Roach Coach,” a dilapidated and skanky trailer that serves up gamy egg-salad sandwiches was already popularly ingrained in the American psyche. And the Board of Supervisors at the time was no doubt acting to insure that food borne pathogens kept their literally filthy claws off the good voters in the county. Despite having wretched air quality, horrible commutes for many of its denizens, potholes the size of Buicks and a lower life expectancy than Orange or L.A. counties, Riverside officials are quite safety conscious—witness the ban on firework sales. Or food trucks for that matter.
Hence the 31-year blockade on mobile eateries. The money shot in Ordinance No. 580 reads, “It is the purpose and intent of this ordinance to prohibit the operation of certain types of mobile food facilities . . . in order to safeguard life, limb, property, and the general welfare of the public.” Lynne Wilder, Program Chief for the health department in Riverside County, agrees that the ban came about through legitimate health concerns. One concern she expressed is that water tanks often run dry and then employees are no longer able to clean up or wash their hands. Wilder also suggested that too much food in a small space without sufficient refrigeration could become a problem.
The Truth and the Myths
Jethro Naude, who owns and runs the Slapfish truck along with Chef Andrew Gruel, sees these health concerns as outdated and based on old stereotypes. As he puts it, “Food trucks are misunderstood and leagues above the old roach coaches.” They also, he points out, offer up some of the freshest and healthiest cooking around, the occasional truck focusing on the deepest of fried notwithstanding. While we’re talking, Jethro lets me sample a “Lobsticle,” basically half a lobster tail on a skewer, along with possibly the best shrimp burrito I’ve ever eaten. My only health concern at the moment is that I’m eating too much, and I leave the shade of the Slapfish truck happy, full, and convinced that Jethro Naude is right about the healthy quality cooking going on inside these admittedly small areas.
Edward de la Cruz and his brother Joseph Ramirez run Los Hermanos Lonchera Sin Fronteras, a Riverside-based former food truck company. The brothers now operate a catering company that uses mobile grills when they cater at various functions, including parties. De la Cruz maintains that having to drive to Irvine every day to run the food truck eventually became to stressful and caused them to take a different direction with the business. He’s also no fan of the truck ban saying that he “never understood it,” and that it was “unfair.” De la Cruz also mentioned a few rumors he had heard regarding the origins of the ban, the first being that Riverside and Norco were more agricultural back then and feared the trucks would be inundated with flies. Another more macabre tale concerned a possible former food truck employee who had mysteriously burned to death in a hot oil fire started in a food truck. The Weekly couldn’t confirm either rumor, but both possibilities are far more prosaic than fears of E. coli or local restaurants fretting about competition.
The Middle of the Road
That fear, one of food trucks parking outside stationary restaurants and poaching potential customers, hovers slightly below the radar in any food truck conversation ban. Wilder mentioned this as a possible reason for the original ban saying it may have been a worry that they would take business away from stationary restaurants. Certainly Jeff Mineo, who works for Farmer Boys Inc., thinks so. At the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meeting to determine if the truck ban would be lifted Mineo mentioned unfair competition since the trucks are mobile. Yes, although unfair competition for Farmer Boys might not be such a terrible idea.
The San Bernardino City Council wound up adopting a “middle of the road” compromise according to Supervisor Janice Rutherford’s communications director Scott Van Horne. Supervisor Rutherford who, along with Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, has been an early proponent of opening up San Bernardino County to trucks, saw her efforts to truly free them up somewhat curtailed. Instead the board will allow the trucks at festivals and some special events but only with the approval of the particular city involved. While stressing that middle-of-the-road option was not her first choice Supervisor Rutherford went on to say, “It will—at least—open the door for more food trucks and food truck-related businesses here in our county.” Rutherford also gave an All-American rationale for her support of lifting the ban in the first place saying, “I supported lifting the ban on food trucks because I support free enterprise.” Free enterprise, innovative cooking and healthy food—who could really be against such wholesomeness? Well, I mean besides Riverside and San Bernardino counties of course.
Full and Happy
On a recent Saturday I slunk out of Riverside intent on committing what in the IE might be considered a crime, aiding and abetting a mobile kitchen facility. Yes, I was going to actually eat at some food trucks. I drove west on the 91, through Corona, steely and determined not to make eye-contact with anyone lest they grasp my nefarious plan to eat food cooked in a trailer. In Yorba Linda, I was almost out of the woods; still a brief moment of paranoia as a highway patrol officer came up on my right, but then I was in Anaheim. I had made it. I was free.
Well, free to attend a food truck gathering at Servite High School, a gathering that may or may not have been a fundraiser for the football team—I was too busy eating to find out. As I walked across the track field there were trucks of all colors and cuisines. The blue Bacon Mania truck, the graffiti inspired Brats Berlin and the ultra-chic Barcelona on the Go. I sampled yummy savory crepes from Crepes Bonaparte, bacon-wrapped dates from the Barcelona truck and a roast pork taco from Dos Chinos. I didn’t get sick, just full and happy.
And I suppose that’s the point really—the bans in the Inland Empire would make sense if people were getting ill or worse from eating at these trucks. But the most people could come up with about sickness was a rumor about someone being burned alive with cooking oil. Even Wilder failed to come up with any concrete stories of anyone in other counties getting ill from eating at a truck. And people get sick from eating at regular restaurants. Living in the IE can be rough enough at times with scorching temperatures, jokes about “Rivertucky” and Ken Calvert. It’s time to free the trucks and let the good times roll. | <urn:uuid:d29f7bfa-4b74-4e17-932e-e5b8de2daf9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ieweekly.com/2011/08/feature-stories/free-the-trucks-2/ | 2013-06-20T02:09:20Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961567 | 2,074 |
Inc. Magazine Unveils 28th Annual List of
America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies - Inc. 500
Spectraforce Technologies Inc. Ranks No. 182 on the 2009 Inc. 500
with Three-Year Sales Growth of over 1000%
NEW YORK, August 12, 2009 -- Inc. magazine today ranked SPECTRAFORCE
TECHNOLOGIES INC. NO.182 on its 28th Annual Inc. 500, an exclusive ranking of the
nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive
look at the most important segment of the economy-America's independent-minded
entrepreneurs. Companies such as Microsoft, Zappos, Intuit, GoDaddy, Under Armour,
Jamba Juice, American Apparel, Oracle, and hundreds of other powerhouses gained early
exposure as members of the Inc. 500.
"If you want to know which companies are going to change the world, look at the Inc. 500,"
said Inc. editor Jane Berentson. "These are the most dynamic, fast-growth companies in
the nation, the ones finding innovative solutions to problems, creating smart systems, and
inventing products we soon discover we can't live without. The Inc. 500 list is Inc.
magazine's tribute to American business ingenuity and ambition."
The 2009 Inc. 500, unveiled in the September issue of Inc. magazine (available on
newsstands August 17 to November 15) and on Inc.com, reported aggregate revenue of
$18.4 billion-up significantly from last year's $13.7 billion-and a median three-year
growth rate of 880.5 percent. The companies on this year's list are also responsible for
creating more than 55,000 jobs since their founding; making the Inc. 500 perhaps the best
example of the impact private, fast-growing companies can have on the overall U.S.
economy. The largest company on the list, flat-panel-TV maker Vizio, broke the $2 billion
revenue mark. Complete results of the Inc. 500, including company profiles and an
interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be
found on Inc.com.
Despite the ongoing recession, the 2009 Inc. 500 offers a glimpse of the future of the U.S.
economy. In the health sector, which saw aggregate revenue of $1.1 billion and a 917
percent median growth rate, businesses are moving forward on cancer and stem-cell
research, clinical trials, and medication management. More than 25 percent of companies
in the energy sector ($2.5 billion aggregate revenue; 942 percent median growth rate)
focus on solar and other alternative sources. Fewer than a third of retailers ($356 million
aggregate revenue; 914 percent median growth rate) have even a single brick-and-mortar
store. And the number of companies providing technical services to the various branches
of the federal government continues to rise.
The Hottest Regions for Fast-Growing Companies
Once again, California tops the Inc. 500 with the most companies of any state, 84, up six
from last year. The Golden State is followed by Texas (45), Virginia (35), New York (35),
and Florida (27).
The Washington, D.C., metropolitan area boasts 42 Inc. 500 companies, making it the top
metro area for the seventh consecutive year (up three from last year). New York City and
Los Angeles are close seconds with 36 each (up five and 10 from last year, respectively),
followed by Chicago with 23 (down four from last year) and San Francisco with 20.
The Inc. 500 at a Glance
Insurance was by far the fastest-growing industry on this year's Inc. 500, with an average
growth rate of 6,195 percent. Other strong performers include Logistics & Transportation
(2,487 percent) and Food & Beverage (2,153 percent).
In total, the companies on the Inc. 500 have created more than 55,000 jobs. Government
Services is the top employer with 6,895 jobs, followed by Telecommunications (6,338),
Health (5,803), IT Services (5,179), and Energy (4,559).
IT Services boasted the most companies on this year's list with 57, followed by
Government Services (50), Advertising & Marketing (48), Consumer Products & Services
(44), and Health (43).
Topping this year's list is Northern Capital Insurance, a Miami-based firm that is helping to
revolutionize Florida's ailing insurance industry. The company boasted $95 million in
revenue in 2008 and an impressive three-year growth rate of 19,812 percent.
The top woman-owned company is P3S (No. 17 overall), a San Antonio-based firm that
provides IT network security and physical security services, mostly to the Defense
Department. P3S, owned by Mary Ellen Trevino, recorded revenue of $13.5 million in
2008 and a three-year growth rate of 5,898 percent. The top minority-owned company is
Harley Stanfield (No. 3 overall), a Washington, D.C.-based real estate investment firm
that buys existing properties, makes them energy efficient, and then resells them as
investment properties. Harley Stanfield, founded by Cedric Franklin, posted revenue of
$38.4 million in 2008 and a three-year growth rate of 13,350 percent.
The Inc. 500 posted aggregate revenue of $18.4 billion, up more than 34 percent from last
year, even in a down economy. The top five industries by total revenue include Consumer
Products & Services ($3.1 billion), Energy ($2.5 billion), Government Services ($1.9
billion), Advertising & Marketing ($1.3 billion), and Real Estate ($1.2 billion).
The 2009 Inc. 500 measures revenue growth from 2005 through 2008. To qualify,
companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2005,
and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be
U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent-not subsidiaries or divisions of
other companies-as of December 31, 2008. (Since then, a number of companies on the
list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2005 is
$200,000; the minimum for 2008 is $2 million.
About Inc. Magazine
Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. (www.inc.com) is
the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of
growing private companies that delivers real solutions for today's innovative company
builders. With a total paid circulation of 712,961, Inc. provides hands-on tools and market tested
strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology. Visit us
online at Inc.com.
About the Inc. 500|5000 Conference
Each year, Inc. and Inc.com celebrate the remarkable achievements of today's
entrepreneurial superstars-the privately held small businesses that drive our economy.
The Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony brings together members of the Inc.
5000 community, both a new class of Inc. 5000 honorees and the list's alumni, for three
days of powerful networking, inspired learning, and momentous celebration. Please join us
September 23-25, 2009, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in
National Harbor, Maryland. For more information about the 2009 Inc. 500|5000
Conference & Awards Ceremony, and to register, visit www.Inc5000event.com. Stay
connected with Inc. Events by following @IncEvents on Twitter. | <urn:uuid:40ed2feb-78db-499a-af9a-3c75f1055bd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spectraforce.com/about-us/inc500.aspx | 2013-06-20T02:08:52Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915346 | 1,665 |
Hazard Summary-Created in April 1992; Revised in January 2000, March 2009
Motor vehicle exhaust is a constant source of 1,3-butadiene. Although
1,3-butadiene breaks down quickly in the atmosphere, it is usually found
in ambient air at low levels in urban and suburban areas. Acute
(short-term) exposure to 1,3-butadiene by inhalation in humans results
in irritation of the eyes, nasal passages, throat, and lungs.
Epidemiological studies have reported a possible association between 1,3-butadiene
exposure and cardiovascular diseases. Epidemiological studies of
workers in rubber plants have shown an association between 1,3-butadiene
exposure and increased incidence of leukemia. Animal studies have
reported tumors at various sites from 1,3-butadiene exposure. EPA
has classified 1,3-butadiene as carcinogenic to humans by inhalation.
Please Note: The main sources of information for this fact sheet are EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), which contains information on the health effects of 1,3-butadiene including the reference concentration and unit cancer risk for inhalation exposure, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR's) Toxicological Profile for 1,3-Butadiene.
- 1,3-Butadiene is used in the production of rubber and plastics. It is also used in copolymers including acrylics. (1)
Sources and Potential Exposure
- Sources of 1,3-butadiene released into the air include motor vehicle exhaust, manufacturing and processing facilities, forest fires or other combustion, and cigarette smoke. (1)
- 1,3-Butadiene was detected in ambient air of cities and suburban areas from 1970 to 1982 at an average level of 0.3 parts per billion (ppb). (1)
- Higher levels of 1,3-butadiene may be found in highly industrialized cities or near oil refineries, chemical manufacturing plants, and plastic and rubber factories. (1)
- 1,3-Butadiene has been found in drinking water and in plastic or rubber food containers, but not in food samples. (1)
- Occupational exposure to 1,3-butadiene may occur in the rubber, plastics, and resins industries. (1)
Assessing Personal Exposure
- There is no reliable medical test available at this time to assess personal exposure to 1,3-butadiene. (1)
Health Hazard InformationAcute Effects:
- Acute exposure to 1,3-butadiene by inhalation in humans results in irritation of the eyes, nasal passages, throat, and lungs. Neurological effects, such as blurred vision, fatigue, headache, and vertigo, have also been reported at very high exposure levels. (1,3)
- Dermal exposure of humans to 1,3-butadiene causes a sensation of cold, followed by a burning sensation, which may lead to frostbite. (1)
- Tests involving acute exposure of animals in rats and mice have shown 1,3-butadiene to have low acute toxicity. (1,4)
- One epidemiological study reported that chronic (long-term) exposure to 1,3-butadiene via inhalation resulted in an increase in cardiovascular diseases, such as rheumatic and arteriosclerotic heart diseases, while other human studies have reported effects on the blood. (1)
- Animal studies have reported effects on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, blood, and liver from chronic, inhalation exposure to 1,3-butadiene. (1)
- EPA has established a Reference Concentration ((RfC))a chronic reference level of 0.002 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) for 1,3-butadiene based on reproductive effects in mice. The RfC is an exposure concentration at or below which adverse health effects are not likely to occur. It is not a direct estimator of risk, but rather a reference point to gauge the potential for effects. At lifetime exposures increasingly greater than the reference exposure level, the potential for adverse health effects increases. (5)
- No information is available on reproductive or developmental effects of 1,3-butadiene in humans. (1)
- Animal studies using mice have reported developmental effects, such as skeletal abnormalities and decreased fetal weights, and reproductive effects, including an increased incidence of ovarian atrophy and testicular atrophy from inhalation exposure to 1,3-butadiene. (1)
- A large epidemiological study of synthetic rubber industry workers demonstrated a consistent association between 1,3-butadiene exposure and occurrence of leukemia (10, 11).
- Several epidemiological studies of workers in styrene-butadiene rubber factories have shown an increased incidence of respiratory, bladder, stomach, and lymphato-hematopoietic cancers. However, these studies are not sufficient to determine a causal association between 1,3-butadiene exposure and cancer due to possible exposure to other chemicals and other confounding factors. (1,5,6)
- Animal studies have reported tumors at a variety of sites from inhalation exposure to 1,3-butadiene. (1,5,6)
- 1,3-Butadiene is metabolized into genotoxic metabolites by experimental animals and humans. (1)
- EPA has classified 1,3-butadiene as carcinogenic in human by inhalation.(5)
- EPA uses mathematical models, based on animal studies, to estimate the probability of a person developing cancer from continuously breathing air containing a specified concentration of a chemical. EPA has calculated an inhalation unit risk estimate of 3 × 10-5 (µg/m3)-1 .(5)
- 1,3-Butadiene is a colorless gas with a mild gasoline-like odor. (1)
- The odor threshold for 1,3-butadiene is 1.6 parts per million (ppm). (7)
- The chemical formula for 1,3-butadiene is C4H6, and the molecular weight is 54.09 g/mol. (1)
- The vapor pressure for 1,3-butadiene is 2100 mm Hg at 25 °C, and it has an octanol/water partition coefficient (log Kow) of 1.99. (1)
Conversion Factors (only for the gaseous form):
To convert concentrations in air (at 25°C) from ppm to mg/m3: mg/m3 = (ppm) × (molecular weight of the compound)/(24.45). For 1,3-butadiene: 1 ppm = 2.21 mg/m3. To convert concentrations in air from µg/m3 to mg/m3: mg/m3 = (µg/m3) × (1 mg/1,000 µg).
Health Data from Inhalation Exposure
AIHA ERPG--American Industrial Hygiene Association's emergency response planning guidelines. ERPG 1 is the maximum airborne concentration below which it is believed nearly all individuals could be exposed up to one hour without experiencing other than mild transient adverse health effects or perceiving a clearly defined objectionable odor; ERPG 2 is the maximum airborne concentration below which it is believed nearly all individuals could be exposed up to one hour without experiencing or developing irreversible or other serious health effects that could impair their abilities to take protective action.
LC50 (Lethal Concentration50)--A calculated concentration of a chemical in air to which exposure for a specific length of time is expected to cause death in 50% of a defined experimental animal population.
NIOSH IDLH-- National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health's immediately dangerous to life or health concentration; NIOSH recommended exposure limit to ensure that a worker can escape from an exposure condition that is likely to cause death or immediate or delayed permanent adverse health effects or prevent escape from the environment.
OSHA PEL--Occupational Safety and Health Administration's permissible exposure limit expressed as a time-weighted average; the concentration of a substance to which most workers can be exposed without adverse effect averaged over a normal 8-h workday or a 40-h workweek.
OSHA STEL--OSHA's short-term exposure limit.
The health and regulatory values cited in this factsheet were obtained
in March 2009.
aHealth numbers are toxicological numbers from animal testing or risk assessment values developed by EPA.
bRegulatory numbers are values that have been incorporated in Government regulations, while advisory numbers are nonregulatory values provided by the Government or other groups as advice. OSHA numbers are regulatory, whereas NIOSH, ACGIH, and AIHA numbers are advisory.
cThe LOAEL is from the critical study used as the basis for the EPA RfC.
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Toxicological Profile for 1,3-Butadiene. Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA. 1992.
- E.J. Calabrese and E.M. Kenyon. Air Toxics and Risk Assessment. Lewis Publishers. 1991.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB, online database). National Toxicology Information Program, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. 1993.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS, online database). National Toxicology Information Program, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. 1993.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) on 1,3-Butadiene. National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC. 2009.
- California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). Technical Support Document for the Determination of Noncancer Chronic Reference Exposure Levels. Draft for Public Comment. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, Berkeley, CA. 1997.
- J.E. Amoore and E. Hautala. Odor as an aid to chemical safety: Odor thresholds compared with threshold limit values and volatilities for 214 industrial chemicals in air and water dilution. Journal of Applied Toxicology, 3(6):272-290. 1983.
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Occupational Safety and Health Standards, Toxic and Hazardous Substances. Code of Federal Regulations. 29 CFR 1910.1000. 1998.
- American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). 1999 TLVs and BEIs. Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents. Biological Exposure Indices. Cincinnati, OH. 1999.
- Delzell E, Sathiakumar N, Hovinga M, et al. A follow-up study of synthetic rubber workers. Toxicology 113:182-9. 1996.
- Macaluso M, Larson R, Delzell E, et al. Leukemia and cumulative exposure to butadiene, styrene and benzene among workers in the synthetic rubber industry. Toxicology 113:190-202. 1996.
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cincinnati, OH. 1997.
- American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). The AIHA 1998 Emergency Response Planning Guidelines and Workplace Environmental Exposure Level Guides Handbook. 1998. | <urn:uuid:2819f3bc-defd-4f63-98d2-7fb67e7671f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/butadien.html | 2013-06-20T02:22:45Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.866645 | 2,440 |
- Acting of Lead Performers
- Acting of Supporting Cast
- Music Score
- Title Sequence
- Historical Importance
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America guarding her skies.
This film's release was in 1963, the calm just before the storm of social unrest and political upheaval. My father was a Master Sergeant in SAC, a thirty year man. As a kid, my sister and I moved around a lot and we always thought we were pretty well off. The Base Housing (at least to me) seemed pretty nice and we always had good food and clothing. We were never allowed on the flight line, but during an ORI, I did get to see a squadron of B-52G's scramble and take off at 15 Second intervals. That was really cool. Many of the Air Force wives didn't like it because of all the smoke and JP-4 fuel fumes stinking-up the air. The Farmers and surrounding townspeople didn't think too much of it either. Everybody hated an ORI! But until I saw A GATHERING OF EAGLES, I never knew exactly what was involved in those things. On the base everything was practically on (what they call now) lockdown. My dad came home after 7 day alerts and nobody in our house was too happy about that! He never talked too much about his work. I really liked the way this movie was cast and directed. It has a cast where every actor seemed like they were born to play their role. I had seen Rock Hudson and Rod Taylor, together in GIANT, back in 1956 and thought they played well off each other. I wish the movie had been originally filmed in Panavision instead of being converted to the widescreen version later. One thing that was wrong in the movie was that the Titan 2 missile silos were not on base, they were 40 miles away in the countryside. And with the climate that the fictional Carmody Air Base was located, the officers and airman would be wearing the Service Dress "Silver-Tans" Uniforms, not the Air Force Blue Shade 84 color that was in effect until 1965. Having been brought-up on television shows like STEVE CANYON, I became an expert (of sorts) on aviation films. I have waited for over 15 years for this movie to be released on DVD. I hope its released on Blue-ray too!
I am in the movie
- Wilmer Jones
I was the Pad Chief (Pad Dad) for Missile Launch # 1 at the Lincoln 4A complex with the rank of Staff Sargent. This Titan I missile was shown underground and in the above ground scene with the B-52G flying by. My friend Monty Welch (Pad Dad of #2 Titan) and I are shown running down a tunnel at the start of the ORI sequence. We spent 3 weeks helping the film crew get the footage they wanted. As a ground crew member on the B-52G before moving to the Titan I, I can honestly say this movie depicts the real thing. When an alert or ORI came, we had to have those 10 alert B-52s and 10 KC-135 tankers off the ground in 15 minutes. That launch was awesome to watch! Being a member of SAC was a very demanding job from the lowest airman to the men at the top of the chain of command. This film did a great job of showing the pressure we were under at all times to make sure we could defend our country during the cold war.
Partly filmed at Castle AFB in Atwater, CA
- Judy Cash
I was in high school when they filmed part of this movie at Castle AFB in Atwater, Calif. and the base commander's daughter had a bit part in the movie.
WE KEPT WORLD PEACE
- YGNACIO PEREZ, MSgt RET.
THIS MOVIE IS SO CLOSE TO THE REAL THING THAT IT MAKES ME REMEMBER HOW HARD WE WORKED TO SUPPORT SAC's MIS- SION. NOT MANY AMERICANS CAN IDENTIFY WITH THOSE SERVICEMEN WHO SERVERED DURING THE COLD WAR. I AM HERE TO SAY THAT OUR JOB WAS AS IMPORTANT AS IF WE HAD BEEN AT WAR.
Ilove this movie.
- darryl calhoun
A sac kid from 1963 from carswell AFB FT WORTH TEXAS.
- Robert Davis
I was station in SAC twice. Once 90 SRW at Forbes AFB, Kansas in 1957. Second time with the 2 Bomb Wing at Hunter AFB Ga. I hope this movie is shown on TCM soon.
A GREAT WATCH FOR ANYONE EVER ASSOCIATED WITH SAC
As a former B-52 Crewmember (I sat in the back as an EWO) I became a big fan of any movie that involved the plane I spent 1500 hours in. After seeing the "completely guessed" interior of the B-58 in "FAIL SAFE" and even the made-up interior of the B-52 in "DR STRANGELOVE" (sorry folks there is no such thing as a CRM-114 discriminator), this movie stands out as very well researched with the obvious cooperation of the USAF. Once scene worthy of note is where the fuel coupling leaks during air refueling - That is indeed where the coupling is, what it looks like, even the little plexiglas sighting window is there. Also the minimum interval takeoff (MITO) was indeed 15 seconds, and the planes did indeed swing out to their "fan" headings, just as in real procedures. I love the camera placement behind the main bogies during takeoff - neat shot. And the no-flaps landing is a real, no-shit no flaps landing. I put this in the same league as "STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND" for technical accuracy
Excellent Cold War Movie!
I was a member of the 92 Air Refueling Squadron (92 ARS) at Fairchild AFB from 1957 to 1960. As a KC-135 & B-52 mechanic, this movie is a testament to those who not only served, but fondly remember.
Altus A.F.B. Okla.
- Kenneth W. Lawson
I was in SAC from 1962-1966 at Altus A.F.B. I was a crew chief on a KC-135 this movie was the most realistic air force movie i've ever seen. I would like it to be shown on TCM sometime
A "Must See" Rock Hudson/Rod Taylor Movie
As a daughter whose father served in the air force growing up, I could appreciate the story content. The acting is superb and one of Rock Hudson's better "serious" roles. Rod Taylor complemented him very well as the supporting actor. It has a well-thoughtout story line and very reflective of the air force's M.O.. I would highly recommend this film. BRING IT BACK ON DVD. . .please!!!!!!!!!
- scott D
Pretty accruate representation of SAC in the day. The most bizzare error is the ground crews working on a B--52 engine with there hats on. The hat would get sucked up in the engine. You never wear a hat on the flight line. Scott
Training for SAC
- 2Lt Lindsay
I saw this movie three time and completed Air Force ROTC prior to being assigned the the 5th Bomb Wing (heavy), SAC at Travis AFB, Cal for 4 years. Pretty real movie (too many bird colonels in Lt Col slots-but why else call it a gathering of eagles?)
I served in SAC 1958-1967
- Thomas E Brown
I served in SAC at Clinton-Sherman AFB. OK; Goose Bay, Labrador and Francis E. Warren, Wyo. When this movie came out I was home on leave from Goose Bay. I took my girlfriend with me and she was impressed--never knew that much about SAC--it is an excellent , realistic movies about the greatest,strongest military organization in the world and accurately portrays life on a SAC base at that time.
Nine Years in SAC
- Robert H. Goss
Having spent two tours in SAC (55SRW - Forbes AFB, KS, 100 BW, Pease AFB, NH, and 72 BW, Ramey AFB, PR) I found "A Gathering of Eagles" to be a fair and true representation of what life in SAC really was all about.
I was there
- Bob West
I was stationed at Beale when this movie was made. As the real life crew chief of the T-33 (s/n 993) aircraft that was used as the chase plane "flown" by Rod Taylor in the aerial fuel leak scenes I got to work with Rod. There is one glaring error that I must point out. When the B-52 lands and the fire fighters go in with hoses to "cool" the red hot brakes? That would never happen Spraying red hot brakes would cause them to explode. And the bloopers that happened during the heated exchange of words in that scene was hilarious. Working with Hollywood was fun
- Max Lieberman
I was stationed at Lincoln Air Force Base, in the 551st Strategic Missile Squadron, in 1964. The movie was by and large accurate and realistic, except I don't believe that the Titan I silos would have been located so close to the end of the runway as shown in the picture. At Lincoln, the closed Atlas F silo was at Eagle, about 45 miles (if my memory is unimpaired) away.
- Steve Hodachok
This film portrays life in SAC very accurately, except for the higher ranking NCOs with tools in their hands. The ORI (operational readiness inspection), alert exercises, alert duty, MITO (Minimum Interval Take Off) of B-52's and most things were as I remember as a long time SAC member.
Gathering of Eagles
- David Stone
In 1963 my father was a SAC bomber pilot. His entire squadron was required to attend a viewing of this movie. It is an accurate account of life of members of the Strategic Air Command and the demands on those in leadership then, at the height of the cold war. This is an excellent movie and worth watching, especially for anyone connected to the Air Force in those days. | <urn:uuid:40c1b885-c78e-4290-b57f-4410a7f6d95f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76028/A-Gathering-of-Eagles/user-reviews.html | 2013-06-20T02:17:08Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974395 | 2,200 |
|— Municipality —|
|• Mayor (2011)||Lasse Haughom (FrP)|
|• Total||600.48 km2 (231.85 sq mi)|
|• Land||585.45 km2 (226.04 sq mi)|
|• Water||15.03 km2 (5.80 sq mi)|
|Area rank||183 in Norway|
|• Total||2,122 ( from last year)|
|• Rank||326 in Norway|
|• Density||3.6/km2 (9/sq mi)|
|• Change (10 years)||−17.9 %|
|Time zone||CET (UTC+1)|
|• Summer (DST)||CEST (UTC+2)|
|ISO 3166 code||NO-2002|
|Official language form||Bokmål|
Vardø (help·info) (also Finnish: Vuoreija or Vuorea, Northern Sami: Várggát) is a municipality in Finnmark county in the extreme northeastern part of Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vardø. The other main settlement in Vardø is the village of Kiberg.
General information
The town of Vardø and the rural district around it was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The law required that all towns should be separated from their rural districts, but because of a low population and very few voters, this was impossible to carry out for Vardø in 1838. (See also Hammerfest and Vadsø.) The rural district of Vardø (Vardø landdistrikt–renamed Båtsfjord in 1957) was officially separated from the town of Vardø in 1868. Then on 1 January 1964, the eastern part of Båtsfjord was merged with the town of Vardø to create today's Vardø Municipality.
The Old Norse form of the name was Vargøy. The first element is vargr which means "wolf" and the last element is øy which means "island". The first element was later replaced (around 1500) with varða which means "cairn". Historically, the name was spelled Vardöe.
The coat-of-arms date back to 1898. Its borders are drawn using the national colours: red, white, and blue. The border frames the shield, and the centre field shows a complex scene incorporating a sunrise with rays, two fishing boats with crews, the sea with waves, and a large cod. In the chief we find the year of the town's foundation, 1789, together with the words "Vardöensis Insignia Urbis", meaning "the seal of the town of Vardø". In the lower part of the arms, we find the town motto: "Cedant Tenebræ Soli", meaning "Darkness shall give way to the sun." See also: Coat of arms – high resolution version
|Parish (Sokn)||Church Name||Location of the Church||Year Built|
Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway and the Nordic countries, located at 31°E, which is east of Saint Petersburg, Kiev and Istanbul. The eastern part of Finnmark is in the same time zone as the rest of the country, even if it is more than an hour at odds with daylight hours. The town itself is on the island of Vardøya, but the municipality includes significant area on the mainland of the Varanger Peninsula, including part of the Varangerhalvøya National Park in the southwest.
The mountain Domen lies on the shore of the Varanger Peninsula. South of that mountain lies the small Kibergneset peninsula where the village of Kiberg is located. The town lies on the island of Vardøya, which is surrounded by a few smaller islands. Hornøya is one of those islands. It lies to the northeast of Vardøya and it is the site of Vardø Lighthouse. The mouth of the Varangerfjorden lies along the eastern coast of the municipality.
The port of Vardø, on the Barents Sea, remains ice-free all year round thanks to the effect of the warm North Atlantic drift. Vardø has a Continental Subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc) which comes close to being classified as a Subpolar Oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfc). The January average is just cold enough for this at −4.5 °C (24 °F). In July, the 24-hr average temperature is 10.5 °C (51 °F), which prevents the climate from being polar (Köppen: ET).
|Climate data for Vardø|
|Average high °C (°F)||−2.7
|Daily mean °C (°F)||−5.1
|Average low °C (°F)||−7.7
|Precipitation mm (inches)||55
|Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)||14.7||11.6||10.5||9.1||7.9||8.3||8.7||10.4||11.9||14.0||12.9||13.7||133.7|
|Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute|
The municipality of Vardø with its seabird colonies of Hornøya and Reinøya are amongst the most interesting on this part of the coast. There is a small breeding population of Brunnich’s Guillemot as well as larger numbers of Razorbill and Common Guillemot.
The island is connected to the mainland via the undersea Vardø Tunnel (Norway's first such structure). The town's airport, Vardø Airport, Svartnes, and the settlement of Svartnes are located on the mainland opposite the tunnel entrance. Vardø is a port of call on Norway's Hurtigruten ferry service. The town is the northern termination of European route E75, which starts in Sitia, Crete.
Economy and tourism
Vardø's tourist attractions include the Vardøhus Festning, a fortress dating back to the late 13th century (although the present structure dates from 1734); several sea bird colonies; two museums: one about the Pomor trade and the other about local history and birdlife; and remnants of German fortifications from World War II. The Yukigassen competition in Vardø is unique in Norway.
Vardøhus Festning is home to two rowan trees which are diligently nurtured and warmed in winter since these trees cannot normally survive in Vardø's cold climate, north of the Arctic tree line. Originally, seven trees were planted in 1960; the one that survived managed to blossom twice, in 1974 and 1981. The tree finally succumbed to cold weather in 2002, but two new saplings have been planted in its place.
In the summer of 2012, Vardø hosted the urban art event Komafest, where 12 international artists painted tens of the town's abandoned houses in a three-week period.
Globus II Radar
Since 1998, the town has housed a radar installation called Globus II. Its official purpose is the tracking of space junk; however, due to the site's proximity to Russia, and an alleged connection between the Globus II system and US anti-missile systems, the site has been the basis for heated controversy in diplomatic and intelligence circles.
Sister cities
- "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
- Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
- Store norske leksikon. "Vardø" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2013-03-02.
- Rygh, Oluf (1924). Norske gaardnavne: Finmarkens amt (in Norwegian) (18 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 301.
- "Kommunevåpen". Flags of the World. 28 June 2002. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- "Klima en Vardo". Retrieved 2008-12-13. (German)
- "eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
- "Antimissile Front In The Northern Norway".
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vardø|
- Vardø travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Birding in the Vardø area
- Varanger.com: tourist information about Varanger area
- Vardø – Finnmark's millennium town includes pictures | <urn:uuid:848f545a-36cd-4b36-82c8-5dd4c2a94f91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vard%c3%b8 | 2013-05-20T22:25:55Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.834491 | 1,923 |
Preston Bissett Nurseries and Country Shop
I feel I must mention rhubarb as I was born the the very famous Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle.
Its the idea time to get going with rhubarb. The Crowns are just starting to shoot. Mulch around them (not over the crown) to warm and protect them ideally with farm yard manure but some like to use other mulching products like straw, leaves or composts and if you want an early crop pop a rhubarb forcer on top and mulch around the outside of the pot. The crown don't want to be over wet or they will rot and the usual fungal problems will occur.A good mulch around the pot will keep the rhubarb warm and it will leach goodness into the roots.
Rhubarb Forcers block out the light and encourage long shoots more quickly than when growing conventionally.
Don't try and force the same crown each year. Have a few and alternate. They get tired.
Old plants do need lifting and splitting every few years. If there is a really long old rhizome tap root in your crown its best cropped off just replant the younger shoots and roots.
Other varieties also available from Preston Bissett Nurseries
One more tip. Rhubarb is sometime planted with brassicas successfully never with legumes. Strawberries and rhubarb will grow also happily together and I think make a good combination and use of space.
Why have a hedge?
Without doubt there are huge benefits in having a hedge for a boundary rather than a fence or a wall.
·They act as wind and sound breaks. Sheltering the garden from winds, filtering us from noise.
·Hedges support many species of wild life.
·They are economical as their durability to the elements and life span exceeds fences and wall.
·They can be beautiful, reflecting the seasons and providing a canvas to enhance other plants
How to choose the right hedge for your garden.
Do you want the hedge to be purely ornamental
All one variety or mixture of species.
Formal or informal
Dwarf or Tall
Is it to be a strong boundary to hold live stock at bay.
Is the site exposed? Consider the growing conditions.
These are the sort of considerations which will help you determine which variety or varieties of hedge to plant.
The choice of suitable hedge species is vast and the appearance equally varied. Here are some suggested native varieties :
CrataegusHawthorn (Hedge Thorn, Quick Thorn, May Tree) This is the most common form of hedge in the UK. It grows quickly. Its tough and it produces red berries(Haws). The prickles make it a strong barrier. This is deciduous hedge that mixes well with other species.
