text:
Edsel Ford and the National Park Service: Part 3
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Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah
During his 1927 summer retreat to Seal Harbor, Maine, Edsel Ford spent time having discussions with his neighbor John D. Rockefeller Jr. on the importance of the national parks to the American public. One year before, in 1926, Arno B. Cammerer, then Associate Director of the National Park Service, had initiated his career-defining project of establishing numerous national parks in the Eastern United States when Congress authorized the National Park Service's Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah park proposals. At the time, Lafayette National Park, now Acadia National Park, was the only park east of the Mississippi and despite growing travel to western parks, Cammerer was concerned that only a very small portion of those living east of the Mississippi would ever have the time or the money to visit them.
Realizing that there were millions of people in "the congested areas of the East who never will see the western parks," Cammerer helped the National Park Service establish an unofficial commission composed of park experts to ascertain whether there were lands in the East that would meet the National Park Service standards. The commission, partly funded by John D. Rockefeller Jr., focused on the Southern Appalachian Mountain region, concluding that the lands that would eventually make up the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Shenandoah National Park should be set aside for the American public. West of the Mississippi, parks could be easily carved out of large public land holdings. In the East, however, a majority of land was privately held which meant that although these Eastern park projects had been authorized in 1926, they could not be fully established until a majority of the land in the planned areas had been bought by the state and deeded to the U.S. government. Cammerer soon realized that land purchasing financed by state funding and small public donations would not be enough to make the Eastern park project a reality.
Several popular tourist stops in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park appear on this pennant. THF238700
To remedy the funding problem, Cammerer again turned to one of the wealthiest men in America and the largest benefactor of the East's first national park, John D. Rockefeller Jr. After helping to fund the commission, Rockefeller Jr. had previously mentioned to Cammerer that he was very much interested in continuing his support of the Eastern national parks project. This prompted Cammerer to write him in the beginning of August 1927 at Rockefeller Jr.'s Seal Harbor home, "The Eyrie." Cammerer's letter explained that while he had intended for public donations to be split fifty-fifty between the Great Smoky Mountain project and the Shenandoah project, the Great Smoky Mountains project was further along and more time-sensitive, as some of the lands set aside for the project were being clear-cut of their primitive forests before being sold. Securing the land for the Great Smoky Mountains project had become the utmost priority.
Expressing that the potential Great Smoky Mountains park "appeals to him more than any national park," Cammerer also enclosed photographs in his letter that he thought illustrated the "wonderful scenic character of the country proposed for inclusion in the park." In Seal Harbor, Rockefeller Jr. brought the issue to the attention of his philanthropic partner, neighbor, and avid photographer, Edsel Ford. Sparking an interest with Edsel to contribute to the project, Rockefeller Jr. relayed to Cammerer that Edsel would possibly be willing to donate, spurring Cammerer to contact Edsel in the beginning of September 1927. In his letter to Edsel, Cammerer added, "I am taking the liberty to enclose a considerable number of photographs showing the superb scenic qualities of the region, which Mr. Rockefeller also has seen, which I believe Mrs. Ford and you will enjoy looking over."
Over the course of September 1927, Cammerer kept sending Edsel information on the Eastern parks project, reiterating that the Great Smoky Mountains park in Tennessee and North Carolina continued to be the top priority. He also explained that the land required for the Shenandoah park consisted of mostly Virginian farmland and would take much longer to acquire. Luckily, the proposed Shenandoah park would include part of the Shenandoah Valley, which happened to be the birthplace of Harry F. Byrd, the Governor of Virginia at the time. The son of a wealthy apple grower from the Shenandoah Valley, Governor Byrd supported the idea of establishing a national park in his state and worked to make it a reality. Governor Byrd's brother, Admiral Richard E. Byrd, also happened to be a world-renowned explorer, pioneering aviator, and friend of Edsel Ford. Edsel would be responsible for helping to fund Richard Byrd's expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic, including convincing Rockefeller Jr. to aid in funding the latter.
Running the entire length of Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive offers 105 miles of scenic views along the Shenandoah Blue Ridge. This souvenir pennant depicts the 670-foot-long Mary's Rock Tunnel -- the only tunnel on the drive. THF239213
Rockefeller Jr. wrote Edsel from Seal Harbor at the end of September looking for a decision, noting that the Great Smoky Mountains project still needed money to purchase land and that Edsel had "expressed an interest in this project" when Rockefeller Jr. saw him in Seal Harbor a few weeks ago. Rockefeller sent him a copy of his pledge hoping that his letter of gift might be suggestive to the amount of money Edsel would donate. Edsel responded the same day saying, "I feel like I would like to help in this great undertaking," but financial obligations like a new home and other philanthropic efforts required him to donate "less than I would like to do if the circumstances were otherwise." Nonetheless, Edsel was "very glad to contribute $50,000 dollars" to the Great Smoky Mountains project and also would "be very glad to consider increasing" the pledge the next year if additional funds were needed.
In this letter from Edsel Ford to Rockefeller Jr., Edsel mentions his various other philanthropic activities, including an explanation on how important Richard Byrd's South Pole expedition will be. Due to Edsel's convincing justification above, Rockefeller Jr. would later help fund Byrd's expedition. THF255218
On October 6th, referring to their new partnership in funding the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Rockefeller Jr. wrote Edsel saying, "It is particularly gratifying to me that we are to be associated together with it." By November of 1927, Edsel had contacted Cammerer to declare that he intended to subscribe $50,000 to help establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which Cammerer graciously accepted. In February 1928 though, the Great Smoky Mountains project hit delays. Lagging fundraising meant that the lands designated for the park, which had yet to be acquired, were still under constant threat of being logged and needed to be procured immediately. The only public pledges to the park had been the ones made by Edsel and Rockefeller Jr. For the park to go forward, five million dollars would need to be raised in order to match the five million dollars in state funds already set aside to buy land for the park. With Edsel's pledge of $50,000 and Rockefeller Jr.'s pledge of $1,000,000, they had fallen well short of that goal.
Edsel Ford's signed letter to Arno B. Cammerer, stating that he is interested in contributing to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park project that Rockefeller Jr. had brought to his attention. THF255210
With time being of the essence, Rockefeller Jr. wrote Edsel with his proposed solution to the problem. The trustees of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, a fund established by Rockefeller Jr.'s father in memory of his mother and headed by Rockefeller Jr., decided that an enterprise of this kind would have made a "very strong appeal" to Mrs. Rockefeller. The foundation would cover the entire five million dollars needed to match the state funds, helping to acquire all of the land needed to establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. With the total cost covered for the first park, Rockefeller Jr. suggested that Edsel transfer his donation over to the Shenandoah project, to which Edsel obliged.
While Edsel admitted that he had not taken a deeper look into the Shenandoah National Park project, he did accompany his family on a 1921 camping trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Maryland, a location less than hundred miles north of Shenandoah and geographically similar. Possible memories from this trip could have also played a role in Edsel's decision to donate to Shenandoah. THF255214
On February 28th, 1928, Edsel withdrew his pledge to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and promptly informed Cammerer that he would be transferring the same pledge over to the Shenandoah National Park fund. Rockefeller Jr. sent a letter thanking Edsel for his understanding and the transfer, ending the note with, "Looking forward to the reunion of our summer colony at Seal Harbor." Cammerer also sent a letter thanking Edsel for his cooperation, noting, "There is nothing finer available in the East than these two areas selected for national park establishment and this is the psychological time, as the history of our country goes, to still procure these outstanding scenic beauty spots for the millions who will not have a chance to see the western wonderlands reserved in the national park system." Rockefeller Jr. would also contribute to the Shenandoah National Park fund as well.
This letter illustrates the pivotal role that Seal Harbor, Maine played in the friendship of Rockefeller Jr. and Edsel Ford. THF255212
In 1932, the state of Virginia began to collect the pledges that had been made to the Shenandoah National Park fund. Edsel reaffirmed his interest in this philanthropic endeavor with a letter to the Governor of Virginia saying, "It has been a great pleasure to contribute" to the fund. By 1935, Shenandoah had officially been established as a national park and, in 1936, they held a dedication ceremony to which Edsel was invited. Unfortunately, Edsel was leaving for Europe soon, which he explained to Cammerer, but his good friend Rockefeller Jr. was able to send a transcript of the dedication speech given by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. Part of the speech thanked Edsel for his contribution.
A page from Harold L. Ickes' Shenandoah National Park dedication speech. Named Secretary of the Interior by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ickes held the position for thirteen years from 1933 to 1946. Known for being brutally honest, tough, and sharp-tongued, Ickes worked with Arno B. Cammerer to dramatically increase national park land even though the two constantly quarreled. THF255228
Ryan Jelso is Associate Curator, Digital Content, at The Henry Ford.
North Carolina, Virginia, philanthropy, nature, national parks, Ford family, Edsel Ford, by Ryan Jelso, 20th century, 1930s, 1920s
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Self-Assembly of carboranethiol isomers on Au{111}: Intermolecular interactions determined by molecular dipole orientations
J. Nathan Hohman, Pengpeng Zhang, Elizabeth I. Morin, Patrick Han, Moonhee Kim, Adam R. Kurland, Patrick D. McClanahan, Viktor P. Balema, Paul S. Weiss
Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) structures and properties are dominated by two interactions: those between the substrate and adsorbate and those between the adsorbates themselves. We have fabricated self-assembled monolayers of m-1-carboranethiol (M1) and m-9-carboranethiol (M9) on Au{111}. The two isomers are nearly identical geometrically, but calculated molecular dipole moments show a sizable difference at 1.06 and 4.08 D for M1 and M9 in the gas phase, respectively. These molecules provide an opportunity to investigate the effect of different dipole moments within SAMs without altering the geometry of the assembly. Pure and codeposited SAMs of these molecules were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The molecules are indistinguishable in STM images, and the hexagonally close-packed adlayer structures were found to have (√19 ×√19)R23.4° unit cells. Both SAMs display rotational domains without the protruding or depressed features in STM images associated with domain boundaries in other SAM systems. Differing orientations of molecular dipole moments influence SAM properties, including the stability of the SAM and the coverage of the carboranethiolate in competitive binding conditions. These properties were investigated by dynamic contact angle goniometry, Kelvin probe force microscopy, and grazing incidence Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.
https://doi.org/10.1021/nn800673d
Published - 2009 Mar 24
Carboranethiol
Dipole moment
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
Kelvin probe
Scanning tunneling microscopy
Self-assembled monolayers
10.1021/nn800673d
Dive into the research topics of 'Self-Assembly of carboranethiol isomers on Au{111}: Intermolecular interactions determined by molecular dipole orientations'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Self assembled monolayers Engineering & Materials Science 100%
Isomers Engineering & Materials Science 95%
Scanning tunneling microscopy Engineering & Materials Science 68%
Dipole Chemical Compounds 63%
isomers Physics & Astronomy 63%
Self Assembled Monolayer Chemical Compounds 62%
Hohman, J. N., Zhang, P., Morin, E. I., Han, P., Kim, M., Kurland, A. R., McClanahan, P. D., Balema, V. P., & Weiss, P. S. (2009). Self-Assembly of carboranethiol isomers on Au{111}: Intermolecular interactions determined by molecular dipole orientations. ACS Nano, 3(3), 527-536. https://doi.org/10.1021/nn800673d
