Here's how and where you can celebrate 4/20 this year- the first one in post-legalized Canada.
Spring means it's time to get outside, enjoy nature and entertain. This is the first Canadian spring since legalization on October 17th and in honour of that we wanted to give you some tips and ideas for optimizing your ritual outside this spring.
The first day of spring is the perfect day to reward yourself with some amazing fresh lemon ripple cupcakes. A touch of cannabis in a scrumptious, beautiful little package.
Sugar and spice and everything nice? Well, maybe not, but if you have a sweet tooth, even out that sugar high by infusing it with cannabis!
There's something incredible about making your own alcohol-based infusion at home that can be really helpful to create your own medicine or to give an infused touch to other homemade recipes!
We're going the DIY route because it's important to know exactly what goes into your medication, and we love to create our own recipes!
What better way to say 'I love you' then with a heart-healthy cannabis chocolate chip cookie.
Perfect for your holiday events!!!


Frank says: "Developers who don't want to wait for the next JDeveloper 11g patch set to support IE 9, or developers who don't want to upgrade their application infrastructure to a new version of Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle JDeveloper 11g, however may consider running Internet Explorer 9 in IE8 or E7 compatibility or emulation mode."
Alex Andrianopoulos walks you through how Oracle Fusion Middleware has solutions to tackle the challenges of integrating Cloud SaaS applications with those in your data center.
Kellsey's post focuses on "the value of having multiple channels to access information securely using Oracle WebCenter."
Anthony says: "The Tax & Utilities Global Business Unit is pleased to announce the latest release of productized integration between Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing (CCB) and Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM) 3.1.1."
Jon Mead (of Rittman Mead Consulting) shares information on an upcoming OKOUG event.
Sten Vesterli: Should I use APEX or ADF?
Sten says: "The important discussion where to use APEX and where to use ADF tends to get bogged down in an unproductive argument about the relative merits of PL/SQL or Java."
Alex says: " If you are using Amazon EC2, you can have a fully working image with 64 bit Oracle Linux and Oracle 11g XE database running in a matter of few clicks and a minute to get the instance to boot."
"There's no doubt that Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) can greatly benefit organizations that are looking to improve on inefficiencies, waste, data sharing, and other critical tasks. But without a solid SOA maturity model in place, the process can yield tepid results."
Hey directors! Think your board has too much responsibility already? Guess what? You're probably going to get more. You're going to be asked to make sure your companies are prepared for attacks by hackers.


text:
August 23, 2017: Kickstarting the Conversation: Panelists Explore Obstacles to Providing Healthcare in Schools
August 1, 2017 April 27, 2018 Oregon Health Forum
Administrative rules, bureaucratic burdens and other obstacles mean Oregon is missing out on at least $40 million in healthcare reimbursements. At an Oregon Health Forum breakfast on Wednesday, policymakers and practitioners discussed solutions.
By Courtney Sherwood
Millions of education dollars are being spent delivering healthcare in Oregon classrooms – but schools can't bill private insurance when their nurses and staff administer insulin to a student or work with a child's complex medical needs. And administrative burdens make billing Medicaid a daunting process.
Policymakers, advocates and practitioners gathered at Portland's Multnomah Athletic Club on Wednesday morning to advance the conversation at "Bridging the Gap Between K-12 Education & Healthcare." The panel discussion and breakfast gathering was put on by the Oregon Health Forum, and moderated by Kelly Jensen, managing director of Compelling Reason Consultants. (The Oregon Health Forum is the educational branch of the The Lund Report.)
Though from diverse backgrounds, the panelists were unified in their support of efforts to boost Oregon's pursuit of federal Medicaid reimbursements by schools. The discussion came just as efforts by the state get underway to launch nine pilot projects aimed at boosting these reimbursements, a product of the recently ended legislative session.
The problem is dire, and the opportunities are great, said panelist Ely Sanders-Wilcox with the Oregon Department of Education.
"What a lot of us do is take it for granted that we have school nurses or somebody with medical knowledge in our schools," he said. "We really don't."
Instead, non-medical professionals are being required to care for children whose needs they are not trained to understand – the result of a $100 million gap between the need for nurses, and the funds to pay for them, Sanders Wilcox said.
"We're faced in Oregon with an ever-increasing need," he said. "We are seeing more and more chronic disease management, more and more students presenting with complex medical concerns, and less and less nurses in the schools."
State Rep. Julie Parrish, R- West Linn – who has drawn attention lately for backing an initiative effort to repeal recently passed healthcare taxes – said she supports the idea of boosting Medicaid funding in Oregon schools. She also wants to look for other ways to better integrate health and education systems, with students' and parents' needs in mind.
Before she ran for office, for several years Parrish routinely took one of her children out of school to a specialist for ongoing treatment – he missed school and she missed work as a result.
"Why aren't we just doing this in school?" Parrish asked. "Can't we just bill insurance and have this happen in the classroom? Think about all the parents who have to take sick days, or who don't have sick days?"
Other comments from Parrish:
"I'm hoping from a policymaker perspective this is the start of a dialog about how we tear down these walls"
"Can we have – particularly for kids with disabilities – have a medically based education. What does that look like?"
"What we are doing right now is absolutely not sustainable. We will go broke trying to deliver these types of services to kids"
Maureen Hinman, policy director of the Oregon School-Based Health Alliance, concurred with Parrish that many opportunities exist to bridge the education-healthcare gap.
"The opportunity that lies in providing healthcare in schools is immense. Just as education is a social determinant of health, so is health a social determinant of education, so to speak, and it is an equity issue, as well," Hinman said.
Yet federal healthcare and education privacy rules create special challenges that can make it especially difficult to merge these worlds, she said.
Hinman delivered four recommendations for policymakers:
Develop both local and state-level partnerships.
Insure on-site access to health services in every school.
Provide a healthy workforce environment – school personnel are also healthcare consumers.
Develop shared metrics across health and education systems.
Sandra Clark, population health director at FamilyCare Health, emphasized the importance of digging into policy in order to boost funding for at-school healthcare.
"We all understand children in our own lives as whole people. Just because we walk into a clinic and are labeled a patient, or we go to school and are labeled a student, the funding streams create these unnecessary boundaries," Clark said.
Those boundaries result in $40 million left on the table due to administrative burdens, she said – and it will take getting into the weeds of administrative rules and policy to solve this problem.
Dr. Lisa Bisgard, chief of pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente, said the effects of adverse childhood events on the rest of a person's life make it especially important to attend to health needs at a young age.
"We have so many opportunities to collaborate as a health and education system to help these children grow up and become healthy adults," she said. "The return on investment for children is a 15 to 20 year look."
Speaking last among the panelists, Beaverton School Nurse Kim Bartholomew described an urgent situation.
Bartholemew works part time, serving three schools with total population of about 2,800 students. As neonatal intensive care programs have improved, the share of students with disabilities and related health problems has climbed – yet fewer nurses are serving schools than a generation ago, she said.
Today's school districts find themselves caring for students in persistent vegetative states, with ostomy bag, with vagal nerve stimulators, with tracheostomies, catheters, in need of wound care and with a range of other complex medical situations. Nurses must attend to the most severe and complex, and delegate the rest, she said.
← August 23, 2017 – Bridging the Gap Between K-12 Education & Healthcare
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The Flower Chef of Girona
When I was invited to eat flowers on a recent trip to Costa Brava I really didn't know what to expect. Being a young lad from Northern England, eating flowers is something you just don't do. Curry, steak, sausage, beer (only in pints) and pies, it seems you can eat almost anything in the North but flowers is most certainly a no no.
With this upbringing I can honestly say that flowers have been used for birthdays, apologies and the odd Valentine's day. They have even made it onto the table, but only as a decorative feature - never an ingredient.
I had been told about the La Calendula restaurant and chef Iolanda Bustos on my trip to Girona. I'd been told how she was working her way through the flowers in the region to map out their flavors and cook them in her food. So, feeling like I had maybe missed out something during my sheltered upbringing, I was keen to try to her food.
Iolanda has been picking up quite a reputation in Girona for her weekly flower foraging trips and her exciting menus that incorporate local ingredients with wild flowers, herbs and whatever else she can get her hands on in the valleys of Costa Brava.
As she explained: "The restaurant was born three years ago specializing in flowers. I come from the fields and I'm a romantic girl. My family and I have always cooked with flowers but usually we did it for their medicinal characteristics.
"Now I use flowers in every recipe for example instead of pepper I use cappuccina - it's a flower that actually tastes a lot like pepper. I want people to remember encountering these flowers and the emotions they had when they taste my food."
Like her cod soup with the freshest green peas and sauco - rich and creamy with a zesty kick from the flower. Then there's her herb and mixed flower salad served with salmon and balsamic vinegar and her juicy duck served with a mint risotto and raspberries - what might be the boldest flavor combination ever tried, yet something that seems to work.
Each dish is trying to represent her region, artfully crafted and each with it's own story and meaning: "In Girona we are very lucky because we have a great variety of landscapes - I can get herbs from the sea, herbs from the woods, the valleys - I go three times a week. Monday, Wednesday and at least once a weekend. I go alone and get my inspiration in the field where it's quiet.
"When I pick the flowers in the field I think about the kitchen and the recipes I can create but when I'm in the kitchen cooking the dishes my head is always in the fields.
"I have taught myself about the flavors I have done a lot of botanical courses and have lots of botanical friends. I also learned it from my mother and grandmother - they have a little restaurant."
However, Grandma and Mum don't share her philosophy, Iolanda explained that they thought she was a little crazy when she said she was going to cook with flowers. "My mother says, 'Iolanda what are you doing with these flowers in the dish and in your restaurant? They're only for the us not for them, they do not want to pay for flowers you pick in the field'. She thought they had a poor reputation but now she sees it differently."
And so do the locals, when she first opened Iolanda admits that customers were often very surprised at the flowers on their plates. Especially when she told them they were for eating and not decoration. However, Iolanda is extremely passionate about the food she is cooking and claims to have a goal.
"I have a mission - I think that years ago people in Catalonia would eat herbs and flowers. We stopped because now we are very rich and we don't need to go to the fields to collect and the knowledge is lost. The grandmothers don't communicate to their sons and communication is broken.
"My mission is to get all the farmers and people who grow vegetables, the markets, vegetable growers to start producing flowers again. They used to do this years ago and I think it will happen one day, I'm an optimist. I write lots of articles, I have a book with all the plans on how people can use flowers. I'm very active and want people to learn more about flowers in food."
The work Iolanda is already doing in the kitchen is helping her mission, documenting all her findings in the hope of publishing them for other chefs to use. "I am doing a table for all the different tasting flowers - bitter, sweet, salt, spicy. This flower is like garlic etc. I am doing this at the moment and perhaps it will be available online."
This kind of work from a chef who has grown up and is cooking the food from her region is amicable and plays into the growing trend of chefs going out to discover what ingredients are available around them. Iolanda is on a mission and who knows, if she's successful, maybe one day we'll all be eating flowers.
Cookies with Edible Sugar Flowers


