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The Real Problem with Private Prisons. Hint: It’s Not the Lobbying.
Private prisons are a cancer. Private prisons make money by locking people up, and the more people they lock up for more time, the more money they make.
Private prisons are morally distasteful, they don’t save money, and they have historic performance problems. But they persist. Why does this cancer continue to grow?
The answer is not the lobbying or the political contributions — though the industry does both. The answer isn’t the contracts that guarantee 90% or 100% occupancy — though surely they help — or even the industry-financed research that purports to show cost savings when neutral research shows no such thing.
The answer is deeper than that and goes to the very heart of the industry.
Private prisons are filled because they are there. They succeed by being available. Companies build them, and the people come.
In the old days, prisons were major public works, built with public financing. To build a state prison (or a county jail) the jurisdiction would issue a bond. But issuing a bond typically requires voters’ permission. Voters would need to vote in favor of the bond issue — and it would compete for debt financing against schools, roads, parks and other public goods.
That’s the key. Voters might well respond to “tough on crime” as a political campaign — but when it comes to spending rare public money, they are more likely to prefer schools or transit. Bond financing is where that rubber hits the road.
Private prisons create an alternative path.
— At that moment, in steps the private prison industry, offering empty prisons with plenty of space available.
Private prisons help the electorate avoid hard choices. Private prisons let elected officials escape balancing priorities. The prison is right there; just sign here.
The private prison companies built “on spec” in the 1990s, building without even a contract, speculating that public entities would fill them. Sadly, they were right. A brand new, already-built, private prison was hard to refuse.
Other paths were also forged. Companies like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America created “Lease Revenue Bonds” to finance traditional prisons. Sure, interest rates are higher and they cost more over the long run, but they don’t require pesky voter approval.
Of course private prison space came with promises of increased efficiency, improved performance and cost savings. The promises immediately proved not to be true, but that didn’t matter.
The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) prison opened in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1997. Seven people died in the first year of operation. Twenty people were stabbed and six escaped, including two murderers.
Studies by the US GAO in 1996 and the US Attorney General in 1998 found no evidence that private corrections either reduced cost or raised performance quality. “Our analysis of the existing data does not support such an optimistic view,” concluded the AG review.
The same conclusion has been reached ever since. In my mind, the episode that should have killed the industry happened in 2010. Three inmates escaped from a private prison in Kingman, Arizona, kidnapped two tourists, killed them both and burned their bodies in their camper.
But that’s not the scary part. The scary part is the official review. State investigators found that the perimeter was left unmonitored for 15 minutes at the start of every shift, with only a single person monitoring the entire perimeter at the time of the escape; that there were so many false alarms (89 during the 16 hour study period) that staff learned to disregard them; that one-third of the security staff had less than three months on the job and that there was no officer training program.
Thus does our private sector reduce costs. By cutting corners. Nonetheless, with multi-million pay for executive staff and profits for shareholders, private prisons still don’t cost less than public ones.
Yet the industry lives on. Why? How?
First, some good news. Mass incarceration is running out of energy and prison populations are starting to shrink. Smart states close private prisons first, and public prisons only after the low-hanging fruit is picked. Both CCA and Geo stock have lost ground in 2015.
Now the bad news. The federal government wants to lock up immigrant detainees. The federal government lacks money and inclination to build anew — but the private sector has plenty of capacity. Indeed, as states cut back, more space becomes available.
— Just when advocates should have the upper hand against additional detention, private prisons still make it easy to lock people up. There’s plenty of space.
Bernie Sanders has introduced legislation to ban private prisons. Hillary Clinton told #BlackLivesMatter activists that she opposes them. I want people to know what they’re up against. Lobbyists and fundraising for sure. But also empty space. Nature abhors a vacuum. |
Charity Hospital in New Orleans was hailed as the latest in dreams of modern physicians and social workers at a dedication ceremony on July 18, 1938, attracting 4,000 people to the symbolic groundbreaking. The multimillion-dollar hospital in Louisiana (USA) would be part of a network providing health care to anyone unable to afford private medical treatment.
The eventual three-story brick building on the 10-acre site would include a spacious lobby, waiting room, resident doctor’s suite, pharmacy, and comfortably furnished admitting and patient rooms. Clinics covered all specialties—orthopedic, dental, surgical, fracture, and ear, nose, and throat. The X-ray department was one of the most advanced in the country, and used hospital linen was pegged for a most modern and spectacular fall (a wide chute from the third floor to a receiving room in the basement).
The article heralding the official opening, scheduled for April 1939 (delayed to July 1939), covered every design detail, from the “four majestic columns of monolithic limestone” ascending three floors to the 254 double-hung aluminum framed windows.
Other less lavish newspaper stories published before opening noted that the building was settling into the swampy delta soil and, as a result, the interior and exterior were cracking. The building would continue to sink for another 3 ½ years, coming to rest almost 18 inches below its original surface depth.
Because of Charity Hospital’s charter to assist the indigent, the emergency department was, for many years, the busiest ED in the country. It functioned as a full-service health care facility and, at other times, a sort of war zone particularly during the Mardi Gras season. In the proximity of two medical schools—Tulane University and Louisiana State University—Charity Hospital of New Orleans offered the perfect training environment, earning a reputation that in 1973 championed an affiliated emergency medicine residency program. It was among the first in the U.S. to offer such a program.
Louisiana Gov. Huey Long (1928–1932), famously known in politics as “the Kingfish,” built a free safety net of medical care fostering self-perpetuation. Charity Hospital, also known as the “Big Free,” in the heart of New Orleans had always fostered training and education and, now, the ED residency program would become a flagship for others to follow, bolstering emergency medicine as a full-fledged medical specialty.
The novelty of ED as a separate discipline within medicine attracted medical school graduates from all over the country, particularly those with ambulance experience. That and the opportunity to treat just about every imaginable illness and injury were factors leading Dr. Jeff Clawson to New Orleans following graduation from the University of Utah Medical School.
It was the classic baptism by fire, said Dr. Clawson, who worked as a paramedic for Gold Cross Ambulance to put himself through medical school.
Similar to other inner-city hospitals in the early 1970s, budgets for charitable care were shrinking while at the same time, private hospitals were shifting the uncompensated care into public institutions. Charity Hospital’s ED, which was already the major source of primary care for the poor and uninsured, became an overcrowded dumping ground with patients requiring immediate care mixed with large numbers of relatively non-emergency patients.
Long waiting times, limited triage, and the resultant threat to patients presenting with life-threatening conditions astonished Dr. Clawson.
Dr. Clawson sought the advice of his chief resident, who did have a system in place. He handed Dr. Clawson a “protocol” for handling heavy clinic patient flow: recipe cards to relieve overcrowding while providing patient-centered care. With the chief resident’s permission, Dr. Clawson made copies, brought them to the clinic, and created a system combining “the recipes” with his own set of handwritten and documented processes for treating various medical conditions.
This experience of following a precise medical process changed his life and the course of emergency dispatch.
Once the residency was completed, he returned to Salt Lake City (Utah, USA) and was subsequently selected to be the first medical director of the Salt Lake City Fire Department (SLCFD). While reviewing call processes within the SLCFD communication center, he noted inconsistencies in dispatch.
There were no standards. They were flying by the seats of their pants.
Dr. Clawson pulled out the recipe card system and distilled and modified existing dispatch screening into protocols to assess health risk and determine appropriate response.
The rest is history. The protocols evolved into the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®) used around the world.
The subsequent history of Charity Hospital isn’t so buoyant.
Hurricane Katrina in 2004 devastated the New Orleans health system. Charity Hospital, the region’s safety net for the impoverished urban community, was shuttered just days after the levees broke and flooded the hospital’s basement. Doors were shut and patients transferred to other facilities. Closing Charity Hospital represented a huge loss for low income patients. For decades, it had been a dominant source of ambulatory care, providing 350,000 outpatient visits at more than 150 primary and specialty care clinics each year.
Controversy and conspiracy theory surrounded the fate of Charity Hospital.
Why wasn’t Charity Hospital reopened? After all, only the hospital’s basement was flooded (and it had already sunk to its lowest depth anticipated). A team of 200 medical and military personnel brought in a 600-kilowatt generator, pumped out the water, and prepared the hospital for continued care. It was cleaned and deemed “medical ready” within weeks, according to doctors and military personnel present at the cleanup.
The doors never reopened to patient care. In the aftermath, only medical records were removed. Everything else stayed: hospital beds, office furniture, lab specimens, microscopes, disposable supplies, bed linen, scrubs, medical equipment, and MRI and CT scanners. LSU planned a move toward more privatized health care and received federal funding to build a medical complex outside the downtown area. Plans for Charity Hospital were at a standstill, deteriorating from lack of resources and locked down under constant police patrol.
In December 2016, LSU announced plans to empty Charity Hospital. The $6.38 million project, started in January 2017, was the final step LSU Health Sciences Center would oversee before turning the remarkable building over to the state’s Division of Administration.
The contractor was required to scrap for salvage or throw away anything removed from the building. The contract stipulated retaining the building’s historic character, and contractors could not remove anything architectural that was part of its history, such as its windows, doorframes, and the interior monolithic limestone pedestals. The building was broom swept before contractors closed the doors behind them.
The building was ready for its next phase in New Orleans. |
In the case where minor dents, hail damage, and door dings that do not crack the paint surface, it is quite possible that we can repair the dented surface using a technique called, “paintless dent repair”, “paintless dent removal” or “PDR”. PDR is a quick and inexpensive repair process where technicians use specialized tools to remove dents, dings, creases, and hail damage from the exterior of a vehicle without disturbing the existing paint finish. The metal surfaces of cars are stamped into shape by large, heavy presses. Often, the shape of the metal described by the stamping process becomes the preferred shape of the metal – a sort of remembered shape. If dents are repaired quickly enough, the metal will likely “pop” back into its preferred shape. A paintless dent repair technician uses special tools to reach in behind a dent and carefully push and “massage” the dent back out. In most cases, the dented metal will pop back into place – completely restoring the factory surface, without the need to paint. PDR technicians can also apply a pull tab with a specialized adhesive to the exterior of the dent and “pull” the dent out. The glue is then harmlessly removed from the painted surface. Metal has a “memory” that fades over time (much like our own!) – so, the sooner one of our PDR Technicians gets to your dents, the better – come in today!
Here is a sample of a small dime sized dent in the door panel of a car. The dent is illuminated by a special lamp – note the bends in the reflected light (circled).
Here is the same dent after removal by one of our AQS dent repair specialists. The dent is now barely visible in the reflected light of the special lamp (circled).
Here is a the same area with the dent now completely removed.
Here is the “before” picture of a large dent in the hood of a Ford Ranger pickup.
Here is the “after” picture. Our PDR technicians were able to completely remove the large dent.
Here is the “before” picture of a large dent in the driver’s door of a Nissan Altima.
Here is the “before” picture of a large dent in a rear quarter panel. |
The popularity of solar energy has risen as its cost has rapidly decreased since 2005. A Deutsche Bank projection claims that the cost of solar energy will reach grid parity by 2016, and an International Energy Agency report asserts that by 2050, solar energy could be a viable source of electricity worldwide. On its face, these projections depict a bright future for solar energy and society. Yet solar energy’s presence as an alternative form of energy might be more vulnerable than forecasts depict. With the upcoming expiration of valued government incentives and pushback from energy competitors, solar energy will not run untouched to the end-zone. In other words, solar energy approaches a critical juncture where its deficiencies might come to the forefront. To view these vulnerabilities, a qualitative investigation of solar energy is required. Solar energy is growing at a remarkable rate, yet there are factors intrinsic to the industry that have not yet influenced its growth into adolescence. One must analyze current solar energy issues along with the industry’s unique characteristics to properly assess the situation from a complete perspective and to observe its possible exposure to an array of complications. Lawmakers, from all levels of government, must then acknowledge and act on these findings to prudently regulate the solar industry. |
We try to identify momentum without using any fixed number of periods. The market is dynamic and in this sense the periods used to calculate momentum should also change dynamically.
The Dynamic Momentum Index (DMI) was developed by Tushar Chande and Stanley Kroll. The period of DMI changes dynamically depending upon recent volatility. During slow market movement, the number of periods used to calculate DMI is increased. The volatility indicator used in controlling the time periods in the DMI is based on a calculation using a five period standard deviation and a ten period average of the standard deviation.
A moving average on DMI is used to trigger signals. The periods used are: DMI (smoothening) = 20 and DMI (average)= 30.
However, the DMI, being a momentum oscillator, produces too many signal triggers. To filter the signals, we further use PDI and MDI levels.
Even in the simplest form, the strategy is profitable in Bank Nifty current month futures. It generates a profit of 4320 points, or Rs. 3,24,000 over two years on one lot (75 shares). The winner% is 47.57, which is also decent.
We leave it to the readers to suggest any improvement in Step 2 and Step 3 which can increase the profitability. We can introduce custom stoploss as well as profit targets to further maximize the profitability. |
Good Management Practice is used by leading farmers and land managers to improve production, performance and sustainable land use, and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council encourages its use.
What is Good Farming Practice?
This describes when farm management practices are based on sound production methods and improved performance, while reducing the impact that farming activity has on the environment. This is sometimes also called Industry Good Practice (IGP).
This can involve technology (such as precision agriculture), a change to a farming system, or simply adapting the way existing farm management practices are carried out.
Good farming practice also evolves with changes in science and technology and increased understanding of the environment; what was good management practices 10 years ago may now be out of date.
One of the main reasons for doing a Farm Plan is to recognise where good management practices are currently in place on farm, and identifying where you could adopt extra ones to reduce risks to water quality from your farming operation.
This list of principles comes from the ‘Good Farming Practice Action Plan for Water Quality 2018’ which is based on the 2015 Industry-Agreed Good Management Practices Relating to Water Quality.
This list was developed with farmer-driven involvement from Dairy NZ, Deer Industry New Zealand, NZ Pork, Beef+LambNZ, Horticulture NZ and the Foundation for Arable Research, with funding also provided by central government and a number of regional councils. While first applied in Canterbury, they were developed to be applicable across all regions of New Zealand. Some minor updates were included following input from the Land Water Partnership, and the Regional Council Land Managers’ Group.
Each region is narrowing these principles to meet their own priorities, based on the most pressing water quality issues in the region/catchments and the causes, the range of solutions and likely impacts of practice change.
The Tukituki Plan requires Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to work with primary sectors to define good management practices particularly suited to the catchment. For more information go to Tukituki pages.
Environment Canterbury (Canterbury Regional Council) has compiled a useful guide and list of industry-agreed good management practices relevant across New Zealand, and largely consistent across industries. The council worked with agricultural industry groups (dairy, outdoor pigs, deer, sheep and beef, arable and horticulture), research agencies and farmers to compile this list.
Many primary sector organisations have invested a lot of time and money developing sector specific guidance about good management practice. This may help you to think about and discuss your farm plan with your chosen FEMP provider.
1. Identify the physical and biophysical characteristics of the farm system, assess the risk factors to water quality associated with the farm system, and manage appropriately.
2. Maintain accurate and auditable records of annual farm inputs, outputs and management practices.
3. Manage farming operations to minimise direct and indirect losses of sediment and nutrients to water, and maintain or enhance soil structure, where agronomically appropriate.
4. Monitor soil phosphorus levels and maintain them at or below the agronomic optimum for the farm system.
5. Manage the amount and timing of fertiliser inputs, taking account of all sources of nutrients, to match plant requirements and minimise risk of losses.
7. Ensure equipment for spreading fertilisers is well maintained and calibrated.
8. Store, transport and distribute feed to minimise wastage, leachate and soil damage.
9. Identify risk of overland flow of sediment and faecal bacteria on the property and implement measures to minimise transport of these to water bodies.
10. Locate and manage farm tracks, gateways, water troughs, self-feeding areas, stock camps, wallows and other sources of run-off to minimise risks to water quality.
11. Exclude stock from water bodies to the extent that is compatible with land form, stock class and stock intensity. Where exclusion is not possible, mitigate impacts on waterways.
12. Manage periods of exposed soil between crops/ pasture to reduce risk of erosion, overland flow and leaching.
15. Manage grazing to minimise losses from critical source areas.
16. Ensure the effluent system meets industry specific Code of Practice or equivalent standard.
17. Have sufficient, suitable storage available for farm effluent and wastewater.
18. Ensure equipment for spreading effluent and other organic manures is well maintained and calibrated.
19. Apply effluent to pasture and crops at depths, rates and times to match plant requirements and minimise risk to water bodies.
20. Manage the amount and timing of irrigation inputs to meet plant demands and minimise risk of leaching and runoff. |
Gout is caused by a buildup of uric acid that forms crystals in the joints, notably the big toe.
Celery helps to reduce the buildup of uric acid in the body and reduces inflammation, making it the ideal herb for the treatment of gout.
Celery is a diuretic, urinary anti-septic, anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic, making it also useful in the treatment of cystitis, urinary tract inflammation, fluid retention,arthritis and rheumatism.
Celery helps to move fluid out of the joints bringing relief to swollen joints. |
"(Charter schools in Missouri) are actually failing in a greater capacity than the public school systems."
Since the confirmation hearing for U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, charter schools have been under increased scrutiny.
In Missouri, charter schools have only been built in Kansas City and St. Louis, but a bill now before the legislature may make it easier for the schools to pop up in other towns.
On March 17, the Missouri House of Representatives narrowly passed and sent House Bill 634 to the Senate to allow for the expansion of charter schools. One legislator who didn’t vote in favor for House Bill 634 was Rep. Nate Walker.
The Republican from Kirksville told MissouriNet that Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, tried to persuade him to change his mind, but Walker wouldn’t budge. One reason, Walker said, was because "(charter schools in Missouri) are actually failing in greater capacity than public school systems."
But are they? Walker didn’t provide a definition for what he meant by failing, and the Missouri education department doesn’t have a specific definition, either. However, after looking at the education department's performance reviews, the data shows that charter schools are performing about the same as nearby public schools.
When PolitiFact called Walker and asked him where he got his data, he said he got it from a "lot of different things," and began providing some numbers.
"Sixty-four percent of Missouri Charter Schools have failed or are failing," he said, without citing the source of these statistics. "Since 1999, we’ve had 59 charter schools open in the state. Thirty-eight of the 59 charter schools have failed or are failing students."
However, according to the data from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, for the 2016-17 year there were 72 individual charter schools within 39 charter school districts. And since 1999, the year after charter school law was enacted, there have been 63 charter school districts, and 21 — or 33 percent — have closed.
"Well, they’re not meeting the standards of the (education department). You go check the facts, I’m not a reporter. You’ve got a degree in journalism and understand factual information, but I stand by my comments, and all you need to do is go do your research and find I’m absolutely right. Probably more than right."
We went to the education department to learn more. Sarah Potter, the communications coordinator for the department, wrote in an email, "There are no parameters in state statute for a ‘failing’ charter school."
However, the department does issue an Annual Performance Review score for both charter and traditional public schools to determine how well they’re educating the students. Charter schools are independent public schools freed from certain regulations. They are also subject to other rules defined by their contracts with their sponsors, such as universities, who then hold charter schools accountable for their results instead of the state.
This performance review takes into account standardized test scores, attendance rates and graduation rates along with financial status and leadership stability.
There are four levels of accreditation. "Accredited with Distinction" and "Accredited" signify that the school or district is meeting performance standards. Schools or districts must earn a 70 percent or higher on their performance review to earn those classifications. "Provisionally Accredited" and "Unaccredited" indicate that the school or district isn’t meeting performance standards and earned a performance review score below 70 percent and below 50 percent, respectively.
In fact, in our phone interview with Walker, he did mention accreditation, saying: "Of the 38 charter schools (districts) currently open for business, 11 have been deemed Provisionally Accredited, six would have been deemed Unaccredited and four were too new to receive a score. Right now 46 percent of the active charter schools would be classified as Accredited."
These numbers are correct — though there were 39 districts and not 38 as Walker said — according to the latest data available at the state education department’s website.
For comparison, 99 percent of traditional public school districts earned Accredited or above while only 46 percent of charter school districts earned that status. It’s not looking so good for Missouri charter schools.
Not so fast, said Doug Thaman, the executive director of the Missouri Charter Public School Association.
"One of the concerns we have is that when statements are made like (the one) Walker made, that’s a comparison of charter schools to an entire school district, and that is just not a true comparison," he said. "You can’t compare a single school to an entire district or to the entire state."
What Thaman means is that performance scores are assigned to both individual schools and the districts in which several schools reside, and the scores are often different. He also pointed out that charter schools, which have to accept any student who applies, often educate lower-performing students whose needs haven't been met by traditional public schools, so charter schools score poorly on the performance review because they're helping students who score below grade level catch up.
Thaman suggested it would be better to compare the performance score of individual charter schools to individual competitor public schools within the same district. So we did.
In Kansas City, the charter schools reside inside public school district Kansas City 33, which had an overall performance score of 70 percent, which is also the lowest score to earn an Accredited or above rating.
Both the Kansas City charter schools and traditional public schools in the district had 32 sites that were assigned a performance score in the 2015-16 school year, But more individual charter schools — 21— were performing at or above district’s rate of 70 percent than individual public schools — 12. And even when you compare charter school districts’ performance scores to Kansas City 33’s performance score, over 60 percent of the charter school districts meets or exceeds the district's score.
So overall, it appears that most charter schools in Kansas City are doing just fine when compared to Kansas City 33 district and its schools.
Now let’s take a look at St. Louis. This one is a little harder to compare because the public school district the charter schools are located within — the St. Louis City district — has 71 sites with performance scores, compared to only 22 charter school sites. St. Louis City district has an overall performance score of 74.6 percent.
Just as with Kansas City, it appears that individual St. Louis charter schools are performing about the same as their public school counterparts. Fifty percent of charter schools and 48 percent of public schools earned an Accredited rating, or a 70 percent performance score.
However, when comparing districts’ scores, the scales tip toward the public schools. St. Louis City district has an overall score of 74.6 percent. Nine charter school districts, or 56 percent, score below that. However, 57 percent of the traditional public schools fall below their districts’ performance rate.
Rep. Walker said, "(Charter schools in Missouri) are actually failing in a greater capacity than the public school systems."
Neither Walker nor the education department gave a definition for a failing charter school. And although charter school districts performance scores are nowhere near the 99 percent of public school districts that are Accredited, current charter schools are performing on par with with the public schools in their city.
Walker’s statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate this claim as Mostly False. |
December 11, 2015 at Le Bourget in Paris. As the gavel came down on the last and extended session of CoP21, all the countries and citizens of the world breathed a sigh of relief. Because CoP21 came against the backdrop of two great failures - the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and the CoP15 at Copenhagen in 2009, during which the parties in question could not come to an agreement. This enhanced the risks for rapid increase in climate change as evidenced from accelerating extreme weather-related events across the world. The KP had agreed in 1997 on a 5 percent reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) with the reference baseline of 1990 by the industrialised countries. Unfortunately, the KP also met with a total failure as, led by US, several other major emitters including Russia, Canada, Japan and Australia walked out of the KP causing the collapse of the only GHG reducing global agreement. From the early implementation of KP, the widely heralded three Kyoto instruments and the emergence of a carbon market resulted in a drastic and disastrous collapse.
Thus, there was a lot of skepticism about whether Paris would get an agreement at all. If there was no agreement in Paris, the planet was destined to experience temperature above 3 degrees centigrade by 2100. This would challenge the planetary human civilisations, its food, water and livelihood securities as well as increase the likelihood of a drastic reduction in the number of species and greater acidification of the oceans. All the countries would experience dramatic rise in extreme environmental conditions and also threaten the possibilities of poverty reduction and the newly emerging SDGs. Hence the global risks were too high for the economy, development and environment.
US President, within minutes of the conclusion and adoption of the Paris Agreement, congratulated everyone and termed the success as 'huge'. The US and the umbrella group China, Russia, India, developing country grouping G-77, the Least Developed Country (LDCs) group, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and Africa group- all seemed to be happy with the outcome. When probed, it appeared that each group found that their issues of concern were included though their nuances may have been modified.
It is the first time that all the key heads of states and government came up in front in the beginning of the conference. They laid out their positive expectations and high hopes for the agreement and the need for success. This had created an atmosphere of a positive outcome.
All countries and groups realised that the science was very bold and clear. Missing this opportunity would force the different planetary systems (atmosphere, oceans, biodiversity, social, institutional and human systems) beyond recovery and everyone would suffer, despite the levels and differences in technological advancement. Furthermore, some technologies and management systems have already evolved to give several solutions. No country or group wanted to be held responsible for the failure of the negotiations as the stakes were too high for everyone.
The Ministerial (backed by experts and bureaucrats) high level session in the last days had decision makers engaged and it included many of their respective concerns and issues. There were “fudges and compromises” but an agreement and a positive outcome were ensured albeit devoid of the many details and specifics.
The focus of innovation was to make the agreement look ambitious and purposeful. Here the key decision makers using the science and sense of urgency emphasised the key issues of rapid mitigation needs for all countries.
The discussion in the early days was confined within 2 degree centigrade. Soon 2 degree centigrade was made the ceiling and a more serious and ambitious floor was asserted at 1.5 degree centigrade. It may be noted that in Copenhagen Bangladesh had placed 1.5 degree centigrade as the preferred objective on behalf of the LDCs and most vulnerable states.
Wider ranging progressive issues were incorporated to include concerns of various groups of Parties. An example was to include text such as “Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind, Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity”.
The Agreement, moreover, in other sections included issues of poverty reduction, universal access to sustainable energy to developing countries and also greater participation of all partners. The agreement also included all the stakeholders of party and non-party actor with text, such as “Agreeing to uphold and promote regional and international cooperation in order to mobilize stronger and more ambitious climate action by all Parties and non-Party stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, financial institutions, cities and other sub national authorities, local communities and indigenous peoples”.
The Paris Agreement was bold on quantum of finance beyond 2020, where 100 billion US dollars was given as a floor and to build on it. This was appreciated by developing countries. Though Green Climate Fund was the established mechanism, how the allocation of fund will be distributed amongst industrialised country parties was not clarified, who will contribute how much was not decided either.
In the corridors after the agreement, industrialised countries were hoping for funds to come from rich or rapidly emerging industrialising countries. So who will receive funds was not made specific. Future follow-up was thus left to future negotiations.
This approach was also appealing to many parties to support the Paris Agreement. Obviously such an over-arching and all encompassing document will need to have enormous flexibility which the critics may even call contradictory.
In Cop21, Bangladesh had a team led by the Minister of Environment and Forests which included a team of parliamentarians. A team of senior government officials and experts worked hard and closely under the leadership of the Secretary, Environment and Forests. Dr. Q. K. Ahmed was the coordinator of the expert group for the negotiators. There was also a large presence of scientists, think tanks, civil society organisations, NGOs, private sector and media from Bangladesh in Paris. Government of Bangladesh had a country booth and the civil society networks had their own booth. Both these areas became useful meeting places as well as areas of rapid exchange of ideas, information and documents.
The Bangladesh delegates worked well together focusing on issues of their concerns and interacted well within G77, LDC, and the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) groups. Besides, both the Government and civil societies were well engaged in several side events and many bilateral meetings and negotiations.
The Bangladesh civil society groups presented side events on Bangladesh grassroots people's perceptions and expectations from Paris, loss and damage research, migration issues, health services to vulnerable groups, arranging press conferences as well as interacting with the Climate Action Network (CAN) and its regional groups and contributed to “ECO”, the conference journal. Government of Bangladesh also organised well attended press conferences and explained their positions on issues and approaches.
One question often asked is “What did Bangladesh get out of Paris?” Unfortunately, that is the wrong question as these are global negotiations undertaken in groups. The general interest of the planet predominates and group interests are attended to. The countries or parties have to ensure their interests are protected and respective issues get the best outcome the global decisions can accommodate.
It is for sure, that there is tremendous goodwill for Bangladesh across the board because of the intense and multiple vulnerabilities of Bangladesh, its efforts during and outside the CoP process, its leadership and innovative roles in various Government and non-Government groups, its scientific research and output and its institutional mechanisms and actions at home. Bangladesh has been mentioned in several seminars as the “Adaptation Capital of the world”. Its mitigation actions, particularly millions of poor households with solar home systems have also been well recognised. Bangladesh leadership in adaptation, particularly community based adaptation is well known to many participating delegates, practitioners and scientists. These were evident in different forums in CoP21.
The Paris agreement will give rise to a large number of activities in many sectors such as finance, mitigation, adaptation, capacity building, disaster management, governance, planning monitoring and evaluation, agriculture and food, energy, water, forestry, infrastructure, health, fisheries, coastal, ecosystem services, transport, land, local government, human rights, gender integration, regional cooperation, to mention a few. It will need a huge amount of expertise as well as a specific institution and dedicated human resources. Many of these issues are going to be long-term activities (5-15 years and more), while initially some short-term activities (1-2 years) may emerge as follow-up to the Paris Agreement.
Several senior officers have emerged as experts in the Ministries of Environment and Forest, disaster management, foreign affairs and starting to develop expertise in finance (ERD) and planning and integrating in infrastructural and social issues. Recent training and capacity building initiatives in the country have exposed another large group of government officials and experts to climate change issues. Beyond that and often in collaboration with the government, a few independent thinks tanks, research organisations and individuals have developed a reputation of being world leaders.
But there is a need to develop a much larger number of experts and disciplines of expertise to address the forthcoming challenges. Climate change is no more a sub-set of environment. It encompasses many issues of environment, development, foreign affairs, energy, social science, law, technologies and private sector delivery systems. There has long been a discussion in some government, civil society and planning sectors to set up a new Ministry of Climate Change in Bangladesh. This would follow many other countries which have already developed such initiatives. This would attend to the large and emerging issues of climate change and also enable the country to prepare itself for much of the new finances coming under climate change. Further, this would address many technology and market issues that emanate out of Paris Agreement initiatives.
As a start, the officials and experts who have already been trained and exposed to climate change issues could be brought together to be the core of such a new Ministry of Climate Change.
If a softer approach is preferred by the policy makers, a high powered National Climate Change Commission could be set up under the leadership of the Prime Minister to consider the right approach, time frame and integration of agencies to enable the formation of a Ministry of Climate Change or any other name it deems appropriate.
To achieve the vision of becoming a middle income country by 2021 and rich country by 2041, it is crucial that Bangladesh is capable of integrating all aspects of climate change into its planning and delivery of services to the citizens and ecosystems. In an emerging SDG world, this would be a progressive and major step for Bangladesh to achieve its sustainable development goals.
For this to be efficient there is an absolute need to strengthen the Ministry of Environment and Forests with appropriate expertise to address the red (high pollution and industrial management, legal and implementation issues, etc.) brown (medium pollution, agriculture, land, social management, etc.) green (conservation, afforestation, ecosystem services, etc.) and blue (water: internal and marine, static and flow, quality and safety issues).
To take leadership role in a post-Paris Agreement world Bangladesh could and should take a number of activities that will build capacity, prepare for significant fund mobilisation and move rapidly forward to the sustainable development pathway with reduction of climate risks. There is a need for an exercise regarding what individual agencies of the government, research community, civil society and private sector can do. But we can always start with a few key activities. Let us remember that Bangladesh has very little obligation. Bangladesh must choose the path which meets its development aspirations as well as the need for climate impact reduction and/or contribute to low carbon growth pathways. A set of actions that can be immediately activated as a priority is given below. These are only a set of examples that can be initiated urgently on a priority basis. These include activities on both adaptation and mitigation.
Set up task forces to stimulate the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategies and Action Plan (BCCSAP) on each of the six pillars.
Light for all by Photovoltaic Lanterns: With the advancement of the Solar Home Systems, now it is urgent to ensure that every household in Bangladesh can be provided with solar lanterns. The social transformation potential of this is enormous and is also cost-effective. It is definitely cheaper than the subsidies given to urban electricity users. Thus "light for all" initiative can bring light and cell phone charging facilities to reach all remote areas and households of the country. This would be the greatest contribution to safety net, poverty alleviation and literacy for all as priotised in the Seventh Five-Year Plan.
Safe drinking water and sanitation for all climate affected population: This is a major challenge but will reach a key objective for sustainable development and public health of the affected population in vulnerable areas impacted by climate change including cyclones, floods and droughts.
Improved cooking stoves for all: A campaign and programme can be launched with the support of local government, NGOs, schools and educational institutions to provide improved cooking stoves for all. This will reduce GHG, improve health, particularly of women, and reduce deforestation simultaneously.
Pilot phase for Local Adaptation Programme of Action (LAPA): Following the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), Local level (upazila or union level) Adaptation Programme of Action (LAPA) can be initiated in selected climate affected ecosystems. Once generic lessons have been learned this could be used for country-wide programme on adaptation.
As we enter the SDG world the demand on both the Ministry of Environment and Forests and a future Ministry of Climate Change will be enormous and most essential for the sustainable development of Bangladesh. Paris Agreement, however weak, is likely to generate new activities and significant finances. Bangladesh must be prepared institutionally and methodologically. The capacity to deliver must be developed for the new and global standards and opportunities as they emerge. There is no question that in terms of the future resource mobilisation, climate change will be one of the most important global instruments for major investment portfolio. For Bangladesh to achieve its vision, it must demonstrate both intention and capacity to mainstream and integrate climate change in its sustainable development path where poverty alleviation, delivery of climate services at the local level and integrating climate concerns in all infrastructural and social issues would be central. We must catch this bus and lead it to a progressive journey for sustainable development pathway for Bangladesh and demonstrate leadership in achieving the SDGs and the vision for Bangladesh. |
You can cut through it with a proverbial knife, though, in this case, a scalpel or laser would also be an apt tool. It’s the palpable sense of anticipation for Vassar’s new and upgraded science facilities—what has come to be known as the Integrated Science Center project. Vassar expects to break ground in spring 2013.
The Integrated Science Center is one of the top priorities of the Vassar 150: World Changing campaign, which will support, among other endeavors, Vassar’s cutting-edge multidisciplinary studies in the sciences. The expansive endeavor will yield a new 80,000-square-foot research and teaching facility (dubbed “the bridge building”); significant upgrades and new purposes for the Olmsted Hall of the Biological Sciences, Sanders Physics, and New England buildings; as well as an ambitious reclamation of the Fonteyn Kill and its adjacent wetlands.
“The Integrated Science Center is really going to give us the space we need to do our science in collaboration with our students, which is what we do best,” says Associate Professor of Chemistry Joseph Tanski ’95, who now serves as the faculty coordinator for the science facility project. By that, he means a design that makes sense for both faculty and students.
Right now, research projects are literally outgrowing their current facilities, and teams are working in configurations that are not ideal.
Architectural rendering of Integrated Science Building view from Raymond Ave.
The new lab will include two faculty research labs, a shared teaching lab, a “clean room” for trace metal analysis, a “cold room” large enough to properly store materials and research samples, as well as a joint student-faculty lab intended for flexible use.
The Earth and Environment Lab also will provide research space for the college’s Environmental Research Institute (ERI), which supports multidisciplinary faculty and student research, promotes environmental fieldwork by students, and works with the general public on projects addressing local ecosystems. Since 2006 the Institute has closely monitored the Casperkill, which runs through campus, for road salt concentration, levels of nutrients, bacteria, and heavy metals, as well as the state of aquatic organisms and streamside vegetation. In 2010, the ERI co-launched with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Dutchess County, the interactive Dutchess Watersheds website (dutchesswatersheds.org) to educate and link watershed protection groups, municipal officials, students, teachers, and researchers.
Meg Ronsheim, an associate professor of biology at Vassar and a conservation biologist, has been one of the most active contributors to the Integrated Science Center planning process. “Having students see that we share facilities across the disciplines is going to send a message about the true nature of science as a collaborative enterprise,” she says.
Architectural rendering of Integrated Science Building overhead view.
What’s particularly encouraging about the Integrated Science Center is how it will advance the exceptional science already happening at Vassar. Consider as one measure how successfully Vassar professors have secured highly competitive grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). While the NSF website reports an overall funding rate of 27.5 percent—or 11,000 proposals funded for every 40,000 received—50 percent of the Vassar faculty’s proposals submitted in the most recent 2010-2011 academic funding cycle were approved, improving on the college’s already successful funding rates near or above 40 percent in prior years.
Physicist Brian Daly recently obtained a three-year, $214,000 NSF grant supporting research on ultra-thin materials for semiconductor chips and other nanoscale technology. For a sense of how liberating it will be for Daly to have a renovated lab to conduct his ambitious research, imagine the exacting conditions required for such precise work compared to the balancing act he currently performs to maintain adequate lab conditions.
These efficient air-handling systems, developed by design firm Ennead Architects, are but one of the environmentally friendly elements of Vassar’s new science facilities. Think of how inefficiently energy is currently used to maintain the lab conditions Daly needs, and then multiply that by the numerous other labs and scientific support facilities due to be updated in the coming years.
Architectural rendering of Integrated Science Building from east entrance.
Such eco-friendly efforts will move Vassar closer to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification it seeks for New England, Sanders, and the bridge building.
There are other environmental factors, as well. When you consider the materials and processes that scientists use in their labs, it’s evident that the demands on air quality are great. In the new bridge building, which will house chemically intensive wet labs, the air-handling systems will focus on maximizing the fresh air inside. Occupancy sensors in the bridge, for example, will guide fine-grained adjustments to the flow of air in labs, so that less air is vented when the labs are unoccupied.
The building’s abundant exterior glass will contribute to energy savings by maximizing natural interior light and reducing the need for artificial light in labs and classrooms. [The use of natural light is a key factor in gaining the building LEED architectural certification.] At the same time Ennead has designed a pioneering glass treatment to reduce bird collisions with the building, which will span a wetland that has a considerable avian population.
Another sustainability feature that the Ennead design includes, thanks to a faculty suggestion, is a system to reclaim the rainwater from the bridge’s roof into storage tanks, creating a sustainable water source to irrigate the Olmsted greenhouse.
Preserving and improving on “great bones” also applies to the natural setting of the new bridge building, especially the Fonteyn Kill and surrounding wetlands. With key assistance from faculty and students, project plans include the restoration of the Edith Roberts Ecological Laboratory, four acres along the stream that faculty member and pioneering botanist Roberts planted beginning in 1919 with 600 species of native plants over 30 years. This summer, as part of the annual Undergraduate Research Summer Institute (URSI), students and faculty are at work, often hip wader-deep, in assessing the conditions of the water, vegetation, and wildlife in the area.
The researchers will make recommendations on how to preserve and improve the watershed of the Fonteyn Kill, a stream that will run under a portion of the new building. “We want to generate a report that gives us a baseline of the condition of the Fonteyn Kill and the land around it before construction begins,” says Earth Science professor Jeff Walker, one of five faculty members and two research fellows overseeing this summer’s collaborative work.
Associate Professor of Biology Marshall Pregnall and biology major Kate Czechowski ’13 have been measuring bacteria levels in the stream several times a week, and typical readings are 7 to 12 times higher than the level deemed safe by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Pregnall and Czechowski say they suspect that leaky sanitary sewer lines in the Town of Poughkeepsie may contaminate the storm water drains that empty into the Fonteyn Kill. Vassar officials are meeting with the Poughkeepsie town engineer to investigate the problem and look for solutions.
Professor of Biology Mark Schlessman and Kevin Lee ’14 (a biology major and geography minor) are working at the Fonteyn Kill to catalogue plants that would absorb the runoff of rainwater and pollutants typically carried toward the stream during storms. They will be making recommendations to the landscape architects on what types of vegetation ought to be planted to provide the best protection of the stream.
Associate Professor of Biology Meg Ronsheim and Elaine Cheung ’13 have been studying the vegetation that has grown in the Edith Roberts Ecological Laboratory since it was established on the campus nearly 90 years ago. Cheung, with Ronsheim, is drawing up a list of plants they believe ought to be placed near the science center and identifying the existing vegetation that ought to be preserved.
This summer, students performed research at the Fonteyn Kill. They will make recommendations for preserving the watershed and limiting the impact of construction.
Professor Jeff Walker, Matt Zeltzer ’13, and Patrick Donohue ’13 are examining soils in and near the water to identify heavy metals and other contaminants that may be harming the stream and also using maps and aerial photographs to identify the boundaries of the Fonteyn Kill watershed.
Since birds can be used as a barometer of the ecological health of the watershed, Associate Professor of Geography Mary Ann Cunningham and Sasha Brown ’13 are compiling a log of bird sightings in the Fonteyn Kill watershed and determining what kinds of trees and other vegetation various species of birds prefer.
The URSI students, who will present their findings at their annual symposium on October 3, say they are excited to be a part of a project that will have an impact on the campus for years to come.
Czechowski says, “It will be gratifying if [Vassar and the science center architects and contractors] take our data into consideration as the work goes forward.” Even though the students involved in the project will have graduated by the time the science center opens, she believes the campus will be a better place because of the work she and her fellow researchers are doing. “This is something that will have lasting value for Vassar,” she says. |
Fritz Robert Graebner (March 4, 1877 – July 13, 1934) was a German ethnologist. He is best known for developing the theory of Kulturkreis, or culture circle, which became the basis of the German culture-historical approach to ethnology in the early twentieth century. Graebner's work neither accepted the unilinear model of cultural evolution, in which all human societies came from a single society, progressing through a series of stages from primitive to more advanced, nor did he accept the cultural relativism promoted by Franz Boas. Instead, Graebner proposed a limited number of culture circles, from which all other cultures developed through the acquisition of various cultural elements. He regarded cultural diffusion, or transfer based on some form of interaction between societies, as the mechanism by which cultural traits spread. Graebner's work, while not widely accepted, nonetheless addressed important issues. Understanding how human societies have developed, and the source of our commonalities and differences, is vital to the establishment of a peaceful world in which people of all cultures can come to live in harmony.
Graebner was born on March 4, 1877, in Berlin, Germany, to a schoolteacher. He attended school in Berlin from 1887 to 1895, after which he enrolled into the universities of Berlin and Marburg (1895–1901) where he studied history, German philology, and ethnography. He received his Ph.D. in 1901 from University of Berlin, with a dissertation on medieval history.
Graebner worked at Berlin Museum of Ethnology as an auxiliary scientific assistant, until 1906 when he transferred to the museum of ethnology in Cologne (Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum). He became a full assistant there in 1907, and the museum director in 1925.
In 1911 he became a privatdocent at the University of Bonn. In the same year he published a work Methode der Ethnologie (Method of Ethnology), which became the groundwork for the culture-historical approach to ethnology.
Before the start of World War I, he traveled to Australia to do research, when he was captured by the Australian government for being a German. Graebner did not waste his time though, but engaged in studying the differences in Hamito-Semitic, Mongolian, Indo-European, and Polynesian myths. He also applied his theory of culture circles in his study of different calendar systems. He was released from captivity in 1919.
In 1921 Graebner was appointed visiting professor at Bonn and in 1926 became an honorary professor at the University of Cologne. However, he developed an illness which kept him from doing any serious scientific work. He spent only two years at the University of Cologne, and retired in 1928.
Graebner returned to his native city of Berlin, and died there on July 13, 1934.
Graebner became known in the field of ethnology through his lecture Kulturkreise und Kulturschichten in Ozeanien, delivered in 1904 at a meeting of the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology, and Prehistory. In it he used the term Kulturkreis, which had been in use already by some ethnologists, and expanded on it with his own ideas. He took some ideas from Friedrich Ratzel (lebensraum) and Leo Frobenius, as well as the ideas of cultural diffusion” and the "elemental ideas" (Elementargedanken), as used by Adolf Bastian, and employed them in his theory of Kulturekreistehere (culture circles).
Graebner opposed the prevalent theory of his time, which suggested the more or less unilinear evolution of culture. In his work Graebner described different patterns of cultural distribution. He believed that a limited number of cultural circles (Kulturkreise) developed throughout human history, and that all cultures, at present and in the past, resulted from the diffusion of cultural traits from these cultural centers. He argued that the history of any culture could be reconstructed by analyzing the cultural elements of that culture and tracing those elements to one or more Kulturkreise.
Graebner proposed that the basic mechanism of transferring cultural traits from one culture to another was the principle of diffusion. According to that, two cultures that are in physical (geographical) proximity “borrow” elements from each other, be it through inter-marriage, trade, warfare, or any other form of communication, and apply them into their own cultural context. He thought that similarities between cultures were the result of cultural influences, rather than of a universal human nature.
He regarded patrilineal and matrilineal cultures not as sequences in cultural development, but as two independent cultural forms that coexisted with each other. Graebner claimed that in matrilineal cultures animism, worship of the dead, and lunar myths played more significant roles than in patrilineal cultures, which were influenced by magical beliefs and sun myths. His final major work, Das Weltbild der Primitiven (1924), included more detailed development of those ideas.
Graebner was also very interested in religious phenomena. He rejected the idea that all religions could be traced back to primitive religions (such as animism), as claimed by anthropologists such as Edward Burnett Tylor and James G. Frazer. Instead, Graebner argued, different cultures developed particular religious expressions, typical of the culture circle from which the culture emerged.
Graebner summarized his scientific views in his 1911 work Methode der Ethnologie, which although receiving a devastating review from Franz Boas, became the foundational work for the Kulturkreis theorists. His work influenced other European anthropologists such as Wilhelm Schmidt, the founder of the journal Anthropos, who sought to develop and refine Graebner's thesis. Although his work influenced some American anthropologists, such as Clyde Kluckhohn, later scholars dismissed his ideas, arguing that human culture is too complex to have developed based on the interactions Graebner described.
Graebner, Fritz. 1909. Die melanesische Bogenkultur und ihre Verwandten. Wien: Im Auftrage der Ősterreichischen Leo-Gesellschaft.
Graebner, Fritz. 1911. Methode der Ethnologie. Heidelberg: Winter.
Graebner, Fritz. 1912. "Australische Speerschleudern" in Petermanns Mitteil 58 (1).
Graebner, Fritz. 1913. Krückenruder. Leipzig: B.G. Teubner.
Graebner, Fritz. 1920. Thor und Mani. St. Gabriel: Anthropos.
Graebner, Fritz. 1924. Das Weltbild der Primitiven. München: Verlag Ernst Reinhardt.
Graebner, Fritz. 1927. "Kopfbänke" in Ethnologica 3: 1-13.
Graebner, Fritz, G. A. Schwalbe, E. Fischer, M. Hoernes, T. Mollison and A. J. Ploetz. 1923. Anthropologie: Die Kultur der Gegenwart. Leipzig: B.G. Teubner.
Boas, Franz. 1966 (original 1911). Review of "Graebner’s Methode der Ethnologie" in Race, Language, and Culture. pp. 295-304. New York: The Free Press. |
More than 150,000 flowers are needed to produce just one kilogram of dried saffron, an amount that has a market price that exceeds $6,000.