Self-Assembly of carboranethiol isomers on Au{111} : Intermolecular interactions determined by molecular dipole orientations. / Hohman, J. Nathan; Zhang, Pengpeng; Morin, Elizabeth I.; Han, Patrick; Kim, Moonhee; Kurland, Adam R.; McClanahan, Patrick D.; Balema, Viktor P.; Weiss, Paul S.
In: ACS Nano, Vol. 3, No. 3, 24.03.2009, p. 527-536.
Hohman, JN, Zhang, P, Morin, EI, Han, P, Kim, M, Kurland, AR, McClanahan, PD, Balema, VP & Weiss, PS 2009, 'Self-Assembly of carboranethiol isomers on Au{111}: Intermolecular interactions determined by molecular dipole orientations', ACS Nano, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 527-536. https://doi.org/10.1021/nn800673d
Hohman JN, Zhang P, Morin EI, Han P, Kim M, Kurland AR et al. Self-Assembly of carboranethiol isomers on Au{111}: Intermolecular interactions determined by molecular dipole orientations. ACS Nano. 2009 Mar 24;3(3):527-536. https://doi.org/10.1021/nn800673d
Hohman, J. Nathan ; Zhang, Pengpeng ; Morin, Elizabeth I. ; Han, Patrick ; Kim, Moonhee ; Kurland, Adam R. ; McClanahan, Patrick D. ; Balema, Viktor P. ; Weiss, Paul S. / Self-Assembly of carboranethiol isomers on Au{111} : Intermolecular interactions determined by molecular dipole orientations. In: ACS Nano. 2009 ; Vol. 3, No. 3. pp. 527-536.
@article{ee406d65b44345f6acaa41986a801fb8,
title = "Self-Assembly of carboranethiol isomers on Au{111}: Intermolecular interactions determined by molecular dipole orientations",
abstract = "Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) structures and properties are dominated by two interactions: those between the substrate and adsorbate and those between the adsorbates themselves. We have fabricated self-assembled monolayers of m-1-carboranethiol (M1) and m-9-carboranethiol (M9) on Au{111}. The two isomers are nearly identical geometrically, but calculated molecular dipole moments show a sizable difference at 1.06 and 4.08 D for M1 and M9 in the gas phase, respectively. These molecules provide an opportunity to investigate the effect of different dipole moments within SAMs without altering the geometry of the assembly. Pure and codeposited SAMs of these molecules were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The molecules are indistinguishable in STM images, and the hexagonally close-packed adlayer structures were found to have (√19 ×√19)R23.4° unit cells. Both SAMs display rotational domains without the protruding or depressed features in STM images associated with domain boundaries in other SAM systems. Differing orientations of molecular dipole moments influence SAM properties, including the stability of the SAM and the coverage of the carboranethiolate in competitive binding conditions. These properties were investigated by dynamic contact angle goniometry, Kelvin probe force microscopy, and grazing incidence Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.",
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note = "Funding Information: The author would like to acknowledge the financial support of the National Science Council of Taiwan, R.O.C. through its grant NSC 94-2213-E-259-025.",
doi = "10.1021/nn800673d",
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T1 - Self-Assembly of carboranethiol isomers on Au{111}
T2 - Intermolecular interactions determined by molecular dipole orientations
AU - Hohman, J. Nathan
AU - Zhang, Pengpeng
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AU - Han, Patrick
AU - Kim, Moonhee
AU - Kurland, Adam R.
AU - McClanahan, Patrick D.
AU - Balema, Viktor P.
AU - Weiss, Paul S.
N1 - Funding Information: The author would like to acknowledge the financial support of the National Science Council of Taiwan, R.O.C. through its grant NSC 94-2213-E-259-025.
N2 - Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) structures and properties are dominated by two interactions: those between the substrate and adsorbate and those between the adsorbates themselves. We have fabricated self-assembled monolayers of m-1-carboranethiol (M1) and m-9-carboranethiol (M9) on Au{111}. The two isomers are nearly identical geometrically, but calculated molecular dipole moments show a sizable difference at 1.06 and 4.08 D for M1 and M9 in the gas phase, respectively. These molecules provide an opportunity to investigate the effect of different dipole moments within SAMs without altering the geometry of the assembly. Pure and codeposited SAMs of these molecules were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The molecules are indistinguishable in STM images, and the hexagonally close-packed adlayer structures were found to have (√19 ×√19)R23.4° unit cells. Both SAMs display rotational domains without the protruding or depressed features in STM images associated with domain boundaries in other SAM systems. Differing orientations of molecular dipole moments influence SAM properties, including the stability of the SAM and the coverage of the carboranethiolate in competitive binding conditions. These properties were investigated by dynamic contact angle goniometry, Kelvin probe force microscopy, and grazing incidence Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.
AB - Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) structures and properties are dominated by two interactions: those between the substrate and adsorbate and those between the adsorbates themselves. We have fabricated self-assembled monolayers of m-1-carboranethiol (M1) and m-9-carboranethiol (M9) on Au{111}. The two isomers are nearly identical geometrically, but calculated molecular dipole moments show a sizable difference at 1.06 and 4.08 D for M1 and M9 in the gas phase, respectively. These molecules provide an opportunity to investigate the effect of different dipole moments within SAMs without altering the geometry of the assembly. Pure and codeposited SAMs of these molecules were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The molecules are indistinguishable in STM images, and the hexagonally close-packed adlayer structures were found to have (√19 ×√19)R23.4° unit cells. Both SAMs display rotational domains without the protruding or depressed features in STM images associated with domain boundaries in other SAM systems. Differing orientations of molecular dipole moments influence SAM properties, including the stability of the SAM and the coverage of the carboranethiolate in competitive binding conditions. These properties were investigated by dynamic contact angle goniometry, Kelvin probe force microscopy, and grazing incidence Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.
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Elon Musk Haggles With Stephen King Over The Price Of A Blue Checkmark
Dani Di Placido
I write about film, television, pop culture, and other fun stuff.
Nov 1, 2022, 03:00pm EDT |
Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter. Muhammed Selim Korkutata / Anadolu Agency
On Monday, prolific horror author Stephen King went viral with his dismissive reaction to Elon Musk's plan to introduce a $20-dollar-per-month fee for verified Twitter users to keep their blue checkmarks.
"$20 a month to keep my blue check?" King tweeted to his 6.9 million followers. "F**k that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron." When a Twitter user told King he could afford the fee, King replied: "It ain't the money, it's the principle of the thing."
Elon Musk responded directly to King on Twitter, writing, "We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot entirely rely on advertisers. How about $8?"
King didn't bother to respond to Musk, but Musk persevered, following up his comment by tweeting: "I will explain the rational in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat bots & trolls."
Musk's response to King sparked a barrage of mockery and memes from Twitter users, who were highly amused to see the newly crowned owner of Twitter haggle for the price of a blue checkmark.
Musk's scheme to introduce a fee (and proposal to remove checkmarks from verified users who do not pay the fee) has come under fire from critics who point out that the blue checkmark was never intended to be a status symbol, but provide verification for public figures and journalists on the site.
Twitter's landscape is full of irony-poisoned parody accounts and scammers, who can easily impersonate other accounts if the verification of the blue checkmark is replaced by a fee.
After all, it is the users who imbue Twitter with value (and considering the relatively small size of its userbase, Twitter boasts considerable cultural power, perhaps due to the fact that so many journalists and celebrities are hopelessly addicted to the site).
Hence, demanding that verified accounts pay Twitter for the privilege of a blue checkmark struck many commentators as counter-intuitive; the idea seems to be wildly unpopular, with many users opposed to it in principle.
Internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis recently tweeted a poll asking Twitter users how much they would be willing to pay to be verified on the platform. The vast majority of respondents chose the "wouldn't pay" option. Musk tweeted in response: "Interesting."
Five Thirty Eight political guru Nate Silver wrote to his 3.5 million followers: "I'm probably the perfect target for this, use Twitter a ton, can afford $20/mo, not particularly anti-Elon, but my reaction is that I've generated a ton of valuable free content for Twitter over the years and they can go f**k themselves."
Silver and King weren't the only verified users to scorn the idea. Many of the site's checkmark-wielding overlords tweeted their distaste for the paywall.
Following his one-sided conversation with the horror author, Musk then doubled down on his $8 offer to King, and attempted to spin his proposed fee into an act of equality for the site's users, tweeting: "Twitter's current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn't have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month."
Musk then suggested some other benefits to paid verification, such as a boost in discoverability, the ability to post long video and audio, and being bombarded with half as many ads.
Again, verified users were not impressed.
Steven King, however, has yet to comment; perhaps he can play hardball, and negotiate Musk down to a sensible "zero."
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We are getting closer and closer to Halloween, so let the baked goods commence! These Halloween monster doughnuts are a fun treat this holiday season, and a great way to get the kids into the kitchen!
My husband had been pestering me to make doughnuts for some time. He has a coworker who LOVES doughnuts and wanted me to whip up a batch. Timing hasn't been great lately, but I finally managed to sneak some time in to make some homemade doughnuts.
While preparing to decorate these Halloween monster doughnuts, Dan jumped in and said I should turn them into monsters with teeth, where the hole in the middle are their "mouths." I'm thinking, that is a cool idea! So I set to work, creating these monster doughnuts using candy melts and chocolate chips. Of course, no doughnut-making day is complete without at least one or two sprinkle doughnuts! But honestly, I love how these Halloween monster doughnuts turned out!
I bought pre-coloured candy melts from our Bulk Barn, but Wilton carries some fun colours, too. You can colour your own but I have talked about this issue before in my Christmas doughnuts with candy melts glaze post. Ordinary food colouring will not do. And since I already have enough food colouring on hand, I don't want to be adding more to my collection 🙂 Orange, purple, and white were appropriate for Halloween colours, and they had more (such as green and dark brown) but I figured less is more in this case.
Design wise you can go any which way you like. To make the eyes I placed whole pieces of candy melts onto the doughnuts, followed by "gluing" chocolate chips onto the circles using leftover candy melts. The teeth are just chopped candy melts. I found the white held its shape best and tended not to crumble, but don't worry, even if you break a bunch of teeth, you can just melt down the leftovers to dip the doughnuts into.
My favourite doughnut monster happened by accident. See that white doughnut with the purple teeth at the top right? I totally dropped him while decorating, resulting in that smeared look on his face. Makes me think he is a ravenous monster who gobbled up something bloody and that is the remnants on his face… Terrifying and disturbing, but totally Halloween!
I used the same recipe for the doughnuts as in my Christmas doughnuts with candy melts glaze (which were adapted from Grab A Plate.) However, this time around I tried going more with a pumpkin spice flavour. The banana flavour still came through, but I so want to try these with pumpkin puree next time! I feel they would still turn out, even with replacing the banana with pumpkin. This may be happening sooner than you think!
Have fun this Halloween as you and your kids put together these Halloween monster doughnuts! Get creative!
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Alternatively add the dry ingredients and milk to the banana mixture, starting and ending with the dry mixture. Mix until JUST combined.
Bake for 11-12 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes in pan before moving them to a cooling rack.
To top the cooled doughnuts, melt candy melts. Dip doughnuts into melts and top with whole candy melts as eyes. Place some melted candy on the back of chocolate chips to attach to the eyes. Cut "teeth" out of melts and add to face.
I used candy melts from my local Bulk Barn, but Wilton also makes great candy melts!
Counting down the days to FBC 2016! Not only will I meet a ton of awesome people (including some favourite Canadian food bloggers,) but I get to attend a photography workshop with Dennis Prescott! Going to be awesome learning from the master himself!