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Marlies Start 2016 the Way they Ended 2015
January 3rd, 2016 Corey Connolly Featured, Marlies 0 comments
The Marlies have started 2016 the same way they ended 2015…..with victory.
Yesterday afternoon at the Ricoh Coliseum, the Toronto Marlies started off the new year with a hard fought, and well earned 3-2 win versus the Syracuse Crunch.
Rob Madore entered the game with an undefeated record in his first two starts with the Toronto Marlies. With a war of attrition between the pipes, Madore is looking to establish himself as the Sheldon Keefe's go-to guy in the the Marlies net and one that the team has equal confidence in.
During the warmups it was easy to see there is zero love between the Marlies and the Crunch. Two times, the teams gathered at center ice with the hatred being very noticeable. A few times it appeared that things would boil over, with a couple of shoves and harsh words but all things calmed down before teams went back to their respective dressing rooms.
Marlies got behind the eight ball quickly in this game, going down 1-0 in the first period and looking outplayed until the second half of the opening stanza. The Toronto team, bounced back late in the period but couldnt convert any of their solid chances.
Thirteen ticks into the second period, Sammy Carrick tied the game on a great feed from Brendan Leipsic. Leipsic who was behind the Syracuse net, found a wide open Carrick who made no mistake with a high glove shot that beat Gudlevskis. Slammin' Sammy now has 8 points in his last 10 games. Added to all of the aforementioned, Carrick also destroyed an overly eager DeAngelo in a 3rd period scrap. Thanks for coming out you punk, but Carrick did appear to hurt his right hand in that altercation and went immediately to the dressing room.
Not until later in the second period did the Crunch retake the lead on McGinn goal, but it didnt last long. Less than a minute after that goal, Justin Holl tied the game for the Marlies and the Ricoh faithful were loving it. Great atmosphere in the arena certainly gave the game an extra level of energy, it never stops to amaze me what a good crowd can do for a hockey game.
Less than three minutes into the 3rd period, Captain Andrew Campbell got what would be the eventual game winner for the Marlies. Campbell scored his 8th of the season (Career High) on a rocket from the top of the circle. In the dying minutes of the game the Captain, blocked a shot on a solid scoring chance to help preserve the victory. Campbell did receive treatement after the game and his status is unknown for today's rematch.
As the final buzzer sounded, Richard Clune compiled 25 minutes in penalties as he went looking for somebody to make pay for running their mouth. Both teams entire benches ended up emptied and converged upon each other in the Marlies end. Ryan Rupert also found a willing dance partner as part of the melee. Continued fireworks are expected today at the Ricoh (3pm start), so get your tickets or online feed.
Final Score, 3-2 Marlies who remain in first place overall in the entire AHL.
Notables:
Garret Sparks was there to congratulate his former Marlies teammates and specifically Rob Madore, after their big 3-2 win.
Sheldon Keefe announced as Head Coach for the AHL All-Star Game (North Team)
Talked with Connor Brown after the game. He is without his walking cast and says "feeling good and getting much better". Great news for the Marlies who could use more talent in a lineup the competes hard, but is lacking high end skill currently.
Campbell leads the AHL in plus minus (+22) and Rinat Valiev is 2nd (+21).
Marlies went 5/5 on the PK. Have not given up a short handed goal in two games.
Attendance 4,891.
Andrew Campbell
Clune
Keefe
Leipsic
Next article LEAFS NEWS - Rychel Rumour Mill
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Get quick $ 500 go pay usa.com Riverside California no fax . You can also apply urgent $ 250 gopayusa New Orleans Louisiana no credit check .
Are you currently hoping to get a pay day loan? Join the group. A lot of those that are operating happen to be receiving these lending options at present, in order to get by until their after that income. But do you actually really know what payday loans are typical about? In this article, become familiar with about online payday loans. You may understand items you never recognized!
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Blind Spots Why We Fail To Do Whats Right And What To Do About It
Title : Blind Spots Why We Fail To Do Whats Right And What To Do About It
eBook Blind Spots Why We Fail To Do Whats Right And What To Do About It available at yiuywewde.ignorelist.com with Format PdF, ePub, Audiobook & Magazine. Please Create a FREE ACCOUNT to read or download Blind Spots Why We Fail To Do Whats Right And What To Do About It FOR FREE.
Blind Spots Why We Fail To Do Whats Right And What To Do About It Reviews
Finally I can download and read Blind Spots Why We Fail To Do Whats Right And What To Do About It Thank you!


Evelyn is a 21 inch porcelain quinceanera doll. She is just the right gift for daughter when they are celebrating their quinceanera or being presented. Her lavish brown curls fall delicately past her shoulders, framing her precious face and rich satin dress with a layer of pink organza.
Evelyn comes in a variety of colors, with or without a surrounding arch and can be specifically made to suit all your needs.


An absolute must for those seeking the perfect arrangements for your house(s) in St Barth or abroad; discover a wide choice of interior decorations, fragrances and many more treasures !
Where Fashion meets Lifestyle, French Indies Design is located in one of the quaintest areas in Gustavia, at Rive Gauche, in one of the most historic and legendary St Barth's mansion, known from all under the name of « Brigantin » which was built during the Swedish colonial period in the 1820s.
Karine Bruneel has been one of the leading interior designers on the island for years.
She opened her retail store to the delight of those of us needing unique and special decoration pieces, a gift, or advice on a home project. The store offers Karine's top picks in fabrics, fragrance, organic soaps, accessories and hostess gifts.
French Indies Design offers contemporary furniture, lighting, decorative objects, tableware, gifts, linens and much more while always providing a sensible feeling on how to accord each item in any space provided.


text:
<?php

namespace Zend\View\Renderer;

use Zend\View\Model\ModelInterface;
use Zend\View\Resolver\ResolverInterface;

/**
 * Interface class for Zend_View compatible template engine implementations
 *
 * @category   Zend
 * @package    Zend_View
 */
interface RendererInterface
{
    /**
     * Return the template engine object, if any
     *
     * If using a third-party template engine, such as Smarty, patTemplate,
     * phplib, etc, return the template engine object. Useful for calling
     * methods on these objects, such as for setting filters, modifiers, etc.
     *
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function getEngine();

    /**
     * Set the resolver used to map a template name to a resource the renderer may consume.
     *
     * @param  ResolverInterface $resolver
     * @return RendererInterface
     */
    public function setResolver(ResolverInterface $resolver);

    /**
     * Processes a view script and returns the output.
     *
     * @param  string|ModelInterface   $nameOrModel The script/resource process, or a view model
     * @param  null|array|\ArrayAccess $values      Values to use during rendering
     * @return string The script output.
     */
    public function render($nameOrModel, $values = null);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Keep only rows in a range using vim I was wondering if there's a way in VIM to keep only rows in a certain range, i.e say I wanted to to keep only rows 1:20 in a file, and discard everything else. Better yet say I wanted to keep lines 1-20 and 40-60 is there a way to do this?
Is there a way to do this without manually deleting stuff?

A: If you mean entire lines by "rows", just use the :delete command with the inverted range:
:21,$delete

removes all lines except 1-20.
If the ranges are non-consecutive, an alternative is the :vglobal command with regular expression atoms that match only in certain lines. For example, to only keep lines 3 and 7:
:g!/\%3l\|\%7l/delete

There are also atoms for "lines less/larger than", so you can build ranges with them, too.