Saffron is a spice derived from the flower Crocus sativus, characterized by the red color of its stigmas and the yellow hues of the stamens. Each flower can produce up to four saffron stigmas, though usually they produce only three, making it the world’s most expensive spice by weight.
Although the origins of saffron are unclear, it could be argued that it comes from the East since its cultivation was widely spread throughout Asia. It is also known that the Arabs used saffron as a medicine for its anesthetic and antispasmodic properties. It was they who introduced its cultivation to Spain in the 10th century. Bibliographic testimonials affirm that saffron was also an irreplaceable seasoning in the Hispano-Arabic cuisine of the time.
Currently, the saffron produced in Spain is the most prestigious for its authentic quality standards. Saffron produced in other countries, including Turkey, Greece, Iran or Morocco, is almost always adulterated with the addition of traces of other parts of the flower. Many naïve travelers returning from Istanbul, Athens and Marrakech, feel very satisfied after having acquired very cheap saffron in street markets, unaware that they have been scammed.
Spanish saffron is grown in Castille-La Mancha, where it has enjoyed a deeply rooted tradition. This region also produces delicious Manchego cheese and a wide variety of great wines. From there, saffron is exported to almost every country in the world. Because this saffron has a guaranteed designation of origin since 2001, it is protected against fraud or adulteration and is credited as a high quality product with organoleptic qualities that make it stand out above the rest.
The prized Spanish spice produced in this area is one of the most coveted given its delicate fragrance and intense flavor. More than 150,000 flowers are needed to produce just one kilogram of dried saffron, a task performed manually since there is no adequate machinery for harvesting, collecting and processing these ephemeral flowers. For these reasons, saffron can command higher prices than gold: more than $6,000 per kilogram.
If you want to purchase the best Spanish saffron, the major brands assigned to the Regulatory Council of the Denomination of Origin Saffron from La Mancha are Safroman, Cefrán, The Rosera, Karkon, Princesa de Minaya, Virgen de la Cruz and Vega Lezuza. |
SAN FRANCISCO—The quickest way to curb Arctic melting now underway may be to turn off the tap of short-lived pollutants swirling north from cities and industry far to the south, say scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Preliminary data suggest that these pollutants can increase Arctic surface temperatures as much as 3 degrees Celsius—an effect equal to what scientists expect from carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. But unlike carbon dioxide, these pollutants accumulate seasonally and dissipate far more quickly than CO2, suggesting that reducing these emissions represents one of the best hopes for staving off further unprecedented retreats of Arctic sea ice.
"At least it gives us something that we have a chance to mitigate, as opposed to something like [CO2], which has a much longer time scale given the rapid changes in the Arctic," said Patricia Quinn, an atmospheric chemist at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.
These pollutants include hydrocarbons like solvents and benzene, nitrogen oxides from motor vehicles and power plants, sulfates from coal-fired power plants and soot from industry and agriculture. They are the scourge of urban areas, contributing to asthma and other health problems. But in the Arctic, their effects are profoundly magnified—particularly for soot, or black carbon, Quinn said.
"There's a huge temperature inversion in the Arctic during the winter," Quinn said. "You don't get much vertical mixing, and you don't get much precipitation, so stuff that gets in there just sits. It can be in there for weeks."
The Arctic winter extends pollution's lifetime. In sunnier, more temperate regions, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons readily combine to form ground-level ozone, or smog—a greenhouse gas. But sunlight both builds and destroys, and in those regions the compounds are short-lived, lasting for days or even hours. In contrast, the dark of the Arctic winter acts like an ice chest, storing and preserving pollutants as they gradually accumulate over the season.
When the sun returns in the spring, several things happen at once, all to the detriment of the Arctic in particular and the global climate in general, researchers say.
* The sun bakes the accumulated ozone precursors into climate-warming smog. "You have all the precursors sitting there, and then when the sun comes up, you have all these ingredients for ozone," Quinn said. "And because it's dark, you can get ozone transported up there without it being destroyed."
* Particulate pollutants—also called aerosols—accumulate in and form clouds and haze, enhancing the clouds' ability to insulate and increasing surface warming.
* The atmosphere starts to mix again and precipitation returns, washing black carbon, or soot, from the air. It lands on the icepack just as the ice is starting to melt and creates a devastating feedback loop, Quinn said. "If you're now taking the ice and covering it with something black, it accelerates (the melting) even further."
Other than smelters in northern Russia and an increasing shipping presence, the Arctic has very few sources of localized industrial pollution. Most pollution gets carried north by air currents from sources in urban centers across North America, Asia and Europe. The net result, said John Burkhart, a scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, is that "the Arctic is poised to be as polluted as other places."
The effect, researchers say, is comparable to that of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases combined. Preliminary data presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting last month indicates short-lived pollutants have increased Arctic surface temperatures up to 3 degrees C in winter.
So while reducing CO2 remains a vital part of any global warming mitigation strategy, inertia and political hurdles associated with CO2 have experts suggesting that the fastest way to put the brakes on Arctic warming is to curb emissions of short-lived pollutants far to the south.
Furthermore, researchers say, CO2's long lifespan and inertia means even an immediate and substantial reduction in CO2 emissions will take years to alter Arctic warming trends. Yet the same reduction in short-lived pollutants, they note, could substantially reduce Arctic warming now - and bring numerous health benefits to people throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
"We have very little leverage to affect the effects of CO2," said Drew Shindell of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. "This is not so for short-lived pollutants." |
Wouldn't I Still Be Me?
Those who play the personhood card argue that there is a difference between being a human and being a person. There are, they say, human beings that don't qualify as persons, and therefore should have no legal protection as persons. The unborn is an example of a human who is not a person.
When asked "What's the difference between a mere human and a human person," which is a fair question to ask, there are three possible answers. First, an unborn child doesn't look like other bonafide human persons who are at different stages of development. "After all," they say, "an acorn isn't an oak." Second, an unborn child doesn't do like other bonafide human persons who are at different stages of development.
You recall the unfortunate case of baby Theresa in Florida who was born without a cerebral cortex. What was the argument there? She's not a person because she can't think like other babies think (this was used as an argument for infanticide in Florida). She can't do what other real persons do. The law implicitly offers a third distinction. The unborn child isn't located at the right place as are other human persons who are at . . .
Should stronger, more capable and more intelligent people have more rights than others? Greg reflects on Baby Theresa and the personhood of the unborn.
You recall the unfortunate case of baby Theresa in Florida who was born without a cerebral cortex. What was the argument there? She's not a person because she can't think like other babies think (this was used as an argument for infanticide in Florida). She can't do what other real persons do. The law implicitly offers a third distinction. The unborn child isn't located at the right place as are other human persons who are at the same stage of development.
In summary, some human beings aren't worthy of human rights because they don't look like the rest of us, they can't do what the rest of us can do, or they're in the wrong location. My question simply is this: Are any of these factors truly relevant to the issue of human rights? I am presuming here that all unborn children are in fact humans. It cannot possibly be otherwise because they are separate beings in themselves produced by two other human beings, a mother and a father human being; and according to the law of biogenesis, which has been around for a long time in science, all beings reproduce after their own kind. Two human beings can only reproduce another human being. Since an unborn child is the conceptus of two human beings, then it must be a human being. That's a foundational point here.
The question is, though it is a human being, is it really a person? The answer with regards to unborn children is no, it isn't. When I ask why people either say that it doesn't look like a person, it doesn't do the things a person does, or it's in the wrong location.
Let's take the last one first. You will understand immediately what I mean. According to our law if an otherwise bonafide human person is not located at the right place, then the mother has the liberty to take its life for any reason.
I'm thinking of a little girl right now. Her name is Rachel. She's the daughter of close friends of mine. Rachel is two months old, but she is still six weeks away from being a full-term baby. Rachel was born prematurely at 22 weeks, in the middle of her mother's second trimester. In other words, Rachel is still mid third-term even though she's almost two months old. When she was born she weighed one pound, eleven ounces, but dropped to just over a pound soon after. She was so small that she could rest in the palm of your hand and you'd hardly know she was there.
Here is the relevant point. It would be murder to take the life of little Rachel if she was lying nursing at her mother's breast today. But if the same Rachel, at the same stage of development, was six inches away resting inside of her mother's womb she could be killed, and in many cases the state would pay for it.
If it's wrong to kill an innocent human child at one location, then it's wrong to kill that same innocent human child six inches away. I take this as obvious and axiomatic. If you take this as obvious and axiomatic--and I don't see how you can refute it, frankly, regardless of your view of abortion--if it would be murder to take the life of little Rachel outside of her mother, it is murder to take the same life of the same person at exactly the same point of development inside of her mother. If this is true, then all mid- to late-term abortions are deeply immoral, because the liberty to kill the child is based merely on location.
But does even development make a difference? What about a person who is disqualified because it doesn't look like or doesn't do like? You could argue that Rachel at 22 weeks did survive and so she was a bonafide human person now and doing things little human beings do and little human persons do. But what about prior to that? Many have said clearly a zygote or a child in its earliest stages of development doesn't look like a human being and it doesn't act like a human being. It is not capable of doing those kinds of things that other human beings do. One could point out that this is circular reasoning. In other words, I could say it certainly looks exactly like a human person does at that stage of development. Let me take it from a different direction.
Regarding the other two issues, I have a very important question here. Do I forfeit my rights as a human person--my rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--because my body is shaped differently than yours? Do I forfeit my rights as a human person--my rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--because my body can't do what your body can do?
What if I were smaller than you? Am I any less myself? If I weighed only one pound, or even a few ounces, as long as I was alive wouldn't I still be me? If I had no arms or legs, or my body was terribly misshapen (remember the movie Elephant Man?), as long as I'm alive, wouldn't I still be me? And if body size and shape is the criterion, then do larger people with more attractive bodies have more rights?
That's what this argument asserts regarding the unborn. If a human being is smaller, if it looks different, if it isn't just like me, then it has no rights.
But what if it wasn't what I looked like, but rather what I could do that makes the difference. What if I weren't as smart as you? Am I any less myself? What if I had a lower IQ--an IQ of 70 or 50, or even 10, or 1? What if I could hardly think at all? Wouldn't I still be me? What if I couldn't play basketball, or couldn't write, or couldn't even feed myself? Wouldn't I still be who I am, a human person with rights and value? Do I as a human being become disposable simply because I can't do all that you can do, because I may be helpless and defenseless and dependent? And if this is the case, then do stronger and more capable and more intelligent people have more rights than others? That's what this argument asserts regarding the unborn. If a human being is not as intelligent, if it can't do what others can do, then it has no rights. That's the argument. The unborn doesn't look like other real persons and it doesn't act like other real persons, therefore it is not a real person. My point is, being a real person is not a look like or an act like kind of thing. It is a be like kind of thing. Human beings are persons by their nature.
This was an argument that Lincoln made regarding the Lincoln-Douglas debates against slavery.
Do you begin to see how devastating this argument is to human rights--all human rights, even yours? If personhood is gradual and admits to degrees, then human rights based on personhood are gradual and admit to degrees. If any human being can be disposed of simply because he or she doesn't look just right or can't do what others can do, then the world is only safe for the perfect.
That's what this argument says. Is this the kind of argument you want to stand behind? That is precisely what the personhood argument entails. If so, be very careful, because sooner or later someone is going to discover your imperfection. Then what? |
Your healthcare provider will work with you to set up a treatment plan. The plan may include medicines. It might also include ways to find emotional support. To feel more healthy and in control, do your best to follow your plan.
Make a list of things you want to talk about, including new treatments. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Jot down what your health care provider says.
Keep a diary. Describe changes in your condition and in how you feel. Bring the diary to office visits.
Ask about other health services, such as dietitians or physical therapists.
Ask if complementary care, such as acupuncture or herbs, might help.
Bring a family member or trusted friend with you. That person can help you understand and remember what you heard.
Ask your pharmacist if there are certain foods or medicines you should avoid while taking your medicine. This could include medicines you buy over the counter, such as aspirin, as well as vitamins and herbs.
Read labels. Use medicines only as directed. Don't skip doses or stop taking medicines on your own.
Don't share your medicines or take medicines from another person, even if it is the same medicine and dose.
Tell your healthcare provider if you are bothered by side effects. There may be other medicines you can try.
Store medicines properly. Some are affected by heat or light.
Ask your health insurer about buying medicines through the mail. Or check with groups that focus on your condition. They may know other ways to save on costs.
When you're coping with a health problem, it's normal to be sad or depressed at times. Some medicines can also affect your mood. Still, if these feelings don't go away, be sure to tell someone. Depression can be treated.
If you choose, share what you learn about your condition with the people in your life. Consider inviting family members along when you attend a support group meeting. Learning more about your condition can ease their concerns and make it easier for them to support you. |
Very few enclosed cockpits drain fast enough to rid themselves of water if swamped before successive waves arrive. If the companionway is open, water will pour below and although much of it will be rolled out by the boat's motion, the vessel may then remain sluggish and slow to lift her stern to other oncoming waves exacerbating the situation. Hence it is critical that the main hatch is secured during heavy weather sailing.
But most yacht's hatch securing arrangements are washboards that are externally dropped into place and secured. This classical arrangement leads to crews feeling being sealed in below decks during heavy weather sailing. The resultant anxiety and claustrophobia lead to some of the boards being removed which results in the boat's single largest opening being unsecured.
A single breaching wave could flood the yacht through the main companionway hatch placing the vessel in a survival situation. If the vessel is knocked down or rolled, for example in Fastnet 79 at least 18 boats were rolled a full 360 degrees, the boards will be lost and the hatch is then effectively wide open from that point onward. It is essential for the welfare of the vessel and crew that the hatch can be secured and the crew down below made to feel safe.
Put in place a securing system for the main hatch where the boards can be secured and released both externally and internally. It costs the price of two jammer cleats, a short length of line, and an hour's work at the most. With this the companionway boards can be kept securely shipped but released from either side.
was essential. Others discovered that the only way of positively securing the wash-boards was to lock the hatch over them from the outside and some were reluctant to do so because of effectively trapping those off watch In the accommodation. Some of those with angled sides to companionway entrances commented that this was bad design, as each washboard had only a few inches before it fell out completely. In general, crews felt that the sides of the companionway entrance should be vertical or nearly vertical and that it must be possible to secure and open the hatch from both inside and outside. A number commented on the lack of strength of both hatches and companionways and a minority felt that it was necessary to carry spare wash-boards. Some of those who lost or broke washboards plugged the aperture reasonably effectively with a bagged sail.
It went on to make a specific regulation on the subject of 'Watertight Integrity': The most serious defect affecting watertight integrity was the design and construction of main companionways. It is recommended that the Special Regulation relating to the blocking arrangements for main companionways should be extended to introduce specific requirements for the blocking arrangements to be totally secure but openable from above and below decks. It has since become standard in most seagoing racing yachts that have hatch-boards and should be implemented as a standard on all seagoing vessels.
This may be accomplished by placing a jammed cleat internally and externally to the main hatch. Drill the main hatch to allow a length of line to pass through the front edge. Provide enough length on the line to allow the hatch to slide fully open when it is secured at midpoint both internally and externally. This is a simple, practical solution that is permanently in place and ready to deploy when needed. It should also be noted that the below deck area was the safest place to be during Fastnet 79 as there were no instances of yachts, sinking upside down and all those temporarily trapped in cabins had time to abandon the yacht after she righted. |
In this research we experimented with a new and rapid way of analyzing wood. Near Infrared (NIR)spectroscopy together with multivariate analysis is becoming a widely used technique in the field of forest products especially for property determination and is already firmly established in the pulp and paper industry. This method is ideal for the chemical analysis of wood, and therefore preservative-treated wood. Several commercially treated deckboards were obtained for this study: CCA/Hem-Fir; CCA/Eastern Hemlock; ACZA/Douglas Fir and ACQA-Hem-Fir. They were milled and scanned with a NIR spectrometer. Visually, the NIR spectra appear very similar, however when incorporated into the multivariate software; differences start to emerge. This software applies multivariate statistical techniques to the spectra, identifying chemical changes in the wood that are caused by preservatives. The samples separated out according to treatment and were easily distinguishable. Additionally, the technique was able to determine the preservative retention levels present. Two oil- based preservatives were also studied: Copper Napthenate and Oxine Copper. Again these samples separated and clustered according to their treatments. Furthermore with the Copper Napthenate samples, there was a clear graduation in solution strength. This technique is rapid, non-destructive, portable and relatively low cost. It appears to have the potential for identifying both inorganic preservatives (those that contain copper, chromium or arsenic) and organic (carbon based) preservatives. The results clearly demonstrate that this technique has potential for use in a variety of recycling and sorting applications. |
/ How Old Are Toddlers?
When looking for tips on raising children or even to research the best toys to buy for toddlers. The first question that comes to mind is, How old are toddlers? According to en.wikipedia.org a child between the ages of one and three is considered a toddler. Obviously, not all kids grow and develop at exactly the same rate. It is up to the parent to decide if a toy or program is right for their child at any specific time.
Tools and toys that promote the mastery of skills should be considered in order to aid your child in their development. If a toddler is at the learning to walk stage. It would be beneficial for them to have some sort of wheeled push toy to help them keep their balance while moving around. At an early toddler stage it is normal for a child to develop some sort of attachment to a particular toy or object.Toddlers grow and develop mentally and physically naturally, but it is your choice of tools and toys that will aid them in that growth. Learning to ride a toy car is great for the imagination and terrific in developing leg strength and mobility skills.
Building blocks have been a favorite toy for toddlers because as the toddler grows they will become progressively more skilled at playing with them. As a one year old they develop a skill of banging two blocks together. By the time that they are two years old they will have progressed to skillfully building a stack of five blocks.
Between the ages of one and two your toddler will enjoy mimicking parental activities. This would be a great time to get them a toy lawnmower or gardening toys. They can be by your side in the great outdoors. They can mimic your activities as you garden and maintain the yard. In the winter they can be by your side with a toy snow shovel. Little do they know that you are actually training them for future years when you make them do it for real.
By the time a toddler turns 2 they will start to mimic social behaviour such as feeding a doll or having a tea party. It is around the 2 year mark that you can also introduce games that involve taking turns. They begin to interact socially, sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn’t.These are the years of the tantrum. Be prepared to hear the word “no” yelled at you a lot.By the end of their toddler time, kids will begin to play with toys in imaginative ways. They will know how to play different games and will have developed increased dexterity with small objects. This allows them to be able to do things like join puzzle pieces together. They will become increasingly independent and will begin to vocalize preferences in what they enjoy doing for entertainment and what clothing they want to wear.
There you have it folks. Toddlerhood in a nutshell. |
Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, invites students around the world to join him under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, as he presides over prayers at the annual Kagyu Monlam, 16-22 December 2018.
The Kagyu Monlam is the most significant event of the year for the Karma Kagyu lineage. Tens of thousands of students, monks, nuns and other venerables come together in the place where Buddha attained enlightenment, as Karmapa leads prayers for the benefit of all sentient beings.
The main prayer recited at the Kagyu Monlam is known as the ‘King of Aspiration Prayers’ or the ‘Samantabhadra Wishing Prayer’.
When we come together to the sacred place where Gautama Buddha reached enlightenment, and offer aspirations for peace and prosperity for all beings, the merit, wisdom and benefit that is accumulated is tremendous.
Practitioners around the world are invited to join Karmapa, in person or online. Several of the teachings will be live streamed so that students who are not able to travel to Bodh Gaya can still join Karmapa and their fellow Karma Kagyu students. Details for the streaming will be published in the coming weeks.
In addition to presiding over prayers at the Mahabodhi Stupa in Bodh Gaya, Karmapa will also be leading the Fourth International Karma Kagyu Meeting, and engaging in local community and charitable activities through his South Asian Buddhist Association (SABA).
Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, shares this message in the wake of the recent tsunami and earthquake in Indonesia.
I am writing to offer my prayers for the people of Indonesia, following the tsunami and earthquake that has devastated the city of Palu, killing at least 380 people, and directly affecting thousands more.
This tragic event and loss of life is yet another reminder of the impermanent nature of our material world.
We may take some solace from this impermanence. For in the midst of great suffering and heartache, we may feel that there is no hope, and that we will always feel this pain. However, just as night never lasts forever, and the sun always rises again, so our pain is not permanent. We will feel hope again.
Please join me in offering our compassion to all those affected by this disaster.
Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, shares the following message after the recent flooding in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
The devastation and loss of life in Kerala, caused by the worst flooding in a century, is difficult to comprehend. More than 300 people havez died. More than 200,000 people have been left homeless and in camps. With more rains predicted, the situation is feared to become even more dire.
And yet, there is hope. This week, India celebrated its Independence Day – with unity in diversity, the whole country came together to celebrate, among other things, the resilience and strength of its citizens. These qualities, together with India’s spiritual wealth, are greatly needed at this time. While material resources and humanitarian aid are crucial – our prayers, our compassion, our loving kindness, are just as beneficial. When we practice the Buddha dharma, and dedicate the merit of our practice to all sentient beings, we offer hope for those who need it most.
May we all pray together for all those affected by this disaster.
Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, shares the following message after the recent bridge collapse in Italy.
I am writing to you following the motorway bridge collapse in Genoa, Italy, in which at least 35 people lost their lives, including three children.
It is natural, in the midst of such tragedies, to feel a sense of hopelessness. We may feel overwhelmed, to the point where we can’t even imagine any kind of hope exists. When hope is lost, everything is lost. As practitioners, we have an important role to show that hope still exists, even in the aftermath of such devastating news.
As Shantideva says in The Way of the Bodhisattvas, ‘May the discouraged become uplifted and perfectly steadfast’.
Through turning to our practice, again and again, we can be positive role models and inspire others on their path. Through the Buddha dharma, we can shine a light on hope even in the darkest of moments.
May we all join in prayers for those affected by this disaster, and may all those who feel lost and suffering find hope.
The devastating wildfires near Athens in Greece have claimed the lives of at least 76 people. The scenes of people fleeing for safety from the flames, mourning the loss of their loved ones, may understandably give rise to emotion.
And so it is with the dam collapse in south-east Laos, which led to flash floods that killed at least 20 people, with more than 100 still missing. The aerial images of homes submerged by water, with villagers and children stranded on rooftops, may be upsetting for some of us.
The practice of the Buddha dharma is a path to mastering our emotions, rather than letting our emotions control us. This is not about being heartless or uncompassionate – quite the opposite.
It is at times like these, when natural or unnatural disasters strike, or when we experience tragedy in our personal lives, when the benefits of our practice – a practice of compassion – are most keenly experienced. The purpose of our practice is to give rise to Bodhicitta, the human heart.
Through the practice of the Buddha dharma, we are able to experience limitless compassion and wisdom. We are no longer overwhelmed by anger, fear, or other afflictive emotions (klesa), and are instead able to tap into our Inner Wealth, our innate values, for the benefit of all. We experience all compounded phenomena as impermanent. In time, we are able to let go of fear and anger altogether, and let compassion rise.
As I have said before, the compassionate heart is even more precious than a Buddha. In the human heart, we see limitless hope.
Therefore, let us practice and pray for those affected by these and all disasters, and may the benefits of our compassionate hearts reach all sentient beings.
All of us may not be related to each other by blood. Nevertheless, because we have a similar cause, because we all have similar aspirations and wishes, we are bound by that. We are bound by what we practice, we are bound by what we aspire to. So therefore, we are all another family for each other.
The source of simplicity comes from the heart. Whenever we are in turmoil, confusion, all kinds of difficult thoughts and circumstances arise. When we calm ourselves down, whether we are Buddhist or not, in the end we can find a middle ground where we can say that applying the simple things in our lives makes sense. In Buddhism, everything is really about making things simple, so that we can apply them in our everyday life.
The purpose of Bodhicitta is to generate a very kind and understanding intention or motivation for the benefit of all sentient beings. |
King James VI and his advisers were determined to bring peace and order to the troubled Borders and the Highlands, and here they looked to the clan chiefs as their principal instruments.
The Laird of Foulis figure in a roll of Highland landlords attached to an Act of Parliament in 1587 and three years later Hector was one of those who had to find caution for the good behaviour of their tenants and adherents (even those living on other men's lands).
When more peaceful times came, military service abroad had its attractions, and many Munros fought under Gustavus Adolphus in Germany as commissioned and non-commissioned officers and in the ranks. Many of them fell, including two successive chiefs, Robert and Sir Hector (the latter shortly after being made a baronet of Nova Scotia). Some returned home to serve in the Covenanting armies or to join the royalist cause, and General Robert Monro commanded a Scottish army sent to Ireland in 1642.
A long minority in the chiefship (1635-51) coincided with civil war and divided loyalties: under Cromwell's Commonwealth and Protectorate, Sir Robert Munro was Sheriff of Ross and his lands raided and his tenants abused, but his brother George was 'of different principles' and rose to command the King's forces in Scotland (1674-77).
The revolution which brought William and Mary to the throne vacated by James VII was supported by Sir John Munro of Foulis, a devout Presbyterian; but Dr Alexander Monro of the Fyrish branch, an Episcopalian who refused to change his allegiance, lost all his offices as principal of Edinburgh University, minister of the High Kirk (St Giles'), and bishop-elect of Argyll. His sympathies were not shared by the rest of the clan, and in 1689, and later in 1715, 1719 and 1745-46, the Munros were among the group of clans and families in the north of Scotland who supported the ruling government against the Jacobites.
After Culloden, the clans were no longer an effective force in the national life, but many individual Munros have achieved distinction both at home and abroad. |
Our connections to the world and each other have a profound influence on our perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs. It’s simple really – we are hardwired to care about the people with whom we share regular contact. We do this instinctively, with little effort, often without even thinking about it.
But empathy and compassion become so much harder at any sort of distance, even for those with the best of intentions. It is hard to walk a mile in someone’s shoes when we scarcely know the path they must travel.
One of the most painful illustrations of the power of human connectivity is our centuries-long struggle with racism in America. Racism is a disease that both creates and feeds on separation – fueling the lack of connection that in turn perpetuates it.
That racism creates separation is obvious from even the most cursory glance at American neighborhoods and schools. Black and white families who are identical in every other way routinely inhabit completely different spaces within our cities and society. And, it is exactly this separation that allows racism to persist over generations. When we are disconnected, it takes intentional effort to see each other as individuals, and it becomes all too easy to see those of another race as fundamentally different, other, inferior.
Segregation based on race would be distressing enough on its own, but when combined with our vastly unequal history it has especially dire consequences. For the separation that racism creates works to preserve the inequities experienced by each generation, passing them to the next in a way that is far too little diminished.
The average black family with an income above $75,000 lives in a neighborhood with a higher poverty rate than the average white family with income below $40,000.
And the following figure from Reardon, Fox, and Townsend (2015) illustrates this point in even richer detail, showing how median neighborhood income increases with household income for each race and ethnicity. That the line for black households lies so far below that of whites implies that black households (at every income level) live in much lower income neighborhoods – with the accompanying lower quality schools, higher crime rates, and worse access to jobs – than comparable white households.
This separate and unequal geography has profound implications for both current and future generations. It forms the conditions that foster the vastly uneven application of law enforcement and criminal justice, gives rise to systematic differences in the quality of schools that black and white children attend, and geographically correlates race and poverty in a way that is difficult for many observers to tell apart, further driving racial misperceptions and racism itself.
It is precisely this powerful combination of separation and historical inequity that makes the aggregate force of racism so unequal. While any individual might hold racist attitudes or beliefs, the collective impact of these attitudes works to preserve the material advantage of those favored by history – ultimately slowing the speed with which social and economic differences dissipate over generations.
This separate and unequal geography also has profound implications for our national politics as J. Phillip Thompson develops in detail in his essay. The great distances that divide our country by race and ethnicity – city versus suburbs, rural versus urban – make it easy to exploit white racism to drive down support for a whole range of public goods and institutions. Support for these policies is undermined by presenting them as largely benefitting an undeserving other – an other that distance and ignorance make all too easy to caricature and dehumanize.
The perspective that racism and segregation are really just two sides of the same coin and that their impact is not neutral given historical inequities also has far-reaching implications for policy more generally.
It suggests, for example, that housing and schooling policies that provide ‘choice’ rather than resources naturally yield greater benefit to those who can take full advantage of the increased opportunities than to those whose choices are effectively limited by the collective action of racial sorting.
It also implies that the rush – by politicians and the courts – to declare America a post-racial society and dismantle remedies designed to protect the basic rights of African Americans is incredibly premature, whether related to affirmative action, voting rights, criminal justice, or school segregation. The impact of ‘race-neutral’ policies in the presence of ongoing racism and enduring inequality is anything but race-neutral.
And it illuminates one final point - that to continue our progress towards a truly colorblind society, policy must actively and aggressively target racial segregation wherever it appears. For the act of separating itself not only reinforces existing racial inequality but also serves as a clear and disheartening marker of the great force that racism retains in our society. |
Home Marble How Do You Repair Marble? Everything You Need to Know!
One of the most preferred natural stones for residential use is the marble. When white marble worktops are used at home, whether in the kitchens or in the backyard by the lawn, there is nothing quite like it that can add as much grace, value and serenity. As durable and strong a marble is, it is susceptible to cracks and maybe even breaking if something very heavy falls on it. There are many things you can do yourselves that can save you a lot of money instead of hiring a marble supplier in London for a professional help.
If marble flooring suffers chipping or cracking, first you need to brush out the debris using a small vacuum cleaner or a tack cloth to remove the dust off the circumference of the hole.
To put back a disjointed chunk simply bring a marble adhesive and apply it around the hole and the broken off marble piece and place it inside. Press down and leave it for some time. Afterwards, use a damp cloth to wipe away any excess adhesive off the floor.
If you are missing a piece of marble, buy an epoxy and follow its directions. Using a spoon, fill the epoxy into the hole until it overflows through the edges. Then use a putty knife to smoothen the edges. Bring a wet rag to remove excess water and wipe around the edges of the hole.
Repairing Marble kitchen worktops in the U.K.
There are many ways to repair marble kitchen worktops. Some may take a little while to heal but most of the times, it is easy enough to fix.
Waxing- Waxing brings shine to the marble and acts like a protective barrier to prevent additional scratching and/or etching of its surface.
Varnishing- Regular varnishing also defends the marble from regular wear and tear. Consider applying a coat of polyurethane.
Epoxy Sealant & Adhesive- For minor cracks use an epoxy sealant after a thorough cleaning of the cracked surface. For broken or chipped off areas on the marble, use an epoxy adhesive after rigorous cleaning of the area with a lint-free clean cloth and acetone in an open well-lit part of the house. Carefully apply a thin layer of the adhesive and reattach the chipped or broken piece. Once it is set, softly wipe away any excess epoxy. Let it dry and then apply wax or varnish.
Tin Oxide- Also known as a grade polishing powder at building supply stores, use it to repair scratches and stains on a marble’s surface. To apply the powder to the marble worktop, using a piece of felt fabric and gently rub it in until the scratch or stain is removed. |
The common point of the tangent and the circle is called the point of contact.
A tangent to a circle is perpendicular to the radius through the point of contact.
No tangent can be drawn through a point lying inside the circle. |
Naomi Shemer was born in 1930 on Kevuzat Kinneret, where both her parents had settled after emigrating from Vilna—Meir Sappir in 1922 and Rivka Shostaliski in 1925. They married in 1925.
Naomi’s musical skill was evident during her childhood, when she began to lead community singing on the A voluntary collective community, mainly agricultural, in which there is no private wealth and which is responsible for all the needs of its members and their families.kibbutz. After completing school she was sent to study at the academy of music in Jerusalem and upon returning to the kibbutz taught music to the kibbutz children. During this period she wrote several children’s songs, including “The Short Tour,” “The Post Van,” and “Our Little Brother,” all of which appeared for the first time on an album by Yaffa Yarkoni, “Songs from Kinneret” (1958).
Shemer began her army service in the Nahal, eventually joining its cultural department. During her military service she wrote several songs for a revue by the Central Command troupe, “A Raid in the Village” (1956) under the pseudonym S. Carmel. After her discharge she married the actor Gideon Shemer in 1954 and had a daughter, Halleli (b. 1956). The couple lived first on Kevuzat Kinneret and afterwards in Tel Aviv. Shemer became well-known when the musical “Five-Five,” actually no more than an arrangement of her army revue “A Raid in the Village,” was staged. The songs “So Much Light and Blue” and “Song of the Grain,” which were recorded by Rika Zarai, and the very successful “Rely on the Rooster,” which was performed in 1959 by Ran and Nama (Ran Eliran and Nehama Hendel), became hits.
Upon the formation of the Green Onion troupe, most of whose members were former members of the Nahal troupe, Chaim Topol, one of its founders, commissioned several songs from Shemer. These included “Noa” and “Troubadour,” performed by Nehama Hendel when she joined the group in 1957, though “Noa” was taken off the program after several performances.
Shemer wrote “Market Song” for the Tarnegolim in 1961, and in 1963 composed all the songs for the Nahal troupe revue, “Sun in the Desert” which, like “A Raid in the Village,” was a kind of musical. Among its songs were “Tomorrow,” “Umbrella for Two,” “We’re Starving,” “The Grand Tour” and “Hide ’n’ Seek.” The same year, Shemer wrote “The Eucalyptus Grove” for the musical revue “How to Break a Heat Wave,” written to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of her birthplace, Kevuzat Kinneret. Later performed by the Nahal’s Entertainment troupe, the song soon became famous.
In 1964 Shemer composed a musical setting for the poem “Kinneret” (“There are the Golan Heights”) by Rahel, originally performed by the Central Command troupe. Later she set to music other poems about the Kinneret by Rahel, including “In My Garden” and “Song (To You and About You)”, which were recorded in 1966 by the Shemer Sisters, a group she established in 1966 which disbanded after a year.
Shemer wrote “Builders’ Love,” “Serenade,” “Lovely Doe” (which she translated from French) and “Akhziv” for the first program by the Yarkon Bridge Trio. “Akhziv” was included in the film Dalia and the Sailors (1964), in which the trio appeared.
In the winter of 1967, I was in trouble because I had promised the Voice of Israel a new song about Jerusalem. This began the year before, if I remember correctly. The late Yeshayahu Spero met me at Café Nitza on Allenby Street and asked me why I had never participated in the song festival. I told him that it was because the festival was a competition. A year later … the powers that be decided to repair the omission and commissioned from the “professionals” five songs to be performed for the festival’s second half, outside the competition.
Why did they want a song about Jerusalem anyway? Because of Teddy [Kollek] and Gil [Aldema]. Teddy was the one who asked that “the public singing consist of songs about Jerusalem,” meaning the group singing while the votes were counted, which used to be part of the festival. (I like him very much and I like his Hebrew too, and he was also a friend of my father’s.) And then Gil Aldema looked in his files and saw there was no such thing as “songs about Jerusalem.” Nothing had been written since Avigdor ha-Meiri [1890–1970]! (Today, after the flood [of songs about Jerusalem], it is hard to believe, but that’s how it was.
Gil suggested that each one of the five professional songwriters write a new song about Jerusalem. My four colleagues became frightened and refused. I was frightened and agreed, and like I said, I was in trouble. And not because I couldn’t relate, Heaven forbid, but because I related too much. Jerusalem was personal, beloved and important to me. I graduated from the music academy there, I had my daughter Leli there, my connections with the city centered around a family of friends whose mother used to host me every year during summer vacation, and each summer I got to know a new aspect of the city’s magic. But when I tried to express this, I became terrified. I remembered everything that had been written about the city since ancient times—King David, Judah Halevi—who could add a single letter to that?!
After two months of trying in vain I decided to give up. I called Gil and asked him to release me: “It’s too big for me. I simply can’t write about Jerusalem.” And Gil, wise man and teacher that he was, said, “Don’t write about Jerusalem. Forget about it and write whatever you want, but don’t leave us without a song for the festival.” When he put down the receiver, he told the people in his office, “Now she will write about Jerusalem.” And that’s what happened.
I wrote “Jerusalem of Gold” that same night. The idea I started with was the Talmudic legend I remembered from my school days about Rabbi Akiva, who lived in poverty, in a hayloft with his beloved wife Rahel, who had been disowned by her father. As he plucked the hay out of her hair, he promised her that one day he would become wealthy and buy her a Jerusalem of Gold [an item of jewelry]. Our teachers, Shoshana and Amminadav, taught us many similar legends. The phrase “Jerusalem of Gold” suddenly shone in my memory as if to say, “Here I am,” and I realized it would be the cornerstone of my song.
Even with that realization, I still had my doubts. One needs to remember how gray and lacking in gold Jerusalem was then, and how one could not speak highly of it or have parades there. Like the saying “Do not wake or rouse” [Song of Songs 2:7], I was awestruck and asked myself: Of gold? Are you sure about the gold? And something answered me: Absolutely, of gold.
It was night by the time I sat down and wrote the song. I began with my fresh, innocent memories of my visits there during summer vacation, and then I continued to “She sits alone” and “captive in her dream,” and to the ancient phraseology which had just presented itself to me as if to say, Take me and do with me as you will.
As for the melody, here I touched upon the hasidic melodies and Yiddish songs of my late father with faint traces of Biblical cantillation. When I got to the refrain, I changed the direction upward, and it was as though I had drawn the curves of the old road near Moza as it approaches Jerusalem, known as the “Seven Sisters”: one ascent, and then another and another, and behold—the city before our eyes.
The next day I brought the song to the Voice of Israel. Gil held the lyrics in his right hand and the music in his left and looked at one and then the other, “his cheeks wet with tears” [paraphrased from Lamentations 1:2]. It was Friday, strange weather, it looked like either there might be a heat wave or it might rain. It was around Holiday held on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar (on the 15th day in Jerusalem) to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people in the Persian empire from a plot to eradicate them.Purim or maybe exactly Purim, and I went to Kinneret to recover from the effort.
Over the next few days I played the song for whoever came to visit, as I always do. Once I played it for Rivka Michaeli. She asked: What about the Old City? All right, I said, if you really want it, and I added the middle verse.
The business about the Old City needs an explanation. When I went to write about it, I put all thought of physical, tangible matters out of my mind. I thought about the two thousand years of the Destruction in the abstract, not necessarily about the last nineteen years. Through a kind of telescopic lens I saw before me a city in heaven and the essence which alone I sought to capture.
Naomi Shemer deliberated as to who would sing the song. Her daughter Halleli had heard about an unknown woman soldier with an extraordinary voice and Shemer was very impressed after hearing her on the radio. She asked to be introduced to the singer and thus met Shuly Nathan. Shemer insisted that Nathan sing “Jerusalem of Gold” with guitar rather than with orchestral accompaniment. The song was indeed performed in that manner and was greeted with tumultuous applause. After the prizes were awarded the audience stood up, demanding to hear the song again. The second time, the entire audience joined in the refrain. Three weeks later the Six Day War broke out, and Jerusalem was reunited.
Since the first time “Jerusalem of Gold” was performed at the Song Festival it has been considered the best-loved Israeli song of all time. (It later won first place in the “Hit of the Hits” parade of 1998, the year of Israel’s fiftieth anniversary, and was chosen as the Jubilee song.) All the Songs of Naomi Shemer was published at the end of 1976.
In September 1972 a revue of Shemer’s songs was staged, directed by Zadok Zarfati and produced by the Bimot Theater, managed by Yaakov Agmon. The Bimot Company comprised ten singer-actors who sang twenty-four songs and a medley, and the revue appeared to wide acclaim throughout the country.
When the The Day of Atonement, which falls on the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei and is devoted to prayer and fasting.Yom Kippur War broke out in 1973, it was Shemer’s song “Lu Yehi” (“May It Be”) that best expressed the feelings of both the battlefront and the home front. The words were written at the request of the singer Hava Alberstein to the melody of the Beatles’ song “Let It Be.” However, the Hebrew version is not a translation but a version that reflects the mood and the distress of that difficult time.
In 1979, when her sister Ruti was widowed, Shemer wrote “Of Sting and Honey” for her as a song of encouragement. Yossi Banai sang it on a television program and included it in his one-man show, “Simon, Little Moïse and I.” Thus, with Banai’s help, the private prayer Shemer had written became the prayer of many, and the line “Do not uproot what has been planted” received political significance when it became the motto of those who opposed the evacuation of Yamit. Many people recorded the song, including Shemer herself, who chose it as the first song on her successful album “The Honey and the Sting” (1981). The songs “Good People” and “There Is a Land” (words by Saul Tchernichowsky, 1875–1943) appeared on the same album.
In 1982 her third collection, Book Three, was published. At the annual Arad Festival, which was launched that year, as well as at subsequent Arad Festivals, Shemer’s songs filled the programs of all the ensembles, every one of which performed at least one or two of her songs.
The Israel Prize is awarded to Naomi Shemer for her songs, which everyone sings, because of their poetic and musical merit and the wonderful blend of lyrics and music, and also because they express the emotions of the people.
In 1987 a revue of songs by her, “Personal Effects,” was produced. The soloist was singer-actor Moshe Becker and all the songs were written especially for him. The Gevatron chorus also recorded an entire album of her songs, “After the Harvest” (1988).
During the 1990s a decline in Shemer’s health affected her writing, but every new song she wrote received a warm welcome. In 1993 she wrote “I Am A Guitar” for Benny Amdursky, which excelled in conveying his character. Amdursky sang it for the first time during a television program dedicated to him shortly before he died of cancer. The song “It’s All Open,” performed by Ofer Levy and Leah Luftin, became a hit, as did “Light” (“Or”), in an arrangement by Matti Caspi, sung by Shoshana Damari accompanied by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1993 the Voice of Israel broadcast a parade of Naomi Shemer’s songs, presenting 220 of them for ranking. At its end, on April 12, 1993, “The Two of Us” won first place.
In 1995, Naomi Shemer: Book Four was published. In the same year, she translated and set to music Walt Whitman’s poem “O Captain! My Captain!” in memory of Yitzhak Rabin.
In 1994 the Hebrew University of Jerusalem awarded Shemer an honorary doctorate and in 2001 she received one from Tel Aviv University. In 2000 she became a member of the Hebrew Language Academy. That year, the revue “A Thousand and One Songs,” comprised entirely of her songs, became a remarkable success.
Her final piece, Ilan, composed just three weeks before her death, was a tribute to Israeli astronaut Colonel Ilan Ramon (1954–2003), who died in the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003.
Naomi Shemer died on June 26, 2004 at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv from consequences of her long bout with cancer. She was buried at her birthplace, Kibbutz Kinneret, overlooking the lake of which she had so often sung. In fulfillment of her request, the mourners at her funeral—broadcast on national television—gave no eulogies; three of her songs were sung instead.
Word reached Naomi Shemer that we were touring Israel to perform for the troops, similar to what Bob Hope did with the USO for American troops. She invited us to meet her. At a motel in Ramat Gan on a balmy afternoon in March, we sat down for tea. As enthralled as we were with her beauty of soul, it was her husband, Gideon, who spoke words that opened the windows of Heaven.
As we talked about our commitment to Israel, Gideon told us of a dream he had in the late 1940's. He had written it down lest anyone think him opportunistic, and Naomi confirmed his words. He said that in his dream he saw small groups of people covering the entire globe who would stand out publicly and support Israel. He said that these small groups were not connected to each other buy anything except the survival of Israel and peace upon Jewish people everywhere. |
Isabel Sutherland has been archivist since 2015 of this historically significant record of the work of generations of New Zealanders. She maintains the integrity of the archive and supports access to it by historians, academics, students, authors, genealogists, legal representatives, journalists, museum professionals and the public.
The holdings consist of primary source material relating to business in New Zealand from the mid nineteenth century up to 2001. The companies represented in the collection include some of the most significant names in New Zealand's business history and is recognised as a significant heritage collection.
The collection contains legal, financial, operational and informational records documenting the development of the Fletcher Challenge group of companies both nationally and internationally.
In addition, there is an extensive collection of photographs which includes work sites, company operations and activities, events, places of interest, social activities and staff social and sporting occasions.
Film and video material are also held, as are sound recordings, architectural plans, company publications and reference material.
Brief History Of Fletcher Challenge Ltd.
Fletcher Challenge Ltd. was formed in January 1981, when two of New Zealand's largest companies - Fletcher Holdings Ltd and Challenge Corporation Ltd merged with the Tasman Pulp & Paper Company Co Ltd, a company which they controlled jointly.
Challenge Corporation Ltd had its origins in the Rural Sector with Levin & Co, a drapery business which was founded in Wellington in 1841. This company grew and spread to service rural communities as a stock and station agency. The stock and station agents co-ordinated buying and selling, exporting grain and other produce and importing commodities not manufactured in New Zealand.
Wright Stephenson & Co Ltd. was established in 1861, and National Mortgage & Agency Co of NZ (NMA) in 1864. Both companies had offices in London and were heavily involved in exporting, manufacturing and marketing of agricultural products.
In 1920 Wright Stephenson & Co opened fertiliser works in Auckland, making it one of the pioneers in the use of fertilisers. Another new business was begun in 1922 with the establishment of a stud stock and blood stock department, followed in 1927 by the beginning of trade in motor cars, the first diversification away from purely stock and station business. The retailing of electrical appliances was added to the range of company activities in 1937. Further additions were land development in 1945 and department stores in 1959, with the purchase of Wairarapa Farmers Co-op Association.
The company's Chairman and Managing Director from 1970 until 1981 was Ronald Trotter (now Sir Ronald Trotter) and he was preceded by Sir Clifford Plimmer from 1953 to 1970. By 1971 Wright Stephenson had branches around New Zealand and was involved in a wide range of activities in addition to the stock and station business.
In January 1972, Wright Stephenson & Co and NMA Company of New Zealand Limited merged to form Challenge Corporation Ltd.
NMA Company also had a long history in the stock and station industry, beginning as Russell Ritchie & Co in Dunedin in 1864. Like Wright Stephenson, NMA had grown steadily through acquisition and expansion and gradually diversified. In the 1920's the first of an extensive fishing fleet and freezers were established and the company pioneered the export of crayfish tails and became a leader in the industry. Meat exporting was another activity developed by the company.
A period of considerable growth in the 1950's saw NMA expand from a predominantly South Island company to full New Zealand coverage. The wide range of machinery activities in the company was consolidated under the control of MacEwans Machinery Limited and the manufacture of canvas goods and protective clothing was developed in two factories in Dunedin and Auckland.
Fletcher Holdings Ltd had its beginnings in 1908, when James Fletcher, a young carpenter, arrived in Dunedin from Scotland with twelve pounds in capital. In 1909 he and a partner won a contract to construct a house outside Dunedin. Two brothers then joined James, and with persistence and determination they developed a construction company and The Fletcher Construction Company was established. The company built many of New Zealand's public and private buildings railway stations, universities, hospitals, banks and office blocks. The company expanded and bought businesses that supplied building materials, such as timber, marble, brick and concrete works, and employed hundreds of people in associated trades.