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Infrastructure woes
'Why part with good land for a bullet train we won't ride?': South Gujarat farmers rise in protest
In Valsad and Navsari districts, project-affected villagers say the land acquisition process has been insensitive, non-transparent and often illegal.
Aarefa Johari
Jul 02, 2018 · 09:00 am
Ratilal Patel points to a pole bullet train project authorities erected in his farm without his permission. | Photo: Aarefa Johari
On May 30, Ratilal Patel stared in confusion at a PowerPoint presentation on a 6-foot screen at the Morarji Desai Auditorium in South Gujarat's Valsad town. Around him, close to a hundred other farmers from across Valsad district struggled to keep up with the slides, which featured information on India's first bullet train project proposed to run between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
"Those bullet train people showed us what the train will look like, what features it will have, how many trees will be cut for it," said Patel, an Adivasi farmer from the Dhodia tribe whose family owns 45 acres of land in Vaghaldhara village. "The presentation was in Gujarati, but they were reading everything from the screen so fast, we could not really understand much."
This is not what Patel and the other farmers had expected from the meeting, which was supposed to be the first real stakeholder consultation organised by the project authorities in Valsad for people likely to lose their lands. Similar stakeholder meetings had been organised in several other districts on the bullet train route, amid growing farmer resistance to the project.
The elevated bullet train line is a pet infrastructure proposal of the Bharatiya Janata Party government, set to be built at a cost of Rs 1.1 lakh crore with the Japanese government's assistance. The 508-km rail route will cut through 866 hectares of land in Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, affecting an estimated 312 villages along the way.
A spokesperson for the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited, the public-private joint venture in charge of the project, told Scroll.in that between 5,000 and 6,000 persons are expected to be affected by the project across all districts along the entire route. But its internal report, available at the Valsad collector's office, claims there are 1,695 project-affected households in Valsad district alone. The project will also claim more than 80,400 trees across Gujarat, in addition to trees in Maharashtra's forested districts of Thane and Palghar. Farmers believe this is just a conservative estimate.
Under pressure to give up their farmland, trees and homes for infrastructure deemed to be of "national interest", farmers who attended the Valsad stakeholder meeting were hoping for clear answers about rehabilitation, resettlement and their livelihoods. "But after their long presentation, they barely gave us 30 minutes to ask questions, which they didn't even answer properly," said Sumit Desai, a lawyer from Dungra town who attended the meeting.
Scroll.in visited Valsad as well as Gujarat's Navsari district – a region famed for its mango and chikoo produce – and found that farmers and home-owners affected by the bullet train project are mobilising to fight for their land. According to the protesting farmers, the steps taken by the National High Speed Rail Corporation and the state government during the public consultation and land acquisition process have been non-transparent, insensitive and often illegal.
Ratilal Patel (right), his brothers and other farmers from Vaghaldhara village are likely to lose their lands to the bullet train project.
Sixty-day period cut short
The Central government's stated purpose for introducing a bullet train corridor is to reduce travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad from seven hours to just two hours. The National High Speed Rail Corporation has announced plans to ply multiple trains on the route every day, with a train every 20 minutes during peak hours. This is meant to benefit textile and diamond merchants and other working professionals who frequently travel between the two cities. To build the elevated rail lines, the corporation plans to acquire tracts of land with a width of 17.5 metres all along the 508-km route. More land will be acquired to build the 12 railway stations en route.
Under the Centre's Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, any land acquisition process by the state must begin with a social impact assessment of the project, and seeking the consent of at least 70% of the affected populace. Gujarat's 2016 amendment to the Act, however, does away with the clauses on consent and mandatory social impact assessment for certain types of projects, including those relating to social infrastructure and industrial corridors.
In April, therefore, the corporation proceeded directly to the next step in the land acquisition process under the Act: serving notices to project-affected persons in all districts with survey numbers and other details about the plots of land it intends to acquire. Under the Act, once such a notice is published in the official gazette, two local newspapers and in the offices of the panchayats or municipalities, land-owners must be given at least 60 days to file any objections to the acquisition of their plots.
Plot-owners in Valsad, however, claim they have been given barely 20 days or less to file objections.
In Vapi block, for instance, the notice lists May 8 as the official date of issuance and July 8 as the last date for filing objections. "But it was June 2 by the time the notice reached the talati [revenue officer] of our taluka, and by the time the talati gave some of us Xerox copies, it was June 13," said Jayatibhai Patel, an industrial worker from Dungra, a former panchayat that is now a municipal suburb of Vapi city in South Valsad. Residents claim at least 500 families could lose their homes if the corporation insists on building the bullet train line's Vapi station in the densely populated old neighbourhoods of Dungra.
In the villages of North Valsad, the notice letter itself had a discrepancy. "The letter is dated April 19, but the last day for filing objections was June 9. That is not even 60 days," said Pravin Patel, a farmer from Endergotta village who stands to lose almost all of his 10 acres of land. "Not everyone comes to know if a notice is put up in the panchayat office," he added. "Some of us got copies from the talati 10 or 20 days before the last date on June 9, some got copies just two days before the last date. What was the point of all this, then? How could we have filed objections any time sooner?"
The notification on land acquisition, dated May 8, which land-owners in Dungra received from their talati on June 13.
Contradicting the contents of the notices land-owners in Valsad showed Scroll.in, a spokesperson for the corporation said the notifications sent to villagers were neither about expressing an intention to acquire land, nor did they stipulate a 60-day time period. "The notices served only stated that we want to do a survey of their lands, because so far we have only done surveys via satellite," said Dhananjay Kumar, the public relations officer of the National High Speed Rail Corporation.
Around the same time the state government began issuing notices about land acquisition for the bullet train corridor, the corporation started to announce dates for public meetings with stakeholders in each district. In some districts like Nadiad, Valsad and Navsari, the corporation described these as "second" stakeholder meetings. But in Valsad and Navsari, farmers claim there was never a "first" meeting to begin with.
"Before the meeting on May 30, the bullet train authorities did not organise any other meeting with the public in Valsad," said Bhagubhai Patel, the Valsad representative of the Gujarat Khedut Samaj, a state-wide farmers' association. "None of us know why they are calling it the second public meeting."
At the Valsad district collector's office, officials showed Scroll.in an internal report of the corporation on the status of the bullet train project in Valsad. The report claimed that project authorities had already organised not one but multiple stakeholder meetings and "village level focus group discussions" with talatis, sarchpanches and other officials in talukas across Valsad. It featured photographs of those meetings and claimed they were held on different dates in November and December.
One person who does remember a previous meeting about the bullet train is Ram Chandra, the talati of Dungra. According to him, the meeting was held in November in the Vapi block office, with corporation representatives and five or six other talatis from the block. "But this was not a public meeting," said Chandra. "We were not allowed to ask any questions in that meeting. All they did was give us lists of the kind of questions farmers could ask during land acquisition, but no answers were provided to those questions."
At the public meeting on May 30, after sitting through the long PowerPoint presentation, farmers asked the very questions the corporation had anticipated. Which exact portions of land would be acquired within a particular survey number? Would farmers be given alternate agricultural land? Would families be rehabilitated in other houses if they lose their homes? Would they be given alternate sources of livelihood?
"They had no answers to any of these questions," said Sumit Desai, one of the lawyers who has filed a writ petition on behalf of the Gujarat Khedut Samaj in the Gujarat High Court against the land acquisition process for the bullet train project.
A page from the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd's internal report at the Valsad collectorate.
'They are throwing the promise of money at us'
Like Desai, farmers in Valsad seemed upset that the people tasked with answering their questions were not state or Central government officials but representatives from Arcadis, a private consultancy firm the National High Speed Rail Corporation has hired for project management.
"All they wanted to speak about was monetary compensation. But when I asked whether the compensation would be according to open market rates or jantri [ready reckoner] rates, they said that had not yet been discussed," said Desai. Jantri rate is the minimum price of a property as determined by a government agency. Open market rates, meanwhile, are determined by forces of supply and demand in the market, and tend to be much higher than jantri rates.
Farmers had heard on the news that the state government was offering nearly five times the jantri rate for their lands. In April, the government had also offered a 25% additional incentive on compensation to farmers who not only give their consent to the acquisition of their plots but also promise in writing that they will not challenge the consent in court.
"But they are just trying to throw the promise of money at us without addressing any of our other concerns," said Dharmesh Nayak, who has a three-acre fruit orchard in Manekpur village in Navsari. "In reality the jantri rate has not been revised since 2011. It is so low that even five times the jantri rate will be less than the open market rate for land in these parts. So why should we part with good land for this bullet train that most of us will never sit in?"
Official talk
The National High Speed Rail Corporation has not yet made the minutes of the stakeholder meetings public, but its public relations officer Dhananjay Kumar emphasised that project-affected persons would be given monetary compensation for everything from their land, trees and fruits to other structures on their properties that are lost to the bullet train project. "They will not be given alternate land but they will get Rs 3,600 per month for a while for their livelihood," said Kumar.
In Valsad, the district collector and deputy collector were not available for comment. A junior official, however, claimed the bullet train corridor would take up "very little land", a strip just 17.5 metres in width. "Farmers will get monetary compensation so if they have alternate farmland, they can grow their trees again," said the official who did not want to be identified.
What if a farmer does not have alternate land? "Well... the government has not said anything about that yet," the official said with a sympathetic smile.
In contrast to the sympathy collectorate officials expressed for project-affected farmers, the corporation's internal report painted a rosy picture of the consultations the agency had held with village representatives. The report had statements such as "mostly people are keen to know about the compensation package" and "mostly all the villagers are welcoming the project and they have agreed to cooperate at the time of survey work".
Pravin Patel, a farmer from Valsad's Endergotta village, holds up the land acquisition notification he received.
Stealth and insensitivity
For land-owners in Valsad, who had never heard of these previous consultations and who have no access to the corporation's internal report, these statements add insult to injury. They say they have already experienced insensitivity on the part of multiple government officials who came to their villages to conduct preliminary land surveys and markings.
In Endergotta village, Pravin Patel claims that some time in January, corporation representatives entered his farm when he was not around and erected three short poles at a distance from each other to indicate the route of the bullet train corridor. There were two white poles, meant to delineate the outer edges of the route, and a red pole in the centre that marked the central line of the route.
"They never asked for my permission before entering my farm to put up the poles, even though they are supposed to by law," said Patel. "Then a few weeks later, some other officials came to survey my land, and when I asked them what the poles were for, they just casually said I should forget about the land in between the poles." Since one of the poles is right near Patel's house, the farmer is not sure if his family will also lose their home to the bullet train.
In Vaghaldhara village, Ratilal Patel also has white and red poles cutting through the middle of his 45-acre farm. "They put up those poles in the middle of the night, without asking us," he said.
These stealthy actions stirred resentment among farmers, which came to the fore when the corporation published tiny advertisements in a local newspaper announcing the May 30 stakeholders' meeting. "At the bottom of the ad, there was fine print saying that 'unauthorised persons' would not be allowed at the meeting," said farmer leader Bhagubhai Patel. This clause prohibited any independent social or environmental activist from attending, he explained. "Who is unauthorised?" he asked. "People who want to attend a public meeting about an infrastructure project, or people who break into our farms in the night without permission?"
In Navsari, this prohibitive clause against "unauthorised persons" prompted farmers to completely boycott the stakeholder meeting scheduled for May 29. "There was such sharp opposition to this clause from us, that they had to cancel the meeting," said Jayesh Nayak, an environmental rights activist from Khakhwada village in the district.
Farm leader Bhagubhai Patel addresses farmers at a meeting in Valsad to plan protests against the bullet train project.
Speaking for the corporation, Dhananjay Kumar said the "no unauthorised persons" clause had been added later because "politically motivated" people had made a "ruckus" at the first few public meetings. "According to our initial survey, there were going to be 5,000 to 6,000 project-affected persons in the full bullet train corridor from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. But when we called for stakeholder consultations, more than 1,000 people would attend in just one district on one day," said Kumar, adding that most of the attendees were not project-affected persons. "They were politically-motivated people, like NGOs, who had come just to create a ruckus. They did not let us communicate with the project-affected people. So after the first few consultations, we decided to segregate the people."
Protests ahead
In response to the state government's questionable methods of starting the land acquisition process, land-owners in Valsad and Navsari are now determined to block all attempts to acquire their lands.
Since June 15, farmers in Valsad have held at least two large protests in Vaghaldhara, forcing National High Speed Rail Corporation teams who had come to conduct land measurement surveys to leave the village. At the state level, the Gujarat Khedut Samaj organised a four-day farmer rally from June 22 in 192 villages from Ahmedabad to Dungra.
"The whole purpose of this project is only so that [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi can show the world that we have a bullet train too," said Bhagubhai Patel. "Ordinary people who are losing their lands have absolutely no need for this bullet train."
All photographs by Aarefa Johari.
This is the first in a two-part series on protests against the bullet train project. The second part can be read here.
Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train
Road-widening projects in Himalayas for Char Dham pilgrims could be a disaster in making