A: In order to keep lines 1 through 20 and 40 through 60, the following construct should do:
:v/\%>0l\%<21l\|\%>39l\%<61l/d

A: If you want to (as I now understand from your comments) save (different) parts of the buffer as new files, it's best to not modify the original file, but to write fragments as separate files. In fact, Vi(m) supports this well, because you can just pass a range to the :write command:
:1,20w newfile1
:40,60w newfile2

Append works, too:
:40,60w >> newfile1

A: There's not only one way to achieve what you want:

*

*If this question is really about the first rows in a file:
head -20 <filename> > newfile

*If it shall be a vim solution:
    :21ENTER
    dG

*However, you mention that you want to split up a large file into smaller pieces. The tool for this is split: it lets you split up files into chunks of even line count or even size.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
The aMAZEing Labyrinth
By aaronwatkins
Munich, Germany – Celebrating the 25th anniversary of its release, Ravensburger Digital today announced its parent company's most popular board game will be coming over to iOS. The aMAZEing Labyrinth launches today on both the iPhone and iPad and hopes to continue the success of the original, which has sold over13 million copies to date.
The original game had players racing each other to collect all of their treasures. However, on each turn the labyrinth itself shifts: so the hallway or junction needed to get the next treasure would suddenly be gone the next time it became your turn.
The iOS version keeps the gameplay of the original untouched, but adds three new ways to play, including two new single player options. With Puzzle mode, players must accumulate the most prizes in the shortest amount of moves possible in order to proceed to the next level. The Time Duel option pits you in a race against the clock by adding more time with every treasure obtained. Finally, in Duel mode players compete off against each other to complete identical boards before their opponents can do the same.
Filled with the beautiful HD graphics one would expect from one of the world's largest gaming companies, The aMAZEing Labyrinth is sure to please the eye of any maze competitor. Built in GameCenter allows players to play with people either in the room or across the globe.
And for anyone who's ever tried to bring a board game on a trip: there are no pieces to assemble, no batteries to install, no set up to be had. Get started playing the aMAZEing Labyrinth with your family and friends with a few simple taps of your finger and be ready to have some fun in finding your way out of the dreaded labyrinth!
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 4.1 or later
* 38.2 MB
THE aMAZEing Labyrinth 1.0 is $3.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. THE aMAZEing Labyrinth HD 1.0 is $5.99.
Ravensburger Digital
THE aMAZEing Labyrinth 1.0
THE aMAZEing Labyrinth HD 1.0
YouTube Video (Trailer)
Ravensburger Digital is part of Ravensburger Group, internationally well-known for its high-quality games, puzzles and books. We develop Ravensburger products for all major digital platforms, including online & browser games, PC games and mobile applications. Ravensburger Digital has already published several highly successful game titles like the memory(R) and Think(R) series on the iTunes App Store. Copyright (C) 2011 Ravensburger Digital. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.


New York-based Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are known for their luxe, irreverent take on fashion that's perfect for the cool urban girl. The duo talks about how the colours of Rajasthan inspired this summer collection.
Jack McCollough: When we're putting the collection together, brain-storming ideas and sketching, we go up to our country house in Massachusets. Our house is in the woods, it's a working farm. Sometimes we'll sketch for 12, 14 hours.
Do you design your clothes with a particular woman in mind?
JM: There are definitely girls that we like to dress, but we've never had a specific muse. The collection was more about an attitude. There's always something a bit disheveled and nonchalant about our girl, (she's) never precious and perfect.
Lazaro Hernandez: We don't really search images of women in fashion; it's more like craft and exploring techniques and textiles. The S/S '11 collection was very much about fabric manipulation. We made every fabric from scratch. We researched this technique called shibori, a Japanese tie-dye which creates a subtle texture. In the beginning of the collection there's micro and small, pastel shibori. Then it goes into electric colours. The lace at the end of the show is all hand drawings that we had embroidered, then dipped into acid solution. It dissolves the toile so it's not lace but pure embroidery. Our starting point is materials. Once we've decided upon the mood and direction, we'll start picking out fabrics and colours.
Tell us about your trip to India.
LH: A year ago, we went to India and that's what got our minds going for the collection. From India, we ended up in Japan, where the shibori tie-dye technique came from. In India, we were inspired by Rajasthan and the Holi festival – the colours were awe-inspiring.
JM: Visiting factories to see how our embroidery is done was interesting. 'Atelier' is a more realistic word to describe this set-up – there were about six people working together; a very organic atmosphere. The embroidery is a real craft, almost like ballet in a way.
How did Rajasthan inspire you?
LH: We arrived the day after the festival (Holi). It was pure coincidence, and we saw all this colour and powder everywhere: all the colours were faded neon and powdery. When we're inspired by something, it comes out in a very abstract, subtle way. In this instance, it was about colour, especially in the countryside, where we saw desert-like landscapes and women in fluorescent clothes tending to the land. They seemed to pop and radiate light. We had a lot of black this season, but these colours felt right to us. That's where the electric neons came from. From sketchbook to catwalk, everything's a long process and gets filtered, but the essential idea of using saturated colours came from rural India. Next, we want to go to Varanasi. That's on our list of places to visit.


Moonstone is said to be the manifestation of Moonlight, with it's milk-white color and flashes of blue light. The Moonstone gem drips like a drop of water, lightly faceted to reflect the light. Harmony's touch of a spiraled crown of silver or gold wire accentuates the shape of the stone and adds a clean finish and quality-elegance. Pair this pendant on a simple chain, or one of the Harmony Scott Charm Necklaces with gems or pearls.
The Moonstone Briolette Pendant by Harmony Scott was handmade in sterling silver and 22kt gold vermeil. The pendant measures just under 1 inch in length, including the 0.25" diameter charm ring.


text:
The Milky Way alone probably contains hundreds of billions of planets, based on the thousands of exoplanets we've already identified. These planets share a history and origin with their host stars, and none of the star systems observed so far resemble the Solar System. Modern studies of planet formation include comparing exoplanetary systems, identification of protoplanetary disks around newborn stars, and computer models to trace the creation of planets from their origins in interstellar dust and gas.
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian astronomers study the formation of planets:
Looking for complex organic molecules in protoplanetary disks. Astronomers use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the CfA's Submillimeter Array (SMA), and other instruments capable of identifying light absorbed by these molecules. Knowing how these materials are distributed in a protoplanetary disk helps us determine how life could arise on planets.
Complex Organic Molecules Discovered in Infant Star System
Searching for newborn planets in protoplanetary disks. Protoplanets gather material onto themselves from the protoplanetary disk, creating a gap. The position and size of these gaps can reveal if the new planets are rocky or gaseous, how massive they are tell us, and whether they migrate from their initial positions. However, not every gap contains a planet, so careful observation is needed to determine what's going on.
Disk Gaps Don't Always Signal Planets
Searching also for Earth-like planets in infant star systems. While exoplanet hunts mostly find planets close in to their stars, studies of protoplanets are more likely to identify planets farther out. That's helpful if we want to find planets like ours, which orbits in the "habitable zone" where liquid water can potentially exist on the planet's surface.
A Planet Is Forming in an Earth-like Orbit around a Young Star
Modeling planet formation to infer exoplanet structure and composition. Exoplanets are too small for us to take images of them, much less study details of their interiors. However, theoretical models fill in that knowledge, using data from real planetary systems. That helps us understand "super-Earths", a common type of rocky world larger than Earth that doesn't exist in the Solar System.
Earth-like Planets Have Earth-like Interiors
Studying the chemical composition of comets to understand planet formation. Comets are relics of the protoplanetary disk that gave birth to the Solar System. Astronomers compare the molecules observed in protoplanetary to those on the surface of comets to understand the primordial chemistry of newborn star systems.
Participating in space probe missions to asteroids. Like comets, asteroids are leftovers from the formation of the Solar System, carrying chemical traces of the protoplanetary disk. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith, Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) is designed to study the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and return a sample of its surface material to Earth.
Asteroid Mission Will Carry Student X-ray Experiment
Protoplanetary Disks
Stars form from cold interstellar molecular clouds. As they collapse into protostars under the force of gravity, the remaining matter forms a spinning disk. Eventually the star stops accreting matter, leaving the disk in orbit around it. The leftover gas and dust inside that protoplanetary disk become the ingredients for planet formation.
For that reason, the chemical composition of the protoplanetary disk determines the composition of the eventual planets that form from it. Since the newborn star and its planets had a common origin in the cloud that made them, their history and composition are linked. Organic molecules present in the original molecular cloud become part of the protoplanetary disk and planets that form from it.
Astronomers have identified a large number of protoplanetary disks, including some with gaps that might reveal the presence of a planet being formed. The structure of these disks provides clues to where planets form, and whether they change orbits after formation.
This artist's illustration compares the interior structures of Earth (left) with the exoplanet Kepler-93b (right). Even though the exoplanet is four times Earth's mass, research shows rocky planets all likely have the same internal structure.
Credit: M. Weiss/CfA
Learning From Exoplanets and Their Host Stars
None of the thousands of exoplanetary systems discovered so far resemble the Solar System. While this is mostly because of the way we detect exoplanets, our understanding of planet formation has to account for the diversity of worlds we observe. Many exoplanets orbit closer to their host star than Mercury orbits the Sun, and quite a few star systems contain giant planets in the inner part of the system. In addition, several systems have multiple planets in orbits that are much closer together than any two planets in the Solar System.
Additionally, many known exoplanets orbit red dwarf stars, which are much less hot than the Sun. A number of these stars are also very active, producing violent flares that would likely affect the planet. Some other stars may have been too active during their early life to allow planets to form.
However, even the best observations of protoplanets and exoplanets aren't good enough to reveal exactly how planets form and migrate. For that reason, astronomers develop computer simulations to understand how the protoplanetary disk produces the types of planets we observe, and how atoms and molecules are distributed to create the kinds of worlds we observe in the Solar System and beyond.
What conditions are necessary for life?
Alien Planet Found Spiraling to its Doom around an Aging Star
It's a Planet: New Evidence of Baby Planet in the Making
Case Solved: Missing Carbon Monoxide was Hiding in the Ice
News Feature, Prize Announcement
Incoming Postdoc Awarded 51 Pegasi B Fellowship
Telescope to Help Tell the Story of the Universe
Exoplanets in Debris Disks
Astronomers May Have Discovered the First Planet Outside of Our Galaxy
The Orbital Flatness of Planetary Systems
OSIRIS-REx
Asteroids are relics of the Solar System's origin, remnants of the process by which planets formed from smaller clumps of material. They provide a wealth of insights into the history of the Solar System and the origin of Earth. NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft is currently in orbit around the near-Earth asteroid Bennu.
Visit the OSIRIS-REx Website
The Submillimeter Array - Maunakea, HI
Located near the summit of Maunakea on the Big Island of Hawaii, the Submillimeter Array (SMA) is one of the flagship observatories of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. The observatory consists of eight radio dishes working together as one telescope, giving astronomers a window on a wide range of astronomical objects and phenomena: planets and comets in our own Solar System; the birth of stars and planets; and the supermassive black holes hidden at the centers of the Milky Way and other galaxies. The SMA is operated jointly by the CfA and the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.
Visit the Submillimeter Array Website