In 1940 Fletcher Holdings Ltd was established with Fletcher Construction Co Ltd a fully owned subsidiary. Other major companies in the group were the Residential Construction Company Ltd (responsible for state housing contracts); The Fletcher Trust and Investment Co Ltd, Te Puke Sawmills, Atiamuri Timber Co Ltd, Vulcan Steel Construction Company Ltd and Wellington Structural and Reinforcing Steel Co Ltd. Pabco Products (NZ) Ltd had been formed to manufacture doors, but was not yet in production, nor was NZ Plywood Ltd. The Dominion Sales Corporation was formed to handle business generated by other Fletcher companies.
In 1942, James C. Fletcher (now Sir James Fletcher) became Managing Director of Fletcher Holdings.
The story of the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company Limited begins during the early 1920s when the vast Kaingaroa Forest was planted in central North Island. By the mid 1930s Kaingaroa was the largest man-made forest in the world and in 1952 the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company Limited was formed to make good use of this growing resource. Shares were held by the Crown, Fletcher Trust and Investment Limited and the public.
The mill was commissioned three years later, producing newsprint and market craft pulp for sale in New Zealand and overseas. A series of major expansions during the next two decades saw the company become the largest exporters of manufactured goods.
In 1979 the Government decided to sell its shares in the company and by 1980, Fletcher Holdings owned 56.46 percent and Challenge Corporation 28.23 percent of Tasman Pulp and Paper.
From its establishment in 1981 the Fletcher Challenge Group grew substantially and developed its international presence.
Fletcher Challenge's involvement in Energy Sector included oil and gas exploration in New Zealand, and interests in Canada and Asia. Also investments in electricity and cogeneration supply companies in addition to a third share of Natural gas Corporation.
The Building Sector included construction delivering a broad range of commercial, civil and marine engineering and industrial projects around the Pacific Rim. Building materials included wood, concrete, steel, aggregates and gypsum-based products.
The Pulp & Paper Sector was a world scale manufacturer with strong regional positions in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Chile and Brazil. Four mills produced market kraft pulp and 12 mills made a full range of communication paper grades, from newsprint to high quantity art papers. The production of pulp and paper used only pulp logs and residuals from the processing of solid wood products, such as lumber and panel products, which were sold on the international markets including Asia.
Resources for the pulp & paper production was provided by the Forests Division whose interests included radiata pine plantation's in New Zealand and Chile, British Columbia, Canada and also grew and harvested forests in the United States, Australia and Brazil.
In November 1993 each Fletcher Challenge share was split into two targeted shares - the Ordinary Division and Forests Division, designed to reflect the performance of two distinct parts of the Group's business. The Forests Division consisted of solid wood plantation forestry activities of Fletcher Challenge whilst the Ordinary Division encompassed the operations of the Group in pulp and paper, energy and building.
In March 1996 the Ordinary Division was reorganised creating three new targeted shares reflecting the performance of individual industry groupings - Fletcher Challenge Paper, Fletcher Challenge Building and Fletcher Challenge Energy along with the existing share of Fletcher Challenge Forests.
In December 1999 the Board of Directors of Fletcher Challenge limited resolved to dismantle the Fletcher Challenge Group's targeted share structure and establish separate companies.
On July 30 2000 the Paper Division was divested to the Norwegian paper company Norske Skogindustrier.
On March 23 2001 Building Division was separated as a stand-alone publicly listed entity named Fletcher Building.
The Forests Division: was established as a stand-alone publicly listed entity named Fletcher Challenge Forests.
The Energy Division was sold to Shell Oil Company and Apache Corporation.
The new company Rubicon was established to commercialise selected emerging technologies. |
Take egg cartons cut the “cups”. Cut the sides of each pieces shaping your egg carton flowers. Also cut leaves, stems and a short straight strip from the flat top of the egg carton.
Shape the sides, make them round. You will need three cups, one with smaller “petals” and two with larger ones for this project.
Roll the short straight strip into a spiral. Now paint all the petals, stem and leaves.
Glue the twirled circle into the center of the smaller, shorter flower piece. Glue two egg carton cups one on top of the other.
Now glue the small part in the center of the two you previously glued together. You can leave the rolled spiral as it is or you can color it too. Finally, glue the flowers on the cardstock. |
Cavities are bacterial infections. The infections are communicable. The bacteria live in a clear sticky substance called plaque, which constantly forms on your teeth. Every time you eat, for 20 minutes, the bacteria feed on the sugars that form as the food is broken down. The bacteria generate acids, and the acids cause your teeth to decay.
How can I stop or reduce my chances of getting cavities?
By rinsing with a solution which lower your acidity.
Controlling how often you eat (try to eat no more than 6 times a day).
By eating a diet low in carbohydrates and processed sugars.
By thoroughly cleaning your teeth several times a day.
By coating your teeth with Fluoride, which hardens the enamel on the teeth.
By rinsing or eating Xylitol which harms the bacterial. Xylitol is a natural sugar substitute which can be found in health food stores.
Drink lots of water. This helps you to maintain enough saliva to wash away the acids and dilute the bacterial. |
Wilson Bentley is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent pioneer in snowflake photography. Snowflakes are formed by the aggregation of ice crystals in the atmosphere. If the ice crystals form independently and don’t join to form snowflakes, they can appear as a phenomenon known as diamond dust, where they glint in the sunlight as they gently waft down through the lower atmosphere. Ice crystals higher up interact with the light to form haloes and other optical phenomena around the Sun or Moon.
Today’s post is about photography of snowflakes and the related ice crystal formations involved with them. I’ve included a few sample images and a list of links that you can visit to see more. The person in the first link, Alexey Kljatov, shares his techniques for budding snowflake photographers. Enjoy the beauty. |
The idea that God might require our forgiveness seems to turn traditional theology on its ear. Does this suggest God is less than perfect? Less than all-powerful? Himself subject to a law which binds God and humanity alike by its terms? If God, as Augustine says in Book I of The Confessions, “made us for [him]self,” we are to ask why God felt the need to do so. Was there a deficiency in God that could only be filled by creating humanity? And, if so, would this new creature be capable of satisfying that divine need? If not, wouldn’t this set the stage for a cycle of desperate reaching, disappointment, and tenuous reconciliation between God and humanity?
The dominant theology of Western Christianity – classical theism – emphasizes the eternity, simplicity, ultimacy, and impassability of God. For those raised on such ideas the questions in the preceding paragraph will no doubt be troubling ones, for they suggest God’s limitations. Robert Burt, Alexander Bickel Professor of Law at Yale Law School, fearlessly takes up these questions and more in In the Whirlwind. The book emerges out of a dozen-plus years of careful reading of the Bible, and even though Burt disclaims any pretense to being a Biblical scholar, the book bristles with acute insights.
The central tenet of In the Whirlwind is that the Hebrew and Christian scripture presents us with a very ambiguous picture of God, and a picture of human beings that presents them as simultaneously weak and noble. Departing from Augustine, who after observing that God made us for himself but then followed it by saying that even though God was searching it implied “no lacking” and God’s repentance implied “no regret,” Burt wants to argue that God created humanity both to assert His power over the primordial chaos and to rectify His loneliness. The first creation account in the book of Genesis shows God and humanity in harmony with each other, but already the second creation [*104] account shows deficiencies in the relationship between Adam and God. Indeed, the accounts in Genesis establish the truth that “God is unable to exert definitive control over the universe” and is reluctant to admit it.
Nowhere, argues Burt, does God’s limitations become more apparent than in his dealings with humanity. Here Burt focuses on five key figures of the Hebrew scripture: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Job. In the stories of these figures we see the disruption of harmony between God and human beings, God’s frustration with humanity’s unwillingness to remain fully engaged with him, and humanity’s frustration with a God who seems jealous, angry, and constantly on the verge of destroying His own creation. This dynamic leads to a central thesis of the book: that the biblical text provides us with the narrative unfolding of substantive standards by which human beings can judge divine conduct, and that such standards lead to the development of different models of authority.
God creates the dilemma for himself by creating a being who has power over God: namely, in man’s ability to withhold reciprocal affection. The whole creation account demonstrates, says Burt, that in many ways God needs us more than we need him. As a result, God relates to humanity via the contradictory goals of being in a relationship while at the same time trying to maintain undiminished power for himself. However, to be in a relationship is to have diminished power, for the other party can always opt out. This leaves God with the choice of destroying that which he has created or subordinating his power to the demands of the relationship. Once God engages in such subordination, humanity now has the power to demand that God live up to the requirements of relational living.
In the process of making God accountable, we see the development of the ways in which God exercises his authority over human beings. In the story of Noah we see that God commands compliance largely through fear, while with Abraham God’s authority operates on the basis of rewards. In the process God sets down terms by which human beings will be able to hold God accountable, and there emerges in the process two different modes of authority: the “command-and-punish” mode and the “rainbow” mode.
Burt clearly argues that the former mode is inherently deficient for the simple reason that one can no more command love than one can coerce faith. As a result God has to place himself under the restrictions of a “rainbow” mode of authority that will recognize the inherent limitations of all relationships and move regret, repentance, and forgiveness to the foreground. The contours of this mode of authority make themselves present in the Moses narrative, where Moses on Mount Sinai presumed to act as a “mnemonic rainbow” for God: to act as God’s conscience, as it were. This kind of intimacy is what allowed Moses to say at the last that love rather than obedience is the proper response to God.
The argument achieves its dramatic apogee in Burt’s reading of Job. Here the dynamics of human suffering, God’s need to know that we love him, and the incommensurability of God’s needs and our own, are articulated with unmatched [*105] clarity in Job’s demanding an accounting of God and God’s admission of guilt in testing Job so brutally. The depth of the breach between God and Job requires a new mode of reparation: mutual forgiveness. Burt argues that justice is not an essential characteristic of God; rather, God is defined by his need to have a relationship with humanity that is predicated on more than power or the terror power produces. Instead, we relate through mutual respect, loyalty, and love. “This courage to transcend disappointment and mistrust [for how could Job trust God after God let Satan loose on him?]” writes Burt, “and to renew and even deepen loving relationships is the core virtue in the political theory underlying the Bible” (p.175). This means that the relationships undergirding any theory of authority are necessarily unreliable, which means that authority itself will and must be always unstable.
Harmony always leads to rupture and rupture always requires forgiveness. Forgiveness, however, cannot be commanded – it can only be freely given. It is, in short, a gift, which is the central epiphany of the Christian gospels. Jesus recognized that the key to the rupture between God and humanity was mistrust, and that such mistrust could not be repaired by command, but only by “a consensual pledge on both sides”(p.211). In that sense, Christ invited humanity into a relationship with himself, and through him to the Father, meaning that refusal does not result in punishment but is itself its own punishment, separation from God being hell. God thus appears to overcome his own ambivalence about the power he has over human beings. Burt claims the Christian bible presents us with a God whose only power is his ability to destroy us, but even then limits are placed on this power by the promise of the rainbow-function of authority. Burt suggests, however, that the gospel writers were skeptical as to whether Jesus was strong enough to protect humanity from such a fate.
All this may seem unusual reflections for a professor of law and unrelated to the central problems of political theory, but here Burt pivots away from exegesis and toward political life. The core of Burt’s argument is that modern theory predicates itself on notions of perfect justice, and such notions are destructive of political order rather than conducive to it. Modern theorists, Burt claims, strive for perfect harmony in the relationship between the ruler and the ruled, and such striving makes no allowance for weakness, vulnerability, instability, or error. The persistence of these elements means we ought to have a polity that stresses mutual dependence and forgiveness between ruler and ruled rather than perfect justice, for those who seek it will destroy the world in the attempt.
The Court must operate within the context of a shared social sense of the norms regulating the imperfection of human relations and realize that it cannot command reparation but only remind the parties of their obligations to and need for one another. It must, in other words, articulate social norms and attempt to get one of the parties to acknowledge its violation of the trust required to sustain these norms and the relationships they enfold. The Court missed this opportunity in the Nixon Tapes case because by jumping the gun on the impeachment proceedings it communicated to Congress that only Court could be trusted to do justice, and Congress couldn’t. As an aside, I’d argue that much the same could be said of the Court’s ruling in Bush v. Gore.
The book concludes with a lovely meditation on the three parables in Luke 15. The connective tissue, Burt shows, emerges in the need to attain harmony after a relationship has been breached. How do we struggle with our own guilt and inability to reconcile? How do we account for justice in a world where none are just? The only way to experience perfect justice, Job teaches us, would be to isolate ourselves from all relationships. To be human, however, is to be in a relationship, and thus to be vulnerable. Like God, we must learn to settle for less, and thus expect less from law and politics, but perhaps more from each other.
U.S. v. Nixon 418 U.S. 683 (1974). |
Levels of complement proteins — proteins of the immune system — may predict disease activity in patients with hereditary angioedema with C1 inhibitor deficiency (C1-INH-HAE), according to Japanese researchers.
Their study, “The relationship between complement levels and disease activity in Japanese family cases of hereditary angioedema with C1-INH deficiency,” appeared in the journal Allergology International.
The complement system is a part of the immune system with a crucial role in inflammation and in the defense against some bacterial infections.
Type 1 HAE is caused by mutations in the complement C1-INH gene, which results in deficient C1-INH levels. This protein prevents the activity of complement component C1 and other enzymes involved in clotting.
Despite studies on the relationship between HAE attacks and levels of small proteins involved in clotting, there’s been limited research exploring the link between disease severity, activity of C1-INH-HAE, and complement parameters.
In particular, no studies have analyzed these correlations in Japanese C1-INH-HAE patients, the investigators wrote.
To address this gap, researchers included eight type 1 HAE patients from three Japanese families. All patients had a family history of C1-INH-HAE and decreased levels of C1-INH.
Based on existing recommendations, the scientists screened all family members of diagnosed patients. These recommendations are expected to counteract the decreased quality of life associated with delayed diagnosis and risk of an HAE attack without appropriate treatment.
Genetic mutations were found in three distinct regions of the SERPING1 gene. Researchers then collected blood samples during symptom-free periods without medication to measure levels of functional C1-INH, as well as other complement parameters.
The severity and number of HAE attacks over the previous five years were assessed through medical records and self-assessment of patients and family members. HAE attacks involving the face, neck, abdomen, or upper airways were defined as severe, while subcutaneous (under the skin) attacks were defined as mild.
Among the complement proteins tested, serum levels of C4 were below the normal range in five of the eight patients. The remaining three patients were asymptomatic throughout their life. As with previous studies, this result indicates that an HAE diagnosis cannot be excluded by normal levels of C4, the scientists said.
Lower-than-normal levels of CH50 were detected in four patients, including all patients with past HAE attacks. The three patients with levels of functional C1-INH higher than 30 percent were asymptomatic and had normal C4 levels.
Researchers found that patients with symptoms of HAE had reduced levels of functional C1-INH, C-INH antigen (the protein that binds to C1-INH), C4, and CH50, compared to patients without symptoms.
The higher the levels of these complement parameters, the lower the number of past severe and mild attacks.
“The results of this study suggest that serum levels of functional C1-INH, C-INH antigen, C4, and CH50 during symptom-free periods might be useful as predictive parameters of type 1 HAE disease activity,” the researchers wrote.
However, the small number of cases limits the findings’ applicability, the scientists cautioned. |
While many people consider that the country of Malta is made up of just Malta, it is in fact made up of three individual and inhabited islands, however in this article we’ll be actually talking about Malta.
Malta is the largest of the islands, and as such it is by far the most developed and most touristy. This is where you’ll find the capital of Valleta, the airport and a lot of people going to and fro, going about their days, tourists visiting sights and an all around vibrant and somewhat noisy atmosphere.
The island of Malta is definitely the place to go for the visitor who want a bit of excitement and vibrant life from their vacation, this is not exactly the place to come to if you’re looking for relaxation and rest in the quiet, traditional sense.
Despite its size, the island nation of Malta has been a pivotal part of history ever since humans have started sailing the Mediterranean Sea. The results of this diverse and sometimes tumultuous history can be seen today in the interesting blend of cultures and influences that can be found here. The cuisine is Sicilian-inspired, the language has influences from both Arabic and North African, and the architecture be it ancient or more modern varies just as much.
And talking of ancient architecture, Malta is the place where you can see the oldest free standing stone structure in the world. But the entire island is filled with archaeological dig sites, ruins and all manner of history. In order to get a better idea of what you’re dealing with you should visit the Archaeological Museum where you can see a great range of artifacts which date from the prehistoric period up till the Temple-making period. |
Some writers believe the first page needs drama: a passionate argument between two people or a man running out of a burning house. One problem: the reader is not yet invested in the characters. The two people arguing could be murderers, and the man running out of the burning house could be a burglar.
The reader needs to know more about the characters and their motivations before the drama occurs.
You can use a prologue to cut forward to later events or recall much earlier events. A three- to five-page prologue that introduces the crime or dead body can whet the reader’s appetite for more details.
This works well with mysteries and thrillers.
Used effectively, dialogue can establish the writer’s or protagonist’s voice. This will quickly draw the reader into the writer’s world.
Think of opening lines and paragraphs as introductions to new people. You probably wouldn’t be interested in getting to know a person who immediately launches into a monologue about her divorce, her latest car accident, or upcoming surgery. Instead, you want to learn just enough about the person so that you can have a pleasant conversation.
Gently lead the reader into the rest of the paragraph and the next page. The reader doesn’t have to fall in love with that first sentence, but she needs to be curious enough to keep reading.
Leave the reader with unanswered questions. She should be asking the question “Why” as she reads that first chapter. Why did those characters fall in love? Why did that murder happen?
Reread your favorite novels and critically analyze the opening sentences and paragraphs. Ask yourself what intrigued you as a reader and then apply the same approach to your own writing.
Keep in mind that the first chapter of a novel is the most heavily revised section of the book. You don’t have to get it right the first time. |
PASADENA, Calif.--Robert Grubbs, an organic chemist whose work on catalysis has led to a wide variety of applications in medicine and industry, has won the 2005 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The announcement was made this morning by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Grubbs and this year's other two winners were cited specifically "for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis." Metathesis is an organic reaction in which chemists selectively strip out certain atoms in a compound and replace them with atoms that were previously part of another compound. The end result is a custom-built molecule that has specialized properties that can lead to better drugs for the treatment of disease, or better electrical conducting properties for specialized plastics, for example.
In particular, Grubbs has worked on olefin metathesis. Prior to Grubbs's work, metathesis was poorly understood and of limited value to scientists. Grubbs developed powerful new catalysts for metathesis that enabled custom synthesis of valuable molecules, such as pharmaceuticals and new polymers with novel materials properties.
According to the Nobel citation, metathesis has already led to industrial and pharmaceutical methods that are more efficient and less wasteful, simpler, and more environmentally friendly. "This represents a great step forward for 'green chemistry,' reducing potentially hazardous waste through smarter production," the Royal Swedish Academy announced.
"Metathesis is an example of how important basic science has been applied for the benefit of man, society, and the environment," the citation continued.
Grubbs is currently spending a month at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, as an Erskine Fellow. In an e-mail message, he singled out his students and collaborators and said that he was especially pleased that the Nobel committee had chosen to recognize the research that had taken place at Caltech.
"I'm excited for all the outstanding students and postdoctoral fellows who have contributed to this work over the years," Grubbs wrote.
Grubbs added that he has been swamped with calls since the announcement was made earlier today, and that his son--a physician currently serving a residency at the USC Medical School--has been swamped with calls as well.
"Sometime when I'm more rested and I'm available in person, I'll be happy to sit down and discuss the work this award represents," he wrote.
Grubbs' award was an especially welcomed going-away present for Caltech president David Baltimore, who just Monday announced his pending retirement. Baltimore, himself a Nobel laureate, said he was pleased that the Nobel committee had recognized a Caltech researcher whose work had so direct an impact on biomedicine.
"Bob's work shows that basic chemical research continues to have importance to pharmaceuticals and industry, and it also shows that the sometimes highly esoteric work young people do in the lab is a huge contribution to society," said Baltimore. "I congratulate Bob on joining Caltech's growing list of Nobel laureates, and I envy his young students for the elation they're feeling today."
Grubbs is a native of Kentucky who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Florida. After completing his doctorate in chemistry at Columbia University, he spent a year at Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow, and then joined the Michigan State University faculty in 1969. He came to Caltech in 1978 with full tenure as a professor, and has been the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry since 1990.
Grubbs has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1989, and was the 2000 recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal.
Today's award brings to 32 the total number of prizes won by 31 Caltech faculty and alumni through the years (Linus Pauling won awards in both chemistry and peace). |
Proto-Indo-European is the common ancestor of many of the India and European languages spoken today. Little is known about it, because it wasn’t a written language, but linguists have traced languages backwards, using their knowledge of how languages evolve, to reconstruct what PIE probably sounded like.
Because there are no written records, nobody even knows for sure how long ago it was spoken, or where it originated, but the theory is that it dates back to between 5000 and 2500 BC and that the speakers lived around the Black Sea area. From there they probably migrated across Europe and Asia and the language evolved in different ways to the languages we speak today. |
County Wexford is situated in the south east of the island of Ireland and this is just a small selection of the famous people who were born in County Wexford or who had roots in County Wexford. They include a US President, a Beatle, military heroes and famous inventors.
In the space of 58 years, this son of a poor Irish farmer rose from humble cabin boy to senior commander of the entire United States fleet. Intrepid In battle, he was humane to his men as well as adversaries and prisoners. Barry’s war contributions are unparalleled: he was the first to capture a British war vessel on the high seas; he captured two British ships after being severely wounded in a ferocious sea battle; he quelled three mutinies; he fought on land at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton; he captured over 20 ships including an armed British schooner in the lower Delaware; he authored a Signal Book which established a set of signals used for effective communication between ships; and he fought the last naval battle of the American Revolution aboard the frigate Alliance in 1783.
I am glad to be here. It took 115 years to make this trip, and 6,000 miles, and three generations. But I am proud to be here and I appreciate the warm welcome you have given to all of us.
The youngest of three boys, George’s parents were Louise and Harold Harrison, Roman Catholics with Irish roots. Louise’s parents were from Ferns in County Wexford. Her father John French, born in 1870, left Wexford and emmigrated to Liverpool to become a policeman. He lost his job when the entire police force in Liverpool were sacked during a union dispute known as the Liverpool Lockout. He then found a job as a street lamplighter. He married Louise Woolham, a native of Liverpool, and had seven children, one of which was George’s mother, Louise. Louise French married Harold Harrison, a bus driver in 1930.
When the Beatles toured Ireland in 1963, George travelled to Wexford to visit his cousins. The Ffrench family still live in County Wexford. The original house that George’s grandfather had left is still intact.
Another Beatle connection with County Wexford was George Harrison’s dentist, John Riley, who left England and settled in County Wexford in 1980 but died tragically in a car accident in 1986. John was a regular patron of the Cedar Lodge Hotel in Carrigbyrne.
Marconi was born near Bologna in Italy, the second son of Giuseppe Marconi an Italian landowner and his Irish wife, Annie Jameson, from Enniscorthy in County Wexford, granddaughter of the founder of the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. In 1905, Marconi married the Hon. Beatrice O’Brian who was a direct descendant of the last High King of Ireland Brian Boru. |
A few days ago, I was browsing through my blog postings just to see what I have been making for the past 3 years, I realized that I never posted Galbi, the Korean BBQ Ribs, recipes.
You can’t talk about Korean food without mentioning the famous Korean BBQ ribs (galbi, 갈비), right? So, how could I forget posting one? Oh, clumsy Holly!
There are two types of galbi. One is the traditional style that chunk of rib meat is attached to the bone, then butterflied to lengthen, and marinated with the sauce. The other kind is the famous LA galbi, which the rib is cut across the bone thinly. This American style cut is originated by Korean immigrants who lived in Los Angeles. Although there is another theory that the word, LA, might be the shortened word of lateral cut, most people believe that it means Los Angeles.
LA galbi is getting more popular due to its economic price and simpler preparation than traditional galbi. The most important part of preparing this succulent meat to the best depends on the quality of the meat itself and how to marinate them.
I do have my favorite LA galbi recipe. Actually I had been making my galbi in a slightly different way than this one, which I am going to share today, until a friend of mine tipped me with an exquisite way to prepare the meat a few years ago. She learned it from a famous master cook in Korea where she took classes from. She kindly shared a great tip on how to prepare this mouthwatering beef.
And I think you are very lucky to have this tutorial I am about to share. This is one of the best galbi I’ve made, and my kids think my galbi is far better than any restaurants they have been to.
You can certainly use a blender to puree everything. That will make your life so much easier and tearless.
and a tiny piece of kiwi. Remember! You only need a half kiwi. Too much will ruin the texture of the meat.
Mix well in a shallow container. The 7″ x 11″ Pyrex pan would work the best.
Here is the handsome LA beef ribs, about 1/4-inch thick slices.
Spread the onion-pear-kiwi puree over the ribs coating evenly, and lay them flat in a pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let them sit in a room temperature for 45-60 minutes, or if you are concerned that your room temperature is too warm, chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
This is the first marinade step. The onion-pear-kiwi puree will add a great flavor and tenderize the meat dramatically.
But, you are going to scrape the most of the puree off the ribs though. They did accomplish their duty and we don’t need them anymore.
This is the main difference from this recipe to the rest of others. It makes a significant difference in overall flavor and texture of the meat later on.
Grab another 7″ x 11″ pan or wash the one you used to marinade the ribs, wipe clean. Pour soy sauce and a little Korean soy sauce for soup. Combining these two types of soy sauce will result in exquisite flavor.
Add brown sugar, garlic powder, pureed ginger, freshly ground black pepper, plum extract (or rice wine, if using), and sesame oil. Mix well.
Return the ribs back to the pan and coat with the sauce evenly. Cover and marinade them for at least 4 hours in the fridge. Overnight is even better. Make sure you turn the ribs to the other side halfway during the marinating time.
The marinading is over. Let them sit for 15 minutes in a room temperature before you land them to the grill or hot skillet.
Cooking your ribs on a BBQ grill would be the best, but you can certainly cook them in a skillet, too. Heat the skillet over medium heat and lay your ribs.
Oh, the sizzling! I can just hear the sound by looking at this picture. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Make sure you don’t burn them.
Flip to the other side and continue to cook for another 2 minutes or so, depends on how you want your ribs to be done.
I like to sprinkle a little chopped pine nuts or walnuts on my galbi. It makes your ribs look so elegant!
Oh, the succulence…, the juiciness…, and the tenderness…!
You can chew the meat off the bone and savor with rice. Or wrap with lettuce and a dollop of Korean topping sauce (ssamjang, 쌈장).
I think everyone should have a feast every once in a while just to celebrate the way we are. With this ribs, the feast is on! You will love them and lick through the bones.
Mix grated onion, pear, and kiwi in a shallow pan (7x11 pyrex pan works great), layer the beef ribs and coat with the puree evenly all over. Cover and let them sit in a room temperature for 45-60 minutes or 2 hours in the fridge.
Remove the ribs from the puree marinade and scrape the most puree mixture off the ribs. Set aside.
Combine soy sauce, Korean soy sauce for soup, brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger, sesame oil, pepper and Korean corn syrup (if using) in a shallow pan. Mix well.
Return the ribs to the soy sauce marinade and coat evenly with the marinade. Cover and chill in the fridge for 4 hours at least or overnight.
When ready to cook, let the ribs to sit on a room temperature for 15 minutes. Heat grill or skillet over medium heat, place ribs and cook 2-3 minutes on each side or until they are done for your liking. Serve hot with rice.
Hi Chris Yes, you can call it upscale recipe/ Marinading the ribs in grated onion-pear-kiwi mixture first before you add the soy sauce mixture will tenderize the meat beautifully without the fibers from the onion and the fruit, which creates the clean aftertaste. You will like this recipe.
Hello. Thank you for your great recipes and blog. My family and I really enjoy it. I have a very big family and I am wondering if I just use four times the amount of all the ingredients if I want to marinate 10 pounds of meat.
Hi Ellen Yes, you can use 4 times of the recipe if you want to use 10 lbs of meat. Hope your family would like it.
Wow, what a great dish! This looks wonderful -- it must be so full of flavor. Thanks so much.
I've used a very similar recipe from my Korean mother-in-law for the last couple of years, but I've never done the two individual marinade steps (and I only had one kind of soy sauce). I always just put everything in the blender. Maybe I'll try those two changes and see if it makes a difference! Thanks for the insight.
Holly, this sounds like a great recipe, I cannot wait to try. May I ask please, what is the difference between regular soy sauce and Korean soy sauce? Do you really need both kinds?
Wow, it's definitely prepared in a different way to my typical method. I'm sure to try this out. So looking forward to it! Thanks for sharing your tips, Holly!
I grew up in Southern California, and when I moved to New York I was shocked to discover that the galbi I'd been eating my whole life was actually not Korean, but Korean American. I'm so happy to see a food writer actually recognize L.A. galbi as a homegrown invention. p.s. My mom has always done Asian pear and kiwi, but she uses garlic instead of onion.
You are the first Korean cook I have seen use gukgangjang with meat. For people who are gluten-free, this is their best soy option but many Korean chefs will tell them "You can only use soup soy sauce with soup. It's too delicate for meat." You are awesome!
Hi Holly, Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier. Fab pics and yummy recipes. My OH would love these.
This is such a rich and delicious recipe. I have wanted to make it since you posted it. I made it tonight for dinner and it is absolutely superb! I like it with rice and kimchee. My husband prefers the traditional way of eating it with doenjang on a lettuce leaf. I hope your readers try this type of galbi, it is fabulous. Thanks, as always for great recipes!
I am so glad to hear that you and your husband loved this Galbi recipe, Nancy. Thanks for your sweet comment. You are making me crave my galbi again.
I am going to try this recipe. I would like to use fresh garlic instead of powder. Can you tell me what amount I would have to use? Thanks!!
Hi Katherine Of course you can use fresh garlic. I would say about 2 cloves of garlic if using fresh. Hope you like this recipe! Thanks.
Can you help me? I noticed this was categorized under gluten free. Is it really? I can buy tamari for the soy sauce. Not familiar with korean soy sauce.
Hi Lenette, Korean soy sauce for soup is made of 100% soy. I checked the label of my bottle and I don't see any wheat product written on it. It is different that most soy sauce.
Hello, In the recipe instructions, you mention the optional addition of Korean corn syrup but you don't list the quantity or purpose for this ingredient. Thanks in advance for you help and for this awesome recipe!
Hi Susan I didn't put Korean corn syrup in the recipe neither in the recipe instruction. Did you see it in a different recipe by chance?
Oh, I see now. I meant to write the Korean plum extract, but instead I wrote the corn syrup. My apology! Please disregard the corn syrup. No, your computer is not wonky, I think I am getting wonky with aging... haha!
It looks beautiful, all the steps are clear, and sounds better than others. Every recipe asks for a 24 hour marinate, but fruits and onion and sesame oil add a lot of acid and deteriorate the meat texture in 24 hours. Great. I will try and let you know the outcome with Turkish beef.
If I triple the amount of meat and adjust the recipe accordingly, would it ruin the dish if I did 1.5 kiwi also (based on the ratio)? Or would that be too much kiwi?
I think 1 small kiwi will be all you need. Even though you triple the recipe, kiwi doesn't have to be. Hope you enjoy the galbi. Happy cooking!
You don't need to soak the ribs in the water for Galbi making. Soaking is good for bone-marrows or other type of braised dishes. Hope you enjoy this galbi recipe. Good luck!
Hi Terese, I am glad to hear that you want to try my recipe. If you want to cook this in the oven, I would recommend to broil. Hope you enjoy! Thanks.
Hi Sharon, I am glad to hear that. This is one recipe I cherish and it makes me happy that someone else got a great result, too. Thank you.
you can try for 2 hours, but at least 4 hours of marination will bring a better result. |
November 5, 2018 – Free-range, wild horse populations can grow at a rapid pace, with many herd populations doubling every four years. Unfortunately, this may result in overgrazing on native plant communities and the reduction of forage for endemic wildlife and domestic livestock. Managing wild horse populations is critical to their long-term viability and the health of the ecosystems they share.
Morris Animal Foundation has funded several studies in wild horses over the years, including studies focused on controlling reproduction. While land management agencies have tried periodic roundups to manage the populations, controlling the fertility of free-range mares may be a more cost-effective and safe solution.
From 2010 to 2012, Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at Colorado State University evaluated a hormone contraceptive vaccine, GonaCon-Equine, in wild mares at North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
While it was determined to be safe, the vaccine was only moderately successful. Only about half of the treated mares remained infertile for two breeding seasons. Disappointed but not deterred, the team tried again. In 2013, with funding from the Bureau of Land Management, the team revaccinated the horses.
“As with most vaccines, whether in humans or any other species, with a booster you get a more effective and longer-lasting response,” said Dr. Dan Baker, an affiliate faculty member with the university’s Department of Biomedical Sciences.
The results supported the theory. In the July edition of the online, scientific journal, PLoS ONE, the team stated the vaccine was between 85 percent to 100 percent effective over three breeding seasons. Baker believes this is due to the anamnestic response, which means a cell creates substantially more antibodies after being stimulated by a foreign agent more than once.
The team will continue their research with the goal of ultimately studying the vaccine’s effects on wild horse populations outside of a park. |
With the shift to the SAT as the official Illinois State Standardized Test, many students and parents are left wondering which college-readiness exam to prepare for as they near the end of their high school track.
Choosing the right test largely depends on the strengths of the students themselves, as each test caters to certain skill sets.
iLearn Academy offers these helpful tips for making this big decision.
Nothing gets students familiarized with their own strengths and weaknesses within these two different tests than simply taking a full-length practice test in each. The format and material may be similar, but external influences such as how an individual student responds to time management and which academic areas they struggle with greatly determine the test best suited for them.
ACT exams put students under a bit more timed pressure, whereas the SAT allows students more room to puzzle through their answers, even though the overall time of both tests is virtually the same. Are you the type of student who performs well under pressure? Or does test anxiety sometimes get the better of you? Predicting your performance can steer you in the right direction when selecting the appropriate test for you.
Taking time to sit down with your iLearn Academy teacher – who knows very well your particular strong areas – will help you make an informed decision that will leave you confident in your choice. |
QUASI-RENT: The payment that is received by a resource of production activity over the opportunity cost in the short run. The notion of quasi-rent is similar to economic rent, or economic profit, which is payment or revenue received over opportunity cost. The key difference is that quasi-rent is a short-run phenomenon. While quasi-rent is "extra" payment received in the short run, such payment might be essential to keep the resource or production activity in the long run. An example is the quasi-rent received due to the patent on a technological innovation. In the short run, the revenue received can be considered as profit in excess of the opportunity cost of production. However, in the long run this extra revenue motivates innovators to develop new technology. Without quasi-rent the innovations would not occur.
A perfectly competitive industry is comprised of a large number of relatively small firms that sell identical products. Each perfectly competitive firm is so small relative to the size of the market that it has no market control, it has no ability to control the price. In other words, it can sell any quantity of output it wants at the going market price. This translates into a horizontal or perfectly elastic demand curve. It also translates in an equality between price, average revenue, and marginal revenue.
Take, for example, the production of zucchinis by Phil the gardener. While Phil the zucchini grower is not actually a perfectly competitive firm, because the real world does not contain any perfectly competitive firms that perfectly satisfy all of the characteristics of perfect competition, Phil does come close. He is one of gadzillions of zucchini growers. His zucchinis are identical to all other growers. He and others can easily enter and leave the zucchini growing business. And he has the same price and production technique information as other growers.
In this case, the price that Phil charges and receives for his zucchinis is the going market price. There is nothing special about Phil's zucchinis that would let him charge a higher price, and there is no reason for him to charge less. As an extremely miniscule part of the zucchini market, Phil can sell every zucchini he produces at the going market price. He faces a perfectly elastic demand curve.
This exhibit illustrates the demand curve for the output produced by a perfectly competitive firm (that is, Phil and his zucchinis). The left side of the graph illustrates the overall zucchini market, in particular, the supply offer by millions of zucchini growers and the demand of millions of buyers. The equilibrium price achieved in the zucchini market is $2.50 and the equilibrium quantity is 100 million zucchinis.
The right side of this graph illustrates the demand for Phil's zucchinis. Note that even though both sides of this exhibit look to be about the same size, the quantity axes have different measurement units. Whereas the quantity for Phil's zucchinis is in zucchinis, the quantity for the overall zucchini market is in millions of zucchinis.
The key for Phil is that he can produce any quantity of zucchinis that he wants at $2.50, the going market price. Given millions of zucchini buyers, someone is willing and able to buy 5 to 10 zucchinis from Phil at $2.50 each. That makes the horizontal line emerging from the $2.50 price, the demand curve for Phil's zucchinis.
This demand curve is also the average revenue curve and the marginal revenue curve facing Phil for selling his zucchinis. Average revenue is the per unit revenue received for selling zucchinis. If Phil sells 10 zucchinis for $2.50 each, his total revenue is $25. His per zucchini revenue for these 10 zucchinis is then $2.50, which is also the price.
Marginal revenue is the extra revenue received for selling one more zucchini. In Phil's case, each additional zucchini sold generates exactly $2.50 of extra revenue. Phil's marginal revenue is also $2.50 for every zucchini sold.
This point might seem so incredibly obvious that there is really no reason to even mention it. However, a number of industries that do NOT meet the ideal characteristics of perfect competition (which is most firms populating the real world economy), do not have perfectly elastic demand curves and their marginal revenue is not equal to average revenue or price. A perfectly elastic demand curve and the equality of price, average revenue, and marginal revenue is what makes perfect competition important to study as a benchmark against which real world market structures can be compared. |
The Civilian Conservation Corps was divided into Corps Areas, Districts and Companies. Each Company had a Camp designation (occasionally a Company would change camps), A company number and a locality name. Each Company had its own officers, civilian staff - usually skilled laborers and supervisors - and then its own leaders from among the men and finally the men themselves. Each District also had its own staff of officers and civilians. At the Corps level, which was an actual Army Command, there would be an Officer who was in charge of all Districts within the Area. Districts were organized for practical purposes, at times along state lines or groups of states but more often organized around central headquarters areas using logic not known to the Curator. Moreover the shape and even existence of Districts would change over time. Corps Areas were much larger and more rigid, reflecting Army organizations crafted for the command of the Army in the Continental US and for the defense of the country.
Camps would be single areas in the outdoors area near where the company's projects were located. These would be a cluster of barracks and common buildings as well as a place for vehicle storage et cetera. The following pages will contain such unit rosters and histories as I have obtained. Histories will include official histories where available and histories given me by veterans.
The listings indicate either a link to a page with information on that location, or if in blue without a link, then the line entry is all I know about that camp. Such line entries usually list only the camp or company name and the locations of it service. In addition to this page you should also look at my Documents section which lists some camp and company periodicals which I have not entered as text but which in images of pages give company histories and rosters for that time frame.
The listings below are broken down into General Information, Regional Information, Camp Histories, Company Rosters, and Company Histories and Project Histories. Regional Information are items which provide some aspect of the CCC contribution or history over an area, often within a State. Camp histories are histories of a specific location where a CCC company served, sometimes this is a cross reference to a Company history but at times this is where I know about a location but do not know the identity of the company that served there. Company Histories are the history of a company, often times in only one location, but sometimes across its entire service or portions thereof in more than one location. Company Rosters are a listing of the men, staff or one or the other from a specific point in time, usually taken from a periodical or photo made for the company men. Project Histories are histories of the CCC presence or contribution to a specific project, such as a State or National Park, where usually more than one CCC camp contributed.
1936 Roster of Company 318 ANF-1-Pa., Pigeon, PA., District No.2, Third Corps Area, U.S.A.
1936 Roster of Company 321, North Creek Camp (?), S-147-Pa., Emporium, Pa., District No.2, Third Corps Area, U.S.A.
1936 Roster of Company 2325 S-144-Pa., Charles E. Baer Camp, Emporium, PA., District No.2, Third Corps Area, U.S.A.
Camp Hannah, at Munsing, Michigan, Camp Hannah, Camp F-40, Company 671 in 1933, Company 3614 in 1935, source historical marker indicating CCC Camp Hannah near Munsing. No other Camp in NACCCA website with that location for both post office and rail head ( one has post office but another railhead so probably closer to other).
Camp at Munsing, Michigan, Camp Hannah, Camp F-40, Company 671 in 1933, Company 3614 in 1935, source historical marker indicating CCC Camp Hannah near Munsing. No other Camp in NACCCA website with that location for both post office and rail head ( one has post office but another railhead so probably closer to other).
Listed By Company Number, for Camp Histories where Company Number is Unknown, See Camp Histories. With Links if Information Warrants a Separate Page. Non linked blue names are camps or companies about which I have only the information shown.
Company 671, Camp at Munsing, Michigan, Camp Hannah, Camp F-40, Company 671 in 1933, Company 3614 in 1935, source historical marker indicating CCC Camp Hannah near Munsing. No other Camp in NACCCA website with that location for both post office and rail head ( one has post office but another railhead so probably closer to other).
Company 1192 Camp Conner, Windsor Locks/Stafford Springs, Conn.
Company 1281, Newspaper Article, Camp SP-7, South Mountain Reservation, West Orange, New Jersey, Contempary articles about a mutiny in camp in 1935 with some names of mutineers and officers.
Company 3529, also Company 3529, Camp Waddington, Oglebay Park, West Virginia, Use Back Key To Return. Second link is to a defunct site archived on internet archive which was my original link for this information.
Company 3614, Camp at Munsing, Michigan, Camp Hannah, Camp F-40, Company 671 in 1933, Company 3614 in 1935, source historical marker indicating CCC Camp Hannah near Munsing. No other Camp in NACCCA website with that location for both post office and rail head ( one has post office but another rail-head so probably closer to other). |
There are many different fruit trees that grow in zone 7. Milder winters allow zone 7 gardeners to grow a number of fruit varieties that are not available to northern gardeners. At the same time, zone 7 is not so far south that northern growing fruit trees scorch and fry in the summer heat. Zone 7 fruit growers can take advantage of the best of both worlds. Continue reading for a list of fruit trees for zone 7.
In any hardiness zone, fruit trees require rich, fertile soil that drains well. Pests and diseases of fruit trees can vary somewhat from zone to zone, as certain pests and diseases thrive in specific conditions. However, trees that are properly planted, watered and fertilized are better able to withstand disease and pests. Just like a herd of gazelle being stalked by lions, the young, weak or sick are usually the first to fall victim.
When planting fruit trees in zone 7, you may also need to plant a pollinator if the fruit tree is not a self-pollinating variety. For example, apple trees usually require another nearby apple tree or crabapple to pollinate. Honeycrisp is a recommended pollinator for Snow Sweet apple trees. Do your homework on the fruit trees you are considering so you don’t end up planting a tree that may never produce fruit. Garden center workers can also help you select the right trees and answer questions you may have, as can your local extension office.
Below are listed some common fruit trees that grow in zone 7, and their most popular varieties. |
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As Alaska approaches the year 2000, the staff of Alaska Economic Trends thought it would be an opportune moment to look back at major economic trends that have helped shape Alaska since statehood. Alaska has moved from the formative days of statehood through oil and gas's rise to dominance in the economy and on to life after Prudhoe Bay.
Nearly 22,000 people work in Alaska's transportation industry, making it one of the state's larger employers. Employment in transportation is greater than in the state's timber, oil, and construction industries. In fact, it employs about the same number of people as state government.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough's economy is one of amazing diversity. Unlike many places in Alaska, where one or two industries dominate the economy, the Peninsula's economy requires considerably more effort to describe. In a nutshell, the economic strength of the borough is its diversity.
Alaska's biggest island, and the second largest in the nation, is Kodiak Island. With its surrounding islands, it is home of the Kodiak Island Borough, which encompasses 6,463 square miles of land, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. The Borough has 1,274 miles of coast, and many fjords, peninsulas and capes.
For the eighth year in a row, Carr Gottstein Foods claimed the top spot on the list of largest Alaska employers for 1998. This will be Carrs' last year at the top because its recent buyout by Safeway will mean all operations will move under the Safeway corporate umbrella. This practically insures that Safeway Stores, ranked 10th in 1998, will move to number one in 1999.
During the Klondike gold rush of the late 1890s, thousands headed north to Alaska and the Yukon Territory in search of personal fortune. Goldseekers came through Skagway, the port nearest to embarkation points for the famous Chilkoot and White Pass trails, on their way to Dawson City and points beyond. The first boatloads of stampeders arrived in Skagway and nearby Dyea in the summer of 1897. By October, a Northwest Mounted Police report estimated Skagway's population at more than 20,000.
"How expensive is it to live in Alaska?" "What is the rate of inflation in Alaska?" These are two of the questions most frequently asked of the Alaska Department of Labor's Research and Analysis section. In answer to these questions, this article provides some of the latest cost-of-living measurements available for Alaska and explains the uses and limitations of these data.
Alaska's economy will continue to grow through 2000, although forecast employment growth rates in 1999 and 2000 will be among the slowest in Alaska during the last 10 years. A contracting oil and gas industry and the associated impacts in other sectors of the economy will put the brakes on the state's job growth.
Alaska's job base grew 2.5% in 1998, with growth accelerating for the second consecutive year. Statewide, 6,700 jobs were added, the largest numerical increase since 1990.
Since the oil spill of 1989, the economies of Prince William Sound have undergone a variety of changes some dramatic and others more subtle. Only a few broad generalizations can be made about the economy of the Sound itself. That is because the region represents not a single economy but five distinct communities that usually operate independently of each other.
Women in Alaska earn less than men, on average. In 1997 Alaska females had wage and salary earnings only 65 percent as much as Alaska males, earning $19,070 versus average male earnings of $29,339. Females make up 47 percent of total workers.
Hugging Kotzebue Sound and belted by the Arctic Circle, the Northwest Arctic Borough is Alaska's second largest borough. Only the North Slope Borough is larger. Although the Northwest Arctic Borough was not formed until 1986 and its 11 communities are spread out over nearly 36,000 square miles, it is one of the most economically and culturally unified political subdivisions in the state. |
Health warning: If I had written this post sooner, it would have been much shorter. Roughly 4,700 words follow.
We linguists of the twenty-first century converged on the city of Girona that had some sort of heyday in the fourteenth, and saw nothing unusual in taking photographs with our smartphones of city walls, churches and convents and intricate wrought-iron work of centuries past.