The Basque separatist group Eta has announced it will stop carrying out armed attacks in its bid for independence from Spain.
Thousands of Britons were caught up in holiday chaos yesterday after Basque separatist group Eta detonated two devices on the Costa del Sol.
Terror group Eta announced an end to its 15-month ceasefire on Tuesday and warned Spain to expect new attacks 'on all fronts'.


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Petrificar (del latín petra (piedra) y -ficar) se refiere a convertir o transformar algo en piedra o algún material duro o endurecerlo. También se refiere a dejar a alguien paralizado de terror o asombro.

Petrificación en la naturaleza
La mineralización o litificación es el caso más frecuente de petrificación (que en este caso sería el término vulgar). Un cuerpo orgánico enterrado entre capas geológicas, pierde, por putrefacción y descomposición, la materia orgánica; pero si los espacios vacíos son rellenados por sustancias minerales en disolución aportadas por las aguas que impregnan el terreno, el cuerpo o resto orgánico, se habrá mineralizado (petrificado), transformándose en roca (piedra). En los huesos se conoce su grado avanzado de fosilización por mineralización, porque son mucho más densos y pesados que cuando no están fosilizados.
Por lo general es el carbonato cálcico la sustancia «fosilizante» más común. También lo son la sílice, los óxidos y los carbonatos de hierro; más rara vez el azufre, como acontece en los moluscos fósiles de Libros (Teruel), y en algún caso, la pirita y el yeso.

Algunas veces la mineralización se realiza reemplazando la materia orgánica original partícula a partícula, casi molécula a molécula. Este caso se denomina permineralización y se suele conservar la estructura microscópica del cuerpo.

En el caso de sedimentos que se transforman en rocas consolidadas se usa el término litificación y el ámbito en el que se produce se denomina diagénesis.

En la mitología
Se puede visualizar en mitos y leyendas, ciertos actos de petrificación como:

 En el cuento del rey Midas, a él lo hechizaron para que todo lo que tocara se convirtiera en oro.
 En la mitología griega una de las gorgonas, Medusa, fue condenada a que todos los que la miraran directamente a los ojos se transformaran en piedra.
 Varios animales mitológicos en diferentes culturas poseen, según las leyendas, la propiedad de petrificar. El ejemplo más conocido es el del basilisco, que se decía que podía matar o petrificar con la mirada.
 En algunos relatos del Norte de Europa, Hay criaturas llamadas Trol que se petrifican al contacto con el sol

Véase también
 Silicificación
 Fósil
 Fosildiagénesis

Referencias

Diagénesis
Tafonomía
Habilidades y poderes mitológicos

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


A number of years ago Dalton Key wrote the following little piece that reminds us being a Christian involves much, much more than what we don't do.
I have a good friend. She doesn't drink alcohol or abuse her body with tobacco. She does not destroy her mind with drugs. I've never heard her gossip or tell a single lie. She does not waste her time in night clubs or dance halls. I've never heard her speak with profanity or vulgarity. She has never cheated a soul in a business deal, nor has she ever lied on her income tax forms.
Many people would no doubt call my friend a "good Christian." And yet, you ought to know I have been describing my dog, Paisley.
Brother Key's words raise the thought-provoking question: "What on earth am I doing for Heaven's sake?" We are tempted to define faithful Christian living by what we don't do: we don't fuss, cuss, steal, lie, cheat, drink booze, commit adultery or homosexuality. All well and good. But our canine friends remind us you can not do all that and still not be a Christian! Heaven has acted for our sake. The apostle Paul wrote, "the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men," and that salvation-bringing grace indeed teaches us that "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age" (Titus 2:11-12). But the same breath of Scripture goes on to say that our Savior Jesus Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14).
We must come to grips with the great Bible truth that holiness and Christian living involves much, much more than what we don't do. We must indeed "put off the old man," but we must also "put on the new" (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9ff).
A life that pleases God and brings honor and glory to Him is not negative, static and passive. To be holy is to aggressively pursue the likeness of God in my own life. It definitely involves some things I don't and won't do. But both the example of Jesus and the overall teaching of the New Testament challenge us to ask ourselves, not just what am I not doing for Heaven's sake . . . .but what on earth am I doing for heaven's sake?
"And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful" (Titus 3:14).