The Concentration Camp Auschwitz does not come under the heading, cultural landmark, but now the former, factory of death has become a subject of a must visit location if you want to be closer to the horrors of what happened during World War II. Today, from this devastating human period the camp holds numerous amount of horrendous evidence. In the territory of the camp you can see thousands of others shoes, sunglasses, toys and pathetic pictures of massed human bodies.
The concentration camp has two divisions - Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz - Birkenau. Together they form the largest Nazi camp in which were killed between one million and a half - two million people of whom about 90% were Jews. These death complexes are situated in the southern part of the Republic of Poland on the outskirts of the town of Auschwitz (Oswiecim). From the vity of Krakow, Auschwitz is located about 60 km towards the west. Top comfortable way to get there is by bus, train or car from Krakow.
The concentration camp is located on the premises of the former Polish army barracks, which were reformed in camps on May 20th 1940 and were originally intended for Polish political prisoners.
The portal of the camp with iron letters is inscribed with the famous Nazi slogan "Arbeit macht frei" (Work makes you free). Auschwitz today has a center built for visitors, where you can watch a 15 minutes long documentary recreating the liberation of the camp in 1945.
Auschwitz - Birkenau is only 3 km from there. In fact the vast majority of violent killings were becoming exactly there. There were 300 built barracks where prisoners were kept, a crematory and five large gas chambers, which still can be seen.


YORK, Maine — One stipulation of playing in the annual Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic is that each player must raise at least $300 for Shriners Hospitals for Children.
Dan Petruzzella, who played running back for the York High School football team, wanted to make a difference in someone's life and set a goal of raising $5,000.
Petruzzella just missed out on his goal, raising a total of $4,690.
"We're very proud of him," Dan's father, Richard Petruzzella, said. "Seeing this patient named Timmy at the hospital brought tears to his eyes, and on our ride back home, he said he wanted to make a difference and raise $5,000. He did a great job."
Amongst the numerous donations, St. Aspinquid Lodge donated the most, $600. Petruzzella also received a $500 donation from a private corporate donor, and The Candy Corner donated $200.
"He did a phenomenal job (raising money)," York football coach Randy Small said. "I wasn't surprised he raised that much. He's an aggressive kid and when he wants something, he does it. He played very well and represented York High School very well. We're very proud of him. It will be a game he will never forget."
Petruzzella raised the most money of the 80 players and 50 cheerleaders associated with the game and was presented the Chairman's Award in recognition for his "outstanding efforts for Shriners Hospitals for Children" at last Wednesday's banquet at the Ramada Inn Conference Center in Lewiston.
"It meant a lot to me to be able to raise that much money," Petruzzella said. "Every penny counts, and all the money is helping out kids somewhere. Besides playing high school football, this was the best experience of my life."
The game raised more than $63,000 this season and has raised more than $400,000 in its 19 years. Petruzzella raised more money than any previous football player in the game's history and trails only Brewer cheerleader Courtney Wright as the all-time leading fund-raiser. Wright raised $5,100 last year. This year's overall total of $63,000 was the second highest of all time, trailing only 2007.
"Dan really took away a full understanding of what this entire event means," said Tim Luttrell, a member of the Board of Governors for the Maine Lobster Bowl Shrine Classic. "It's an absolute delight to have kids like that and we're fortunate."
Petruzzella said other players congratulated him on his fund-raising efforts and asked how he did it.
"I just told them it took some time and effort," he said.
Petruzzella was happy the game raised so much for a great cause, but wishes other players put forth a little more effort in their fund raising.
"Some just raised the minimum and some really didn't start trying until late," Petruzzella said. "Some could've tried harder, but every penny counts."
The West ended a two-game losing streak as it came away with a 24-6 victory over the East Friday night at Waterhouse Field in Biddeford. The West now leads the all-time series, 15-4. Marshwood's Jon Hussey was named West MVP as he scored a touchdown, kicked a 27-yard field goal and connected on all three of his extra-point attempts.
Lawrence quarterback Jack Hersom was named East MVP.
Petruzzella played every other down and sprung a key block on Hussey's touchdown. He also had one catch and carried the ball once.
"Everything worked out well for us," Petruzzella said. "We won the game, but more importantly, we raised a lot of money for the kids."
Petruzzella offered thanks to those who donated.
"I wanted to say thanks to everybody who contributed," Petruzzella said. "All the money went to a good cause and it all adds up to help the little kids who need it."


text:
Tales of a 21st Century Gypsy
August 4, 2005 Canoe Journey.
I think I may be getting tired of travel. While I'm glad to be on my own again, I no longer want talk to people on the road. I am tired of the photos I take; trees silhouetted against dramatic clouds, fog creeping into a cove, sculptures by a bike trail or atop old poles in a harbor. I am staying in places filled with families on vacation; children circling on their bikes while their parents cook dinner over an open fire, cover the picnic table with a plastic cloth, pull out the bottles of ketchup and mustard for the hamburgers and
hotdogs, hang bathing suits and wet towels on clotheslines strung from tree to tree, and relax on folding chairs spread around the campfire. I'm not interested in talking to them about their experiences, or dealing with their reactions to a middle-aged woman full-timing in an old VW van.
I found myself in Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula when thousands of native people from the US and Canada descended on the town in traditional long canoes, part of a great event to honor the ancestors and build bonds among the native tribes of the region. I watched them arrive, paddling in a stiff wind across the Port Angeles harbor, pausing as they arrived to raise their paddles in a sign of respect according to one source, a sign of peace according to another, and landing on the town beach amid a crowd of natives and
Anglos who had assembled to watch. I should have talked to people about what this meant, but I didn't. On line in the restroom, everyone else was native, and they joked about sitting in their boats impatient to land so they could dash onto shore and get in that line. But I didn't ask them how they perceived the experience, or what it meant to be a native American (or Canadian) in the 21st century, or even where they were from and how long they had been paddling.
The next day, at a laundromat in Port Angeles, a man from one of the tribes was doing his wash. He had paddled in from Vancouver Island, he told me, was of the Ahousaht tribe. They had spent a week on the water getting to Port Angeles, and had a great time. No, he said, they don't paddle other than this event.
They had trained a bit before beginning the Canoe Journey, but they weren't regular paddlers. The TV in the laundromat was playing local news, and the man excitedly pointed himself out in one of the canoes pulled up on the beach. We all turned to look, but the image was gone by the time we caught it. I could have asked him what this event meant to him or to his tribe, but I didn't. I imagine that being native is confusing. What culture are they part of? When are they part of the mainstream, and when should they stay out
of it? How much involvement should they have with native culture in order to really feel part of it? Some of the questions are like those I ask about being Jewish. This man will always be Ahousaht just as I will always be Jewish, but does that mean anything? Jews refer to themselves as "MOT" – members of the tribe. Is the Jewish tribe more alive than the Ahousaht because we are so much bigger?
I searched for the Ahousaht on the web, to see if I could learn more than I had in the laundromat. They are part of the Nootka group. They have just under six hundred hectares of land, and their main community is on Flores Island, off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Six hundred and twenty two band members live on the reservation, and about the same number live elsewhere. The man in the
laundromat said that three hundred of them had come to the Canoe Journey – out of twelve hundred, that's a lot! They paddled for a week to get to Port Angeles. The route map for the Canoe Journey showed where they had stopped each night, staying on other reservations along the way. At each stop there was a ceremony like the one in Port Angeles, to ask for permission to come to land in another band's territory. The Canoe Journey website was set up by the American Friends Service Committee, which apparently plays a major role in organizing this event. It gave some idea of the formidable logistics involved; water safety, crossing the border,
timing the arrivals of the canoes at each place, training with your "canoe family," connecting with the safety boats, keeping warm, fund raising, recruiting volunteers. It's interesting that AFSC is a big player in this event - how did the Quakers, presumably white folks, come to be involved?
The host for the event at the Port Angeles end was the Elwha Klallam tribe, whose reservation is on the Lower Elwha River. Their website is interesting too. They talk about cultural resurgence, about resuming the use of their language in their schools, about re-learning the traditions of building and paddling
canoes. It's all about reclaiming their culture, one that they lost for over a hundred years after white people came to their land and nearly wiped them out with unfamiliar diseases. They briefly review their history, about which most information seems to come from the records of the outsiders. That's very different from the history of the Jews; we document ourselves, and while Jews have certainly been decimated by other cultures, we are not threatened with extinction, and we are still a strong part of mainstream culture.
But reading about all of this on the web, while sitting in a pleasant coffeehouse with free wifi is more comfortable than talking to people about it out on the Elwha reservation. This seems like their event, not a place for tourists. I don't really belong out there among the singing and dancing, because I'm not part of it. Besides, these days I'm more interested in reading about strangers than I am in talking to them.
Continue to the next entry. Return home.
Unless otherwise indicated all text and photos on this site ©Joy E. Hecht.