Conferencing on the state of the art and science of editing & translation against a spectacular backdrop of history intertwined with cultural interest is something of a METM tradition, and METM18 was no exception. I was pleasantly surprised by the modern sculpture exhibition in the quadrangle of the former convent, now known as Centre Cultural Le Mercè, as well as various interesting pieces populating other spaces.
An equally pleasant surprise was the bowl of fruit greeting my hungry eyes on the way to my first workshop on Thursday, 4 October 2018. I do hope it was not someone’s preparation for a still life composition; it’s not every day that you get a free banana, you know.
One could say that I crossed the better part of the Iberian Peninsula via a series of non-synchronised modes of transport from a sleepy little village near Faro, Portugal to attend METM18 in Girona, Catalonia, a place, which as the title of this post suggests, won me over completely. More than 170 attendees travelled from further afield, and willingly, moreover, to immerse themselves in the intense learning from and exchange with their peers and, of course, the social catch-up with many who have become friends over the years.
The three-track programme means that each participant has a slightly different experience of METM.
At MET Meetings, I make a concerted effort to plug gaps in my knowledge, and use the weeks and months afterwards to draw parallels and weave what I learn into the already fragmented and somewhat eclectic body of knowledge that life has presented to me thus far.
With the getting of knowledge in mind, I kicked off my METM18 with what seemed like forbidden fruit in the form of a well chewed banana, a slug of cold water, and a front row seat in Alan Lounds’s workshop on the subject of Research Article Abstracts and Introductions: A genre-based approach to editing and translating. I felt like—and probably was—the least experienced participant in the workshop, which meant that I learnt a lot both from the presentation and the exercises we did in groups, as well as the discussion among more learned participants after each exercise.
You might well wonder why research article abstracts and introductions would be of any interest to me at all. It so happens that I have been translating rather a lot of material for a legal academic this year (and I have had my fair share of editing non-native Masters theses written in English in the past), but there is only so far I can go relying on innate pernicketiness backed up by hours of unguided study on my own. Such focus on territory relatively uncharted by me led to my having several light bulb moments, and by the end of Alan’s workshop, to continue the electrical metaphor, I was beaming with such radiant intensity that I could have sworn my complexion changed briefly to the bright yellow of that long since discarded banana skin. Be that as it may, I was certainly on the right wavelength to squash myself into the lively translation slam which followed.
My knowledge of Spanish is sketchy at best, and propped up chiefly by my knowledge of Portuguese, with a few rusty Latin nails for good measure. Fertile ground for very interesting discussion came from the Spanish to English translations prepared by slammers Maéva Cifuentes and Tim Gutteridge of a short text chosen by moderator Kymm Coveney, with the slam itself coordinated ably by Aisha Prigann. But, wait, I am getting ahead of myself. I settled into my seat with all the excitement I invariably feel when I receive a new text to translate. This year, I am pleased to say, there were more than enough copies of the text for everyone, so before the proceedings got under way, I was able to read the Spanish undisturbed and think about possible translations of my own into English before performing two quick comparative analyses from the typewritten offerings of the respective slammers. I guess that is what everyone else in the above photo was doing too.
I have attended the translation slams at all three METMs I have been to (15, 16 and 18), and would not miss this Off-METM activity for anything except, perhaps, a translation slam in a language pair with which I am more familiar. The Spanish text came alive for me when Carlos Mayor read it aloud, for it gave me a better sense of extra-linguistic elements which needed to be conveyed in the target English. The beauty of translation slams lies in the marked differences between the translations each slammer has prepared – and then, through audience participation, the potential third, or even fourth possible rendition of the prose in question. I love this aspect of rolling up one’s sleeves and getting stuck in; I love it even more when esteemed colleagues do the same in a positive spirit of focused collaboration that produces concrete results.
METM differs from other translator conferences in that we are not there merely to be educated and entertained: we are there to participate. As one of the lazier worker bees to date on The Hive, a MET archive of tools and resources (see RHS sidebar on the MET homepage), I left the translation slam inspired, and buzzed off to a nearby restaurant to The Hive’s Off-METM dinner, which doubled up as a meeting by way of final preparation in advance of The Hive’s panel presentation two days later. We had an hilarious time, and the fact that we got to the end of the agenda is due solely to Queen Bee Emma Goldsmith’s sheer determination. Emma also managed to photograph us in one of our more serious moments.
I had not registered for any workshops on the Friday morning, since the only one I was interested in was fully booked almost immediately registration for the conference opened. That was Translation Revision and Beyond, a workshop facilitated jointly by Simon Berrill, Victoria Patience and Tim Gutteridge. Nevertheless, I am gratified to see that the translator-revisor collaboration idea is spreading, and has become part of mainstream discussion among translations professionals. This type of workshop has the potential to grow in usefulness and impact, especially when narrowed down to specific language pairs, both within MET and beyond. My informal sources of information have given me the impression that there is nowhere near enough translation and/or revision practical components in translation degrees currently offered my most universities. This, together with the fact that a high proportion of MET members had a different career before becoming translators or editors, makes the concept of interactive learning while working together all the more attractive.
It is pertinent here to remind readers that all abstracts submitted for presentations at any METM are subjected to two blind peer reviews before being considered for acceptance. These are not revisions, but reviews on content and suitability. I will confess here that the abstract for my own presentation was given a rigorous going over by one very kind and knowledgeable soul. It was only thanks to her help and vigorous questioning that I was able to whip my blurb into shape so that it passed muster. Such a process is both humbling and educative. And that is how is should be. All content on the MET website, and content for individual METMs undergoes a similarly rigorous process: it benefits from the sharp eyes and professional experience of many before being published. I feel precocious and cheeky—as well as honoured—to call such MET members my peers but will do so, since, in principle, we all strive to attain and maintain standards of editorial excellence in the texts we produce. And that, too, is how it should be.
Another best practice that I heartily support is the “sign your work” movement, first thrust on to the translation landscape a good fifteen years ago by Chris Durban, and this imperative has been almost a mantra of hers ever since. As I mentioned obliquely earlier, we are all at different stages of development, so it is worth reminding people regularly why putting your name on work you have done is a good idea. I touched on this in my presentation, but I might well have been preaching to the converted if the “Show and share” table is anything to go by. All participants had the opportunity to display samples of their work on the table. Their portfolios were available for anyone and everyone to scrutinise. My intention was to spend much longer perusing the material on display, but each time I started looking at something interesting, I would see someone else I needed to greet, and we would end up chatting instead. I am sure that those who participated in this initiative, originally proposed by Valerie Matarese, would agree that the chief benefit for them came from the act of preparing material to put on show. This was certainly the case for me, since I needed the permission of several clients in order to get my portfolio together. I came to MET buoyed by their good wishes.
The METM Choir practice at Friday lunchtime meant that I could not participate in any Off-METM lunches on specific topics, but after giving our vocal chords some exercise, I shared a pleasant tapas lunch with four other choristers, and reacquainted myself with the pleasures of vermut. Translators are never short of conversation topics, in my experience.
The complexities involved in obtaining acknowledgement for your work, and how language service professionals are perceived, particularly in the academic sphere, was the subject of panel discussion moderated by Valeria Matarese, with panelists Wendy Baldwin, Mar Fernández Núñez, Jackie Senior, and Kate Sotejeff-Wilson. It confirmed my experience in non-academic spheres: each situation, and each client, is different, and while a certain amount of flexibility is desirable, acknowledgement is always something which should be part of the discussion before taking on an assignment. I twinged privately, since it made me realise that I had not had this discussion with the legal academic I mentioned above, so it was enlightening to learn of the various strategies that panelists had employed.
I was somewhat disappointed with John Linnegar’s presentation on modal verbs, possibly because I had so enjoyed his presentation at METM16 on what constitutes a “light edit”. And perhaps because early mastery of modal verbs is essential for any German-English translator, I felt that I had been transported back to some dingy “O”-Level classroom on a hot summer’s day. It was, however, worth hearing John confirm my own observations of the recent shift in usage from “shall” to “will”, and from “should” to “must”, where the latter in each case now signifies what the former always has. Reference to the abstract at the time of writing this blog reveals that John did intend this session to be particularly instructive to those for whom English is a second language. This presentation might have been better as a mini-workshop, in that case.
I spent the coffee break after that in a “meeting” discussing a potential collaboration with another MET member. Arranging such things before METM is useful, and in-person meetings always have that little something extra that is lacking in other means of communication. That “something extra” more than makes up for all the tasty-looking snacks I missed out on because of the meeting, but it might also have been penance for having pinched that banana the day before. While on the subject of consumption, I applaud the strategically placed water coolers in the quadrangle. Definitely an excellent addition to METM!
Rose Newell’s emphasis on communication with one’s clients to ensure their content transcends cultural difference when either writing, editing or translating copy made a whole lot of sense to me. Being the person to bridge that gap as part of the service you provide is an aspect to which many translators fail to devote sufficient attention. All translators, especially those living in the country of their source language, should highlight these matters with clients when appropriate – and yes, this can and does apply to so-called technical texts too.
Daniel Hahn, as one of two METM keynote speakers, wowed the audience by his sheer breadth of achievement and his thoughtful and wide-ranging address. What I was unprepared for, but loved all the same, was his generous, gentle and elegant sense of humour. His speech, entitled In Praise of Editors (the translator’s view), had me riveted. It was hopeless taking notes, so I simply enjoyed listening attentively.
He left pretty smartly for the next engagement in his busy schedule, so I was unable to tell him that his founding of a translation prize that also gives recognition to the book’s editor had already had an impact on my professional life. So, I shall tell the story here.
In January 2018, a translator whose work I have often revised over the last seven years got in touch with me asking whether I would like to be her revisor for the Portuguese to English translation of a novel by Cristina Carvalho. Naturally, I said I would, since I do like the collaborative experience with this translator. Discussion immediately turned to the issue of price, since the author herself was initially going to pay for the translation and its pre-publisher revision (by me). Via the translator, I suggested that the author contact Daniel Hahn (with a link to the article announcing the founding of his prize) to discover whether there were any other funding possibilities. In the event, I do not think the author contacted Daniel Hahn, but it did motivate the author to seek funding elsewhere, in this case from the Instituto de Camões. The surprising upshot was that the Institute agreed to pay 60% of the costs of translation and revision, with the remaining 40% (paid as an advance to the translator and myself) being paid by the author, at a rate that was acceptable all round. One further benefit was that the Canadian publisher has now made an important business connection with the Instituto de Camões, and this augurs well for the future. I am therefore grateful to Daniel Hahn for more than his excellent speech.
After the welcome reception at the impressively decorated Saló de Descans at the Teatro Municipal, a group of us who, for the most part, had only known each other online, went off to find a bite to eat, and spent more time than was sensible having a jolly entertaining conversation. For those of you who are interested, I still have not got the knack of sleight-of-hand with wine corks. At this point, I could launch into a monologue in praise of taxis after midnight, but shall refrain.
Suddenly, it was Saturday, and in consecutive presentations, two of my favourite speakers, Valerie Matarese and Joy Burrough-Boenisch, examined slightly different aspects of acknowledgement and contributions to research articles. Two somewhat surprising facts to emerge from Valerie’s presentation were that crediting authors’ editors is a very recent development, and that the struggle to standardise giving credit, thereby ensuring greater transparency, is by no means over. Some of the results from Joy’s survey (to discover the answer to the question, “Do freelance editors for non-native-English academic and scientific researchers seek acknowledgement?”) were startling: Only 14.5% of respondents always seek acknowledgment. 76% of respondents in the Social Sciences never seek acknowledgement, and 45% in Science are similarly averse to proactive behaviour. Overall, when those in the Humanities are included, the figure evens out to a depressing 58% of respondents who never bother to ensure that they are duly acknowledged.
It would not be entirely unreasonable in my view to speculate that a broader survey of a much greater sample than freelance editors who are MET, SENSE or NeAT members working for non-native-English academic and scientific researchers would garner similar results. The clear message to be derived from the two presentations above, and others on offer at METM18, is that language professionals (in all sorts of areas of specialisation) need to step up to the plate and at least try to hit the oncoming ball before calling it quits because in their eyes the innings is already lost. In other words, each language professional needs to become part of the solution, and not simply sit back and watch the problem grow in size and complexity. A basic METM message, I suppose: Do your bit!
I went to David Cullen’s A translator’s decalogue out of curiosity. There is an overabundance of advice for (young) translators splashed all over the internet about what they need to bear in mind when practising their craft. I had no argument with any of the points on his list, and was enormously amused, once contributions were invited from the audience, to see that this list cannot possibly be confined to a mere ten, or even twenty, basic points. I did like the piece of advice regarding the need for translators (who work for agencies, in particular) to realise that solving translation difficulties is not “someone else’s problem” and to “take ownership of their work”, and not simply give up and lump the Project Manager, or someone else, with the unsolved problem. I cannot remember, but I might have applauded when David made that remark.
The idea of transparency and clarification of the rules of authorship in what could sometimes be described as a hostile, competitive environment in the academic “publish or perish” arena was expertly and comprehensively dealt with to a packed auditorium by keynote speaker Iria del Río in her call for an ethical publishing culture. At least that is what I thought, as a relative stranger to academic circles. Even so, it is good for someone like me to be aware of the dynamics involved as a translator or editor when occasionally nibbling at the periphery of this mountain of paper that I loosely refer to as academic research.
Based on the idea that hunger serves to sharpen the mind, and shorten the meeting, the programme coordinators had a stroke of genius in scheduling the MET General Assembly after a keynote address and in the middle of the day, immediately before lunch. It was sad to see Chair Anne Murray step down after thirteen years of service, and Alan Lounds leave Council. What is encouraging, however, is that the new Council comprises eight MET stalwarts, including new MET Chair, Kim Eddy. Collectively, they give members the assurance that MET affairs continue to be in good hands. Anne’s last official duty, as I recall, was to make sure we all followed her on a winding route to the top of a hill where lunch was served in the cloisters of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Girona, and a jolly good job she did of that, too!
Our clients in the world at large also need to know that they are in good hands, and this was the core message contained in Karen Neilson’s presentation, To oak or not to oak… profiling the wine translator. It was refreshing indeed to hear her stating that there is a whole lot more to being an effective translator in the wine sector than merely getting the terminology right. Key points included selling yourself to the client on your knowledge of all aspects of wine making, from the vineyard to the final product and the markets for which the wine is destined. Clients need to feel confident that you, as the translator, know the ins and outs of their business. Clearly at home in this terroir, Karen covered a lot of ground in this twenty-minute presentation: she pulled out a bunch of production and export statistics; touched on the influence of climate and soil and how they relate to wine tasting; recounted how she has watched expert oenologists at work in the vineyard selecting before harvest which grapes would go to oak and which not; retold with some humour and suspense of the hunt she pursued, when discussing rootstock, for the English term “crown”, referring to the basal region of the trunk slightly below and above the soil level, and she emphasised the need for knowing a good deal about gastronomy, as well as cultural differences between two languages and how these impact on consumer attitudes towards wine and determining appropriate approaches to marketing. She mentioned the necessity of communicating with clients when a straight translation of their Spanish text would result in negative connotations in English as being one of the many reasons for the sensitive adaptation of a text. It was a treat to listen to Karen advocating quality translation in the real “world of wine”.
No one is quite sure how it happened, but somehow the wine translators at METM18 managed to get together for another brief moment around midnight at the closing dinner long enough to have their photograph taken against what is known for its blankness in current parlance as a “selfie wall”.
After my presentation on Marking your digital territory and the rapidly vanishing rules on acknowledging one’s source in the crazy copy-and-paste culture of the Internet Age, I missed out on yet another coffee break – but did help myself to a pear (legitimate fruit – as was all the fruit so considerately on offer in the Centre during the conference, so I discovered later), on which I managed to break a filling in a back tooth, before a brief interview with MET member Lisa Agostini and her radio producer partner, Julian Mayer, of Yada Yada. The two volunteered to produce a podcast of a few of the presentations at METM18, and more observant participants would have noticed them in action, albeit mostly in the background.
That treacherous but juicy pear provided me with sufficient sustenance to hurl myself back into the old convent building to listen to Nigel Harwood speak on Using metaphors to explore the role of the proofreader of L2 student writing in the UK context. The sample of proofreaders at a UK university who were interviewed was small, and his focus entirely academic. As stated in his presentation abstract, “Fourteen proofreaders in a UK university were interviewed about their practices, speaking to a prompt card offering definitions of the proofreader’s role as a cleaner or tidier, a helper or mentor, a leveller, a mediator, and/or a teacher. Some informants were institutional insiders (e.g., lecturers, PhD students); others were freelancers with no connections to the university.” The body of his presentation, and research results, did indeed show that very few guidelines for such proofreading exist, and the playing field is by no means level. Not being a native of this particular planet, I was taken aback that someone in the audience expressed “shock that some L2 students had paid for proofreading services”. For those of us in the commercial world, it makes perfect sense that someone should pay for the benefit of our native linguistic expertise. I understand that one has to consider the entity known as “academic integrity”, but if L2 masters and doctoral theses are revised—or even translated—as a paid service, and, from without the walls of the ivory tower at least, this is common knowledge and seemingly accepted practice, then why can the same not apply to L2 master’s essays?
As a freelancer who makes a living from not only my translation abilities, but also my skills as a revisor, editor, or proofreader – and primarily in non-academic contexts, I hasten to add, I baulk at the idea that I should be expected to waive my fee simply because the client is a student. Indeed, whenever I hear in conversation that someone is embarking upon a master’s degree, I advise them to get a part-time job at the same time and start saving money to pay for a native English editor for their master’s thesis. I realise that there might be a lot of worms in this particular can, and that many students probably do not finish writing their thesis in sufficiently good time for their supervisors to give them proper advice (this is the impression I have received from several such texts, and my impression alone), but I do have to question whether universities in general are doing their students justice if radical editing (including the pointing out of factual error, mathematical errors when calculating percentages, graphs that are not consistent with the interpretations given, omissions in bibliographies, etc.) by a freelance language professional is so obviously required three or four days, say, before the thesis submission deadline. I am also very much aware of the fine dividing line that exists between producing comprehensible English and improving the quality of the thesis, thereby potentially influencing the grade such a thesis might obtain, and I am careful not to cross what I imagine that dividing line to be. I voiced none of this during Nigel’s presentation; I was tired, and anything I might have said at the time in response to the shock expressed that some L2 students pay for the proofreading of their essays could well have come across as fractious at best. If anyone can point me to substantial literature on the matter, I would be very grateful!
Speaking of resources, my final session – not before a quick refill of my water bottle at one of those wonderful water coolers, was one in my role as laziest worker bee to date: a review of The Hive – one year on. The session took the form of a panel presentation, with Emma Goldsmith, Wendy Baldwin, Alan Lounds, Kymm Coveney and Ailish Maher each taking a few minutes to review what The Hive is about, what is in it, and what is Beside The Hive. Heather Hamilton (my lovely presentation moderator) and I were the only other members of The Hive Team at METM18, and neglected to bring pompoms all the way to Girona for the purposes of cheerleading. Suffice to say, the session had the desired effect: more MET members have entered the Hive as worker bees, and we now number twelve in total. The Hive is a resource base and platform for MET members only. I would urge you head on over to the relevant page on the MET website and read all about it, browse around, and remember to contribute as appropriate. Like any good METM, The Hive has something useful, and something of interest for everyone.
There were several presentations at METM18 that I was sorry to have missed for one reason or another, but that is how it always is. All that remained at this point was to enjoy a jolly good final dinner, and the final bit of fun: singing in the impromptu METM Choir – not bad, after only two hours’ worth of riotous practice! |
I don’t see anything like this in Japanese universities, which seems strange to me. In Australian and British universities there is information for students on how to stay healthy whilst using a computer. If you don’t follow some basic rules, you can seriously injure your body. Problems can include eye strain, weakening of vision, back strain, spine compression, repetitive strain injury to hands and wrists. Also, bending forward crunches up your digestive organs causing other problems. You need to have a maximum of 30 minutes of computer use, and then take a 5 minute break, including standing up, walk around, and refocusing your eyes on distant objects. |
Regular Saltwater Smarts readers often see references to them in Paul B’s posts. They arrive in our aquaria unbidden aboard chunks of live rock, in live sand, or on coral specimens attached to rocks. At a glance, they look like little insects scurrying over the rocks or swarming on the glass.
I’m talking about “pods”—not the Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind (though we haven’t ruled that out completely with Paul B.), but the tiny crustaceans known as amphipods and copepods.
The first pods we’ll discuss—amphipods—are much larger than copepods and can be seen easily with the naked eye as they scramble among the rockwork, typically after lights out (they tend to make themselves scarce during daylight hours to avoid predation). These shrimp-like microcrustaceans, which are usually somewhere in the range of 1/8 to 1/4 inch in length with the occasional “whopper” making an appearance, look rather like commas with multiple segments and lots of legs. They’re somewhat laterally compressed (flattened side to side) and generally grayish to brownish in color.
Copepods are much tinier than amphipods, reaching only around a millimeter or so in length. Thus, when viewed with the naked eye, they usually appear as tiny white specks swarming on the aquarium glass or in the water column. Observed under magnification, their bodies are vaguely teardrop-shaped with elongated antennae.
Tiny bugs swarming your live rock and aquarium glass? No good can come from that, right? After all, what are the odds they won’t go rogue on your corals and/or fish? So what should you do about such an infestation? Kill, crush, destroy? Call in the “Orkin Man”? Nuke the tank with bleach?
In fact, if you want to succeed in keeping mandarinfishes, pipefishes, or other fish species that feed primarily or exclusively on live microcrustaceans, you’ll want to have as many pods in your tank as possible, which might mean actually purchasing pods (they’re available from various online sources) to replenish their population from time to time or culturing them in a refugium connected to your aquarium.
Now, if only we can somehow prove that Paul B isn’t one of the “Pod People”!
Or collect them as I do. Fantastic little creatures, and free if you catch them. |
From Almonds To Rice, Climate Change Could Slash California Crop Yields By 2050 : The Salt An analysis of nearly 90 studies finds that warming temperatures may alter where key crops grow across the state, which provides about two-thirds of America's produce.
Walnut trees at a farm in Byron, Calif. An analysis of nearly 90 studies finds warming temperatures may alter where key crops grow across the state, which provides around two-thirds of America's produce.
Climate change could decrease the yield of some crops in California by up to 40 percent by 2050. That's a big deal for farmers in the state, which provides about two-thirds of the nation's produce.
California farmers grow more than 400 commodity crops. Tapan Pathak, a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist based in California's Central Valley, and his research team analyzed 89 studies on climate change and discovered that warming temperatures may alter where crops grow across the state. Their findings were published in the journal Agronomy.
"In order to make California agriculture more sustainable, we have to act now," Pathak says.
As the climate continues to change and drought and heat waves become more frequent, Pathak says the challenges agriculture will face are going to intensify. He's referring to things like how the lack of cold temperatures will impact trees that need a certain number of chill-hours, or sleep each year, as well as increased impacts from pests and diseases.
"That could adversely impact yields and production for some highly valued crops in California," Pathak says. The study reports "several fruit and nut crops are losing yield and decreasing in acreage . . . as a direct consequence of increased winter and nighttime temperatures."
The study also points out that climatic conditions — warming temperatures and a shrinking snowpack — by the end of the 21st century may make it difficult for the state to even support some of its main tree crops. The study suggests that by the middle of the century, California's Central Valley won't be able to support crops like peaches, walnuts and apricots. That number jumps to 90 percent by the end of the century. Almonds, avocados, cherries, table grapes, corn, tomatoes, rice, strawberries and others are expected to suffer crop yields as well.
Walnuts would be the hardest-hit crop because they "require the highest number of chill hours, implying a future decline in walnut acreage within the valley," the authors report. Nearly 99 percent of the nation's supply of the crop originate from California and support around three-quarters of the global supply of the nut.
But Pathak says crops planted yearly, like alfalfa, could yield more as temperatures increase. The study also says wine grapes will see small declines in yield.
What can be done now to mitigate this?
The study's authors say the California agricultural industry needs to take breeding research seriously by testing for heat-tolerant varieties. The report also urges the industry to figure out regional "management practices that can extend crops' winter dormancy periods. Since different crops react to temperature changes differently, research efforts on climate adaptation should be crop-specific," the study reports.
While California farmers and ranchers have long experienced fluctuations in weather, the authors say that "the increased rate and scale of climate change is beyond the realm of experience for the agricultural community." And that may translate into food security issues at the state and national level.
Peter Gleick, an expert in climate and water for the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, read the study and says, "it is critical that we start making decisions now to reduce the threats later."
Gleick says even though some crops will fare better than others, "impacts will be deeply negative, especially if we are not more aggressive about both reducing emissions and putting in place more climate resilient agriculture."
He says farmers must take an active role in addressing climate change and the state is going to need to help by expanding "efforts to help communities that will be negatively affected by changes we won't be able to avoid." |
The NHS needs to provide increased funding and support to enable GPs to refer more patients for urgent investigations if cancer survival rates in England are to improve, a major new report has warned.
The report by The Health Foundation, in collaboration with former national cancer director Professor Sir Mike Richards, said that previous efforts to encourage GPs to refer early have been met with ‘resistance from commissioners under pressure to limit referrals, and by limited hospital capacity to meet demand for diagnostic tests’.
Earlier this year GPonline found that nearly half of GPs have had a referral on the two-week cancer pathway bounced back or downgraded to non-urgent within the previous 12 months - often for patients later found to have cancer.
The Health Foundation's report said that while progress has been made on improving survival and experiences of care for people diagnosed with cancer, England still had poorer survival rates that other European countries. It said early diagnosis was the key to improving outcomes.
The report recommended that NICE guidelines, which say that GPs should investigate patients who have symptoms indicating a 3% or higher risk of cancer, should be fully implemented.
It said that 'some, but not all, CCGs have changed their referral templates to comply with the guidelines and tools are being developed to assist GPs in assessing levels of risk’. But, the report added, much more work will be needed to change GP practice and raise public awareness about symptoms of possible cancer.
The report concluded that ‘more patients will undoubtedly need to be investigated’ if England was to improve cancer survival rates.
The number of CT and MRI scans undertaken in the UK had increased, but the UK still laggged far behind other countries in terms of the number of scans being done, the report added. It said this was unsurprising 'given the relative paucity of equipment'.
A shortage of staff to operate the machinery and report scan results was also contributing to delays in diagnosis and treatment.
GPC chair Dr Richard Vautrey said that early diagnosis and intervention relied on ‘a streamlined system that supports GPs in making timely referrals’.
‘While we appreciate the pressures that many commissioners find themselves under, they should be encouraging this process, rather than frustrating it, so that all patients who need a referral for further investigation get one,’ he added.
‘GPs need rapid access to diagnostic services, such as MRI or CT scans, and, where appropriate, certain patients should be able to directly access tests themselves where clinical evidence supports this. |
The Ngorongoro Crater, at 2,286 m. above sea level, is the largest unbroken caldera in the world. Surrounded by very steep walls rising 610 metres from the crater floor, this natural amphitheatre measures 19.2 km in diameter and 304 sq km in area. It is home to up to 30,000 animals, almost half being wildebeest and zebra. Buffalo, elephant, hippo, hyena, jackal, lion, ostrich, serval, warthog, bushbuck, eland, hartebeest, reedbuck, waterbuck and huge herds of both Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle are easily seen on the crater floor. Thanks to anti-poaching patrols, the crater is now one of the few places in East Africa where visitors can be certain of seeing black rhino, with the number now approaching 25. Leopard may occasionally be seen in the trees of the forest surrounding the crater while cheetah are also present but rarely seen. Large herds of giraffe live on the rim of the crater and will be seen on the drive to Olduvai Gorge and the Serengeti.
Countless flamingo form a pink blanket over the soda lakes while more than 100 species of birds not found in the Serengeti have been spotted.
The crater, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, lies within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which covers more than 8,300 sq km. It is bounded by Lake Eyasi in the southwest and the Gol Mountains in the north. Roughly in the centre are the Olbalal Swamp and the arid Olduvai Gorge.
Take a flight from Dar es salaam to the safari capital of Tanzania or Geneva of Africa Arusha Town. Flight will depart from Dar es Salaam at 0700 am and arrive at Arusha airport at 0900am morning. Outside arrivals exit you will meet our representative for 10 minutes Safari briefing. thereafter you will drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area main entry gates for full day game drive.Later you will go check in to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay. |
The Screaming Pope: Is Your Self-Invention a Success?
You are constantly hearing that he or she is self-invented. But is it necessarily a good thing? A self-invented person is ostensibly someone who's not made in a mold. You have pound cakes that are baked in a rectangular pan and coffee cakes which rise in those round gismos with the hole in the center. Similarly when a son or daughter follows in their parents’ footsteps, they're not self-invented. Man Ray, the surrealist photographer and artist, who lived in France, but was born in Philadelphia as Emmanuel Radnitzsky, the oldest child of a family of Jewish immigrants and ended up in Paris by way of Brooklyn, is one of the greatest examples of self-invention. And then there were T.S. Eliot, an American born poet who attended Harvard, but adopted a personality that was tantamount to that of a landed English aristocrat, minus the titles, land and money and Mary Astor, the only child of a pair of Quincy, Illinois school teachers who scandalized Hollywood with all her affairs. Of course there are bad examples of self-invention. Did you ever know kids who went off to France for their junior year and returned behaving more French than the French? It wasn’t only the Gauloises and the air of impudence, it was the fact that they talked in broken English and no longer seemed to know what you were talking about. And what about all the people who make a little money and develop airs, as if they were born with a chrysalis of royalty despite their humble origins? You know the type who was born on the wrong side of the tracks, but speaks the Queen’s English and insists on correcting you when you say “him and me.” Yes there are some really cool self-invented people, whose personalities are artworks, but in general most people who escape their roots, in order to become somebody, turn out to be colossal jerks. |
It is important to wash your child’s favourite teddy bear regularly to make sure it is soft, clean and hygienic. So, do you want to know how to clean a big teddy bear? The following guide will help you clean your teddy bear in no time!
Children love to play with their favourite toys & sometimes even bite & chew them. Hence it is very important to keep the teddy bear clean all the time! You should know how to clean their toys so your child can enjoy a care-free playtime.
In this article, we are going to take you through simple ways of cleaning a teddy bear. It is easy; just make sure that they are washed with care, by following our guide.
First, read the label to figure out the cleaning advice.
When there are just a few spots, it is often okay to lightly dampen the stained area. Be careful; do not to soak it too much!
Take a microfiber cloth, and apply a small amount of Surf Excel. Again, remember to read the label, and test it on a small area of the teddy before cleaning it entirely.
Clean the stained area with a clean, damp cloth. Putting the teddy bear under running water is also an option, but make sure that it does not become too soaked with water.
Let the clean teddy bear dry by keeping in on a towel or hanging it somewhere airy in the house.
Usually, the quicker the better when it comes to cleaning your child’s favourite toy, so make sure you check the label to see whether it can be machine washed or needs to be hand washed.
Again, make sure to check the label! Teddy bears which are made out of natural fibres like wool or those stuffed with foam are not meant to be machine washed. Furthermore, it is best if you keep old, fragile or teddy bears with a lot of buttons and embellishments out of the washing machine.
Fill up a bowl with normal temperature water, and add some Surf Excel detergent. Read the instructions carefully.
Soak & rub the teddy bear gently.
Drain the soapy water and rinse the teddy bear until all the soap has been washed off.
Squeeze the teddy bear to remove any water, and then put the clean teddy bear in the shade to avoid damaging the old materials.
Do not soak it in hot water as this might damage the materials of your child’s favourite teddy bear. Plus, if it is not of good quality, the colour can leak and fade away.
Now, cover the clean teddy bear with a towel, to soak up any water from the bear, and put it to dry in the shade.
This way, the direct sunlight will not harm the teddy bear, and it will not become stiff. Afterwards, brush the bear to fluff up the fur again, and watch your child enjoy his or her favourite clean teddy bear again!
It’s important to be gentle. Always read the label, and use a laundry detergent like Surf Excel to get the perfect clean teddy bear! |
Hazmat employees must have a full understanding of the stringent shipping and handling regulations for all hazardous materials. However, a special emphasis must be placed on shipments of lithium batteries in particular because of the unique challenges, dangers, and risks they pose. These batteries can be found in a range of items that includes cell phones, pacemakers, digital cameras, vehicles, and many other electronic devices and equipment. Shipments of this potentially dangerous material are being constantly transported around the globe as they are an integral part of daily life.
Lithium cells and batteries have the potential of a thermal run-away. On rare occasions, microscopic metal particles may come into contact with other parts of the battery cell, leading to a short circuit within the cell. This reaction that can potentially compromise the integrity of any package being transported, endangering the lives of hazmat employees and civilians alike. What makes their transport all the more difficult is that their stability can be quite fragile, meaning that the slightest mistakes in their shipping and handling can result in a hazardous materials incident.
In addition to this, paying particular attention to the regulations for lithium batteries is necessary because they can differ depending on certain circumstances. There are two types of lithium batteries - lithium metal and lithium ion batteries - and some rules that apply to one type do not apply to or are modified for the other. There are also certain regulations specific to one of the different modes of transportation used for shipping lithium batteries - namely, between shipping lithium batteries by air, sea, or ground. For example, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), defective lithium batteries must not be shipped by air.
All of this means that the best way to understand the many regulations specifically regarding lithium batteries is to undergo training in a course that is focused on the subject, which is why Hazmat University provides a supplementary lithium batteries training course that does exactly that.
This course provides supplementary information for Hazmat University’s Shipping by Air, Ground or Vessel training programs. This includes information on the regulations for the classification, identification, packing, marking, labeling, placarding, documentation, and segregation of lithium batteries. This applies to when they are contained in equipment, packed with equipment, or shipped alone for devices that use them as power sources.
The training also provides details on the provisions for the process of shipping and handling lithium batteries. Hazmat employees learn about the United Nations Manual of Tests and Criteria, which lists internationally recognized standards that any shipment of lithium batteries must pass. The varying extent to which regulations can apply to lithium battery shipments depending on the size, and therefore the energy capacity, of the batteries is also taken into consideration during the training program.
In addition to all of the requirements for transportation that must be met to maintain safety, which is intended to prevent a hazardous materials incident, hazmat employees also learn about the emergency response requirements, which include the requirements of a 24-hour emergency response telephone number and where they can find the proper procedures that must be followed in the event that an emergency happens, enabling them to save their own lives and the lives of others from a dangerous occurrence.
This course is intended as a supplement to Hazmat University’s Dangerous Goods training for Air, Ground or Vessel. Upon completion of the course, the student will have a better understanding of the current regulations involving the shipping and handling of Lithium Batteries. There have been many significant changes in all three modes, and it is important for both new and more experienced shippers of Lithium Batteries to understand and apply them in order to maintain safety. |
Sybil (rare) is a general word for one of many prophetic women of classical antiquity.
Circe (rare) is a figure from Homer’s Odyssey. She was a sorceress and a goddess of magic, who famously turned all of Odysseus’s men into swine.
Morgan (top 100) le Faye, a powerful sorceress, was half-sister to King Arthur. In later stories, she was his great nemesis. The name was spelled Morgene before Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 12th century book titled Morgen blended the name with Morgan.
Samantha (top 50) was coined in the South as a feminine form of Sam but was little-used until it was given to the pretty and charming main character in the TV series Bewitched. The name was chosen at the time because it had an off-beat, old-fashioned sound, like other witch-names in the show: Endora, Tabitha, Esmerelda, Hagatha. From the time the show first aired in 1964, Samantha became increasingly popular, finally becoming the country’s 5th most popular girl baby name in 1990.
Charm (rare) has more than a dozen meanings, all of them fascinating attributes for a girl to possess. As regards magic, a charm is an action or object that has magical effect.
Avery (top 25) comes from an old French pronunciation of Alfred, a Germanic name meaning “elf council”: it implies someone who is advised by the elven folk. The name is a combination of the elements ælf, “elf” and ræd, “council.” An older Germanic form of ælf is alb, which morphed variously into our words elf and elves and into elements of the names Avery and Aubrey.
Aubrey (top 25) is a Germanic name meaning “elf king”; it’s combined from the elements alb, “elf” and ric, “power, ruler.” Popular variations include Aubrianna, Aubriella, and Aubrielle (all top 1000).
Arwen (rare) is a high elf in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As with many of the names in Middle-earth, Tolkien drew on the sounds of Welsh when he coined Arwen.
Pixie (rare) is a Celtic word for a race of mischievous, elf-like creatures. Some believe the tales of elves and pixies originated with “the small brown people” who lived in the British Isles before the coming of the Celts. They were driven to the north, west, and south of the region, where they lived underground, only coming out in the safety of dark night.
Faye (rare) in English is an old word for “faith.” In parallel, it comes to us from French fae, meaning “fairy”—a possessor of magic.
Phoenix (top 500), from Persian mythology, refers to a richly-colored bird that lived for many centuries before dying and being re-born from its own ashes. The increasing popularity of this name for both girls and boys is probably influenced by Phoenix, Arizona—at the moment, city names are widely used for both genders: Brooklyn, Savannah, and London were all top-100 girl-names in 2013.
Ondine (rare) is a variant spelling of undine, one of four elementals that ruled the basic elements of water, air, earth, and fire—the others being sylphs, gnomes, and salamanders. In Germanic mythology, if an undine married a human man and bore his child, she would be given a soul. As a girls’ name, Undine was popularized by an 1811 romantic novella of the same name, and later by the ballet Ondine, which was based on the novella.
Nixie (rare) refers to a water spirit of Germanic folk lore, often a kind of siren who lures men to their doom. In the US, the name has been given to baby girls since at least the 1870s and is sometimes taken as a nickname for Bernice. As a last name, Nixie is related to Nicholas.
Whatever the reason, if you’re looking for an updated version of a name from your parents’ generation, there are plenty of choices beyond the popular short forms—Liam, Jack, Drew—and the familiar diminutives—Charlie, Johnny, Danny. Several contemporary options, such as the wildly popular Jackson, come from last-name-first trend. Parents also find inspiration in the European languages, which lend us cool variations, like traditionally crisp Garrett and fresh-sounding Enzo. Read on for an eclectic mix of unexpected alternatives to traditional boys’ names. |
‘The stalemate in the trenches is for many the definition of warfare in World War One. Only months after the hostilities had started the opposing armies began to dig in along the Western Front. Thus began a type of warfare completely unexpected by those in command.
This second volume is a 103 page soft cover book and contains 171 black & white photographs, 71 color photographs and 2 black and white illustrations. The book has a 2012 copyright and the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is 978-3-936519-27-6.
Shown throughout the book are a wide variety of photographs of World War One German trench warfare. German Trench Warfare volume 1 focused mainly on the trenches from construction to use. German Trench Warfare volume 2 focuses more on the weaponry used by the German forces in trench warfare. The photographs range from action scenes to casual scenes to scenes that were staged. The photographs show various times of the year such as summer and winter and different types of settings in and around the trenches. Most of the photographs are nice and clear; however some have an unfocused look to them and some appear too dark. The reader should take into consideration that most of the photographs are approaching 100 years old and are excellent for their age. The quality of the photographs is of no fault of the author and takes nothing away from the book. It is obvious that the author took the time to research and arrange the photographs in a well thought out chronological manner and separate them as to the subject matter of the individual chapters. As well as being a valuable resource to the military historian and World War One enthusiasts, the wealth of photographs will be a valuable resource to the military modeler. There are many excellent photographs of German soldiers in several variations of the German uniform and are also shown with a wide variety of weaponry. The development of military weaponry is shown well - it covers weapons that were developed and in use before the start of World War One as well as weapons that were developed as the war progressed. Also shown and covered are captured weapons that were placed into the German arsenal and used against their former owners such as French machineguns. As with the other volume there are many close-up photographs of individual German soldier’s uniforms, weaponry, early camouflage techniques and other such details which will greatly assist not only the historian but the detail minded figure modeler as well. In addition to the numerous photographs of the soldiers and their uniforms and weaponry there are also photographs of early German mobile anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons mounted on the back of trucks, mobile armored pillboxes, small artillery pieces and early anti-tank pits. One subject that is covered, briefly, is one of particular interest to me which I was glad to see included in this volume and that is underground mining warfare. The included color photographs of several types of small arms and their related equipment are also a valuable asset to the modeler as they show the correct coloring of the weapons and other gear. As most modelers know there can be arguments with regard to correct colors of various items, and with the included color photographs this will help eliminate any uncertainty. The close up detailed color photographs will also be of use to the weapons enthusiast and collector. I have included scans of some of the photographs that I have mentioned to show how useful they can be to any individual that is interested in military history or military modeling. The book is filled with photographs that could be used as reference and ideas for many different dioramas and vignettes. I would also like to mention that individuals or companies that produce figures will find this book very useful in regards to ideas for making unique World War One figures and equipment.
All of the photographs are accompanied by captions that are in English text. The captions are well written and go into great detail regarding the scene that is shown. It is obvious that the author has taken the time to study the photographs and research them so that the captions are well detailed and point out several items of interest. They go into great detail mentioning items of interest shown such as uniforms, small arms, weapons, equipment, actions and the individual military units. Due to the fact that World War One is very close to reaching the 100 year old mark, the detailed captions help explain what is shown as much of the equipment hasn’t been seen for several years and the younger historians and military modelers may not know what they are looking at. The time spent by the author explaining the accompanying photographs is to be greatly appreciated.
I am just as impressed with this book as I was with volume 1. World War One German trench warfare is shown and discussed very well. With its wealth of detailed photographs and captions this book will appeal to the World War One historian and enthusiast, the military diorama and figure modeller, and the military enthusiast, and will be a welcome addition to one’s personal reference library. I would have no hesitation to add any of their other World War One Series titles, or indeed any of the other Tankograd titles, to my personal library nor would I hesitate to recommend this book to others. This is an excellent title from Tankograd Publishing. |
Come meet our amazing group of study abroad alumni who work in our office. They can help get your questions about study abroad answered as they themselves have studied abroad. Whether about budgeting, program choice, scholarships or program specifics they are a great first-hand resource for you.
I am a Junior studying English Literature and Italian Language at Loyola University Chicago and a proud alumnus of the John Felice Rome Center. I am a second-generation Italian- and Greek-American, and European culture has been a source of fascination for as long as I can remember.
Coming from an ethnic background with European origins, I had a natural desire to learn more about the culture of my ancestors and the places they came from. A significant portion of my family still lives in Italy, so studying abroad in Rome gave me the ability to connect with them in a way I never had before. On top of that, becoming fluent in Italian is one of my biggest personal goals, so I saw studying abroad as a unique opportunity to improve my skills by being immersed in the language. These, among other factors of general interest in travel, culture, food, and history, are the main reasons I chose to study abroad in Rome.
My fondest memory from my time abroad is that of the first time I went into Saint Peter’s Basilica by myself. I decided on a whim to take a morning before class and head down to Vatican City just to experience the basilica at my leisure and ended up spending a few hours just wandering around in that space—about 30 minutes of which were spent locked in an uninterrupted stare at Michelangelo’s. I had visited the basilica prior to that day, but this was the first time it really set in that I had all of this amazing art and culture at my fingertips. From then on, I took solo trips to Saint Peter’s almost every week, and it truly never got old.
My greatest piece of advice to study abroad students is to embrace the unfamiliarity of the experience. Some people arrive in Italy expecting it to be just like America but with more spaghetti, but, in reality, it is so much more than that. Every day, especially at the beginning of your term abroad, you’ll notice the cultural idiosyncrasies that are completely unique and totally different from what you’re used to if you grew up in the states. This might seem daunting at first, but embracing, exploring, and adapting to those cultural differences can be the most rewarding part of studying abroad, and you’ll be surprised at how much you grow as a person because of them.
Xin Chao Cac Ban! (Hello Friends) I am a junior year Political Science major with minors in Theology and Urban Studies at Loyola University Chicago. I studied abroad in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, otherwise known as Saigon, in the fall of 2017. Born and raised in Northern Kentucky, traveling abroad seemed out of the picture, but Loyola’s affordable Vietnam Center made a dream become a reality.
Southeast Asia is bustling with life and change. In the 3 ½ months spent there, I witnessed buildings being torn down, and resurrected almost instantaneously. I recall eating a rose shaped ice cream cone in the heart of District One (Downtown) that was absolutely exquisite. I attempted to return at the end of the semester to leave on a sweet note, but to my dismay it had vanished. While it was unfortunate that it was gone, it brought a smile to my face. Instead of being disappointed in that moment, I realized quickly that there are a million other ice cream parlors waiting to be tried right around the corner.
The number 1 tip that I recommend for those who are studying-abroad; be adaptable and be open. Semesters go by quickly, and you will want to have it all back. Do those activities that push your comfort zone and watch as your comfort zone widens before your eyes!
Studying-abroad has changed me academically, professionally, and wholesomely. This position allows me to help my peers find their own path and I am more than excited to be part of the transformation. Rất vui được gặp bạn (Its very nice to meet you friend)!
I’m a junior studying Economics and International Studies at Loyola University Chicago. I studied abroad at the Loyola Vietnam Center in the spring of 2018. A native Italian, I spent my childhood roaming Milan and Florence with my family and cousins. Around 10 years ago, my family moved to Minnesota and my American adventure began. I knew from the start that I wanted a non-traditional study abroad experience, something as unique and interesting as my story so far.
For me, Vietnam was this option. Studying and living for four months in Southeast Asia allowed for experiences I would never have had in any other country or even region of the world. My traditional day would start with a banh mi on the back of a motorbike, zooming my way to class. During the 5 minute class break, I would buy fresh cut pineapple from the vendor outside of the university. Lunch would be at a rice place right around the corner, surrounded by hurried businessmen. Dinner would be my most casual affair, a bowl of pho while sitting on a plastic stool on a street corner close to the dorm.
Aside from my love affair with Vietnamese cuisine, I was able to see, right in front of my eyes, the incredibly fervid development of a bustling country. Everything we discussed in class, whether that be economic policies and reforms, environmental concerns, or women’s rights, I saw play out outside of class. I wish there was a way to go back and do it all over in the same way again, but change is such a constant part of life in Vietnam that everyone will have a completely separate experience.
The best advice I can give to prospective study-abroad students is to say “yes”. The best experiences were the ones I didn’t plan for, a nighttime motorbike tour of the city, a spontaneous karaoke outing, or cooking on the floor with my Vietnamese partner’s family.
I’m excited to be working with OIP as an ambassador and I look forward to helping many other students find their right study abroad fit, and making these incredible memories for themselves.
My Thailand experiences that stay with me the most are eating street food with my Thai friends. Doing culinary ethnography with different groups of locals, students, and American friends gave me first-hand opportunities to be a local and examine complex differences and surprising similarities to the states.