Prunus spinoseaBlackthorn It is slower growing than Hawthorn but it benefits from being extremely strong and impenetrable. The stems traditionally make perfect walking sticks. A deciduous thorny plant, related to the plum. Black sloes are excellent for making Gin.
Corylus avellana Hazel This is deciduous. It grows very dense. Strong flexible stems make it idea wood for building hurdles.It is noted for lovely catkins and cobs(hazel nuts)
Fagus sylvatica Common Beach A golden brown hedge. Easy to maintain as a formal boundary with regular clipping. The leaves persist quite well through the autumn and into the winter. Slow to establish and does not establish well in wet heavy ground but it is great in all other situations. It certainly makes one of the beast hedges around.
Carpinus Hornbeam. This can create a good robust screen. Ideal where a fairly wide hedge is required. It copes well in clay or chalk soils. Autumn leaves usually remain attached until spring. Catkins appear in late spring followed by clusters of winged nutlets.
Acer Campestre Maple Hardy and attractive. The wood is has tough ribbed bark often used for carving. The foliage is a rich golden colour in the Autumn. Small yellowy green flowers open with the leaves in late spring later producing winged fruits we call helicopters! It grows well in limestone areas.
Viburnum opulus sterile (Guelda Rose,Snow ball tree) This makes a strong hedge. Plants producing globular white flowers in June, followed by bunches of red berries(which the birds absolutely love.) Rich Autumn leaf colour.
Euonymus europa Spindle A quick growing deciduous variety. White flowers are produced in summer. This has very attractive Autumn foliage and rather dainty unusual red pink fruits with orange seeds. It will thrive in most soils.
Rosa canina Dog Rose A wild rose. This is very fast growing native plant. Very hardy with a strong growing habit .It has a single pink or white flowers, followed by hips in the Autumn.
Cornus Dog wood A deciduous shrub that has very attractive red, yellow or lime green stems to admire in winter. Leaves can be green, silver and variegated some turning red in Autumn..
A Saxon Hedge In recent year we have seen a revival in the original Saxon hedge. This is a mixture of native plants which in the right blend provide a good balance between a strong boundary and an attractive wild life habitat. Ideally it should contain 50% Hawthorn,20% Blackthorn,10% Field Maple, 5 % Hazel, 5% Dog Rose (Rosa Canina) 5% Viburnum Opulus (Guelda Rose) and 5% Spindle( Euonymus europa) Recommended planting instructions4 plants per meter (3.25ft), in a double row at staggered spacing of 45cm apart (1.5ft) This rule applies to most bare rooted hedging. Encourage root growth and establishment by planting with fish blood and bone meal and where the structure needs improving enhance it with soil conditioner.
Lonicera nitidia Chinese honeysuckleA very popular hedge. It has small glossy dark green leaves. Establishing quickly. The growth is soft, making this an easy hedge to penetrate if you push against it for this reason it is often grown in front of a fence. It makes a good screen rather than strong boundary.
Aucuba japonica This has large laurel like spotted yellow leaves or green leaves. Both male and female plants to get berries but the female plants tends to produce most fruit. It grows very successfully in sun and dense shade and in any soil. Plant every.9m (3ft) It grows to 2.5m (8ft)
Ceanothus Californian Lilac Beautiful blue flower and small rich glossy green leaves. Most varieties flower in May and June. Suits a more sheltered position. Plant every 9m (3ft) Eventual height is 3m (9ft).
Escalonia Dense glossy green Leaves work well as a wind break. This flowers very freely in the summer with pink red or white flowers. It thrives in any soil. Plant every.9m (3ft) grows to 2.5m (8ft).Ilex aquifolium Holly This is a slow growing but makes an impenetrable evergreen hedge. Usually the female plants bear the berries. It can produce good garden interest in dark green variegated, silver and yellow varieties. Plant every .8m (2.5ft)
Elaegnus Medium to large foliage shrubs available in evergreen and deciduous varieties. Silver, yellow and variegated foliage varieties. Grows to 3m (9ft) planted at.9m (3ft) spacing
Photinias Noted for there rich red new growth. Leathery shiny leaves similar to a Rhododendron.A tough large growing shrub. Very attractive red new leaves in spring. Grows 3m(9ft) at 9m(3ft) spacing.
Prunus LustaniciaPortuguese Laurel .
These frequently make good tall thick foliage hedges. Excellent for privacy. Upright in habit with small dark green leaves and red stems.They will grow to 3m(9ft)at 9m(3ft)spacing.
Laurocerasus Common Laurel. Glossy oval pointed leaves producing white flowers in spring. Very bushy and hardy and will grow in all soils except waterlogged sites.They will grow to 4m(13ft) planted at 9m(3ft)
Marbled White. A very pretty variety with white markings on the leaves.Bushy and tough .Growing to 2.5m(8ft) planted at 8m(2.5ft)spacing.
Viburnum Tinus A reliable old favourite found in most Church yards. Medium sized dark green leaves. White or pink blossom in early spring. It’s grows around .45m(1.5ft) a year. Grows in sunny or part shade conditions and likes moist soil. Plant 80cm 2.5 ft apart.
Ligustrum ovafoluim Privet Semi evergreen ,deep green leaves ideal formal hedge. Suits almost all soils. Golden Privet is a good alternative with its bright foliage. Plant every 45m(1.5ft) apart. It grows to 2.5m(8ft).
Taxus Baccata (common yew) The English yews commonly seen in churchyards make one of the best long-lived dividing hedge. It provides a dark background for flower beds and borders.Plant 75cm (2.5 ft0
Cotoneaster. A large family of deciduous and evergreen varieties grown for their remarkable display of berries in the autumn. Small white flowers in June. Plant every 9m(3ft).
Buxus sempervirens common box Grow up to 6ft and requires regular trimming. Plant 30 cm (1 ft )apart.
You can be the first to receive our latest offers straight to your email inbox. Including exclusive newsletter promotions! | <urn:uuid:51e7e708-1ecb-4ad2-b414-a3bbde51f045> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenurseries.com/cloche-victorian-style-glass-bell-medium-p-597.html | 2013-05-20T22:33:00Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918353 | 2,100 |
PAKISTAN (a Lapis special issue) - $50
96 pages, 12 x 8 x 0.5 inches
Weight: 2 pounds - postage is $6 within the US
This book-sized offshoot from the journal Lapis was years in the making and features novel interviews and anecdotes from dealers who led the development of the Pakistani and Afghani gem fields, most notably Herb Obodda. It provides, as well, the best single source I have yet seen for locality and species information on the minerals of this part of the world. It is an AMAZING, ENTERTAINING, INFORMATIVE read that i could not put down. The book is not only lavishly illustrated but is done so with incredible pieces most of us might never see otherwise, interspersed with firsthand pictures of the places from whence they come. To my mind, this is a bargain at 25 bucks.
SWEET HOME MINE/RHODOCHROSITE DVD - $25
80 minutes length
postage is $5 within the US
This 80-minute DVD is a first in the mineral world , to my knowledge, because it is so professionally and winningly made and narrated that it could double as a NOVA or NATURE show on PBS. It is an entertaining tale starting in the 1800's with the origins of the Sweet Home as a post-civil-war silver mine and continuing through the modern day specimen recovery efforts. The crew spent 18 months making this documentary and it lavishly shows the mining of the specimens (including some shots taken IN the mine DURING blasts!), in addition to simply documenting the wonderful treasures that came out. It features interesting interviews with many of the principal figures behind the reopening of the mine, including owner Bryan Lees (who to my mind has helped open up a new era of specimen recovery at such old mining sites).
F. JOHN BARLOW MINERAL COLLECTION - $225
408 pages, 12 x 9 x 1 inches
Weight: 5 pounds - postage is $10 within the US
An amazing book illustrating not just one man's collection, but perhaps more importantly his METHOD of collecting; and cautionary and educational tales related thereto. As a collector and as a dealer, I found the stories of acquisitions as interesting as the pieces themselves. It is a beautiful book, with hundreds of color photos of intriguing specimens. I particularly enjoy some of the major locality suites such as South Dakota or Tsumeb and the species suites of the Silvers and Golds - informative for the sheer breadth on display. THIS BOOK IS A MUST FOR ANY SERIOUS COLLECTOR! It is relatively cheap for the content and size, due to the fact that Barlow subsidized and self-published it.
The Mineral Collection of the Houston Museum of Natural Science
BOOK REVIEW HERE: click the photo below for text
$75 plus shipping
BEAUTY IN NATURAL CRYSTALS:
Highlights from the Mineral Collection of
Steve and Clara Smale
Steve and Clara are my next-door neighbors at the Westward Look show in Tucson, and I have had the privilege to get to know them better and sell them some specimens as well, in the last few years; and to see their collection at the home on occasion. It is a special treat, let me tell you (!), that now is shared through the publication of this incredibly high-quality, large-format, coffee-table book featuring photos by Steve and by Jeff Scovil of approximately 10% of the collection's highlights. You can see from the samples that there ar emany interesting acquisition stories to be told, here. Their collecting philosophy is to get BEAUTIFUL minerals of all size and price ranges: species both "ugly" and pretty, "common" and rare. This theme comes across quite clearly in the book despite the huge variety of specimens shown.
At shows, the Smales are very low-key and modest. In the real world, Stephen Smale is a world-famous mathematican and winner of the 1966 Fields Medal, mathematics' highest award (Which apparently comes with a universal parking permit he efficiently uses to get to park anywhere he wants on the Berkeley campus when we go to lunch). Steve would be absolutely mortified if I went on and on about how brilliant and interesting he is, so I will refrain. Instead, I merely highlight a link to a biography written about him by a fellow mathemetician, which can be found on Amazon.com:
Stephen Smale: The Mathematician Who Broke the Dimension Barrier, by Steve Batterson
MINERALS DEACCESSED FROM THE SMALE COLLECTION ARE FOR SALE ON MY SITE
ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES:
MINERALS of CORNWALL and DEVON - $40
154 pages, 11 x 9 x 0.5 inches
Weight: 3 pounds - postage is $8 within the US
A truly enjoyable book that reads like a soptry, telling tales of both specimens and collectors, not to mention some rather infamous dealers, going back hundreds of years. This is an invaluable book for anybody interested in UK minerals because of the depth of information and the clearcut, yet entertaining manner of presentation. It is also lavishly illustrated not just with specimens but with historical photos to set them in context. Though divided into chapters on the location, the mines, and the people involved, the book consistently ties the three together. It is one of my personal favorite books in the hobby for this reason. THIS BOOK IS A MUST FOR ANY SERIOUS COLLECTOR! Note that the book is long out of print. I obtained a crate of old copies which have been stored in teh heat of Tucson for too many years - the books are in fine condition internally and are unread (in fact, still encased in protective plastic shrinkwrap), but the jackets show slight creasing and age.
MINERALOGY of MICHIGAN by E.W. Heinrich - $40
updated and revised by George W. Robinson,
Curator A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum (Houghton, MI)
247 pages, 11.5 x 8 inches
Weight: 2 pounds - postage is $7 within the US
This important reference book, now updated and revised with lavish photography as well, is an important and relatively inexpensive addition to any mineralogical library! I bought a large number of copies from the first printing.
COMPLETE SETS OF MINERALOGICAL RECORDS!
THIS IS AN INVALUABLE, PERHAPS THE MOST VALUABLE, RESOURCE FOR LEARNING THE CONTEXT AND HISTORY OF OUR COLLECTIBLES HOBBY; AND FOR TRACKING CHANGES OVER TIME AND WHAT THE PEOPLE IN THE KNOW HAVE BEEN DOING AND TALKING ABOUT. THIS MAKES YOUR SENSE TO KNOW, GIVEN YOUR OWN INVESTMENT , AND I CANNOT RECOMMEND HIGHLY ENOUGH!
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE JOURNAL WEBSITE, AND SEE SAMPLES OF BACK ISSUES: ARCHIVE OF BACK ISSUES
Sets are priced at $2500-3000 for runs from 1970 through 2003-6, depending on the set
SWEET HOME MINE/RHODOCHROSITE ISSUE OF THE MINERALOGICAL RECORD - $75
postage is $8 within the US
SUPERB SPECIAL ISSUE FEATURING IN DEPTH ANALYSIS OF HOW AND WHY THIS PROJECT WAS A SUCCESS FOR THE HOBBY, AND SHOWING HOW THE FINDS CHANGED OVER TIME
SET OF ARIZONA ISSUES #1-5
$295 for the set - and that is a bargain considering how hard it is to get the first few issues in particular!
Mineralogical Record's History of Mineral Collecting 1530-1799 (263 pages, 2 pounds weight )
offered at $35 + $6 postal
The History of Mineral Collecting is more than just a book about who owned what - it is an eye-opening story that traces the beginnings of mineral collecting back to the mining industry and the nobility of the 1500's and illustrates how amateur collecting combined with scientific discovery to produce the science of mineralogy that we know today. Multiple color plates show what collections of the 1600's, 1700's, and 1800's consisted of...with extinct localities described in living detail through the original letters of some of the collectors. There are biographies on major collectors, including many kings and emporers, as well as scientists. The book ends with a summation of early American collectors during the Colonial Era.SATISFACTION GUARANTEED or your money refunded
Rene Hauy (the French abbot regarded as one of the inventors of crystallography) and James Sowerby (prominent English author and collector)
Illustrations of major collectors/authors of the time are shown quite frequently, along with pictures of specimens from their collections (some are pictures of the actual specimen, dating to as far back as the 1500's!).
Collecting in Russia
The prelude to this chapter describes the collections and interests of Peter the Great, among others. It tells how he helped to contribute to the origin and growth of Russia's museums...many of which are still around today!
There is a lot of interesting information about what collections were bought and sold, when they sold, and to whom...quite interesting considering today's ravenous mineral market!
ALL PICTURES, TEXT, DESIGN © THE ARKENSTONE 1996-2003
All Content and Design ©1996-2012 The Arkenstone
Powered by http://mineralwebsites.comMineral Specimens by species; or by specimen id. | <urn:uuid:e3e46d42-f055-4697-922b-fe46cc9d82f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://irocks.com/lit.html | 2013-05-23T11:48:08Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930099 | 2,038 |
What is a veterinary dermatologist?
Dermatological diseases are very commonplace accounting for many
of the cases a small animal practitioner examines each day.
Unfortunately, many of these dermatological disorders can look very
similar if not identical to each other. With the ever expanding
awareness of animal diseases, the American Veterinary Medical
Association recognized the American College of Veterinary
Dermatology (ACVD) as the body
with expertise in diagnosing and managing dermatologic problems.
The ACVD is comprised of board-certified dermatologists that have
undergone intensive training in the field of animal skin, ear, and
allergic diseases. Primary care veterinarians and pet
owners/guardians can now rely on these specialists for consultation
when more extensive dermatologic training is required to help a
How do I schedule an appointment?
Since A&M is a referral institution, you and your primary
care veterinarian need to determine that a dermatology referral is
necessary for your pet. Once a collaborative decision has been
made, you can call for an appointment at 979-845-2351 (small
animal) or 979-845-3541 (equine). For small animal patients, your
veterinarian needs to complete our referral form and send it to the
Dermatology Department along with your pet's pertinent medical
record (including doctor's notes, blood work, skin or ear culture,
and/or skin biopsy reports). The Dermatology Department acts as a
consulting service (not a primary care service) for the Large
Animal Clinic. Horses are to be admitted through the Large Animal
Clinic with the appropriate service (Equine) after which a
dermatology consultation will be requested.
When are you open?
We accept appointments Monday through Friday when the
dermatologist in on-duty. Generally, mornings are limited to
initial appointments with afternoons and Fridays reserved for
rechecks. If your pet is an existing dermatology patient with a
current flare of problems and has not been seen for more than 4
months, then a morning appointment should be scheduled. Please be
courteous and arrive on time for your pet's appointment. If you are
running late, please call with your estimated time of arrival.
Clients arriving one (1) hour past their pet's scheduled
appointment time will be asked to reschedule. Also, late fees may
be applied. Emergency care is provided 24/7 around the clock
through the A&M ER. Appointments for horses are on a case by
case basis limited to when the Equine service and Dermatology
Department can schedule a consultation.
How soon can I get an appointment?
Usually a small animal appointment can be scheduled within a few
days to weeks, but it can vary with the season and the
dermatologist's on-duty clinic time. Appointments for horses are on
scheduled on every other Tuesday morning. Horses presenting for
allergy skin testing are stalled overnight in the Veterinary
Medical Teaching Hospital, so please make any travelling
arrangements/accommodations before arriving to Texas A&M.
When should I arrive to a scheduled appointment and what do I
We look forward to your visit. Preparation on your part will
help us take care of your pet's needs during the appointment.
- Please have your pet's small animal medical record faxed to
A&M (attention: Dermatology) 1-2 business days before the
scheduled appointment. Equine records should be sent to the Equine
Service within the Large Animal Clinic.
- Please have your referring primary care small animal
veterinarian complete and fax our Referral Form (attention:
Dermatology) along with the medical record. The Small Animal
Dermatology Referral Form can be downloaded under the Forms &
- Please download, complete, and bring our Dermatology History
Form (small animal or equine) and the Hospital's Patient
Information Worksheet (small animals) with you to the appointment.
If you chose to complete this paperwork at A&M, then plan to
arrive 20 minutes prior to the appointment. Appointment times for
horses can vary and may not be a specific time of day.
Additionally, horses may be required to be stalled overnight
depending on the condition being examined.
- Please bring any and all treatments (e.g., oral medication,
shampoo, sprays, wipes, ear medication, ear flush) your pet is
Can my pet eat the day of the appointment?
Food should be withheld from small animals after 11:00 PM the
night before the appointment. For appointments scheduled after 2:00
PM a small amount of food (no more than 1-2 measured tablespoons
for a medium-sized dog) may be given before 8:00 AM the day of the
appointment. Water should not be withheld. Please discuss this with
your primary care veterinarian to make sure your pet does not have
any pre-existing medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, feline
obesity) hindering this practice. Continue standard feed practices
for your horse when traveling.
What medications can I continue to give my pet prior to the
Antibiotics, antifungals, flea prevention, heartworm prevention,
insulin, thyroid supplementation, heart medication, anti-seizure
medication, and ophthalmic cyclosporine/tacrolimus for dry eye can
be continued prior to any appointment or skin testing procedure.
Cool water baths with a veterinarian-recommended shampoo can be
used to help soothe the skin and relieve itch up to 3 days before
the appointment. Ears may be flushed with a
veterinarian-recommended flushing agent up to 3 days before the
visit. Please discuss what medications you should continue
administering prior to the appointment with your primary care
What happens during the appointment? Will a student take care
of my pet?
The A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital is in fact a
teaching hospital with a mission to train the next generation of
veterinarians. Consequently, your visit with us will likely take
longer than visits to your primary care veterinarian. Furthermore,
horses may be stalled overnight. A senior student will greet you
and your pet before the dermatologist. It is the student's
responsibility to obtain the initial history of your pet and
perform the first physical exam. Once completed, the student will
discuss his/her findings with the dermatologist before the team
returns to the exam room (small animal) or stocks (horses) for the
dermatologist to examine the patient. Once the examination is
complete, a prioritized list of likely diagnoses will be discussed
with you. Please note that for horses, discussion may be relayed
through the A&M attending equine clinician. More often than
not, simple routine dermatological tests such as skin scraping and
cytology will be used to sample the skin/ears to exclude
complicating factors such as infections which add to the pet's
discomfort. It is important for you to know that students, under
the supervision and guidance of the dermatologist (and attending
equine clinician for horse cases) and technician(s), will be
performing these diagnostic procedures on your pet. Additional
testing procedures will be recommended as necessary with
implementation based on your approval. Ultimately, recommendations
and patient-care is based on the experience of the board-certified
specialist in dermatology. Please be patient with our students as
they are learning the verbal and technical skills needed to be a
How long does the appointment usually last?
Since this is a teaching hospital, your visit will likely take
longer than visits to your primary care veterinarian. However, we
strive to be courteous of your time and it is our intent to get
your pet back to you in the timeliest manner as possible. We
recommend you plan to allow us to care for your pet most of the
appointment day, especially for brand new dermatology patients. As
soon as your pet is cleared for discharge we will contact you
immediately. Since the Dermatology Department is predominantly an
outpatient service, we hope to discharge morning small animal
patients by mid to late afternoon. Horses may require overnight
stay depending on the condition being examined; they will be
discharged through the admitting service. Please keep in mind that
all personnel of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital have
dedicated their professional life into the care and well-being of
animals. Therefore, your pet will receive the utmost attention and
TLC while in our hands.
What should I do if I get skin sores?
You should contact your personal physician.
What forms of payment do you accept?
- Check ($30.00 service fee will be charged on any returned
- American Express
- Master Card
Do you bill or have a payment plan?
We at Texas A&M University Veterinary Medicine Teaching
Hospital endeavor to render each patient the best possible medical
treatment at the lowest possible cost. However, funds needed to
support personnel, medication, feed, supplies, equipment, and
utilities are generated from hospital income. Therefore, payment is
due upon patient discharge. Unpaid balances in excess of 30 days
will be subject to a service charge of 1 ½ % per month (18% Annual
Percentage Rate) on the outstanding balance. If the patient is to
receive more extensive testing/procedures or must be hospitalized,
a minimum deposit of 50% the initial estimated charges will be | <urn:uuid:43bf1eaa-ddfe-491f-b3a7-1b6a2553f4a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vetmed.tamu.edu/large-animal-hospital/dermatology/client-faq | 2013-05-23T11:35:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909462 | 2,044 |
Pobst All the Way in Monterey Pirelli World Challenge; Cunningham, Lamb Take Class Wins
May 11, 2012 - MONTEREY, Calif. - Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., led all the way to win the Pirelli World Challenge Cadillac Sports Car Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, piloting his Volvo S60 to the GT class win. Peter Cunningham, of Milwaukee, Wis., captured the GTS win, while Todd Lamb, of Atlanta, Ga., won in Touring Car.
Randy Pobst leads the field into Turn Two at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (Weber Image)
Starting from the pole with his No. 6 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60, Pobst got the holeshot on the standing start, built a 3.5-second lead over teammate Alex Figge, of Denver, Colo., by lap three and was never seriously challenged to win at the undulating 11-turn, 2.358-mile circuit for the third time, and first since 2006. It was Pobst’s first series win of the 2012 season, the 27th of his career.
“This is the combination of so much hard work by the K-PAX Volvo racing team and this track and the Volvo working well together,” Pobst said after the race. “The car’s better than ever. We had some trouble keeping it running last year. I think they’ve got it sorted out, though. We’re going to have some good races with these guys for the rest of the year. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is just right for the Volvo with its all-wheel drive, especially coming out of Turn 11. It just rocks off that corner!”
Pobst set a new lap record during the race, with a 1:27.491 (92.087 mph).
Figge started third in his No. 9 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60, but launched into second at the start around the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V of Andy Pilgrim. From there, he maintained second for the duration of the 28-lap, 62.664-mile contest, closing twice under caution, but never forcing the issue with his teammate.
“A great day for the team and for Volvo,” Figge said. “Andy Pilgrim was really a gentleman, as he always is, driving clean and his own race. That made it a lot more fun for me as well as we had a little dice on the restart. Other than that, it was just about putting laps in and making sure we had a one-two for the guys.
“The restarts were the only places to maybe try something, but the cars don’t run really well in traffic, even behind a similar car. Yesterday, in qualifying, it was Randy’s day and he had the pace today. It wasn’t going to be some easy move to go by Randy, so I think it was better to run a clean race, take the points and the one-two.”
Pilgrim was happy with his third-place run, and had to hold off a charging Lawson Aschenbach at the finish, who started from the rear of the field in his No. 1 TruSpeed/Privacy Star/EnTrust Porsche 911 GT3 after missing qualifying.
“Manufacturers points is all we care about,” Pilgrim said. “Of course, I was going to try and get to Alex Figge, because I wanted him to be a cushion between us and the Porsche. It just really kept me focused. Lawson raced me fair and really close. The brakes on our car made it for us. He didn’t make anything on us on brakes.
“It was a really good run. It was an elastic-band effect with Volvo. They were slow going into the corners and rockets coming out. I had the best shot on restarts, to try and get Alex. He was very clean, we were bumping, but it was clean. He gave me room and I gave him room. But once I got to the end of the corner, they took off. I tried, really, because I wanted to put him between me and Lawson. Having Lawson behind me, holy smoke…I had to just be perfect for those four or five laps at the end. Luckily, we were.”
For his efforts, moving from 15th on the grid to finish fourth, Aschenbach earned the Optima Batteries Best Standing Start award (advancing five positions on the opening lap) as well as the Cadillac CTS-V Move of the Race.
Steve Ott, who started sixth but moved to fourth on the opening lap, running closely behind Figge and Pilgrim for the first 10 laps, finished fifth in the No. 85 Racing For Our Heros/Loctite Porsche 911 GT3 to equal his career-best.
Mike Skeen (Chevrolet Corvette), Johnny O’Connell (Cadillac CTS-V), Justin Marks (Porsche 911 GT3), Tomy Drissi (Porsche 911 GT3) and Bret Curtis (Porsche 911 GT3) completed the top 10 in GT.
Cadillac drivers sit one-two in the Championship point standings, with O’Connell on top, with 573, followed by Pilgrim, with 559. Pobst moved to third, with 502, followed by Aschenbach (427) and Sofronas (409), who retired with a mechanical problem on the front straight to bring out the race’s first caution on lap 15.
Cadillac also maintained the Manufacturers Championship lead over Porsche 37 to 33, with Volvo closing the gap, with 25, followed by Chevrolet, with eight.
Cunningham started from his fourth-consecutive GTS class pole position in the No. 42 Acura/HPD/RealTime Racing Acura TSX, but saw Jack Baldwin’s No. 68 Voodoo Ride-Invoice Prep/Hot Wheels Porsche Cayman S get the jump from the second starting spot. It wasn’t long, though before Cunningham made the Invisible Glass Clean Pass of the Race to put his Acura back up front, a position he held from lap two until the finish to capture the first win of the new V-6 powered Acura in Pirelli World Challenge GTS competition.
“I was pleased we had such good speed at the start,” Cunningham said. “We were able to get a good run out of six. We went side-by-side up the hill and we touched a little, but we ended up in the lead there. From there, it was a controlled pace for a while. I could do my laps and still be nice to the tires. Then those two yellows, of course, we’ve been there before so we know what can happen. The first restart was great, and I had a good advantage after the first lap. Of course, then the yellow came out again. After the second restart, Jack was coming and he was doing a great job and pressuring pretty hard and I managed to just stay ahead of him to the checker.”
With the win, and coupled with the retirement of pre-race point leader Justin Bell, Cunningham took over the Championship point lead, with 602 to Baldwin’s 552. Bell was running in the top five in his No. 50 eBay Motors Ford Mustang Boss 302S but was involved in a heavy incident coming out of the last corner with Touring Car polesitter Tristan Herbert’s No. 33 HPA/RennGruppe/Brimtek/SG Racing Volkswagen Jetta GLI, which brought out the race’s final caution on lap 21. Neither driver was injured.
“When I came around and saw Justin in the wall, that was awful,” Cunningham said. “Justin is a good friend, and you don’t want to get points because the friend was in the wall so that’s a bummer for that team. We’ve had our days, too, so it was a good day points wise for RealTime and Acura and for the drivers points. We’re proud to get these points and carry on now to Detroit.”
Cunningham also set a new track record for GTS during the race, with a fastest time of 1:34.137 (85.585 mph).
Aaron Povoledo, of Toronto, Canada, finished third in the No. 26 CapaldiRacing.com Ford Mustang Boss 302S, passing the No. 34 Acura/HPD/RealTime Racing Acura TSX of Nick Esayian on the final lap of the race. Andy Lee brought the No. 20 Best IT Chevrolet Camaro home fifth.
Lee now sits fourth in GTS points with 502, 24 behind Bell. Michael Galati finished sixth in his Kia Optima and sits fifth in points, with 391.
Acura took over the Manufacturers Championship lead, with 32 points to Ford’s 31, Chevrolet’s 20 and Kia’s 13.
Touring Car had the biggest shakeup in its race, both from the starting grid and related to the Championship.
Herbert started from the pole, but was jumped by the Honda Civics of Compass360 teammates Todd Lamb (No. 71 National Karting News/HPD) and Ryan Winchester (No. 72 Ligon Industries/HPD) at the start. Point leader Michael Cooper, who started fifth in his No. 03 Mazdaspeed Motorsports MAZDASPEED3 had contact off the start and immediately had a flat tire, necessitating a trip to the pit lane, dropping him to last.
Lamb led the entire way, but had to deal with a charging Jeff Altenburg, of Ellicott City, Md., in his No. 43 HPA/RennGruppe Brimtek/SG Racing Volkswagen Jetta GLI in the race’s closing laps. Their battle was broken off in the end by a slower GTS car that separated the two and allowed Lamb to open up more of a gap to the checkered flag.
“Toward the end, we got a couple of yellows and bunched up the field a little bit,” Lamb said. “I tried to conserve the car for the first part of the race knowing that, toward the end, we’d definitely be getting a yellow and there would be a battle. We’ve struggled against the turbos all season, so we knew they were probably going to conserve tires and come on strong at the end. It was a shame to see Tristan get taken out there, but at the same time we’re here to get some points. I had a pretty good battle with Altenburg there at the end, we raced nice and clean but I definitely had to be defensive and hold him off. It was tough.”
It was Lamb’s second Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car win of his rookie season, and the former SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Champion took the point lead over that series’ defending Champion Cooper, 771 to 755.
“It was a great points day,” Lamb added. “It’s nice to win races, but we’re here to win the Championship for Honda. A huge step in the right direction today, so we should be close to leading the points.”
Altenburg scored his best finish of the year at a track that he has twice won previously.
Winchester finished third, his fourth-consecutive podium result, but his car failed post-qualifying technical inspection, promoting Patrick Seguin and his No. 80 Theberge Homes/capsparts.com Volkswagen GTI to third, followed by Shea Holbrook’s No. 67 TrueCar.com Honda Civic Si. Cooper salvaged a fifth-place finish after his pit stop. Seguin was also the Sunoco Hard Charger for most postitions improved throughout the race.
Herbert now sits third in points, with 515, followed by Gustavo Michelsen (476) and Winchester (463).
Honda leads the Touring Car Manufacturers’ Championship, with 48 points, to Mazda’s 35. Volkswagen is third, with 26.
Today’s race will be broadcast Sunday, May 27 at 11 p.m. (EDT) on NBC Sports Network.
The series next travels to Detroit for the Cadillac V-Series Challenge at Belle Isle, part of the IZOD IndyCar weekend, June 1-3.
Full results and points are available at www.world-challenge.com.
Follow World Challenge on Twitter @WCRacing. Follow World Challenge on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/pirelliworldchallenge/. | <urn:uuid:c734559a-ff76-47e1-935d-61474c7b0ae4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sccaproracing.com/story.php?ID=2528 | 2013-05-23T11:34:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973128 | 2,736 |
April 1, 2010
In his weekly column, President Barry Mills explains his views on how best to prepare students to succeed in a global economy.
Last week, I traveled to Memphis to participate in an education symposium at St. George’s Independent School on the occasion of the school’s 50th anniversary. St. George’s president, William Taylor, and his wife, Jennifer, are Bowdoin parents (their son, Wilson is a junior at the College). Bill asked me to join a group of other college presidents—including the presidents of the universities of Richmond, Mississippi, and Memphis, and Rhodes College—on a panel moderated by John McCardell, the former president of Middlebury who is now leading Sewanee: The University of the South. Our topic: “Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders.”
My remarks at St. George’s centered on the importance of global and international education as preparation for future citizens of this country. It is an important topic, so I thought I’d share the essence of what I had to say.
It is a truism—thanks to the likes of Thomas Friedman—that the world is flat. The concept of American exceptionalism is open for debate and interpretation, as evidenced by bestsellers written by Fareed Zakaria and Mitt Romney, and by the both nuanced and aggressive approach of our country’s relations with the world promoted by President Obama. The fact that there are precious few in our country who speak Arabic—or who understand the religion and culture of Islam—has had clear implications for our society. One doesn’t need to be a college president to understand that the future for our students requires a competency and a subtlety of mind that informs them about the world and their place in it.
American colleges and universities tend to offer instruction in traditional subjects like international relations, law, history, and culture, with courses on contemporary issues. But for our students and their parents, the focus is often squarely on current interests like national security and economics, and colleges and universities respond to those interests and to that economic/business reality. In the late 80s, it was all about the Soviet Union. During the early 90s, it was all about Japan. In the late 90s we took a break to focus on “dot.coms,” and in the current decade it’s about the Middle East, China, India, and, probably soon, Brazil.
The interesting question for colleges, universities, and schools is how do we define our role in preparing students for international and global issues? How do we think about preparing our young people to be leaders and participants in this global community? The debate about whether any of this is important has been settled. The more difficult question for each institution is how will they define their role and what they will actually do.
How do we go about creating global education? At small liberal arts colleges, many students study away in foreign countries for all or part of their junior year. These students often—but not always—gain valuable experience in foreign lands that supports their area of study—fields like history, archeology, or economics. If they are able to spend time with the locals and not with other Americans, they learn about the country they visit. At some colleges, the number of students taking advantage of study away is as high as 50%.
Goucher College in Maryland requires students to study away. At the Ivies and other research universities, there is less emphasis on study away during the academic year—but greater emphasis on summer internships and so-called “gap years.” Harvard promotes the value of summer internships in different lands, while Princeton has a formal program for certain admitted students that provides a foreign experience during a “gap year.”
Middlebury College has a world-renowned language program and recently incorporated the Monterey Institute into its offerings, emphasizing the importance of liberal arts education and international perspective.
And at Bowdoin, we have incorporated service learning, community service, and environmental activism into our international initiatives.
These institutions and many others in America are committed to admitting international students to create opportunity on their campuses and to allow traditional students to interact with these international students. In my view, this nation of immigrants must remain mindful of the opportunities we miss for our country if we fail to open or minds and our institutions to these students from away.
The efforts that colleges, universities, and schools are putting into global education are serious and intentional. Yet, when people have these conversations about global education, there is often the sense that we aren’t doing all that we should, and that maybe there is a lack of genuine conviction or a failure to find “the formula.” I would like to suggest that perhaps the reason for the discomfort is that there isn’t such a formula. There isn’t a perfect solution.
I realize that that’s not exactly what parents want to hear. Our sons and daughter will attend only one undergraduate college or university (hopefully), and parents want to know how best to think about this issue.
So let me put down a couple of markers for people to think about. First, the best colleges, universities, and schools all desire to be exceptional—to demonstrate that they have the answer. I would suggest a bit of humility is in order for all of these places.
What are we trying to accomplish here? Clearly, we want our students to be able citizens in a global community. But college is only a beginning. There is a life after college during which we continue to learn. Our goal should be to start these young people on a path where they can acquire the life skills and the knowledge to be able global citizens, and to make sure—to the extent possible—that they do not reach adulthood without the intellectual and emotional capacity to engage effectively in a global society. To suggest that colleges are somehow required or able to complete this task is both unrealistic and insufficiently humble.
I believe there are two prerequisites for this lifelong journey: mastery of a foreign language and grounding in the liberal arts. It is my experience that people who are able to speak the language of another country with proficiency are often those with the cultural and social sophistication necessary to become global citizens. So, if I could start with a blank slate, I would encourage and even require all of our students to gain language proficiency at some point during their education. But since I can’t require it, I would hope that all students would aspire to learn a foreign language and realize that potential. Then I would remind all of our organizations to think about what is required to become a global citizen.
George Mitchell came to Bowdoin College for the first time in 1950 by hitchhiking some fifty miles from his home in the mill town of Waterville, Maine. He was 16 years old and had never been away from home. He studied, played some basketball, and took advantage of the opportunities that a liberal arts education provides. George Mitchell would go on to lead the United States Senate and to negotiate peace in Northern Ireland. Today he serves as President Obama’s envoy for peace in the Middle East. At Bowdoin in those days, we did teach some foreign languages, but there was no concentrated study in international affairs and no “study away.”