text:
Rotary Donates N6.8m Artificial Limb Factory To LASG
The Rotary International District 9110 has donated an artificial limb factory built at a cost of N6.8 million to the Lagos State Government.
Commissioning the factory recently, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said the limb factory would be of immense benefit to patients with limb deformity.
According to him, the factory would be able to produce artificial limbs of various sizes and would put to an end the importation of artificial limbs from overseas to meet the needs of people with broken limbs.
In his words, "If other countries of the world can manufacture artificial limbs, why not Nigeria, Lagos State over the year had established programmes which require the services of the factory".
Idris said a four-man committee has been raised to manage the artificial limb factory at the Mushin General Hospital, Lagos to make it more efficient.
The commissioner also appealed to the committee to come up with modalities on how to sustain the factory adding that a senior orthopaedic technologist, Max Acamun, from Uganda has already trained three staff from the Mushin General Hospital on how to manufacture artificial limbs locally.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Chairman, Project Committee of the Rotary International District 9110, Mr. Deinde Shoga, said the project was conceived in 2003, adding that, the factory gulped $45,000 (N6.8million)
The President, Rotary District 9110, Engr. Tayo Alabi, stressed that the project had come to stay and promised the continued support of his organisation on training and retraining of health officials on limbs manufacturing.
China Plans Oil Import From Nigeria
Yar'Adua's Health: Reps To Debate Implication 'Morrow


 What is SAA certification? What products does SAA certification apply to?-Industry News-Shenzhen STS test services Co., Ltd.
1. The new decree will be implemented on March 1 this year.
2. The SAA certification and the C-Tick certification are phased out and replaced by RCM certification, which covers security and EMC (C-TIck may still be suitable for some low-power wireless products).
3. All electronic products, will be divided into three categories: High, medium, low risk. We currently do not have a detailed range of information, in general, the battery drive and voltage below 12V products are low risk, 240V standard voltage products for the risk of high voltage products for high risk. The risk of low-risk products is 6 months, the high-risk product buffer period of 3 years (the period is the Australian Association of the proposal, but the specific laws on the government has not yet final confirmation).
4. The RCM certification can only be made by a local Australian company and the company must apply for an RCM number from the Australian Government. Chinese manufacturers and exporters can apply for IEC or AS / NZS reports in their own name, but the report must be submitted to Australian importers to apply for RCM. The application fee for registration is $ 75 per product per year (for example, a company in Australia has two trademarks: A and B, he imports exactly the same batch of products from China, half labeled A, one B's trademark, which means that you must pay an annual registration fee of $ 150).
5. According to the expert's opinion, since the importer will bear the risk of failure of the product quality (the responsible party), and non-Australian companies can not directly apply for RCM certification. It is estimated that an increasing number of small-scale Australian companies will change the current practice in order to reduce costs, by the Chinese production plant to bear the cost of production reports and apply for SAA. They will tend to designate a certain capacity and prestige of the laboratory, to provide insurance reports and test data, and then by them to apply for Australian RCM certification.
6. In theory, the Australian laboratory can also be used as an applicant to help a company obtain RCM certification. However, according to the expert's opinion, it is estimated that most of the Australian laboratories will take the initiative to take this risk because of the greater legal responsibility. Even if they do, the relevant costs may be higher.


text:
Oliver Todd of North Haven CT
Oliver Todd6, (Hezekiah5, Caleb4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born 1764, died Sept. 10, 1847, married Betsey, daughter of Thomas and Anna (Smith) Smith, who was born 1768, died Feb. 26, 1848. Her father was in the Revolutionary war. "He conducted a fire ship to the enemy and was badly burnt, the attending boat having left him too soon, he had to swim ashore, where he was found three days after in a helpless state. He was taken over to Rye, (N. Y.?) and there died."
From Dodd's E. H. Register. Page 75.
They lived in North Haven, Conn.
*616. Zerah, b. Dec. 26, 1785.
617. Polly, b. Jan. 11, 1789.
*618. Deborah, b. July 28, 1791.
*619. Roswell, b. Sept. 22, 1794.
*620. Maria, b. Feb. 24, 1797.
621. Bede, b. July 18, 1802, d. Dec. 17, 1819.
*622. Emily, b. Feb. 15, 1805.
623. Anna Louisa, b. Sept. 30, 1807, m.(???)Pierpont.
624. Betsey, b. Jan. 30, 1800, d. April 28, 1859, m. James Gilbert who was b. Aug. 29, 1780, d. July 22, 1847 in Hamden, Conn.
Gilbert, Pierpont, Todd,
Genealogy,
New Haven County CT, North Haven Connecticut,
Todd, George Iru. Todd Family in America . Gazette Printing Company. 1920.


text:
Q: How to define a keyed (grouped) join in data table? I would like to overload the [.data.table operator so that grouped joins can be achieved. I will use dplyr to illustrate what I mean by a grouped join. Take for example the function below that wraps around dplyr::inner_join:
inner_join_grp <- function(x, y, by = NULL, copy = FALSE, suffix = c(".x", ".y"),
                           ...) {
    stopifnot(identical(group_vars(x), group_vars(y)))

    grp <- group_vars(x)

    by <- c(by, grp)

    return(inner_join(x, y, by, copy, suffix, ...))
}

All this function does is to check that input data.frames x and y have the same groups, and if they do, to add the grouping variables to the join key specified by by = ....
An application would be like this:
n_grp <- 5
n_grp2 <- 3

set.seed(0)

tmp_df <-
    data.frame(grp = rep(letters[1:n_grp2], each = n_grp),
               grp2 = rep(1:n_grp, times = n_grp2),
               x = runif(n_grp * n_grp2))

tmp_df_2 <-
    data.frame(grp = rep(letters[1:n_grp2], each = n_grp),
               grp2 = rep(1:n_grp, times = n_grp2),
               y = runif(n_grp * n_grp2))

Using my function:
tmp_df %>%
    group_by(grp) %>%
    inner_join_grp(tmp_df_2 %>%
                   group_by(grp),
               by = "grp2")

Produces the expected fifteen row table:
# A tibble: 15 x 4
# Groups:   grp [?]
   grp    grp2      x      y
   <fct> <int>  <dbl>  <dbl>
 1 a         1 0.897  0.770
 2 a         2 0.266  0.498
 3 a         3 0.372  0.718
 4 a         4 0.573  0.992
 5 a         5 0.908  0.380
...

whereas using dplyr::inner_join produces a 45 row table since the join is only on grp2:
# A tibble: 45 x 5
# Groups:   grp.x [?]
   grp.x  grp2     x grp.y      y
   <fct> <int> <dbl> <fct>  <dbl>
 1 a         1 0.897 a     0.770
 2 a         1 0.897 b     0.777
 3 a         1 0.897 c     0.267
...

My question is whether is possible to achieve something similar using [, when the input data tables are keyed. I know I can overload merge.data.table (see below for a rough example) in the same way but I would prefer to pass an additional argument to [ to achieve a keyed join.
merge_dt_keyed <-
    function (x, y, by = NULL, by.x = NULL, by.y = NULL, all = FALSE,
          all.x = all, all.y = all, sort = TRUE,
          suffixes = c(".x", ".y"),
          allow.cartesian = getOption("datatable.allow.cartesian"),
          ...){

        stopifnot(identical(key(x), key(y)))

    new_key <- key(x)

    by.x <- c(new_key, by, by.x)
    by.y <- c(new_key, by, by.y)

    return(merge(x, y, by.x = by.x, by.y = by.y, all = FALSE,
            all.x = all, all.y = all, sort = TRUE,
            suffixes = c(".x", ".y"),
            allow.cartesian = getOption("datatable.allow.cartesian"),
            ...))