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6 jobs found in Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT American Express
Java Software Engineer - Digital Banking
American Express Salt Lake City, UT, USA
**Description** "You Lead the Way. We've Got Your Back. At American Express,we know that with the right backing,people and businesses have the power to progress in incredible ways. Whether we're supporting our customers' financial confidence to move ahead,taking commerce to new heights,or encouraging people to explore the world,our colleagues are constantly redefining what's possible - and we're proud to back each other every step of the way. When you join #TeamAmex,you become part of a diverse community of over 60,000 colleagues,all with a common goal to deliver an exceptional customer experience every day." We are building a banking platform that enables teams to create products at scale and power digitals channels to deliver compelling experiences in a dramatically faster fashion. As an Engineer,you will be responsible for building this cutting-edge technology framework that facilitates developer productivity without compromising on quality at enterprise scale. We look first...
**Description** "You Lead the Way. We've Got Your Back. At American Express,we know that with the right backing,people and businesses have the power to progress in incredible ways. Whether we're supporting our customers' financial confidence to move ahead,taking commerce to new heights,or encouraging people to explore the world,our colleagues are constantly redefining what's possible - and we're proud to back each other every step of the way. When you join #TeamAmex,you become part of a diverse community of over 60,000 colleagues,all with a common goal to deliver an exceptional customer experience every day." We're looking for an iOS Engineer to work on mobile applications that will be used by tens of millions of American Express cardholders around the world. We want someone with strong technical skills and creativity. Should enjoy solving tough problems and working with new technologies. You should not be shy about sharing your ideas,and be obsessive about user experience and...
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iOS Engineer
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**Description** You Lead the Way. We've Got Your Back. At American Express,we know that with the right backing,people and businesses have the power to progress in incredible ways. Whether we're supporting our customers' financial confidence to move ahead,taking commerce to new heights,or encouraging people to explore the world,our colleagues are constantly redefining what's possible - and we're proud to back each other every step of the way. When you join #TeamAmex,you become part of a diverse community of over 60,000 colleagues,all with a common goal to deliver an exceptional customer experience every day. The Developer Experience (DX) team is looking for an influencer to help define and teach software engineering practices for the company. We need a seasoned engineer to envision,deliver,and evolve the Amex Way paved road for JVM-based software as documentation and tooling,enabling teams to start and deploy projects quickly with minimal manual work. In this role,you will...
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Opinions and reflections on the dissemination of science from a science troubadour, educator and sci ed researcher.
Can we really expect adolescents to choose STEM?
Despite the best efforts of science teachers and science communicators to inspire the next generation, employers are struggling to fill over 40% of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) vacancies. Because STEM careers are so important to our economy, this shortage has been the focus of plenty of research which suggests that students avoid choosing STEM subjects because their self-identity is at odds with their assumptions about scientists. Many of the strategies suggested for fixing this problem involve challenging their assumptions about scientists. They are important suggestions, but will they work? I'd like to consider the possibility that a far more radical solution is needed to succeed. Ultimately, we may have to change the whole system because many adolescent brains are just not wired to want to be scientists.
The ASPIRES research project is an ongoing longitudinal study of a large cohort of young people. It has been following their career aspirations from the age of 10 and initial results were published when the students were picking their GCSEs at the end of year 9. The decisions students make at this time are crucial as they start to determine possible career options, so it vital to understand what is going on in the mind of a year 9 student if we are to understand the STEM shortage. The findings certainly give food for thought. The ASPIRES research found that students in year 9 generally find science interesting and enjoy their science lessons so teachers and science communicators can give themselves a pat on the back. However, there is also a wealth of evidence to suggest that between years 6 and 9 students go from rating science as one of their favourite subjects in school to saying that they find it both boring and irrelevant. I am not clear whether this disparity is due to recent improvements classroom science, increased presence of science within mainstream culture, or for other reasons, but the reported interest is not translating into aspirations for STEM careers.
About 30% of the ASPIRES cohort would consider being doctors, and a similar but smaller percentage will consider engineering, but only about 15% would consider being scientists compared to about 40% who would like to be artists or designers. There appear to be a number of reasons for this but broadly speaking scientists have the image of being brainy, male, white, and middle class, and most young people, quite unsurprisingly, do not identify. I suspect that the image of scientists portrayed in The Big Bang Theory does not help either. Girls are likely to be attracted to the arts seeing them as more caring, and numerous students are not made to feel smart enough to consider themselves able enough to do science. Black students are particularly vulnerable to this and so the image problem has huge implications for the diversity of candidates going into STEM too. Science degrees are also seen as having non-transferrable skills.
Suggestions to solve the STEM shortage include increasing young people's science capital by bringing them into contact with scientists, allowing them to see that they are not necessarily exceptional people from privileged backgrounds. Scientists will therefore need to do more outreach by going into schools and should open up their labs to young people looking for work experience. This should not be arranged by nepotistic means as this would certainly perpetuate the lack of diversity of young people exposed to scientists and it should begin early on in primary school. There should be more options for science-based courses that are not seen as hard and overly academic, and with better careers advice young people may be likely to see science as having transferrable skills. I have no doubt that these suggestions would do a great deal to help but when I think back to my own academic and career choices I can't help but think that this is only half the picture.
I was a brainy, white, middle class student in the top sets for science, I had all the institutional discrimination in my favour. My careers advisor suggested I pursue biochemistry, so I applied for a bunch of biochemistry degrees and even though my science capital was not that high at home, my father was able to get me work experience in a medical research lab where I found the scientists to be normal, personable people. I had promised myself that whatever happened I could never work in an office wearing a suit as this would be unthinkably boring, but the I met scientists got to wear whatever clothes they wished and did not have a stiflingly boring routine. They switched between going to lectures, writing up, and experimental work and there was a relaxed comradery in the lab. It was this experience that helped me make my mind up. I HAD TO GET OUT OF SCIENCE!!! I was too creative to be pipetting all day and too rock n' roll to be that normal, balanced and satisfied in my job. My inner rebel exploded, I changed my degree programme from a BSc to a BA in philosophy, picked up a guitar and the rest is history. I may spend a lot of time talking about science, but I do not have a STEM career. The insanity is that had I waited another five years before my degree, I would have probably realised that I was more interested in physics than philosophy and would happily have gone into a STEM degree. I may have ended up in the same career of course, but there would be a much higher chance of me having contributed to the economy through STEM in the meantime.
I may be just one example, but my response to having everything stacked in my favour was to run away from STEM as fast as a photon in a vacuum. What I believe is missing from the discussion is that even with the best career advice in the world, and access to the most diverse and normal scientists, how many adolescents really want to do science? Adolescent brains are primed to criticise the status quo, distrust authority, be impulsive, and socially hyperaware. Science is at odds with almost everything the average adolescent values. Whilst science by its nature is critical of the status quo, in school it is presented as well-known facts that cannot be argued with. I once had a student genuinely tell me that he saw no point in his science lessons as he was unable to make a novel contribution. At the time, I argued that if he stayed with it for another 8 years at least, he would certainly be able to make a novel contribution but that seems like a long way off to an adolescent who can walk into the art classroom next door, pick up a paintbrush and make (what they deem to be) a novel contribution there and then. Scientists tell you what to believe, albeit for very good reasons and with open uncertainty, they work in hierarchical systems where it takes experience to produce new contributions, the contributions they make are incrementally small and are not as socially valued as the output of a musician, and they are methodical rather than impulsive. Science is not appealing to many adolescents who wish to make a big difference to the world on a human level rather than a conceptual one and lack the capacity for delayed gratification.