Another Bowdoin graduate, Tom Pickering of the Class of 1953, has served as U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Nigeria, El Salvador, Israel, India, and Russia. As U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Tom was largely responsible for forging the international coalition that responded to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. When Tom was at Bowdoin, there was no international connection whatsoever. Today, Tom Pickering is fluent in French, Spanish, and Swahili, and has a working knowledge of Russian, Hebrew, and Arabic. He is a career diplomat who Time magazine once called the “five star general of the diplomatic corps.”
And then there’s Chris Hill, a member of the Bowdoin Class of 1974. He had no undergraduate training in international relations. Today he is U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, having served previously as ambassador to Poland and as the U.S. negotiator dealing with Milosovic and Kim Jung Il. Same undergraduate story, yet today, Chris is a respected citizen of the world.
George Mitchell, Tom Pickering, and Chris Hill were all educated at a liberal arts college grounded in critical inquiry and a commitment to the common good. They can—and often do—talk about what they learned at Bowdoin (and there are similar stories at other liberal arts colleges). They learned how to think, read, communicate, analyze, and make good judgments—skills that have served them well in the international arena. These liberal arts graduates—and many like them—are able citizens of the world who began their journey on our campuses and gained the skills necessary to continue their growth on the world stage. What they learned at college was to be fearless learners and listeners with a subtlety of mind and a sense of the common good that allow them to make good judgments.
Now, I understand the world is flatter today, more economically interconnected, with Internet connections at warp speed. But I still believe that the very best education for global citizenry is grounded fundamentally in the capacity for lifelong learning and principled leadership that we already teach. It is grounded in educating students who are not insular in perspective or experience. If we continue to do our jobs as educators, our students will be well prepared to embark on lives and careers as global citizens. | <urn:uuid:deb87d30-85f5-4580-91bc-1378f8e74407> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bowdoin.edu/president/columns/2010/preparing-students-global-economy.shtml | 2013-05-25T20:09:35Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972032 | 1,985 |
Every Tuesday, FADER deputy editor Eric Ducker gets on instant messenger and “discusses” a subject that’s been on his mind with another member of our staff or a special guest. After the jump, read his condensed (and emoticon-free) conversation about the current state of the remix with old friend/former FADER editor Nick Catchdubs, whose Fool’s Gold label just released a remix compilation and wrapped up a tour in support of it.
Eric Ducker: There is a deluge of remixes out there: officially released remixes, officially commissioned but rejected remixes, unauthorized remixes, “demo reel” remixes. At this stage, what is the purpose of remixes? Is it to benefit the song or to benefit the remixer?
Nick Catchdubs: It’s always been a symbiotic relationship, and I think the degree of who benefits more depends on the individual track. What’s interesting now is that there’s a definite “remix economy,” both on the official side with a constant stream of commissioned remixes from labels looking to get in on sounds/scenes that are bubbling and managers hustling to get work for their producers, as well as the unofficial tracks from producers looking to make a name for themselves by bombarding the internet. What I always think about in regards to remixes is, “Does this need to exist?” To me the best remixes become new songs that are greater than the sum of its individual parts.
ED: But couldn’t the unofficial, bombarding DJs say, “This does need to exist, because people need to hear what I have to offer”?
NC: Of course, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with unofficial remixes in principle, but the majority of stuff I hear lately has been pretty half-baked. Right now you have aspiring producers rushing to put out a mix before the real song has even got out there like that. It’s a constant one-upsmanship that becomes less and less about, “Did I make this better? What am I adding to the musical conversation?” Just because you can put bad keyboards under “Love Lockdown” doesn’t mean you should.
ED: So taking the self-promotion/economic benefits that remixing can have for producers out of the equation, let’s talk specifically about songs. What do you think has recently benefited from being remixed?
NC: On a macro level, you have this whole generation of “dance rock” bands where remixes were an essential part of their releases from the very beginning. That led into the more recent production style of guys like Switch and Fake Blood, where the original tracks are chopped up to the point that they’re almost completely unrecognizable, just a snippet of vocals going EK EK EK EK EK EK EK EK…FAKE BLOOD. Those guys are awesome at it, but it leads to a swarm of imitators. My favorite remixes have been relatively faithful to the original song. I think the Laidback Luke remix of Chromeo’s “Fancy Footwork” is great, it keeps the vocal intact with these huuuuuge accapella drops followed by thumping house breakdowns, the backing keyboard lines were turned into solo leads. The Crookers remix of Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘N’ Nite” was arguably the biggest remix of the year, and structurally it just supercharges the original song in a clever way. But most importantly they both translate to a mass audience. You don’t have to be a dance DJ or a blog geek to appreciate them. You can listen to it and hear what’s great about Chromeo AND Laidback Luke, what is dope about Kid Cudi as a songwriter AND why the Crookers have such a knack for these gigantic bass remixes.
ED: Rap remixes are in such a bad state right now.
NC: The thing that fucked up the rap remix game was trying to get ten artists on your shit at once.
ED: Puffy took a lot of shit for calling that collection We Invented the Remix, but it was kind of true after the “Flavor In Your Ear” remix. I guess, We Re-Invented the Remix (possibly for the worse) would have been more accurate.
NC: The good rap remix used to be one of two things: new beat (a la Pete Rock’s take on Public Enemy’s “Shut Em Down”) or the “Flavor In Your Ear” Socratic ideal. But the thing about the Craig Mack model (LOL) is that it makes sense for Biggie, LL, Busta and even fucking RAMPAGE to be on that song together. They are friends and peers and all doing their thing in 1994 NYC.
ED: So on one side you have dance music remixes that are all about promoting the producers with little regard to the song and on the other you have rap remixes that are all about promoting the rapper. And in the end, I’d rather listen to the original version of a MGMT song, even if they get top names like Justice and Soulwax to remix it. That being said, I probably download five remixes a day.
NC: What’s to say Soulwax isn’t the Busta to MGMT’s Craig Mack? The producers are more prominent on the dance side because if you’re paying 5000 euros for DJ XYZ to remix your shit, obviously you want to promote it and get the most out of it. Ultimately it’s all about context. I really enjoy MGMT’s “Kids” on its own, but the Soulwax mix DESTROYS in big room clubs and especially at the gigantic festival shows where it was designed to be played. It’s weird though, because if you’re not going out to see these guys, most people hear songs first on laptop speakers
ED: The primary method of dissemination (the internet) removes that context. I’m not saying they should only release remixes on non-rippable 12-inch vinyl (that would be stupid and unpossible), but it makes it harder to appreciate them for what they really are. All this being said, I still really like remixes as a way to track both producers and rappers in terms of their style and development.
NC: Definitely. A lot of times, remixes are the first place I hear different artists, then I go and research their other stuff. Beatport is great for that. Even with so much good shit, there’s still an over saturation though. On the Hype Machines of the world, it’s so much easier to find a remix than the actual song, and I think that’s where a balance needs to be struck.
ED: I just want to hear more one drop remixes of R&B songs, and less lazers.
NC: There’s an awesome two-steppy house remix of SWV’s “Rain” that came out recently. There’s still hope! On the rap/R&B side there’s not as much incentive to do a new beat for something unless it’s commissioned, whereas dance guys will do it just to have something cool for their sets, regardless of whether or not a label will eventually buy it.
ED: Are most dance remixes done on spec?
NC: Not if you’re an established producer. Top tier guys have an agreed upon fee, if it’s rejected they still get half. Sometimes if it’s producer to producer, they’ll just trade.
ED: Let’s say the label has the new Spank Rock or Thom Yorke single. How many remixes will be done with a guaranteed fee and how many will be done on spec?
NC: Probably two or three commissioned ones, and then another four to five on spec, with the best getting used. Aside from budget, the biggest factor is whether or not people can get it done on time (or if they are interested in remixing the artist to begin with). Just think about how much stuff Justice must have turned down over the past two years!
ED: Who usually decides whether to reject a remix, the artist or the label?
NC: I’d say it’s 50/50, but I see it happening more on the artist side lately. The commissioning A&R gets it, but the band is like, “Where’s my vocal?”
ED: If remixing is primarily a marketing tool at this stage, do most artists see it on the same level as approving/disapproving album art or MySpace page layouts?
NC: I think it’s a little more personal because you’re dealing with the actual music. I can totally understand a band not wanting to use a remix. I may disagree from an aesthetic and a pragmatic standpoint, but it’s still one hundred percent valid for them to make that decision. I wouldn’t even go as far to say it’s primarily a marketing tool. I mean, it IS a marketing tool, but in the right hands a remix is an opportunity to make new music that’s genuinely cool and worthwhile.
ED: I’m just putting it out there…De La Soul’s “Buddy” remix might be the best remix ever.
NC: Hahahahahaha. Well played.
ED: How can the rap remix be saved? What’s your five point plan
NC: 1. There needs to be a moratorium on buffet-style rap remixes. 2. Guests for the right reasons. 3. Guys should be in the studio together, and if it has to be a remix via email, artists shouldn’t be afraid to ask dudes for a second take if the verse is wack. 4. I want to see remixes on new beats. 5. In the dance world, it’s so ill when artists reach back to veteran producers and unexpected names instead of just the trendy guys. One of my favorite curveballs of late was when Simian Mobile Disco had Luke Vibert do “It’s the Beat.”
ED: In dance there’s less of the idea that old dudes are out of touch as there is with rap. That being said, a lot of older dudes in rap are out of touch
NC: Yes and yes, but could you imagine the buzz if Pete Rock did a beat for one of these young dude mega-remixes? It doesn’t even need to be an old head. Alchemist remix! The Nah Right server would eat itself. People need to use the resources at their fingertips and not be afraid to make unconventional decisions.
ED: Where does Busta Rhymes fit into the quest to save rap remixes? Dude gets a bad rep for jumping on anything that is or could be hot, but really, I’m interested in how Busta Rhymes sounds over most beats
NC: Me too. One thing we didn’t really touch on (probably because its a whole nother conversation) is the total ubiquity of the remix mixtape post-50 Cent. I don’t mean blends, I mean artists taking other artists’ beats for their own unofficial mixtapes. It’s now the standard, but guys don’t add enough. 50 would get over De La Soul’s “Baby Phat” and sing about fat bitches. It was awesome, but now everyone just gets over everyone else’s beats and it adds to this overall feeling of disposability. I didn’t really give Charles Hamilton a chance until I saw him at The Fader Fort while I was DJing, because he would drop a new mixtape EVERY WEEK. There was nothing special about it. You can probably extrapolate that to the world of homemade dance remixes, guys just throwing extra 130 BPM kick drums underneath Gnarls Barkley and shit. I think there just needs to be a context. I make a lot of my own unofficial remixes, I don’t feel the need to shout them from the top of every blog rooftop in America. It’s just some cool shit to DJ out. It doesn’t make me Armand Van Helden.
ED: Also, it would take you a year to grow a goatee.
NC: And get more Jordans. And work on my abs. For me the consensus is: remixes are such an amazing blank slate, a chance to do something awesome, whether it’s presenting something already good in a new light, or finding the hidden beauty in something else. It’s frustrating when people chose to be generic instead of embrace the shit out of that opportunity. On the dance side and the rap side, guys should be amped to make more interesting decisions, cause at the end of the day it’s NOT THE SAME SONG. It can be whatever they want it to be. | <urn:uuid:207473e8-fe49-4cb4-b2d1-74443edf70f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefader.com/2008/11/11/a-rational-conversation-between-two-reasonable-adults-the-state-of-the-remix/ | 2013-05-25T19:56:06Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948781 | 2,804 |
Disease surveillance and control of vector to protect climate
The Daily Star
climate change is caused by the accumulation of "green-house" gases in
the lower atmosphere. The concentration of these gases is increasing
mainly due to conversion of fossil fuel and deforestation. For example,
individuals are responsible for about 40 percent of emissions in the
UK, with energy use in homes, driving and air travel the biggest
The temperature of the earth is escalating
dangerously. As a result, the ice-caps and glaciers in the polar
regions are melting, submerging low-lying coastal lands, including that
of Bangladesh. The viruses and microbes that were inactive and buried
under freezing ice, are now starting to wake up as optimum temperature
for their activities is coming back. They are invading human and animal
bodies. Human settlers are occupying and destroying forests, disturbing
the flora and fauna including the vectors, viruses and microbes.
Reciprocally, the viruses are also finding new hosts in humans and
animals, causing illness.
Occurrence of drought in erstwhile
rainy areas is causing water crisis. Man and crops are facing disaster
for this. The Human Development Report 2007/2008 of UNDP shows that
climate change is not just a future scenario. Increased exposure to
droughts, floods and storms is already destroying opportunity and
Climate-related increases in sea surface
temperature and sea level can lead to higher incidence of water-borne
infectious and toxin-related illnesses. Climate stress on agriculture
causes malnutrition. Increased flux of ultraviolet radiation will cause
alterations in the human immune system, thus increasing vulnerability
Climate change may increase the risk of some
infectious diseases, particularly those that appear in warm areas and
are spread by mosquitoes and other insects, like malaria, dengue fever,
yellow fever and encephalitis. Disease transmission is directly
affected by climate change by removing the vector's habitat, increasing
reproductive and biting rates, and shortening the disease incubation
Vector-borne diseases are very sensitive to
temperature, humidity and rainfall. Climate change may alter the
distribution of important vectors species, and that may increase the
outbreak of diseases into new areas.
Disease surveillance facilities in Bangladesh The
Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research (IEDCR) is an
important public health institute of Bangladesh. The main activities of
IEDCR include disease surveillance as well as entomological
surveillance, and disease outbreak investigation.
climate change, the pattern of distribution and duration of existing
disease may be changed. On the other hand, new types of illnesses might
emerge. An effective surveillance system is needed to monitor all these
At present, nine types of disease surveillance systems
are in operation. IEDCR conducts 7 of them: Priority Communicable
Disease Surveillance, Outbreak Related Emergency Surveillance,
Institutional Disease Surveillance, Sentinel Surveillance, Nipah
Surveillance, Acute Meningo-Encephalitis Surveillance and
Hospital-based Influenza Surveillance.
Two other types are
conducted by other institutions. Expanded Program for Immunisation
(EPI) conducts surveillance for EPI diseases, Medical Information
System (MIS) conducts routine disease surveillance for disease profile.
Besides these formal surveillance activities, the Directorate
General of Health Services (DGHS) and Director (Disease Control)
receive reports of illness having public health importance from all
over the country. Data are also received from existing programs, e.g.,
Malaria Eradication Program, Kala-azar Control Program, Tuberculosis
Control Program, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Program, Filariasis Control
Recently, IEDCR has taken an initiative to build
a coordinated mechanism for all the surveillance activities and data
collection, and analysis and reporting of illnesses of public health
Impact of climatic change on vector-borne disease Malaria:
Over the last 10 to 15 years, the prevalence and geographic
distribution of malaria worldwide has increased slowly but steadily.
Its recent worldwide increase is due mainly to mosquito resistance to
insecticide, breakdown of control efforts, migration of vectors and
However, its spread is also related to
environment. Agriculture extension and road building have created
better habitats for vector mosquitoes. With gradual increase in global
temperature since the last ice age (8-9.5° C) transmission of malaria
has migrated from Africa to Southern Europe.
Specific experiment has been conducted on the effect of temperature on
the ability of Aedes aegypti to transmit DEN-2 virus. The pattern of
temperature and vector efficiency parallels the climatic pattern of
Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) outbreak in Bangkok, Thailand where the
case rate rise in hot season (80°-30° C) and decrease during the cool
season (25°-28° C).
Vector-borne disease control strategies in changed climatic condition Both
disease and vector surveillance, and treatment and control of vectors
should be part of a comprehensive public health policy that promotes
co-operation among researchers, medical clinicians and government staff
at local, regional and international level.
policy makers should consider modern technology as a means for
collecting information about vector-borne diseases, developing
effective control strategies and setting appropriate priorities. Four
types of surveillance should be conducted to track vector-borne
-Recording human cases
-Determining the distribution and infectivity of vectors
-Monitoring a broad range of non-human vertebrates reservoir species
the weather patterns to help predict vector distribution. Monitoring
climatic parameters provide sufficient information to forecast the
population of key vector
Basic research both in the field and
laboratory should be taken to examine the disease agent's ability to
adapt to changing climatic condition to allow prediction of which
pathogen might migrate and their potential destination. Information
about the parameters limiting vectors are equally important.
measures can be targeted at several different aspects of the life cycle
of vector. Vaccination for animals and humans are aimed at preventing
the proliferation of pathogens and pesticides, and breeding place
management will reduce or eliminate the vectors. Immigration policies
and custom inspections may limit pathogen and vector entrance. Drug
treatment may limit future transmission of diseases.
Looking forward Satellite-based
remote sensing of ecologic conditions, geographic information system
(GIS) analytic techniques, inexpensive computational power, and
molecular techniques to track the geographic distribution and transport
of specific pathogens are some of the rapid advances in science which
are used in developed countries for disease epidemiology and
surveillance. They enable the public health scientists to analyse the
evolution and distribution of microbes, and their relationship to
different environments. It may contribute to quantify the disease
impacts of climatic and environmental changes.
disease control mostly relies on surveillance, followed by a rapid
response. Climate forecasts and environmental observations could be
used to identify high-risk locations for disease outbreaks. Operational
early warning systems are not yet possible for our limited knowledge of
climate-disease relation and limited climate forecasting capabilities.
But establishing this goal will help to develop analytic,
observational, and computational capacities.
should be co-ordinated with meteorologic, ecologic, and epidemiologic
surveillance systems. Together, this information could be used to
identify risky locations and could be a wake-up call as surveillance
data confirm earlier projections. Early warning systems of disease
should also include vulnerability and risk analysis, response plans,
and effective risk communication.
The lack of high-quality
epidemiologic data for most diseases is a serious obstacle to improve
our understanding of climate and disease linkages. These data are
necessary to establish a baseline against which one can detect unusual
changes, and develop and validate models. A concerted effort should be
made to collect long-term, area specific disease surveillance data,
along with the appropriate set of meteorologic and ecologic
Centralised, electronic databases should be
developed to facilitate rapid, standardised reporting and sharing of
epidemiologic data among researchers. If an effective, modern and
co-ordinated surveillance system could be built, then it will be
possible to rapidly identify any outbreak of existing or emerging
disease, known or unknown disease in any locality. Then it will be
possible to take appropriate measures for prevention and control of
those illnesses of public health importance.
Prof. Mahmudur Rahman, PhD is Director, Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR). Dr. M. Mushtuq Husain PhD is Senior Scientific Officer, Dept of Medical Social Science, IEDCR. Nuzhat Naseen Bano is Scientific Officer, Dept of Medical Entomology, IEDCR. | <urn:uuid:0ea0d204-4497-4afb-8dec-e032b3f5d9bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008/news/asiapacific/title,9281,en.html | 2013-06-20T09:03:33Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.895849 | 1,857 |
The City of Rockville has announced that Capital Bikeshare is coming to Rockville in early fall with 13 bike stations through a partnership with Montgomery County. Capital Bikeshare is a network of bicycle-sharing stations that provides access to bikes and offers an alternative to driving. Check out a bike for your trip to work, run errands, go shopping, explore a neighborhood, head to a park, or visit friends and family.
Through bikesharing, cyclists can rent a bike from a designated station and drop it off at any other station within the Capital Bikeshare network. The program currently has more than 1,800 bikes at over 200 stations in circulation across Washington, D.C. and Virginia. It’s been incredibly popular in Washington, DC with both residents and tourists, and I’m happy to see it come into Rockville.
The bike stations in Rockville will be some of the first locations for Capital Bikeshare in Maryland. Proposed locations in Rockville include:
- Campus Drive and Mannakee Street
- Piccard Drive and West Gude Drive
- Rockville Metro – East
- Rockville Metro – West
- Courthouse Square and East Montgomery Avenue
- Fallsgrove Drive and West Montgomery Avenue
- Fleet Street and Ritchie Parkway
- King Farm Boulevard and Piccard Drive
- King Farm Boulevard and Pleasant Drive
- Monroe Street and Monroe Place
- Spring Avenue and Lenmore Avenue
- Taft Street and East Gude Drive
- Fallsgrove Boulevard and Fallsgrove Drive
I’ve plotted these locations (plus Shady Grove Metro, which is outside of Rockville but will be part of the BikeShare network) on a bike-route-version of Google Maps to better understand the impact on and benefit to Rockville. Google Maps can identify bike routes, with a Continue reading →
A weekday farmers market sponsored by The JBG Companies will open in Twinbrook May 7, bringing an array of new fresh food choices to the community and to the many daytime employees that work in the busy area.
First offerings in the market will feature farm fresh fruits and vegetables from Twin Springs Fruit Farm, handmade artisan breads from Upper Crust Bakery and traditionally cured meats from MeatCrafters. More farm vendors are expected, along with artists and their wares. The arrival of the farmers market will complement the growing presence of mobile food trucks, which are also adding new food options on weekdays in Twinbrook. Both initiatives result from the desire of Twinbrook residents and area workers for a variety of attractions as new offices and residential options arrive.
“Twinbrook is fortunate to have the bones of strong neighborhoods, good transit, roads and workforce,” said Rod Lawrence of The JBG Companies, a major real estate investment and development firm based in Montgomery County. “If we can contribute to the daily working and living experience here with new food options, that’s an extra dimension that makes Twinbrook an even better community.”
The new farmers market will be open from 9:30 to 1:30 every Tuesday, May through November in the courtyard between 5625 and 5635 Fishers Lane, just east of the Twinbrook Metro station.
JBG recently hosted a Saturday clean-up of Rock Creek Park at its Twinbrook edge, removing more than 5,000 pounds of debris from the stream bed and hillsides. The company has also scheduled a pit stop on Bike-to-Work Day on May 17, at the east end of Fishers Lane. More than 60 people have already signed up for that event and more are welcome by registering at www.twinbrookurbanbynature.com.
The JBG Companies, who are currently building a large complex of offices, residences, and stores around the Twinbrook Metro station, are also working on a portion of downtown Rockville that’s slated as phase two of the Town Center. The 2008 economic downturn slowed development considerably but is now picking up, as evidenced by the construction of the corporate headquarters of Choice Hotels. JBG owns the former Giant Grocery store at 275 North Washington Street (across from the Beall’s Grant Apartments) and has been exploring various uses for this vacant building and adjoining parking lot. Today, they shared the following plans:
New shopping, apartments and offices are slated for an overlooked city block in Rockville’s downtown, offering the opportunity to energize a long-vacant Giant grocery store site and adjoining tracts. The JBG Companies is proposing to demolish the grocery store and build new offices and shopping as a complement to busy Rockville Town Square next door. JBG has shared its plans with multiple audiences including neighbors, city officials, community groups and civic users.
“We are fortunate to have strong support from neighbors and businesses alike who have long been asking for renewed vigor in this part of downtown Rockville,” said Anthony Greenberg, a JBG official. “Redeveloping this property is an excellent opportunity to Continue reading →
This morning’s Peerless Rockville tour of the Alaire not only provided an intimate behind-the-scenes tour with representative of JBG of this award-winning combination of residences and stores, but also discussed the plans and timing for several projects in the Twinbrook Metro area. About a dozen people joined the conversation to see the lobby, common rooms, and a one-bedroom apartment of the Alaire, then went out onto the street to discuss the current and upcoming development for the region. Among the items that caught my ears:
1. WMATA owns the land and has leased it to JBG for 99 years. That means that projects need to be approved both by the City of Rockville and WMATA.
2. WMATA wants to maintain the 1100 parking spaces currently available at the Twinbrook Metro station, so before any existing surface lots can be developed, sufficient parking has to be provided elsewhere. The parking structure currently under construction at Halpine and Chapman will allow development of the next phase of Twinbrook Commons.
3. The next phase of Twinbrook Station will occur on the west side of Fishers Lane, across from the Alaire. Called the Toronto, it will consist of a combination of residences, stores, and a parking structure and will be intentionally designed by another architectural firm to avoid a monotonous appearance for the development. Groundbreaking is expected to happen Continue reading →
This Saturday, April 21, from 10 am to 12 noon, join Peerless Rockville for a tour of The Alaire at Twinbrook Station, the beginning of a significant, New Urbanist community called Twinbrook Station being developed by the JBG Companies and WMATA. It’s the first Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) plan in the Washington metropolitan area, has been designated a Smart Growth project by the Washington Smart Growth Alliance, and received the International Charter Award for Excellence from the Congress for the New Urbanism. So if you want to know what all the fuss is about, staff from JBG will discuss their approach to development around a transit station, view an apartment, and find out more about their future plans and on-going projects, both at Twinbrook Station and on adjacent properties. Tour starts at 10 am at 1101 Higgins Place (the entrance to the Alaire apartments) and costs $7. Space is limited and reservations are recommended. Two-hour free parking in the Alaire garage (and the adjacent Metro lot is free on weekends). For more information, please visit PeerlessRockville.org or call 301-762-0096.
And just in case you didn’t catch my previous tweets, it appears that the nearby Walmart project at the Rockville Pike and Bou Avenue has been temporarily postponed: Bagel City recently signed a two-and-a-half year lease. A few doors down, the Office Depot is closing but it’s unrelated to future developments of the site (btw, everything is on sale at 10-30% off but is non-returnable).
In other related news, a couple of Rockville’s communities will enjoy national attention in May when I co-lead a tour of New Mark Commons and King Farm for the annual convention of the American Institute of Architects. We’ll be looking at cutting-edge planned communities in Montgomery County, starting with 1930s Greenbelt and ending with the 21st century King Farm. Lunch will be in Town Square, which has turned up as the poster child for the Congress for the New Urbanism. If you thought Rockville was just a little sleepy suburb, it’s time to change your mind.
At the April 5 meeting of the Rockville Community Coalition, Andrea Jolly shared that the Chamber of Commerce is becoming more active in local advocacy and that the Chamber cares as much about the community as it does business. She’s the executive director of the Rockville Chamber of Commerce, an organization that now claims 185 members, a dramatic turnaround from its nearly lifeless condition just a few years ago. As examples of their reinvigorated stature, she noted the public stand they’ve taken on behalf of Pumphrey’s; the support for environmental causes that affect the community as a whole (such as the bag tax and storm water management fees); and the sponsorship of the Rockville Economic Summit. She expressed her concerns that the community seems to be artificially divided between businesses and residents and while the Council claims to be business-friendly, their actions have indicated otherwise. Most members of the Chamber are small businesses that are locally owned and operated and rely heavily on local residents as both customers and employees. She also voiced a desire that there be good relationships throughout the community rather than irreconcilable differences–we may disagree at times, but we should always be willing to work together to solve shared issues.
During the discussion:
- she clarified the relationship with the Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (they attract and retain businesses but cannot advocate; Chamber provides ongoing services to its members and the current business community, can advocate for a business-friendly atmosphere). She also mentioned that REDI may have a new executive director in place in May.
- she was unaware that the City didn’t collect Continue reading →
About two dozen people gathered in the Red Brick Courthouse last night to hear Tony Greenberg of JBG Companies of Chevy Chase discuss conceptual plans for a three-acre lot in downtown Rockville, the site of the former Giant grocery store on Washington Street near Beall Avenue. The Town Center Action Team hosted the meeting and among those attending were councilmember Bridget Newton and chief of planning Jim Wasilak. JBG is one of the region’s major developers and is currently building the Alaire and rehabilitating the million-square-foot Health and Human Services Building in Twinbrook. Greenberg noted that JBG Rosenfeld is an affiliated but separate company that specializes in managing retail properties (such as the Twinbrook Shopping Center). JBG’s focus is primarily planning and construction of offices, hotels, and mixed use projects (i.e., retail AND residential, such as the North Bethesda Market which combines a Whole Foods Market and 400 apartments).
The Old Giant site has been vacant for years and is receiving very little revenue (mostly leases for parking). It’s part of the next phase of development for the Town Center (aka Town Center 2) and although currently sited mid-block along Washington Avenue, the City’s plans include streets bordering two other sides of the three-acre lot (an extension of Maryland Avenue from Town Center and a new Dawson Street linking Washington and Hungerford). JBG’s current conceptual plans include those streets as planned (although adjustments have been discussed to avoid awkward leftover parcels) and how their project might relate to the adjacent properties as Town Center 2 is developed. Greenberg noted that adjacent properties are separate parcels owned by others, such as the Maxim supermarket and the fire station, some of whom are not interested in selling because they want to develop the property themselves. Plans for relocating the fire station have died down, development of the Bank of America parcel have been scrapped due to the economy, but a Walgreen’s drug store is underway along Hungerford.
JBG considered various possible uses, including office, condo, and hotel, but in the current economic climate, the only ones that made sense were Continue reading → | <urn:uuid:e4a3c164-7b57-48c2-8863-0b1468d0edb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://maxforrockville.com/tag/jbg-companies/ | 2013-06-20T08:37:26Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954309 | 2,558 |
TSX slumps as Fed mulls stimulus exit
2013-06-19 20:58:15 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
TORONTO: Canada's main stock index slipped on Wednesday after comments by the US Federal Reserve that it could begin rolling back its stimulus program this year weighed on investor sentiment and caused declines across most sectors.Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank expects to slow the pace of its bond purchases later this year and bring them to a halt around mid-2014.Financial ...
Australia shares close at a 2 week high, Whitehaven jumps
2013-06-19 09:07:51 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares rose 1 percent to close at a two-week high on Wednesday, helped by expectations that the US Federal Reserve will not move quickly to scale back its monetary stimulus and as a weaker Australian dollar lifted stocks with large exposure to overseas markets.Whitehaven Coal Ltd surged 4 percent after embattled tycoon Nathan Tinkler has handed his stake in to lenders to pay off...
Australian shares rise 0.5pc at open; Whitehaven surges
2013-06-19 00:27:26 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares bounced 0.5 percent early on Wednesday, after Wall Street rose for a second straight day as investors bet the Federal Reserve will maintain its stimulus support.A weaker Australian dollar also benefited stocks with overseas exposure including global miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, which climbed 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.Shares in coal miner White...
Fed optimism, Tim Hortons lift TSX to 1-week high
2013-06-18 21:23:29 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
TORONTO: Canada's main stock index climbed to a one-week high on Tuesday as positive economic data and hopes that the US Federal Reserve will stick to its supportive monetary policy drove gains in almost every major sector.Coffee chain Tim Hortons Inc also boosted Canada's main stock index rising 4 percent on news that it now faces pressure from US hedge fund Scout Capital Management to ma...
Fed hopes buoy TSX as bank, energy shares climb
2013-06-17 22:59:34 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
TORONTO: Canada's main stock index jumped on Monday as hopes that this week's Federal Reserve meeting would reaffirm support for the US central bank's easy monetary policy spurred sharp gains in shares of financial and energy companies.The rise helped the market recover from its 1.5 percent loss last week, but the index remained in negative territory for the year.As with global equity ...
Australia shares post biggest one-day gain in 18 months
2013-06-14 06:33:40 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares rebounded 2.1 percent on Friday, their biggest one-day gain in 18 months, as high-yielding stocks led by blue chip financials underpinned the local market after Wall Street rallied overnight.Financials were led by National Australia Bank soaring 3.6 percent while Australia's fourth largest bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group climbed 3 percent.The S&P/ASX...
TSX rallies on news of Safeway deal
2013-06-13 22:52:23 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
TORONTO: Canada's main stock index rebounded on Thursday after days of weakness as worries about central bank stimulus were offset by a jump in Empire Co Ltd , which is buying Safeway Inc's Canadian assets for $5.7 billion.The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended the day up 167.24 points, or 1.38 percent, at 12,277.13, recovering from a seven-week low early in the...
Safeway deal helps TSX bounce strongly from 7-wk low
2013-06-13 22:50:10 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
TORONTO: Canada's main stock index rebounded on Thursday following two sessions of steep losses, helped by a jump in Empire Co Ltd after the company said it will buy Safeway Inc's Canadian assets for $5.7 billion.Shares of Empire, the operator of grocery chain Sobeys, jumped nearly 10.6 percent after investors and analysts cheered the move, which will nearly double the company's reach ...
Australia shares fall 0.7pc to 5 month low as banks drag
2013-06-12 07:02:50 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares fell 0.7 percent on Wednesday, closing at a five-month low, as a global fall for equities and disappointment that the Bank of Japan did not take new easing steps the previous day hurt appetites.Financials led losses as overseas investors sold off index-heavy banks on the back of the weaker Australian dollar and higher bond yields, analysts said.The S&P/ASX 200 index d...
Indian shares fall over one percent
2013-06-11 11:51:35 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
MUMBAI: India's benchmark index fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday to its lowest close in more than 1-1/2 months, as the rupee tumbled to a record low, continuing to hit lenders such as ICICI Bank on dashed rate cut hopes.While suspected central bank intervention hauled the rupee off a record low struck on Tuesday afternoon, its continued weakness is seen clouding rate cut expectations, and s...
TSX at 1-month low on weaker golds
2013-06-07 20:37:59 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
TORONTO: Canada's main stock index slipped to a one-month low on Friday as a slump in gold miners, which followed a tumbling bullion price, offset strength in several other sectors after a positive US jobs report.The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed down 36.03 points, or 0.29 percent, at 12,373.30. Seven of the 10 main sectors on the index were highe...
Australia shares may edge up at open, on track for weekly loss
2013-06-06 23:57:45 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares may edge up at the open on Friday following a stronger close on Wall Street ahead of the US jobs report, but the market is set to post a fourth straight weekly fall.* Local share price index futures added 0.1 percent to 4,786.0, a 4.8 point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. On Thursday, the benchmark fell 1.1 percent to a 4-1/2-month low to be down ne...
TSX falls to 1-month low as US jobs data eyed
2013-06-06 23:42:34 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
TORONTO: Canada's main stock index slipped on Thursday to its lowest in a month, led by a decline in financial shares, as investors nervously awaited Friday's jobs report out of the United States.The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed down 34.32 points, or 0.28 percent, at 12,409.33. Seven of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red.Copyrig...
Australia shares seen extending losses on Fed stimulus worries
2013-06-05 23:44:42 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares are set to open lower on Thursday, extending losses after touching a 4-1/2-month low and tracking a decline on Wall Street on renewed worries the Federal Reserve may begin to scale back its bond-buying stimulus.Local share price index futures fell 1 percent to 4,784.0, a 51.2-point premium/discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close.The local benchmark slumped ...
TSX drops to near 1-month low on US growth, Fed fears
2013-06-05 23:12:26 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
TORONTO: Canada's main stock index recorded one of its steepest one-day percentage falls of the year on Wednesday due to concerns about US economic growth, sluggish hiring, and renewed fears of a stimulus pullback.The declines took the market to a one-month low, with weakness in almost all key sectors, and helped erase almost all the gains the index has made this year.The lone bright spot was ...
Australia shares seen opening lower ahead of GDP data
2013-06-04 23:38:32 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares are expected to open weaker after losses on Wall Street and on concerns about Chinese demand for metals, with GDP data expected to show a slowdown in mining investment kept growth below potential at the start of the year.
Local share price index futures fell 0.4 percent to 4,879, a 21.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark rose 0....
Data pulls TSX lower as energy shares, banks slip
2013-06-04 00:04:27 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
TORONTO: Canada's main stock index slipped to its lowest in more than two weeks on Monday after sluggish data raised concerns about half of the global economic recovery and caused declines in the energy and financial sectors.Weakness in Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, following a downgrade of the stock by Goldman Sachs, also weighed on the market.US manufacturing activity contracted in May for...
Australia shares seen lower; eyes on China, local data
2013-06-02 23:02:31 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares are set to open lower on Monday after a sharp fall on Wall Street and weaker metals prices, with eyes on Chinese data and a slew of local economic figures.Local share price index futures fell 1.7 percent to 4,876.0, a 50.6-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark slipped 0.1 percent on Friday.New Zealand's stocks market is closed for...
Australia shares edge up on yield play; Cabcharge, Pharmaxis tumble
2013-05-28 07:40:29 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares ended 0.2 percent higher on Tuesday, snapping a five-day losing streak, as investors returned to pick up high-yield stocks such as banks following last week's downturn.The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index added 10.8 points to 4,970.7, according to the latest data. It fell 0.5 percent on Monday.Analysts said the 4,900-point mark was a key support milestone to watch, wit...