Similarly, visiting Myanmar with my sister and my solo trip to Luang Prabang, Laos gave me a broader understanding of the region as a whole. As cliche as it may be, Thailand changed me. I returned to Loyola more confident, comfortable and happy with myself.
Therefore, the best advice I can give is to get out there! The only way to experience life is to live it - explore a new place, go to a less-popular country, speak the language, and of course, try a new food everyday!
Studying anthropology, political science and French, searching for the right place to study abroad was a challenge. Affordability, course approvals, cultural immersion and unique location led me to choosing USAC’s Chiang Mai program. I am a senior majoring in biology with a minor in bioethics. In addition to my role as a USAC peer advisor, I am a third-year resident assistant and a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters Chicago. This past summer I went on a six-week long study abroad trip to Galway Ireland.
Being a biology major and a person that does not excel in foreign languages finding a study abroad trip that would fit into my Loyola experience seemed like a hard task. After doing a substantial amount research, I found a program in Ireland through USAC. It was meant to be, because not only did it have the classes I needed to finish my core, but it was also in a primarily English-speaking country. In addition to this, it provided me an opportunity to learn more about my Irish background. As someone that gets bored very easily, this trip kept me engaged and excited. We started out with a weeklong trip in Dublin, before heading to Galway, which provided us with an opportunity to see two very different sides of Ireland. Throughout the six weeks, we went on various field trips all throughout the country. Individually, I was also able to visit London on a weekend. On the trip I saw ancient castles, learned a little bit of the Irish language, learned how to play the tin whistle, got a tattoo, and learned about the current events that surround Ireland and all of Europe.
My fondest memory from the trip has to be the field trip to the Cliffs of Moher, which is where I am at in my picture. The scenery was breathtaking. The cliffs were covered in an almost unreal shade of green, despite the drought that Ireland was currently going through. As we walked along the trail on the cliffs, the Atlantic Ocean looked as if it went on forever. The waves crashed against the rocks in such an intense, yet peaceful way. In the distance, we could also see the Aran Islands through the mist and fog. Almost as amazing as the cliffs was the other people who were also visiting the cliffs. Some people were more adventurous and would climb into dangerous and small nooks on the cliffs just to get a picture for Instagram, while others would barely ever wander off the trail.
My tips I would give to other students would be to lean into the discomfort. There will be times when you will want to stay in your comfort zone, but I encourage you to try to doing things you wouldn’t normally do. Also, take advantage of everything that is offered to you from food to field trips to weekend trips. Lastly, beware of conversion rates and budget, budget, budget.
I am a senior Global and International Studies major with on a focus on East Asian Studies. I also minor in Communication Studies and Chinese Language and Culture. I spent my fall 2016 sophomore year at The Beijing Center in China. Having loved my experience, I caught the travel bug and decided to flee again to Seoul, South Korea on the Sogang University Global Exchange Program during the spring semester of 2018. Studying abroad in both China and Korea gave me an inside look at the vibrant traditional culture, politics and the technology industry of East Asia. Living there also allowed me to advance my linguistic skills in Mandarin and Korean immensely.
My fondest memories of South Korea would be visiting the traditional markets. It’s chaotic, busy, colorful, loud and stimulates your senses. From bizarre foods to street desserts, the traditional markets embodied authentic local life within one to two blocks. It became on of my favorite places eat great food and catch up with some friends.
In Beijing, Climbing the Great Wall of China was probably a turning point for me and it was one of the craziest things I have ever done. Physically and metaphorically, I believe I overcame one of life’s highest obstacles.
The best advice I can give you is to open your mind and be flexible. There is a bigger world out there that is unfamiliar and maybe even a little scary. Regardless, be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Studying abroad allows us to step out of our daily routine and to try new things.
Hi! My name is Bejoy and I am a junior at Loyola. I was born in India and came to the states at a young age. Currently my major is Health Systems Management here at Loyola. I would like to complete my bachelors and then go onto get my MBA in healthcare administration. In my free time, I like to stay active and play basketball.
Recently I went back to India the summer of 2018. I loved being back and getting an understanding of my culture and just exploring. The coolest part about being back was being able to understand the daily lives of people. It is very different than our lives in the states. There, People usually spend their day farming or they own small pop up shops. This was different for me to see as most people just had their own schedules and didn't have a set of rules and regulations to follow. Anywhere you go abroad, it's really neat to see how people in other countries operate.
My fondest memory from India was being able to ride an elephant, it was scary and amazing at the same time.
My one tip for students who want to study abroad is plan early, get in touch with our advisors to come up with a plan. You can only expand your knowledge by going abroad, so I recommend going abroad. It's fun and a learning experience! |
This is the only research oriented M.Sc. degree in Software Engineering in Bangladesh.
Software engineering is a systematic and disciplined approach to developing software. It applies computer science, mathematics and business principles and practices to the creation, operation and maintenance of software systems. It is now more than an integrated approach of design, development, QA and maintenance rather than only programing. Therefore it becomes increasingly important that while understanding developing technologies and architectures and their influence on software engineering processes, research for novel methods and methodologies on those very issues. The research is the only sustainable way of meeting the ever increasing global demands.
CNN/Money Magazine (2011) just rated software engineering as the number one best job for salary and opportunities []. Software Engineering graduates gain employment as software developers and testers, software architects and designers, team leaders and project managers, and executive-level positions in software development projects. At the same time, the appeal of research and development on new findings gradually creating inroads in this popular market. Even in Bangladesh, world reputed companies like Samsung, LG and many others are opening their research and development centers.
The proposed Master of Science in Software engineering degree will encompass a wide range of activities covering software engineering practice, software architectures, formal design methods, automated verification, computational models and foundations in concord with the traditional computer sciences. Mary Shaw shows in his famous journal on research in software engineering that there are six typical phases in this very new area of research which distinguished software engineering research from other traditional fields like Physics, Chemistry etc. Those are: Basic research, Concept formulation, Development and extension, Internal extension and exploration, External extension and exploration and Popularization. The aim of this proposed program is to introduce those formal phases to the prospective students, and thus to make them ready for this newest challenge in the industry.
This will be an elite degree for those students who have excellent grades and also possess strong communication skills together with an outward worldly focus and personality.
A four years BIT (SE) (or BSc in Software Engineering degree) is the qualification for entering into this one and half year Masters program.
This will be a three semester (one and half year) full time program, where there will be two explicit parts. Half the semester credits will be allocated for theoretical studies to prepare students to do research. The rest will be allocated to do research and formal publications. |
Samsung's having a rough time of it currently, thanks to a small number of its new flagship device, the Galaxy Note S7, catching on fire during charging.
The fires are due to a small fault in some lithium-Ion batteries in Note 7 devices; even though only a small number of fires have so far occurred, the whole affair is a disaster for Samsung which has had to issue a worldwide recall of the smartphone.
Not only that, but airlines around the world are banning people from using or charging their Note 7s on board planes.
Samsung will probably have to rename the Note 7 after the spontaneous combustion fiasco, and also take a hard look at its battery manufacturing processes because the risk of lithium-ion batteries catching fire is real.
If you want to see what it looks like when lithium batteries burst into flames, there are heaps of videos on YouTube that'll show you. Don't try to poke a hole into the batteries or overcharge them yourself though: the combustion can be very violent and there's usually lots of toxic smoke billowing out as well.
While lithium-ion batteries currently represent the best compromise between energy storage capacity, size and price, researchers are working on alternatives - mainly because lithium-ion batteries are known fire hazards.
If the risk of lithium-ion batteries is well documented and has been known for years, where does that leave consumers who buy devices with the power source in terms of insurance?
For instance, I've been thinking about having a Tesla Powerwall or a Panasonic house battery installed to try them out in conjunction with solar power generation and to help with electricity cuts which usually happen when I can least afford it.
However, both the Tesla and Panasonic house batteries contain lithium-ion batteries which does make me a little nervous.
Perhaps unnecessarily so: Tesla senior marketing and communications manager Heath Walker pointed me to the Powerwall manual which outlines emergency procedures for the battery in case of fire.
"Like any device that has electricity there is a chance of fire, however the design and delivery of the power with Powerwall minimises this risk drastically," Walker said.
He did not think it would matter for house insurance, something that IAG's national technical specialist Chris Lysaght confirmed to me.
"For any house battery - installing and using these in accordance with the manufacturer's/supplier's instructions would not affect a person's house insurance," Lysaght said.
It's good to see that insurers will cover house and other's property in case of a battery fire, but don't be tardy in returning an expensive phone like the Galaxy Note 7 to the manufacturer in case there's a recall.
Like any device that has electricity there is a chance of fire, however the design and delivery of the power with Powerwall minimises this risk drastically.
"If a phone catches fire we would not expect that to invalidate the insurance for the resulting fire damage to other insured property, but the phone itself may not be covered for its self-destruction. We would hope most people would take up any supplier's/manufacturer's offer to resolve known problems in a recall situation," Lysaght added.
In addition to the above, if you have any old phones or other devices with batteries lying in a drawer somewhere, don't take the risk of them potentially catching fire and dispose of them.
Disposing the batteries could be a challenge, actually. I'm not suggesting anyone should panic, but the lithium-ion battery disposal situation needs to taken seriously. There are billions of devices with the combustible power sources out there, with more being made every day. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have given much thought to where they'll end once they're no longer usable though. |
Management accounting practices of firms are determined by the scope and amount of information expected from them. Therefore, management accounting practices might differ among firms or countries. This study aims to determine the management accounting practices used by manufacturing firms in Turkey and why these practices are used, through employing a questionnaire. In addition, the adoption rates of these practices are compared with six previous studies on the matter. This study suggests possible reasons for the use of these practices and intentions to use them in the future in Turkey. The findings indicate that the rates of adoption of traditional management accounting practices are higher than those of recently developed techniques. The adoption rates obtained in Turkey are seen to be higher than those obtained from the previous six studies.
Since the 1980s, economical and technological changes and evolution in consumer preferences have affected not only firms' products and services but also their production processes. These changes have altered the amount and scope of information expected from management accounting. Thus, management accounting practices have been developed in line with these expectations. Moreover, these practices are determined by the scope and amount of information expected from firms. Practices may differ between firms as well as between countries. The reasons for differences in management accounting systems might be historically, culturally, politically or sociologically based. Because such evaluations are beyond the scope of this study, they are excluded.
In the 1980s, Turkey developed programmes aiming to facilitate the development and foreign expansion of its economy. Until the 1990s, important steps had been taken towards agro-industrialisation of the economy. In subsequent years, production structures changed and significant development was achieved in many areas, especially textile-confection, the automotive and automotive supply industry, durable goods, machinery and construction, and the significance of agriculture decreased in industrial production. In the 2000s, with the effect of globalisation and the custom union agreement with the EU, Turkey became an important centre of attraction for foreign capital. At the same time, Turkish firms' exports and foreign investment increased. Moreover, Turkey was affected less by the global crisis and took advantage of the emerging opportunities.
It is expected that accounting is developed by professional accountants and professional accounting associations in accordance with the information needs of accounting users. However, in Turkey, financial accounting is organised by the state. Since 1992, the Ministry of Finance has made arrangements covering all public and private sector enterprises, except for banks and insurance firms, for tax concerns. Uniform charts of accounts and financial statements are required from the enterprises covered in these arrangements. On the other hand, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey has made arrangements for open corporations with the aim of regulating disclosure. Furthermore, the Turkish Accounting Board has translated the International Accounting Standards and the International Financial Reporting Standards and has published them as Turkish Accounting Standards since 2002. In addition, management accounting practices are developed in line with management needs in Turkey. These needs are structured by increased exports, the going public of firms, institutionalisation and capital structure becoming multinational. Our study, like the previous studies that we use to compare management accounting practices in Turkey, aims to determine the degree to which management accounting practices have been adopted. We do not explore the causes of greater or lesser adoption of management accounting practices. However, independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare scores relating to the aims of using management accounting practices and adoption of management accounting practices for each grouping, for instance, indigenous Turkish firms, or multinational firms whose markets are primarily European or Asian; and open or closed corporations in Turkey.
This study investigates aims of using management accounting practices in Turkey and compares the adoption levels of management accounting practices in different countries. It investigates the extent to which large Turkish manufacturing firms have implemented various traditional and recently developed management accounting practices, the purpose of using those practices and their intentions to use them in the future. It compares the data acquired from six previous studies about the adoption of management accounting practices in different countries with the data obtained from Turkey. Thus, it aims to determine the adoption levels of management accounting practices on the basis of country.
Increasing accounting information needs have caused advances in cost accounting; thus, management of costs has come to the fore. Moreover, under the competition conditions resulting from globalisation, strategic management, strategic management accounting and strategic cost management have been developed. Thus, management accounting practices such as planning and budgeting, costing systems, performance evaluation, decision-making and strategic analysis are being developed in line with the development of management accounting.
Cooper and Kaplan (1992), Innes and Mitchell (1997), Malmi (1997), Anderson and Young (1999) and Sion et al.(2002) define and examine the practices of such models presented as activity-based costing and strategic management accounting in the literature. Bjørnenak and Olson (1999), Malmi (1999) and Malmi and Ikäheimo(2003) analyse such models as activity-based costing, activity-based management, balanced scorecards, life cycle costing, target costing, strategic cost management and economic value adding (EVA) systems. In Bjørnenak and Olson's study (1999), differences between activity-based costing and causes of cost in strategic cost management and cost drivers are indicated. Bromwich and Bhimani (1994) specify that many enterprises carry out practices such as just in time, total quality management, materials requirement planning, activity-based costing, target costing, throughput accounting, life cycle costing, backflush accounting and others. In addition, they propose both financial and nonfinancial measures for companies. Shank and Govindarajan (1993) develop strategic position analysis, value chain analysis and cost driver analysis in strategic cost management. Thus, a step is taken from strategic management accounting to strategic cost management. Later, studies by Kaplan and Norton (1996), Ittner and Larcker (1998), Malmi (2001), Hussain (2005), Bhimani and Langfield-Smith (2007) and Verbeeten and Boons (2009)systematically develop and investigate financial and nonfinancial measures of performance and contribute to strategic management accounting.
Management accounting practices of firms might show discrepancies among firms and countries. Many studies have been conducted to research management accounting practices in different countries and the benefits obtained and expected from them, and to reveal differences in practice among countries. In this area, studies carried out especially in the second half of the 1990s are significant. These studies are summarized in Table 1 (Research of management accounting practices).
Twenty-one manufacturing companies in the UK.
Many firms tended to use the financial measures; an optimal mix of specific financial and nonfinancial indicators did not exist.
A questionnaire was sent to 140 Australian manufacturing firms; 78 were returned.
Adoption levels of traditional practices are on the whole higher than those of modern ones, and benefits from traditional management accounting practices are greater than benefits from modern management accounting practices. Also, the study reveals that most of the big Australian firms emphasised the importance of nonfinancial information and adopted more strategic focuses.
A questionnaire was sent to 1000 large-scale manufacturing firms in Japan and Australia; 231 were returned from Australia and 217 were returned from Japan.
Cost control practices are more effective in Australian firms as management accounting practices, whereas more emphasis is put on cost planning and cost cutting practices in the product design phase in Japanese firms.
A questionnaire was sent to 1292 firms in New Zealand, the UK and the USA; 314 were returned.
Competitor accounting and strategic pricing are the most widely used, while most of the strategic management accounting practices are not widely used. Similar levels of strategic cost management usage were found in cross-country comparisons.
A questionnaire was sent to 246 large and middle-scale manufacturing firms in India; 60 were returned.
Significant differences are found between the adoption levels of Indian firms and the results of Chenhall and Langfield-Smith's study (1998) of management accounting practices and the benefits gained and expected from them.
A questionnaire was sent to 132 Finnish manufacturing firms; 51 were returned.
The results of management accounting practices are compared with the study of Chenhall and Langfield-Smith (1998) based on Australian data.
A questionnaire was sent to 650 English food and drink firms; 122 were returned.
In contrast to activity-based costing and full costing, direct costing is commonly used, which is significant. Despite limitations of traditional budgeting techniques, they still continue to be a cornerstone of the management accounting, and balanced scorecards and other nonfinancial performance measures are considered to be important; 40% of businesses use them. Also, product profitability analysis is used frequently.
A questionnaire was sent to 146 big Greek accommodation firms; 85 were returned.
Traditional management accounting practices are more common and they are more likely to use new techniques, such as activity-based cost practices, balanced scorecard and benchmarking.
A questionnaire was sent to 97 large Greek manufacturing companies; 83 were returned.
Implementation rates for many currently developed practices were of a high level and similar to those presented in the other countries. On the whole, traditional management accounting practices were found to be implemented slightly more than currently developed ones. There is an increasing trend for firms to place greater emphasis in the future on recently developed techniques instead of traditional ones, particularly on performance evaluation techniques.
The sample of this study is the big manufacturing firms listed as the first 500 firms by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI). The ICI is an organisation with over 13,000 members, 98% of which are big and medium-sized firms. This organisation follows developments and their effects in Turkey and throughout the world in order to find solutions for any arising problem. The ICI's members are manufacturing firms and their focus is on manufacturing, even though some may also provide services related to their products. Firms with a main focus on service provision are omitted from this study.
In our study, a questionnaire was prepared based on the studies of Chenhall and Langfield-Smith (1998), Wijewardena and Zoysa (1999), Joshi (2001), Hyvönen (2005), Pavlatos and Paggios (2009) and Angelakis et al.(2010). The survey instrument was piloted by sending it to 10 large manufacturing firms and amended in accordance with feedback received.
The questionnaire was sent as an attachment to the e-mail addresses of accounting department managers of firms. In the case of 28 sample firms, the questionnaire could not be sent, for example, because e-mail addresses were unavailable. Therefore, the number of firms in the sample was reduced to 472. The questionnaire was sent five times from November 2009 to February 2010. Eighty questionnaires were returned, making the return rate 17%.
In this section, we report the empirical results. Section 4.1 describes the demographic features, Section 4.2 the aims of using management accounting practices and Section 4.3 the adoption of management accounting practices.
In order to determine the demographic features of the subjects, respondents were asked about the sector of the firm, the number of employees, the age of the firm, the position in the firm of the individual respondents and the organisation of management accounting in the firm. Table 2 (Demographic features) reports the demographic features of the firms.
Section E: is management accounting a different branch?
Section F: are there any cost accounting and management accounting practices?
Section G: frequency of use of cost accounting and management accounting information?
The majority of participants are in automotive and automotive supply, food, construction and textile-confection industries. Of the firms, 85% have 250 or more employees, which was to be expected, as the sample is composed of big firms. Almost 85% of firms have existed for more than 20 years, whereas 6.3% have existed for 16–20 years. Only 8.7% of the firms have existed for less than 16 years. Questionnaire respondents were, largely, the managers of older big firms. Of the respondents, 15% were senior managers, whereas 40% were accounting managers and 19% were accounting employees.
Eighty per cent of the participant firms have a separate management accounting department. Of the respondent firms, 97.5% have cost accounting and management accounting practices. The firms' usage frequency of cost accounting and management accounting information was also researched. Table 2 reports that 61.3% of the subjects always use this information, 32.5% often use it and 6.2% sometimes use it.
Participant and non-participant firms are grouped as indigenous Turkish or multinational firms, with primarily European or Asian markets, and as open corporations or closed corporations. Distribution of the firms is presented in Table 3 (Distribution of firms). Indigenous Turkish firms and multinational firms' percentages appear close to each other in terms of participants and non-participants. The percentage of non-participant firms with primarily European markets is higher than that of participant firms. More open corporations took part in our study than closed corporations.
This study reveals the aims of the firms using management accounting practices. In the questionnaire, firm managers were asked to evaluate their intention to use management accounting practices according to a five-point Likert-type scale. Table 4 (Aims of using management accounting practices) summarizes the motivations for using management accounting practices. The means of the answers are between 4.74 and 4.16; standard deviations are between 0.81 and 0.47. Analysing the order of importance of these aims reveals that cost control, information for pricing decision and cost cutting are the top three aims.
H0: There is no significant difference in scores within each group.
H1: There is a significant difference in scores within each group.
Hypothesis H0 was accepted for all aims of using management accounting practices, in the assessments of each group, taking into account Levene's test for equality for variance values because all significant values (2-tailed) were calculated as p > 0.05. Thus, there is no significant difference between indigenous Turkish firms and multinational firms whose markets are primarily European and Asian, and between open and closed corporations, in terms of all aims of using management accounting practices.
Hypothesis H0 was rejected concerning the adoption of management accounting practices for cash budgeting and transfer pricing between indigenous Turkish firms and multinational firms; transfer pricing, EVA, quantitative techniques, customer profitability analysis and quality function deployment between firms whose markets are primarily European or Asian; fixed/variable cost analysis, annual budgets, benchmarking and competitive cost analysis between open corporations and closed corporations. Thus, significant differences are found regarding the adoption rates of some management accounting practices between groups of indigenous Turkish and multinational firms whose markets are primarily European or Asian, and open or closed corporations. Table 5 (The results of independent-samples t-tests) reports the results of the independent-samples t-test.
Differences are found between indigenous Turkish companies' and multinationals' management accounting practice adoption means; they are higher among the multinationals. Possible reasons for the widespread use of these practices among multinational firms may be more intra-group relations between these firms, and the need for better tracking of cash flows. Differences are also found between the adoption means of practices for firms whose markets are primarily European and those whose markets are primarily Asian. The means are higher among firms whose markets are primarily European, except for transfer pricing. Possible reasons for the widespread use of these practices in these firms are more intra-group relations between these firms, and their increased need for information. The adoption rate for transfer pricing in firms whose markets are primarily Asian is higher than those for firms whose markets are primarily European. The firms whose markets are primarily Asian may also have subsidiary companies in Asian countries. Thus, they may be using transfer pricing. Differences are also found between open and closed corporations' practice adoption means; they are higher among open corporations. The reason for the widespread use of these practices in open corporations may be their greater need for disclosure.
Hypothesis H0 was accepted for the adoption of other management accounting practices between indigenous Turkish firms and multinational firms, firms whose markets are primarily European and firms whose markets are primarily Asian, and open corporations and closed corporations because all significant values (2-tailed) were calculated as p > 0.05. Thus, there is no significant difference between indigenous Turkish firms and multinational firms whose markets are primarily European or Asian and open corporations and closed corporations in terms of adoption of management accounting practices.
This study compares the adoption rates of management accounting practices in Turkey with those in six previous studies. The researched management accounting practices whose adoption rates are explored are planning and budgeting, costing systems, decision support, performance evaluation and strategic analysis practices. Table 6 (Adoption rates of management accounting practices) summarizes the adoption rates of these management accounting practices. There are differences between the time, countries and sectors in which these studies were carried out; however, a general comparison can be made.
On the whole, traditional budgeting practices are used more commonly than more recently developed practices in Turkey and the other countries explored in prior research. In all countries, including Turkey, very high adoption rates are determined in all such planning and budgeting practices as annual budgets, capital budgeting and cash budgets. Flexible budgeting is researched by Pavlatos and Paggios (2009). Their questionnaire was applied only in the hospitality industry. While their study reports this rate as 15%, we found it to be 58% in Turkey. Capital budgeting techniques' adoption rates in all studies are higher than in our study. The adoption rate of just in time inventory/budgeting is 78% in Turkey. There is no information about this system in the six previous studies.
It is seen in Table 6 that traditional costing practices are used more commonly than more recently developed practices. After analysing the adoption rates of costing systems, it is determined that, in Turkey, in general, an adoption rate of over 50% exists for traditional practices; this rate is similar to rates in the other countries. However, adoption rates of life cycle costing, activity-based costing, target costing, kaizen costing and quality costing practices are below 50% in Turkey. Kaizen costing and quality costing practices are not included in the previous six studies. In the other studies, except for Pavlatos and Paggios (2009), Joshi (2001) and Hyvönen (2005), the activity-based costing adoption rate is over 50%, and it can be argued that firms in Turkey lag behind some of the firms in other countries in terms of adopting these practices.
The adoption rates of decision support practices in Turkish firms are higher than in other countries – except for the rates found in the studies of Chenhall and Langfield-Smith (1998) and Hyvönen (2005). Transfer pricing is involved only in our survey. Quality function deployment, which is also not considered in the other studies, is included in decision support practices and is researched. This practice is used as a supplementary practice to conduct the design of a new product in line with customer needs and requests, and to adapt the firm's processes to customer requests. In this research, the adoption rate of quality function deployment was found to be 43%, which can be said to be rather high.
In Turkey, adoption rates are below 50% for performance evaluation practices. There is no information in the other studies about most of these practices. On the other hand, the adoption rates for balanced scorecards, EVA and value engineering were found to be higher in the studies of Chenhall and Langfield-Smith (1998), Hyvönen (2005) and Angelakis et al. (2010) than the rate we found. Value engineering is researched in our study and in Angelakis et al.(2010). The adoption rates are 12% in our study and 60% in Angelakis et al. (2010).
The adoption rates recorded for strategic analysis practices such as strategic pricing, competitive cost analysis, considering customers as assets and customer profitability analysis differ in Turkey and range from 18% (strategic pricing) to 62% considering customers as assets. There is no information about adoption rates for these practices in the studies of the other countries, except for Pavlatos and Paggios (2009). The adoption rate for customer profitability analysis found by Pavlatos and Paggios (2009) is higher than Turkey's adoption rate.
Globalisation, economical and technological developments and changes in customer preferences have recently changed firms' products and services and their design, manufacturing and presentation processes. Thus, the scope and amount of information firms expect from accounting have also changed. In line with the changes in these expectations, there has been a shift from cost accounting to management accounting, strategic management accounting and strategic cost management. Therefore, management accounting practices might differ among firms or countries. This study aims to determine the management accounting practices used by manufacturing firms in Turkey and why these practices are used, through use of a questionnaire. In addition, the adoption rates of these practices are compared with six previous studies on the matter.
In our survey, firm managers were asked to evaluate their intention to use management accounting practices according to a five-point Likert-type scale. It can be said that strategic aims are given more importance in Turkey. A general comparison shows, with only a few exceptions, that the adoption rates of management accounting practices in Turkey are higher than those obtained by the six previous studies.
It can be argued that in Turkey and in the countries explored in the prior studies, traditional budgeting and costing practices are generally used more often than those developed recently. In costing systems, except for batch/job costing and activity-based costing, the adoption rates obtained in Turkey are higher than the rates in all the other studies, which leads to the conclusion that there is a higher adoption rate for costing systems in Turkey. The adoption rates for decision support practices in Turkey are higher than in many countries. In Turkey, the adoption rates obtained for performance evaluation practices are below 50%. Additionally, except for balanced scorecards, EVA and value engineering, we found higher adoption rates for the other practices than those in the other studies. While the adoption rates for strategic analysis practices in Turkey range from 18 to 62%, there is no information on the adoption rates for strategic analysis practices in the other countries, except in Pavlatos and Paggios (2009).
Finally, in our study, higher rates for traditional planning/budgeting and costing practices are found in Turkey than in the other countries, but lower rates for activity-based costing, life cycle costing and target costing practices are found. Further, lower rates for performance evaluation practices are also found in Turkey than in the other countries. However, similar rates for decision support practices are found in Turkey and in the other countries. In summary, in Turkey, traditional budgeting and costing practices are used more frequently. Recently developed management accounting practices, such as activity-based costing, life cycle costing and target costing, are used at lower rates.
This study's respondents consist of manufacturing firms, 39% of which are multinational firms, 65% of which have markets that are mainly European and 38% of which are open corporations. They have large amounts of exports. They were chosen because they are considered to be important firms that have adapted to global competition conditions. However, given that the sample consisted only of large firms, and that there may be non-response bias, respondents may not represent all the manufacturing firms in Turkey. Nevertheless, the study can offer important results regarding the comparison of management accounting practices of important firms in Turkey with those of firms in other countries. Despite its potential limitations, this study has important implications. Future studies should examine why firms are adopting fewer recently developed management accounting practices. |
Materials used in solar-driven applications such as photovoltaics, solar-fuel generation, pollutant remediation, and other photocatalytic processes are evolving, increasingly multifunctional, and complex. Many are researching new ways to capture solar-light and utilize its charge in a proficient manner. The intimate coupling of low bandgap chalcogenide nanocrystals with wide bandgap oxide surface to enhance a broad band solar-spectrum absorbance, facile charge separation/transportation and boost in the efficiency is an area of immense interest. Our researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno have created an improved method to couple the oxide with chalcogenides.
Our invention presents a facile and simple atmospheric pressure-based ‘hot solution dip-casting’ strategy to facilitate in situ coupling of the CdS nanocrystals with the titania (TiO2) surface. Our technology can be applied for solar light harvesting for ‘light to electricity’ production and various solar-driven applications. This unique process to couple the oxide with chalcogenides will benefit the industry because of its exemplary photoelectrochemical results and its numerous applications in the solar industry.
Our method demonstrated a uniform coverage of the CdS nanocrystals over the TiO2 nanotube surface, with the potential to adapt the strategy for other 1 D oxide nanotubes.
Our strategy resulted with higher magnitudes of photocurrents compared to other complex approaches.
Our process improved the stability of the photoresponse compared to composites Our method for the integration of oxide-chalcogenide is much simpler with minimal extraneous additives found in other methods. |
A bunch of us went out with Dr. Tom Erlandson to visit several ponds at the Erlandson Overlook Park (named in his honor). Seems none of us can grow up, eh?
At the first pond, we came across huge egg masses that were hatching. From the edge of the pond, the masses looked like Wood Frog eggs. We scooped some into a pan to observe.
So, what do you think? Wood Frogs? Or Salamanders?
Wood frog tadpoles do have visible gills on the outside at the time of hatching–I observed this last year, and it really threw me for a loop!
In a day or so, they are absorbed or enclosed in some way, yielding that smooth-headed tadpole we expect.
The fact that these are so green (algal growth within masses) and freely floating near surface leads me to say wood frog, too. The salamander masses I’ve seen have a denser feel–as if they’re encased more like a sausage, tend to be sinkers, rather than floaters, and are attached to vegetation. |
“There is nothing that can be done about poor Greece. We are too poor. We have only a lot of rocks for sale. We can only exist on skillful borrowing.” Sounds familiar? No, it isn't contemporary. It's a line from an unpublished novel by Lawrence Durrell, written in the 1960s but set in Greece in the early 1950s.
So not much has changed. When the German tabloid Bild suggested that Greece should sell off Corfu and the Parthenon as part of its asset-stripping, they didn't know that Durrell had foreseen this many years ago: In his novel, a multinational corporation does in fact get control of the Parthenon, in exchange for a “donation to election expenses” to the Greek PM which finds its way to a Swiss bank account.
Durrell had lived on Corfu in the 1930s, in Athens and Kalamata in the first year of the Second World War, and on Rhodes in the transition period 1945-47. His official work in the British foreign service had familiarized him with Greece's postwar situation, so what he wrote in this novel (which I have just finished editing for publication) rings true, then and now.
More and more I see Greece twisted geographically between east and west, north and south, and, as far as the future is concerned, between modernization and tradition. Despite urbanization, most Greeks retain a foothold in the countryside and the islands, with at least a vestigial adhesion to traditional values. As long as they have the internet, they observe local pieties. Despite the imperative to make Greece efficient and entrepreneurial, the job opportunities, especially for the brightest young graduates, are to be found abroad. Despite the demonstrable achievements of the diaspora, the problems of copying them at home are enormous.
And then there's bribery and corruption. I'm a party to it myself. I pay cash for goods and because I don't ask for a receipt I get a hefty discount. I slipped a 50-euro note to a bank manager to “unfreeze” my account when he made it obvious that I couldn't access it until I did so.
I made some reference to a Greek friend of the “little brown envelopes” used for bribes in Ireland. He looked astonished. “You mean you have ‘fakelaki’ in Ireland?” “Of course we do. It's difficult to get planning permission without it.” “But why do you say ‘brown’ envelopes?” I explained that traditionally we use manila envelopes because that is the conventional business format. White envelopes are for above-the-counter transactions. “Brown... Hmm... That brings a whole new aspect to fakelaki.” He went away, thoughtful and inspired.
But he would have been saddened that Western pressure was being exerted to make Greece less Greek. And his brother would have been saddened that Eremitis, one of his old haunts in Corfu, a pristine headland with rare species of flora and fauna, has been acquired by a US-based development company to build a huge hotel, condominium villas, a marina and a shopping mall. What the remote northeast of Corfu will do with a shopping mall is beyond even a novelist's imagination.
No one would deny the need of the Greek exchequer to maximize its capital base by selling state-owned assets. But the property at Eremitis raises questions about the state's responsibility and the entire principle of cost-benefit analysis: Which is greater, the loss to the exchequer of not selling the property, or the cost to the Greek people of losing an irreplaceable area of ecological importance, natural beauty and sociocultural significance?
Selling the national electricity grid or the state railway company or the telecommunications system does not deprive the citizens of electricity or trains or the internet: In fact, it may raise their quality and increase access to them. Selling Eremitis as it stands today would effectively replace it with a completely different asset, neither owned nor controlled by the state.
The imperative to sell assets via privatization fund TAIPED has to be weighed against the cost to Greeks of losing even a small part of their heritage. Even the much larger issue of Macedonia centers on the same crucial question: Which is more important for the future – a pragmatic compromise and a friendly northern neighbor or the evocative name and associations of Greece's historical identity?
Durrell, who knew the area well, set part of his novel in Macedonia, conscious of the ethnic and religious tensions of the region. And the title of his novel? “The Placebo,” of course! |
Abraham Lincoln gets a lot of credit for being a great leader. And he deserves it, but… Frankly, most of us don't really know why he deserves it.
What made him such an extraordinary leader? And does modern research back up his methods?
Here's what Honest Abe did, why it works, and how it can make you a better leader.
In 1861 Lincoln spent more time outside the White House than in it.
And it's believed he met every single Union soldier who enlisted early in the Civil War.
How's that for being an accessible leader?
Lincoln knew people were his best source of information. And accessibility built trust. He spent 75 percent of the day meeting with people.
Lincoln had an open-door policy. Yeah, the President of the United States had an open-door policy.
Guess what? Modern business theory backs him up.
These days the management gurus call it "Managing by Wandering Around." Seriously.
Lincoln was always trying to get the best information so he could make good decisions.
He was constantly emailing and texting on his iPhone… Umm, well, the 19th century equivalent of it, at least.
What do CEO's of the modern era still spend much of their time doing?
The exact same thing Lincoln did: trying to get the information they need to make good decisions.
Despite having the power of the presidency, Lincoln didn't strongarm people; he persuaded them. How did he do it?
When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and a true maxim, that a "drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall." So with men, if you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great high road to his reason, and which, when once gained, you will find by little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause really be a just one.
And it shows in the way he handled subordinates.
To McClellan (10-13-63): "…This letter is in no sense an order."
To Halleck (9-19-63): "I hope you will consider it…"
To Burnside (9-27-63): "It was suggested to you, not ordered…"
Does the modern research agree? Oh yeah.
What's the #1 thing Harvard Business School teaches it's MBA students about negotiation? "They need to like you."
Liking is one of the fundamental principles that leading persuasion expert Robert Cialdini's detailed in his classic book, Influence.
No surprise that people prefer to say yes to a request to the degree that they know and like the requester. A simple way to make things happen in your direction is to uncover genuine similarities or parallels that exist between you and the person you want to influence, and then raise them to the surface. That increases rapport.
Lincoln has a famous quote on the subject: "I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends."
Lincoln always gave credit where credit was due and took responsibility when things went wrong.
By doing this he dodged what Harvard professor Gautam Mukunda says is the most common leadership mistake: hubris.
I write this now as a grateful acknowledgement for the almost inestimable service you have done the country. I wish to say a word further. When you reached the vicinity of Vicksburg… I never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew better than I that the expedition could succeed… I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal acknowledgement that you were right, and I was wrong.
He trusted the judgment of the people who were on the front lines. This is one of the hallmarks of good military leadership.
Looking at the research, what type of leadership works in the toughest situations?
Lincoln's method: being democratic and listening.
Leaders take note: Research shows that not worrying about who gets the credit for an idea is key to influencing people.
Fail to honor people, they fail to honor you. But of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say "We did this ourselves."
Lots of lip service is paid to encouraging innovation these days. What did Lincoln know about innovating?
Well, he's the only U.S. President to ever patent something.
Reward people for trying new things and don't punish them for failure.
By all accounts, Lincoln was a great storyteller and he actively leveraged this skill to win people over.
And research from Stanford backs him up.
Facts and statistics are great but when people hear presentations what do they remember? The stories.
As I've posted many times, storytelling can improve almost every area of your life. Why is storytelling so powerful?
Some new studies suggest if we spend time thinking about stories in our lives, that might be a more effective way of figuring out what is meaningful versus not.
There's a lot to learn from Lincoln.
And people didn't just love Honest Abe because he was a wise leader; he also had a good sense of humor: "If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?" |
How Millennial-Friendly Is Your Workplace?
Millennials watched their parents work long hours without receiving much in return, apart from food on the family table, a roof over their heads, and an occasional vacation — and decided they wanted more for themselves upon entering the workforce. The direct result is a budding generation of employees who have crafted a view of the workplace quite unlike that of any generation that came before them.
Employers are now courting the talent pool of millennials, and if they’re to get and keep it, they have to recognise what these new workers want. This may require adjustments in the office space or the attitudes of management, and more accommodation for work-life balance than ever before, but those are the workplace elements this generation values. If you’re looking to attract and retain millennial workers, here are some changes your company can make.
Millennials are known to be sensitive about their carbon footprint, and some choose the option to bike to work. It eliminates their need to own a car or rely on public transit to get where they’re going. The only problem is, biking can be a sweaty proposition, even in cooler weather.
Providing access to a changing room and showers gives your bike-riding workforce the best of both worlds: the chance to bike AND get clean before sitting down at the office. It may be easier to find space for a changing room than for a shower, but there is the option to make arrangements with nearby gyms to let employees use their showers. And if bike storage is available in the building, see if you can designate it for employees’ bikes — or talk to building management about making a storage room out of any unused space.
Exercise might sound like it doesn’t belong in an office environment, but it does play a role in attracting interest from the talent you want working for your company. Physical activities — especially mindfulness practices like yoga — reduce stress and work-related injuries, making the workday easier for employees. Employers often seek more than 40 hours of work a week from their employees, offering these and other benefits to balance out the extra hours.
Millennials, who prize a work-life balance, may view exercise perks as valuable trade-offs, knowing they wouldn’t be able to fit an off-site exercise or yoga class into a ten-hour workday. Workers among this generation also are often much more health-conscious than previous ones, which means exercise is important. Providing opportunities for a daily exercise or yoga break meets their needs and makes up for the loss of personal time.
Do you have an office space that looks like it came right out of the movie with the same name? If everyone in your office is boxed in by cubicles and closed doors under fluorescent lights, it’s time to redesign that workspace to make it a more comfortable and collaborative environment. Many millennials are already used to working on mobile devices in a variety of settings, so design a space that allows flexibility and enables employees to move “beyond the desk.” Couches, shared work tables, or a café-type setting can provide spaces that let people work together without the formality of a meeting space — and quiet nooks can serve workers who need privacy to focus or make phone calls.
Before you embark on the project, get feedback from current employees about what they want, and discuss your thoughts about creating open spaces. While you won’t be able to incorporate every idea (and the result might just be fewer cubicles and more meeting spaces), but you’ll undoubtedly get input that helps your redesign serve the millennial style of work.
Studies show that millennials are interested in enhancing their abilities, both as workers and as citizens in general. It just makes sense from any perspective to offer training that helps workers (from any generation) excel in their jobs, company, and industry. And although millennials grew up with tech skills practically from the cradle, many still need help gaining “soft skills,” which include important intangibles like communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership, among many others. A workplace that offers this kind of training can not only attract more millennial workers but also take a hand in molding them into effective leaders, which also strengthens the company’s future.
Millennials also know the value volunteering and helping others, so they appreciate learning skills that allow them to become more connected or prepared to offer assistance. A company that offers, for example, first aid and CPR training, foreign language classes, or coaching and mentoring options would likely be seen favourably by millennials. They view organisations that offer classes like this as being concerned about their employees and the world outside.
These are just four possible workplace changes that can help attract millennial workers to your company. The concept of work has changed greatly with the rise of this generational cohort; they want to feel like a company cares about their well-being and development as well as their productivity. A workplace that accommodates and integrates millennial views is likely to attract millennial talent. |
By his second semester on the job in 2009, Eric Nelson, a civics and history teacher at North Lakes Academy in the Minneapolis suburbs, was at a loss. No matter what tool he used -- gripping news articles, an interactive map of YouTube trending videos, a failed-state index -- he couldn't manage to keep his students interested in world events for any extended period of time. "They were just zombies," he recalls.
Nelson's is a common tale. Multiple studies have documented the growing trend of apathy among young Americans toward world events. A National Geographic survey, for instance, found that only 37 percent of young people (18-24) could locate Iraq on a map; 48 percent think that Islam is the predominant religion in India (it's Hinduism); and 20 percent place Sudan in Asia (it's the largest country in Africa).
Throwing up his hands in frustration one day, Nelson turned to his online fantasy football league for a distraction. Instead, what he found was inspiration. Realizing how much he was learning about the NFL in the process of managing his fantasy team, he thought: What if I applied the mechanisms and tools used in fantasy sports to world events? "The next day I went in and [the class] drafted countries," he recalls, "and I scored them based on how many times they were mentioned in the news." And thus Fantasy Geopolitics, an online tool to engage students in world events, was born.
As it turns out, Nelson isn't the first to gamify current events in this manner, but he has been the most successful. In the past several years, short-lived communities for handicapping Supreme Court decisions and congressional movements have sprung up at universities or as one-off projects. But Fantasy Geopolitics is the only such program designed with classroom learning in mind. The tool Nelson has created is robust enough to react to news in real time, yet simple enough for the average sixth- to 12th-grader to use. "Fantasy football sets the standard of fantasy sports," he says, "I believe Fantasy Geopolitics sets the standard for fantasy learning."
It's a big claim, but the program has already seen rapid growth. Within a month of his initial idea, Nelson couldn't keep up with scoring the news manually, so he contracted developer friends to automate the system. And now, what began as a Google spreadsheet has become a full-blown software-as-a-service network. In the winter of 2014, he formally launched the platform online and began raising funds through Kickstarter. Today, some 50,000 students and more than 1,000 teachers are using Fantasy Geopolitics as part of their history, civics and world-events curriculum.
The basics of the game are simple: Teachers sign up, create a league and invite their students to join. Students select countries during a web-based draft, and earn points based on how their territories are performing in the news. Nelson and his developers created software that monitors The New York Times website for names of countries. Every time a nation is mentioned, the student who owns that country receives a point. So, in essence, a story about Croatia has the same value as a quarterback passing for a touchdown. The Fantasy Geopolitics website uses the tracking scripts Nelson and his developers created to populate live maps and leaderboards automatically.
Dashboard view includes rankings, messages and a news feed.
Version 2.0 launched in mid-August. In addition to being optimized for mobile devices, where Nelson says many students track their teams and news, the update brings with it many user-experience improvements. The new Fantasy Geopolitics dashboard includes tools for trading teams, current rankings of the top news-making countries, and a map that color-codes countries based on their current trending status. Pricing for the current school year varies based on league size: The free starter plan allows for up to five players; 100 players costs $99 a year and 250 runs at $198.
According to Nelson, the updates help Fantasy Geopolitics become even more like fantasy sports league dashboards, which are rich in information and context. "I got so into [fantasy football] because there was all this information available about what was happening -- the player updates and team updates," he says. "That can exist here; we just call it news. You can engage with news and interact with it a little more fully. And then if you can adjust your lineup, you compete better."
The leaderboard shows who's on top and what countries they own.
To stay sharp throughout the season, students must closely monitor news about the countries they own, while also keeping an eye on others that might be targets for potential trades. "I discovered that students were actually starting to really study the news to gain a competitive edge from week to week over their peers," says Gerald Huesken Jr., a teacher of history and government at Elizabethtown Area High School in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, who's been using Fantasy Geopolitics in his classroom.
Huesken, Nelson and many other teachers report that students are even taking the game to their own channels, such as Facebook groups and Twitter lists. "They started a Facebook group to talk about the game a little bit," Nelson recalls, "They were trash talking each other on there, but in a smart, informed way, which is super cool. It seemed to be more in their zone, their zone for learning."
Indeed, the idea of the "zone," applies to teaching as much as it does to sports. In fact, so-called competitive fandom has been shown to facilitate learning. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for example, explored how online fantasy baseball-like programs could lead to more-impactful learning experiences in other fields. The authors posited that a goal-based system (one in which you want to earn points and win) encourages players to engage with a large body of content (e.g., news, analysis and statistics) and use that knowledge to their competitive advantage.
Though it's still too early to quantify just how much Fantasy Geopolitics can improve academic performance, there's more than enough anecdotal evidence to prove its worth. Nelson, for instance, says he's noticed an uptick in test scores. Meanwhile, Huesken was pleased to see students in his history classes making connections between historical details and current events in papers and on tests. At the very least, it helps trap wandering minds: "I often use [it] during prom season," says Stephanie Pearson, head of the Contemporary Studies Department at Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Ontario, Canada. "It's a sly way to keep students on task."
Nelson has seen enough to feel confident that his platform has the makings of a powerful learning tool, and so has left teaching to pursue expanding the business and building out the platform even further. Some of the first updates will be simple; the team is starting to roll out an embedded messaging tool, for example, and they're planning to bake in the ability to set up playoffs and tournaments.
But Nelson's vision is more global than that -- literally. Heeding feedback from teachers like Huesken, the site will soon allow for inter-school competitions, which could let leagues across the world from one another compete and collaborate. (There are already teachers using the platform as far away as Spain and Australia.) These collaborations could allow Fantasy Geopolitics developers to format the games around world events, such as the Olympics, and integrate more deeply with videoconferencing tools like Skype and Google Hangouts.
An app is also in the works, but Nelson first wants to focus on adapting the tools he's built for other civics and social-studies lessons. For instance, he's considering developing a US edition for the 2016 presidential election, which will help better convey the Electoral College and process.
Regardless of the subject matter, Nelson believes the software has the unique ability to empower students in the learning process. "Rather than me being the source of knowledge, my students manage their own learning, just like they manage their team," he explains. "[Fantasy Geopolitics] encourages a reimagining of the way learning and curiosity actually works -- a student now owns it, and manages it, and wants to do it." |
As the country celebrates our 150th birthday, citizens are reflecting on what represents their nation. Famous for our wild animals, Canada has been ‘led’ by the beaver since 1975. But is the slap happy rodent really the best candidate for the job? He’s been stumping for so long, perhaps it’s time for a change. With a highly developed sense of smell, impressive eyesight and intelligence, it might just be the grizzly that can bear down on Canada’s concerns.