}

A: Something along these lines should work:
`[.data.table` = function(x, i, ...) {
  args = match.call()
  if ('on' %in% names(args)) {
    args[['on']] = union(args[['on']], intersect(key(x), key(i)))
  }
  args[[1]] = data.table:::`[.data.table`
  eval(args)
}


text:
Senator Markey Statement in Opposition to Supreme Court Nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch
Washington (January 31, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement on President Donald Trump's nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court. "With President Donald Trump issuing executive orders nearly every day that tear at the very fabric of our democracy, this... Read More
Markey Joins Feinstein, Senators in Introducing Bill to Rescind Discriminatory Order on Immigration, Refugees
Republicans block Senate vote on bill Washington— Senator Edward J. Markey joined Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced a bill to rescind President Trump's discriminatory executive order barring immigrants from Muslim-majority countries and suspending the U.S.... Read More
Senators Markey and Blumenthal Demand Answers from Delta Air Lines About IT System in Light of Yesterday's Flight Disruptions
Delays and cancellations follow United Airlines' IT failure last week Washington (January 30, 2017) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), members of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today sent a letter to Delta Air Lines, Inc. inquiring about the state of the airline's... Read More
Senators Call on Sec. of State Nominee Rex Tillerson to Recuse Himself from All Matters Related to ExxonMobil
Issues such as climate change, Russian sanctions and role of oil in geopolitical matters raise questions about conflicts of interest, perception of impartiality by other nations Washington (January 309, 2017) – As the Senate prepares to take its first full vote on the nomination of former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of... Read More
Senator Markey calls on DHS Secretary Kelly to Denounce, Rescind Trump Muslim Ban
In meeting with Markey prior to his confirmation, Secretary Kelly stated opposition to targeting Muslims Boston (January 29, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today called on new Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly to denounce and rescind the recent order from President... Read More
Senator Markey on Trump Executive Order on Refugee Program: Extreme Xenophobia, Not Extreme Vetting
Washington (January 27, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement after President Donald Trump released executive orders today halting the nation's refugee program. "Today's executive order from President Trump is more about extreme... Read More
Senator Markey Blasts Proposed Exemption Allowing Broadband Providers to Withhold Important Information from Subscribers
Exception would allow more broadband providers to withhold promotional rates, fee, surcharge, and data cap and allowance information to consumers Washington (January 27, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D – Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today blasted an exemption circulated at the... Read More
Senator Markey Blasts Proposal to Dismantle the FCC's Broadband Privacy Rules
Markey led the call for the FCC to finalize broadband privacy rules Washington (January 26, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today blasted proposals to undermine the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) broadband privacy rules. Last year, The FCC... Read More
MARKEY JOINS 53 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO DEMAND TRUMP EXEMPT ENTIRE VA FROM HIRING FREEZE
Federal Hiring Freeze Will Delay Veterans' Access To Care And Benefits, And Hurt Veterans Seeking Federal Jobs thursday, january 26, 2017 WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey joined a group of 53 members of Congress, led by Ranking Members of the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees, Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.)... Read More
Senators Markey, Carper, Merkley, Gillibrand, and Sanders Call for Reversal of Suspension of EPA Grants and Contracts
Trump administration action freezes resources for air and water quality monitoring and improvement, clean up of toxic waste sites Washington (January 26, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Superfund, Waste Mangement and Regulation subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today sent a letter... Read More
Senator Markey Legislation Would Ensure Consumers Have a Say in Energy Prices
Legislation would ensure ratepayers could protest a rate change filed with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Washington (January 25, 2017) – As New England prepares for an upcoming energy auction that will impact future energy prices, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) reintroduced the Fair Ratepayer, Accountability, Transparency and... Read More
Senator Markey Leads Senators in Calling on Trump to Ensure Open and Transparent Communications Between Federal Agencies and Public, Member of Congress
Attempts to silence federal employees follows previous actions by Trump transition team targeting federal employees and scientists at Department of Energy and State Department Washington (January 25, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led a letter with eleven Senators decrying reports of instructions provided to all... Read More
Senator Markey Statement on Donald Trump's Executive Orders on Immigration
Washington (January 215, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement today after President Donald Trump signed two new executive orders on immigration. "Today, Lady Liberty weeps at Donald Trump's executive actions that fly in the face of our nation's history as a beacon to those... Read More
Senators Pressure AT&T & Time Warner to Prove Mega-Merger is in Public Interest
Senators Urge That Further Media Consolidation Should Only be Permitted if it Results in Better, More Affordable Phone, TV & Internet Service for Consumers WASHINGTON, D.C. [01/25/17]—Today, a group of Senate Democrats led by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) put pressure on AT&T and Time Warner to prove that their proposed mega-merger is in... Read More
Senator Markey Blasts Trump Action on Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines
Washington (January 24, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after President Trump signed new executive orders to move forward with the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. "President Trump's executive actions to advance the... Read More
Senator Markey and Rep. Lieu Introduce the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act
Washington (January 24, 2017) – Today, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Congressman Ted W. Lieu (CA-33) and introduced the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017. This legislation would prohibit the President from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress. The... Read More
Markey and Blumenthal Query United Airlines About its IT System in Light of Yesterday's Outage and Flight Disruptions
Senators continue their ongoing investigation into the reliability of airline IT systems and airline consumer protections Washington (January 23, 2017) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), members of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today sent a letter to United Airlines, Inc.... Read More
Senator Markey Congratulates Gambian President Adama Barrow on His Inauguration
Washington (January 23, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, released the following statement today following the swearing in of Adama Barrow as president of The Gambia. After initially conceding defeat and then refusing to leave office, former... Read More
Senator Markey Statement in Opposition to Rex Tillerson's Nomination
Washington (January 23, 2016) – Senator Edward J Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote on Rex Tillerson's nomination to be Secretary of State. "I thank Mr. Tillerson for his testimony before the Senate... Read More
Markey Joins Menendez, Senators in Stand for Women's Rights, Reintroduces Equal Rights Amendment
Marches for justice and equality happening across the country WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the lead sponsor of legislation to prohibit discrimination against women, today reintroduced the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution as hundreds of thousands march in cities across the nation for justice and... Read More