Australian shares post 5th straight decline, miners sag
2013-05-27 08:56:26 GMT : (Markets - Equity/Australia)
SYDNEY: Australian shares fell 0.5 percent on Monday, extending last week's sharp declines to a five-week low as sentiment was hit by volatility in the Japanese market and concerns the US Federal Reserve may scale back its stimulus measures.Japan's Nikkei share index slid more than three percent on Monday, in a continuation of last week's turbulance and causing investors to worry that ... | <urn:uuid:ec401e7c-107e-491d-823d-9ac9ec50b06e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brecorder.com/archive/category/121 | 2013-06-20T09:14:56Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911257 | 2,434 |
by Clifford Bond and Robert Hand, Helsinki Commission Staff
In early December 2008, Helsinki Commission staff visited Kosovo to review the changing mandates of a wide range of international actors in Kosovo. The visit coincided with the European Union’s deployment of a Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, known as EULEX, which took place successfully but revealed the potential for regional instability.
The Commission staff delegation met with a variety of international and local actors in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital. It traveled to the Visoki Decani, a monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church where it met with church representatives, and to the nearby town of Peja/Pec where it met with field representatives of the International Civilian Office (ICO) and the OSCE. The delegation also visited both sides of the divided northern city of Mitrovica where it visited displacement camps and the rebuilt neighborhood for the city’s Romani population in addition to other meetings.
The International Community
Kosovo asserted its independent statehood in February 2008, in the context of the plan put forward by former Finnish President, UN official and Nobel laureate Martti Ahtisaari. In so doing, Kosovo’s leadership pledged to implement the plan in full, which means accepting international supervision and providing decentralized authority and numerous rights and privileges to the Serb and, to a lesser extent, other minority communities. The Ahtisaari plan, however, assumes agreement by all parties, but Serbia, backed by Russia at the United Nations, refuses to accept the loss of what it considers still to be its province. The United States and most European countries have recognized Kosovo’s independence, but a few European Union members remain either reluctant or strongly against doing so, either due to ties with Serbia or fear of separatist movements within their own borders. Spain was frequently singled out as the one country that not only opposes Kosovo’s independence but seems intent on undermining its recognition by others. Combined with the widespread need for consensus decision-making, most of the international community’s field missions must, to one degree or another, act neutrally on questions of status, to the detriment of their effectiveness and the enormous frustration of Kosovar Albanians who desire that Kosovo’s independence be respected.
The EULEX deployment brought these differing perspectives to the fore. In order to obtain an EU-wide agreement, a UN blessing and the acquiescence of Belgrade and local Serbs under Belgrade’s control, a compromise effort known as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s “6-point plan” was put forward that prompted angry protest among the Kosovar Albanian majority and an official rejection from Pristina. Posters throughout the city proclaimed EULEX to be “Made in Serbia”. After several delays and despite continued ambiguity regarding which government was the actual host, the Mission deployed on December 9 throughout Kosovo, not just in areas under Pristina’s control. That the deployment proceeded smoothly and peacefully was viewed as a success, although ambiguities purposefully placed in its mandate to allow both Albanians and Serbs to maintain their positions, as well as the lack of political oversight and coordination among EULEX’s three areas of responsibility (police, courts and customs), likely mean that EULEX will face additional tests of its resolve in the future. For now, the most noteworthy result of the deployment is the anticipated end of inefficient UNMiK operations, which have come to symbolize the holding pattern in which Kosovo has found itself since 1999.
The deployment could also signal a more cooperative tone among Kosovo’s Serbs. In northern Mitrovica and contiguous areas bordering Serbia, there are signs that Belgrade may no longer support more militant and corrupt Kosovo Serb leaders. In the enclaves to the south, where the majority of Kosovo Serbs live, there may also be more room for local accommodation and inter-ethnic cooperation, with questions of status put to the side. Following Serbian elections in May that strengthened pro-democratic and pro-European forces in society, Belgrade seems to want at least more transparency and accountability in the “parallel institutions” it has so far financed, and it may try to reduce its subsidies. It also seems to want to avoid violence, especially any violence that could be blamed on the Serb side. It is unclear how far it will push to assert control and responsibility in light of UNMiK’s dwindling role, or whether it will allow EULEX and eventually the ICO to fill the void. Unfortunately, divisions within the European Union almost invite continued Serbian intransigence. Without being given a clear choice between trying to hold onto Kosovo and achieving European integration, the Serbian Government still plays the “Kosovo card,” which garners popular support at home without any apparent repercussions.
The situation on the Kosovar Albanian side is a bit clearer. Despite internal political posturing, there is really little difference within this community when it comes to defending Kosovo’s independence. The deliberations that led the EULEX deployment pushed the Kosovo government about as far as it could go. While the achievement of independence has so far made the Ahtisaari plan worth embracing, many of its provisions relating to Serb communities have been no easy sell, especially in the many localities where nationalism and intolerance continue to prevail. When governments of European countries which have recognized Kosovo’s independence nevertheless treat it as something less than an independent and sovereign state, the Kosovars are naturally outraged and increasingly distrustful. This could be countered somewhat by the establishment of embassies in the capitals of those countries who have thus far recognized Kosovo, particularly in Europe, staffed by competent diplomats in order to ensure that the Kosovo point-of-view is made clear to policy-makers. The United States should also counter European diplomatic tendencies to placate traditional regional powers and treat the new states of Europe as second-class states.
In the meantime, as those in government may try to adhere to their Ahtisaari commitments, those in opposition have also been able to capitalize on the situation. This poses a challenge to Kosovo’s shaky democratic institutions, which are still very much in transition. Some have expressed concern that the further development of democratic capacities could be thwarted by the need to meet unpopular international demands.
While EULEX moves forward and UNMiK winds down, other international players need to find their role. As one analyst commented, the international community has lost the coherence of its structure and has become a confusing maze to local parties.
The International Civilian Office is perhaps the most important, yet vulnerable, of the current players. A creation of the Ahtisaari plan, it is by definition not status neutral, and has a relatively strong mandate to supervise post-status Kosovo. Serb opposition to cooperation with the ICO makes this difficult, but the hesitancy of the status-neutral players to cooperate, coordinate and support the ICO will severely weaken its effectiveness to Kosovo’s long-term detriment.
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo, the organization’s largest, is facing even more difficult times. Once known for its solid monitoring of events throughout Kosovo and for developing democratic capacity, the early threat of Belgrade and Moscow to close the Mission cast a shadow over its future and a considerable portion of its personnel have moved to the ICO or otherwise left the OSCE in Kosovo. Mission leadership has also been controversial; while this may have stabilized with a new Head of Mission, the OSCE lost some serious ground. Most interlocutors felt that the Mission is a bit oversized, and needs to focus on core areas such as promoting free media, human rights and inter-ethnic dialogue, where the OSCE has genuine expertise and credibility.
KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping force, seems to be the one constant of the international presence that garners unquestioned respect and seems prepared to handle whatever instability may lie ahead. It is the acknowledged last resort for providing security, but its presence helps ensure a security baseline that will deter provocations and enhance confidence at the local level. KFOR representatives seem confident that lessons were learned from the violence of 2004 and that greater flexibility across lines of operations, more consistent rules for engagement and an unwillingness to let the particulars of status from getting in its way will be effective in keeping the peace in Kosovo.
A Need for Dialogue
Many of the problems which exist among both the Kosovar Albanian majority and the Kosovo Serb minority could be resolved through greater dialogue, both within Kosovo and between Belgrade and Pristina. There is some effort to achieve this through civic organizations and religious institutions, as well as business contacts. There is also some interaction in technical areas such as regarding missing persons from the 1998-99 conflict, or in the reconstruction of churches and other religious sites damaged or destroyed in the March 2004 riots. Unfortunately, a suitable venue for direct contact between Belgrade and Pristina needs to be found. Pristina is ready, at least in principle, but Belgrade is not.
One area where the Kosovo authorities could act more swiftly, without precondition, and likely to their own long-term benefit, is the resolution of outstanding property claims. The resolution of property claims is a major hindrance to the return of displaced persons, and it holds up legal usage of property even when a return is unlikely. In some cases at least, displaced Serbs and others may only wish to get their property back so they can sell it. While there may be solid reasons for wanting to encourage displaced persons to return to Kosovo -- and some efforts to do this were underway in December – ultimately each individual needs only the opportunity to make a free choice. To do this, those with outstanding property claims need to have their cases resolved. The issue of property claims came up repeatedly in meetings, and seems a greater issue than security and freedom of movement at present. Some hope the EULEX deployment could provide a second chance for property restitutions and returns.
Both sides, but especially some Kosovo leaders who formerly fought with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), could probably also help facilitate the resolution of more missing persons cases, of which just under 2,000 remain. While there has been success in bringing government representatives and surviving family members together under international auspices, local efforts to help locate grave sites appear to be half-hearted, at best. It is unlikely that progress in this area will enhance community reconciliation efforts in any major way, but a positive signal to do more could lead to a broadening of dialogue on other issues. Ultimately, this remains a humanitarian issue that deserves additional effort no matter what.
At present, Kosovo authorities seem committed to implementing the Ahtsaari plan in its entirety. Relevant laws have been passed, and those involved in developing local self-government seem committed to implementation. The real test, of course, will come when the Kosovo Serbs decide to respond and engage and are able to do so without worry of retribution from Belgrade. One local analyst noted that developing the necessary trust between the two sides will be a process, and should be taken one step at a time rather than pushed.
The Plight of Roma in the North
A continual concern to the Helsinki Commission has been the plight of displaced Roma in northern Mitrovica, most of whom fled their original neighborhood, or mahalla, which was destroyed in 1999. Growing criticism of the conditions in the camps, particularly the health hazards caused by lead contamination, finally convinced the international community in 2005 first to establish a temporary relocation facility that was safer and to make a concentrated effort to rebuild housing where the original mahalla in the south was located. Romani families resisted the move, due to warranted lack of trust in the international community and a lack of awareness of how severe the health threat really was. Local Serbian leaders as well as Romani community leaders living elsewhere in Europe, however, originally also did much to discourage the move, both benefiting from a situation in which successful returns did not take place.
Commission staff visited the last of the original camps, Cesmin Lug, as well as the new camp adjacent to it, a former KFOR base known as Osterode. They also visited the original mahalla, which had additional apartment buildings and some private houses constructed since the last Commission visit in May 2007. Despite the availability of housing, residents of the camps continue to resist moving, despite continued concerns about health conditions. Local Serbian leaders, who now want the land where Osterode is located, seem no longer to be discouraging the move, and Roma living abroad likewise seem to have less influence on the situation. Security for Roma in the south, once a concern, seems less so now. Those who remain in the camps seem primarily motivated by a continued distrust of the international community as well as lingering hopes for a better offer. The inability of the local economy to provide income, particularly in the south, also plays a significant role, as does the desire to keep children in Serb-run schools, despite being segregated into separate classes. Meanwhile, there is increasing pressure from foreign governments to prioritize the resettling of Kosovo Roma they intend to deport, rather than those displaced in Kosovo and living in camps. It is clear that, while there has been some progress on this issue, a limited set of additional options will need to be considered to resolve the situation, including the possibility of permanent resettlement in the north. | <urn:uuid:696101b0-dbfa-4378-802f-e3348f6a30f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewDetail&ContentRecord_id=457&ContentType=G&ContentRecordType=G&UserGroup_id=68®ion_id=68&year=0&month=0&Subaction=ByDate&CFID=9458679&CFTOKEN=26969327 | 2013-06-20T08:39:46Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964343 | 2,748 |
Free agent right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma signed an incentive-laced, one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, a year after his attempted move to the majors through the posting system ended in failure.
According to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, the 30-year-old Iwakuma will receive a base salary of $1.5 million plus performance bonuses that will make the deal worth well over $3.9 million, or 300 million yen -- the amount he made with the Rakuten Eagles last season.
Iwakuma, who won the Pacific League MVP and the Sawamura Award after winning 21 games in 2008, was put up for bidding last offseason. The Oakland Athletics won his negotiating rights but the two parties could not come to terms during the exclusive 30-day talking period.
''I'll do whatever it takes to get results over the next year,'' Iwakuma said during a conference call. ''I accept what they offered, and I'll work for everything.''
''I felt the Mariners were the team that wanted me most. I went to Seattle, and it seems like a nice place to live.''
Iwakuma, who was instrumental in Japan winning the 2009 World Baseball Classic, has a career ERA of 3.25 with a 107-60 record in 11 seasons with Rakuten and the Kintetsu Buffaloes.
Last year, he went 6-7 and was limited to 119 innings in 17 starts because of an injury to his throwing shoulder, but still sported a solid 2.42 ERA.
Iwakuma will join a rotation anchored by Felix Hernandez, Michael Pineda and Jason Vargas, with several young arms competing for a fourth and fifth slot.
Iwakuma is the sixth Japanese player the Mariners have signed following Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Mac Suzuki and Kenji Johjima.
NEW YORK (AP)\The New York Yankees made a major push to bolster their starting rotation Friday night, agreeing to terms with right-hander Hiroki Kuroda on a $10 million, one-year contract shortly after acquiring young righty Michael Pineda from the Seattle Mariners.
A person familiar with Kurodafs signing told The Associated Press the deal is contingent on the 36-year-old former Los Angeles Dodgers starter passing a physical. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because there has not yet been an announcement. Kurodafs deal also includes performance bonuses, according to the person.
Kuroda was 13-16 with a 3.07 ERA for the Dodgers this year and 41-46 with a 3.45 ERA in four seasons in Los Angeles after a long career in Japan.
"So - who's pitching today?
No, I'm not pitching. Who is?
No, Who's on first.
I don't know who's on first, I just want to know the pitcher's name.
No, he's on second.
Who's on second?
Who's on first.
I don't care who's on first, what's the pitcher's name?
I keep telling you - Yu. Don't you understand anything I'm saying?
I don't know.
He's on third."
Free agent Japanese right-hander Hiroki Kuroda has agreed to a one-year contract with the New York Yankees, the club said Thursday.
Kuroda will receive a salary of $10 million with performance incentives that kick in for pitching 200 innings, which could raise his earnings to $11 million, according to a source familiar with the deal.
In his fourth season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011, Kuroda established major league career highs in wins, earned run average, innings pitched and strikeouts, going 13-16 with a 3.07 ERA in 202 innings with 161 strikeouts over 32 starts.
''I feel happy to be a part of such a storied franchise, which is always in contention for a World Series,'' Kuroda said in a statement via the Yankees issued in English.
The Yankee front office was apparently also impressed with the fact that Kuroda has averaged just 2.10 walks per nine innings pitched in his four years, the third lowest mark by a National League pitcher with at least 500 innings pitched over the span.
Kuroda, who turns 37 on Feb. 10, has gone 41-46 with a 3.45 ERA in 115 career appearances (114 starts) over four years with the Dodgers from 2008-11.
LOS ANGELES (AP)\NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a salary arbitration hearing next week, agreeing to a $19 million, two-year contract.
Tuesdayfs deal for the 23-year-old left-hander calls for a $500,000 signing bonus and salaries of $7.5 million this year and $11 million in 2013. It covers all but his final year of arbitration eligibility.
NEW YORK (AP) \ Gary Carter was nicknamed "Kid" for good reason.
His smile, bubbly personality and eagerness to excel on a ballfield made him a joy to watch at the plate and behind it.
Even his Hall of Fame bronze plaque at Cooperstown shows him with a toothy grin \ the Kid forever.
The star catcher, whose single for the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series touched off one of the most improbable rallies in baseball, died Thursday. He was 57.
Carter was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor last May, two weeks after finishing his second season as coach at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Carter died at a hospice in the West Palm Beach, Fla., area.
Carter was an 11-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner. His bottom-of-the-10th single in Game 6 of the 1986 Series helped the Mets mount a charge against the Boston Red Sox and eventually beat them.
With curly, blond locks flaring out from beneath his helmet, and a rigid, upright batting stance, Carter was immediately recognizable.
"His nickname 'The Kid' captured how Gary approached life," the Mets said in a statement. "He did everything with enthusiasm and with gusto on and off the field. His smile was infectious. ... He was a Hall of Famer in everything he did."
Carter played nearly two decades with the Mets, Montreal, San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He led the Expos to their only playoff berth and was the first player enshrined in Cooperstown wearing an Expos cap.
Here's how the Nihonjin are doing at the start of spring training:
First Yu Darvish:
SURPRISE, Arizona, Feb. 21 (16:54) Kyodo
Texas Rangers rookie Yu Darvish arrived at spring training on Tuesday morning, mingled with his new teammates, and even threw a bullpen session two days before the official reporting date for pitchers and catchers.
The 25-year-old Japanese ace did not talk to the media, barely acknowledging about two dozen Japanese reporters waiting for him behind a restraining rope, as he walked into the clubhouse.
He suited up and went out for his workout in the Rangers' camp and immediately hit it off with left-hander Derek Holland, a 16-game winner for Texas in 2011.
''He wants to learn English,'' Holland was quoted as saying on the MLB website. ''He doesn't know much, but he wants to learn. He's not stand-offish. He was right there with us. He wants to fit in. It won't be hard for him.''
Darvish played catch with Holland and threw 30 pitches to catcher Luis Martinez, who was acquired by the Rangers from the San Diego Padres in the offseason, in the bullpen.
''He threw 30 pitches and threw about 10 different pitches,'' said Martinez. ''His sinker and cut fastball had good movement and downward action. His splitter was pretty good, too. There's nobody like him. He's unique.''
Taking in all the excitement can be overwhelming, but Holland said it is important that Darvish not apologize for missing his spots -- something he kept doing during the practice -- but just relax.
''That's one thing he has to learn is he doesn't have to apologize like that. There's no need for that. You're not always going to hit your spots,'' Holland said.
Dice-K on the comback trail:
In Ft. Myers, Florida, Boston Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is on the road to recovery from ligament-transplant surgery on his right elbow last June, took part in practice drills on his first day of spring training.
''I feel both excitement and nervousness,'' said Matsuzaka. ''There is a limit to what I can do right now in terms of pitching. I will clear the hurdles in front of me. Keeping that in mind is essential.''
Ichiro hitting third:
PEORIA, Arizona, Feb. 22 (19:36) Kyodo
Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge said Tuesday he has decided to move Ichiro Suzuki from his traditional leadoff spot to third in the lineup.
''Ichiro Suzuki will be hitting third for us this year,'' Wedge said. ''I sat down and explained to him the whys and wherefores, and it wasn't out of left field because we had this discussions before.
''I think he was more than prepared for it and he came in here knowing that would be a serious option, and a part of him maybe expected it. But he is on board. I was very clear with him. He is very clear with me. He is ready to go.''
The Mariners scored the fewest runs in the American League the last three seasons.
''I knew from a long time ago this lineup change could happen, so I've been ready mentally,'' Suzuki said. ''I don't think you have to be this way or that way depending on where you're in the lineup. To me, it's the same between batting leadoff and third.''
And Hideki Matsui, Will DH for food:
TOKYO, Feb. 22 (18:02) Kyodo
Free agent outfielder Hideki Matsui, still unsigned for the upcoming season, left Japan for the United States on Wednesday.
Matsui will continue to wait for offers from major league clubs while training in the United States.
Not only Matsui but also other free agents such as Vladimir Guerrero and Johnny Damon remain unsigned this offseason.
Matsui hit a career-low .251 last season for the Oakland Athletics with 12 home runs and 72 RBIs.
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For a comprehensive look at the Barcelona Principles and what they mean to the industry, Perspectives solicited the opinions of five PR and measurement experts, including individuals who participated in the 2nd European Summit on Measurement and helped craft the Barcelona Principles into their final form. We asked them four questions:
Perspectives: Why do you believe the Barcelona Principles are important – why are they needed?
Richard Houghton: The Barcelona Principles are really a stake in the ground. They are a starting point for the development of consistent, practical and effective measurement criteria that can be used across the practice of public relations. It’s in the interests of both client and consultancy to work toward an accepted form of evaluation that can be used to demonstrate the value of PR activity and budgets, and also provide insights and data that can be used to refine and improve future activities. For the more mature PR markets, the Barcelona Principles may seem to be a little trite at this stage but they are an important starting point for development.
Gary McCormick: The public relations industry, by its own admission, has been slow to adopt standard measurement techniques, something that advertising, direct mail and other marketing and communications disciplines have been using to their advantage for years. Measurement and evaluation techniques that are widely understood, accepted and implemented are critical to the acceptance and growth of public relations.
Mazen Nahawi: Nearly everything in life has some form of measurement or accountability, whether it is personal (weight or height) or business-related (stock prices, balance sheets). Public relations and communications should be no exception to this rule, and the Barcelona Principles help enshrine a commonly accepted standard of credible research and proper accountability across the industry.
John Paluszek: PR is an alloy of art and science. The art portion is very difficult to measure, but clients have always been tuned in to the science part, particularly when it comes to measurement of their other communications activities. It’s very important that we work on making PR more tangible to clients. That’s what the Barcelona Principles set out to do: provide the tools that connect with clients and help us balance the science with the art.
Brendan Swale: I was fortunate to be one of the 200 delegates at the 2010 2nd AMEC European Summit on Measurement, which formulated the Barcelona Principles. I believe the principles are extremely important for the public relations and media measurement industry because they establish a level of standardization – not a standardized metric that is a false hope, but a standardized and agreed-upon approach to what is important when measuring the effectiveness of communication.
The most encouraging aspect of the Principles is what was determined as important: defined objectives and real measures that support an organization’s goals, such as market share, sales leads, earnings per share or reduced employee turnover rates. We in the industry need to be aware that the value of measurement is not measurement itself, but actionable insights that drive improved performance. The Barcelona Principles enunciated that concept very effectively
Houghton: ICCO has 1,500 agency members across 28 countries, and we are focused on helping to improve the quality and consistency of PR consultancy across all these markets. The Barcelona Principles have the potential to play an important part in achieving our objectives. As current ICCO president, I was only too happy to get involved in their development.
McCormick: As part of its industry advocacy campaign, “The Business Case for Public Relations,” PRSA embarked last year on an effort to identify standard approaches for measuring the impact of public relations. As part of that effort, we convened a Measurement Task Force composed of the current and past chairs of the Institute for Public Relations’ Commission on Public Relations Measurement and Evaluation.
The Measurement Task Force issued a broad set of recommended measurement standards for a variety of public relations tactics and outcomes. We see the Barcelona Principles as building on these recommendations, leading to the development of tangible metrics and approaches for public relations measurement and the achievement of broad industry consensus on them.
Paluszek: The Global Alliance represents the PR industry in 70 countries and has a broad mandate to help move the industry forward on an international basis. Addressing the issue of measurement makes sense for us because it is a common denominator need in all countries. We were eager to participate in the AMEC Summit, work in development of the Barcelona Principles, and then help spread the word by playing it back globally.
Just before the AMEC summit in June, the Global Alliance held our annual meeting in conjunction with the World Public Relations Forum 2010 in Stockholm. One of our outcomes from the meeting was the “Stockholm Accord,” which is an articulation of the enhanced role and potential effectiveness of public relations in organizational and institutional success. It is a comprehensive restatement of the contemporary public relations profession — PR for the PR industry, in effect — and the Barcelona Principles sync perfectly with the Stockholm Accord because they both help enhance the understanding of PR and the effectiveness of its messages.
Houghton: Once fully developed, with clear criteria for implementation, the Barcelona Principles will provide clients with the ability to compare the impact of individual campaigns. This will be invaluable in developing budgets, planning future activity and, I hope, arguing the case for PR internally.
For agencies, many of which consider their evaluation techniques a competitive advantage, the advantages will be that the strength of strategy and creative ideas will stand out and their success will be reviewed objectively. Additionally, the evaluation of multi-country campaigns will be easier and more accurate. All of this will give agencies the ammunition to argue their case for budget and resources.
McCormick: Organizations and professionals who understand and believe in the benefits of public relations evaluation are able to validate the results of their efforts; link the results to business outcomes that further the achievement of organizational goals; credibly merchandise the impact of those results to those who fund public relations programs; set smarter objectives, develop better strategies and employ more compelling and engaging tactics; make midcourse program adjustments and corrections; and adapt their measurement approaches over time in light of changing objectives, new competitors and emerging best practices.
Nahawi: I will be forming the AMEC Middle East Chapter in 2011. A major part of that initiative will be to carry the mantle of the Barcelona Principles and make sure we promote their importance to the young communications industry in the Middle East and North Africa. I am confident that we will do so successfully and continue to help the region avoid many of the less effective research practices, such as poor campaign planning and AVEs, and make sure the work we do for our stakeholders is grounded in best practices across our industry for years to come.
Thus, the main impact will be to make a strong statement to a young and emerging market on how to do things right from the beginning. We will emphasize real-life examples, while clearly identifying the less effective practices and stressing that the entire industry is united in calling for them to no longer be used.
Paluszek: There are shared benefits for clients, agencies and the industry overall, because the Barcelona Principles are better for all parties. What data gets measured, and how it gets measured, are important issues throughout the ranks of client management and the C-suite. PR has been at a disadvantage to our advertising colleagues in that they have traditionally presented clear criteria and hard numbers. PR has struggled in that area, and been only partially successful. Clean, common PR metrics are beneficial to the industry because they place us all in a better position to get greater attention, time and budget from client management. The Barcelona Principles are an excellent start, and will get even stronger as more specifics are added.
Swale: The impact of the Barcelona Principles in my region, Asia Pacific, is currently limited, but the potential is significant. AMEC has a limited footprint in the APAC region; therefore, the principles haven’t yet entered the industry mindset as coherently as they have in the U.K., Europe and the U.S. It is my challenge, and that of my measurement colleagues in the region, to improve upon this situation. Despite this reality, I have been at industry events in Australia where the Barcelona Principles have been quoted to me, which is encouraging!
The great opportunity we have as an industry in Asia Pacific is to use the Barcelona Principles as an accepted international standard to initiate and frame the debate and, hopefully, accelerate their acceptance.
McCormick: The Principles will help public relations professionals understand the qualitative results of their activities and express them in ways that are meaningful to business executives. This will lead to more accurate and better-informed perceptions of the value and role of public relations within the diverse organizations it serves.
Paluszek: Development of the Barcelona Principles is an illustration of how PR is evolving as a management science and provides another important piece of evidence to both clients and the general public about our credibility. The public has often misunderstood PR, and these principles help the industry prove we are a serious profession. They cut through the fluff and can demonstrate how PR has a significant role in business and every institution in society. Particularly in today’s digital world, all institutions realize the dialogue of PR is vital to their success.
Swale: The profound impact of the Barcelona Principles will be when the concepts contained within them are accepted universally by our clients, and because of the focus on business outcomes and results, they will see their own individual reputations grow along with that of their organization. I have attended many PR conferences where the key topic has been “How does PR get into the boardroom?” The obvious answer is that it will happen when PR professionals can confidently relate their activities to business improvement. To do that, we have to measure. And to measure effectively, the industry must embrace the Barcelona Principles. | <urn:uuid:d921c55f-88e8-41fb-a038-cc7f0389d2db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ketchumperspectives.com/archives/2010_i4/Barcelona_Principles_Public_Relations_Measurement/Roundtable/ | 2013-06-20T09:03:21Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948882 | 2,001 |
Publication Bias in Retina
Publication Bias in Retina
HOWARD F. FINE, MD, MHSC • JONATHAN L. PRENNER, MD • DANIEL B. ROTH, MD • SARAH J. DRISCOLL, BA • DAVID A. SALZ, BS
Selective publication is a problem whereby only a portion of initiated clinical trials are published. This issue has been well documented in other fields, such as oncology and cardiology, but has not yet been well studied in the ophthalmology field. Data from clinical trials, whether positive or negative, directly impact clinical practice and also shape future re search efforts. While the majority of clinical trials are now registered before initiation, requirements to provide summary results following completion of those trials are lacking.
HUMAN SUBJECTS: LUCKY DUCKS OR GUINEA PIGS?
Human subjects who participate in clinical trials provide an incredibly important service to society. Experimental trials pose inherent risks, and only a fraction of investigational treatments are ultimately proven safe and effective. Patients may feel in some ways that they play the role of a “guinea pig.” Conversely, though, enrolling in clinical trials can afford patients access to the latest treatments for their disease — if effective, they are truly “lucky ducks.” Most pa tients are motivated, at least in part, by an altruistic goal not just to treat their own condition, but also to advance scientific knowledge and thereby help others with the same af fliction. Many ethicists argue that there exists an inherent social contract in clinical trials: patients agree to be subjects with the caveat that the results will be used to help science and humanity. Clinical investigators and sponsors of trials therefore bear a great responsibility to disseminate the knowledge obtained from the sacrifices made by their human subjects, whether those results are positive or negative.
THE JOURNAL OF NEGATIVE RESULTS
For obvious reasons, there is no “Journal of Negative Results.” Investigators may not wish to invest the effort to publish studies that did not reach the desired conclusion. Industry sponsors may be wary of publishing results for fear of revealing their progress (or lack of progress) to competitors. Ye t failure to publish trials that do not reach their clinical endpoint or exhibit adverse outcomes can harm patients and adversely affect the standard of care. First, clinical care decisions are based on the body of published evidence. Evidence-based medicine cannot proceed if physicians only have access to a portion of the evidence. Second, if harmful effects of treatment are not publicized, there can be a deleterious effect on patient care. Horrific examples in recent history abound.
For example, the news media widely reported a lawsuit by the New York State attorney general against Glaxo-SmithKline for allegedly concealing the results of four studies that cast doubt on the effectiveness of the antidepressant paroxetine for treating adolescents and children, and that the drug might increase suicidal behavior. After legal wrangling to divulge the results of the allegedly suppressed studies, the drug now carries a “black box warning,” the FDA's most grave notification, regarding suicidal ideation and behavior.1
Delay in publication can also have negative consequences.2 In another example, an anti-arrhythmic drug trial that showed an unexpectedly high mortality rate was completed in 1980 but not published until 1993.3 Estimates suggest that up to 75,000 people died each intervening year in the US from the inappropriate use of this anti-arrhythmic for secondary prevention of heart attack.4 Investigators and sponsors have an obligation not only to release trial results to the public, but also to do so in a prompt fashion.
Registration of clinical trials has been a major step forward in minimizing the effects of selective publication.5 The NIH and FDA established ClinicalTrials.gov, an online database, in 2000 following the FDA Modernization Act of 1997. Registration of a trial with ClinicalTrials.gov is required prior to initiation by many major medical journals. While ClinicalTrials.gov does provide researchers with the ability to link to trial results, such information is not mandated, nor is there any enforcement provision within the FDA Modernization Act.1
In 2004, the American Medical Association petitioned the Department of Health and Human Services to “establish a comprehensive registry for all clinical trials conducted in the United States; every clinical trial should have a unique identifier; and all results from registered clinical trials should be made publicly available through either publication or an electronic data-repository.”1 Unfortunately, the AMA's exhortation has not yet been fully realized.
Section 801 of the FDA Amendments Act was passed by Congress in 2007 and requires certain outcome measures to be reported on ClinicalTrials.gov. These requirements are limited rather than comprehensive, exempting Phase 1 device and surgical trials as well as medications that have not yet received FDA approval,1 but provides another step forward toward transparency in clinical research.
HOW DOES RETINA FARE?
A recent presentation at the American Society of Retina specialists by Prenner and colleagues investigated the issue of selective publication for the field of retina. A comprehensive search of all trials on ClinicalTrials.gov concerning age-related macular degeneration was performed. Interventional trials concerning AMD completed by January 1, 2007 (to allow time for publication) were included; of 386 candidate trials, 64 met inclusion/exclusion criteria. The overall publication rate was 54%. Industry sponsored trials were published at a slightly lower rate (52%) than were non-industry sponsored trials (58%). Early phase 1 or 2 trials were published at a rate of 42% (n=36), slightly lower than the 71% rate (n=28) of Phase 3 and 4 trials, p=0.02. Whether trials were foreign or domestic did not statistically significantly influence publication rate.
As in other fields of medicine, selective publication is an important but often overlooked issue in retina, with roughly only half of registered trials reaching publication according to the recent study discussed. With the explosion of therapeutic trials for a number of retinal conditions, publication bias will only increase in importance in the future. Trial registration on ClinicalTrials.gov has been an important step forward. Yet registration is only part of the solution; more transparency is needed in the conduct and reporting of clinical trials for science and for our patients. RP
|Drs. Fine, Prenner, and Roth are clinical associate professors of ophthalmology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Sarah Driscoll and David Salz are medical students at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Fine reports equity, consulting and patent interests in Auris Surgical Robotics, and consulting relationships with Genentech, Allergan and Eyetech. Dr. Prenner reports equity interests in Neovista, Ophthotech and Opko, and consulting relationships with Alcon (RAC II), Allergan and Eyetech. Dr. Fine can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
- Steinbrook R. Public registration of clinical trials. N Engl J Med. 2004:22;351(4):315-7.
- Stern JM, Simes RJ. Publication bias: evidence of delayed publication in a cohort study of clinical research projects. BMJ. 1997:13;315(7109):640-5.
- Cowley AJ, Skene A, Stainer K, Hampton JR. The effect of lorcainide on arrhythmias and survival in patients with acute myocardial infarction: an example of publication bias. Int J Cardiol. 1993 Jul 1;40(2):161-6.
- Dickersin K, Rennie D. Registering clinical trials. JAMA. 2003 Jul 23;290(4):516-23.
- De Angelis C, Drazen JM, Frizelle FA, Haug C, Hoey J, Horton R, Kotzin S, Laine C, Marusic A, Overbeke AJ, Schroeder TV, Sox HC, Van Der Weyden MB; International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Clinical trial registration: a statement from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. N Engl J Med. 2004:16;351(12):1250-1.
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'Watergate' Revisited: Inside The Criminal Minds
During the summer of 1972, five men were arrested in the middle of the night for breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C.
The breach went to the very top. Watergate toppled the Nixon administration and became an iconic (and exhaustively studied) American political scandal. In his new novel, Watergate, Thomas Mallon gives the story a fresh twist, retelling it from the perspectives of the involved parties — from seven different points of view.
In his rendering, Watergate becomes a "series of private dramas," Mallon tells NPR's Scott Simon.
And while he recognizes the importance of accuracy, Mallon plays with the "always sliding scale of historical fiction," where there's room for imagination.
"You really have to make these decisions book-by-book and almost scene-by-scene," he explains. "I don't violate any of the big historical moments, dates."
Rather than create an "alternate history," Mallon deploys careful conjecture. "There's still plenty of room for a novelist to imagine what might have happened not instead of the real events, but in addition to the real events," he says, "and how people might actually have felt about them in a way that's somewhat different from what they put onto the record."
The story of Watergate is already rich with native drama. There is the central question of why Nixon would order the break-in given that he was at the height of his powers.
"He was cruising toward re-election," says Mallon. "And the sheer unnecessariness of the Watergate break-in is something that must have tormented him and his allies in all of the years that followed."
The cast of vivid supporting characters — including Martha Mitchell and G. Gordon Liddy — made the episode into a spectacle. There was the curious case of Rose Mary Woods, Nixon's longtime secretary, who accidentally (she claimed) erased 18 and a half minutes of recorded tape.
"She'd been Richard Nixon's secretary from the time he was in the Senate in 1950," says Mallon. "She was very private; her loyalties to him were extraordinary."
A photograph of Woods — a dignified woman making an undignified stretch, presumably to erase the tape — became well known.
"I think that that must have been tormenting to her," Mallon notes. "And I tried to imagine what it must have been to feel the personal isolation that she must've been — because she was a single person essentially by herself."
For Mallon, Nixon is a fascinating — but complicated — figure. The author recalls becoming distraught at the news of Nixon's death. "I started sobbing not in the way you sob for somebody that you had simple, uniform affection for, but sobbing for somebody you had a lot of admiration for as well as some horrified feelings about," Mallon says. "He let down all the people like my father who were his fervent supporters."
It doesn't seem possible to come to easy conclusions about this most enigmatic of public figures. "Bill Clinton, in his eulogy [for Nixon], said that the time had passed to judge Richard Nixon on anything but the complete record of his life," says Mallon. "And it's a wildly, wildly mixed record."
Mallon asserts that his "enormously conflicted feelings" are what keep him mesmerized with the larger-than-life president. "The number of nights that I fell asleep with Richard Nixon's being the last voice I heard ... There must be some appeal other than morbid interest that kept me coming back to him."
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.
Almost any scandal in the world these days is described as a something-gate. The phrase dates back to the summer of 1972, when five men were arrested in the middle of the night during a break-in at Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
The subsequent scandal brought down Richard Nixon's administration, made him one of the most notorious men in American history. Anytime someone observes: what did they know, and when did they know it; it's not the crime, it's the cover-up; follow the money, or third-rate burglary, it's a Watergate reference - whether they know it or not.