The ASPIRES project reported that young people separated the "sporty / cool students" from those that excelled at science. We all know that kids want to be cool because the cool kids get to snog more at parties and to appreciate just how cool science is, perhaps it helps to have made it through puberty. This does not mean that the suggestions that the ASPIRES project makes are useless. It can only be a good thing to break down the assumptions around scientists. IF students are still in a position to choose a STEM pathway, there is a much higher chance that a more diverse and representative bunch of candidates will apply but that is a big 'if'. By the end of adolescence many students have passed the academic point of no return. I have a number of friends who started out with arts degrees and changed their path later in life but that is much harder now when a degree saddles you with so much debt. So, what is the answer?
The physicist and author C.P. Snow spoke about this in his famous 1959 'Two Cultures' Lecture. As someone who worked in both the arts and sciences he lamented that the increasing gulf between the two intellectual cultures would lead to narrow-minded thinking and hold us back in a technologically advanced world. Much has changed since Snow's lecture and, perhaps thanks to increasingly accessible media, the gulf is not quite so large, but one thing has not changed much. Snow believed that in Britain we were more at risk of falling behind in technology due to "our fanatical belief in educational specialisation". The specialisation in our education system appears to be going nowhere and it is this that forces students to drop STEM subjects before they are ready to make a fully informed decision.
Our education system rewards early specialisation. A good science degree in a highly respected university often requires you to have at two A Levels and one AS in science. Schools know how difficult science A Levels are, and they like to have As and A*s on their league tables, so they will discourage anyone from doing science if they have done double science at GCSE. Any student choosing their GCSE options who wants to study double science to make room for a non-STEM subject will be at a disadvantage later down the line. Over-specialisation not only rewards teenagers with better opportunities, it also appeals to many teenagers who realise that doing related A-Levels requires learning fewer skills, meaning less time is deemed to be wasted on school, leaving more time for snogging at parties. Since more adolescents would rather spend their time learning about sociology, history and philosophy than maths, further maths and physics, STEM loses out.Allowing adolescents to be adolescent means letting them experiment with different modes of thought, multiple identities and multiple activities. They are phenomenally good at doing this. Their brains are built for it and their brains will only start to settle down into a strong identity when adolescence ends in their early twenties. If we encourage students to keep their options open, we might have to wait a bit longer for them to be trained to the same level, but I would bet that there will be a lot more who decide on a STEM career. They would also be trained to think more broadly, have more diverse skills and probably end up with more job satisfaction having made an adult decision about their path. These are surely all outcomes that we desire. When a scientist writes their first paper, many have not had to write an extended piece of prose since their GCSEs and being a skilled communicator carries ever more importance in the professional life of a scientist. Furthermore, the individuals who do not want to follow a STEM path will go into the world of arts, humanities or business with a more solid understanding of the scientific ideas that will allow them to function in the modern technologically driven world. The modern world needs divergent thinkers. So why don't we create an education system that rewards divergent thinking, trains our students broadly and gives them the time to work out their own identity before forcing them to pick one. I don't think I was that unusual as teenager to think that creatives were cooler than scientists. Now I know that the best scientists are often creative thinkers, that I could have been a good one and that I was never going to be that cool anyway.
Jonny Berliner March 7, 2018 STEM, ASPIRES, STEM shortage, science education, education4 Comments
Have we lost the last of a kind?
Jonny Berliner March 18, 2018 Stephen Hawking, Image of a scientist
Is Sci-Comm Too Smug?
Jonny Berliner February 18, 2018 science communication, philosophy of science
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text:
Quicksilver Messenger Service, Grateful Dead, Linn County. November 7-10, 1968, Fillmore West: slide reproduction (by... (Image)
Friedman, Ken
Conklin, Lee
Related shows:
Fillmore West - November 7, 1968
Fillmore West - November 10, 1968
Jeff Beck Group, Spirit, Linda Tillery "Sweet Linda Divine", Sweetwater - Brotherhood of Light -... (Poster)
Grateful Dead Live at Fillmore West on 1968-08-21	(Fan Tape)
Fillmore West - August 21, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Fillmore Auditorium on 1966-11-19	(Fan Tape)
Fillmore Auditorium - November 19, 1966
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Santana, Grass Roots, Pacific Gas & Electric - This House Divided Against Itself - Bill... (Poster)
Fillmore West, August 1968: The Who, James Cotton, Magic Sam; Creedence Clearwater Revival, It's a... (Image)
Kelley, Alton
Griffin, Rick
Moby Grape, Jeff Beck Group, Mint Tattoo, Charles Lloyd Quartet, The Herd, James Cotton Blues... (Poster)
The Grateful Dead Live at Fillmore West on 1968-08-22	(Fan Tape)
Big Brother and the Holding Company, Richie Havens, Illinois Speed Press, Sly and the Family... (Poster)
Grateful Dead Live at Fillmore East on 1968-06-14	(Fan Tape)
Fillmore East - June 14, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Silver Dollar Fair on 1968-11-01	(Fan Tape)
Silver Dollar Fairgrounds - November 1, 1968
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Newcastle-Under-Lyme - November 30, 1967
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Veterans Hall - November 22, 1968
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Eureka Municipal Auditorium - January 20, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at The Matrix on 1968-10-08	(Fan Tape)
The Matrix - October 8, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Pacific High Recording on 1968-11-06	(Fan Tape)
Pacific High Recording - November 6, 1968
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Carousel Ballroom - February 14, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Columbus Veterans Hall on 1968-11-22	(Fan Tape)
Eureka Municipal Auditorium January 20 1968	(Image)
Grateful Dead Live at Shrine Auditorium on 1968-08-23	(Fan Tape)
Shrine Auditorium - August 23, 1968
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Smith, Laura Paul
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Grateful Dead Live at Carousel Ballroom on 1968-03-16	(Fan Tape)
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Fried, Robert
King's Beach Bowl, North Shore - February 22, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Avalon Ballroom on 1968-10-13	(Fan Tape)
Grateful Dead Live at The Silver Dollar Fair on 1968-11-01	(Fan Tape)
Carousel Ballroom - January 17, 1968
Grateful Dead - Compact Dead - The Classic Collection	(Poster)
Dismukes, Karen
Grateful Dead Live at County Fairgrounds on 1968-05-18	(Fan Tape)
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds - May 18, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at The Matrix Club on 1968-10-08	(Fan Tape)
Grateful Dead at the Newport Pop Festival: Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and Jerry Garcia	(Image)
Grateful Dead Live at Haight Street on 1968-03-03	(Fan Tape)
Haight Street - March 3, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Eagles Auditorium on 1968-01-27	(Fan Tape)
Eagles Auditorium - January 27, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Unknown on 1968-05-00	(Fan Tape)
Fox Theatre - April 30, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Community Theatre on 1968-09-20	(Fan Tape)
Berkeley Community Theatre - September 20, 1968
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Shrine Exhibition Hall - December 20, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Eagle's Auditorium on 1968-01-27	(Fan Tape)
The Matrix - December 16, 1968
Grateful Dead Live at Unknown or Various on 1968-12-31	(Fan Tape)
Unknown or Various - December 31, 1968
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Fountain Street Church - March 24, 1968
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Orange County Fairgrounds (3)
Shrine Exhibition Hall (3)
Veterans Hall (3)
Berkeley Community Theatre (2)
King's Beach Bowl, North Shore (2)
Low Library Plaza, Columbia University (2)