The requested article is not currently available on this site.
Is this significant I wonder?
Steve M reports that the paper has been "put on hold".
"Is this significant I wonder?"
Yes, that's a significant and robust signal!
No, apparently it was a real potato conference and not a conference of potatoes.
They hide the data. They disguise the method of cherry-picking. Now they disappear the paper!
That newly broken link was used in the first reference on the Real Climate post by Eric, May 22. So not only has "something changed" at the site of the American Meterorological Society but the key reference link from Real Climate's article is now BROKEN (i.e, you can't go from Real Climate's own article on the matter to the original scientific article which RC is promoting). Is the paper being withdrawn or what does this mean?
Since RC has the expert science communicators they should be eager to explain to the public how such a key reference in their May 22 article trumpeting "Fresh hockey sticks from the Southern Hemisphere" has suddenly gone AWOL. Also, maybe all involved should re-assess what constitutes rigorous peer review and just where science-by-press-release is taking us?
Is the Gergis et al (2012) paper being withdrawn or ....?? Stunning that the American Meteorological Society should now have a broken page for such new and important evidence of CAGW.
"In the Northern Hemisphere, the late 20th / early 21st century has been the hottest time period in the last 400 years at very high confidence, and likely in the last 1000 – 2000 years (or more). It has been unclear whether this is also true in the Southern Hemisphere. Three studies out this week shed considerable new light on this question. This post provides just brief summaries; we'll have more to say about these studies in the coming weeks...."
Does this explain why Mr McIntyre received the following statement?
"We will not be entertaining any further correspondence on the matter."
"We need to be prepared to defend our science in the face of intense public scrutiny, concisely, with conviction and in plain English"
Maybe the draft is withdrawn because the final is going to press?
If there are methodologic changes, the authors better acknowledge CA, BH et al.
@chris y - "will be much worse"
Yes, it's apparently going to be an almost comedically ridiculous piece cobbled together from even more disreputable nonsense than the last one.
This may be different domains drawing from a common database but it's then disappointing that what seems like multiple sources all lead to Rome. I've just been using Google but of course the history for these deletions are in caches of other search engines.
In line with the Orwells 1984 approach to history we can say .
Everyone is human, etc., but given the amount of abuse directed at Steve, Ross, Andrew, Watts, et al over many years it would be good to start seeing more humility in the "climate science community." Honest engagement with critics would be a good start.... in this matter and in so many others. C'mon client scientists, forget the "guerilla warfare" meme and engage with candor.
We are climate scientists, our work is peer reviewed!
We might need a Top Ten list of climate disappearances!
Is it one of the two that appear if you use Gergis in the search box ?
May it not simply be an issue while article transition from pre-print to print versions in the database?
Thomas H, that would not explain the simultaneous disappearance of press releases trumpeting the findings of the paper. Currently at least four. See other thread comments by Jean and redc.
Is this paper's disappearance correlated with the disappearance of the Gergis blog?
Wait... it is curious that this one (see below) is still there.... is UM press office just slow, are there mixed communications, or is there a reason that this PR has not disappeared yet?
Perhaps some polite inquiries to the "Senior Media Officer" listed on this PR would yield something?
What seems to be the official PR from May 17 at the University of Melbourne is still there at the moment. Interesting to note that the study seems to be described as some official "the Australasian region's contribution to the 5th IPCC climate change assessment report chapter on past climate." Is this because of the PAGES project with NOAA? In any case, it is presented as far more than "simply another study" -- as of May 17, 2012 is was supposed to be the latest, greatest, most comprehensive thing ever done for the SH. It was supposed to feed straight into the IPCC's AR5. So it is definitely significant if this paper does a crash-and-burn.
Will we see genuine honest engagement and public acknowledgement this time?? Or will this be more Mann-Bradley-Jones-Briffa-Osborn-Ammann-Wahl et al type obfuscation, belligerence, and dishonesty?
The study published today* in the Journal of Climate will form the Australasian region's contribution to the 5th IPCC climate change assessment report chapter on past climate.
"Will we see genuine honest engagement and public acknowledgement this time?"
The web deletions are inconsistent because a couple of the places that would presumably get the word first have not deleted (yet). Is there really any decision yet about the paper, or is it that some entities are getting various bits of info behind the scenes and getting cold feet?
In the first study of its kind in Australasia, scientists have used 27 natural climate records to create the first large-scale temperature reconstruction for the region, over the past 1000 years.
The study, led by researchers at the University of Melbourne, used a range of natural indicators including tree rings, corals and ice cores to reconstruct Australasian temperature over the past 1000 years. The results show that there are no other warm periods in the last 1000 years that match the warming experienced in Australasia since 1950.
Comparison with climate model data reveals that the warming cannot be explained by natural factors alone, suggesting a strong influence of human-caused climate change in the region.
Maybe Gergis has removed the paper while she goes off and does..er...research.
It is of course now night time in Oz - and the weekend. Some websites may take longer to disappear the paper... Usually, once a paper is published, journals can't remove it. Strange.
Goodness me. I think we all might be getting a bit overexcited? I know "Patience!" is an admonition invented by dull buggers who cannot think fast enough...but I think it might be appropriate in this case.
God knows I love a good gossip but there is a limit to the value of fervid speculation.
One of the great pleasures and comforts of this blog is the usual reluctance of the host and most readers and contributors to rush to judgement.
"Any further correspondence on the matter will be entertaining."
Yes, Jeremy, I think we should all take the Lady Bracknell view of the situation until shown otherwise.
Patience and caution are important virtues, to be sure. Of course new PRs and articles may appear suddenly and then the claim may be made that (minor?) corrections were made etc.
Still, there's nothing wrong with noticing that some extraordinary events are occurring in association with this paper, at least in the online world. It is remarkable to see various websites deleting PR and articles for such an important and unprecedented paper already associated with the IPCC's AR5 (first draft).
We are not the ones who placed importance on this paper, the co-authors and their PR cohorts did that in a most breathless fashion. Whether the paper can be modified or salvaged, most of us can only guess. Some may know exactly what is needed to fix this paper, I sure don't pretend to know. I cannot even "know" that it needs to be fixed, although posts at Climate Audit seem to make a good case among some of the cognoscenti.
Sure, it's speculative to try to say anything about it now, beyond noting the deletions. BUT, if one notices that Climate Audit has been shredding the stats in this paper, and that near-simultaneous deletions of PRs and articles at multiple sites is a rather unusual occurrence, then it's worth paying attention to what may follow.
Not sure if this means he found it or this is a historical screen grab ?
... But then again we don't need to be too Earnest about it. We can leave that to Ms. Gergis.
I claim dug bugger status. But still, we truly live in interesting times, what with Gleick being vidicated this week and all.
"The link to the Gergis et al paper at J. Climate is broken, and the paper no longer appears to be accessible. We have no information as to why or whether it's temporary or not, but we'll update if necessary when we have news."
You can tell what Gavin spends most of his time doing. I'm sure he was watching the dissection of Gergis et al at ClimateAudit with barely time for coffee.
theduke: absolutely. Where the real debate goes on, the one that everyone reads. But at least we admit it.
Funny. I submitted a comment - no. 33 if published- to the effect: 'For your information, your link to the Gergia et al paper is broken.' My comment was apparently censored, but Gavin appears at no. 34 saying the same thing.
... but it is worthy of a number from Josh AND M4GW.
I think all you "skeptics" are being very unkind - I suspect the figures are being adjusted as we speak and will be back to confound you all in due course!
Johnbuk, I'm not sure what they could do. I suppose they could whittle the 27 proxies (originally whittled from 62) down to 8 and see what results. Or they could do a complete 180 on the value of using detrended data for selection. I''m no expert, but I don't see how any other "adjustments" could help here.
paul_in_ct, hey come on paul, when black is white, declines are hidden and graphs turned upside down I'm sure we haven't seen the ultimate in "massaging" yet - do you?
Was there a problem with my last two attempts to post a link.
Paste http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00649.1 into Google search.
Click Quick View on the top result. "Preliminary Accepted Version"
It nay be that they actually used the detrended local grid cell values to choose their proxies and wrote up the method wrongly. They certainly had all that data, as they checked each grid cell against their spatial mean instrumental target.
This would be hugely embarrassing, but would only require a mea culpa and a change in the description of the method used.
I quite liked this paper. It had a nice warm mediaeval warm period, and cool periods which appeared to be driven by the sun drawn attention to in the discussion, so peer reviewed evidence for two factors which suit my own intuitive prejudices.


MANILA, Philippines - A young singer from Tondo, Manila outlasted two early favorites during the Battle Rounds of the second season of "The Voice Kids" aired Sunday, August 2, 2015.
Telesa 'Esang' de Torres, along with fellow three-chair turner Bianca Marbella and half British and half Filipina Stephanie Jordan, performed James Horner's "Somewhere Out There."
"My heart was melted lang. She was just so raw. Naririnig ko yung parang pagkabata niya, pipiliin ko si Bianca," Coach Bamboo said.
"Great job girls. Kung pipili ako, mula nung blind auditions eh dinurog niya na ang puso ko, Esang," Coach Sarah said.
The Broadway Diva Lea Salonga, who mentored the trio chose Esang to move on to the next round.
Esang joins Akisha Sianson, Jonalyn Pepito, Luke Alford and Jhyleanne Rington in the Sing-Offs as part of Team Lea.