The Watergate crime and scandal have been exhaustively documented. But now, a great historical novelist has run it through his imagination. Thomas Mallon's new book is called "Watergate: A Novel." Tom Mallon joins us in our studios.
Thanks for being with us.
THOMAS MALLON: Thanks for having me.
SIMON: With so much on the record, what's left to be imagined by a novelist?
MALLON: Mostly how it felt, I think. I thought if you were going to do this as a novel, you had to get inside the people who were there. And so, I tried to tell the story from essentially seven different points of view and see what it felt like. And I avoid most of the big events that people - they certainly occur. But I don't tell the story the way you would tell it in nonfiction. I tell it more as a series of private dramas and try to give certain intimacy.
SIMON: As you will learn on tour, there are Watergate buffs...
MALLON: Oh, yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
SIMON: ...like there are Civil War buffs and jazz buffs who will catch you on the smallest bit of misinformation, or imagined information. How important was historical accuracy to you?
MALLON: I refer in the acknowledgements of the book to the always sliding scale of historical fiction. And I think you really have to make these decisions book-by-book and almost scene-by-scene. I don't violate any of the big historical moments, dates. You know, Richard Nixon still resigns at the end of this book.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
MALLON: It's not what in the historical fiction biz we call alternate history where, you know, the South wins the Civil War and things like that happen. But within those events, I think there's still plenty of room for a novelist to imagine what might have happened not instead of the real events, but in addition to the real events, and how people might actually have felt about them in a way that's somewhat different from what they put onto the record.
SIMON: Your novel reminds us when the men were arrested and the scandal began, Richard Nixon was at the height of his powers.
MALLON: Absolutely. He was cruising toward re-election. He had a very weak opponent in George McGovern. McGovern wasn't nominated yet but things were certainly trending his way. Nixon had been to China. He had been to Russia doing arms negotiation. And so, he was on his way toward what happened in November, which was an electoral win with 49 states.
And the sheer unnecessariness of the Watergate break-in is something that must have tormented him and his allies in all of the years that followed.
SIMON: Watergate scandal, we think we know something about vivid characters like Martha Mitchell and G. Gordon Liddy. But let me get you to talk about Rose Mary Woods, a longtime secretary.
MALLON: She'd been Richard Nixon's secretary from the time he was in the Senate in 1950. So, she'd been with them nearly a quarter of a century by the time of the resignation. She never married. She did not give interviews. She was very private. Her loyalties to him were extraordinary. She is most famously associated with the erasure of 18 and a half minutes on one of the tapes that was subpoenaed.
SIMON: Why, the picture of her, a dignified woman making an undignified stretch, became well-known.
MALLON: And I think that that must have been tormenting to her. And I've talked to a couple of people who knew her and they remark on her charm, her wit. She was a terrific dancer. I talked to somebody who used to escort her around town, and he said don't finish the book without giving her a chance to dance.
And I tried to imagine what it must have been to feel the personal isolation that she must've been - because she was a single person, essentially by herself, but to be at the red-hot center of this catastrophe that was dragging down somebody that she admired unquestionably.
SIMON: Yeah. So, how fascinating is Richard Nixon to a great novelist?
MALLON: To me, endlessly. I've actually been trying to write an essay about him; an actual nonfiction essay now that this book is done grappling with him, and sort of the way he loomed in my life for really, so many years. He was, I'd say, the central public figure in my life. I went to fourth grade in the fall of 1960 wearing a Nixon Lost button.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
MALLON: And he was the president who presided through my college years, which were very tumultuous from Kent State, and then all through things like the China trip. And I had enormously conflicted feelings about him the way people do about Lyndon Johnson.
MALLON: And I remember the night he died in 1994. I was living in New York in those days and the news came over the television that he had died in New York Hospital. And I remember I started sobbing. And I started sobbing not in the way you sob for somebody that you had simple uniform affection for, but sobbing for somebody that you had a lot of admiration for, as well as some horrified feelings about.
And, you know, Nixon was always worried about letting people down and he did let people down, and he let down all the people like my father, who were his fervent supporters. But he was a complicated figure.
Bill Clinton, in his eulogy, said that the time had passed to judge Richard Nixon on anything but the complete record of his life. And it's a wildly, wildly mixed record.
SIMON: After spending so much time with him, on the whole, can you like him?
MALLON: I - that's - boy, it's - I want to weasel out of it and say you can't give a yes or no answer to it. But I would have to say that unless there was part of him that appealed to me, I couldn't have spent the time with him. And, you know, most of the tapes, no, not most of them, but an awful lot of the famous ones - the crucial ones - you can listen to them on YouTube now. And the number of nights that I fell asleep with Richard Nixon's being the last voice I heard - 'cause I often write late at night - there must be some appeal other than morbid interest that kept me coming back to him.
SIMON: Thomas Mallon, his new novel, "Watergate." Thanks so much.
MALLON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | <urn:uuid:38503a28-fe27-4490-ba7e-19f10ab43dd9> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://northernpublicradio.org/post/watergate-revisited-inside-criminal-minds | 2015-03-26T19:32:00Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131292567.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172132-00000-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986604 | 2,349 |
These four releases are "two-fers" – two discs for the price of a single mid-priced disc. Additional releases in this series have been devoted to Thomas Hampson, Beverly Sills, Mirella Freni, and other singers who have recorded extensively for EMI Classics.
Canadian tenor Jon Vickers began his operatic career in 1952, and retired in 1988. Early on, he sang lighter roles such as the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) and Ferrando (Così fan tutte), but as his career progressed, he moved into the heavier and more dramatic roles for which he is remembered today. (Some of these, such as Peter Grimes, Radamès, and Aeneas from Les Troyens are not represented here, because he recorded them for a different label.) He was an excellent actor, and an intelligent singer. His voice, while not beautiful per se, was immediately recognizable for its masculinity, and for the canny way in which head tones (which some find croony) and chest tones were intermixed.
As with many of the other "Very Best of" releases, the Vickers collection is heavily dependent on complete recordings. In the 1960s and 70s, Vickers recorded Samson with Georges Prêtre, Carmen with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Otello, Fidelio and Tristan with Herbert von Karajan, and generous excerpts from those five more or less recommendable sets have been included here. As a result, there is a certain amount of fading in and out of excerpts, so if that bothers you, consider yourself advised. Karajan is a galvanizing conductor, and soprano Helga Dernesch adds excitement to both Tristan and Fidelio. At the time of its release, the Carmen (with Grace Bumbry in the title role, and Freni as Micaëla) was considered rather ho-hum, but these excerpts are exciting, and Vickers's head tones at the end of the "Flower Song" are unearthly in their beauty. (Nevertheless, he was anything but a wimpy Don José .) The Ingemisco from Verdi's Requiem comes from Barbirolli's complete recording (another undervalued pleasure) and four songs from Winterreise come from a fine recording that Vickers, near the end of his career, made with pianist Geoffrey Parsons. It is shame to excerpt Winterreise, though. (This is the only digital recording in this compilation.) Most of the original recordings still give pleasure, although the Samson excerpts suffer from distortion.
Boris Christoff also possessed a voice of such resonant blackness that you could mistake it for no one else's. Because he performed so much Russian music, it often was assumed that he was Russian. In truth, he was Bulgarian. His studies with Riccardo Stracciari prepared him for Italian roles such as King Philip II (Don Carlos) and Attila, but it is his portrayal of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov for which he is best remembered today. (That, and his interpretation of Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust.) Sadly, he never appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, although he was heard in San Francisco, and also in Chicago over the course of several seasons. He was a larger than life actor, and his flamboyant interpretations (even on record) did not please everyone.
Christoff recorded Boris twice for EMI – once in mono, and again in stereo; eight excerpts from the latter recording are offered here. Critics were outraged that he sang not only the title role, but also Pimen and Varlaam on both recordings. Christoff seemed unwilling to relinquish any of the juicy music, as long as it was in his range. The same happened in Prince Igor (two excerpts here) where Christoff sang both Prince Galitsky and Khan Konchak. Even the complainers agreed that Christoff's unique abilities allowed him to differentiate multiple roles in the same opera, even when he was, in effect, singing to himself (as happens near the end of Boris)! As Faust provides no roles suitable for the bass other than Méphistophélès, Christoff had to content himself with singing of the most mustache-twisting malevolence. Here, EMI offers three excerpts, including the complete Church Scene, in which Christoff mercilessly (and unforgettably!) torments Victoria de los Angeles's Marguerite. Another highlight of this compilation is Mussorgsky's complete song cycle The Nursery, in which the basso convincingly transforms himself into a little boy!
Again, some of the operatic excerpts are bleeding chunks, but fade-ins and fade-outs have been managed well. About one-third of the selections are monaural, recorded as they were in the 1950s. (Tchaikovsky's None but the lonely heart is in stereo, however, EMI's annotations notwithstanding.) Mono or stereo, the sound is excellent throughout, with none of the distortion that mars Vickers's Samson excerpts.
Like Christoff, Alfredo Kraus remained an EMI Classics artist throughout most of his career. It is for that reason that this compilation extends from the early 1960s (two arias from Così, as conducted by Karl Böhm) up to a live recording from December 1987 ("Una furtiva lagrima" from L'Elisir d'amore and "Salut! demeure chaste et pure" from Faust). Kraus, who was born on September 24, 1927 in the Canary Islands, was 60 at the time, and hardly less of fresh of voice than he was in the Così recording. Kraus was a lyric tenor who never sounded juvenile. In lighter bel canto roles such as Ernesto (Don Pasquale) a more youthful vocal persona would have been more appropriate, perhaps, but in the heavier ones, such as Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Arturo (I puritani), Kraus's power, maturity, and masculinity were welcomed – no tenorino here. His bright, trumpeting voice and exciting high notes were tempered by a sunny suavity. On the other hand, he could be a rather bland interpreter. Given his excellence in the French repertoire, in particular, it is tempting to go as far back as Georges Thill when looking for comparisons. Kraus died in 1999.
Most of these selections are taken from Kraus's complete recordings; the exceptions are the two indicated above from 1987, which were recorded at this Paris Opéra. (Frankly, it is a shame that Kraus left commercial recordings of neither L'Elisir nor Faust.) This means that Kraus is joined by excellent singers, including Montserrat Caballé in I Puritani, Renata Scotto in La bohème and La traviata, and Beverly Sills in Rigoletto and Don Pasquale. The selections have been chosen well, although, as with the other releases, there are some untidy fade-in and fade-outs. With the exception of Così, the engineering remains bright and shiny. This is an excellent compilation, and for those who are less familiar with Kraus than with the "Three Tenors," this might whet their appetite for more.
With Barbara Hendricks, EMI Classics had the interesting challenge of a singer who has recorded relatively little of her (not particularly large) operatic repertoire for the label. Furthermore, the roles that she has recorded for EMI (Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, the Sandman in Hänsel und Gretel, etc.) generally don't lend themselves well to excerpting – but could they at least have included some of Leila's music from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers? Instead, five of the six operatic arias are taken from a recital album – apparently now out of print – that Hendricks made with conductor Paavo Järvi and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France. There are six excerpts from an album of "Sacred Songs" which she recorded in Sweden, four spirituals from her relatively early album with pianist Dmitri Alexeev, and, on the second disc, a nice selection of Lieder, mélodies, and other songs, including an interesting orchestral version of the famous Vocalise-Étude en forme de Habanera, and Delibes's Les Filles de Cadix – a favorite of mine – which simmers sultrily, where it is more conventional to scintillate. Hendricks is never anything less than lovely and insightful.
Hendricks, who was born in Arkansas in 1948, is widely regarded for the angelic purity of her voice. She is anything but a twitterer, though – it is the warmth of the voice that makes it truly heavenly. After completing an undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Math, she went to the Juilliard School of Music, where she studied with Jennie Tourel. Her European debut came in 1974 at Glyndebourne. In 1978, Herbert von Karajan asked her to be the Voice from Heaven in his production of Don Carlo (also recorded by EMI Classics), and, for good or ill, that appellation has stuck with her ever since.
Although it is perforce quite light on the operatic excerpts, this is a sensible compilation from EMI Classics. It is here that the absence of sung texts and translations is mostly keenly felt, however. (None of the "Very Best of" releases include anything but an essay in English, German, and French about the singer.) All of the Hendricks recordings are from digital originals, and are in very fine sound.
Copyright © 2005, Raymond Tuttle | <urn:uuid:131c1166-b97f-435a-ac28-bb6f3495a72d> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/e/emi86335a.php | 2015-03-26T19:10:23Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131292567.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172132-00000-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973417 | 2,051 |
When it comes to having a Linux server hosted in a data center or it is not behind any kind of Firewall or NAT device there are a number of security requirements that need to be addressed. Linux servers generally come with no protection configured by default and depending on the hosting company or distro can come preconfigured with many services installed that are not required, including Web Servers, FTP Servers, Mail Servers and SSH Remote Access.
The following is a compilation of various settings and techniques you can employ to harden the security of your vulnerable Linux systems. While I have tried to put them in order of the most important features first I would recommend all of these options be used on your critical production servers.
Always create long passwords that contain upper and lower case letters, numbers and non alpha-numeric characters. Enforce password ageing so users need to change their passwords regularly. Lock user accounts after a certain number of failed login attempts.
Make use of Public/Private SSH keys for login of remote users instead of passwords, this provides the benefit of turning off password authentication in SSH so that your server can’t be Brute-Force cracked. However this does introduce a new problem whereby a malicious person could compromise a user’s computer or steal their laptop and then have access to the server. This can be overcome by using a password on the client certificate which must be entered before connecting, a kind of two factor authentication.
Disable the Root user from being able to login either via the console or remote SSH connections. Instead have users use Sudo to run programs that require root privileges, or use sudo su to change to the Root user once logged in. This provides an audit path to show which user installed a piece of software or ran a program.
Always use the encrypted equivalent protocol when transferring critical and sensitive data such as passwords and confidential material. Remove RSH and always use SSH for remote access. Instead of using FTP for file transfer, consider using SFTP or FTP/S (FTP over SSL) or RSYNC. Instead of having remote access open to the internet i.e. SSH or VNC setup an OpenVPN SSL VPN Server to connect to first.
Consider implementing either a LDAP or Kerebos server to perform password authentication. This allows for a central database to maintain user’s passwords between multiple servers for easy management. This prevents user account and password data from becoming inconsistent and out of date, and prevents user accounts that should have been deleted on all servers being left behind on one server.
Implementing a secure IPTABLES firewall will limit your exposure to network threats such as DOS and Port Scanning attacks. You can lock down any ports that don’t require access from external networks. For instance you can use the following command to only allow SSH access to the server from the local network.
# iptables –A INPUT –s 192.168.0.0/24 –p tcp –dport 22 –j ACCEPT
You can install a TCP Wrapper named libwrap which will give information like who connected, when and from where and even which services they connected to. It can also be used for locking down access to ports and services for certain hosts or IP’s.
Consider installing both a Network IDS (NIDS) and a Host Based IDS (HIDS). NIDS’s are used to protect against malicious threats such as DOS and Port Scan Attacks. HIDS’s such as AIDE are used to monitor file system changes such as an intruder replacing core system files like ls or ps with malicious ones that hide their Trojan from file or process lists. It will produce a report that tells you what files have been modified so you can repair or replace them.
Disable Shell access to users that don’t need it (ftp, mail users etc) by changing to /bin/noshell in the /etc/passwd file. Setup a group for standard users and remove permissions to tools that can be used to download malicious software like wget, lynx, ftp etc. Consider chrooting users to their home directories to stop them from modifying critical system files.
Only install software that is actually needed, some systems come preconfigured with many software packages that you may never need or use. When installing always choose the Minimal Installation or Manual Installation option if they exist. Then simply install the software that you actually need.
Always try to keep your software packages up to date, such as ensuring the latest version of Apache, MySQL and PHP on a standard LAMP setup will protect you against any vulnerabilities that have been discovered in previous versions.
Your servers will most likely have many background services (Daemons) running which are not required and some may be configured to run on start-up. The following command (Red Hat, Cent OS only) can be used to show all services that will start on boot.
# chkconfig --list | grep : on
Or just use the following command to view services which are turned on only for Run Level 3.
# chkconfig --list | grep 3:on
You would then use a command like this to remove the service from start-up.
# chkconfig --del ‘service-name’
Consider completely removing X Windows from the system and just using the command line for management. There isn’t anything that you can do in the GUI that you can’t do using the command line and removing it will not only enhance security but also performance because no system resources are wasted displaying the GUI.
You can secure your Linux Kernel by modifying the /etc/sysctl.conf file, this file is read by the Kernel at boot time and can be edited with the following settings to add extra security.
# Turn on execshield
kernel.exec-shield = 1
kernel.randomize_va_space = 1
# Don't reply to broadcasts. Prevents joining a smurf attack
net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts = 1
# Enable protection for bad icmp error messages
net.ipv4.icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses = 1
# Enable syncookies for SYN flood attack protection
net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = 1
# Enable IP spoofing protection
net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter = 1
net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter = 1
# Log spoofed, source routed, and redirect packets
net.ipv4.conf.all.log_martians = 1
net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians = 1
# Don't allow source routed packets
net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.accept_source_route = 0
# Don't allow outsiders to alter the routing tables
net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.accept_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.all.secure_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.secure_redirects = 0
# Don't pass traffic between networks or act as a router
net.ipv4.ip_forward = 0
net.ipv4.conf.all.send_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.send_redirects = 0
You should have a written security policy for handling Linux Kernel Patches, which should include which Linux security notices have been received, which updates have been tested to ensure problems don’t arise and which patches have been installed on the system. Always ensure Production servers are updated regularly to avoid any potential known vulnerability from being exploited on your system.
You should create separate partitions for user modifiable directories and block write and execute access to unneeded partitions. You should consider placing the following file systems on different partitions.
/var and /var/tmp
Then you can edit the /etc/fstab file to prevent execution of binary files, disable block devices on the partition and prevent the SUID/SGID from being set on files. Here is a common fstab file entry to limit user access to the ftpdata directory.
/dev/sda5 /ftpdata ext3 defaults,noexec,nodev,nosuid 1 2
Make use of software like SELinux, AppArmor or GRSecurity to provide additional hardening to your Linux Kernel. These products provide additional policies to restrict processes and services based on Access Control Lists.
Consider setting up different physical or virtual servers for different roles, i.e. separate your Mail server and your Webserver, or your Database server and your Application server. This ensures that if one particular service is compromised it is contained to just one server.
You can secure your server as much as possible from remote attacks, but if you don’t do anything to protect the physical hardware it is pointless. If someone has access to your physical server they can remove your hard drive and read your confidential data or boot from a CD and access your data. Consider creating a BIOS password and disabling booting from CD or USB. Also you should password protect your boot loader (GRUB, LILO, etc) to prevent users from accessing Single User Mode or Recovery Environments where passwords are not required.
Having an accurate system clock is important for reviewing log files and determining when an event occurred. Often system clocks can become out of sync or be reset to an older date and this can cause havoc with tracking of errors. Consider creating a Cron job rather than running ntpd (See Tip #12) to update the time daily or hourly with a common source for all servers.
Setup logging and auditing software to track errors and changes to your servers, such as Auditd and Logwatch/Logcheck. Consider configuring a remote logging server that is updated regularly to protect against an intruder compromising your log files without your knowledge.
IPv6 is very rarely needed at this stage as most traffic only utilizes IPv4 and having IPV6 enabled is just another network you need to monitor and protect. Disabling IPv6 is the easiest option but if for some reason you do require it then you should configure an IPv6 Firewall.
After you have setup and configured your system and software you should run the following commands to search for all file and folders with either the SUID, SGID bit set or world writeable folders.
To find all SUID files:
# find / -xdev -type f -perm +u=s –print
To find all SGID files:
# find / -xdev -type f -perm +g=s -print
To find all World Writeable Dirs:
# find / -xdev -perm +o=w ! \( -type d -perm +o=t \) ! -type l -print
You should then inspect each file and folder to determine if they have the correct settings and if not use the chmod command to make changes to them.
Your data is usually stored on a hard drive in an unencrypted format so any user that has access to the server can remove the hard drive and install it in another system and read all your data. You should consider configuring Linux disk or folder encryption on either your home directories or your sensitive folders (i.e. Database Files, Emails, etc). While you could encrypt your entire drive this is a lot of work and may not be worth the hassle.
It is great to have a highly secure Linux server but your system is only secure as the software you run on it. You should always install the latest versions of software and ensure they stay up to date. Also most programs have ways to make them more secure by editing their configuration files and disabling unnecessary parts of the software. The following is an example for hardening your OpenSSH Server settings, simply add the following to your OpenSSH config file.
# Use only SSH Protocol Ver 2
# Only allow the following users SSH Access
AllowUsers User1 User2 etc
# Deny access to the following users
DenyUsers admin etc
# Set the timeout period for idle sessions (in seconds)
# Disable .rhosts files
# Disable Host-Based Authentication
# Remove ability to login as Root
# Change the default SSH Port (Not essential but can help uncomment if you want)
# Consider CHRooting users to their own directories.
# Subsystem sftp internal-sftp
#Match group sftponly
# ChrootDirectory /home/%u
# X11Forwarding no
# AllowTcpForwarding no
# ForceCommand internal-sftp
# Disable empty passwords from login
# Set your required Log Level (Either INFO or DEBUG)
# Turn on privilege separation
# Prevent the use of insecure home directory and key file permissions
# Turn on reverse name checking
# Do you need port forwarding?
# Specifies whether password authentication is allowed. The default is yes.
Monitis is an all-in-one hosted monitoring platform for small and medium-sized businesses. 70,000+ IT pros use Monitis products to monitor health and performance of over 300,000 sites. | <urn:uuid:6d3563b5-6b96-4ab8-a49a-f8c4b53b1bd4> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://blog.monitis.com/2011/06/22/25-linux-server-hardening-tips/ | 2015-03-28T18:43:53Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297689.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00116-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.874476 | 2,792 |
Here is a new book which seems to have a large portion devoted to the Church of the East. I am dying to get hold of it, but will wait until I can pick it up secondhand.
The Lost History of Christianity
The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died
by Philip Jenkins
In the summer of 2002, I traveled in southeastern Turkey to meet with members of the two-millennia-old Syriac church, of whom only a few thousand are left in their homelands. Their language, Syriac-Aramaic, is as close as any living language to the one that Jesus spoke, yet they are forbidden by the Turkish government to teach it to their schoolchildren. We came to deserted villages such as Kafro, whose inhabitants had been driven out by the attacks of Turkish Hezbollah, and which were now sealed off by the military. We visited the monastery of Tur Abdin, a major center of Eastern Christianity, now dwindling under suffocating government restrictions. We met the only two monks remaining in the monastery of the village of Sare.
In Nisibis (now Nusaybin in southeast Turkey), where a famous Christian community dates back to the second century, and which nurtured Ephrem, the greatest of the Syrian theologians, there is a church dating from 439. It was locked and abandoned after World War I when the inhabitants, fleeing massacre, escaped into Syria. For 60 years there had been no Christians there, but now the diocese had sent a Christian family from a local village, who live in a small apartment in the church and try to keep it from falling apart.
We went into the crypt to see the tomb of Jacob of Nisibis, from whom the term "Jacobite" church is named, and while we studied his sarcophagus, our driver, unprompted, began to sing an ancient hymn. His strong voice filled the tomb. We asked him what the words meant, and he told us that the lyrics came from Ephrem himself:
Listen, my chicks have flown,
left their nest, alarmed
By the eagle. Look,
where they hide in dread!
Bring them back in peace!
Philip Jenkins's marvelous new book, The Lost History of Christianity, tells the largely forgotten story of Nisibis, and thousands of sites like it, which stretch from Morocco to Kenya to India to China, and which were, deep into the second millennium, the heart of the church. While Christians will be particularly concerned with this story, it will be of interest to, and significant for, far more than they.
After an already distinguished career as a historian, Jenkins has, during the last six years, produced a series of books designed to inform modern readers of the religious shape of the world we inhabit, a shape radically different from that of the popular, or even not-so-popular, mind. While much of what he has written will be of little surprise to specialists, he has a gift for clearly and cogently synthesizing and summarizing copious research. The Next Christendom (2002) described how Christianity's demographic center of gravity, in the 20th century, moved to the Third World. The New Faces of Christianity (2006) argued that, since their culture is closer to the Bible, Africans and Asians understand the book very differently from Europeans and North Americans, and find in it a great liberatory force. God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis (2007) found in Europe much more than fading Christianity and growing Islam.
The story usually told of Christianity is that, while it certainly also spread elsewhere, its major influence and home was in Europe. The church developed early, Europe became in some sense Christianized, and subsequently it set the pattern for the faith. With the discovery of America and the European voyages of exploration, as well as colonialism, Christianity then spread to the rest of the world largely as a Western export.
Jenkins demonstrates that this story is flat wrong--or as he more charitably puts it, "much of what we know is inaccurate."
For most of its history, Christianity was a tricontinental religion, with powerful representation in Europe, Africa and Asia, and this was true into the 14th century. Christianity became predominantly European not because this continent had any obvious affinity for that faith, but by default: Europe was the continent where it was not destroyed.
As late as the 11th century Asia was home to about a third of the world's Christians, Africa another 10 percent, and the faith in these continents had deeper roots in the culture than it did in Europe, where in many places it was newly arrived or still arriving.
About the time of Charlemagne's investiture in 800, the patriarch, or catholicos, of the Church of the East, often called Nestorian, was Timothy, based in Seleucia, in Mesopotamia. In prestige and authority, Timothy was "arguably the most significant Christian spiritual leader of his day," much more influential than the Western pope and on par with the Orthodox patriarch in Constantinople. Perhaps a quarter of the world's Christians looked to him as their spiritual and political head. His duties included appointing bishops in Yemen, Arabia, Iran, Turkestan, Afghanistan, Tibet, India, Sri Lanka, and China. A Christian cemetery in Kyrgyzstan contains inscriptions in Syrian and Turkish commemorating "Terim the Chinese, Sazik the Indian, Banus the Uygur, Kiamata of Kashgar, and Tatt the Mongol." The Church of the East may even have reached to Burma, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, and Korea.
The Asian church was also more intellectually accomplished: Its operating languages were Syriac, Persian, Turkish, Soghdian, and Chinese. Timothy himself translated Aristotle's Topics from Syriac into Arabic. Much of the "Arab" scholarship of the time, such as translations of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and others into Arabic, or the adoption of the Indian numbering system, was in fact done by Syriac, Persian, and Coptic (Egyptian and Nubian) Christians, often in the high employ of the Caliph.
It was also a church immersed in cultures very different from the Roman and Hellenic environments of the West. Timothy engaged in a famous dialogue with the caliph al-Mahdi, which still survives. The church's milieu was not only Jewish and Muslim but also, perhaps more so, Buddhist, Manichaean, Zoroastrian, and Confucian. This made for relations that defy many of our usual assumptions about history. Jenkins recounts how "in 782, the Indian Buddhist missionary Prajna arrived in the Chinese imperial capital of Chang'an, but was unable to translate the Sanskrit sutras he had brought" into Chinese or other useful local languages.
Hence, Prajna did the obvious thing and consulted with Bishop Adam, head of the Chinese church, who was deeply interested in understanding Buddhism. As a result, "Buddhist and Nestorian scholars worked amiably together for some years to translate seven copious volumes of Buddhist wisdom." These same volumes were taken back home by Japanese monks who had been in Chang'an, and became the founding volumes of Shingon and Tendai, the two great schools of Japanese Buddhism.
The Chinese also influenced the West. Around 1275, two Chinese monks began a pilgrimage to the Holy land. One, Markos, was probably a Uygur and the other, Bar Sauma, may have been an Onggud. In 1281, Markos was elected patriarch. He protested that he was not up to it, not least because his knowledge of Syriac was rudimentary. But the church fathers argued that the "kings who held the steering poles of the government of the whole world were the [Mongols], and there was no man except [him] who was acquainted with their manners and customs." Markos established his seat near Tabriz, then the capital of the Mongol Ilkhan dynasty.
Bar Sauma had an equally interesting life. In 1287 the Ilkhan overlord sent him on a diplomatic mission to Europe to enlist aid for a proposed joint assault on Mamluk Egypt: Kublai Khan in Beijing would also be a supporter. The Europeans were amazed to discover both that the church stretched to the shores of the Pacific and that the emissary from the fearsome Mongols was a Christian bishop, one from whom the king of England subsequently took communion.
Jenkins places the ending of this world, "the decisive collapse of Christianity in the Middle East, across Asia, and in much of Africa," not with the initial rise of Islam but in the 14th century. One trigger was the Mongol invasions, which threatened Arab Islam as never before. (The Crusades were a minor sideshow.) The Mongols sought alliances with Christians, and there were Christians among them, hence local believers were treated as a potential fifth column and often massacred.
Later, the Mongols themselves embraced Islam and turned on the Christians. Timur's subsequent invasions, among the most brutal in history, furthered the process, as did Seljuk and Ottoman advances and, further east, rising anti-Mongol Chinese nationalism. Between 1200 and 1500 the proportion of Christians outside Europe fell from over a third to about 6 percent. By 1500 the European church had become dominant "by dint of being, so to speak, the last men standing" of the Christian world.
The eastern communities were savaged again in a second great wave of persecution beginning in the 19th century, with the slaughter of the Armenians, and also the Syriacs, Nestorians, and Maronites. When the British took over Mesopotamia after the First World War, they judged the Assyrians' situation so desperate that they considered moving them to Canada. In 1930 there were proposals to transfer them to South America. Following massacres by Arabs in 1933, the British flew the patriarch to Cyprus for safety while the League of Nations debated moving them to Brazil or Niger. We may currently be in another such wave as Christians flee the Palestinian areas, Lebanon, Turkey, and Egypt. In 2003 in Iraq, Christians were some 4 percent of the population, but they have since comprised 40 percent of the refugees.
As Jenkins says, "We have forgotten a world." The "new" globalized Christianity "is better seen as a resumption of an ancient reality." He explores the pervasive influence of Christianity on Islam, and it is always good to see the woolly writings of Karen Armstrong and Elaine Pagels taken apart, albeit gently.
This book has few weaknesses. It would have been good to explore the major cultural effects of the different role of language in Christian and Islamic missions: the former seeking to bring the Word into the locals' languages, the latter seeking to bring the locals the Word in Arabic.
In the late 10th century a Nestorian monk from Arabia visiting China reported his horror at discovering that Christianity had, after centuries, by then become "extinct." But Christianity is now in its fourth phase of expansion in China: More people there go to church than do in Europe. Perhaps Ephrem's hymn and prayer will be answered: "Bring them back in peace."
Paul Marshall is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom and the editor of Blind Spot: When Journalists Don't Get Religion. | <urn:uuid:5d07cf0b-cd07-4c1d-812e-9e81f3410695> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=20533.0 | 2015-03-28T19:05:05Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297689.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00116-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976216 | 2,374 |
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Press Release: Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation announces 2013 ‘A’ Award Recipients, provides grants to young scientists to jump-start careers in pediatric oncology research
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Philadelphia, PA (January 6, 2014) – Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), a nonprofit dedicated to finding cures for all kids with cancer, has just announced the awarding of five ‘A’ Awards to promising young researchers across the country, totaling $1.875 million in new grants. The grants, which will extend to researchers at Georgia Health Sciences University Institute (Augusta, GA), Huntsman Cancer Institute (Salt Lake City, UT), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY), University of Maryland (College Park, MD) & Washington University (St. Louis, MO), are designed for young scientists who want to establish their career in pediatric oncology. Recipients will each receive $375,000 over the course of three years.
The ‘A’ Award joined a prestigious line of medical and nursing grants from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation in 2009 to encourage the best and brightest young researchers to build lifelong careers in the field. Operating under the belief that engaging researchers early in their career leads to long term commitments to find a cure, ALSF works to find and support exceptional early-career researchers.
The 2013 ‘A’ Award recipients are: Theodore Johnson, MD/PhD of Georgia Health Sciences University Research Institute for his research into brain tumors; Kevin Jones, MD of the Huntsman Cancer Institute for alveolar soft part sarcoma research; Alex Kentsis, MD/PhD of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for leukemia/acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) research; Christopher Jewell, PhD of the University of Maryland – College Park for his examination of neuroblastoma; and Jeffrey Bednarski, MD/PhD of Washington University for his study of leukemia/lymphoma. Full lay summaries of the young scientists’ research are included on the following page.
Along with the funds provided to ‘A’ Award recipients ($125,000 per year for 3 years), the award will also include the opportunity to speak and attend Foundation events, reference books to enhance the researcher’s personal pediatric oncology library, equipment to aid in their research (up to $10,000 value) and funding to attend one educational course or event.
“Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has always had a mission of supporting the very best research available, contributing to our ultimate goal of finding a cure for all kids with cancer,” said Jay Scott, Co-Executive Director of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. “The ‘A’ Awards play an integral role in doing just that, bringing the fresh perspectives of young scientists to the forefront of the field, and keeping them there.”
For more information on the ‘A’ Award, or Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s various grant categories and successes, visit: www.ALSFgrants.org.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation 2013 ‘A’ Award Grant Recipients
Theodore Johnson, MD/PhD, Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, GA
IDO-based Immunotherapy for Pediatric Brain Tumors
This proposal will address a fundamental gap in understanding the specialized immune biology of the brain tumor micro environment. The applicant is a pediatric oncologist with PhD training in basic molecular immunology who studies the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) pathway of immune tolerance. IDO is often co-opted by tumors to escape immune attack. Immunologic therapy of cancer is now a cutting-edge new form of cancer treatment for adults, but has not yet brought benefit to children with cancer. The long-term goal is for the applicant to establish a pediatric immunotherapy program to translate pediatric-focused laboratory research into Phase I and Phase II immunotherapy trials in children. The objective of the current proposal is to elucidate the mechanisms by which blocking IDO synergizes with standard chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The proposed research plan builds on the applicant's preliminary data that intense inflammation plays a key role in tumor destruction when IDO-blockade is combined with chemo-radiation therapy in a mouse brain tumor model. The central hypothesis is that IDO is a previously unrecognized vascular quiescence factor in tumor biology and that blocking IDO during chemo-radiation therapy leads to rapid immune-mediated vasculitis and tumor destruction; this widespread innate inflammation then serves as a potent stimulant to drive specific and lasting anti-tumor immunity. The rationale for this research is that understanding the mechanisms by which IDO shields tumors from the underlying immune-activating effects of our standard chemo/radiation therapies will allow us to develop new strategies to combine these standard treatments with immunologic therapy.
Kevin Jones, MD, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT
Targeting Metabolism in Alveolar Soft Part Sarcomagenesis
Every cell generates and consumes energy to perform its functions. This is termed metabolism. One intermediate step in sugar metabolism is a molecule called lactate. Traditionally, lactate was considered only a by-product of metabolism in tissues with low oxygen levels. This view was overturned when scientists learned that some cells with normal oxygen levels intentionally produce lactate and others consume it as a preferred fuel. Cancer cell metabolism is a growing field of study. The traditional view of cancer cell metabolism emphasized the inefficient consumption of sugar and the production of excess lactate. This view is now challenged by data showing that some cancer cells instead use lactate as a fuel. Further, we now know that lactate also functions as a signal, driving vessel in growth into tumors. What is needed is a model system in which we can test lactate metabolism in a living tumor. Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a deadly cancer that typically arises in the limbs of adolescents or young adults. It is deadly because it spreads to distant sites of the body and is then resistant to all available treatments. The young victims of this disease need better treatment options. Alveolar soft part sarcoma demonstrates signs of dependence on lactate metabolism. With a new model of this disease, we hope to investigate its metabolism as a means of finding novel treatment approaches. If our hypothesis is correct, an entire new avenue of treatment options opens not only for this particular tumor, but for cancer more generally.
Alex Kentsis, MD/PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
Rational Combination Therapy of AML
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood that affects about 500 children every year in the United States. Current treatment of AML with chemotherapy is toxic, and new therapies are direly needed for children whose disease is resistant to intensive chemotherapy. Our research into molecular signaling pathways that drive leukemia cell survival has revealed a new set of therapeutic targets. The support of Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation will enable us to determine the precise molecular mechanisms responsible for signaling that sustains AML cell growth. We will then use this knowledge to rationally devise combination treatments to block AML signaling and effect cure.