Skoki in his Calgary Zoo home.
This species keeps up with favourite Instagram trends- why this powerful predator could easily qualify as the nation’s foodie! The grizzly bear’s menu is highly nutritious—70 to 80 per cent is made up of berries and plants, while the rest includes everything from ground squirrels to goats, salmon to sheep, with à la carte options listing caribou, moose and elk. That’s quality local food blog material!
Grizzly Bears and wolves compete for live prey and carcasses, and steal food from each other, but the grizzly’s main threats are human related. Habitat fragmentation and disturbance, collisions with vehicles and human habituation, where they can become “problem bears”.
Like the Calgary Zoo’s famous grizzly male Skoki, bears that are drawn to human food can become ‘lost’ when they continue to have dangerous interactions with people. After numerous run-ins with Parks Canada, Skoki was brought to the zoo as a last effort to avoid putting him down. While he’s thrived here in Canadian Wilds since 1996, Skoki’s genetics are lost to the bear population forever.
We want to keep this burly bear around! A canuck classic, grizzlies in Canada can be found anywhere in Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, sometimes wandering many hundreds of kilometers in search of food. A vote for the grizzly bear is a vote for our pioneering spirit, our lack of fear and love for “all-you-can-eat” specials. |
The Dan River bisects Stokes County from the deep, mountainous ravines of its northwest corner to the broad, rolling landscape of its southeastern border. Along the way the river passes by quiet rural communities and steep forested ridges; the occasional vacation cabin and sentinels of stone cliffs. Bordered by leaning river birch, towering hemlock, delicate dogwoods and thickets of rhododendron, the Dan is an intimate river. Steeped in history, wildlife and modern recreation, the Dan is a resource like no other in the Piedmont.
These sections of the Dan River feature Class I whitewater suitable for most beginning boaters at normal levels. The Dan is a free-flowing stream and subject to large changes in water flow. Check with a local guide or outfitter for more information. |
Fame, is it the same for all things In Naomi Shihab Nye?s poem ?Famous?, she defines the word in her own way. In the implied definition, famous is something that is associated or familiar to a person, place or thing. The concept of fame according to popular culture is a little different. It is more along the lines of something or someone that is celebrated or distinguished for a certain act or function. Therefore the word famous is mostly reserved for celebrities and landmarks. Nye, throughout the poem, gives many examples of ordinary everyday things that are famous to one another. These examples are familiar to each other because of the function and association with a certain event or task. Some of them work hand and hand together, some of them require one another for survival, and some are just famous to one another because of their function. To the popular culture, many of these examples are not famous to everyday people, but are famous to the objects with which they are associated with.
The opening line of this poem is ?The river is famous to the fish? (Nye line 1). |
A friend who is a grandma used to make these for all her grandbabies and she showed me how..
First you measure your crib mattress, length, width and thickness or depth.
Add the length to the thickness times 2. This will be how long you cut your fabric.
Add the width to the thickness times 2. This will be how wide you cut your fabric.
So You cut the fabric to the needed length and width.
Then at each corner you cut out a square to equal the thickness or depth of your mattress.
I split the difference between both the mattresses. More is probably better.
Now you are ready to sew.
First you make mitres at the corners by sewing these two ends together along the box angles.
Then you hem the sheet, I serge for a hem. I should mention if you don’t have a serger, you will need to give yourself 1 more inch all around your rectangle when you first cut it out to make allowance for a hem. You would need to turn 1/4 inch under and then another and stitch for your hem.
I just cut the elastic 27 ” and then I start on the long side of the sheet about 12 inches from the corner turning to the short side. You apply the elastic at the hemline..
Secure the elastic with a back stitch or elastic zig zag stitch. Then I pull and stretch elastic and sew it on with a straight stitch. I hold the starting end with my guide hand, which is my left hand and I pull with my right hand.
A piece of elastic at both ends and you have a fitted crib sheet! These sheets I made yesterday were flannel, very nice for the upcoming cold months!
We make two kinds of tiered skirts. The simple tiered skirt and the “scrappy” tiered skirt. So named because you can gather any of your fabric scraps, put them together in color families and then make a skirt. Your length may vary, but you can usually get them close to your desired length.
Please note, we got some scraps from our son’s quilting, piano teacher. I mean a lot of scraps, they were of many colors and widths. The example pictures are taken on different skirts in different stages. We had a skirt making spree last Friday and Saturday.
We begin by selecting scraps that are in the same color family. We measure our hips, because with an elastic waistband the skirt has to go over our hips!
Then we cut strips of even height, not always the same. The top tier in the above picture is about 5″ tall, the second on this one is approximately 7″ tall, the third is 4″ tall, the 5th is 3″ and the bottom is about 5″. We just used what we had. Then we go from the top and just make each “layer” of strips approximately 3 to 5″ wider than the layer above it. This just gives a little gather to each tier and the skirt lays nice. It can take a lot of fabric to do a tiered skirt. Sometimes there isn’t enough to make a whole tier layer of one color so you can put two or three together to get the length across that you need. It is kind of an adventure to see how it will turn out. Gathering really helps to bring the colors together!
Now, we are ready to sew!
You start by making each layer of strips into tubes by sewing the sides of them together. I do this on the serger. Sewing the fabric right sides together. If you do not have a serger you can sew a straight stitch and do an over cast or, do French seams if you know how.
Next, I serge to finish the very bottom layer, where I am going to hem, and the very top layer where I am going to put my elastic waistband. Note: If your print on your fabric has an “up” check for that before serging.
Next I hem the bottom, and make the elastic casing on the top. This is great to do at the beginning. Normally, because it is a scrappy skirt there is not a lot of hem allowance so I just do a 1/4″ hem.
Then I turn the fabric on the top tier down and make my elastic casing. I let my elastic supply determine what size of casing I make. Also, if the skirt is light weight or heavy weight like denim, I would use 3/4 to 1″ elastic, but these light weight calico’s we used 1/2″ elastic. So, my casing was made at approximately 3/4″. You can use your seam gauge and press this amount in which makes for easier sewing. And pin if needed. Start stitching after the side seam and stop stitching about 3/4″ to 1″ from the starting stitch. DO back stitch!
Then I run “gathering” stitches. You just set your machine to 4 or 4.5 stitch length, on straight stitch setting and sew 1/4″ from the top of each of your tier “tubes”. Start just after a side seam and sew completely around the tube, then as you come completely around, by pass on the under side of your stitch, instead of stitching up to it. By pass about 3″ worth of stitching then cut your thread. DO NOT back stitch. The stitches need to be free to gather.
Pick either the needle stitch or the bobbin stitch and begin to pull the thread, you will see the fabric start to bunch. With your other hand you can run the bunches along the taught thread. You continue this process until the top of your tier tube is the length of the bottom of the tube you want to attach it to.
Now you are ready to put the tiers together. I start at the top and work down. With right sides together, line the bottom of the top tier up to the top of the second tier. Sliding the top tube, which will be turned inside out, over the second tube.
Now, you may pin. I line up side seams or pick where I want the sides to be if I have more than two fabrics. Then I always put the gathered piece up on my machine and the flat bottom of the next tier to the bobbin section of my machine.
As shown here… I don’t pin, so that I can adjust the gathers as I go, if they got too bunched up or not bunched up enough. You can also do this with pinning, you just sew slowly and remove pins as you come up to them and stop if you need to make adjustments.
After you do the top two tiers you can lay out your skirt again and better adjust your subsequent gather stitches and fine tune, where you want your different fabric tubes to come around to the front. Then just work your way down. You are close to done!
This skirt is done except finishing the seams. It is very important to finish seams on a tiered skirt, because in the gathering of each tier, the fabric begins raveling with the motion of running the fabric along the taught thread.
Again, I use the serger, and carefully finish each seam. Careful not to stitch too far over and flattening the seam as I go so I don’t grab some of the next tier that I don’t want to grab. This can also be done with your sewing machine’s over cast stitch.
Now, it is time to run your elastic through. Find the opening you made when sewing your top tier elastic casing in.
You can take the elastic around your waist and cut it about 1″ shorter than your waist. Then take a safety pin and pin to one end of the elastic. Take the other end of the elastic and pin it to the seam next to your casing opening.
This will ensure that you don’t pull it into the casing. Then fish your pin through the casing tube. Use your right hand, or left if you are left handed and push the pin attached to the elastic. Then with your other hand hold the pin and push the casing fabric down the elastic toward the other end. When you get to the opening again. Run your hand along and be sure there are no twists in the elastic.
You are ready to close your elastic. Lay it flat on top of itself, so you don’t have a big bulge and overlap about 1/2 to 3/4″.
Then stitch up and down with an elastic zig zag stitch 2 times for strength. I stitch where the raw edges are to cut down on the bunching too! Then you pull the skirt top and the elastic pops in and you are ready to close up your little opening that you used to put the elastic in. Clip all your hanging threads and you’re all done!
2. Using a seam gauge or ruler you measure from the place you want the hem to be to the existing hem. If it is over 6″ just cut some off. If not you lay your curtain on your ironing board wrong side facing you .
Below is a picture of a 6″ seam gauge if you haven’t seen one, they can be purchased on the notions wall at your fabric store….
3. Start at the end and take the measurement you got in step 2. set your gauge to that measurement. For example..2.5 inches.
4. Lay your gauge on the curtain with the old hem facing toward you and the pinned hem facing away. The curtain will be wrong side up to you but the hem turned up will be the right side of the fabric facing up to you. Let the bulk of the curtain hang off the ironing board between you and the board.
5. Go along from right to left, if you are right handed… press a crease at the designated length you need. This crease will be your new hem line.
6. Go to your cutting surface or just stay at your ironing board and cut off the unneeded fabric. To determine how much to cut off I use the length of the former hem. What the manufacturer of the curtain used. In my friends case it was about 5/8″ . Double that, so you have fabric to turn under. So, 1 1/4″ . Now you can eye it or use your gauge and go along and cut off the unneeded fabric containing the old hem. You are measuring from your newly ironed in crease line.
7. This is how her curtain looked after I cut the old hem off.
The stripe in the fabric makes it a little difficult to see, but down by my thumb you see the crease ironed in and my cut edge. I eyed this one.
8. Now for a beginner you can turn 5/8″ from your cut edge and press wrong sides of fabric together. Pin if desired all along the hem. If you are more comfortable you can just go to your machine and turn under and sew as you go.
9. You already have your other crease line so, actually you will fold your new crease line over once and then over again in toward the first hem marking crease line.
1. some say- stitch with the hem up facing you so you can see what you are doing. This is a great way if your machine has good bobbin tension and your bobbin seam looks as good as your top seam. I haven’t always had that so I adopted this second way.
2. I have always top stitched. I trust my measurements and the seam allowance I choose. for 5/8″ I would choose 1/2″ or so for a seam allowance. The top stitching always seems to look better to me.
Do what makes you most at ease at your work and what will give you the best result.
I hope this helps! This simple tip takes quite a bit of explaining but once you get the idea and practice a few times you’ll be so glad you know the iron in the new hem trick!!
Applique’ is a good way to add a theme to your clothing and household items. It is very simple to accomplish. Especially if you are not a perfectionist!
This is our little lady bug applique with hand embroidered antennae and button embellishment.
For this tutorial, a customer wanted a butterfly on the front of her top. I gave Victoria some different views I would like to see and she drew some up for me. They were nicely detailed, but since this is machine applique’ I had to simplify her designs. These are what she came up with. Well, actually these are my modifications. Hers were much more real looking!
When the customer decides what she wants, I’ll show you the stitching.
tracing paper ( or any other paper to draw your pattern ), pencil, eraser!, scissors to cut paper, scissors to cut fabric, fabric, heat and bond ( a two sided fusing medium), stabilizer, thread, sewing machine, blue wash away marker for detailing, fray check, hand sewing needle, possibly small crochet hook….
O.k. She picked the paisley butterfly…but larger than our sample. So, I cut out a larger one and added the little blue marker wing lines for detail..
Now it is time to trace and cut out heat and bond for the positioning of the applique on the base garment, or project. Be sure to flip your design over to wrong side to trace heat and bond. You want the glue side to be against the back of your design. Since you trace on the paper side you have to flip it.
Next we trim so none of the sticky stuff gets on our iron or ironing board, and we fuse the glue side to the back of the applique’ .
Now we have another preparatory step: Stabilizer for the back of the design so your satin, or zig zag stitches and your design lay nice and flat.
I have graduated to iron on, wash away, tear away stabilizer by Floriani, in the past I have also used extra tissue paper from my patterns, (kind of slippery), Also paper towels, not bad, just hard to clean up and get out of stitches. The point is to have nice flat, even stitches. When pulling and tugging to get your home made, cheap stabilizer out you damage your stitches, it just becomes frustrating. So, I invest in the stabilizer. That said, there was a day that stabilizer just wasn’t in the budget. It’s o.k. to be creative, just know you must take your time when removing it and might possibly need to carefully use scissors.
…Back to our applique, the above picture shows the stabilizer ironed on the back of the garment behind the design. Always make your stabilizer larger than your design, you want stabilizer under your stitches which are bigger than your design.
You can see slightly how much taller than my design the stabilizer is, because I need to make my antennae.
In this next picture observe the top right corner….
It is not nice and flat….
Now, if you look close you can see the threads at the end of the stitches. Don’t cut them. It is good to leave yourself a little more than I did when you take your work off the machine, but, what we want to do is pull the threads through to the back side of the applique’ and tie them off with their bobbin thread.
This can be accomplished two ways: 1. In the above picture I found the top thread and gently pried it with a pin from the back side, checking in the front that the tail was getting shorter to make sure I had the right thread…. Or 2. Leaving a longer top thread, you can actually thread a needle with the thread tail, because it is long enough, and put the needle through the last stitch. This is much easier, but sometimes, if you’re like me, I am hurrying and forget. 🙂 Better to be slower at this!
Now ..below I show using a small crochet hook ( like a 2.5 mm) to help me tie my knot, because I didn’t leave my threads long enough. Confession: I used my machine thread cutter and it just leaves me about a 3/4″ tail which is wonderful in most cases, just not this one. Note: try to tie 2 or 3 knots for durability.
All right moving on.. Just about finished!
Here is the butterfly attennae and all. See my longer threads? It is good to learn from our mistakes!! All I need to do now is put all these threads to the back and tie my knots. On these ones I was able to use the needle method. It was a dream! Then I carefully tear away my stabilizer and moisten my design to erase the blue marker and dissolve the rest of the stabilizer and voila!! A butterfly embellished top!
This customer had some ideas and asked me to make this outfit up for her. She sent me some pictures, measurements and this is what we came up with. I hope she likes it. It is definitely summery!
After sewing the required amount of strips together, i.e. the length you need for your project. You take your sewn strips to the ironing board and press open your seams. they should still have the little triangles from your seam allowance.
The all silver one is the 1/2″ flat fold we are using today. For our aprons, we use the 1″ flat fold and double fold it for a nice edge.
To get your bias strip started you put a corner in and just take a pin and gently pull it through from wide end to small end.
Putting your iron close to the tip gently pull away from the iron while you are following with the iron, while there are still chances to get burnt fingers, after a little practice there are still a great deal fewer ouches than doing the binding without the tool!
Although this is a different fabric it is the 1/2″ bias double folded, bias just really finishes an edge nicely! This width is also what some seamstresses use for “spaghetti bias” trims, you can sew it on top of fabric and curl it around and make stems for flowers and leaves on stems, the possibilities are endless!
O.K. before I get upstairs to do school, I tested some fonts and stabilizers.
This is “Floriani” stitch n wash, fusible water soluble, tearaway stabilizer. So, to embroider you need to stabilize your fabric in order that your stitches look nice and don’t pull on your fabric.
I did this monogram without ironing on and it pulled a little for me. I ironed it when finished but I learned a lesson. Namely, iron on with a lighter weight cotton.
Now, this one I ironed the stabilizer on and stitched and you are looking at an unironed finish. Quite the difference! When I iron it…it wil turn out with a much flatter finish.
Over all I think they turned out sweet!
They are done with their morning chores so…Off to school! |
So here it is – the first blog in a series of three, about rodent gait analysis and what a single footprint can tell us.
So what can one footprint tell you? Well, it could tell you a lot. Simply putting the paw in ink and studying the print left behind is one way to go about it, but there are far more sophisticated ways of footprint analysis. While an ink-print can give you an idea of the print area of a foot, you cannot tell how the animal is distributing his weight across its feet. It also cannot tell you the maximum surface area of a foot touching the ground during the duration of the entire footfall. Modern systems can.
Modern systems that use light to detect a footfall can indicate the intensity of a print, which in turn can correlate with how the animal is bearing its weight. In models of conditions that affect a single limb, the animal often shows less use of the affected paw. This is reflected in a relatively lower intensity of that footprint, which is found in models of arthritis [8,9] and sciatic nerve injury [1,2,4,10].
Maximum contact area and total print area are two different things that cannot be distinguished using a regular ink print. The total print area is the accumulated picture of the entire time the paw came in contact with the ground. It is what would be left behind if you had dipped that foot in ink. But cleaner. The maximum contact area is the area of the foot touching the plate during the time of maximum contact, which is usually smaller than the total print area.
Similar to the changes found in print intensity, a smaller contact area also reflects altered use of the affected limb. Again, in literature this is described in models of arthritis [8,9] and sciatic nerve injury [1,2,4,10]. Other disorders that show one or more affected paws, also show a clear reduction of print and/or contact area, such as models of ischemic stroke [5,7].
On the other hand, research on spinal cord injury reports an increased print and contact area for all four paws in a contusion injury model of spinal cord injury, and a less dramatic but still significant effect in the hind paw print areas in a dorsal cord transection model of spinal cord injury .
The shape of the paw, the length, and how the toes are spread, are important in research on nerve injury, arthritis and pain. These can cause deformation of the feet, altering the parts of the sole that make contact with the ground [1,2,3,4].
The sciatic nerve is a long nerve that originates in the lower back and runs down through the limbs. It branches of in the tibial and the peroneal (also called fibular) nerve. Injury to these nerves in rodents are often used as a model to study nerve regeneration, using print length, toe spread, paw angle and other gait parameters as a behavioral endpoint to measure functional recovery.
Nerve injury can cause “clawing” of the feet. In sciatic or tibial nerve injury, this is often reflected in a longer print but a decreased toe spread, while damage to the peroneal nerve often results in a shorter print with a diminished toe spread. These characteristics are represented in nerve specific indexes; the sciatic functional index (SFI), the tibial functional index (TFI), and the peroneal functional index (PFI). Based on print length (PL), toe spread (TS) and intermediate toe spread (ITS), these are automatically calculated by gait analysis systems.
We can again find the advantage of using modern technology over ink dipping; the more accurate the print is (in other words: no ink smudges), the more accurate these indexes are.
Paw angle is the angle between the paw axis and the body axis or between the paw axis and the direction of movement (the vector). This angle can be affected by abnormalities of the muscles responsible for the placement of the paw, the nerves that innervate these muscles, or even deformation of the bones and joints of the leg belonging to the paw. Changes in paw angle are seen in models of arthritis, ataxia, stroke, and spinal cord injury.
5. Encarnacion, A.; Horie, N.; Keren-Gill, H.; Bliss, T.M.; Steinberg, G.K.; Shamloo, M. (2011). Long-term behavioral assessment of function in an experimental model for ischemic stroke. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 196, 247-257.
6. Hamers, F.P.T.; Lankhorst, A.J.; Van Laar, T.J.; Veldhuis, W.B.; Gispen, W.H. (2001). Automated quantitative gait analysis during overground locomotion in the rat: its application to spinal cord contusion and transection injuries. Journal of Neurotrauma, 18, 187-201.
7. Hetze, S.; Römer, C.; Teufelhart, C.; Meisel, A.; Engel, O. (2012). Gait analysis as a method for assessing neurological outcome in a mouse model of stroke. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 206, 7-14.
8. Möller, K.Ä.; Berge, O.-G.; Hamers, F.P.T. (2008). Using the CatWalk method to assess weight-baring and pain behaviour in walking rats with ankle joint monoarthritis induces by carrageenan: effects of morphine and rofecoxib. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 174, 1-9.
9. Pinho, D.; Morato, M.; Couto, M.R.; Marques-Lopes, J.; Tavares, I.; Albino-Teixeira. A. (2011). Does chronic pain alter the normal interaction between cardiovascular and pain regulatory systems? Pain modulation in the hypertensive-monoarthritic rat. The Journal of Pain, 12, 194-204.
10. Sheu, M.L.; Cheng, F.-C.; Su, H.-L.; Chen, Y.-J.; Chen, C.-J.; Chiang, C.-M.; Chiu, W.-T.; Sheehan, J.; Pan, H.-C. (2012). Recruitment by SDF-1α of CD34-positive cells involved in sciatic nerve regeneration. Journal of Neurosurgery, 116, 432-444. |
Cut and Pate the handouts to the notebook assigned on 10/29 and 10/30.
1) Describe the physical features of SW Asia.
2) Describe the Climate in SW Asia.
3) What is the main economic activity in SW Asia?
ASSIGNMENT 31A In light of recent events...Please write a one page reflection in your journal on how you determine fact from fiction. Please be prepared to share if/when applicable.
Assignment 31B-Please trace or copy the map on page 359 and label each country with their known oil reserves. That chart can be found on page 361.
20-25 minutes of class time provided. Students are to trace a map of the Middle East (SW Asia) and define the political boundaries as well as gulfs, seas, oceans and deserts.
Students will analyze 4 separate events. Using the graphic organizer provided student will complete. Class time provided.
See file above, students provided hand-out in class on 10/17 and 10/18. Actual due dates should be recorded on their planner or smartphone as a reminder. 2-3 presentations per class.
Reflection from High School 1st Quarter and your solutions to the human rights category hand-out. See notes and instructions below. |
The origin of birthstones is believed to date all the way back, to the breastplate of Aaron, which contained twelve gemstones representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Furthermore, there are many myths and legends, about birthstones, centering around these gemstones' healing powers and therapeutic influences. Plenty of people also believe that wearing a gemstone, during its assigned month, truly heightens its healing powers. No matter what you believe, the modern birthstone list--which was established by the National Association of Jewelers in 1912 (and updated, several times, over the years) provides plenty of information about these beautiful gems. |
JACKSON, Mississippi (Reuters) - Mississippi marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers on Wednesday by focusing on his accomplishments of voter registration drives, boycotts and demonstrations rather than his death.
Evers, the first Mississippi field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was shot dead in the carport of his home on June 12, 1963, at a tumultuous time for race relations in the United States.
President John F. Kennedy had sent the National Guard to the University of Alabama the day before to help two black students enroll over the objections of Alabama’s segregationist governor, George Wallace. Martin Luther King’s March on Washington took place two months later.
The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute on Wednesday sponsored a “Celebration on the Green” at the Mississippi Museum of Art in his honor on Wednesday, part of a series of events commemorating his life.
Myrlie Evers, his widow, was among those attending. The museum established an exhibit on both of them that will remain on display through August 18.
Evers’ home, now owned by Tougaloo College, was rededicated on Monday in a ceremony attended by more than 100 people and featured a speech by his daughter, Reena Evers-Everette, who was 8 years old when her father was killed.
Evers-Everette described how she and her brothers begged their father to get up as he lay dying in the driveway.
The Evers home, a green ranch-style house in north Jackson, has undergone renovation and is open to tours by appointment.
Evers had attended a late community meeting on June 11, 1963, and was killed shortly after midnight. Myrlie Evers and their three small children were still awake when Evers got home.
White segregationist Byron De La Beckwith was tried twice on murder charges in 1964, each trial ending with all-white juries failing to reach the unanimous verdict needed to convict or acquit. The investigation was later re-opened, and Beckwith was found guilty of Evers’ murder in 1994. He died in prison in 2001.
The museum celebration followed several other commemorative events in Jackson this week, such as tours of historic civil-rights sites and the screening of civil rights-themed movies.
A “Red Carpet Party” with entertainment by B.B. King and gospel singer Tamela Mann was to be held later on Wednesday, and on Thursday a statue of Evers was to be unveiled at Alcorn State University, his alma mater, in Lorman, about 90 miles away.
“The statue will celebrate his courage, leadership and dedication, and will serve as a stellar example to our students, community and the world,” Alcorn State President Christopher Brown said. |
During the last century the sport of pigeon racing in Mansfield was very competitive, there were two main clubs ‘Mansfield Town Flying Club’, who had their headquarters at the ‘Wagon and Coals’ public house on Ratcliffe Gate (building now demolished) the club was later replace by ‘Mansfield Central Flying Club’ in 1955 and its headquarters was at the ‘Brown Cow Inn’ also on Ratcliffe Gate. The club flew races from the South at distances of 60 miles to over 500 miles in France, the secretary Ken Perry was probably the countries longest serving pigeon club secretary having been in that office for over 50 years until he retirement in 2006.
The other club ‘Mansfield North Road Flying Club’ flew similar distances up to 480 miles from Lerwick in the Shetland Isles north of Scotland . Some members from this particular club took part in the grand national of pigeon racing which was organised by ‘The North Road Championship Club’ the race was from Lerwick and each year men from different parts of the country competed for the prestigious ‘Kings Cup’ this celebrated much sought after prize was famously won four times by Mansfield pigeon fanciers, first in 1933 by Branstone, Son and Smith, secondly by Mr Enoch Stevenson in 1950, again in 1952 by Vic Divit and in 1958 by Arthur Smith.
There are still pigeon clubs in Mansfield but no doubt the heyday was in the 1900???s before the advent of television, computers and ownership of motor cars etc which had led to a decline of interest for the sport in the younger generation.
This is a pigeon basket label that I used on August 10 1960 . It was fixed to the training basket and sent from Mansfield Railway Station to Loughborough Railway Station, costing 3 shillings and sixpence (17½ pence in today’s money) it was a 30 mile regular training flight. The train porter who released the pigeon wrote the time and weather on them.
The Racing pigeon would have a metal ring on one leg which identified it to its owner and on the occasion of a race a rubber race ring would be placed on the birds other leg. The numbers on the rings would be recorded by the race committee. When the bird returned home the rubber racer ring would be put in a thimble and inserted into the clocks thimble chamber and striker on the side of the clock was pressed locking the thimble inside and recording the time. After the race the clocks were opened by the race committee and the numbers on the race rings verified. The clock times would be compared to find the winner.
This clock could be used to time in up to 12 birds coming home from a race. The rubber ring would be taken from the birds’ leg and placed into a thimble which was then inserted into the square chamber on the clock and the striker on the side would be pressed to record the time. This type of clock was used from around 1920 and continued for some 80 years and was a very highly prized possession of the pigeon man until recent years when it was made obsolete by technology. They have now been replaced by quartz digital clocks and electronic scanners. |
Are you frustrated seeing your neighbors — and yourself — trapped in tired ideological rifts and fixations? Can we find common ground between folks who seem implacable foes? When asked about the Big Picture, in speeches and consultations, I try to dig beneath standard divides and clichés like "left-vs-right."
I've assembled a questionnaire to illuminate why you feel as you do about modern issues... and why other smart humans weirdly disagree. Take the survey and share your replies with others, if you're so inclined. Like Socrates, I’m hoping the questions themselves will provoke re-thinking, helping us rise above ideology.
How do you feel wisdom is achieved?
What evidence can you provide to support your point of view?
Which of these views of past or future wisdom do you think dominated the societies of the past? Which is still dominant in myths and storytelling? Is science fiction different — sometimes — in its time-flow notions of wisdom?
Do you feel wisdom is achieved through another source? If so, please describe it and list your evidence.
Obsession with either past or future can almost define a civilization. Your attitude in this area is important because it colors every other political assumption you make, including whether you believe progress is possible, or desirable, or an illusion. Virginia Postrel distinguishes between two ways of dealing with change: anticipation and resiliency. We try to anticipate problems — and we've grown better at it! But ultimately, a civil society must also be strong and resilient enough to deal successfully with the unexpected. But none of that will matter, if your core assumption is that we are fallen creatures, doomed and on a downward path. If that is your core belief, then no amount of statistical evidence for progress will convince you.
read "Science Fiction and the Time Flow of Wisdom"
Are members of our present culture subjected to propaganda? Which members? What kind?
What are the principal propaganda messages circulated today, and how are they disseminated? How effective has this propaganda been?
Name 5 popular modern examples of these propaganda messages being promoted. What are the messages they promote?
People — especially westerners and Americans — tend to resent any suggestion that that our own opinions arose from propaganda... though we mostly think our opponents got their beliefs that way! But what is propaganda? Tally underlying messages in almost every Hollywood film: Isn't the paramount one Suspicion of Authority (SoA), followed by individualism and eccentricity? Don't we all tend to think "I am among the few brave non-conformists out here who can sense what's going on, surrounded by neighbors who are like sheep?" Feeling that way is very satisfying... and that should be a clue! Liberals dread different authority figures than conservatives, but they share the underlying suspicion that someone is trying to become Big Brother. Is this reflex the result of "propaganda" that fills every film? If so, what are other messages — some "good" and others not so much — that we grew up with?
read "The Underlying Memes That Drive Us"
Which of the following best describes how and why you arrived at your present set of political opinions and political agenda?
Logical appraisal of the evidence.
Inherent qualities of my nature, character or intelligence.
The effects of propaganda or upbringing.
Pursuit of my agenda may result in personal advantage.
Now answer the same question about why your political opponents hold the opinions & agendas they do.
Inherent qualities of their nature, character or intelligence.
Pursuit of their agenda may result in personal advantage.
Do you think your opponents would agree or disagree with the way you answered just now? How do you think they would respond, if asked the very same questions about their beliefs... and yours?
We tend to find reasons to justify "me and folks like me." Recent science has shown that folks who consider themselves to be highly rational will shut down their critical faculties, when confronted with evidence that that they might be wholly or partially wrong about something. And yes, this holds even if your side truly is 90% in the right! Learn more about this! Notice, if you find yourself in an echo chamber of folks repeating the same mantras. Even if those mantras are mostly right and your side is just, that sameness should irk you and make you want to scratch at your comfort zone. Actually go out and talk to someone unlike yourself.
read "Survival of the Fittest Ideas"
I think ideas are inherently dangerous or toxic. People are easily deceived. An elite should guide or protect gullible masses toward correct thinking (Memic Frailty).
I believe children can be raised with a mixture of openness and skepticism to evaluate concepts on their own merits. Citizens can pluck useful bits wherever they may be found, even from bad images or ideologies (Memic Maturity).
If your answer to the preceding question was Memic Frailty, do you believe you should be selected as one of the elite who help encourage correct thinking? Why?
If your answer to the preceding question was Memic Maturity, do you hold "the masses" in contempt for not always agreeing with you? Why?
Do you hold another viewpoint on the toxicity of ideas? If so, please describe it and list your evidence.
Of course there are always scoundrels. I worry about any elite seeking to avoid accountability and gather power over our lives, while rationalizing they are the good guys, doing it for a greater good. But most of us then fixate on just one kind of worrisome elite, suspecting them of schemes to become Big Brother. Democrats worry about conspiring aristocrats and conniving corporate CEOs. Republicans fear snooty academics and meddlesome bureaucrats. Fundamentalists see secular elitists conspiring to spread filth. Nationalists fret over foreign powers. Others focus on organized crime or a burgeoning techno-elite. In truth, human nature means that all power centers try to avoid scrutiny. All need it.
With whom would you ally? Which of the following persons would you listen to?
Person A, who agrees with my long-range dreams and goals, but disagrees profoundly with my program for getting there.
Person B, who agrees with my near-term political agenda and despises the same opponents, but has a very different image of what kind of society we should eventually arrive at.
How often have your political or other discussions with your allies actually focused on the distant goal? What is that goal?
Do you have a clear image of the future society all your efforts are aimed at achieving? Describe your program for getting there.
How have you verified that your "allies" have the same destination in mind?
Might believers in modernity, whether "liberal" or "conservative," form coalitions that agree to promote — boldly and openly — a dozen deeply-held, high-priority agenda items, and refuse to be lured back into party politics on these issues?
read "Alliance for a Modern World"
Can competition be creative, or last for long, when human beings are always tempted to cheat?
Do you believe there is a balance between too little regulation — allowing cheating — and too much, that stifles?
It is fifty years since the great philosopher C.P. Snow gave his famous address lamenting how the academic world had divided into "two cultures" — one scientific and the other consisting of the arts, the humanities and so on. Underlying this divide was the noxious notion that limited so many of our ancestors... the Zero Sum Game... the assumption that you cannot achieve new powers without abandoning or losing something else. And make no mistake, this way of thinking dominated nearly all human cultures, leading to the banal and stifling logic of feudalism.
Are we wise or knowledgeable enough to prescribe ideologies for our descendants? How should we transmit these ideologies to our descendants?
Focus all efforts on achieving total victory for one's particular political agenda and then leave the transformed world to them.
Concentrate on achieving pragmatic solutions, raise a new generation that is appreciably wiser and more aware than ours, and then leave the rest of the details to them.
Do you know of another way to transmit ideologies? If so, please describe it and list your evidence.
Ever since human beings discovered metals and agriculture, nearly all complex civilizations shared a common structure, a hierarchy of privilege reminiscent of a pyramid, with a super-empowered few on top, directing the labors of obedient masses below. Across 4,000 years and nearly every continent, aristocracies (and the clerics who preached on their behalf) colluded to ensure that the ruling oligarchy would stay on top.
read "Political Totemism and the Danger of Metaphors, Part 4"
Do you believe in evolution? Are humans still at least somewhat part of the animal kingdom?
What politically relevant things, if any, can we learn from fields like mammalian ethology, psychopharmacology, anthropology, and the historical behavior of real human tribes?
If discrepancies appear between these sciences and our idealization of human nature, should the idealization be revised? If information appears that shows an intrinsic difference between basic human nature and the ideal way we "ought to be," what is your response?
The so-called information about our basic nature must be wrong.
Society must adapt and conform to information about our basic nature, letting us be ourselves, since people are what they are.
The more we learn about 'basic human nature,' the more clearly we need vigorous guidance to encourage behavior more appropriate than we would 'naturally' engage in. This can be achieved by hewing to standards that have been known for generations.
Information about our basic nature helps us understand the raw material from which a new/better humanity might emerge.
Based on your reply to the previous question, how would you resolve the differences?
Which type of coercive repressor destroyed freedom and markets in most cultures, across 4,000 years of recorded history? Was it socialist levelers? Religious zealots? Or kings and feudal lords? If you can’t form a clear picture of the most frequent failure mode in your mind, perhaps some closer look at history might be in order?
As George Santayana said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
And as Joseph Miller said: "Those who ignore the mistakes of the future are bound to make them."
Historically, which prescription has best helped to maximize human achievement, minimized costly errors and ensured freedom/happiness etc.?
A cohesive shared value system.
Can you think of historical examples to support your claim?
In the last 6,000 years of darkness and cruelty, one simple lesson has emerged — that human beings who are frightened, ignorant, tribal or desperate have nearly always behaved badly. People who are insecure will steal and cheat; they will all too often gang up on each other, and conspire to create dynasties. The Marxists are right, that some kind of satiation must be achieved — and libertarians are right that markets are crucial in order to get there. But absence of fear is key.
Consider the following two approaches that have been used for many generations by people and societies attempting to solve problems or change their world: Which approach do you prefer?
The Left-Handed Approach: concerted action by tribal or national units, organized by leaders who gather social resources (e.g., taxes or tithes) and apply them to attain goals in an organized manner.
The Right-Handed Approach: create loosely regulated markets wherein free individuals compete and/or cooperate, making the best deals they can for their own self interest.
Amputate the other approach entirely?
Try to discover which types of problem each approach is best at performing and utilize the best one?
How does your preferred approach create abiding conditions for personal satisfaction or generation of wealth?
How would it deal with acute problems like natural disasters or Adolf Hitler?
Has democracy moderated the faults in the left-handed approach? If so, what other reforms might help make it work better?
Likewise, has democracy moderated the faults in the right-handed approach? If so, what other reforms might help make it work better?
Do you know of another problem-solving approach? If so, please describe it and list your evidence.
In 10,000 years we've seen countless left-handed projects (pyramids, canals, wars and universities) and countless right-handed projects (industry, medicine, slavery and bookstores). Radical socialists have long demonized the right-handed approach as inherently corrupt/exploitive, and prescribe its amputation. Radical libertarians and anarchists call the left-handed approach coercive and stifling, and prescribe its amputation.
Persuading people to behave differently than they presently do (Exhortation)?
Ensuring that actions have consequences (Accountability)?
Creating environmental preconditions (e.g., heightened health and/or wealth and/or education and/or low fear levels) then trusting people to make correct decisions (Changed Circumstance)?
Which of the above prerequisites (or lack thereof) are most responsible for our present state of civilization?
Which of the above prerequisites (or lack thereof) are most responsible for YOUR present beliefs?
How does your answer to this question corelate with your earlier answers regarding Propaganda, the Time Flow of Wisdom and Toxicity of Ideas?
There is a principle in science known as "Occam's Razor," which states that, when you are building hypotheses to try to explain a phenomenon, it is nearly always best to accept as the leading theory the one that's simplest. Only if that theory fails should one then take it down and lift another in its place. This principle is applicable to our investigation of political idealism.
read "Political Totemism and the Danfger of Metaphors, Part 3"
In the short term, which of the following describes how you feel you are more likely to achieve immediate political goals?
Consolidate your core supporters, demonize your opponents, and dismiss compromise as a form of ideological betrayal.
Negotiate the best near-term deal you can through whatever political process works best, even if it means your opponents get part of their agenda accomplished, too.
Learn as much as possible about the opposition, then offer the other side's moderate wing enough to split them off from their fanatics, destroying their coalition and building your own.
Ignore your opponents because (a) they represent obsolete or decrepit worldviews doomed to inevitably fail anyway, or (b) because they are mere stalking horses or fronts for the real opposition — power groups who operate inimically behind the scenes.
Concentrate on perfecting your own position/behavior/soul, since that is all an individual can ever really be responsible for.
Can you propose another tactic to use to achieve your political goals? If so, please describe it.
What do you think the outcome will be if your political goals succeed? Please describe it and list your evidence.
read "The Real Culture War, Part 1: Defining the Battleground"
Do ends justify means? Can one justifiably limit or eliminate speech, behaviors or actions by repugnant parties/individuals if it serves a higher cause?
What methods would you use to change the behaviors of repugnant others?
What other behaviors or actions should be squelched? How would you do it?
This time? We start with simmering worry about new technologies. Disruptive media barge into homes, where moral teaching used to be the province of parents. Add a tendency for entertainers and reporters to lean ever more toward the decadent and lurid. Now throw in talk of human enhancement and other scientific proposals to alter Creation's design. These and other factors make the future seem alienating enough, even without waves of deliberate, incendiary insult from ideological whackos, a dose of terrorism and a drumbeat of war. |
Congrats! You’ve finished another book of the Bible! Let’s head to Malachi next. Four chapters. Four days.
If’ you’ve ever been to a typical Sunday School class or prayer meeting our prayer requests often sound like an organ recital. “God bless my aunt. She has an itchy liver. Please heal my best friends cousin’s college roommate. He’s in the hospital. They’re removing his appendix.” These are important prayers. They represent needs that are easy to identify and are certainly circumstances worthy of our attention. We should bring these concerns before God and trust him with the answer.
The prayers we pray reveal the concerns of our heart. For Paul, he was more concerned with the salvation of others than he was his own freedom, comfort or pleasure. He was more concerned over their relationship with Christ than with their temporary physical problems. He prayed with an eternal purpose in mind. He prayed prayers that moved God and he invited others to join him.
What will you pray today?
Thank you for the example and choices of Paul. I pray that you would give me the opportunity and the boldness to share the gospel. I pray that when I share I would be clear and that you would convict people of their need to place their faith in you. I pray that I would have the privilege of seeing someone come to faith in Jesus. I want my heart to be your heart. Help me to pay attention to what I pray. Help me to see the ways my prayers reflect what’s really in my heart. Teach me to pray prayers that move you, God, and let others join me.
What’s on your mind? What do you dwell on or obsess over? What thoughts distract you from doing what you know you should do? What, when and how do you think about God? What do you think about others? What do you believe about yourself? What are thinking about right now?
Every choice you make is a reflection of how you think.
The thoughts we think influence the attitudes of our heart.
The attitudes of our heart affect the choices we make.
The choices we make define the character we develop.
The content of our character becomes the legacy we leave behind.
If you want a better legacy, develop better character. If you want stronger character, make better choices. If you want to make better choices improve your attitude. If you want a better attitude renew your mind. Think better thoughts. If you want to think more clearly, if you want to have better thoughts, find better words.
This is more significant than the power of positive thinking. It’s not pie-in-the-sky, Pollyanna, ignore-reality, fairy-tale thoughts designed to distract or deceive you from the truth.
It’s about right thinking and thinking right. Its thinking about things the way God does.
Imagine if the words you knew were God’s Word. Your thoughts would become God’s thoughts. You attitudes would be transformed into godly attitudes. Your choices would reflect wisdom and simple obedience. Your character would be defined by the fruit of the Spirit and your legacy would last into eternity.
This is why Scripture talks about how you think so much. Here are a few verses that remind us how to think and give us a pattern for how to learn better words.
What thoughts will consume you today? How will you let God change your mind today?
Thank you for doing more than saving me. You have shown me how to follow you more closely each day. You’ve given me the strength to do it. You’ve given me your Word and told me your thoughts about how life, about how your world really works. I pray that today I would learn from and trust your word. Help me memorize your word. Through your Spirit you’ve placed your word in my heart, now take the specifics of your written word and help me write those words in my mind. I want to honor you today with my words, thoughts and choices.
Never stopped praying – it’s a constant conversation between Paul and God on behalf of the church at Colosse.
That you may know what He wants you to do – You can’t live God’s will if you don’t know God’s will. Knowing his will starts with knowing him, his word and his people.
Fill you with wisdom and understanding – wisdom is knowing what to do with what you know. Understanding is the confident recognition of the effect and outcome of our choices. The Holy Spirit provides this kind of insight.
Lives will please the Lord, every good work, know more about God – a life that pleases God is a life of action. It’s a life of choices. It’s not doing one good thing. It’s doing every good work. I can’t do this on my own, but the more I learn about God, the greater capacity I have to make choices his way.
Strength, joy, patience, endurance, thanks – These are gifts from God. Something God produces in you and through you to help you follow him and bless others. Strength to choose right. Joy from choosing right. Patience to give our right choices time to achieve their full effect. Endurance to stand even when making the right choice leads to harder circumstances and not easier. And finally thanks that God would choose us, involve us in his plan and give us what we need to succeed.
He has made it so you could share the good things – In 7 days God created the world and every step of the way he declared it good. All the good things God has created he’s made available to his children.
Took us out of darkness – Now we can see. We don’t have to be afraid.
Put us in the nation of his much-love son – We are citizens of heaven. This world is not our home. Like an Ambassador from another country, we have diplomatic immunity from the laws of this world. In other words, we don’t have to live by the world’s rules anymore.
We have been bought by his blood and made free – we once were slaves. Now we’re free. The price for our lives paid by the sacrifice of Jesus.
Our sins are forgiven – you have been made right with God.
Let’s pray Paul’s prayer for the church at Colosse for one another today.
Thank you for the other Believer’s you’ve placed in my life and the way they love, encourage and challenge me. I won’t stop praying for these people. I pray that you will let them know what you want them to do. I pray that you will fill them with the wisdom and understanding the Holy Spirit gives so their lives will please the Lord and they will do every kind of good work, and know more about God. I pray that your great power will make them strong, and that they will have joy as they wait and do not give up. I pray that they will give thanks to you. You have made it so they could share the good things given to those who belong to Christ who are in the light. You took us out of a life of darkness. You have put us in the holy nation of your much-loved Son. We have been bought by your blood and made free. Our sins are forgiven through Jesus. This is our prayer for one another. Thank you. |
With prompting and support the SWBAT compose an explanatory text after listening to the story.
Join us as we write about how the children in the story saved the turkeys from being eaten on Thanksgiving Day.
I gather my students on the carpet in front of me and begin discussing Thanksgiving. All my students are ELL and have not celebrated an American Thanksgiving. This lesson is for fun, I love to read this story. I can see me as a teacher reacting just as the children did.
We have been discussing and reading about "Thanksgiving" because Thanksgiving day is this week. We have learned about the Pilgrims and the Indians and how people in America celebrate this holiday. This book is kind of funny because is it about a kindergarten class, just like you that takes a field trip to a turkey farm. What do you think they will see at the farm?
We use a circle map to brainstorm what we think will be on the turkey farm.
I have a video about a farmer who raises turkeys, let's watch it and see if we can see all the things from the circle map.
I show the youtube video and we compare what we put on our circle map to what we saw on the video. I like to show videos to front load information about a new topic. Some students in my ELL Class do not have background knowledge to draw on about some American traditions. Making connections to prior knowledge is important for the students to truly comprehend the topic and be able to write about it. To front load information I often show videos, pictures or realia.
I begin to read the story, Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving. I always fall into the rhythm and flow of this story and have to make myself stop to explain vocabulary or ideas to my students. It is important to my ELL students that I stop and ask questions to make sure they understand what we are reading. I don't want them to get bored or feel overloaded with information they don't understand. If they don't understand the story and all it's little nuances, they won't be able to write an explanatory paper on it.
"The story says they are going on a field trip. What is a field trip? A field trip is when the class gets to go on a bus and visit some place. Where are these children going? To a turkey farm, that's right. They must be studying about Thanksgiving Day, just like we are."
"What does it mean when it says that they have visions of drumsticks dancing in their brains? What is a drumstick? A drumstick is the cooked leg of a turkey. It is so delicious to eat the drumstick. The children must love to eat drumsticks if they are thinking about them."
"What does a turkey say? Yes, everyone gobble like a turkey. Do the children like the turkeys? Do the turkeys like the children? So do they like each other like friends? Yes, they do."
"Why does the farmer have an ax? He is going to use the ax to kill the turkeys. The farmer has to kill the turkeys so we can cook them and eat them for Thanksgiving. How do the children feel about the farmer using the ax? They are sad and upset."
"The children do not look so sad now. What happened to make them not sad? Look close at the pictures of the children, what do you see? Oh my goodness, they hid those turkeys under their shirts! That was so smart".
" Hmmm, Mr. McNugget can't find his turkeys. Where did they go? You are right they went with with the children on the bus."
Before turning the last page I try to get some predictions about what the children did with their turkey.