Colombia is a major exporter of petroleum and coal and was the seventh largest source of U.S. oil imports in 2000. Colombia aims to boost exploration to preserve its status as a net oil exporter in the future.
Colombia currently is experiencing improved economic conditions after weathering a deep recession in 1999. The country experienced real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.1% in 2000, with further growth of about 4% predicted in 2001. Domestic private consumption, investment, imports, and exports all improved in 2000.
In early 2000, Colombian President Andrés Pastrana announced his "Plan Colombia", which aims to spend $7.5 billion ($4 billion from Colombia and $3.5 billion from the United States and the international community) over three years to resolve conflicts with insurgent groups, fight illegal drug trafficking, modernize Colombian legal and military institutions, and strengthen the economy. The United States has been strongly supportive of Pastrana, with $1.3 billion committed to Plan Colombia. The country's recurring violence problems, with armed conflict between two main rebel groups and the government, historically have inhibited the growth of private investment. In March 2001, the Colombian government and the largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), announced that a new 10-country commission of foreign governments will be formed to advise and support a two-year peace process between the two parties.
Oil is Colombia's largest export earner (followed by coffee and coal), generating a reported 35% of government revenues in 2000. The country was the seventh-largest source of U.S. crude oil imports in 2000. However, current oil reserves are projected to last only for about a decade, and some analysts predict that Colombia could become a net oil importer as early as 2004. The volume of petroleum exported in 2000 decreased, although higher world oil prices more than compensated for the lower quantities in terms of export revenues. Encouraging foreign investment in oil exploration and production is a top priority, as much of the country remains unexplored. Coal is also a major export earner, and the industry became fully privatized as of October 2000.
Colombia has about 2.6 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, although potential reserves are much larger. Estimates indicate that, without new discoveries, Colombia could become a net oil importer in the medium term. Colombia's oil production declined by 125,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) to 700,600 bbl/d in 2000 after reaching an all-time high in 1999. State oil company Ecopetrol predicts a further decline to 632,000 bbl/d in 2001. Colombia exported 332,000 bbl/d to the United States during 2000 (almost 50% of the country's total production). Colombia's crude oil is lighter and sweeter than that of other major Latin American oil producers.
Current Colombian oil production is located mainly in the Cusiana and Cupiagua fields in the eastern Andes foothills, and in the Cano Limón field in the Arauca province near the Venezuelan border. These fields are expected to account for over 60% of total Colombian production in 2001. The Cusiana and Cupiagua fields are thought to have reached peak production, while Cano Limón, the largest producing field, is nearing depletion. BP, Colombia's largest foreign oil investor, operates Cusiana/Cupiagua. The Cano Limón field is operated by U.S.-based Occidental.
Vast unexplored and potentially hydrocarbon-rich territories remain in Colombia. Most exploration activity has focused on 7 of the country's 18 sedimentary basins, and the country shares many of the geological features of its oil-rich neighbor, Venezuela. Highlighting further exploration potential, Brazil's Petrobras and Occidental discovered a deposit at the Guando field containing reserves calculated at 1.4 billion barrels, 20% to 40% of which is estimated to be recoverable. Discovered in June 2000, the deposit is located in the Upper Magdalena Valley.
In 1999, the government passed legislative reforms intended to attract new investment. The reforms included royalty relief, accelerated environmental licensing, and a reduction in Ecopetrol's participation requirement from 50% to 30%. In positive reaction to these changes, a record of 32 contracts for exploration or incremental production were awarded in 2000, although none to the world's largest multinational companies such as ExxonMobil or Royal Dutch/Shell. Thirteen of these projects were awarded in the bidding round "Ronda 2000," while the remainder were awarded outside the round. Current plans call for future awards to be based on bilateral negotiations rather than bid rounds.
Government officials hope to decide another 30 contracts in 2001, with 12 deals arranged as of March. Companies becoming involved in Colombian oil for the first time in 2001 include Spain's Cepsa, Venezuela's Tecnoil, and Texas's Lone Star; Occidental and Colombia's Geopetrocol are expanding their presence.
Security problems continue to plague the Colombian oil industry, with a record 98 bombings of Occidental's 780-kilometer (480-mile) Cano Lim�n pipeline in 2000 and more than 35 as of March 2001. The pipeline was out of commission for most of February, forcing the company to declare force majeure on February 27. Occidental's main exploration effort apart from Cano Lim�n is the Gibraltar prospect, located on ground claimed by the native U'wa tribe, which has been the subject of much international protesting and negative publicity over the last year. Drilling is expected to begin in the spring of 2001. Despite these difficulties, Occidental is continuing to explore in Colombia and has confirmed its long-term commitment to the country.
The BP Cusiana/Cupiagua complex's Ocensa pipeline is by far a less frequent target for bombings. While it carries more oil than the Cano Lim�n pipeline, more of it is underground. The company's wells are occasionally attacked, but problems associated with operating in Colombia have not deterred the company from increasing its investment in the country, with on-going investments totaling over $3 billion.
The Orito field, located in the Putumayo basin, is one of Ecopetrol's main fields; it is connected to the TransAndino pipeline that originates in Ecuador and reaches port at Tumaco, Colombia. The pipeline has been a target for rebels' bombings much more frequently than the Ocensa, but not quite so often as the Cano Lim�n. Production has been seriously stunted in 2001, due to increased frequency of explosions.
Colombia's current refining capacity is about 285,850 bbl/d, and all refineries are 100% owned and operated by Ecopetrol. Although Colombia is a net oil exporter, it imports gasoline to meet domestic product demand. The government has stated that it will not construct new refineries, and any new construction must be undertaken by the private sector. In October 2000, Ecopetrol selected Shell Global Solutions, an affiliate of Royal Dutch/Shell, to provide technical assistance in a $22-million program to modernize Colombia's two largest refineries, Cartagena and Barrancabermeja. The modernization program is intended to raise Cartagena's and Barrancabermeja's total gasoline production by 26% to 350,000 bbl/d in anticipation of domestic demand growth and plans for significant exports.
In August 2000, Ecopetrol designed a short-term plan to import heavy oil from neighbors Venezuela and Ecuador, in order to produce lower cost derivatives, such as diesel, solvents and jet fuel at its Cartagena refinery. This would allow the company to export more of its light, sweet crude.
Colombia's proven gas reserves stand at an estimated at 6.9 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), and production (and consumption) in 1999 totaled 183 billion cubic feet (Bcf). Production is centered along the Northern Coast and Barranca regions; other areas of production are in the south and in basins to the east of Bogotá.
Colombia's gas industry is controlled by three key players: Ecopetrol, which manages exploration and development of natural gas reserves; the Energy and Gas Regulatory Commission (CREG), which oversees regulation and distribution markets; and Empresa Colombiana de Gas (Ecogas), a state-owned company tied to the Ministry of Energy, in charge of managing the country's transmission system and operating most transportation pipelines. CREG has segmented the industry into production, transmission, distribution, and marketing sectors.
The year 2000 was not particularly active for the Colombian gas sector. Exploration and production and pipeline expansion continued at a "minimal level," according to the Colombian Association of Natural Gas (Naturgas). Exploration and production investments in 2000 reached only $5 million. An unattractive legal environment and excessive surcharges explained the low level of investment.
In early 2001, the Colombian Congress was considering legislation to galvanize the sector by de-regulating natural gas prices by 2003. The bill also aims to increase natural gas production for both domestic consumption and exports. Debate about the bill centered on concerns that price deregulation would result in higher prices for domestic consumers. Because there is a monopoly on production, many legislators believe that price regulation is necessary; however, potential new producers will not invest in the sector until prices are liberalized. Colombian gas consumption is insufficient to support significant further development of the country's reserves, so the bill also aims to promote exports. Finally, the bill plans to support increased domestic consumption of natural gas, especially for electricity, to make the largely hyropowered electricity sector less vulnerable to droughts.
Colombia is considering building a gas pipeline to Venezuela, linking its gas-rich Guajira basin to neighboring Maracaibo. Enron affiliate Promigas has been negotiating with the government for two years the possibility of building an export pipeline to Panama. Legislators have proposed more flexible tariff schemes and reduced royalties to get the project off the ground, but the judicial system has overridden the legislators' offers.
Most of Colombia's natural gas currently is produced offshore by Texaco, which has an association contract with Ecopetrol through 2004 and an agreement to continue operating the fields under a build - operate - maintain - transfer agreement until 2016. A Canadian consortium of Millennium Energy and Mera Petroleum finalized a contract with Ecopetrol at the end of January 2000 to explore for oil and gas in the Guajira basin. The companies had been working toward finalization of the contract since the summer of 1997. The Guajira basin produces an estimated 500 million cubic feet (Mcf) per day.
Colombia is the largest coal producer in Latin America (see graph), and its reserves consist of high-quality bituminous coal and a small amount of metallurgical coal. Its coal is relatively clean-burning, with a sulfur content of less than 1%. Coal is Colombia's third largest export in terms of revenue, after oil and coffee, and the country is one of the largest coal exporters in the world. Coal exports over the next 5-6 years are expected to increase significantly, and private investment over that period also is slated to increase.
Most of Colombia's coal is located in the Guajira peninsula on the country's Caribbean coast. Trains carrying coal shipments have been subject to fewer attacks than oil and power facilities, and sufficient storage volumes are usually available to avoid any interruptions in exports. A railway connects the Cerrejón and La Loma mines to the port of Santa Marta. Fatal attacks on coal industry personnel in March 2001 prompted renewed concerns about operating in the difficult Colombian security environment.
Coal mines are in private hands. Carbocol, formerly state-held, owns 50% of total output in the massive Cerrejón Norte project, which is the largest coal mining operation in Latin America; the other 50% is held by ExxonMobil's Intercor. Carbocol had been slated for years for privatization, and the company was sold in October 2000 for $383.7 million to a consortium of South Africa's Anglo-American, the UK's Billiton, and Switzerland's Glencore. The consortium was the only bidder and paid the minimum asking price.
Colombia has electricity generation capacity of 12.8 gigawatts, and typically almost 70% of generation is hydroelectric. Colombia's power sector endured a difficult year in 1992, as a severe drought left hydroelectric plants unable to meet electricity demand and forced power rationing. In the wake of that drought, plans to reform the sector began to form. The construction of coal and natural gas-fired power plants is being encouraged over the medium to long term, and hydropower's share of generation is expected to decline.
As of March 2001, the Colombian electricity sector is facing serious challenges. Repeated attacks on electric infrastructure by rebel separatist groups are straining the system and causing prices to spiral. Grid interconnections have been blown up, leaving the country divided into several, smaller grids and preventing repair crews from reconnecting the fragments. Distortions in local markets have resulted, as regions that normally export electricity are now cut off from markets where the power typically is consumed. In the hardest-hit areas, including the provinces of Valle, Tolima, and Caldas, state distributors cannot pay generators and are on the brink of collapse. The government announced in early March 2001 that the country might soon face electricity rationing.
The current problems have delayed privatization in the sector, which had progressed throughout the late 1990s and was slated to see the sales of power generator Isagen and transmission company ISA in 2000. Analysts had predicted that the economic recovery of 2000 would lead to increased electricity demand, creating an attractive environment for sales of these state assets. However, the increase in guerrilla attacks on the system has put privatization plans on hold.
Sources for this report include: Argus LatAm Energy and Latin American Power Watch; CIA World Factbook; Dow Jones News wire service; Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire; Financial Times; Oil and Gas Journal; Oil Daily; Petroleum Economist; International Market Insight Reports; U.S. Energy Information Administration; WEFA Latin America Economic Outlook.
Status in Climate Change Negotiations: Non-Annex I country under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (ratified March 22, 1995). Not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol.
Refineries (1/1/01E Capacity): 285,850 bbl/d, all run by state-run Ecopetrol. Two main refineries, Barrancabermeja - Santander (205,000 bbl/d) and Cartagena - Bolívar (75,000 bbl/d). Other refineries: Tibu - N. de Santander (1,800 bbl/d), Orito - Putumayo (1,800 bbl/d), and Apiay (2,250 bbl/d).
Colombia Government Trade Bureau in Washington, D.C.


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Description This plan presents an integrated, long-term transportation and land use vision for the Gilead Road Study area and is intended to serve as a guiding document for the Town Board and Planning Board in the planning, review and approval of future transportation and land use projects within the study area. The plan includes a number of recommendations designed to promote the orderly and efficient development of the study area and offers specific steps and principles to implement the plan's recommendations.
View plan details, Gilead Road - US 21 Small Area Plan Details (PDF).