Christopher Jewell, PhD, University of Maryland – College Park, College Park, MD
Engineering the Lymph Node Environment with Therapeutic Vaccine Depots to Combat Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma is one of the most common cancers in young children, and current treatments for moderate and high risks patients are often ineffective. When tumors are cleared, drug therapy often leaves patients with lasting side effects or relapse occurs. However, therapeutic vaccines have recently demonstrated potential for combating neuroblastoma or other cancers. To effectively combat tumors, therapeutic vaccines must generate potent tumor-specific immune responses that are functional in the immunosuppressive tumor environment, and that are able to resist tumor regrowth during relapse. An increasingly important challenge for the vaccine field is design of vaccines that generate immune responses with characteristics optimized to combat target diseases such as neuroblastoma. In contrast to broadly-acting drugs or chemotherapy, these designer vaccines could offer highly-specific, immune-based treatments. Establishing strong immunological memory cells specific for tumors has recently been described as a potential route to improve cancer vaccines. These cells exhibit high anti-tumor activity and can combat relapse that occurs after initial tumors are cleared. Unfortunately generating these cells is challenging. In this proposal we will combine direct lymph node delivery with engineered biomaterial vaccines loaded with signals to induce these immune memory cells. Lymph nodes are the tissues that coordinate immune response and controlled delivery of cancer vaccine components in lymph nodes could contribute to new cancer vaccines that efficiently generate large populations of tumor-specific memory cells that control and cure pediatric cancers such as neuroblastoma.
Jeffrey Bednarski, MD/PhD, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
DNA Damage Responses Coordinate Survival and Cell Death Switching In Lymphocytes
During their development, immune cells must intentionally generate and repair breaks in their DNA in order to assemble the genes necessary for a diverse immune response. Multiple signals in early immune cells cooperate to ensure that these DNA breaks are properly repaired. Errors in these processes can derail normal development and trigger transformation into leukemia. Our research studies how immune cells respond to the DNA breaks in order to support correct repair and minimize the chances of deleterious events that could generate malignancies. Recent work has demonstrated that the DNA breaks themselves activate distinct pathways to first support cell survival and then subsequently trigger cell death mechanisms. This temporal sequence of survival and cell death allows time for DNA break repair but triggers elimination of cells with persistent DNA damage, which are at risk for errors that could initiate leukemia formation. How cells coordinate this balanced signaling is unknown. Interestingly, though, these signals are unique to physiologic DNA breaks, those encountered in normal development, as DNA damage from radiation or chemotherapy agents activate alternative pathways that trigger cell death rather than survival. The goal of this project is to understand how survival and cell death signaling is controlled in response to DNA breaks. Ultimately, these studies will identify new mechanisms in immune cells that ensure normal maturation and inhibit cancerous transformation. Understanding these processes will provide insights into the development and treatment of leukemia and lymphoma.
About Childhood Cancer
Childhood cancer is a general term used to describe cancer in children occurring regularly, randomly and sparing no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region. Childhood cancer extends to over a dozen types of cancers and a countless amount of subtypes. Just a few of these cancer types include: Ewing’s sarcoma, glioma, leukemia, lymphoma, medulloblastoma, neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma, retinoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and Wilm’s tumor. In the United States, childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15. Every day, approximately 250 kids around the world die from cancer, accounting for 91,250 losing their lives to the disease every year.
About Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). In 2000, 4-year-old Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Since Alex held that first stand, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of supporters across the country carrying on her legacy of hope. To date, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 charity, has raised more than $65 million toward fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure, funding over 375 pediatric cancer research projects nationally. For more information on Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, visit AlexsLemonade.org. | <urn:uuid:2e9549cf-5de4-4f05-a7b9-32a79ee59da4> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.alexslemonade.org/newsroom/news/press-release-alex%E2%80%99s-lemonade-stand-foundation-announces-2013-%E2%80%98a%E2%80%99-award-recipients | 2015-03-30T10:36:18Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299261.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00232-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925507 | 2,509 |
The lady downstairs hears moaning. Why she’s not embarrassed to tell anyone this is anyone’s guess. She hears thumps. She hears clacking like scattering jacks on a parquet floor. Or rapping on the door with one knuckle. She writes letters to the apartment’s management company. They came and inspected the floors. Two men, while we were drinking coffee, looked at our furniture, at the little tab of carpet someone tucked beneath the short leg of one of the chairs to mute it. No telling what seismic event registers below, from a shifting of weight before a pork roast or plate of spaghetti above. They look around and make sure there are no how-to videos on clogging, no evidence of any dark rites of flamenco.
The only thing she’s listening to is me reading. The only clattering around here comes from the keyboard.
This makes me wonder what she’s doing down there. What realm of monastic silence is she sequestered in? She must not crack a window to let in the incessant blasts of the trolley horns. The throb of the rooftop dance party at the Hard Rock Hotel across the street doesn't penetrate her walls, I guess. This woman must not watch any program more torrid than San Diego City Beat. Her pulse must be thready.
I’ve thought on many occasions of inviting her up. Our landlady told us the previous tenant moved on account of this woman. And he was a manager at a fancy restaurant, accustomed to needy clientele. Of course I think our downstairs neighbor’s old, though I don’t know why I should. Like you, I bet she wears her eyeglass on a leash. She would say she was staunchly against rock music and gender-bending haircuts if a man-on-the-street-type reporter happened by. Then I want to think she’s one of those women whose hair color is unidentifiable, between blond and gray, who favors cardigans, and who answers the preachers on the television as if directly addressed. The kind of woman you imagine drowning children in the bathtub with a tight-lipped smile-- Tidy. Then, I imagine someone whose apartment is about to be seized, or a mother fresh from hosting her first child for only a few weeks, (SIDS, her OB tells her, as if the acronym imparted something more specific than “died.”) And this phantom noise, from somewhere, is a fresh invasion--impatient fingers worming into dry holes in the body, a livid pink fissure admitting germs into a scab.
If only that sound would stop. What on earth could they be doing up there? Do they have to do it now? Have they no thought for anyone but themselves? If I saw them, I’d strike them in the head, maybe. I'll kill them. That’s what this person’s telling themselves. Barely hanging on, comes to mind, and I'm inclined to think more charitably.
I want to invite a crack team with seismographs, and shotgun microphones, and devices a jillion times more sensitive than the ear drum’s tympani. The kind of scientists who hunt ghosts on television, with doctoral degrees which remind me of conferring the rank of police chief on my friend with the plastic gladiator sword in the woods behind my house growing up, or of Huck Finn’s dauphin. The kind you want desperately to be studying something rather than just listening to the dark. They’d be green in the night-vision camera, their pupils white as mothballs, their mouths agape. They’d hear the ten-finger typing I’m unreasonably proud of, my honest-to-god laughs at Michael Chabon’s indulgent jokes. That’s it. The refrigerator may hum again when all along I’d forgotten it was silent. There are times when I run the dishwasher.
Then we’d have something to show the woman: scientific proof; quantifiable data even. Then we could get somewhere. Because how can I argue with what this woman hears? How can I prove all the noise I’m not making?
Our landlady’s going to stand trial for our sound crimes, for disturbing the peace in our home. I think there will be testimony. We don’t know whether to offer ourselves as witnesses for the defense. I’ve already thought of what I would say, and it sounds lame, guilty. Worse, it’s more shameful than kicking up a racket:
“I’m a writer.”
“I barely watch television.”
“As to the moaning,” I’d say. “That’s none of your damned business.”
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Observations from a Chuck Palahniuk reading, from the Rant tour 2007:
I feel lousy for Chuck Palahniuk. Everything else aside, he just wants us to have a nice time. Fun. For this to be the opposite of every other boring reading where the author is nervous, where his voice carries the inflection of a thousand readings, like some high school kid in a play who has practiced his lines in front of the bathroom mirror for weeks. Chuck hands out plastic hamburger dog toys. At the end, he scatters rubber dismembered limbs into the slavering crowd, who is hungry, really-and-no-fooling hungry, for actual flesh.
I feel sorry for him because he’s straining at his soft-shoe to keep us entertained. These people that love him? Well, they also sort of hate him. These strangers, they know Chuck and they want to be his friend. And so do I. But I try and remember the difference. And these strangers, they’re half-right. We do know Chuck a little. In all the tales of the real molestation of fake rubber child dolls, homicidal chefs and sexual misadventure by pool filter, some of Chuck comes through. And he’s nice. He’s sad and he’s funny and he loves people in all their varied and grandiose humiliation. So it’s hard not to think each of us can make a connection with him in a two-minute meeting at a book-signing. But we can’t. He can’t know all of us. That’s assuming that Mr. Palahniuk would even care to know any of us. He doesn’t have the same relationship with us we have with him. This viewing glass is one-way. But he tries to like us all in our clamoring ungratefulness. He has trivia contests and takes questions. For a while, the social contract holds. People who shout out answers are rewarded properly and the losers cede to the winners. But then the crowd gets impatient, greedy:
Why won’t he call on me? I want to ask the most incisive question, so he knows I get him and what he’s doing.
Why won’t he love us more effectively?
Sometimes, Chuck, we swear we don’t know where this relationship is going.
The truth is, Chuck probably wishes he were anywhere else. The truth is, Chuck is finding it harder and harder to keep smiling. The truth is, we are more than a little bit the kind of people Chuck writes about, only we think we aren’t. Sure, it's all right for us to be the brave outcasts, the dissident about which he writes, but never the stupid, the mean, those dumb bastards given to the thoughtless, obsessive repetition of behavior.
Not us, Chuck. We get it.
So, as you probably guess, the crowd begins to devour Chuck. We get away from him. The thing he started, well, it kinda turns on him. And people are shouting and hooting while he talks and reads. This guy that we love so much and who we made a bunch of mundane sacrifices to see and hear, like driving up from Rhode Island, like finding someone to substitute-barista for us, like standing in line for two and a half hours with nothing to do but lean against a brick wall, this is the guy we shout down. This is the guy we can’t wait to top with our quips. This soft-spoken man who writes about violence, this paragon of maleness who is perhaps homosexual, this man who writes about the worst in us so we can see the best, all of a sudden, we are wiser than he. After a while, now that we’re comfortable, this man we adore, he’s not so grand.
What, does he think he’s better than us?
The Nielsen rating system sent me a survey in the mail once. As incentive, they included a crisp, waxy green dollar bill that had never seen a fold. I took the dollar out and ran my index and middle finger down the slit in the envelope. “Oh,” I said. “Only one dollar?” My sister’s boyfriend snorted and doubled over to keep down the beer he had been swallowing. “That,” he said when he regained his composure, “That right there is human nature.” | <urn:uuid:132f5097-adee-4bbd-9ab2-862ecd0d2a69> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.killcrazyrampage.blogspot.com/ | 2015-03-30T10:35:14Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299261.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00232-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95669 | 1,998 |
Entertainers: Book a gig at fair, get free tickets
I started thinking about my younger years this past week ... I sound so old when I say that, don’t I?
Every year, I looked forward to going to the Franklin County Fair. I’d meet my friends there, and we’d spend the night stuffing ourselves with fried dough and riding all of the more exciting rides.
I was going to take grandson Justin last year, but he was still a little too young to really enjoy it, so I will take him this year and we’ll do it up right.
By this time, I imagine you are wondering why I’m talking about the fair, especially since it’s still almost six months away.
Well, Steven DeJoy, chairman of the Franklin County Fair Attractions Committee, said the committee is looking for musicians, bands, singers, dance groups, magicians, jugglers, and other types of performance artists who would like to perform at this year’s fair in exchange for admission tickets. I wanted to give you plenty of time to contact Steve.
He said he would love to be able to pay performers, but there “just isn’t enough money to go around.”
But think about the exposure you will get by performing in front of the thousands who attend our local fair each year. Not to mention the wonderful feeling it will give you to perform for your neighbors and those who have traveled from outside Franklin County to see quality acts.
“I love to see the smiles on children’s and adults’ faces while they watch performers,” Steve says.
He told me he has about 25 slots that need to be filled over three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). He said performances typically start around 11 a.m. and finish as late as 10 p.m. Each act lasts between a half-hour and an hour, depending on each of their needs.
Steve also wanted me to remind you that his committee, as well as the Agricultural Society, is always looking for volunteers to help before, during and after the fair.
If you are interested, please call him at 413-225-3030 or email him at: [email protected].
By the way, you are probably looking out your window at snow, and maybe sleet, right now. Not to worry! Temperatures are supposed to warm up soon, and this stuff, which we think is so beautiful at the beginning of the winter, will be gone in no time.
Have a great week, and happy spring on Wednesday.
THE GREENFIELD GARDEN CLUB is hosting Tom Sullivan on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Masonic building at 339 Main St. Tom will cover the key elements of native bee habitat design and attendees will learn the basic tools for increasing pollinator resources in their gardens and neighborhoods. The event is free and open to the public.
The LGBTIQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning and allies) will welcome spring at Great Falls Discovery Center on Thursday with its breakfast social for elders and allies from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The breakfast will be catered by 2nd Street Baking Co. There will be gluten-free items included. RSVPs would be welcome, but are not required. Sponsors are Baystate Franklin Medical Center and Elite Home Health Agency Inc.
For more information or to respond, contact Anna Viadero at 413-522-2231 or: [email protected]. Also visit: www.greatfallsma.org.
THE SHELBURNE GRANGE, along with the Farm Bureau, Northeast Big Bucks Club, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and Virtual Archery, will present an “Outdoor Night” on Friday at 7 p.m. in Fellowship Hall, Little Mohawk Road in Shelburne Center.
“The Cougar Returns to the East,” a presentation by natural history and tracking expert Susan Morse, is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Susan is the founder of Keeping Track, a nonprofit devoted to providing technical training to professional biologists, citizen scientist volunteers, land trust officials, and conservation planners.
COMEDIAN, AUTHOR AND SONGWRITER DON WHITE will perform his own brand of thoughtful humor and song on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Temple Israel, 27 Pierce St. in Greenfield to benefit temple programs. A working-class family man from Lynn, Don has performed at the temple each year for the past 13 years. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased in advance at World Eye Bookshop. They may also be purchased at the door the night of the concert. Doors, on Myrtle Street, will open at 7:30 p.m. Refreshments will be sold. For more information, call Marsha at 413-773-0201 or 617-538-7478.
DICKINSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY IN NORTHFIELD is displaying the watercolors of Deborah Putnam now through the end of April.
Deborah told me that her one-woman art show, “A Sampling,” features local landscapes and flowers. She said the space where her paintings hang was donated by Doug and Marty Jones.
The library, which is at 115 Main St. in Northfield, is open Tuesday 1 to 8 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 1 to 6 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
TRINITY CHURCH IN SHELBURNE FALLS will hold its annual Easter Bake Sale on March 30 from 9 a.m. to noon in front of Keystone Market on Bridge Street. The Women of Trinity Church are sponsoring the sale. Proceeds will benefit Trinity Church and its community outreach projects.
“Let us help you do your Easter baking,” say organizers.
OUR NEIGHBORS LAURIE AND CHERYL GRIFFIN have joined others in a quest to raise money for children with cancer.
Laurie and Cheryl will be raising money for the “Kids’ Cancer Buzz-Off” this year. The money they, and everyone else, raises will go to kids’ cancer programs at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Laurie and Cheryl will travel to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on June 9 to have their heads shaved, but before that can happen, they must each raise $300 to be a part of the event. That’s where all of you come in.
Laurie and Cheryl are asking for your help by donating, in their names, to the cause.
Laurie, who worked for Greenfield Farmers Cooperative Exchange for many years, said businesses and individuals may donate. The exchange was Laurie’s first sponsor.
“Cheryl, who is disabled, saw the event advertised on television and said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Laurie told me. “We want to make a difference.”
For more information, call the sisters, who live in Greenfield, at 617-901-8864.
If you would like to donate, you can send a check to: One Mission, P.O. Box 600157, Newtonville, MA 02460. Please put one of the sister’s names on the “memo” line of the check.
You can also donate online at: www.buzzforkids.org. Don’t forget to make your donation in care of Laurie or Cheryl Griffin’s team.
RELAY FOR LIFE TEAM III , “You’ll Never Walk Alone:” the Dwight family and friends, will hold a corn fritter and pancake breakfast Sunday from 8 to 10:30 a.m. at the United Church of Bernardston to benefit Relay for Life. Pancakes, corn fritters, sausage, juice, coffee, tea and milk will be served at the church at 58 Church Street in Bernardston.
The cost is $7 for adults, $3 for children ages 4 to 13, and children under 3 are free. Tickets may be purchased at the door.
There will also be a bake sale and 50-50 raffle drawing.
For more information, contact Jean Dwight at 413-773-8278 or email her at: [email protected].
THE POLISH AMERICAN CITIZENS CLUB in South Deerfield will be honoring Deerfield veterans by hanging plaques along the walls of the club.
John Cycz said male and female veterans will have a spot on the wall; they just need to be members (in good standing) of the club and have served in the military.
John, who is a trustee of the club, told me he never served in the military, but his father and his two sons are veterans. John has been actively involved with veterans’ issues for many years — he has served on the Memorial Day Committee in Deerfield and was involved in the town’s Veterans Street Sign Project.
“I have a great interest in the military and believe it is very important to honor our vets,” he said.
For more information, call the Polish American Citizens Club at 413-665-8735.
To contact Anita Fritz, a staff reporter at The Recorder, send an email to: [email protected] or call 413-772-0261, ext. 280 or call her cell at 413-388-6950. You can also reach Anita on Facebook at Anita’s Neighbors. Information to be included in Neighbors may also be sent to: [email protected] up to noon on the day before you want it to run. | <urn:uuid:b8070aac-f0dd-42f5-a92b-89cb02dd1c0f> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.recorder.com/opinion/letters/5144447-95/laurie-club-fair-neighbors | 2015-03-30T10:55:58Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299261.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00232-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954454 | 2,074 |
Be flattered if you catch the general manager of BLT Steak in downtown Washington flashing a quick, sideways peace sign as he seats your party. Adam Sanders isn’t revealing his politics; he’s simply making a “V” — and alerting his staff to the presence of a VIP.
Guests at CityZen in the Mandarin Oriental hotel who have enjoyed drinks in the lounge won’t be asked whether they want cocktails again in the dining room if the restaurant director gently touches the side of the gas candle on their table. The coded gesture by Michael Chesser signals his team not to repeat the question.
Celebrants at the Inn at Little Washington are no doubt thrilled to be personally congratulated by Patrick O’Connell in his stage set of a kitchen after dinner. The star of the show knows it’s my anniversary or birthday! More likely, the chef has been tipped off by his underlings. As one of the inn’s tour guides ushers patrons into the gleaming kitchen — a treat extended to every diner — he motions toward his ring finger to announce a guest’s anniversary or points to his belly button to indicate a birthday.
“There’s nothing more terrible than greeting the wrong guest with the wrong occasion,” O’Connell says. Hence the well-rehearsed silent drill at his four-star dining destination in Washington, Va., in which guests staying at the inn are made known to the chef by a staff member arranging his fingers to form a peaked “roof,” and patrons with no known special occasion are tagged when servers cross their hands together.
Writing orders on paper and tracking customers’ preferences on a computer are well-known ways for restaurants to deliver smooth service. Some establishments go a step further and teach their workers to use discreet hand, eye and other signals to communicate with their colleagues — all without a sound.
“You can’t yell across the dining room, ‘Hey, I need help delivering food!’” says Alex Susskind, an associate professor of food and beverage at the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Although he doesn’t teach restaurant pantomime “overtly” to his students, Susskind preaches its value. “The service experience is perishable. It begins and ends quickly,” the instructor says. “What happens at the table can make or break” a diner’s perception of a place.
It’s hard to say when wordless restaurant commands originated. A 1944 photo spread in Life magazine revealed how the owner of the legendary Stork Club in New York let his staff know, without saying, that he wanted to pick up someone’s check — or get away from a customer: Sherman Billingsley played with his tie knot or tugged his ear, respectively. Some industry veterans say they first noticed hand signals when designer waters gushed onto the scene in the 1990s.
Created to make things convenient for restaurants, wordless routines prove reliable in the noisiest of venues. They also save considerable time. Instead of walking across a busy dining room and possibly slowing down colleagues, servers using body language can get a message across in a single movement. “If one person is doing everything, it takes twice as long,” says Chesser, the ringleader at CityZen. Economy of steps equals savings in time: Sanders of BLT Steak figures dining room shorthand trims off 45 seconds or so per table; on any given shift, that’s “20 minutes of attention I can give back to guests.”
Silent touches enhance the guest experience by offering a sense of seamlessness and the impression that things happen automatically; O’Connell calls them “tiny little magic acts.” Indeed, some wizardry is called for in a working kitchen such as his, with upwards of 18 cooks and as many as 60 parties a night eager to view it. (Another benefit of wordless communication: “You look brilliant” for acknowledging not just the guest of honor, but the cause for celebration, the chef says with a laugh.)
Hand signals aren’t restricted to upscale places. “Our service is hybrid,” says Sanders, whose clientele is heavy with politicians, media bigwigs and Secret Service agents protecting The Restaurant Isn’t Saying. “There’s the expectation of fine dining, but the energy is high.”
“Most communication is non-verbal,” says William Washington, general manager of Le Diplomate in Logan Circle, where a forward palm from a supervisor triggers a server to refresh an empty bread basket. “Everybody does it to a certain extent” in the restaurant trade. To work for everyone, however, the signals must be subtle. “I don’t want people to be aware we’re doing it,” says Washington, echoing the sentiments of his peers.
One of the most-used set of codes evolved from consumers’ thirst for designer water. In a typical scenario, a preference for still water is designated with an extended flat or swiping hand, while sparkling water involves fluttering fingers. Tap water is denoted by a fist, sometimes with a digit sticking out, like a spout.
Among the more elaborate wordless service systems in the industry is the one employed at Eleven Madison Park in New York, which maintains an arsenal of more than half a dozen gestures to assure top-shelf attention to detail. The sight of a manager brushing his shoulder, gesturing toward a chair or gripping his hands at waist level is the crew’s cue to clean a table, clear a diner’s plate or hold off because a table is not ready to be seated, respectively. Inspiration for the rituals comes from old-school New York restaurants, foremost the Stork Club, says Will Guidara, co-owner of the restaurant, which has won five awards from the James Beard Foundation, including one for Outstanding Service (2004). Executed properly, Guidara says, silent signals add value and “make the dining room feel less frenzied.”
The popularity of open kitchens mean cooks occasionally get in on the action. A line cook at the cafe at Chez Panisse in Berkeley in the early 1980s, Evan Goldstein recalls how the staff learned that the kitchen was out of a dish (or “86’ed” as they say in the trade): Someone would pull a hand across their neck, in a quick slash, says the master sommelier and author of a book on service. When Eric Ziebold, the chef at CityZen, has an order ready for a waiter whom he sees engaged too long in conversation, he might make the universal sign for “wrap it up:” a wave of the hand in small circles. “When you’re talking to a table,” explains the chef, “guests aren’t eating.”
Signals can work both ways. Diners from Minneapolis to Moscow know that scribbling in the air is likely to get them their check, and swirling an empty water glass typically begets a refill. Washington public affairs expert Jim Courtovich, who eats out as if he were a restaurant reviewer — an average of 10 meals a week, though frequently at the same places — raises a single finger to the side of his face to make his requests known at BLT Steak, Cashion’s Eat Place and Marcel’s. The simple gesture, says the founder of Sphere Consulting, can be translated a number of ways, depending on what’s not on his table or the amount of time he wants to devote to lunch or dinner: Where’s the food? Where’s the wine? Where’s the check?
“I don’t want to wave my hand” to address an issue, says Courtovich.
Are more servers exercising their digits? “I’m sure it happens,” says frequent diner Tim Zagat, founder of the popular Zagat Survey. “As a customer, I’m not supposed to witness it.” To be effective, he says, silent exchanges also need to be discreet. “If I knew someone was signaling behind my back, I think that would be irritating.”
Even restaurants that don’t formalize gestures have non-verbal means of achieving their goals. Consider Passion Food Hospitality, a collection of seven restaurants including DC Coast and Acadiana in the District and Fuego Cocina y Tequileria in Arlington. While nothing is codified at the group’s establishments, says partner Gus DiMillo, “if a manager needs something, he directs his eyes and a server takes care of the problem. We encourage everyone, when they train with us, not to wear blinders. Even if they’re talking to guests, they should see what’s going on around them.”
If a server needs help, instead of calling for it or sprouting popeyes — behavior that might attract attention from diners — the simple act of placing a hand over a lapel brings a rescue squad at places including CityZen and BLT Steak.
Missed signals are an occasional occupational hazard. Sanders, the general manager of BLT Steak, is one of the few supervisors at the meat market who doesn’t sport a tie clip, which means he’s frequently adjusting the neckwear on his chest. “What do you need?” his teammates ask when they spot him fussing near his lapel.
And not all secret codes are meant for public consumption. As it turns out, veterans of the Inn at Little Washington sometimes need to help O’Connell know which patron coming into one of those popular kitchen tours is celebrating a special occasion, so they’ll use playful R-rated gestures to distinguish between a man and a woman.
“Efficiency is wonderful,” says O’Connell, the master of ceremonies. “If you can make it fun at the same time, wonderful.” | <urn:uuid:a5ecc1e0-150b-4e37-b229-5cdda4551a53> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/2013/12/20/bb61c6f0-590b-11e3-ba82-16ed03681809_story.html | 2015-03-30T11:05:25Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299261.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00232-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953632 | 2,136 |
|This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2011)|
|Born||June 8, 1972
|Died||October 17, 1998(aged 26)|
|Education||Technical University of Berlin|
|Alma mater||Technical University of Applied Sciences of Berlin|
|Known for||hacking, the "Cryptophon"|
Boris Floricic, better known by his pseudonym Tron (8 June 1972 – 17-22 October 1998), was a German hacker and phreaker whose death in unclear circumstances has led to various conspiracy theories. He is also known for his Diplom thesis presenting one of the first public implementations of a telephone with built-in voice encryption, the "Cryptophon".
Floricic's pseudonym was a reference to the eponymous character in the 1982 Disney film Tron. Floricic was interested in defeating computer security mechanisms; amongst other hacks, he broke the security of the German phonecard and produced working clones. He was subsequently sentenced to 15 months in jail for the physical theft of a public phone (for reverse engineering purposes) but the sentence was suspended on probation.
From December 2005 to January 2006, media attention was drawn to Floricic when his parents and Andy Müller-Maguhn brought legal action in Germany against the Wikimedia Foundation and its German chapter Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. The first preliminary injunction tried to stop Wikipedia from publishing Floricic's full name, and a second one followed, temporarily preventing the use of the German Internet domain wikipedia.de as a redirect address to the German Wikipedia.
Early life and education
Floricic grew up in Gropiusstadt, a suburb in southern Berlin (West Berlin at the time). His interests in school focused on technical subjects. He left school after ten years and completed a three-year Vocational education (Berufsausbildung) offered by the Technical University of Berlin and graduated as a specialist in communication electronics with a major in information technology (Kommunikationselektroniker, Fachrichtung Informationstechnik). He subsequently earned the Abitur and began studies in computer science at the Technical University of Applied Sciences of Berlin.
During his studies, Floricic attended an internship with a company developing electronic security systems. In the winter term 1997/1998, Floricic successfully finished his studies and published his diploma thesis, in which he developed and described the "Cryptophon", an ISDN telephone with built-in voice encryption. Since parts of this work, which were to be provided by another student, were missing, he could not finish his work on the Cryptophon. His thesis, however, was rated as exceptional by the evaluating university professor. After graduation, Floricic applied for work, but was unsuccessful. In his spare time he continued, among other activities, his work on the Cryptophon.
Floricic was highly interested in electronics and security systems of all kinds. He engaged in, amongst other things, attacks against the German phonecard and Pay TV systems. As part of his research he exchanged ideas and proposals with other hackers and scientists. On the mailing list "tv-crypt", operated by a closed group of Pay TV hackers, Floricic reported about himself in 1995 that his interests were microprocessors, programming languages, electronics of all kinds, digital radio data transmission and especially breaking the security of systems perceived as secure. He claimed to have created working clones of a chipcard used for British Pay TV and would continue his work to defeat the security of the Nagravision/Syster scrambling system which was then used by the German Pay TV provider "PREMIERE".
Later, American scientists outlined a theoretical attack against SIM cards used for GSM mobile phones. Together with hackers from the Chaos Computer Club, Floricic successfully created a working clone of such a SIM card, thus showing the practicability of the attack. He also engaged in cloning the German phonecard and succeeded. While Floricic only wanted to demonstrate the insecurity of the system, the proven insecurity was also abused by criminals which led to the attention of law enforcement agencies and the German national phone operator Deutsche Telekom. After Deutsche Telekom changed the system, Floricic tried to remove a complete public card phone from a booth by force (using a sledgehammer) on 3 March 1995 in order to, as he told, adapt his phonecard simulators to the latest changes. He and a friend were, however, caught by the police upon this attempt. Floricic was later sentenced to a prison term of 15 months which was suspended on probation.
"Cryptophon" (or "Cryptofon") was the name Floricic chose for his prototype of an ISDN telephone with integrated voice encryption. It was created in the winter term 1997–1998 as part of his diploma thesis, titled "Realisierung einer Verschlüsselungstechnik für Daten im ISDN B-Kanal" (German, meaning, "Implementation of Cryptography for Data contained in the ISDN Bearer channel"), at the Technische Fachhochschule Berlin. Floricic focused on making the Cryptophon cheap and easy to build for hobbyists. The phone encrypts telephone calls using the symmetric encryption algorithm IDEA. As IDEA is patented, the cipher was implemented on a replaceable daughter module which would have allowed the user to exchange IDEA for another (probably patent-unencumbered) algorithm. In addition, the system was about to be supplemented with a key exchange protocol based on the asymmetric algorithm RSA in order to achieve security against compromised remote stations.
The Cryptophon is built on the foundation of an 8051 compatible microprocessor which controls the whole system and peripherals (e.g. ISDN controller, keypad and display). For the cryptography, Floricic used cheap DSPs from Texas Instruments which he scrapped out of old computer modems, but which could also be bought at affordable prices. As this type of DSP is not powerful enough for the cryptography algorithm chosen, Floricic used two of them for the Cryptophon – one for sending and one for receiving. He planned to extend the phone so it would also be possible to encrypt data-connections. Floricic developed both the operating software of the phone as well as the cryptography implementation in the DSPs. He found a new way to implement IDEA to save significant processing time.
Floricic disappeared on 17 October 1998 and was found dead in a local park in Britz in the Neukölln district of Berlin on 22 October after being hanged from a waistbelt wrapped around his neck. The cause of death was officially recorded as suicide. Some of his peers in the Chaos Computer Club, as well as his family members and some outside critics, have been vocal in their assertions that Floricic may have been murdered. It is argued that his activities in the areas of Pay TV cracking and voice scrambling might have disturbed the affairs of an intelligence agency or organized crime enough to provide a motive.
The German journalist Burkhard Schröder published a book about the death titled "Tron - Tod eines Hackers" ("Tron - Death of a Hacker") in 1999 in which he presents the facts about the case known at the time. Because he concludes that Floricic took his own life, the author was harshly criticized by both members of the Chaos Computer Club and Floricic's parents.
|Wikinews has related news: Berlin court issues provisional order against the Wikimedia Foundation|
As Floricic's family did not wish his full name (Boris Floricic) to be used, many German newspapers referred to him as "Boris F." On 14 December 2005, his parents obtained a temporary restraining order in a Berlin court against Wikimedia Foundation Inc. because its freely editable online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, mentioned the full name in its German language version. The order prohibited the Foundation from mentioning the full name on any website under the domain "wikipedia.org". It furthermore required the Foundation to name a representative in Germany within two weeks following the decision.
This was widely reported in the Dutch and German press. The initial order was mistakenly addressed to Saint Petersburg, Russia rather than to St. Petersburg, Florida, United States; this was corrected five days later.
On 17 January 2006, a second preliminary injunction from a court in Berlin prohibited the Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. local chapter from linking to the German Wikipedia, resulting in the change of the wikipedia.de address from a link to German Wikipedia to a page explaining the situation, although the page did not mention Tron. Despite media reports to the contrary, the German Wikipedia itself was never closed or became inaccessible in Germany. Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. confirmed to the Internet news site golem.de that the new injunction was related to the prior case against the Wikimedia Foundation and was issued on behalf of the same plaintiffs. Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. was reported as intending to fight the injunction, arguing that no valid case was presented and the freedom of the press must be defended.
As Müller-Maguhn, one of the spokespersons of the Chaos Computer Club, was deeply involved in the case on the side of the plaintiffs, some media reported this as a case of Chaos Computer Club against Wikipedia. The Chaos Computer Club had issued a public statement that this was a case between a few of its members and Wikipedia, and that the CCC itself did not take any position in the matter.
The Austrian online magazine Futurezone interviewed Andy Müller-Maguhn on 19 January 2006 about the case and its background. Maguhn admitted that the true reason behind the incident was a fictitious work recently published by a German author in which the main character had the same (civil) name as Floricic. The parents sent a protest to the publisher but were turned down with the argument that the German Wikipedia was using the name as well. Müller-Maguhn then asked the German Wikipedia to remove the name, but was turned down for a number of reasons, including failure to present proof that he was entitled to speak and act on behalf of the parents.
- zdnet.co.uk: "High-stakes hacking, Euro-style", by Bob Sullivan, 25 October 2000
- Wired News: "Out of Chaos Comes Order", by David Hudson, 28 December 1998
- Telepolis: "Hacker leben nicht gefährlich", by Burkhard Schröder, January 10, 2006 (in German)
- Spiegel Online: "Streit um Tron: Darf man einen Hacker beim Namen nennen?", by Holger Dambeck, January 10, 2006 (in German)
- Heise Newsticker: "Domain Wikipedia.de ist zurzeit außer Betrieb", by Andreas Wilkens, January 19, 2006 (in German)
- golem.de: "Wikipedia.de derzeit abgeschaltet", by Andreas Donath, January 19, 2006. (in German)
- CCC: "Klarstellung zu Wikipedia vs. Tron", by Frank Rieger, January 13, 2006. (in German)
- futurezone: "'Einstweilige Verfügung' gegen Wikipedia.de", by unnamed author, 19 January 2006 (in German)
- Heise Online: "Court overturns temporary restraining order against Wikimedia Deutschland, by Torsten Kleinz, 9 February 2006.
- Burkhard Schröder: Tron: Tod eines Hackers ("Tron: Death of a hacker"). rororo, 1999, ISBN 3-499-60857-X
- Spiegel Online: "How a Dead Hacker Shut Down Wikipedia Germany", 20 January 2006
- Wired.com: "Out of Chaos Comes Order", by David Hudson, 28 December 1998 (about the suicide)
- Possenspiel um Wikipedia (Die Zeit online edition)
- tronland.org (Site dedicated to Tron's memory) | <urn:uuid:a5481688-ff82-40af-97b1-cc6cc6c6f317> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron_(hacker) | 2015-04-01T06:00:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131303502.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172143-00056-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955614 | 2,501 |
It’s a common refrain among local cyclists: Want to kill someone and get away with it? Run them over while they’re on a bicycle.
Within Boston’s growing cycling community, a perceived lack of criminal prosecution of motorists involved in fatal bike crashes has been a regular source of outrage in recent years. That ire came to a fever pitch last week, when a grand jury investigation of a Wellesley bike crash with seemingly copious evidence — video footage, witnesses defending the deceased bicyclist, a truck driver who had fled the scene and had an extensive history of driving infractions — came back with no charges.
The grand jury’s decision, bicyclists contend, is evidence of a wider problem: Most people do not respect the rights of bike riders.
“The message that we got from this particular case,” said David Watson, executive director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, “is that, clearly, members of the general public still don’t care enough about bicyclists’ safety.”
Historically, prosecutors have been seen as reluctant to seek charges in crashes between bikes and cars. Civil cases have long been the realm of justice for families. But cyclists say they want better, and they had hoped to get it in the case against truck driver Dana E.A. McCoomb, accused of striking and killing cyclist Alexander Motsenigos, 41, on Weston Road in Wellesley.