"What do you think the children did with the turkeys? Do you think they will eat them for dinner or keep them as a pet? Do you think your mom would let you bring a turkey home? Hmmmm, let's see what they do with the turkeys."
I read the last page and we discuss every turkey in every window.
In response to the story, I want them to write an explanatory paper that has two to three sentences. We discuss what we could say about the story.
"We are going to write about our favorite part of the story. So I want you to think very hard about part of the story you liked the best. I liked the part when the children were gobbling and giggling together and I liked the part where they stuffed the turkeys up their shirts and hid them from Mr. McNugget. So think about your favorite part and you can write about it. We will write at least two sentences. Let me show you how to do that."
I model writing two sentences on the smart board.
"So everyone think about what part you liked. Then I want you to write about what happened during your favorite part and why it happened. Remember to use a capitol at the beginning of your sentence, spaces between your words and a period at the end. I will come around and help you sound out your words. You are all good writers and know how to write the sounds you hear in a word."
I remind them of conventions because we always forget them. And we are beginning to phonetically spell their words. We sometimes use our sounding arm to tap the sounds in the word and them write the letter as we come to it's sound. Encouraging them to use conventions and write phonetically are standards that I feel I am always working on. If they can spell phonetically, them they can read what they write.
I have class jobs as my part of my learning community and so I send my paper passers at this time to pass out the papers. I dismiss my students today by row color. I send the purple row, the blue row, the green row the orange row and the red row to stand up and get their pencil boxes from their cubbies. They sit down at their tables and begin to write. I walk around an prompt them by using sounds or helping them choose what they want to write about.
When they have finished writing their sentences and drawing their pictures, they sit on the carpet and read library books until most of the students are finished. I collect the papers as they go to the carpet.
When all are finished writing we put away the library books and gather on the carpet. I call them up one at a time to read their sentences and display their drawings. I call the up a row at a time to the front of the class. My students feel more secure and more willing to read to the class when they are surrounded by their peers. We applaud or cheer after each reading.
At the end of the day I showed this story retell video. I like to show videos that reinforce the story, content and vocabulary. We have a discussion about what they saw on the video that they didn't see in the book. I love to watch them so engrossed in the the video and hear the comments they make to each other. |
Nursery children are very excited to have real tadpoles in our classrooms. We can look at them every day and soon they will turn into frogs. When they are frogs, we will take them to our pond and let them go.
The children came to school dressed up as their favourite story characters. We had some fantastic costumes! We enjoyed reading lots of stories from home and school and were very good at finding Wally!
We had a special 'Read Before You Sleep' event as part of World Book Week. The children came back to school in the evening wearing their pyjamas. They read lots of lovely stories with their parents and enjoyed some milkshake and biscuits.
We had lots of fun at our Phonics Workshop. The children enjoyed showing their parents how we learn phonics and played lots of phonic games. Thank you to all the parents that attended.
We have been learning about traditional stories. We have read The Gingerbread Man, Goldilocks and The Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Little Red Hen.
The Hobgoblin Theatre Company perform the story of Goldilocks for us. Back in class we were keen to act out the story using puppets and masks.
The living eggs arrived in nursery and the children were fascinated to observe the changes. We learnt about taking care of living creature’s including feeding, cleaning and caring for them. We enjoyed watching the chicks grow and look forward to visiting them at the farm later in the term.
We are very pleased that so many children have received their attendance certificates. Attendance is so important to us at Grove School, we like to celebrate this achievement.
Today the children have talked about what it means to be a kind friend and have made friendship bracelets to give to their friends. The children enjoyed showing each other their odd socks to celebrate 'Friendship Week'.
The children have had lots of fun exploring pumpkins! First they hammered golf tees into the pumpkins using their careful fingers. After that they opened up the pumpkins and enjoyed scooping out the sticky seeds. They counted the seeds carefully and looked closely at the inside of the pumpkins using a magnifying glass.
Mo from Animals in Hands came to visit the nursery children. He brought lots of animals for the children to meet. The children were very excited and were able to look at and touch some very interesting animals!
The children enjoyed handling Tango the snake.
Then they met Snowflake the chicken.
Halima the gecko had a very big tail!
Peter Rabbit was very soft and fluffy!
Sophie the cockroach felt very tickly!
Ibrahim the tortoise was 25 years old and moved very slowly!
The children were very brave when they met Rachel the tarantula. She liked sitting on the children's jumpers and even sat on some children's heads!
The nursery children have settled into their new classes and are beginning to explore and make friends.
They have been learning to say goodbye to their parents with a smile and have been talking about our Grove Expectations.
The children have been reading lots of stories. We have enjoyed talking about the stories they have heard.
The children have had great fun making cakes with playdough and singing happy birthday to their friends.
They have been practising their super drawing and writing skills.
The children have had lots of fun exploring the sand and water. |
I try to keep up with housing trends, and I read with great interest a recent article in USA Today that discussed what buyers are looking for in a new home. Based on the picture of the concept home in the article and what buyers are saying is important to them at this point in their lives, it almost sounds like they want an old house. The average size of a new home is steadily headed downward. According to Builder Magazine the average size of a new home in 2008 was 2,520 sq. ft., and now it’s down to 2,100 sq. ft. with many potential buyers stating they would prefer a home around 1,700 sq. ft.
It seems like people are finally realizing what our ancestors knew when building their old houses; smaller homes cost less to build and heat. Our great- grandparents probably didn’t give much thought to energy efficiency, but they knew it took less firewood to heat an eight-room house than it did to heat a home with twenty rooms. A by-product of those smaller old houses was that families actually spent time together during the evenings rather than scattering to the far corners of a home large enough for four or five families.
Not that long ago I was building homes that were 5,000 sq. ft. and larger–in some cases much larger–because that’s what people wanted to buy. I can still recall watching young couples with one or two small children move into those houses. I often wondered how they could afford to purchase them, how they paid the utilities and taxes, and what they did with all that space. I live in an old house with about 1,400 sq. ft. and don’t use all the rooms so I could probably have lived comfortably in the master suites of some of those houses.
Old House or New House?
Evidently one of the features many buyers want on their new homes is a front porch for relaxing on summer evenings and establishing a sense of community with their neighborhood. Where have I seen homes with front porches before? I can take a stroll around my town and see them on the front of just about every old house and many of them have the porch swings I wrote about several months ago. New buyers are placing more importance on family time and want rooms where their families can spend an enjoyable evening together. Showcase rooms that were in demand not that long ago such as formal living rooms, media rooms, and elaborate master baths are not so popular anymore. The last several years have been tough for a lot of people, but we may have actually learned some important lessons; bigger isn’t always better, and many of the most important things in life money can’t buy. |
When Reid Davenport was in college, he planned to spend a semester abroad. He was accepted into a program in Florence, but then was strongly discouraged from attending after program officials learned Davenport has cerebral palsy. That could have been the end of the story. Instead, it gave him a powerful idea. I met Davenport in his small apartment in downtown Washington, DC. He's cheerful and clean cut. Davenport, who graduated from George Washington University in the spring of 2012 with a degree in journalism, is now living on his own. He says his parents raised him to be self-reliant. "I have challenges, but everyone has challenges. Just because my challenges are more apparent doesn't mean that I can't do something," he says. Davenport can walk, but he uses a wheelchair most of the time. He says for one thing, people stare at him a lot less when he's in the wheelchair. "It kind of explains a lot. Whereas if I'm walking, people may not know why I'm walking differently, why I'm talking differently." Davenport has to work a lot harder than most people to get the words out, but he didn't want me to use a voiceover for him for the radio story. In fact, in addition to being a freelance reporter, he's an occasional public speaker. His cerebral palsy gives him a unique perspective. "At times it's really therapy for me to write about what I go through," he says. "And I like to have my voice heard." During his junior year in college, Reid hoped to study in Italy. But when the program officials learned he used a wheelchair, they talked him out of it because of the lack of accessibility. He was disappointed. But then he began to wonder: What's it like for people with physical disabilities in Europe? In the winter of 2012, Davenport went with a cameraman to find out. He produced a documentary about the trip called "Wheelchair Diaries." Davenport was shocked by how hard it was to get around because so few buildings, public transportation, even sidewalks, were wheelchair accessible. "Europe is such a progressive society," he says, "and it was the juxtaposition between the progressive society and the lack of accessibility." He interviewed people from Ireland, Belgium, France and Italy, including Carlotta Besozzi, director of the European Disability Forum. She says about 14-percent of Europe's population are living with disabilities. "They are not first class citizens," Besozzi says in the film. "There is a lot of discrimination." Davenport learned that discrimination takes different forms there. It's also much more hidden than in the United States. He went around Brussels with a journalist named Francois who also has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. There weren't even curb cuts in the sidewalks, so Davenport had to ride in the street alongside traffic. He and Francois spent several hours trying to find a place to eat – nothing was accessible. "It's always a vicious circle," says Francois in the movie. "If you don't accessibilize [sic] your building, people will stay home. And if people with disabilities stay at home, those responsible for making buildings accessible will say what's the point of getting it accessible because no one is using it?" Davenport says in order for people with disabilities to be included and win social acceptance, they first need to be able to get through the door. So why has Western Europe done relatively little to accommodate people with physical disabilities? "I mean the obvious answer, and the excuse I hear all the time is, it's older, and the old buildings just can be made wheelchair accessible." But Davenport doesn't buy it. He thinks it's mostly indifference. We're not talking about restructuring one of the Seven Wonders of the World, he says. "We're talking about putting a ramp up, making sure the elevator works, making sure public transportation is accessible." On the other hand, Davenport says people in Europe were always willing to help. In Naples, a group of 14-year-old boys carried him in his wheelchair on and off of a bus. He questions whether that would happen in the U.S. A repairman in Brussels fixed his broken wheelchair for free. All of which makes it hard to generalize about countries, or cultural attitudes towards disability. "There were closed minded people in Europe and there are closed minded people in the United States. People helped me in Europe and people help me in the United States. " Maybe it's more about individual empathy. Gavin, an Irishman with chronic progressive muscular dystrophy who appears in "Wheelchair Diaries," put it this way: "The moment you know someone in a wheelchair is the moment you look at the world differently. You start to see it the way they see it. " Reid Davenport's documentary, "Wheelchair Diaries" is being shown at film festivals around the country. |
Yard: Create a “Defensible Space” of 100 feet around your home. Within 30 feet, clear a “Lean, Clean and Green Zone” by removing all flammable vegetation. Within 70 feet, clear a “Reduced Fuel Zone,” removing lower tree branches at least six feet from the ground, landscaping with fire resistant plants, maintaining all plants with regular water, and removing dead branches, leaves and needles. Stack woodpiles at least 30 feet from all structures. Any gas or propane tanks should be located at least 10 feet away from your home.
Roof: Install a fire resistant roof. Remove dead leaves and needles from your roof and gutters. Remove dead branches overhanging your roof and keep branches 10 feet from your chimney. Cover your chimney outlet and stovepipe with a nonflammable screen of 1/2-inch or smaller mesh.
Water: Maintain and mark an emergency water supply such as a community water/hydrant system, a cooperative emergency storage tank with neighbors, or a pond or pool with at least 2,500 gallons. Create easy firefighter access to your closest emergency water source. If your water comes from a well, consider an emergency generator to operate the pump during a power failure.
Home Design/Construction: Use ignition resistant construction. Enclose the underside of eaves, balconies and above ground decks with fire resistant materials. Consider installing residential sprinklers. Make sure electric service lines, fuse boxes and circuit breaker panels are installed and maintained per code.
Equipment: Use care when operating equipment such as lawnmowers. One small spark may start a fire; a string trimmer is much safer.
Preparation: Make a plan. Find the best two evacuation routes from your home and your community. Know how you will use them. Practice your plan with everyone in your family. (If you have a pet, include a leash or carrier in your planning.) Practice using both evacuation routes in case one is blocked by smoke or fire. Have a communication plan for your family members in case you aren’t together during an evacuation. Make an emergency bag. Put essential personal items in the bag so they’ll be ready to grab and go.
Be alert: Know ahead of time how you will receive emergency information from officials in your community. In a wildfire, follow their evacuation instructions. |
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According to Genome Canada’s website, wheat accounts for 20 per cent of all calories consumed throughout the world, and as global population grows, wheat productivity needs to increase by 1.6 per cent each year. At the same time, climate change is causing temperature and precipitation changes that challenge established patterns. So there is also a need to sustainably respond to environmental changes to ensure the long-term stability of the wheat industry.
This preamble identifies the impetus behind the flagship project of wheat research in Canada: the Canadian Triticum Applied Genomics (CTAG2) project, which is being led by Dr. Curtis Pozniak of the University of Saskatchewan.
This $8.8 million project, funded by Genome Canada, the Western Grains Research Foundation, and the Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta wheat commissions, has already delivered its first phase in early 2016, when researchers announced they had sequenced the bread wheat and durum wheat genomes.
The work involves scientists from four other Canadian research institutions: The National Research Council of Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the University of Guelph, and the University of Regina. The CTAG2 team is working closely with the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium to understand the wheat genome and develop genetic markers and predictive genetic tests to make Canadian wheat breeding programs more efficient.
Through the use of these genomic technologies, breeders will have access to thousands of DNA markers that will allow them to speed up the process of developing new wheat varieties that have improved agronomic performance, are more resistant to diseases and pests, resilient to heat and drought stress, and that offer improved end-use qualities.
Canadian wheat research is booming across the Prairies, attracting both private and public investment, and encouraging partnerships and collaborations between governments, wheat commissions and private companies.
An example is the 4P (Public, Private and Producer Partnership) Canada Prairie Spring (CPS) partnership between the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), CANTERRA SEEDS and AAFC, which provides funding to develop improved varieties of Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat at the Lethbridge Research Centre. Since its inception in 2015, the 4P CPS partnership has produced two new varieties cultivars and has several lines currently in registration trials with promising agronomic traits. A share of royalties for lines developed under the program will be reinvested back into public breeding programs through the AWC.
Canterra Seeds also has a new cereal breeding and development partnership with French farmer cooperative, Limagrain Cereals Research Canada, and plans to build a facility in Saskatoon.
Sask Wheat has committed more than $1.9M over the past two years to support wheat research projects through the Saskatchewan Agriculture Development Fund (ADF), co-funded by AWC, WGRF, the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and SaskCanola.
The Agricultural Funding Consortium, a partnership of 13 organizations, has created a one-window approach to agricultural research and development funding in Alberta. Through this mechanism, AWC has committed over $3.5 million to genetic and agronomic research since 2013. Projects from this initiative have included investigations into cold tolerant spring wheat, improving resistance to pests and disease and optimizing management practices such as nitrogen, fungicide and plant growth regulator applications.
Saskatchewan grows most of the durum wheat in Canada, so it’s not surprising that the Sask Wheat and SeCan are jointly investing up to $3.5 million in the CDC’s durum wheat development program over the next 10 years. The AWC is funding a project with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry looking at the impact of fertilizer and fungicide rates and timing on yield of different varieties of wheat, as well as assessing the effect of plant growth regulators to improve standability. Other priorities for research include disease and pest resistance to things such as wheat midge, as well as developing varieties with better cold tolerance.
BayerCrop Science Inc. is putting serious investment into hybrid wheat, opening a $24 million, wheat research facility at Pike Lake, south of Saskatoon last summer, which will focus on the development of hybrid wheat. The cutting-edge facility brings together multiple aspects of wheat breeding into one centralized location and includes an analytical lab, pathology research space and laboratory with an accompanying 2,550 square feet of environmentally controlled, off-site greenhouse space. The station also has 480 acres for field breeding and evaluation trials.
“The opening of this facility represents a monumental investment into the research and development of new and innovative hybrid wheat technologies designed specifically to help Canadian growers overcome some of their biggest cropping challenges, so they can successfully compete in the global grains market.” said Dr. Marcus Weidler, head of Seeds Canada for BayerCrop Science in a June 2016 press release.
The Bayer Wheat Breeding Station will focus on the creation of new CPS and Canadian Western Red Spring wheat hybrids that will be commercially available to Canadian growers within the next six to eight years.
Among the projects CWA is funding are two in Saskatoon which are developing a precise genetic mapping system — Canadian Wheat-Nested Association Mapping (CanNAM) — which will allow breeders to identify race-specific, rust resistance genes for leaf, stem and stripe rust and FHB for inclusion in AAFC and the U of S’s CDC breeding programs.
The second project is identifying wheat traits that contribute to maximum standability in different environments in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with an aim to develop makers for these traits that can be incorporated into wheat breeding programs.
All these investments mean that farmers across Canada can look forward to some exciting new wheat varieties in the coming years, which will offer them higher yields, improved agronomic traits, disease and pest resistance, better stress tolerance and hopefully some new marketing options. |
When people think of debt repayment, the first thing that comes to most people’s minds is getting a large debt consolidation loan and paying everything off with that. The problem is, even with a large debt consolidation loan, you are still left with debt.
But still there are ways to borrow, but before you do that and consider alternate debt repayment ways, you should first ask yourself is there another way? You need to keep enough cash for three to six months of emergency money, but if by chance there is more, think about using that. You should also think if you have assets you can use? You may have some savings bonds, or some stock options, or an inheritance.
However, think carefully before you use long-term assets as alternate debt repayment options, as you may need this money in retirement.
Thinking hard if you are making payments on things you don’t really need is important when considering debt repayment. Questions like ‘do I need the car’, and “do I need that Starhub TV” must all be considered, and you must be willing to get rid of the things and plans which are not really necessary.
In considering alternate debt repayment, you could you take a second job temporarily, and use the money from that to make extra payments on your debt. Perhaps your spouse or your older children take a temporary job to get you out of a tight situation as well.
If you do decide to borrow to deal with debt repayment, there are a number of different kinds of loans, which comes with the risks associated with them. You can’t borrow money without risk.
All of these types of loans can be used for the purpose of debt consolidation and debt repayment.
There is however a Catch-22 that many people face when looking to dig out of debt: the more you owe, the tougher it is to borrow, and the higher the interest rate you pay. Your goals should be to minimise the interest you are paying, net of tax, and to pay down the debt as quickly as possible.
If you live in a private apartment and have equity in your home, that is a logical place to look for funds. The interest rates are usually reasonable on home equity loans and lines of credit. The down-side is, f you can’t pay the loan back, you risk losing your home.
You may also refinance your first mortgage if current market rates are lower than your existing mortgage rate. The interest is tax-deductible. But if you default on your mortgage, you risk losing your home. Also, consider the costs of refinancing when evaluating this option.
If you have any retirement plan, that could also be an alternative debt repayment source. But be mindful that you are borrowing from yourself, and are usually paying yourself back at the prime rate, or close to it. As such, you limit your return to approximately the prime rate, and if much of your retirement plan money is in equities, and they are performing well, you may be giving up quite a bit of gain. There is also the risk of not paying the loan back, being subject to withdrawal penalties, and jeopardizing your retirement.
Permanent life insurance is another source you should consider. The interest rate varies depending on the company, as do the fees. How much you can get depends on the cash value in your policy. If not repaid, you risk death benefits being reduced.
You cannot rule out family and friends when considering alternate debt repayment sources. But by doing that, you risk severe strains on the relationship. So, make sure that the loan is documented in writing and includes the specifics of the loan arrangement, such as the date of the loan, the parties involved, the date by which the loan is to be repaid, the number of payments, the interest rate (if applicable), etc. If the loan is for a large amount, consider having a lawyer draft a legally binding document.
Personal loans, regardless of if they are secured or unsecured, are another alternate source for debt repayment. But be mindful that interest rates tend to be high, and you risk getting further behind the 8-ball with high payments. Credit cards come in the same category as personal loans. But the risk about borrowing from credit cards is, the interest rates are generally up to 24%.
Licensed money lenders may offer you personal loans as well and the law requires that they charge no more than 4% interest per month on the amount you have borrowed. |
Most aesthetic laser systems deliver short pulses of energy in the form of photons, either visible or infrared (invisible) light. High intensity pulses of laser light of specific wavelengths (color) can safely improve sun-damaged, aged or scarred skin without causing side effects. The higher the laser energy and the shorter the duration of the laser pulse, the greater the precision of the revitalizing effect. It is important that the laser pulse be delivered in an ultra-short burst of energy to ensure a safe treatment.
Dr. Langdon was one of the first physicians in the United States to introduce the revolutionary PicoSure laser, the world’s first picosecond aesthetic laser. The high-energy laser pulses from the PicoSure are compressed into the ultrashort picosecond range (a picosecond is 1 trillionth of a second!)—20 times faster than the previous record-setting nanosecond lasers.
What Are PicoSure Laser Treatments Like?
When delivered to the skin with a special FOCUS lens array, the laser energy is fractionated into tiny spots of intense power that are too brief to impart a significant heat effect. The tiny spots of the skin that receive the laser energy are separated from each other so that the intervening areas of skin are not treated.
The limited overall heating of the skin results in a comfortable treatment that requires no anesthetic (numbing) beforehand. After a facial treatment, there is only mild redness that fades completely within a few hours. The best news of all is that patients can see remarkable improvement after only a few treatments. Dark, pigmented sunspots and even melasma (dark areas of facial skin that result from excess estrogen hormone) quickly fade. Wrinkles and even acne scars show significant smoothing.
The wavelength of PicoSure laser energy (755 nanometers) is optimal for reducing excessive skin pigment. This wavelength of light is highly absorbed by melanin (the skin’s pigment), resulting in destruction of excess pigment. Another important effect of picosecond laser energy pulses is stimulation of deeper skin cells to produce new collagen. Collagen is the skin’s primary structural protein; increased collagen will improve skin texture by smoothing wrinkles as well as indented scars.
The improvement in acne scars from PicoSure treatments with the special FOCUS lens array (fractional treatment) is so impressive that the FDA approved the laser for treating acne scars in July 2014. In FDA approval studies, 86% of patients were satisfied with the improvement in their acne scars from PicoSure laser treatments. |
Returns the minute as a number from 0 to 59, given a date and time value.
A datetime value or text in an accepted time format, such as 16:48:00 or 4:48 PM.
An integer number from 0 to 59.
In contrast to Microsoft Excel, which stores dates and times in a serial numeric format, DAX uses a datetime data type for dates and times. You can provide the datetime value to the MINUTE function by referencing a column that stores dates and times, by using a date/time function, or by using an expression that returns a date and time.
When the datetime argument is a text representation of the date and time, the function uses the locale and date/time settings of the client computer to understand the text value in order to perform the conversion. Most locales use the colon (:) as the time separator and any input text using colons as time separators will parse correctly. Verify your locale settings to understand your results.
The following example returns the minute from the value stored in the TransactionTime column of the Orders table.
The following example returns 45, which is the number of minutes in the time 1:45 PM. |
In today’s rushed world, many people need to be nearly constantly on the go. Many business owners must spend much of their day making sure all areas of their business flow well. As part of this process, they may need to spend time heading to each job site. The same is true of busy parents. Today’s busy parents need to drop of the kids in daycare or school, head to work and then bring the kids to their after-school activities. This is why it’s not surprising that a hot meal can be a hard thing to come by during their daily rush. A meal that includes a hot beverage, a warming soup and a sandwich with melted cheese can the ideal way to help take fuel any busy day. Fortunately, there are ways to keep food hot even when nowhere near a heating source.
Many people want to have a hot liquid on hand. Her explanation is a hot liquid helps her concentrate. A hot liquid such as a cup of steaming coffee or a rich chicken soup can be soothing on a cold day. Soups offer lots of nutrition and often a complex mix of carbs, fats and protein. A hot beverage such as a cup of coffee of tea has elements in it like caffeine that can help people better concentrate on what they’re doing and help ward off an afternoon feeling of sleepiness. A well-designed mug can help store the liquid easily so that any traveler can sip it on the go.
Keeping food hot means storing it properly. Many people spend a lot of time behind the wheel. Cars have cup holders for beverages. It’s a good idea to consider other places to store food. Hot food can be kept in the same place. A rounded cup holder can also serve as a place to keep bulkier items like a grilled sandwich. The heat from the car can also help the food stay hot on the go. For those who are commuting by bus or rail, a heated purse can also serve much of the same purpose. Insulated compartments can be set down on the train platform.
Each traveler will need to find out what works for them personally. For some people this means new technological innovations such as heated dishware. It may also include old favorites like a thermos and a mug. Each person should also think about their daily routine. Many people find it helps to think about what they’re doing in the morning as what they do as they go about their workday. They also find it useful to think about how they travel from place to place. Eating a hot meal even on the go can help make even a dreary day happier. When someone can find ways to do so even on the go, they will enjoy their days more. |
Launching into new markets can be one of the most fulfilling endeavors of any business. As the global ecommerce landscape grows, the chance to access an entirely new customer base is an opportunity that has swiftly become very real for businesses of all sizes. And with online cross-border trade predicted to grow fivefold to $130 billion by 2020, it’s an opportunity not to be ignored.
For all the excitement and growth trading abroad can bring, there is an abundance of legal hoops and financial regulations that must be adhered to, from whichever country the business is based in and to wherever it intends to trade. Tax is one of the largest and potentially trickiest. While nothing beats advice directly from financial regulators and your local tax authority, this guide will try to break through the legal jargon to tell you the common pitfalls, share strategic advice and guide you through the tax best practice you need to start trading abroad with confidence.
If you fail to accurately register, record and submit VAT information, your business is liable for severe penalties. For many tax authorities (including HM Revenue & Customs in the UK), penalties often start at 100% of the VAT owed before the authority considers whether to lower the penalty. With the threat of hefty penalties, it’s paramount you take the time to work out exactly how much, to whom, and when you are liable to pay.
One of the main complications with VAT is that it is hugely dependent on a variety of factors meaning there is no one-size fits all approach. Factors such as the size of the company, where it is based, where it intends to sell, the quantities of goods to be transacted, and even the type of goods/services themselves all affect retailers’ tax obligations. And that’s before you delve into the nuances of local, regional and national tax rates.
Ultimately, however rapidly you want to start trading abroad, it’s vital that you invest enough time to ensuring you know exactly what tax rates you are liable to pay to avoid a hefty bill or penalty.
A London-based cheese manufacturer recognises it has a number of America-based visitors to its website, and makes the decision to begin selling to customers located in New York.
Depending on the merchant’s answer to each of the above, it will be liable for different VAT rates – and that’s just for trading into New York. Each American state has its own tax rulings so if the cheese merchant decided to sell to customers in Texas, it would face a different set of regulations.
So, how can a business ensure it acts in accordance with localised VAT regulations? From Distance Selling limits to tax returns and customs duties, the next few sections will introduce you to the basics of international tax regulations and help you navigate the waters of cross-border trade.
Further reading: The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance have compiled a thorough guide to help US and internationally-based businesses make sense of state regulations.
The location of where goods are sold and delivered heavily determines VAT requirements – especially within the EU and countries such as Australia where tax must be paid in the country of supply. However, many regions maintain thresholds which, if broken, make the business liable to pay more tax.
For instance, each EU country has a Distance Selling threshold which, if exceeded, makes the merchant liable to pay VAT in the destination country.
Imagine that a fashion retailer based in Germany wants to start selling to the UK. The business charges and accounts for VAT at the rate applicable in Germany. However, if the annual value of sales exceeds £70,000 (the UK’s Distance Selling threshold at time of publication) the retailer must register for UK VAT. Tax must then be charged at UK rates and accounted for it in the UK as well.
Tax tip 2: The Channel Islands are not classified as part of the EU and as such are exempt from Distance Selling thresholds.
Tax tip 3: Some EU countries calculate Distance Selling monthly rather than annually so make sure you check the specifics of your target market.
VAT registration applications can usually be made directly through the tax authority website of your destination country. Be aware that when registering for VAT, you may have to complete periodical requirements including reports and VAT invoices.
It is important to note that if you have surpassed the Distance Selling threshold before registering for VAT, you will need to contact the relevant European or destination country tax authorities to ensure you are not liable by backdated VAT issues.
Tax tip 4: Be aware that not all registrations can be completed online. Many will require you to download, complete and send a form via post.
Tax tip 5: In Australia and New Zealand, VAT is known as Goods and Services Tax (GST) and is calculated at 10% for most products. You must also register within 21 days of reaching their sales threshold.
Once registered and trading overseas, businesses must submit VAT records to the local tax authority, which can be annual, quarterly or even bi-monthly depending on the country.
Further reading: The HMRC website has a handy section on Intrastat including a step by step guide and the chance to make amends to your Intrastat applications.
Tax tip 6: Intrastat values are calculated using the value of goods only, and not any other charges such as insurance, labour or freight costs.
As a point of interest, if your business has individual branches or individual companies within a group VAT registration, you can choose to send separate ESLs.
Tax tip 7: ESLs can be completed online via HMRC’s online service portal or downloaded, completed and posted to HMRC.
Further reading: For full details on when and how to complete an ESL, visit the HMRC website.
Companies are usually responsible for clearing goods through their own customs regulators when exporting. Once the goods reach their destination, the customer will normally be responsible for clearing any relevant taxes incurred. Then, in order for your customer to clear the authorities, you must supply the customer with the documentation they need (usually an invoice detailing products and pricing etc.).
As a side note, if your business model relies on imports it’s important to be aware of import tax requirements. If you are importing into the EU, VAT is normally paid at the customs border and, as above, can be paid by the seller, the customer or a shipping firm. A business can recover Import VAT with the necessary documentation – check with the regional tax authority for further details.
If you are importing to the EU from a non-EU Member State, you will need an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number, which can be obtained alongside VAT registration. You will need your unique EORI number whenever you deal with customs officials.
Tax tip 8: Australia actively encourages cross-border trade online and maintains import tax exemptions. Currently, any imports valued at less than 1,000 AUS Dollars are exempt from customs duties and taxes.
Tax tip 9: If you are shipping large quantities of goods from the UK, freight handlers can manage the customers clearance on your behalf, providing they have the necessary VAT registration and EORI details. Visit the British International Freight Association for more information.
Tax tip 10: If you are based in the UK, advice from an international trade advisor from UK Trade & Investment is free.
The rise of digital goods has put a cloud-based spanner in the works for many international tax regulators. It is important to note that as of January 2015, businesses which provide digital services within the EU are now subject to new VAT regulations known as MOSS (Mini One Stop Shop).
While a vague term, ‘digital services’ covers both products (ebooks, online magazines, games etc.) and services (telecoms, web hosting, online video providers etc.), you will be affected by the new regulations, even if you only have a small turnover in digital services.
This has prompted outcry from many UK-based SMEs (check out the #VATMess hashtag on Twitter for a taster). HMRC has since relented and made a number of changes.
Register for VAT in each EU country where you have customers.
Register for VAT in the UK and submit a VAT MOSS return, from where HMRC will divide the payment to the relevant tax authorities across the EU.
The battle between small businesses over-collecting potentially intrusive and personally identifiable information from international customers (such as IP addresses) continues, but for now all UK VAT-registered businesses must abide by the new regulations.
Tax tip 11: You must now keep VAT MOSS records for 10 years from 31 December of the year the transaction was made.
International tax regulations can be a daunting prospect. It isn’t glamorous or exciting and lengthy documents detailing regional-specific tax regulations are not the most riveting of bedtime reading. However, the threat of sizeable penalties for breaking VAT compliance is very real. Don’t put your business at risk by trading overseas without the necessary registrations and paperwork complete.
By thoroughly researching and double-checking registration, returns and compliance, you can trade internationally with confidence and tap into the international ecommerce market set to grow fivefold within the next five years.
If in any doubt, consult a third party advisor or your regional tax authority for more information. |
A lower-intermediate level textbook for adults and teenagers.
An advanced-level textbook for adults and teenagers.
Dialogues or texts of interest to adult learners. Each of these contains a limited and manageable amount of new language. Authentic texts become increasingly important as learners work through the series. These have been selected as models of quality language.
New grammar and usage contained in the dialogues and texts of each chapter are explained, with examples.
Listening and speaking exercises using the audio CDs, podcasts and videos. In Te Kākano there are also special exercises which focus on pronunciation.
Writing, reading and speaking activities.
At the end of each textbook there is a complete list of all the new vocabulary and new meanings of particular words that occur in the textbook and on the CDs, podcasts and videos. Where relevant, page numbers are also given for references to grammar and usage sections. The English gloss also indicates the grammatical class the word belongs to. |
Including in agricultural organizations produced 4.5 million tons (+315,4 million tons), which is 7.5% more than the same period of 2016.
Egg production in all categories of farms made up of 33.98 billion units (+3% or 991,9 million units) in the agricultural organizations of 26.6 billion pieces (or +4.1%, more than 1 billion units).
“The production of poultry in agricultural organizations provided Tambov, Belgorod, Tula, Kursk, Volgograd, Moscow region, Republic of Bashkortostan, and to increase egg production are leading Leningrad, Tyumen, Tula, Yaroslavl, Omsk, Rostov region and Krasnodar Krai”, – said the Director of the Department of animal husbandry and breeding Ministry of agriculture of Kharon Amerkhanov. |
Energy consumption induces climate change but at the same time modifications in climate impact energy sector both in term of supply capacity and shifts in energy demands. Different regions will be affected in different ways and this paper aims at analysing the issue at European level. Usually rising sea levels, extremes of weather and an increase in the frequency of droughts and floods are indicated play havoc with the world's energy systems but they can be hardly estimated and this study will be limited to the effects of the increase in average temperature. Tipping points are also taken out of any quantitative assessment. Structure of the EU energy budget is presented, shifts in energy demand, vulnerabilities of supply and risks for energy infrastructure are discussed in order to, eventually, provide figures of possible further threats to continental energy security. |
The chart on the original article tries to account for The Atheist Agnostic, The Theist Gnostic, The Atheist Gnostic, and The Theist Agnostic by giving each its own square as decided by horizontal axis that covers degree of atheism to degree of theism and a vertical axis decided by degree of gnosticism and degree of agnosticism. He cuts off half the Atheist Gnostic square and half the Theist Agnostic square because he judges those positions to be rarer. That strikes me as an irrelevant way to cut a chart meant to schematize possibilities and not actualities based on hard data.
1. A neutral Agnosticism may say, “Someone might be able to know, but I simply do not” option is a viable form of agnosticism distinct from the “no one can know kind.
5. While I can think of few or no actual Atheist Gnostics of whom I am aware who say they know with 100% certainty that there is no god (or gods) such is a possibility and it should not be shaved off the chart the way Brietbart does (even thought it is admittedly rare).
Finally, the apatheists (those who claim simply not to care, rather than to have an opinion) seem to me irrelevant to the chart. None of these other positions have anything to do with whether or not one cares, it’s a matter of (a) belief and (b) belief about possibilities for justification of belief. It’s about do you believe in a god or gods or not and do you believe that god or gods are matters about which we can have knowledge or not. Any one of those positions above could be coupled with apathy. There can be Atheist Agnostics who simply do not care about the question and even Gnostic Theists who do not care about whether there is a god or gods even though as they believe in it. I believe that Jupiter has 63 moons. Do I care? Nope. The apatheists are irrelevant to a chart concerned with beliefs. Maybe the justification is that an apatheist has not bothered to form any beliefs on the issue and so cannot be placed in any other square (or half square). This raises an interesting distinction to sort out. There are those who do not have any belief stance on some issue because they have investigated them and found the evidence inconclusive and there are those who do not have any belief stance on that same issue because they have not investigated and so have no idea what is better or worse to believe whatsoever.
In that case, we might say that there are those who are torn between two possible beliefs because they actually believe that both positions have 50% evidence or an inconclusive 60%-40% split of some sort. That sort of agnostic could wind up anywhere along either of the middle lines. For example, you can have someone who believes the question of god (or gods) is resolvable and as a result belongs on the gnostic line and yet they themselves are split down the middle as neither a believer in a god or gods and so belong right on the line between gnostic theism and gnostic atheism. And the degree to which they are certain that the issue is in fact resolvable one way or the other will put them further or closer on the gnostic theism/atheism line to the intersecting agnosticism line.
Or, you can have someone who believes that the issue of belief in god or gods is not rationally resolvable but is torn on whether or not to have faith in light of this uncertainty. And again, that person could be right on the agnosticism line but not tipping in the theism or atheism direction. And can be as far or close to the intersecting gnosticism line as the degree to which she is sure that knowledge of god (or gods) is possible or impossible.
So, in sum, this ambivalent person has either (1) seen 50-50 evidence for belief in a god (or gods) and is in the midst of reasoning from an already established position of gnosticism (that belief is possible) or (2) is split 50-50 in her reasoning about whether having faith is the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do where she reasons from an already established position of agnosticism (that justified belief is impossible and the will must opt either to believe amidst uncertainty or refrain from belief because of uncertainty).
Someone split in this way, having considered evidence for belief and/or reasons concerning whether or not knowledge in these matters is possible (in other words, having actually considered reasons for choosing between atheism/theism and/or reasons for choosing between gnosticism/agnosticism) is in a much different position than someone who has never assessed evidence in either debate (theism/atheism, gnosticism/agnosticism). I do not know if any such person really exists—though it is likely that most people have not very well explored the reasons for theism, atheism, agnosticism about god questions, or gnosticism about god questions, I find it hard to believe anyone has not considered any such reasons and does not belong somewhere on the chart—however little they may care about the issues at hand.
And even if someone does not belong on the chart at all, their apatheism is irrelevant to their placement or non-placement on the chart. All that would take someone off the chart and matter with respect to their non-placement on it would be their complete and utter ignorance of all the issues involved that leads to know default beliefs on the issues at all. Right now there is probably some raging debate in chemistry about which I am so utterly ignorant that my default non-belief in either position does not even qualify as a default acceptance of either other position. It makes me simply without any kind of belief, implicit or explicit, about the issue. Only that sort of person, 100% oblivious to all questions of gods or possible knowledge of gods would not belong anywhere on a chart like this. |
The government workplace is undergoing a huge shift. See how designers have helped harness the change in the new Boston Public Schools offices.
The Bruce C. Bolling Municipal building, new home of Boston Public School headquarters, is easily accessible by public transportation and located in the geographical center of the city. Photo by Anton Grassl of Esto.
What comes to mind when you picture a government office? People wearing gray suits, toiling away behind a cubicle desk stacked high with paperwork? In actuality, the government workplace is undergoing a huge shift, embracing collaboration through design and tearing down the cubicle walls to be more flexible, open, and forward-thinking.
While many companies in other industries have already shifted to a more open, collaborative workspace, government offices are just starting to embrace this design change. Workplaces across industries are moving to open office layouts to foster teamwork and creativity, bringing employees together in frequent collaboration. They find that open offices can promote greater health, happiness, and productivity for employees by providing more access to natural light and varied working environments that encourage employees to move throughout the day. Further, open workspaces can reduce real estate costs, which is welcome in any industry — private or public. While redesigning a workspace can be a large financial investment, it’s one that pays off in re-orienting both the physical environment and work culture toward more collaborative and healthy ways of working.
Communal kitchens with café tables encourage varied uses throughout the day. Photo by Anton Grassl of Esto.
The City of Boston was presented with the opportunity to rethink the office space of Boston Public Schools (BPS) — the oldest school department in the country — as they relocated and centralized departments within a new building in Dudley Square, a streetcar neighborhood that thrived in the early twentieth century with retail stores like the iconic Ferdinand, New England’s largest furniture retailer of its time. The neighborhood was challenged by disinvestment in the 1980s after losing residents and businesses to the suburbs. Under the late Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the City’s Dudley Square Vision Project was launched to revive the community. In this effort, the city commissioned the new BPS headquarters, a design by Mecanoo Architecten and Sasaki Associates; the newly renamed Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building was built in collaboration with Shawmut Construction, PMA Consultants, Boston’s Property and Construction Management Department (PCMD), the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), and the City of Boston.
A diversity of meeting areas abound, from conference rooms to open gathering spaces. Photo by Anton Grassl of Esto.
In undertaking this project the first step was to think about what BPS most needed out of a new office space. The project team sought to understand unique user needs, considering the work habits of BPS employees while focusing on the families that BPS serves on a daily basis. Part of this process involved designing a temporary office space in Boston City Hall for BPS employees to test out early in the process and offer feedback to inform the ultimate design.
Light floods in on all floors from the many vertical windows throughout. Photo by Anton Grassl of Esto.
In the era of the open office, it is important to consider the variety of work experiences that employees will encounter each day, and in turn provide a variety of spaces for different tasks and work styles. A bright and airy open office layout welcomed more than 500 BPS employees in their move to Dudley Square, leaving behind the high-walled cubicles and cloistered space of the former office. While it took time for employees to get settled, the transition to open-office plan was made easier because this design balances open workspaces with private, quieter spaces for employees to focus. The design team did not believe employees should not be limited to one space. Instead, they expanded BPS workspace options beyond a single desk by offering soft-seating huddle spaces, conference rooms, window seating, outdoor café tables, and more. This balanced design breeds greater interaction and teamwork while preserving individual productivity.
BPS employees and the public can enjoy this rooftop deck with panoramic views of the Boston skyline. Photo by Anton Grassl of Esto.
The design team wanted to meet the needs of employees while also focusing on the needs of the community in Dudley Square. In a building that is public-facing it was important to have spaces for everyone to use within the building, to avoid becoming just beacon of bureaucracy within the community. The ground floor is designed for gatherings, retail, and dining while the second floor is open to the public, outfitted with meeting rooms for the school department and parents to interact and for the public to access. The sixth floor includes public meeting spaces and a green roof terrace open to all Boston residents and available for special events. The building’s new design embodies the connection the design team wanted to facilitate between these government employees and the community they serve.
Touchdown spaces and soft seating allow employees to step away from their desks. Photo by Anton Grassl of Esto.
Boston needed a new headquarters for BPS, but this project was about much more than a newly designed office space for the department’s hard-working employees. It was the perfect opportunity to revitalize the neighborhood and strengthen the sense of community in Dudley Square, catalyzing development in the process.
In its newest incarnation, the building has been named the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building after the first black president of the Boston City Council. It is the first new government administrative office built in Boston since City Hall in the 1960s. The Roxbury Innovation Center, spearheaded by Mayor Martin Walsh, will soon open its doors on the second floor of the building, serving as a new space for area innovators, entrepreneurs and business founders to meet and collaborate, as well as partake in programs and workshops. New employees will support local businesses, and the bustling square will be getting new transit enhancements, bike lanes, and pedestrian crossings.
The building has gone from an emblem of the past to a cornerstone for the future – the future of Dudley Square, the future of Boston’s public school system, and the future of workplace design.
The story of a global design firm's evolution. |
Metastasis formation is the leading cause of death among colon cancer patients. We established a new in-situ model of in vivo microscopy of the lung to analyse initiating events of metastatic tumor cell adhesion within this typical metastatic target of colon cancer.
Anaesthetized CD rats were mechanically ventilated and 106 human HT-29LMM and T84 colon cancer cells were injected intracardially as single cell suspensions. Quantitative in vivo microscopy of the lung was performed in 10 minute intervals for a total of 40 minutes beginning with the time of injection.
After vehicle treatment of HT-29LMM controls 15.2 ± 5.3; 14.2 ± 7.5; 11.4 ± 5.5; and 15.4 ± 6.5 cells/20 microscopic fields were found adherent within the pulmonary microvasculature in each 10 minute interval. Similar numbers were found after injection of the lung metastasis derived T84 cell line and after treatment of HT-29LMM with unspecific mouse control-IgG. Subsequently, HT-29LMM cells were treated with function blocking antibodies against β1-, β4-, and αv-integrins wich also did not impair tumor cell adhesion in the lung. In contrast, after hydrolization of sialylated glycoproteins on the cells' surface by neuraminidase, we observed impairment of tumor cell adhesion by more than 50% (p < 0.05). The same degree of impairment was achieved by inhibition of P- and L-selectins via animal treatment with fucoidan (p < 0.05) and also by inhibition of the Thomson-Friedenreich (TF)-antigen (p < 0.05).
These results demonstrate that the initial colon cancer cell adhesion in the capillaries of the lung is predominantly mediated by tumor cell - endothelial cell interactions, possibly supported by platelets. In contrast to reports of earlier studies that metastatic tumor cell adhesion occurs through integrin mediated binding of extracellular matrix proteins in liver, in the lung, the continuously lined endothelium appears to be specifically targeted by circulating tumor cells.
One third of patients diagnosed with colo-rectal cancer will eventually die from this disease representing ~600,000 deaths worldwide per year . Most of these colo-rectal cancer related deaths are due to distant metastatic growth rather than local tumor progression. As in almost any cancer, the pattern of metastatic growth is non-random and in the case of colo-rectal cancer liver and lung are predominant metastatic targets, beside lymph nodes and the peritoneal cavity . The organ specific character of metastatic growth has already been recognised by S. Paget in the late 19th century and his 'seed-and-soil concept' has been modified by additional findings and dissected into single steps, outlined in the literature as the 'metastatic cascade' .
α4β1-integrin binding of endothelial Vascular Cellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM) was associated with leukocyte adhesion to endothelial cells, as well as adhesion of human melanoma cells to the endothelium, but appears not to be involved in prostate cancer cell adhesion . These findings suggest different adhesion mechanisms of hematogenous cells, non-epithelial and epithelial cancer cells during their arrest within capillaries. Recently, we reported comprehensive data on cell surface molecules involved in initial metastatic tumor cell adhesion of human colon carcinoma cells within the hepatic microvasculature in vivo [17, 6]. These results showed preferential arrest of circulating colon carcinoma cells within the liver via integrins [9, 10] The aim of the present study was to evaluate the adhesion molecules and mechanisms involved in the organ-specific adhesion of human colon cancer cells in the lung as their second metastatic target organ. To this end we established a new in-situ model for quantitative in vivo fluorescence microscopy of the ventilated and perfused lung.
Media (RPMI1640; DME/F12) and fetal bovine serum (FBS) were purchased from GIBCO-BRL (Karlsruhe, Germany). All other chemicals were purchased from Sigma (Deisenhofen, Germany).
Human highly-metastatic HT-29LMM colon carcinoma cells (I. Fidler; Houston, TX) were cultured in RPMI1640 medium and human T84 colon cancer cells (A. Nussrath, Atlanta), derived from a lung metastasis, were cultured in DMEM-F12 medium containing 10% FBS without antibiotics in humidified 5% CO2/95% air at 37°C. Confluent cell monolayers were used during the log-phase of growth. Prior to the experiments cells were rinsed with Calcium-Magnesium-free phosphate buffered solution (CMF-PBS), trypsinized and kept in serum-free adhesion medium (RPMI1640 containing bovine serum albumin [BSA] 1%) for 60 min for reconstitution of cell surface proteins. Trypsinized cells were resuspended as single cell suspension in CMF-PBS at a final concentration of 1 × 106 cells/ml. This preparation did not interfere with adhesive and migrative properties in vitro . For inhibition experiments, various antibodies or neuraminidase-V (C. perfringens) (Sigma) were added during reconstitution of the cells as indicated below.