text:
White House Climate Lunacy
January 5, 2015 by Infinite
Flashback:
– Obama's Science Adviser John Holdren Says CHEMTRAILS (= 'Death Dumps') Will Save The Planet!
– Obama's Science Czar John Holdren says: Forced abortions and mass sterilization needed to save the planet
– White House Climate Lunacy (Ice Age Now, Jan 4, 2015):
"Facts mean nothing to Dr. Holdren and even less to the President." – Alan Caruba
By Alan Caruba
As January 2014 arrived with a blast of cold air ominously dubbed the "polar vortex", the White House released a video in which the Chief Science Advisor to President Obama, Dr. John Holdren, managed to get on both sides of it, declaring the "extreme cold" to be "a pattern that we expect to see with increasing frequency as global warming continues." How the Earth is getting both colder and warmer at the same time defies reality, but that is of little concern to Dr. Holdren and, indeed, the entire global warming—now called climate change–hoax.
Earlier, in November 2013, the White House made Dr. Holdren available to social media saying he would answer "any questions that you have about climate change…" As noted by Jim Lakely, Communications Director of The Heartland Institute, the invitation welcomed questions "but only if they conform to the notion that human activity is causing a climate crisis, and restricting human activity by government direction can 'fight it.'" The answers would have to wait "because the White House social media experts are having a hard time sifting through the wreckage of their ill-conceived campaign and finding the very few that conform to Holdren's alarmist point of view."
Sadly, in addition to the United Nations where the hoax originated and any number of world leaders including our President and Secretary of State, Pope Francis has announced that he too believes the Earth is warming. Someone should tell him that it has been in a natural cooling cycle going on twenty years at this point!
Dr. Holdren
Of course, such facts mean nothing to Dr. Holdren and even less to the President. That is why we are likely to not only hear more about climate change from him, but also discover that the White House intends the last two years of Obama's term in office to be an all-out effort to impose restrictions and find reasons to throw money at the hoax. Dr. Holdren was no doubt a major contributor to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy initiative announced on December 3rd.
This "Climate Action Plan" called the "Climate Education and Literacy Initiative" is primarily directed at spreading the hoax in the nation's classrooms and via various government entities as the National Park Service so they can preach it to the 270 million people who visit the nation's 401 parks each year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will sponsor five regional workshops for educators and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, along with the American Geosciences Institute and the National Center for Science Education will launch four videos likely to be shown in schools.
Joining the White House will be the Alliance for Climate Education, the American Meteorological Society, the Earth Day Network, Green Schools Alliance, and others. It adds up to a massive climate change propaganda campaign, largely paid for with taxpayer funding.
The "science" that will be put forward will be as unremittingly bogus as we have been hearing and reading since the late 1980s when the global warming hoax was launched.
When Dr. Holdren faced a 2009 confirmation hearing, he moved away from his early doomsday views on climate change, population growth, and the possibilities of nuclear war. Though warned by William Yeatman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute that Dr. Holdren had "a 40-year record of outlandish scientific assertions, consistently wrong predictions, and dangerous public policy choices" that made him "unfit to serve as the White House Science Advisor", the committee voted unanimously to confirm him. They should have read some of his published views.
Regrettably Congress generally goes along with the climate change hoax. Dr. Holdren noted that "Global change research (did) well in the 2013 budget. One can look at that as a reaffirmation of our commitment to addressing the climate change challenge. There's $2.6 billion in the budget for the United States Global Change Research Program."
Let me repeat that. $2.6 BILLION devoted to "research" on global warming or climate change. One must assume it is devoted to finding ways for mankind to cope with the non-existent global warming or the threat of a climate change about which mankind can do nothing. It is comparable to saying that humans can get the Sun to increase or decrease its radiation.
In June 2014, Ron Arnold, the executive vice president of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise and Washington Examiner columnist, noted that Dr. Holdren has long held the view that the U.S. should "de-develop" its "over-developed" economy.
That likely explains the Obama administration's attack on the use of coal, particularly in utilities that use it to generate electricity. In the six years since the policy has been pursued by the EPA, coal-fired utilities have been reduced from providing fifty percent of the nation's electricity to forty percent. Less energy means less investment in new business and industrial manufacturing, less jobs, and less safety for all of us who depend on electricity in countless ways.
Arnold reported that "Holdren wrote his de-development manifesto with Paul and Anne Ehrlich, the scaremongering authors of the Sierra Club book, 'The Population Bomb.'" Aside from the fact that every prediction in the book has since proven to be wrong, it was clear then and now that Dr. Holdren is no fan of the human population of the planet. Like most deeply committed environmentalists, it is an article of faith that the planet's problems are all the result of human activity, including its weather.
In December 2014, Dr. Holdren expressed the view that worldwide carbon dioxide emissions should be reduced to "close to zero", adding "That will not be easy." This reflected the deal President Obama agreed to with China, but carbon dioxide plays no discernable role whatever in "global warming" (which isn't happening) and is, in fact, a gas essential to all life on Earth, but particularly for all vegetation that is dependent on it for growth.
Dr. Holdren's continued presence as the chief Science Advisor to the President encourages Obama to repeat all the tired claims and falsehoods of global warming and climate change. It is obscene that his administration devotes billions of dollars and countless hours to spreading a hoax that is an offense to the alleged "science" it cites.
The North and South Poles are not melting. The polar bear population is growing. The seas are not dramatically rising. Et cetera!
One can only hope that a Republican-controlled Congress will do what it can to significantly reduce the money being wasted and reverse the EPA war on coal and the utilities that use it to produce the energy the nation requires.
For now, Dr. Holdren will continue to use his influence in ways that confound and refute the known facts of climate science. How does it feel to be the enemy of an environment that Dr. Holdren and others regard as more important than human life?
Categories Environment, Global News, Politics, Science Tags Barack Obama, Climate Change, Global Cooling, Global News, Global Warming, Government, John Holdren, Obama administration, Politics, White House Post navigation
Controversial DNA Startup Wants To Let Customers Create Creatures
29-Year-Old Russian Hedge Fund CEO "Just Disappeared" With $20 Million