Police and prosecutors were seeking to charge McCoomb with vehicular homicide, as well as unsafe overtaking of a bicyclist.
The accident was particularly grisly. Video footage, captured by a traffic camera, showed McCoomb’s truck attempting to overtake Motsenigos, striking him from the side, and driving off without stopping. A woman who was one of several witnesses, defended the cyclist at the scene, shouting: “It wasn’t his fault! He didn’t do anything wrong! He was just coming down the hill, and the truck hit him! The truck was going way too fast!”
‘It’s really an example of how people have it in their heads that bikers are reckless. ’
An accident reconstruction confirmed police officers’ belief that charges against the driver were in order.
McCoomb’s lawyer, Scott Tucker, could not be reached Thursday. After no charges were returned against his client, he declined to comment on the grand jury’s decision, stating only that he was happy that McCoomb was not indicted on criminal charges.
Hearing that the driver would not be charged criminally shocked and angered members of the cycling community, many of whom were still reeling with sadness and anger at other recent bicycle fatalities, including the death of 23-year-old Boston University student Christopher Weigl, killed in December on Commonwealth Avenue in Allston. Suffolk prosecutors are awaiting a final report from the Boston police collision reconstruction team before they decide if charges will be filed in that case.
Josh Zisson, a lawyer specializing in bicycle-related cases, said many cyclists view juries in criminal cases as a litmus test of how they are embraced and protected by the communities in which they live. Stereotypes about careless or foolhardy bicyclists, he said, leak into the criminal process.
“It’s really an example of how people have it in their heads that bikers are reckless to ride in the street,” Zisson said.
Motsenigos’s family has filed a lawsuit against the truck driver, and Zisson said he hopes that they are able to get some justice from that civil case. But civil damages, he said, just are not the same.
“It’s definitely the sort of thing where people who ride bikes want to see jail time or to see some sort of criminal charges that stick,” Zisson said. “When people don’t see that, a lot of people get the sense that the government doesn’t really care.”
Of course, not all bike collisions can be expected to go to court, just as not all car crashes, or instances of cars striking pedestrians, result in criminal charges. But, they said, it appears that police and prosecutors have begun to take a more aggressive stance in bike-related cases.
The Suffolk district attorney’s office does not keep records on the number of bike-related cases it has prosecuted in recent years, spokesman Jake Wark said. But, he said, there are cases in progress: Prosecutors have indicted one driver, Michael Ahern, in the death of a cyclist in Dorchester last September. Another man, Vinodkumar Patel, is set to appear soon in Boston Municipal Court for striking, but not seriously injuring, a cyclist in July 2011, Wark said.
Bike advocates said they have seen a trend in recent years toward police departments taking bike crashes more seriously.
“There’s more of an understanding that bicyclists aren’t just some fringe element out on the roads,” Watson said. “They are people trying to get from one place to another, just like everybody else.”
The problem, bike advocates say, is that most people, and most jurors, just don’t like bikes.
Jurors are much more likely to empathize with motorists than with bicyclists, said Andrew Fischer, a Boston-based bicycle attorney, especially as the percentage of Massachusetts residents who regularly ride bikes still flutters in the single digits.
“This [Wellesley case] just reveals the prejudice there is in the general population against bicyclists,” Fischer said. “I’ve seen it in jury pools. It’s very difficult for a bicyclist who’s been in an accident with a motorist to get a fair jury.”
According to Chief Terrence Cunningham of the Wellesley Police Department, Fischer is probably right.
Cunningham said that he initially felt confident the charges against the truck driver would stick, but that he grew concerned when he heard that a member of the grand jury had asked a question of a Wellesley detective that suggested the juror did not understand the truck’s obligation to yield to the bicycle.
“Personally, I don’t feel they followed the law,” Cunningham said. “But that’s the process.”
Cunningham said he often sees negative attitudes toward bicyclists among jurors, as well as in the general public — and every time a cyclist runs a red light, fails to signal in front of traffic, or rides four- or five-abreast, preventing a car from passing, the act confirms motorists’ belief that bicyclists should not be in the road, he said.
Cunningham said he was disappointed by the outcome of the Wellesley case, especially because he had worked so hard to convince Motsenigos’s family, along with the cycling community, that he was passionate about bringing the driver to justice. His officers spent months investigating, interviewing witnesses, and conducting forensic testing.
He said he had received a slew of e-mails from bicyclists — including “some e-mails that were less than affectionate,” he recalled — that conveyed fears the police would brush aside the case.
“I think a lot of them are just frustrated, and they believe that too many of these instances don’t get thoroughly investigated,” Cunningham said. “I’ve gone over the case over and over again, and I can’t think of anything we could have done different or better.”
Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said his office was aware that he faced “two competing principles” in the grand jury investigation: Which would jurors dislike more, trucks or bicycles?
He warned against speculating on the grand jury’s decision. Still, he said, he cannot help but share in the cyclists’ frustrations.
“I think this is an interesting problem insofar as I think there is a little bit of a bias against bicycle riders,” said Morrissey, an occasional cyclist himself. “Whether their own bias took over here, we’ll never know.”
Pete Stidman, director of the Boston Cyclists Union, said he hoped that the Wellesley case would bring more attention to bike safety and the need for drivers to be careful around bikes, even if no criminal charges came out of the grand jury investigation.
“I’m hopeful that our elected officials, our transportation officials, our courts and police, and the whole system are going to start paying attention to these kinds of crashes,” said Stidman. “As we get more people riding on the road . . . it’s going to get harder and harder to ignore these crashes as our constituency grows.”
The case, Watson said, demonstrates the importance of community-wide campaigns to raise awareness of bike safety and show cyclists can safely share roads with other vehicles.
“It’s part of a larger culture change that needs to happen,” Watson said. “Until then, we’re still going to see a reluctance in the minds of many average citizens to hold people criminally accountable in incidents like this.”
Fischer, the bike lawyer, said he was encouraged that the police went so far in attempting to prosecute the driver. Perhaps that is the sign of a turning point, he said.
“Now there’s a prosecutor who’s willing to make the effort, and I’m pleased to see that,” Fischer said. “Maybe it’s not enough of a step, but it’s a step forward when a prosecutor doesn’t have to be convinced or persuaded or pressured by the bicycle community to do something.”
“For what it’s worth,” he continued, “that’s progress.”Martine Powers can be reached at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter | <urn:uuid:1099e1a0-3f96-427c-aca3-2ee7abad567c> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/02/15/cyclists-react-with-anger-after-grand-jury-returns-indictment-wellesley-bike-crash-case/JDTtJSawtj34hxAAP5Y0RI/story.html | 2015-04-01T06:09:17Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131303502.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172143-00056-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975041 | 2,114 |
Feb. 25, 2013
Around the Nation
By Sean Ryan & Phil Stanton
pitchers often are ahead of the hitters early in the season.
Four staffs that entered the season as diverse as
the other – Cal State Fullerton, Louisville, Vanderbilt and
Virginia – have been nothing short of brilliant the first two
weeks of the season.
At Fullerton, coach Rick Vanderhook (right) said
a few days before the season opener, “I can’t remember a
freshman starting Opening Night.” That freshman, Thomas Eshelman,
has started his career 2-0 with wins over USC and TCU, working
11.1 innings with no runs, no walks and 14 strikeouts (opponents
are hitting .163). Fellow frosh Justin Garza also is 2-0 with a
0.68 ERA, 13.1 innings, one walk and 11 strikeouts. In all, the
Titans (8-0) boast a 1.62 ERA and have 69 strikeouts and nine
walks in 72 innings – they allowed four runs in a weekend sweep
Vanderhook is not surprised by the success of his
rookie pair. “We wouldn’t have pitched them Friday and Saturday
if we didn’t think they were good. They both are semi-polished
“Eshelman went up to the West Coast League and
pitched in a collegiate league in the summer and threw 30
innings up there, kind of got his feet wet. He’s doing the same
thing right now that he did in the summertime. He’s what I would
call a prototypical Cal State Fullerton pitcher. He throws
strikes, he competes and he’s really intelligent on the mound.
Nothing really bothers him. Through the last 15 years a lot of
freshmen have come into college baseball and pitched really well
in big programs and I’m hoping he can be one of those guys.
Right now he’s doing it.
“Garza was really touted coming out of high
school and has done about everything he was supposed to do. He’s
focused on the mound, hasn’t had anything really bother him.
“They haven’t had anything happen yet to bother
them. It’s going to happen to them sooner or later. I tell them
every day, somebody’s going to whack you around. It’s not about
them whacking you, it’s about how you respond the next time you
go out after they whack you.”
At Louisville, junior Jeff Thompson leads an
experienced staff that is off to a fantastic start – a 1.43 ERA,
72 strikeouts and 17 walks in 63 innings for the 6-1 Cardinals.
Thompson is 2-0 with a zero ERA and 17 strikeouts and four walks
in 11 innings, and Dace Kime, Chad Green and Jared Ruxer have
combined for 23 strikeouts and five walks. Reliever Anthony
Kidston has been lights out, picking up two wins and striking
out 10 in 5.1 innings – he’s yet to allow a hit or run.
At Virginia, the Cavaliers are a mix of new and
old. Freshman Brandon Waddell (1-0, 0.84, 10.2 IP, 3 BB, 20 K)
is joined by reliever-turned-starter Nick Howard (1-0, 0.00, 10
IP) and senior Scott Silverstein (1-0, 1.59, 11.1 IP). The
Cavaliers boast a team ERA of 2.14 after allowing three runs in
a three-game weekend sweep of Toledo.
Coach Brian O’Connor said you’re a little
apprehensive going into the season anytime you have a young and
inexperienced staff, but his pitchers have responded.
“I’m not surprised because I think we have quite
a bit of talent both on the mound and position-wise,” O’Connor
said, adding that the Cavaliers still are in the process of
figuring out the different roles for their pitchers.
And at Vanderbilt, the promise of junior Kevin
Ziomek and sophomore Tyler Beede may be becoming realized.
Ziomek (2-0, 1.38, 13 IP, 3 BB, 18 K) and Beede (2-0, 1.50, 12
IP, 6 BB, 12 K), along with sophomore Philip Pfeifer (2-0, 0.64,
14 IP, 4 BB, 17 K), led a Commodores staff that shut down
Monmouth over the weekend to the tune of three runs.
Hawks coach Dean Ehehalt texted before boarding a
flight Sunday night that Vandy has the best pitching staff he’s
faced in his 20 years with Monmouth. “From a velocity
standpoint, no doubt the best,” he said.
And then there’s Oregon State, which improved to
8-0 on Sunday, completing a four-game sweep at San Diego State
for the best start in 51 years.
The Beavers have allowed just 13 runs (nine
earned) in eight games, good for a 1.12 ERA. Although the
Beavers haven’t been striking guys out like the staffs above (47
in 72 innings), they’ve practically been unhittable, yielding a
.179 batting average. Amazingly, the bullpen – Max Engelbrekt,
Scott Schultz, Tyler Painton, Brandon Jackson, Tony Bryant, Zack
Reser and Cole Brocker – has yet to allow an earned run in 30
innings, with Engelbrekt (1-0, 1 SV, 7.2 IP) and Schultz (2 SV,
6.2 IP) leading the way.
Including Oregon State, there are 13 undefeated
teams among those who have begun their seasons. Mississippi
State and Oklahoma are both 9-0, while Cal State Fullerton joins
the Beavers at 8-0. The 7-0 squads include Cal Poly, Florida
State, Miami (Fla.), Ole Miss, South Alabama and Virginia. North
Carolina is 6-0, VCU is 5-0 and Creighton sits at 3-0 after
being forced to cancel its weekend trip to Lamar.
Teams beginning their seasons this week include
CCSU, Fairleigh Dickinson, Massachusetts, NYIT, Omaha,
Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and UMBC, as well as seven of the eight
schools in the Ivy League. Yale opens play on March 9.
Florida Gulf Coast entered the weekend 1-6
against Florida. After Sean Dwyer’s three-run homer in the 11th
inning on Sunday, the Eagles (5-1) had pulled off a sweep of the
Gators in Gainesville.
Good things came in threes for FGCU, as in
homers. In the opener, Brooks Beisner blasted a three-run homer
in the sixth inning for a 3-1 lead, and ace Ricky Knapp tossed a
complete game to improve to 2-0. On Saturday, Michael Suchy hit
a three-run homer in the sixth inning to break from a 2-1 game.
And on Sunday, it was Dwyer’s turn. He may never have had the
chance if not for junior Harrison Cooney, who tossed five
scoreless innings of relief. In the 10th inning, Cooney loaded
the bases, only to get a fly out to center, a fielder’s choice
at the plate and another fly out to give the Eagles a shot in
By now, you’ve likely heard about the
benches-clearing brawl during
UC Riverside’s game at Sacramento State on Friday, when
Sacramento State’s Andrew Ayers tagged out Riverside’s Eddie
Young, who retaliated with a pair of punches after Ayers shoved
him away. According to the Sacramento Bee, both players, and
Highlanders catcher Drake Zarate, were suspended four games per
NC State sophomore ace Carlos Rodon rebounded
from the first loss since his junior year in grand fashion – he
tossed the first seven innings of a no-hitter, with Karl
Keglovits working the final two innings against La Salle. The
combined no-no was the first for the Wolfpack since 2005.
Akron coach Rick Rembielak is one of those
coaches who believes that to be the best, you have to play the
He’s backing that up with an early-season
gauntlet for his Zips.
Last week, Akron dropped three games at No. 17
Georgia Tech, including a 5-3 defeat last Sunday. Over the
weekend, the Zips fell three times to No. 18 Louisville,
including a 2-1 setback yesterday. Up next? A three-game set at
No. 9 Kentucky.
“[We] want to build this program by our players
understanding how precise you need to play to compete at the
highest level,” Rembielak texted on the bus ride back to Akron.
“Early schedule is designed to expose them to the highest
caliber of play in preparation of [the] MAC season. [The] goal
is to win MAC tournament and be prepared to play the same
competition we faced at the start of the season.”
East Tennessee State is off to a 6-1 start after
a sweep of Seton Hall that included walk-off wins on Saturday
and Sunday. The Bucs have had plenty of heroes, but none bigger
than Clinton Freeman, who’s meant as much to his team as any
player in the country.
Freeman, a junior outfielder/pitcher, has gone 12
for 24 with nine extra-base hits – six homers, two doubles and a
triple – and 11 RBI. On the mound, the lefty has gone 2-0 with
two saves in 5.1 innings of relief.
ETSU coach Tony Skole said that Freeman pretty
much put the Bucs on his shoulders and carried them over the
first five games.
“It’s just an amazing start, he was squaring up
everything he saw…he just hasn’t been missing the center of the
ball,” Skole said.
And on the mound, Freeman, whose fastball reaches
the upper 80s, hasn’t allowed a run.
“He’s just throwing strikes, three pitches for
strikes,” Skole said. “The thing that makes him so good on the
mound is that he’s a competitor.”
Air Force reached a milestone on Saturday,
defeating Navy 8-7 in the Freedom Classic at Grainger Stadium in
Kinston, N.C. It was the 1,000th win in program history. The
Falcons began play in 1957. LSU head coach Paul Mainieri
accounted for 152 of those victories. He led the Air Force
program from 1989-94 before becoming head coach at Notre Dame.
Another example of pitching being ahead of
hitting early in the season is the number of no-hitters so far.
TJ Renda of Alabama State no-hit Chicago State on Opening Night.
This past Saturday, Carlos Rodon and Karl Keglovits of NC State
combined on a no-hitter against visiting La Salle. On Sunday,
Colby Holmes, Forrest Koumas and Josh Knab of South Carolina
worked together to no-hit Albany. Bryce Biggerstaff also
accomplished the feat on Sunday, not allowing a hit to Jackson
State. In the near-miss category, Ohio State was one out away
from a combined no-hitter against Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday.
(photo by Matt Brown) | <urn:uuid:2379eb3d-4b16-4007-9b00-161570439cf1> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.collegebaseballinsider.com/13Articles/atn225.html | 2015-04-01T05:50:40Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131303502.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172143-00056-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940335 | 2,561 |
About Lone Star College
Nationally recognized, globally connected, locally focused
Lone Star College is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the nation. Not only great in size, LSC is a key driver and growing contributor to the local and regional economy with an annual economic impact of $3.1 billion.
Students rely on Lone Star College for Associate Degrees, certifications for work in high-demand industries, and credits that enable them to transfer anywhere. In fact, LSC provides more than 180 programs of study close to home. No wonder 95,000 students choose Lone Star College!
LSC understands the balance between work, family and completing an education — that’s why it offers the most affordable, high-quality higher education option in the region, close to home, at a fraction of the cost of a four year university.
Attending LSC is more affordable than other state institutions. Attending LSC saves students, and their families, thousands per semester.
source: Net Cost Calculator Resident Tuition and Fees, based on 12 hours/semester
Choice of more students
LSC is the choice of area high school graduates – 5,848 high school graduates attended LSC in fall 2013, 10 times the number of students choosing the University of Houston; six times as many who attended Texas A&M University.
Committed to Student Success
A national leader in conferring degrees and dedicated to student success and credential completion, Lone Star College is:
- Recognized nationally as a Top 10 Associate Degree Producer
- Leading the Texas Reverse Transfer Initiative, in collaboration with The University of Texas, a key strategy in Texas' goal of increasing higher education degree attainment
- Leading the Texas Completes effort statewide to dramatically increase college completion rates
Proven Financial Management
LSC is fiscally responsible and maintains a AAA Bond Rating from Standard & Poor’s Rating Services – enabling LSC to borrow money at lower interest rates. LSC's credit rating was increased eight times in the last 10 years. In addition:
- LSC maintains administrative operating expenses under 12%, which is one of the lowest in Texas. (Source: Texas Association of Community Colleges)
- The LSC tax rate is lower than it was 15 years ago. And the Board of Trustees has lowered the tax rate 6 of the last 10 years. (11.74 cents/thousand (2000) vs. 11.6 cents/thousand (2015)).
- LSC has received a Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting recognition each year since 2004.
- LSC maintains a tax freeze for residents age 65+ and/or disabled which means the actual dollar amount owed will never increase, even if the property value increases.
At a Glance
Chancellor: Stephen C. Head, Ph.D.
Student Enrollment: 95,000
University Centers: 2
Additional Centers: 7
2013-2014 Operating Budget: $317,790,000
view more facts about Lone Star College
We're Close To Home
Lone Star College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Associate of Arts, Associate of Arts in Teaching, Associate of Science and Associate of Applied Science Degrees.
Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Lone Star College, to file a third-party comment at the time of the ten-year review, and to file a complaint against the institution for alleged non-compliance with a standard or requirement. Normal inquiries about Lone Star College such as admissions requirement, financial aid, educational programs, etc. should be addressed directly to Lone Star College and not to the Commission's office.
Accredited since 1976, Lone Star's accreditation was reaffirmed in 2012.
Board of Trustees
Position 1: David Holsey, D.D.S.
Position 2: Kyle A. Scott, Ph. D.
District 3: Alton Smith, Ed.D.
District 4: Art Murillo
Position 5: David A. Vogt
Position 6: Bob Wolfe, JD, CPA
Position 7: Linda S. Good, JD
Position 8: Ron Trowbridge, Ph. D.
District 9: Ken E. Lloyd
Stephen C. Head, Ph.D.
Austin Lane, Ph.D., Ed.D.
Executive Vice Chancellor
Chief of Staff, Board Liaison
Rand W. Key
CEO, Lone Star College-System Office at University Park
Keri Rogers, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs
Melissa Gonzalez, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor, Workforce & Economic Development
Vice Chancellor, External Affairs
Vice Chancellor, Administration & Finance/CFO
Vice Chancellor, College Services
Dr. Audre Levy
President, Lone Star College-CyFair
Dr. Katherine Persson
President, Lone Star College-Kingwood
Dr. Rebecca L. Riley
Interim President, Lone Star College-Montgomery
Interim President, Lone Star College-North Harris
Dr. Lee Ann Nutt
President, Lone Star College-Tomball
President, Lone Star College-University Park
We Make a Difference
Our graduates help keep our community safe
- We graduate 84% of all emergency first responders (fire, police, EMS)
- We train 60% of all health care workers
Lone Star College is the college of choice
- 1 in 4, or 25%, of May graduates from area high schools attend LSC in the fall
- 8,000+ high school students take dual credit courses, earning simultaneous high school and college credit, to accelerate their college completion
- Associate Degree graduates earn, on average, 25% more than high school graduates
- 78% of Texas bachelor’s degrees are awarded to students who attended a community college like LSC
We provide the education and training to meet area employers needs
- By 2018, 63% of all jobs will require postsecondary training. A strong workforce equals a strong community.
We provide educational programs for all ages
- Academy for Lifelong Learning for residents 50+
- Discovery College summer programs for youths
Lone Star College serves an area of more than 1,400 square miles with a population of 2.1 million including some of the fastest growing communities in the state. In the past four years alone, the LSC service area has grown by 176,000 people, more people than 39 U.S. states added during the same time period. An additional 242,000 people are expected to increase the region’s population to 2.55 million by 2019.
The workforce in the LSC area has grown by 9% in the past five years. From fall 2007 – fall 2013 LSC added more than 28,000 credit students — a 57% increase.
Community College Advantage
- We're close to home.
- We're affordable.
- We want you to succeed.
Careers. Not just jobs.
LSCS offers a wide variety of degree programs designed to prepare you for employment in a specific career. See the Programs We Offer
Start here. Transfer anywhere.
LSC Advisors can assist you in applying for admission, choosing courses that will transfer to your desired university, and assist you with the registration process. We're here for you! Learn How to Transfer to a University
1/5 the cost of UT Austin.
Consider this: Many students leave four-year universities with a diploma but empty pockets and the burden of school loans for years to come. With higher education costs on the rise, Lone Star College is one of the most affordable options today to earn a college degree, certificate or continuing education hours. See our Tuition & Fees
Budget 2014-2015 - $331,930,000
Funding Sources 2014-2015
Property Tax - $116,230,000
State Funds - $72,510,000
Other - $6,200,000
Auxiliary - $15,000,000
Tuition & Fees - $110,680,000
Property Tax Rates
Maintenance and Operations - $0.0765
Interest and Sinking - $0.0316
Tax Rate Total - $0.1081
BOND RATING - STANDARD & POOR'S AAA
Tradition of Excellence
Lone Star College has been opening doors to a better community for more than 40 years. With its beginnings in 1973, LSCS remains steadfast in its commitment to student success and credential completion.
In 1972, residents in the Aldine, Humble and Spring Independent School Districts elected to create a junior college district, which became known as North Harris County College. The college opens its doors in the fall of 1973 and the 16-member staff welcomed 613 students to the first classes held at Aldine High School.
Fast forward 40 years and Lone Star College has grown to six colleges, multiple centers and two University Centers with 83,000 credit students and a total of more than 95,000 students.
LSC is now the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and is one of the fastest-growing community college systems in the nation.
In 2008, Lone Star College became the new name for the North Harris Montgomery Community College District after months of deliberation and a polling process that included input from more than 5,000 participants from the community. The board of trustees voted unanimously to change the name to Lone Star College, which was the overwhelmingly favorite choice among those who participated.
The original three school districts have been joined by eight others: New Caney in 1981, Tomball in 1982, Conroe in 1991, Willis and Splendora in 1996, Klein in 1998, and Cypress-Fairbanks and Magnolia in 2000.
The Lone Star College System offices were relocated to their current location in The Woodlands in 2003. The Training and Development Center was added to serve as the home of the district's monthly board meetings as well as create an ideal learning facility for the college system and the community.
|Report Card to the Community|
|2012-2015 Strategic Goals|
|Economic Impact Report|
|What We Believe About Student Success|
|Completion Task Force Recommendations|
The SilverStar Newsletter is distributed to residents age 65+ in the Lone Star College service area. For more information, visit our Media Relations page.
Lone Star College System provides comprehensive educational opportunities and programs to enrich lives.
Lone Star College System is recognized globally as the premier community college for student success, innovation and partnerships. | <urn:uuid:68857b50-40f1-47b4-96a5-c2d26f09b608> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.lonestar.edu/about-lsc.htm | 2015-04-01T05:50:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131303502.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172143-00056-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916178 | 2,212 |
In August of 1924, hundreds of people gathered on the shores of New Bedford Harbor to see the last wooden whaling ship – the Wanderer – depart on what all knew to be its final voyage. It didn’t last long. Two days out to sea, the Wanderer was caught in a storm, and the last living vestige of American whaling was wrecked on the shores of Cuttyhunk Island.
In earlier and better times, New Bedford had been the undisputed whaling capital of the world. In its heyday in the 1840s the New Bedford fleet comprised over 60% of the world’s whaling vessels. The oil from leviathans hunted in all oceans of the world was used principally for lamps and candles. Globally renowned, New Bedford was one of the wealthier cities in the United States, known as ‘The City that Lit the World.’
But technology changed. In 1859, ‘Colonel’ Edwin Drake drilled his successful oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The discovery of cheap and widely available oil quickly led to the widespread use of kerosene in lamps, displacing the whale oil that had built New Bedford, and gradually bringing death to the whaling industry.
Now, nearly a century later, a new energy technology is being developed, and New Bedford seeks to claim its rightful place in this new energy era. In a strange evolution, those abundant winds upon which the whalers sailed have themselves now become the source of energy. And unlike the whales – hunted into nearly irreversible decline – the offshore wind resources are inexhaustible. So the Commonwealth of Massachusetts plans to harness the wind to meet today’s demand for electricity. With the help of the Port of New Bedford, the Commonwealth intends to build a Marine Commerce Terminal – costing as much as $100 million – to support a budding offshore wind industry that will be worth tens of billions of dollars for equipment manufacturers like General Electric, Siemens and American Superconductor, when mature.
It will not be an easy task. Yesterday’s wooden ships and whaleboats will give way to towers soaring hundreds of feet into the sky, carbon fiber blades the length of football fields, and turbines the size of small trucks. The turbines and blades being considered for the job will probably be in the neighborhood of 6-10 MW each (this compares with the turbines in offshore Europe which typically range between 3-6 MW today, and averaged 4 MW last year). These new windmills will be leviathans themselves – current wind turbine blades are maxed out at 75 meters, but the technology will soon be pushing 100 meters. Put another way, when three blades are combined with a tower, they will eclipse the Washington Monument in height by 50%.
These turbines have to be large. Since offshore costs are 2 to 3 times those on land, one needs to put in the biggest turbines possible to take advantage of the constant winds offshore. Both blades and turbines will have to get bigger, better, and stronger in order to harvest the maximum amount of energy at the lowest cost. For example, increasing the rotor diameter from 150 m (today’s largest blades) to 200 m (currently in development by at least one competitor) the blades will increase in length by 33%, but the swept area, which captures the wind energy, will increase by 78% (πR2). The move towards bigger turbines is clearly accelerating. In 2012, 31 companies announced plans for 38 turbine models. Of these, 76% were for turbines larger than 5 MW, and a few were as large as 10 MW or greater.
With these types of improvements, the DOE’s National Offshore Wind Strategy looks to lower costs to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour by 2020, with a long-term goal of 7 cents by 2030. Significant technological developments will clearly need to happen for this to occur. Each windmill will cost in the tens of millions of dollars. However, the energy extracted from thin air by these wind farms could well be worth billions, and create thousands of new jobs in the Commonwealth.
It’s an alluring story. And so, on a cold day this past January, I visited the Port of New Bedford at the invitation of Richard K. Sullivan, Jr., Massachusetts Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, to learn more about the Commonwealth’s ambitious plans for the Marine Commerce Terminal and the offshore wind industry as a whole. As we strolled the pier with his staff and clambered down onto the beach, a seal swam just offshore between us and the silk curtains deployed to prevent winter flounder from spawning near the construction site.
Walking the shoreline, Secretary Sullivan and his team explained the aims of the Commonwealth and the specific details of the project. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has articulated a goal of developing 2,000 megawatts of wind energy by 2020, with most of it offshore. The offshore wind resource is considerable: A recent US Department of Energy survey indicates there is enough offshore wind to equal four times current US electric consumption, with 25% of that off the Northeastern US. In an effort to streamline the permitting process, the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has identified two formal wind energy areas off the Massachusetts coast covering nearly 1,000 square miles, with leases to be offered for sale by competitive auction in 2013. Secretary Sullivan explained that these two areas alone contain the potential for 9,000 MW of wind energy. To put that number in context, New England’s highest peak demand for electricity tops out at just over 28,000 MW.
Turning that wind into energy will require the development of multiple wind farms and hundreds – if not thousands – of turbines. And if the European experience is anything to go by, it requires a significant investment in onshore infrastructure and supporting industries to make it happen. Massachusetts intends to position itself at the crux of this development, and is therefore moving ahead with the infrastructure to make this happen. The Commonwealth has already developed the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Wind Technology Testing Center in Charlestown, MA, just outside of Boston, where they are testing the enormous blade technologies necessary for offshore. The next step is to develop the requisite port facilities.
To that end, the Commonwealth recently issued a tender for construction of a 28-acre terminal, as well as dredging 47 acres of the harbor to the necessary depth. The actual terminal will be multi-duty, able to handle both the highly specialized needs of the offshore wind industry, as well as more generalized merchant shipping. Three bidders responded in time to meet the February 15th deadline, and selection of the contractor will occur shortly. The 1,000 foot extension to the existing South Terminal bulkhead will be the only one of its kind on the East Coast, reinforced with specialized steel, and built to withstand a pressure of 4,000 lbs per square foot. The affiliated crane will also be specialized as well to handle heavy and cumbersome loads.
The planners are not merely building for the needs of today’s industry, but rather for the requirements of the offshore wind industry in the decades to come. Everything is being supersized in anticipation of technology which may be on the drawing board but which does not exist today. They are also building with an eye to our possible climate future – in anticipation of projected sea level rise, the bulkheads will be 11’ (rather than 9’ of the surrounding piers) above sea level.
In order to allow passage for the required vessels (which are likely to cost up to $100 million each – base on the experience of offshore wind in Europe), the adjoining channel will be dredged to a depth of 30 feet. The avoidance of surprise is critical here: to ensure they know the level of work involved, and whether blasting would be required (probably not), over 60 borings have already been taken to ascertain both the strength of the bedrock upon which the bulkhead will be constructed as well as the material to be removed from the harbor. The bulkhead will be long enough to accommodate two ships plus two jack-up barges.
In the immediate future, it is probable that the ships arriving will be from European companies, carrying blades, towers and nacelles for the projects. The Europeans have been working offshore for years, and are currently the only ones with the expertise and know-how at this point. At the end of 2012, they have installed 1,662 turbines in 55 offshore wind farms, totaling 4,995 MW. Last year alone, 293 turbines were installed, totaling 1,166 MW, and representing investments estimated to be in the range of $4.5 to $6 bn. Many of these turbines have been installed in the unforgiving and harsh environment of the North Sea.
All of this equipment will be offloaded at the terminal. The value-added work taking place on shore will largely involve the electrical integration of the pieces. Once ready for assembly, the towers, blades, and nacelles housing the generators will be carried to sea on jack-up barges. These vessels are technological marvels themselves, involving a combination of buoyant hulls and movable legs that allow them to ascend to a desired height (as high as 150 feet above sea level). They are also expensive – the biggest of them go for nearly $100 million. Jack-up barges create the stable platforms necessary to drive the pilings for the towers 80 feet or more into the seabed, and secure the wind turbines.
Longer-term, if and when the industry gets a secure foothold, it is expected that the offshore wind companies will bring investments to the local area. Secretary Sullivan expressed optimism: “We think, from experience in Europe, that the tipping point is 2,000 MW in the pipeline. After that, the imported components will start to decrease and more manufacturing would take place here.” The result would be to establish the New Bedford and neighboring Fall River area as a core area for production of the various necessary inputs. Everybody from local shipbuilders to machine shops could benefit from the economic ripple effects.
Bob Mitchell, CEO of the Atlantic Wind Connection, a company looking to build out the transmission backbone linking the windfarms off the coast of New Jersey, feels that this on-shoring of the manufacturing capability is critical in the long run. “We need to get manufacturing on US soil. The range of cost saving, if that were to happen, is somewhere between 18 and 25%. That’s pretty dramatic.”
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Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
AIDS dementia complex (ADC; also known as HIV dementia, HIV encephalopathy and HIV-associated dementia) has become a common neurological disorder associated with HIV infection and AIDS. It is is a metabolic encephalopathy induced by HIV infection and fueled by immune activation of brain macrophages and microglia. These cells are actively infected with HIV and secrete neurotoxins of both host and viral origin. The essential features of ADC are disabling cognitive impairment accompanied by motor dysfunction, speech problems and behavioural change. Cognitive impairment is characterised by mental slowness, trouble with memory and poor concentration. Motor symptoms include a loss of fine motor control leading to clumsiness, poor balance and tremors. Behavioural changes may include apathy, lethargy and diminished emotional responses and spontaneity. Histopathologically, it is identified by the infiltration of monocytes and macrophages into the central nervous system (CNS), gliosis, pallor of myelin sheaths, abnormalities of dendritic processes and neuronal apoptosis.
ADC typically occurs after years of HIV infection and is associated with low CD4+ T cell levels and high plasma viral loads. It is sometimes seen as the first sign of the onset of AIDS. Prevalence is between 10-20% in Western countries and has only been seen in 1-2% of India based infections. With the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), the frequency of ADC has declined in developed countries. HAART may not only prevent or delay the onset of ADC in people with HIV infection, it can also improve mental function in people who already have ADC.
Dementia only exists when neurocognitive impairment in the patient is severe enough to interfere markedly with day-to-day function. That is, the patient is typically unable to work and may not be able to take care of him or herself. Before this, the patient is said to have a mild neurocognitive disorder.
- Marked acquired impairment of at least two ability domains of cognitive function (e.g. memory, attention): typically, the impairment is in multiple domains, especially in learning, information processing and concentration/attention. The cognitive impairment is ascertained by medical history, mental status examination or neuropsychological testing.
- Cognitive impairments identified in 1. interfere markedly with day-to-day functioning.
- Cognitive impairments identified in 1. are present for at least one month.
- Cognitive impairments identified in 1. do not meet the criteria for delirium, or if delirium is present, dementia was diagnosed when delirium was not present.
- No evidence of another, pre-existing aetiology that could explain the dementia (e.g. another CNS infection, CNS neoplasm, cerebrovascular disease, pre-existing neurological disease, severe substance abuse compatible with CNS disorder.
While the progression of dysfunction is variable, it is regarded as a serious complication and, untreated, can progress to a fatal outcome. Diagnosis is made by neurologists who carefully rule out alternative diagnoses. This routinely requires a careful neurological examination, brain scans (MRI or CT scan) and a lumbar puncture to evaluate the cerebrospinal fluid. No single test is available to confirm the diagnosis, but the constellation of history, laboratory findings, and examination can reliably establish the diagnosis when performed by experienced clinicians. The amount of virus in the brain does not correlate well with the degree of dementia, suggesting that secondary mechanisms are also important in the manifestation of ADC.
AIDS Dementia Complex (ADC) is not a true opportunistic infection. It is one of the few conditions caused directly by HIV itself. But it is not quite as simple as that because the central nervous system can be damaged by a number of other causes:
- opportunistic infections - there are many
- Primary cerebral lymphoma or metastasis of other AIDS-related cancers
- direct effects of HIV in the brain
- toxic effects of drug treatments
Many researchers believe that HIV damages the vital brain cells, neurons, indirectly. According to one theory, HIV either infects or activates cells that nurture and maintain the brain, known as macrophages and microglia. These cells then produce toxins that can set off a series of reactions that instruct neurons to kill themselves. The infected macrophages and microglia also appear to produce additional factors chemokines and cytokines - that can affect neurons as well as other brain cells known as astrocytes. The affected astrocytes, which normally nurture and protect neurons, also may now end up harming neurons. Researchers hope that new drugs under investigation will interfere with the detrimental cycle and prevent neuron death.
ADC stage characteristicsEdit
- Stage 0 (Normal) Normal Mental and Motor Function
- Stage 0.5 (Subclinical) Minimal symptoms of cognitive or motor dysfunction characteristic of ADC, or mild signs (snout response, slowed extremity movements), but without impairment of work or capacity to perform activities of daily living (ADL). Gait and strength are normal.
- Stage 1 (Mild) Evidence of functional intellectual or motor impairment characteristic of ADC, but able to perform all but the more demanding aspects of work or ADL. Can walk without assistance.
- Stage 2 (Moderate) Cannot work or maintain the more demanding aspects of daily life, but able to perform basic activities of self care. Ambulatory, but may require a single prop.
- Stage 3 (Severe) Major intellectual incapacity - cannot follow news or personal events, cannot sustain complex conversation, considerable slowing of all output. And/or motor disability - cannot walk unassisted, requiring walker or personal support, usually with slowing and clumsiness of arms as well.
- Stage 4 (End Stage) Nearly vegetative. Intellectual and social comprehension and responses are at a rudimentary level. Nearly or absolutely mute. Paraparetic or paraplegic with double incontinence.
References and notesEdit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gray, F., Adle-Biassette, H., Chrétien, F., Lorin de la Grandmaison, G., Force, G., Keohane, C. (2001). Neuropathology and neurodegeneration in human immunodeficiency virus infection. Pathogenesis of HIV-induced lesions of the brain, correlations with HIV-associated disorders and modifications according to treatments. Clin. Neuropathol. 20 (4): 146-155. PMID 11495003.
- ↑ Adle-Biassette, H., Lévy, Y., Colombel, M., Poron, F., Natchev, S., Keohane, C. and Gray, F. (1995). Neuronal apoptosis in HIV infection in adults. Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol. 21 (3): 218-227. PMID 7477730.
- ↑ Grant, I., Sacktor, H., and McArthur, J. (2005). "HIV neurocognitive disorders" H. E. Gendelman, I. Grant, I. Everall, S. A. Lipton, and S. Swindells. (ed.) The Neurology of AIDS, 2nd, 357-373, London, U.K.: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852610-5.
- ↑ Satishchandra, P., Nalini, A., Gourie-Devi, M., Khanna, N., Santosh, V., Ravi, V., Desai, A., Chandramuki, A., Jayakumar, P. N., and Shankar, S. K. (2000). Profile of neurologic disorders associated with HIV/AIDS from Bangalore, south India (1989-96). Indian J. Med. Res. 11: 14-23. PMID 10793489.
- ↑ Wadia, R. S., Pujari, S. N., Kothari, S., Udhar, M., Kulkarni, S., Bhagat, S., and Nanivadekar, A. (2001). Neurological manifestations of HIV disease. J. Assoc. Physicians India 49: 343-348. PMID 11291974.
- ↑ Grant, I., Atkinson, J. (1995). "Psychiatric aspects of acquired immune deficiency syndrome." Kaplan, H.I. and Sadock, B.J. (ed.) Comprehensive textbook of psychiatry, VI, (Vol.2, Sect. 29.2) 1644-1669, Baltimore, MD: Williams and Wilkins. ISBN 0-683-04532-6.
- Price, R.W. (1998). AIDS Dementia Complex. University of California San Francisco. URL accessed on 2006-04-06.
HIV/AIDS related topics
HIV · AIDS · HIV structure and genome · HIV test · CDC Classification System for HIV Infection · HIV disease progression rates · HIV vaccine · WHO Disease Staging System for HIV Infection and Disease · AIDS dementia complex · Antiretroviral drug · Tuberculosis (coinfection)
International AIDS Conference · International AIDS Society · World AIDS Day · Treatment Action Campaign · UNAIDS · PEPFAR · NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt · HIV and AIDS misconceptions · List of HIV-positive people · People With AIDS Self-Empowerment Movement · HIV–positive fictional characters
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Breakfast Sweet and savory breakfast selections including the classic French Croissant Doughnut, a meat and cheese platter with baguette, and vegetable quiche. Also includes assorted pastries served table-side. Lunch Tuna Nicoise salad; Croque Monsieur; carved turkey sandwich; roast beef sandwich; braised pork with bacon-mashed potatoes; veggie quiche; quinoa salad. Kids meals include carved turkey sandwich, pulled pork, a tasty meatloaf, or pasta with marinara sauce.
Dinner: Pan-seared salmon on leek fondue; New York strip.
Breakfast $19.99 (children's $11.99). Lunch $9–$13.50 (child $6.99–$8.50), dinner $16–$30 (child $8.59–$10.59).
For all meals, you'll want to make reservations 180 days in advance. You'll need to use a credit card to guarantee your reservation, and there's a $10 per person no-show fee if you don't show up or cancel within 24 hours. (Note that this is the only quick-service meal at Walt Disney World that accepts reservations.)
Breakfast and Lunch
Even for breakfast and lunch, reservations are required to dine at Be Our Guest.
For the counter service breakfast and lunch, touch-screen, automated terminals (like you can find at Contempo Cafe) are available for guests to customize their orders. To skip this step at lunch, guests with reservations may instead order their food up to 30 days in advance via the My Disney Experience app or website. For special dietary requests and cash orders, cashiers are available.
After placing your order, you’ll sit down, and your order will be delivered to you on real tableware — no paper and plastic around here. Guests who have eaten at Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney will understand the process here. You retrieve your own silverware and fill your own beverage cups.
Popularity does not wane come evening. If you can't get a dinner reservation, check in person when the park opens for any same-day cancellations, though you may need a certain party size to fill a vacant table.
Dinner is a table service meal and requires a credit card guarantee. While not a character meal, per se, Beast visits the dining room and is available for photos.
Walk-Through Video of Be Our Guest
Setting and Atmosphere
Be Our Guest is one of the best restaurants in the Magic Kingdom. In fact, Be Our Guest is one of our top recommendations for lunch in any Disney theme park, and worth a special trip to the Magic Kingdom just for the experience. We also recommend Be Our Guest as a less-expensive, easier-to-reserve alternative to Cinderella's Royal Table. If we were in Cinderella's slippers, we'd be considering a call for help to those "restaurant renovation" reality shows.
Inside Be Our Guest are three separate dining areas, themed after the ballroom, Rose Gallery, and West Wing from Disney's animated film Beauty and the Beast.
Located along the back border of Fantasyland, the restaurant is set deep inside a faux rock wall which serves as the base of Beast's castle. In fact, the restaurant is so far back inside the Magic Kingdom that there are no windows to the outside world in any of the three dining rooms, because the view from them would be of the park's otherwise hidden infrastructure. The lack of windows makes the dining rooms dark, especially the West Wing room. As in the movie, Beast's enchanted rose appears in the West Wing, not in the dining room named "Rose Gallery."
For dinner, try the pan-seared salmon on leek fondue, or the New York strip.
Our favorite lunch selections are the seared tuna Niçoise salad and the Croque Monsieur sandwich. The tuna is peppered slightly and set on a bed of greens with chilled green beans, potatoes, olives, peppers, and tomatoes, and topped with a hard poached egg. The Croque Monsieur sandwich is a grown-up version of grilled ham and cheese, with carved ham, Gruyere cheese, béchamel and pommes frites (french fries).
The lunch menu also includes a carved turkey sandwich on warm baguette with Dijon mayonnaise; and a roast beef sandwich with horseradish spread. These are also served with fries. A braised pork dish, with bacon and vegetable mashed potatoes, rounds out the carnivore section of the menu. Vegetarians will enjoy a loaded vegetable quiche. We found it a little too "eggy" for our tastes; others liked it for that reason. The other options is a quinoa, shallot, and chive salad, which is vegan, and is the best non-meat choice on the menu.
For the kids at lunch, look for a carved turkey sandwich, roasted pulled pork, Mickey meatloaf, seared mahi mahi, or whole-grain macaroni topped with marinara and mozzarella. Of these, the Mickey meatloaf is the best, while the mahi seems dry every time we've tried it. Also note that the portions on the kids' meals are large enough to satisfy many adults.
Table Service Dinner
The big surprise at dinner is that you can order wine and beer with your meal, because Be Our Guest is the first Magic Kingdom restaurant to serve alcohol. The wines are from France and California, and can be ordered by the glass or bottle. If you're feeling festive, champagne is available too (by the bottle only). Beers are from Belgium and France.
Appetizers include a charcuterie plate with cured meats and sausages; mussels steamed in white wine; French onion or potato leek soup, and a salad with champagne vinaigrette. Vegetarians and vegans will enjoy the salad trio with roasted beet, raisins, and orange; green beans, tomatoes, and roasted shallots; and watermelon, radish, and mint. Our favorite is the potato leek soup.
Main course options include a thyme-scented pork rack chop with au gratin pasta; rotisserie rock hen with roasted fingerling potatoes; pan-seared salmon in leek fondue; grilled strip steak with pommes frites; sautéed shrimp and scallops with veggies in puff pastry with creamy lobster sauce; and an oven-baked, vegetarian ratatouille.
Of these, the shrimp and scallops in puff pastry gets the most positive comments from diners. The pork rack chop is also a hit, though not quite as good as the pork chop at the Studios' Hollywood Brown Derby.
The strip steak is hit or miss, depending on the quality of the beef. Some nights it's chewier than you'd expect from a $30 cut of meat, other times it's fine. The ratatouille incorporates the quinoa salad from lunch, and, according to our staff vegans, could use more vegetables.
For dessert at lunch or dinner, enjoy strawberry cream cheese, lemon meringue, or triple chocolate cupcakes, a chocolate cream puff, or a passion fruit cream puff. Our favorites are the strawberry cream cheese cupcake and the lemon meringue cupcake. Vegans can request sorbet.
For kids at dinner, it’s grilled steak, grilled fish of the day, whole-grain macaroni, or grilled chicken breast.
Related blogs: SATURDAY SIX: Six Reasons We Love Be Our Guest
- Adult Breakfast
- Kids Breakfast
- Lunch Menu (has snacks)
- Dinner Menu
- Kid's Dinner Menu (has snacks)
- Kids' Lunch Menu
Requires Credit Card to Reserve:
Requires Pre-payment in Full: No
|Type||Discount||Valid Weekdays||Valid Meals|
|Tables in Wonderland||20%||All||Dinner only|
Disney Dining Plan
Requires 1 credit
|When to go||Breakfast, lunch or dinner|
|Parking||Magic Kingdom lot|
|Bar||Wine and beer only.|
|Wine||Solid wine list that’s mostly French to match the restaurant’s theming—from sparkling starters to a sweet Sauternes. A handful of popular California vintages are on the list.|
|Lunch Hours||10:30am to 2:30pm (Counter Service)|
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Egypt's President Morsi Is Ousted From Power By Military
A huge celebration has begun in Egypt's Tahrir Square, after army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi proclaimed that Mohammed Morsi is out as president and the country's constitution has been suspended. The new plan calls for Egypt's chief justice to lead an interim government and set a date for early presidential elections.
The military announced the transition in a TV broadcast in which al-Sisi was accompanied by Mohamed ElBaradei, the leader of the liberal opposition to Morsi, as well as the imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque and the pope of the Coptic Church. Members of the youth group that led the charge against Morsi also attended.
Mass protests that have persisted since Sunday prompted Egypt's military to replace Morsi, who was democratically elected last year. The military had set a deadline of today for Morsi to come to a compromise agreement with his opponents. Instead, he remained defiant, insisting he would not resign.
As NPR's Parallels blog explains, "Egypt's military has played a dominant role in the country since a 1952 coup."
The coup led the U.S. State Department to warn U.S. citizens today "to defer travel to Egypt and U.S. citizens living in Egypt to depart at this time because of the continuing political and social unrest."
We're continuing to follow developments in the story.
Morsi and his supporters said earlier that they saw the army's demand as a de facto threat of a coup. On Morning Edition, NPR's Cairo bureau chief Leila Fadel said Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters had vowed to "face a coup with martyrdom."
The anti-Morsi protesters who flooded Egyptian cities' streets in recent days said they wouldn't stop until the president resigned, Leila reported. Among the things fueling the protesters' discontent: the country's deep economic problems.
The military, meanwhile, has said it will "sacrifice even our blood for Egypt and its people, to defend them against any terrorist, radical or fool."
Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood party, said Morsi was under house arrest at a Presidential Guard facility where he had been residing, and 12 presidential aides also were under house arrest, according to The Associated Press.
News outlets that are live blogging include:
-- The Guardian
-- BBC News
A related post on the Parallels blog: "Who's Who In The Egyptian Crisis."
All Things Considered also talked with NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Abdul Mawgoud Rageh Dardery about some of the questions surrounding Wednesday's coup.
Egypt's military must preserve the rights and safety of its citizens, President Obama says, in a statement issued Wednesday in which he called the situation in Egypt "very fluid."
"The voices of all those who have protested peacefully must be heard — including those who welcomed today's developments, and those who have supported President Morsy," Obama said. "In the interim, I urge all sides to avoid violence and come together to ensure the lasting restoration of Egypt's democracy."
The president also said he has order a review of the ouster's "implications under U.S. law for our assistance to the Government of Egypt."
We've put the president's full statement in another post.
Update at 6:30 p.m. ET: Travel Warning Issued For Egypt
The State Department this afternoon warned U.S. citizens "to defer travel to Egypt and U.S. citizens living in Egypt to depart at this time because of the continuing political and social unrest."
Announcing the Travel Warning, the State Department added that it has ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave Egypt.
Update at 5:30 p.m. ET: No U.S. Aid After Coup, Leahy Says
The question of how the U.S. might adjust its political and financial dealings with Egypt could be a difficult one.
While acknowledging that Morsi's government "has been a great disappointment to the people of Egypt," Sen. Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Budget Committee for the State Department and Foreign Assistance, stated today that U.S. funds cannot continue after a coup.
In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Leahy says he hopes the military keeps its promise to allow civilians to govern the country. But he also said that "our law is clear: U.S. aid is cut off when a democratically elected government is deposed by military coup or decree."
While saying his committee would wait to see how things develop in Egypt, Leahy added, "As the world's oldest democracy, this is a time to reaffirm our commitment to the principle that transfers of power should be by the ballot, not by force of arms."
When the State Department outlined U.S. policy after a coup took place in Fiji in 2006, it said that while providing military and peacekeeping aid was forbidden, some aid could continue, "such as programs that deal with environmental issues, health issues such as HIV/AIDS and avian flu, counterproliferation, supporting refugees and support to non governmental organizations (NGOs)."
Update at 4:05 p.m. ET: Calling It A 'Coup'
Morsi's ouster may present a prickly situation to the U.S. government, reports NPR's Michele Kelemen, who notes that U.S. officials might hesitate to call the incident a coup.
"The U.S. would have to cut off aid to Egypt's military if it does determine this was a coup," Michele reports. She cites today's daily briefing at the State Department:
"Spokesperson Jen Psaki was asked to spell out the department's definition of a coup. She would only say, 'I'm happy to get you that, but I wouldn't ascribe, you know, specific words. Each scenario is different. And if you need our specific, formal, government definition, we'll get that around to everybody.' "
As for reaction elsewhere in Washington, the White House says Obama "is being updated by the National Security Staff" on the situation in Egypt, NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
Update at 3:45 p.m. ET: Morsi Rejects Coup, Urges Peace
Mohammed Morsi is using his official presidential Twitter account to respond to his removal from power by Egypt's military, which he says "represent a full coup categorically rejected by all the free men of our nation."
Morsi says the move "turns Egypt backwards."
But Morsi also"urges everyone to adhere to peacefulness and avoid shedding blood of fellow countrymen," according a tweet posted just before 3:40 p.m. ET.
Update at 3:15 p.m. ET: Morsi Is Out, Military Says
Military chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says Morsi is out as president and that the country's constitution has been suspended. Egypt's chief justice will hold power during the transitional period and set a date for early presidential elections.
As the news spread, massive crowds gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted in celebration.
Update at 2:35 p.m. ET: Egypt's New 'Roadmap' To Be Announced:
A new political "roadmap" for Egypt's shift from President Mohammed Morsi's rule to an interim government will be announced shortly, reports the Middle East News Agency, the official state agency. As of now, there has been no public reaction from Morsi and his party, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egyptian state radio said that the transition plan is expected to be announced within an hour by Mohamed ElBaradei, the leader of the liberal opposition to Morsi, along with two clerics: the imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque and the pope of the Coptic Church. Members of the military and of the youth group that has led the charge against Morsi are also expected to attend.
Reuters reports that the plan, backed by Egypt's military, calls for new presidential and parliamentary elections, after an interim rule. Citing the army's Facebook page, Reuters says the army chief met with political and religious leaders Wednesday evening.
Update at 2 p.m. ET: U.S. Sides With The People, State Dept. Says
Insisting that the U.S. will not take sides in Egypt's conflict, U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki says, "We're on the side of the Egyptian people."
Psaki told reporters at today's daily news briefing that all sides of the clashes in Egypt need to listen to one another, and to the Egyptian public. She also said the U.S. is monitoring events closely, saying officials are "very concerned."
On Tuesday, Psaki said, "The reports that we have been urging early elections are inaccurate."
Following up on the reports that Morsi has been banned from traveling, Egyptian State TV is saying that all charter flights have been grounded — which would effectively bar travel by any officials.
Meanwhile, troops and equipment have been seen moving toward places in Cairo where Morsi's supporters have gathered and Reuters says "barbed wire [and] barriers" have been put around the "barracks where President Morsi [is] working. The wire service adds that the army says it is "securing the area only."
"A senior adviser to the president says an ultimatum was given to Morsi" by the military, NPR's Leila Fadel reports from Cairo. He was reportedly told: "resign or else." That adviser also tells Leila that Morsi refused. Note: The army has not commented on such reports and it's worth noting that the account is coming from the Morsi camp, which has an incentive to try to shape the story's narrative.
Meanwhile, The Associated Press is now reporting — as The New York Times' David Kirkpatrick did earlier — that the military has banned Morsi from traveling.
"For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let's call what is happening by its real name: Military coup," writes Essam al-Haddad, Morsi's assistant for foreign relations and international cooperation, on his Facebook page.
Those may be among "the last lines I get to post on this page," he also says.
From Cairo, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson sends us an English translation of the statement from Morsi.
In a statement on his official website, Morsi "remains defiant," The Guardian writes, but also suggests there could be a transition plan "based on constitutional legitimacy" (according to Al-Jazeera's translation).
"Egypt's military leadership has confirmed it has held talks with opposition figures and senior clerics, and that it will make a statement after the meeting," The Guardian writes.
Al-Jazeera is among several news outlets streaming live reports.
The Egyptian president believes it would be better to defend Egypt's democracy and die "standing like a tree" than to step aside, spokesman Ayman Ali has told Reuters.
According to Reuters, "Egyptian liberal opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei met army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday, two political sources said, hours before an army deadline for Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to yield to mass protests or quit. ... 'In the meeting, ElBaradei will urge the armed forces to intervene to stop the bloodshed,' one opposition source said."
ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. | <urn:uuid:d8bccc27-3dfc-4fca-9a18-978c13162eca> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://wesa.fm/post/showdown-egypt-wednesdays-developments | 2015-03-29T00:37:23Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298015.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00240-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968017 | 2,393 |
A Blaze of Crimson Ch. 03byTripwire©
She clenched the card hard in her tiny fist. Valerie staggered, wobbled just a bit. Looking down, she noticed her shoes were on her feet. A tiny giggle surfaced that threatened to turn into laughing crying fit. "When did I put those back on?" She must have been on auto-pilot, like road hypnosis. Again a tiny little laugh. Valerie leaned back, resting for a moment against a brick wall. Like standing on the edge of a cliff, what did he do to her? Yuri had said he had taken everything from her. Right now, she believed him. Like a dried up piece of fruit, despite or perhaps because of this she wanted to shriek out in laughter, so loud that it would shatter the world around her. The card clenched between her fingers brought her back from the edge.
"Valerie, right?" She looked up from the plastic black card in her hand. Tom was there leaning against a black Bentley. "Want to know about that?" Tom glanced meaningfully down at the card in her hand. She nodded. "Get in and I will drive you home." Valerie shook her head.
"Just tell me about this," she stared down at the ground.
"I will, get in the car. I don't feel like dealing with the dregs tonight." Valerie turned to walk away. "Get in the car," a pause, "please." A small victory, a smile crept across her lips, and then vanished before turning to face him. Tom opened the Bentley's passenger side door, the smell of oranges and almonds drifted out of the sedan. She got in, the leather seat seemed to envelope her, and for a split second she imagined she heard a woman's voice laughing from behind her. Tom closed the door, the smell of almonds and oranges vanished with the door closing as did the laughter. Valerie watched, as Tom slowly walked around the Bentley once, and picked up something off of the hood. The briefest of smiles broke across his face, as he tossed the cigarette butt into the street.
He climbed into the car and started the engine and started to pull away from the curb. Valerie glanced down at the thin black and silver plastic card in her hand.
"What does it mean?" The card had a shield emblem embossed with a wolf's head and a broom, an old one made of tied straw.
"It means you are Yuri's bitch." Valerie glared up at him. He held up a similar card to hers in his hand. However, Tom's had a small green emerald mounted on his. "He likes to call us his Oprichniki. We are under his protection, and do what we are told." Tom's voice was tinted with sadness, as he spoke his eyes occasionally glancing over at her. Valerie imagined she could hear his heart beat once filling the Bentley, with a heavy thud. Valerie stifled a yawn. She was tired, worn out. Again the thump, like a drum beat the vibrations seemed to pour out of Tom like energy caressing her. Tom's voice seemed to be a thousand miles away. "So besides being his toy, what else does Yuri see in you?"
"I don't know," Her lips pulled back in a sleepy smile, her eyes drifted close another heart beat seemed to rock her gently back and forth.
"Valerie? Valerie?" Tom was shaking her awake.
"Hmms?" She resisted the urge to smile up at him. She could see through bleary eyes her apartment building through the front windshield. She unlocked her apartment door. Vague thoughts, snippets of conversation floated up to the surface of her mind. Tom had asked her a lot of questions, on the drive home, and she had answered them? A small smile broke on her lips, but she had answered them all like a good girl. "Where the hell did that come from?" She muttered and kicked off her shoes. "Why can't I remember what Tom had asked me?" A flush came to her cheeks, as the memories of what happened a few hours ago came rushing back. A little moan floated up and out between barley parted lips. Her legs were weak, and Valerie half fell and sat down on her little brown couch. Leaning back, sinking deeper into the cushions. Her fingertips tugging at the hem of her skirt, Yuri's dark eyes floated in her thoughts. The smell of grass in her nose. Her skirt rose higher, the material rough against her thighs. Valerie tilted her head back, her dark hair pooling around her head a shadowy halo. She closed her eyes to better see Yuri's black ones, shining black swallowing her up. Her fingers pulled her white panties to one side. He was there in the room with her now, at this moment she was back in the restaurant on her knees, back under the stars Yuri on top, his teeth at her throat. Pausing in playing with her wet clit to reach up and pinch her throat hard making his bite mark tingle, making it pulse in time with her up and down strokes. Slick, wet, faster her fingers flicked caressed. Her head tilting further back, legs spreading open, her pussy open, like her mouth was silently screaming. What had Yuri done to her? The thought flickered through her mind just before the orgasm caused her thighs to slam shut trapping her hand. Like a burning out light bulb her mind flashed, then slowly faded to black, her consciousness fading out with it.
The smell of bacon woke her. Valerie started up, her head ached, and she was on her couch covered with a quilt. The clinking of metal pans and the sound of something frying in the kitchen. Her eyes widened, who the hell was here? The moment of panic replaced with one of embarrassment, whom ever was here must have seen her passed out on the couch.
"Who's there?" A blonde haired woman stuck her head out from the kitchen.
"Tom sent me over." Valerie pushed the hair out of her eyes. "Your, Kathy?" The blonde raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, " she glanced away and slipped back into the kitchen. "I hope you like bacon and eggs; there wasn't much in your refrig to work with." The sound of a spatula on a metal pan and more frying.
"That's fine, umm this morning when you came in umm" Valerie struggled trying to ask what condition she was in.
"Don't worry; I didn't see anything just covered you up with a quilt off your bed." An amused tone twinkled in her voice. "What did you think about the Teal Station?" Valerie breathed a bit easier, Kathy might have been lying, no she was lying, but being polite and changing the subject.
"It was like an English tea garden, but indoors." Valerie wrapped the quilt around herself. She could smell toast, her stomach grumbled.
"That's what Stephanie...the owner wanted." Kathy came out of the kitchen carrying a plate covered in scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. She placed it on the table. "But that was another life now." She quickly returned with a glass of juice and milk. "You better hurry up eat and get ready, Tom will be over to pick us up in about half an hour or so." Kathy leaned against the kitchen door jam. Valerie half walked and staggered to the table. The eggs were delicious and soon gone followed by the bacon and toast.
"Was, Stephanie a.." Valerie hesitantly asked not sure how Kathy would react to her bringing up the subject.
"Yes, she was." Kathy seemed to suddenly become very interested in staring at the floor. Valerie dropped the subject. Tom scared her, and if this was a forbidden topic, she didn't want Tom mad. Or even worse, Valerie shuddered; Yuri might think she wasn't worth his time. She glanced over at Kathy; her green eyes were on her appraising her.
"Valerie you don't want to know what they can do to you when they are angry." She forced a smile to her lips. "Right now," Kathy continued to speak her voice small meek her eyes now staring at the table top. "You are wondering why you are thinking first about pleasing them. Why does their wants and needs even matter?" Kathy seemed to be talking to herself. "Then the bite tingles or burns and their eyes." Kathy's voice grew wistful. She shook her head breaking the reverie. "But that is another life; none of them will even look at me now."
"Others?" Valerie felt her throat tighten. Tom had said they were all just Yuri's bitches. That they were under his protection. A loud knock on door shook her up and out of her thoughts. Kathy jumped and suddenly looked small and weak.
"Tom is here." She walked to open the door. Tom scared Kathy.
"Hell, he scares me too." Valerie heard the little voice in her head speak up. Something clicked in her head. Kathy opened the door, Tom stepped in, and glanced around for a second surveying the room.
"Change, and don't forget your card. Kathy?" The blonde girl shuddered.
"I am sorry, Tom." She refused to look him in the face. The scary Tom was here the one she saw last night casually talking about whether or not to kill Kathy with Yuri. With a voice almost grey from lack of emotion.
"Yuri gave you to me last night." Valerie saw a tear run down Kathy's cheek. "You can live. As long as you are still useful to me. " Kathy nodded. " I want you to go to the library and talk with Rich." Kathy picked up her purse and left without another word. After she was gone, Tom turned to look at her. Valerie for a split second she thought she heard a woman laughter, the smell of oranges and almonds again this time filling her apartment. "We have things to do." | <urn:uuid:781a5cb8-7162-428a-99e3-3e5e32bfa9f7> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.literotica.com/s/a-blaze-of-crimson-ch-03 | 2015-03-29T00:14:37Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298015.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00240-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986827 | 2,091 |
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Terms and Conditions
7 August 2013
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Sights & Sounds – July 17Published Jul 17, 2013 at 7:20 am (Updated Jul 12, 2013 at 4:53 pm)
Whiskey Rebellion event
Woodville Plantation, Bridgeville, will hold a special weekend event July 20 and 21 to commemorate the anniversary of the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794.
Events will take place 3-6 p.m. July 20 and noon-5 p.m. July 21 at the living history museum.
On Saturday, Woodville and The Scott Conservancy will present the Fourth Annual Encampment and History Walk on Bower Hill, the site of the beginning of the Whiskey Rebellion. Interpreters will discuss and re-create the fateful events, and activities will include an encampment along the Tom the Tinker Trail, cooking demonstrations, musket firings and tactical demonstrations. At 3 p.m., a history walk will begin at the PA State Historical Marker on Bower Hill (near Kane Regional Center) and end at the Whiskey Point Trailhead. The walk covers approximately one mile. Topics covered include the Battle of Bower Hill, the participants of the battle and the Whiskey Rebellion. The walk is free and reservations are not required.
Sunday is Whiskey Rebellion Day, with interpreters portraying the troops as they make camp at Woodville to defended John Neville’s property. Learn what camp life was like and participate with the soldiers as they march and drill. Activities include battle reenactments, musket firing, music demonstrations, marching and ceremonial drills. Learn 18th century cooking techniques as Woodville’s cooks prepare dinner for the encamped troops. Visit with rebels encamped at the site and discuss the other side of the insurrection. Special admission price is $5 per person, and children under age 6 are free.
For more information, visit call 412-221-0348 or visit www.woodvilleplantation.org.
The Old Schoolhouse Players will present “Annie” July 19-28 at the Mt. Pleasant Twp. Community Center. Performances are set for 7:30 p.m. July 19, 20, 26, 27 and 3 p.m. July 21 and 28. For tickets, call 724-344-7467.
Solar Concert Series
The Sixth Annual Solar Concert Series – a project of SLB Radio Productions, Inc., the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and the New Hazlett Theater – will feature live music performances powered by a solar-energy sound system at Buhl Community Park at Allegheny Square, in front of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Open to all ages, concerts take place from 12:15-1 p.m. Wednesdays in July and August.
Pittsburgh’s first green concert series will feature a diverse lineup of acoustic-based performances by emerging and established local musicians, including: The Squirrel Hillbillies (acoustic country and folk), July 24; Mark Dignam (original contemporary Irish and folk), July 31; The Josh & Gab Show (anti-bullying kid rock), Aug. 7; Members of Timbeleza (Brazilian batacuda drumming), Aug. 14; The Flow Band (reggae), Aug. 21; Crusic Percussion (percussion ensemble), Aug. 28.
For more information, visit: www.solarconcertseries.org.
The Meadows Racetrack & Casino announce its entertainment line-up for July with a mix of national and local performers. All shows are free admission.
• Silks Lounge – shows begin at 8 p.m.: Tony Janflone Jr. (variety/blues), July 19; No Bad JuJu (dance/variety), July 20; Smoke n Guns (Nashville chicks), July 26-27.
• Pacers Lounge: AJ Fresh and a country artist battle it out, 9 p.m. Fridays in July; AJ Fresh and his Fresh Girl-Club Music, 9 p.m. Saturdays in July.
For more information, visit www.meadowsgaming.com.
3rd Street Gallery, Carnegie, presents Frank Cunimondo & Patricia Skala in concert at 3 p.m. July 21. The concert will combine jazz, salsa and Brazilian-style music. Cost is $15.
Johnstonbaugh’s Music Centers, Bridgeville, will hold its Second Annual Ensemble Camp Concert at 7 p.m. July 27 at the Bridgeville Public Library.
The concert will feature the Woodwind Chamber Ensemble under the direction of Suzanne Levinson, and the Brass Ensemble under the direction of Ryan Wolf.
More than 40 elementary, middle and high school musicians from Chartiers Valley, South Fayette, Mt. Lebanon, Canon-McMillan, Carlynton, Upper St. Clair, West Allegheny, Keystone Oaks, West Jefferson Hills and St. Thomas More will perform.
The Woodwind Chamber Ensemble, consisting of two flutes and an oboe, will perform an eclectic mix of classical and modern popular music.
The Brass Ensemble will present Brass Camp: Los Bronces Latinos. Selections include music from “The Mask of Zorro,” hits by Carlos Santana, Latin tunes from Bernstein’s “West Side Story,” and Chick Correa’s jazz fusion piece, “La Fiesta.”
The concert is free and open to the public.
The Hollywood Theater’s July schedule, includes the return of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight on July 27. This is a special 35 mm screening and will include the Junior Chamber of Commerce Players, Pittsburgh’s official Rocky Horror floorshow cast. Get tickets at www.showclix.com/event/rockyhorrorjuly2013. Other events include:
• “Informant,” 7:30 p.m. July 18. Documentary.
• Breakfast and a Movie – “Rebel Without a Cause (1955),” 11 a.m. July 21. The light breakfast begins at 11 and the movie starts at 11:30. Tickets are $15 at the theater during regular operating hours and at www.showclix.com/event/breakfastandamoviejuly2013. Breakfast tickets must be purchased by July 18, or purchase movie tickets only for $7 at the door. “Rebel Without a Cause” screens again at 4 p.m. July 21, and it will be the Hollywood’s July Senior Movie Matinee showing at 2 p.m. July 25. Tickets for the senior matinee are $5 for all.
• “Broken,” 10 p.m. July 19; 9 p.m. July 29; 7 p.m. July 21. A brutal attack happens on a quiet avenue with a devastating impact on three families. The Sunday viewing is free to Hollywood Theater members.
• 48 Hour Film Project, 1 p.m. July 20 and 7 p.m. July 28. Both are $8 general admission, $6 students/kids/seniors.
• “The Artist and the Model,” 7:30 p.m. July 24. This new French-language Spanish drama takes place during the summer of 1943 in an occupied France.
Sign up at gathr.us/series/dormont-previews for a membership that costs $19 for a month or $49 for three months, for a savings off of the regular box office price, or pay the regular price of $7 at the door for any movie.
Call 412-563-0368 or check the Hollywood’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/HollywoodTheaterDormont) and website (www.thehollywooddormont.org) for updates.
Pittsburgh CLO will hold auditions for the staged reading of the new musical “Judge Jack Justice, The Trails of Love,” directed by Van Kaplan. Principal actors must be available Sept. 30-Oct. 5.
Needed are five actors who can sing well.
Auditioners can meet by appointment, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. July 27 at the CLO Academy. Callbacks will be made by July 28. Call or email to schedule an audition time. Auditioners should prepare two songs of their best material; one up-tempo and one ballad. Bring legible sheet music in the correct key. Applications can be downloaded from www.pittsburghclo.org or picked up at the audition. Requests for an audition appointment should be emailed to [email protected].
If email is not available, call 412-281-3973 ext. 234.
‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) South Campus Theatre presents the Tony award-winning musical “Fiddler on the Roof” at 8 p.m. Aug. 1-3 and 9-10. The production also includes a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Aug. 11.
Set in Tsarist Russia in the early 20th century, “Fiddler on the Roof” follows the compelling personal journey of a Jewish patriarch as he struggles to maintain his family ties and cultural and religious traditions amid an atmosphere of social upheaval and religious persecution.
Tickets are $10 and are available at the door or by calling 412-469-6219. The CCAC–South Campus Theatre is located at 1750 Clairton Road in West Mifflin.
The Heritage Players will hold auditions for the musical “Oliver!” at 7 p.m. Aug. 3 and 4 at the Schoolhouse Arts Center, Bethel Park. Seeking ages 10 and up. Must do cold readings from the script. Prepare a song of your choice. Performances will take place Oct. 11-13 and 18-20 at the Seton Center, Brookline.
The Heritage Players will present its annual “Summer Broadway Revue” at 7 p.m. Aug. 14 and 15 at the Castle Shannon Municipal Center. Admission is $5. Box office opens one half hour before curtain. For more information, call 412-254-4633 or visit www.heritageplayers.org.
Relay’s Got Talent
Relay For Life of Peters Township will host Relay’s Got Talent from 3-5 p.m. Aug. 3 at Peters Township High School. Categories are vocal music, instrumental music and dance. There are three age groups: grades four-eight in the 2012-2013 school year, high school students and adults.
Judging will be by a panel of local celebrities and prizes will be awarded following the competition. Entry fee is $5, a donation to Relay For Life.
Deadline to enter is July 19 and any music tracks needed must be submitted by July 28. The theme is Carnival for Relay for Life of Peters Township and activities begin at noon Aug. 3 at the high school with an opening ceremony. There will be live music, carnival-style family-friendly games and festival foods.
The luminaria ceremony, which honors survivors and those who lost their battle with cancer, begins at 9 p.m. Luminaria may be purchased at the luminaria tent the day of the relay for $10. Pinwheels that can hold up to six names honoring or remembering someone affected by cancer are available in advance at the luminaria tent for $20.
For more information about the pinwheels or luminaria, contact Rita Reo at 724-263-9329. For those interested in forming a team for the relay, supporting a team, or who need more information about the teams or the talent show, call Margie Smith at 724-222-6911 or visit www.relayforlife.org/papeterstwp.
Mt. Lebanon Recreation Department will offer a trip to “Noah the Musical” at the Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster on Oct. 12 for those 18 years of age and older.
Cost of $139 per person includes dinner, show and transportation.
Register by Aug. 26. Call 412-343-3409 for information. | <urn:uuid:4fbc774d-e8ba-48c7-8608-01baed1983cf> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.thealmanac.net/article/20130717/LIFESTYLES04/130719955/0/SPORTS0601 | 2015-03-30T17:59:53Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299515.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00064-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904837 | 2,559 |
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