Pull down, single pole spray faucet, finished in Satin Nickel. Faucet features solid brass construction, easy to change out ceramic disc cartridge, backflow prevention, and dual spray/stream flow. Spray head extends to 24. Certified by cUPC. Lifetime mechanical warranty, and 2 year warranty on decorative finish.
Combo Set 3-Handle Claw Foot Tub Faucet with Hand Shower in Satin Nickel Enjoy the nostalgic feel of a classic claw foot faucet. With an old fashion telephone style hand shower. Porcelain inlaid hand shower and temperature handles. Combo includes faucet, supply lines, shutoff valves and drain.
Combo Set 3-Handle Claw Foot Tub Faucet with Hand Shower in Satin Nickel is rated 4.5 out of 5 by 2.
Rated 4 out of 5 by RickR from The kit has everything needed to install. I would... The kit has everything needed to install. I would give it a 5 star, however one of the handles has a manufacturing flaw. When it is turned on/off the handle is crooked. This is not an issue with performance. Most people probably would not see it.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Shaina from Definitely the best value!! It come with everything you need... Definitely the best value!! It come with everything you need rather than purchasing every component separately. The pipes come longer than you need, so you can cut them to size. Very durable and BEAUTIFUL!!
The faucet can be installed at 4-inch center set. But the drain is 1-1/2 inch. Click on "Manual" to see measurement chart.
Is this compatible to the Kingston Brass claw foot tub Model#HVCTND6030NT5 SKU #1000855972?
No, that tub uses a faucet that does not attach to the tub. This faucet needs to mount to the tub.


Earlier this year we teamed up with Boreas Gear to test their new line of Adventure Travel backpacks. Dan Hutchinson of Eugene, Oregon, took his pack to South Africa to install solar panels, kayaking on the Salmon River, and all over Northern California. He just returned from the field with excellent feedback about his new Boreas Erawan 70.
The Boreas Erawan 70 proved to be the bag I was missing in my expansive selection of packs. Without knowing it, this was the pack I needed all along to fill the gap between a backpack and suitcase. The careful design and diversity of this pack will make it any adventure traveler's go-to for long trips away from home.
TMS: How do you like the way the pack sits on your back?
Dan: The pack sits on your back comfortably when it's fully loaded. I found with a partially loaded pack the back panel collapsed. When the large compartment was partially loaded and the top pocket was full the top would sag, making it someone awkward on your back. The adjustable shoulder straps and four cinch straps helped correct this minor annoyance.
Are there any changes you would make to the belt buckle?
The Erawan 70 doesn't have a belt buckle. Although a belt buckle or hip belt might be nice in the rare situation you would be traveling long distances with the pack on your back, the stowable shoulder straps are sufficient for short commutes and in a pinch the hidden daisy chain could be used to secure a piece of webbing for a hip belt.
What activities do you feel this pack is best suited for?
With enough room for several weeks worth of clothes or gear, the Erawan 70 is best suited for traveling from transportation hubs to hotels/hostels. The well designed main pocket opens similar to a suitcase and makes viewing and selecting items easy, and the wet/dry pocket is ideal for dirty clothes as the main pocket empties.
Is there a similar pack you have been lusting after?
There is not a similar pack that I have been lusting over, but more a particular style of pack. I currently own a medium sized North Face Base Camp Duffel (72L), which at a glance would appear to be in the same class as the Erawan, but at a closer look this model stands alone. The Erawan pack is capable of filling a void in any adventure travelers' needs for an all-around travel pack. Weighing 2lb 4oz the Erawan 70 is a whole pound and four ounces lighter than the Base Camp, with roughly the same amount of storage space, which is a nice quality during long hauls between terminals. The Boreas Erawan also features divided pockets in varying sizes which make organized packing easy, and with carefully placed stowable shoulder straps the main pocket is easy to access at all times. This can't be said of North Face's Base Camp Duffel, as you are always battling the shoulder straps when getting in and out of the bag.
What did you like most about the pack?
One of my favorite parts about the pack is its sleek streamlined body that makes it ideal for traveling in airports. The stowable shoulder straps pack away nicely when checking your bag and the cinch straps on the sides secure a partially full load. The Boreas Erawan would also make a great carry-on. The two interior pockets provide quick access to toiletries while the top and outermost pockets give easy access to essential items. The side handles make getting on and off planes between flights convenient and are designed to stay close to the pack so they won't get snagged when removing the pack from the overhead compartment. Another nice touch are the subtle handles on either end of the pack, making a one-hand-grab easy without bending over when the pack is upright. And when it's time to hustle to the next plane, bus, shuttle, train or travel hub, the hidden shoulder straps hook up in seconds and can be adjusted for several body types.
What did you like least about the pack?
My only complaint is the fact that the top pocket often takes two hands to open or close. The problem is not that the pocket fabric snags in the zipper but that the shape of the pocket and lack of rigid material surrounding the pocket make it difficult to function with one hand. This is hardly a deal-breaker considering all the other benefits of the Erawan.
Overall thoughts on the backpack?
Introducing The 2013 TMS / Boreas Gear Pack Tester Team!


text:
require 'rubygems'

# use local dm-core if running from a typical dev checkout.
lib = File.join('..', '..', 'dm-core', 'lib')
$LOAD_PATH.unshift(lib) if File.directory?(lib)

# Support running specs with 'rake spec' and 'spec'
$LOAD_PATH.unshift('lib') unless $LOAD_PATH.include?('lib')

require 'dm-aggregates'

require 'public/shared/aggregate_shared_spec'

def load_driver(name, default_uri)
  return false if ENV['ADAPTER'] != name.to_s

  begin
    DataMapper.setup(name, ENV["#{name.to_s.upcase}_SPEC_URI"] || default_uri)
    DataMapper::Repository.adapters[:default] =  DataMapper::Repository.adapters[name]
    true
  rescue LoadError => e
    warn "Could not load do_#{name}: #{e}"
    false
  end
end

ENV['ADAPTER'] ||= 'sqlite3'

HAS_SQLITE3  = load_driver(:sqlite3,  'sqlite3::memory:')
HAS_MYSQL    = load_driver(:mysql,    'mysql://localhost/dm_core_test')
HAS_POSTGRES = load_driver(:postgres, 'postgres://postgres@localhost/dm_core_test')

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


SA GPRC > Blog > Uncategorized > IT'S TIME TO ROCK THE VOTE!
Exercise your right to vote. Have a say in the future of GPRC. Vote now!
Polling stations are on the theatre concourse level and in front of the SA Office!