For flowcytometric analysis of adhesion molecules, cells were trypsinized and washed in serum free medium. After reconstitution for 60 min, cells were fixed with fresh 1% paraformaldehyde and processed following a standardized protocol. The following primary antibodies were used for detection of certain cell adhesion molecules: anti-human integrin β1 mAb (clone P4C10, Chemicon, Hofheim, Germany), anti-human integrin β4 mAb (clone ASC-8, Chemicon), anti-human integrin β3 (clone N-20, Santa Cruz,), anti-human αv mAb (clone 272-17E6, Calbiochem, Darmstadt, Germany), anti-human α1 integrin mAb (clone SP2/0, Upstate, Lake Placid NY), anti-human α2 integrin mAb (clone 16B4, Serotec, Oxford, UK), anti-human α3 integrin mAb (clone ASC-1, Chemicon), anti-human α4 integrin mAb (kindly provided by J. Eble; Münster, Germany), anti-human α5 mAb (clone JBS5, Serotec), anti-human α6 mAb (clone 4F10, Serotec), anti-sLea (clone KM93; Chemicon), anti sLex (clone KM231; Chemicon), anti galectin-3 (clone B2C10; Santa Cruz Biotechnology). Negative and isotype controls were similarly processed. Corresponding Alexa-fluor568-labeled secondary antibodies (Molecular Probes, Leiden, Netherlands) were used for flow cytometry analysis. For detection of Thomson-Friedenreich antigen, cell were incubated with fluorescence labeled Lectin from Arachis hypogaea (L0881; Sigma) specifically binding TF-antigen in increasing concentrations. Flow cytometry was done using EPIC XL (Beckman Coulter, Krefeld, Germany).
Male Sprague-Dawley rats (CD rats; 250-300 g; Charles River) were cared for in accordance with the standards of the German Council on Animal Care, under an approved protocol of the local Animal Welfare Committee (LANUV NRW 9.93.2.10.36.07.122). Rats were anesthetized using inhalation of isofluorane (Curamed, Karlsruhe, Germany) and N2O. A permanent catheter was introduced through the right carotid artery and the tip placed centrally to the heart. An open tracheotomy was performed and the animal was mechanically ventilated through a canula placed and fixed in the trachea by a small animal respirator (Harvard Small Animal Ventilator, Harvard Apparatus, Hugstetten, Germany) at a rate of 35-40/minute and a tidal volume of 3,5 - 4 ml. Adequate ventilation was confirmed by arterial blood gas analysis. The anterior chest wall was carefully removed without disturbances of the lung surface avoiding atelectases. The animal was placed under an upright in vivo fluorescence microscope (Zeiss, Oberkochen; Germany) and fluorescence microscopy was performed through a thin glass cover slip mounted on a specially designed holder, carefully placed upon the lung's surface with minimal pressure. For positive contrast of the blood vessels, the animals were slowly injected with 500 μg fluorescine (FITC) labelled dextran 10,000 kD. Using a similar protocol, earlier studies demonstrated stable hemodynamic conditions and constant microcirculation in the lungs for at least 60 minutes . Microscopy was performed through a water immersion objective with 20× magnification (Figure 1A/B).
Set-up for in vivo microscopy of the ventilated rat lung. A: After placement of a catheter central to the heart through the right carotid artery, a tracheostomy and canulation of the trachea was performed for establishing mechanical ventilation. The chest wall was removed and the right lower lobe was exposed. B: A glass cover slip, mounted on a specially designed holding device, was placed upon the right lower lobe with minimal pressure to serve as artificial pleura, and the animal was placed under an upright in vivo microscope. Time frame (10 sec.) of stably adherent and sticking human colon cancer cell. C: Full scale microscopic pictures representative for in vivo microscopy of the ventilated and physiologically perfused lung in-situ. The presented pictures were taken at the indicated time intervals after tumor cell injection. One fluorescence-labeled cell is stably adherent to the vascular wall over the 10 second interval of observation. The other cell ("sticking cell") is adherent for a few seconds to the wall without establishing stable adhesion and finally recirculates through the pulmonary capillaries. For quantitative analysis of tumor cell adhesion, the lung surface was screened for stably adherent cells in a standardized fashion in 10 minute intervals for a total of 40 minutes.
106 CalceinAM labeled human HT-29LMM colon carcinoma cells were injected as a single cell suspension in 1 ml CMF-PBS over 1 minute. Standardized lung surface microscopy was begun immediately after the injection was completed. The lung surface was continuously screened in a standardized manner recording the number of single adherent tumor cells per microscopic field in inspiration as described before . Tumor cells adhering for ≥10 seconds were defined as stably adherent. Microscopy was performed in 10 minute intervals for a total of 40 minutes. Emboli of cell clumps were excluded from analysis.
The cell numbers given are the number of adherent cells per 20 microscopic fields for each 10 minute time interval and are expressed as means ± standard deviation from n independent experiments (animals injected).
For inhibition experiments cells were incubated either with function blocking monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), type V-neuraminidase or conditioned medium. For some experiments the animals were treated with 0.8 mg fucoidane per kg bodyweight 15 minutes prior to cell injection as described by Preobrazhenskaya et al. for inhibition of selectin mediated adhesion.
For integrin and galectin-3 inhibition cells were incubated with the appropriate antibodies (1-3 μg/ml, 60 min) during reconstitution to block specific integrins prior to the assays. The following mAbs were used: anti-β1 integrin (clone P4C10, Chemicon, Hofheim, Germany), anti β4-integrin (clone ASC-8; Chemicon), anti-αv (clone 272-17E6, Calbiochem, Darmstadt, Germany), anti-galectin-3 (clone B2C10; Santa Cruz Biotechnology). This pretreatment has been shown to interfere with the regulation of cell adhesion in HT-29 cells in-vitro and in vivo [6, 17]. Unspecific mouse IgG (Sigma) was used as control.
Enzymatic hydrolisation of cell surface glycoprotein sialic residues to inhibit Selectin ligands was achieved by incubating cells with 0.01 U/ml type V-neuraminidase (from C. perfringens; Sigma, Deisenhofen; Germany). This treatment has been shown to interfere with tumor cell adhesion in vivo . Vehicle (untreated) cells were used as control. The inhibition of the Thomson-Friedenreich antigen (TF antigen) was realized by, incubating cells with conditioned medium from the supernatant of JAA-F11 hybridoma cells that produce function-blocking mouse IgG against the TF antigen [22, 11]. Control cells were incubated with unconditioned medium.
Prior to injection cells were washed and resuspended as single cell suspension in CMF-PBS at a final concentration of 1 × 106 cells/ml.
Cells were labeled with CellTracker Green CMFDA fluorescence staining (Molecular Probes) (0.01 mg/ml) for 3D-reconstruction of adherent tumor cells within the pulmonary microcirculation and the animal was injected with Vybrad-Dil-LDL (0.04 mg/animal) for labeling of the endothelium. Both dyes are stable during formalin fixation and paraffin-embedding. 40 minutes after the tumor cell injection in situ fixation was carried out by infusing CMF free PBS at a physiologic pressure of 10-15 mmHg through the inferior vena cava, followed by a 3.75% formalin infusion. The inflated lungs were removed carefully avoiding the creation of atelectases and kept in formalin for three days. 25 μm sections were mounted on glass slides after paraffin embedding. Three dimensional reconstructions of fluorescence-labeled sections were processed using a laser-scanning confocal microscope (Nikon, Düsseldorf; Germany) and the lucia5-software package (Nikon).
The first fluorescence labeled cells were seen in the pulmonary microcirculation as soon as 1 minute after the initiation of the tumor cell injection. While some cells passed the pulmonary capillaries without any sign of mechanical size restriction, first adhesive interaction of the injected cells with the pulmonary capillary system were observed within minutes. All adherent cells were localized within the pulmonary capillaries and no adhesive cells were observed within larger pre- or post-capillary vessels. The mean diameter of pulmonary capillaries determined by in vivo microscopy was 14.3 μm ± 2.5 μm. Perfusion of the capillaries was usually maintained despite the presence of adhering cells. Once tumor cells were adherent for at least 10 seconds, significant recirculation was not observed within the observation period. In contrast to earlier observations under comparable conditions regarding the liver , some cells were found sticking to the lung vessel walls and eventually recirculating before establishing a firm adhesion as it has been described for leucocytes (Figure 1C). Rolling of cells prior to adhesion was not observed.
Three dimensional reconstructions of the lungs after in situ fixation and confocal laserscanning microscopy revealed specific adhesive interactions between tumor cells and the microvasculature with persistent free capillary lumen (Figure 2). In vivo microscopy of these areas demonstrated remaining perfusion within the capillaries next to the adhering tumor cells (Figure 1C). It is worthwhile to mention that extravasated tumor cells, e.g. cells in the alveolar lumen, were not detected by confocal laser scanning microscopy 40 min after cell injection.
A/B: Laser scanning microscopy of adherent tumor cell (formalin fixed). After in situ perfusion with PBS with physiologic pressure through the inferior V. Cava, lungs were fixated in situ by formalin infused with physiologic pressure. After paraffin embedding, 25 μm sections were analysed by 3D laser scanning microscopy. Three dimensional reconstruction revealed tumor cells (A, yellow cell with white arrow head) adherent to the microvascular endothelium (B, white arrow heads) and leaving a perfused vessel lumen without signs of mechanical size-restricted cell arrest.
The human HT-29LMM colon cancer cell line was derived from repeated in vivo passaging in mice . To validate the cell line's adhesive properties within the rodent model used here, we compared the pulmonary tumor cell adhesion of HT-29LMM with the adhesive properties of human T84 colon cancer cells derived from a lung metastasis. After injection of T84 cells treated with unspecific mouse IgG (n = 6) 16.7 ± 9.0; 15.8 ± 5.1; 14.1 ± 5.6; and 13.0 ± 1.9 cells/20 microscopic fields were found adherent in the lung at 10; 20; 30; and 40 minutes after injection, respectively. Similar processing of HT-29LMM cells resulted in comparable numbers of adhesive cells within the pulmonary microcirculation at all time intervals (Table 1). HT-29LMM cells were used for further experiments due to better comparability with results from earlier studies using a similar microscopic technique within the liver.
Identification of potentially involved sets of adhesion molecules was performed by flow cytometry analysis defining adhesion molecule expression at the tumor cell surface. Human HT-29LMM colon cancer cells showed significant expression of β1-, β4-, α1-, α2-, α3-, α6-, and αv-integrin subunits. While only weak α5-integrin expression was found, α4-integrins were not detected, on the surface of this cell line of epithelial origin (Figure 3A).
Expression of adhesion molecules at HT-29LMM surfaces. A Integrin expression:Flow-cytometry analysis revealed predominant expression of β1-, β4-, as well as α1-, α2-, α3- α6- and αv- integrins on HT-29 LMM cells. Only weak expression of α5-integrins; α4-integrins are not expressed. B Glycoprotein expression:E-Selectin binding sLe-a was found on HT-29LMM in the absence of sLe-x. TF-antigen and galectin-3 are both present for endothelial cell binding.
In accordance with other authors we found sialyl Lewis-a (sLe-a), on HT-29LMM cells, while sialyl Lewis-x (sLe-X) was absent from the cells' surface (Figure 3B).
Furthermore, HT-29LMM cells were found to express Galectin-3 and Thomson-Friedenreich antigen (TF) simultaneously (Figure 3B).
We reported earlier that inhibition α6β1- and α6β4-integrins as well as inhibition of αvβ5-integrins significantly interfered with metastatic tumor cell adhesion within the hepatic sinusoids [6, 17]. Since adhesive interactions of HT-29LMM cells with the pulmonary microvasculature showed comparable patterns, we used the same antibodies and protocols for integrin inhibition as described before [6, 17] to determine the involvement of integrins in the metastatic cell arrest within the lung.
After injection of HT-29LMM cells treated with unspecific mouse IgG (n = 9) 13.5 ± 5.1; 13.5 ± 4.8; 11.1 ± 2.7; and 13.5 ± 2.3 cells/20 microscopic fields were found adherent in the lung at 10; 20; 30; and 40 minutes after cell injection, respectively. These numbers were comparable to those from untreated cells. Neutralisation of various integrin subunits at the tumor cells' surfaces did not impair cell adhesion within the lung capillaries (Figure 4B; Table 1).
Pulmonary tumor cell adhesion in vivo. A: Adhesion of HT-29LMM and T84 colon cancer cells. Determined by quantitative in vivo microscopy, human highly metastastic HT-29LMM and lung metastasis derived T84 colon cancer cells show similar adhesive properties in the rat lung. B: Integrin - inhibitionUsing quantitative in vivo microscopy of the lung, inhibition of colon cancer cells' integrins did not impair in vivo tumor cell adhesion in the pulmonary microvasculature. C: Selectin - inhibitionEnzymatic hydrolisation of sialylated glycoprotein structures by Neumaminidase-V significantly impaired tumor cell adhesion within the pulmonary microvasculature. Furthermore, tumor cell arrest was impaired after treatment of the animals with fucoidan 15 minutes prior to cell injection for inhibition of P- and L-selectins. D: Thomson-Friedenreich antigen inhibitionTumor cell - endothelial cell adhesion in vivo was significantly reduced, but not completely lost, after inhibition of TF-antigen and galectin-3 at tumor cells.
After the identification of selectin binding sLe-a at the cells' surface and with respect to earlier reports indicating sLe-a mediated tumor cell adhesion within the liver , HT-29 LMM were pre-treated with neuraminidase type V for enzymatic hydrolization of sialylated residues as described before . This treatment significantly impaired metastatic tumor cell adhesion in the lung as it did in the liver . Using vehicle treated control cells 10.9 ± 3.9 to 15.0 ± 5.9 adherent cells/20 microscopic fields were counted in the respective time intervals. Enzymatic hydrolization of sialylated cell surface glycoproteins by incubation with neuraminidase-V significantly impaired early cell adhesion in vivo and the number of adherent cells was reduced: 6.5 ± 2.6 to 7.9 ± 3.0 cells/20 microscopic fields (p < 0.05 - 0.001). To confirm the involvement of selectins, animals were treated with fucoidan (0.8 mg/kg) 15 minutes prior to cell injection . This treatment also significantly impaired adhesion of vehicle treated cells in the pulmonary microvasculature (Figure 4C; Table 1).
The TF antigen binding cell surface molecule Galectin-3 is likely involved in the adhesion of metastasizing tumor cells to endothelial cells [11, 21]. We therefore treated control cells (n = 5) with unconditioned control medium prior to injection. At 10; 20; 30; and 40 minutes after cell injection 10.9 ± 5.1; 18.3 ± 10.1, 16.4 ± 3,9; and 14.8 ± 6.2 cells/20 microscopic fields were adherent within the pulmonary microcirculation. After incubation of the cells with unconditioned medium and addition of function blocking anti-galectin-3 antibodies (n = 5) prior to injection no significant differences in the numbers of adherent cells were observed. After incubation with JAA-hybridoma medium containing function blocking anti-TF mouse IgG, significantly reduced adhesion of HT-29LMM cells was observed. Simultaneous anti-galectin-3 and anti-TF treatment of HT-29LMM cells (n = 5) also resulted in a significant reduction of adherent cells within the lung (p < 0.05 - p < 0.001) (Figure 4D; Table 1), similar to anti-TF treatment alone.
The organ specificity of metastatatic TC arrest is not only determined by the repertoire of available adhesion molecules expressed at the cells' surfaces but in addition is influenced by the histological architecture, the availability, and organ specific exposure of possible adhesion sites within the targeted organ. In the case of colon cancer, the lung, next to liver and lymph nodes, is one of the most important metastasic targets. In this study, we demonstrate that metastatic cell arrest in the lung is exclusively initiated by adhesive interactions between circulating TC and the pulmonary microvascular endothelium. In contrast to the relevance of initial TC-ECM interactions for cell arrest within the hepatic sinusoids [6, 17] direct matrix binding is not responsible for initial pulmonary tumor cell arrest. This points out the organ specific nature of metastatic tumor cell adhesion within potential target organs.
The lung's microvasculature is lined by a continuous endothelium, underlined by a basal membrane mainly composed of fibronectin, collagen IV and laminin. Anatomically defined fenestrae as documented for the kidneys' glomerula or the hepatic sinusoidal endothelium cannot be found in the pulmonary endothelium . Although TC-EC adhesive interactions are of solely functional nature and earlier reports failed to observe morphologic correlations , the data presented herein support the role of TC - EC interactions in the initial phase of metastatic lung colonization. Adherent TCs leave a remaining perfused vessel lumen suggesting specific interactions rather than size restricted arrest. Furthermore, TCs passing the pulmonary capillaries were repeatedly observed in our study. Size restricted arrest, cannot be completely excluded by two dimensional in vivo microscopy, but 3D examination of in situ fixed and physiologically perfused lungs supports specific adhesion of colon cancer cells to the pulmonary capillary endothelium.
Despite the controversies about the potential role of size-restricted mechanical arrest for the initiation of organ colonization a large body of data supports the role of specific adhesive interactions of circulating TCs within the capillary microenvironment of potential metastatic target organs . This initial adhesion can be mediated by heterotypic TC - EC interactions and/or TC - ECM interactions [17, 26, 28]. Furthermore, the coagulatory system [29, 30], including platelets and possibly leucocytes seems to interfere with metastatic tumor cell arrest.
Under physiological conditions, terminally fucosylated glycans such as sLe-x function as selectin ligands, e.g. on activated leucocytes , and mediate rolling on and adhesion to ECs . But altered glycosylation of cell surface molecules is also a prominent feature of malignant cells [9, 35]. These molecules appear to be critically involved in the organ tropism of metastasis formation. For example, sLe-a and sLe-x can mediate adhesion of differentiated epithelial cancer cells to endothelial E-selectin in vitro and in vivo . SLe-x was shown to initiate liver metastasis of human colon cancer cells and high levels of sLe-x expression were correlated with poor survival of colo-rectal cancer patients . E-selectin mediated adhesion triggers numerous functional alterations in adhering TCs as well as in ECs. For example, adhering TCs induce further E-selectin expression in ECs , while adhering TCs are subjected to shear forces, inducing intracellular signalling like focal adhesion kinase phosphorylation and further adhesion stabilisation . Confined disturbances in microvascular physiology may further be caused by local induction of nitric oxide after TC -EC interaction , as well as altered mechanical properties of TC by cytoskeletal rearrangement after cell adhesion . Nevertheless, details of these biophysical alterations remain unclear.
In this study pre-treatment of the animals with fucoidan and pre-treatment of the injected cells with neuraminidase significantly impaired pulmonary TC arrest in vivo. Fucoidan mainly affects P-selectin and L-selectin with minor effects on E-selectin . In contrast, neuraminidase inactivates sialylated adhesion molecules, such as sLe-a that is known to bind E- and P- selectin, and to a lesser extent also L-selectin. Nevertheless, adhesion of epithelial TCs to the microvascular endothelium may also be mediated by indirect cell adhesion, using additional cell types or soluble molecules within the blood [31, 32]. Therefore, our results suggest the involvement of platelets and possibly leucocytes in in vivo adhesion of TCs in the lung. This is also supported by previous reports from other groups [31, 32].
Direct heterotypic TC - EC adhesion seems to be also mediated by the TF and galectin-3 system . The inhibition of tumor cell adhesion to EC by anti-TF treatment resulted in increased survival in a mouse model for spontaneous breast cancer metastases by impairing TC adhesion without affecting tumor cell proliferation . Similar to earlier reports [9, 11, 17, 32], we were able to detect a significant contribution of sLe-a - selectin mediated adhesion and TF - galectin-3 mediated TC adhesion within the lungs.
Beside TC - EC interactions, TC - ECM interactions, mediated by integrins were shown to be critically involved in the initiation of distant metastasis formation [12, 47, 48]. But in contrast to other typical metastatic target organs of colon cancer [6, 10, 17] we could not detect any significant contribution of ECM binding integrins to the initiation of pulmonary tumor cell adhesion. Although α3β1-integrin mediated TC adhesion to the basal membrane's laminin through single spot-like gaps of the endothelium was reported , we could not detect TC-ECM interaction in the early time frame analyzed.
The ECM components underlining the endothelium as the basal membrane are composed in an organ specific manner. Furthermore, the endothelial lining has specific characteristics in different organs that affect tumor cell adhesion. We recently reported that HT-29LMM passes the renal microcirculation without any signs of cell arrest . On the other hand we found their organ specific adhesion within liver and lung . In the kidneys' glomerula, the endothelium is discontinuously perforated by fenestrae, covering 20% of the endothelial surface and the underlining ECM contains fibronectin beside collagen IV and laminin . Inhibition of fibronectin binding α5β1-integrins on CHO cells critically impaired their adhesion within the kidney without affecting their adhesion in the lungs . In contrast, CHO cells transfected with αvβ3-integrin exhibited enhanced accumulation in the liver by binding of extracellular vitronectin, while their accumulation in the lungs did not differ from their integrin αvβ3 negative parental cells . In the liver the ECM is also directly accessible for circulating TCs through fenestrae of the EC covering 6-8% of the sinusoidal endothelial surface . Fibronectin and type IV collagen in the space of Dissé were found mediating metastatic HT-29LMM cell arrest in the liver, while type I collagen predominantly seemed to mediate cell extravasation into the liver parenchyma [6, 17, 55]. In addition, TCs can directly adhere to small amounts of laminins via α6β1- and α6β4-integrins in the space of Dissé .
The in vivo microscopy technique used in this study provided quantitative information of TC arrest in the lung, but provided insufficient resolution to observe eventual morphologic changes of adhering TC or involved EC. Since the interface between capillary lumen and alveolar air is only 0.1 μm [25, 54], flattening and transendothelial migration of tumor cells cannot be excluded, but extravasated tumor cells, e.g. cells in the alveolae, were not observed in formalin fixed tissue examined by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The fate of the adherent cells remains unclear in this study and may not be determined using the model and technique used here, but intravascular proliferation of adherent HT1080 sarcoma cells was described within the pulmonary capillaries by others . In earlier studies, our group and others could not determine a correlation of cell adhesion and metastatic potential but found a positive correlation of metastatic potential and tumor cell extravasation of different colon cancer cells within the liver . However, transendothelial migration that would be required within the lungs may take longer time periods since endothelial retraction and proteolysis of the pulmonary basal membrane are required in the lung, but only partially or not at all in the liver. As first adhesive interactions were observed as soon as 1 minute after cell injection and cell adhesion reached high numbers at 10 minutes after tumor cell injection, this seems not only to be a highly efficient process, but also a highly organ-specific step for the formation of metastatic lesions .
The continuous endothelium of the pulmonary capillary system appears to prevent direct integrin mediated adhesion of colon cancer cells to the underlining basal membrane. Although, single spots of exposed ECM can be found in the pulmonary capillaries , they do not provide sufficient binding capacity for integrin mediated adhesion. This is supported by the observation of TCs 'sticking' (temporary adhesion) without establishing firm adhesions, a phenomenon known for leucocytes but not documented for TCs in the liver . As a result of initial TC-EC adhesion, conformational changes such as endothelial retraction and apoptosis of EC are well documented . The subsequent exposure of underlining ECM components can provide additional adhesion capacity in a second step and may trigger further cell interactions. This could explain reports of increased lung metastasis of carcinoma cells after altered β1-integrin expression . It would also be in line with reports of enhanced pulmonary metastasis of fibrosarcoma cells in mice after endothelial damage by bleomycin treatment that was associated with cells adhering to exposed basal membrane .
In summary, this study is the first report using intravital in-situ observation of circulating colon cancer TCs within their important metastastatic target organ of the lung. Our results support the importance of organ specific histological architecture for metastatic TC colonization. While integrin mediated adhesion to ECM components may contribute to the initiation of metastatic tumor cell arrest in organs with a discontinuous endothelium like the liver, in organs with a continuous endothelial lining like the lung, initial metastatic TC adhesion appears to be exclusively mediated by direct and/or indirect TC - EC interactions via glycosylated adhesion molecules, such as selectins and TF-antigens. |
Summary: Learning how to get rid of bed bugs in furniture can be frustrating. But, once you understand where bed bugs like to hide, understanding how to get rid of bed bugs becomes a lot easier to understand.
It is the toughest decision you will have to make when dealing with a bed bug problem in your home. Do you toss out infested furniture or hope that pest control treatments will eventually eliminate the problem?
Pest control professionals have customers on both sides of the aisle. Some clients quickly decide to throw out mattresses and box springs, upholstered chairs and even their dressers and bedside tables. They are disgusted by the very thought that their room might be inhabited by blood sucking insects. While others simply refuse to discard anything at all. The latter type accounts tend to be continually plagued by bed bugs, of course. They eventually come to realize that either the infested furniture must go or they must decide that they can live with the bed bugs.
***image1***Generally speaking, wooden furniture can be treated in a way that bed bugs can be eliminated. Plywood should be tossed out because bed bugs can get into the laminated ends of the plywood sheets and hide from pesticide treatments. Solid wood provides no cracks and crevices and treatments are more successful.
How to get rid of bed bugs in upholstered furniture is problematic because of all the folds in the fabric. Bed bugs can get behind buttons, tufts and piping where pesticide applications are difficult. Treatments must also include areas covered by the cambric fabric (dust cover) on the bottom of most furniture, requiring the cambric to be removed.
As a rule of thumb, any piece of upholstered furniture with torn fabric should be discarded. Bed bugs easily move about looking for the best hiding places. Once they become established it is almost guaranteed that they will find openings in torn furniture where pesticides will not penetrate. Throw it out! |
For the past three weeks, we have read about King David in the readings for Mass. Although David's relationship with the Lord gets a mixed review elsewhere in the Old Testament, Sirach's summary of David's life contains only the highest of praise. However, the other king in today's readings, Herod, received nothing but bad press for his life.
History shows David to be a scoundrel who is at least Herod's equal, if not his superior. David actually was more cruel in his dealings with Uriah, husband of Bathsheba, than Herod was with John the Baptizer. At least Herod listened to John with respect and fear (Mk 6:20). David not only plotted in cold-blood to kill Uriah; he also exploited Uriah's great loyalty and had him hand-deliver a letter containing his own death sentence (2 Sm 11:14ff). David's lack of faith caused him to ignore the wise counsel of his leaders and take a census of Israel. This disobedience resulted in seventy- thousand Israelites being killed by a plague (2 Sm 24:2ff). David also committed many other sins and crimes.
Why then is David ultimately extolled while Herod is condemned? The difference is in the repenting. David was quick to repent each time he had sinned. He sinned greatly, but he repented greatly. "With his whole being he loved his Maker" (Sir 47:8), and he worshipped God with abandon (2 Sm 6:14). "The Lord forgave him his sins" (Sir 47:11). "That is why [his] many sins are forgiven � because of [his] great love" (Lk 7:47). Love the Lord. Repent!
Prayer: Father, may I love You enough to repent in full.
Praise: St. Agatha's last words before she died as a martyr are said to have been: "Make me worthy to overcome the devil." |
Century Cycles Blog: On bicycling safety: Riding "near to the right side"
ß 4511.55. Riding bicycles; motorcycles abreast.
(B) Persons riding bicycles or motorcycles upon a roadway shall ride not more than two abreast in a single lane, except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles or motorcycles.
(C) This section does not require a person operating a bicycle to ride at the edge of the roadway when it is unreasonable or unsafe to do so. Conditions that may require riding away from the edge of the roadway include when necessary to avoid fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, surface hazards, or if it otherwise is unsafe or impracticable to do so, including if the lane is too narrow for the bicycle and an overtaking vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
Section 4511.55(A) is very often misquoted to say that cyclists are required to ride as near as possible to the curb. The new paragraph (C) should help reduce this confusion. There are many conditions where it is much safer to ride near the middle of the lane.
It is not practicable (practice-able) to ride on the far right when passing or turning left; or when avoiding objects, parked cars, moving vehicles, pedestrians, animals, surface or other hazards; or when the travel lane is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to pass safely side by side within the lane. Many motorists are reluctant to cross a lane line when passing a bicycle. A cyclist who "hugs the curb" unintentionally invites motorists to pass with unsafe clearance. Riding near the middle of a narrow lane sends the message that passing traffic must use the next lane.
The real purpose of this law is to prevent unnecessary delay to faster traffic. Since the law cannot require unsafe operation, the phrase as close as practicable is highly flexible, varying widely according to conditions. Positions well away from the edge of the road can be in compliance.
Section 4511.55(B) allows riding two abreast. However, cyclists should avoid unnecessary delay to other traffic. Please be courteous and "single up" when other drivers wish to pass if such passing is safe and reasonable. There is no violation if any of the following apply: (1) If there is no traffic being delayed; (2) If the cyclists are traveling as fast as other traffic; (3) If traffic can reasonably pass by using another lane; (4) If the lane is too narrow or it is otherwise unsafe for passing. |
Since the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida in February, and a recent shooting at the headquarters of YouTube in California, the left has continued their rant to disarm Americans at every opportunity.
Time and again, the truth behind America’s gun violence problem is exposed – and the facts prove it is not about guns.
Now, one country’s statistics on gun violence are proving the gun grabbers wrong again.
Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in relation to their population, and yet they enjoy a very low crime rate – and a murder rate of nearly zero.
“The country has about 2 million privately owned guns in a nation of 8.3 million people. In 2016, the country had 47 attempted homicides with firearms. The country’s overall murder rate is near zero,” writes Business Insider.
Firearms ownership is extremely important to the Swiss, and yet there has not been a mass shooting in the country since 2001 when a man stormed Parliament and killed 14 people.
So while the left tells us that we shouldn’t have a right to keep and bear arms because “guns kill people,” why then is there so little gun violence in Switzerland?
The answer is fairly simple: The Swiss teach their children from a young age how to safely use and be comfortable with firearms. Guns are an important part of their culture.
The Swiss are very serious not only about their right to own weapons but also to carry them around in public. Because of this general acceptance and even pride in gun ownership, nobody bats an eye at the sight of a civilian riding a bus, bike or motorcycle to the shooting range, with a rifle slung across the shoulder.
One of the reasons the crime rate in Switzerland is low despite the prevalence of weapons… is the culture of responsibility and safety that is anchored in society and passed from generation to generation. Kids as young as 12 belong to gun groups in their local communities, where they learn sharpshooting.
And yet, despite such easy access to pistols and rifles, “no members have ever used their guns for criminal purposes,” says Max Flueckiger, [a shooting club] association’s spokesperson.
“Social conditions are fundamental in deterring crime,” says Peter Squires, professor of criminology and public policy at the University of Brighton in Great Britain, who has studied gun violence in different countries and concluded that a “culture of support” rather than focus on individualism, can deter mass killings.
“If people have a responsible, disciplined and organized introduction into an activity like shooting, there will be less risk of gun violence,” he tells TIME. That sense of social and civic responsibility is one of the reasons the Swiss have never allowed their guns to come under fire.
Law-abiding American gun owners, and gun groups and clubs all advocate for the same simple things the Swiss do to keep gun use safe.
Both the Swiss and American gun groups sponsor shooting sports, safety classes, and advocate for teaching respect and proper use of firearms. No one disagrees that using firearms should come with a healthy respect.
The bottom line is, the right to self-defense and enjoyment of shooting sports is part of the Swiss culture. It is accepted and a source of national pride. Families shoot together, and children are taught the fundamentals of shooting just like any other skill as they grow.
Gun violence is extremely low in Switzerland because, well, guns are everywhere – and virtually everyone knows how to shoot.
There are no Gun-Free Zones inviting criminals to go on shooting sprees without any resistance or ability of the victims to defend themselves. The very idea would be ludicrous to the Swiss, and yet they haven’t had a mass shooting in nearly twenty years.
[And] here’s one that would make a leftist’s head explode: the Swiss have an insanely secure border. Seriously–it’s designed to blow up on command in many locations. So the Swiss have an inherent respect for security.
The Swiss are some of the “happiest” people in the world according to UN surveys, which…acknowledges that violence is a people problem, not a gun problem.
Switzerland is a prime example of a country with very few gun regulations and very little gun violence.
It’s little wonder the left never mentions Switzerland in their gun control rants, as the country’s statistics relating to guns and gun violence would make their argument implode. |
I applied and failed to get into Cambridge University when I was a teenager. I don’t care that I didn’t get in—I had three wonderful years at York instead. Nonetheless, I’m interested to think in retrospect about why this happened, whether my (very standard comprehensive) school could have done anything to prepare me better, and whether this situation still obtains twenty years later in schools similar to mine.
The positives. My school was very encouraging. They spent time with me honing my personal statement and writing what I assume was a decent reference.
The negatives. I think that the details matter. This is where the public schools have the advantage. Dammit, I could coach someone pretty well for Oxbridge admissions, despite having never been near the place except as a tourist.
One problem is that half-understood advice is sometimes as useless as no advice at all. I remember being told that I should read a little bit more around the subject, learn some things that were off-curriculum. If I was advising someone these days, I’d say the same thing—basically, that the prospective candidate should read some of the more challenging popular science books in their subject. However, I didn’t really know what this meant, so I went to the local library, which had a couple of maths books that weren’t school textbooks or similar. I read a book entitled something like “maths for business”—the first part was all about linear programming, which I learned in some detail and found very interesting. At my interview I got the inevitable question about what I had been reading, in particular if I had read anything about maths, and said that I had read a book about “maths for business”. The interviewer said something slightly bemused like “you mean, how to calculate a mortgage, and that sort of thing?”. I replied with something like “no, not really”, but I couldn’t really articulate what the book was about, so that line of questioning faded out.
The detailed choice of words matters. If I had said “I’ve been reading a book that talks about this thing called linear programming” then I might have started an interesting conversation. This is exactly what can be coached carefully.
I also think that it is important to choose the right, illustrative examples; this is part of understanding the reasons for asking the question as well as just understanding the question. In a previous attempt to join the Establishment, when I applied for a scholarship to the local private school aged 11, I remember being asked at the interview about what I watched on TV. I waffled on about enjoying the A-team and Family Fortunes and so on. Of course, I was just as enthusiastic about watching Mastermind and Tomorrow’s World or whatever else would have been the appropriate—but I didn’t understand that this was important. I gave a very direct, off the top of my head answer, sampling essentially randomly from the set of possible answers, and it wasn’t the right one. Again, this could trivially be coached out, even without my having any understanding of why the “right answer” was right.
Is this still the case today? Perhaps. One great thing is that there are loads of websites where prospective students can meet online and discuss these issues, so obvious faux pas get trapped early on. But, I still worry—if I were interviewing a student, and they gave some waffle about a business maths book, would I look upon them as favourably as the student who had read Ian Stewart or Marcus de Sautoy and could engage with the ideas therein? Does the student who says that they’ve “enjoyed programming in HTML” deserve the opprobrium that they would get, even though this might have been precisely the term their teacher might have used? I’d hope to be able to tease out the genuine ignorance from the shibboleths, but I worry that I don’t always succeed.
I come from nowhere. This is a rather overdramatic statement, but it kinda has depth. Let’s unpack this a bit.
I didn’t grow up in a place that had cultural significance. I grew up in the “respectable working class” suburbs of a large but fairly nondescript city in the non-region that is the East Midlands. Occasionally you meet people who have some passion for the city (Nottingham), but it is rare, and it doesn’t have the cultural oomph of, say, growing up in Liverpool, Glasgow, the East End of London or (for that matter) Surrey (which elevates dullness to a culture). I find it strange when people have a really meaningful link to a place where they grew up—even a place that they haven’t lived in for years. I used to work with someone who, despite living elsewhere for the last 30 years, strongly identified with the Scottish borders where he grew up as his home, and regarded this as important. I can’t say that I do, or perhaps could attribute this to where I grew up.
I grew up without a religion, but with a vague dash of woo. This specifically isn’t to say that I grew up in a hardline atheist environment. I grew up in a family/culture that sat in the vaguely something-out-there, vaguely-agnostic, vaguely culturally-christian kind of nonreligion.
I grew up as an only child in a family that was distant, on both sides, from their extended family. This leaves me with a peculiar, and probably vastly overidealised, notion of a large extended family. For example, I am loosely envious of people who have large, extended (both in terms of family size and length of meeting) family Christmasses—in my family, Christmas has been a few hours on the 25th December with my parents, and by the evening it is back to normal. I understand, though, that people who have this more-or-less uniformly hate it and regard it as a tedious obligation.
I grew up in a “class gap”. I can’t do the “I grew up eating gravel” that some of my proper working class contemporaries can do; equally, I was sufficiently distant (e.g. in terms of cultural capital) from the genuine middle classes. My parents clearly believed themselves to be working class, though we were frequently seen as “posh” by by schoolmates, largely as a result of living in a detached house on the edge of the council estate rather than in one of the council houses.
The importance of gender has always been a mystery to me. I don’t regard gender as being all that important, outside of areas where it is immediately relevant. I’ve always interacted with lots of people both male and female without really noticing. I find the idea of social groups based on gender to be weird—occasionally, I’ll get invited to go along to an event that is male-only and I always refuse these, I can’t understand what people would get from such a group. Similarly with regard to race and ethnicity.
This isn’t to say that I would want to have a strong background, but I sometimes think that it would be good to have something to push against—when I read a book review about (to give a recent example) the difficulties of growing as a lesbian in Jewish North London, I feel that my situation doesn’t give me something to move outward from. I might want to reject my background, but at least I’d like some background to reject.
When I explain this to friends, I often get a reaction that is trying to convince me that I do come from somewhere, e.g. by explaining that I have a community in the form of my academic discipline. This isn’t really about where I come from, though, but about where I have ended up.
That said, I don’t care too much about this. I am vaguely jealous of people who appear to come from somewhere, it adds depth in some indefinable way. Nonetheless, I feel that it conveys an interesting perspective on the world. For example, I find territorial political/religious disputes (Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands, the middle-east) rather incomprehensible. Why not just come to a pragmatic solution and agree some kind of division? Of course I am not really that naive: I understand rationally, but nonetheless try as I might I cannot emotionally grok the feelings of someone who really believes in this sort of cause. Why, in the end, is it really that important? What must it feel like to really come from somewhere and care about it?
My perspective on such disputes leaves me with an oddly contradictory feeling. On one hand, I feel remarkably naive, like some 5-year old saying “why can’t they just all sort it out”. On the other hand, I feel remarkably mature, like a teacher who is looking down on a class of children having a fight and apportioning equal blame to all with jaded indifference. When I was a kid, I was morally outraged at some of the teachers’ decisions—their lack of interest in trying to explore the reasons why we were e.g. fighting seemed outrageous—but, in retrospect I can see how it looks when you take a perspective that views playground politics as trivial.
Similarly on various kinds of prejudice in society, I feel that I am getting a lack of prejudice “for free”, which feels odd somehow. I like this situation, but I feel that people who have had to work hard to not be racist or sexist somehow have a greater depth of engagement with the issues, whereas I’ve just swanned in without any of these prejudices in the first place.
I wonder what it feels like to really come from somewhere in this sense? |
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a carefully crafted novel by the prominentwriter, Mark Twain, upholds its place as one of the most controversial books in American history. Twain tells the tale of a rebellious boy’s adventure, after he escapes from the “sivile” life that once captivated him. However, during his riveting journey down the Mississippi River, young Huckleberry is confronted by a runaway slave, named Jim, who he must protect carefully, or face the grave consequences. During the escapees’ expedition, they are antagonized with the severe racism and social corruption of the Southern United States prior to the Civil War. Furthermore, the unfavorable aspects of southern society shown in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, imitate the honest life in the south, during the mid-1840s. In response to the written words of history’s mistakes, critics argue that the novel should be banished from schools around the world, until a “cleansed and appropriate,” republished version is available for teaching. While some school districts might render the pure version of the novel offensive, it’s crucial to realize that Huckleberry Finn is believed to be “the greatest novel ever written” (Mencken), and literature of that caliber cannot be altered. Although the story is brutally racist, it’s also a precise depiction of previous Southern lifestyle; these parts of our history must be preserved for the wisdom of future humans. In spite of the everlasting debate, which comprises this novel, it’s evident that Huckleberry Finn should always remain an authentic American classic that teaches us the racial inimicalness of our country’s history.
The Concord Library Committee was one of Huckleberry Finn’s greatest enemies when it first came out. This group of critics opposed the story in every way for it’s terrible structure and language. Although the novel was judged austerely when it first emerged for its lack of“skill” and “poor language,” many early readers failed to grasp Twain’s main purpose in the novel. Contrary to fights for the removal of Huckleberry Finn upon its publication, there was an equal fight for why the book should remain in society when it came out in 1885. What the uneducated reader doesn’t know is that Mark Twain is a very crafty writer. Consequently, “he prefaces The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with a brief notice, warning persons in search of a moral, motive or plot that they are liable to be prosecuted, banished or shot. This is a nice little artifice to scare off the critics” (Life Reviews Huck). Twain has complete intentions for the book to be shot down and rebelled against for it’s exclusivity towards common literature at the time; however, he was a risk taker, and he had a significant purpose. The real theme of Huckleberry Finn, the racial instability of the South, was incredibly hard for a racist white man in 1885 to comprehend. Furthermore, the story was strictly written to counteract most of the people that read it, who were the prejudice Southerners. In addition, the so-called “poor language” in the book, is actually the honest portrayal of Southern dialect, which must be captured for our country’s history. Twain also includes an except at the start of the book, which states that there are no racist portrayals derived from his own point of view, but from the view of a standard pre-Civil War Southerner. Many complaints arise from the fact that Twain uses the n-word frequently, “yet Twain was particular about his words. His letter in 1888 about the right word and the almost right one was the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning” (Rawls). Some readers of this novel can appreciate the true meaning of Twain’s words and will always stand by the book’s side to keep it in American literature. Whether the reader is a supporter or a dissident of Huckleberry Finn when it was published, as a nation we must preserve this novel as it holds a large part of American history. Varying from the 1885 lifestyle, in 2014, Huckleberry Finn is looked at in a much different way.
In current day America, the human race often hides from past mistakes; however, to ensure the purity of our future generations, we must learn about our country’s errors. Contrary to this statement, many schools around the world are in illogicality of teaching the Southern classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to their students. While this novel encompasses a dynamic social issue that children must learn, many teachers argue that the story is far too malicious and that they don’t want to make any students uncomfortable by teaching it. The story shows the severe enmity between a black man and the rest of the white society in the South, which is something that educators don’t want to instill upon young children. Because the n-word is such an explosive term in today’s world, “we think it’s not appropriate to discuss our nation’s racism honestly until college” (DelFattore) states Joan DelFattore, a professor at the University of Delaware. Additionally, the word often causes an emotional trigger, one most definitely not suitable for a child or teen. It’s inappropriate in the eyes of society and teachers should not break that boundary, which separates intentions and reality. On a broader note, Huckleberry Finn is continuously on the top 100 most challenged books list; also, there have been multiple cases where a teacher who dares to educate the story in a deceitful way, gets fired. Therefore, to comfort the instructors who want to teach this definitive novel, but also want to maintain the validity of their job and children can teach the “sanitized” version of Huckleberry Finn. Created by Alan Gribben, the cleansed form of Huck Finn is mainly the same book, but replaces the n-word with “slaves.” Because he receives both negative and positive reactions towards his creation, “Gribben conceded that the edited text loses some of the caustic sting but said: I want to provide an option for teachers and other people not comfortable with 219 instances of that word” (Rawls). Gribben adds an honest reasoning for the re-creation of the book, which could allow the book to be read more widely around younger audiences. Though many people in 2014 believe that Twain’s story is unsuitable for a majority of scholarly environments, the book was never intended for young audiences and can’t be unassumingly converted just for a sense of comfort. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered one of the best books in American literature for a reason. The story is honest and portrays the true life of a Southerner living before the Civil War. As a modern nation, citizens cannot pretend that racism and corruption didn’t occur in our past by avoiding it; instead it’s only right to embrace it. As a student, it’s crucial to learn about the racial turmoil that governed the 1885 United States, the dialect, people, and all that covers the subject. Randall Kennedy, a Harvard Law School professor, and “author of a book on the history of the racial epithet in question, says that the term is historically appropriate and that trying to erase the word from our culture is profoundly, profoundly wrong” (Kennedy). Because of this, the “sanitized” version of Huckleberry Finn is an inaccurate showing of the southern lifestyle that Twain originally represented so well. The novel is one of the most solid depictions that we still have today, which explains its prominence to students today. Consequently, a reader who has an open state of mind will easily comprehend the story and its purpose, the hostility between the races in the South. Also, “Critics say removing the racial slur, amounts to censorship and fails to acknowledge America’s racist past” (Abramson). The teachers of United States schools would fail to complete their jobs in teaching the genuine order of the prior South. Without a doubt the corroboration of the classic Huckleberry Finn would be forever lost. As a closing verdict, education will always been valued over comfort. AS the motivational speaker, Les Brown once said, “If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness” (Brown). This statement is a datum that every child faced with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should regard. Huckleberry Finn in his story is an advocate of racism; therefore, his slate cannot be polished because he shows the truthful picture of history.
Consequently, Twain specifically reiterated on the Southern dialect that he chose to mimic in his book. Critics of Huck Finn need to realize that the attitudes of Mark Twain’s characters are not derived from his own mind, but from the mind of the common Southerner. The Americans of the future need resources like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to aid to their learning of racial history. Therefore, a form of this novel without the n-word would rid this story of historical clarity. It’s invalid to sugarcoat even the darkest parts of our pasts. Prodigious writing cannot be held back behind the strict expectations of society. In is essential to preserve stories that tell the true history of our nation, no matter if that history is malevolent or amiable.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an American classic novel that must stay in society to teach the dynamic racial corruption of the United States’ past. This novel is an advanced piece of literature that “goes beyond what meets the eye,” in regarding social commentary and racism. Furthermore, Twain was an ingenious man who knew how replicate a social controversy into an untruthful, fantasy world. However, many fail to notice Mark Twain’s skill of the written word. Instead of honoring him for his incredible reenactment of a Southern, racist world, negligent readers often confuse the author’s initiative, and validate him as a racist, which he is most certainly not. A renovated form of the novel would do nothing but slightly increase the comfort levels of a few kids, at the cost of losing the true meaning and racial sting of the original book. Whether Huckleberry Finn educationally or emotionally stimulates your mind, it’s imperative to remember Twain as a fighter for social equality. |
Is Evolution Based on Science?
The fundamentals of physics currently face a critical problem, explained Nobel laureate David Gross to the three-day work shop attendees – a watershed moment for science. Wolchover explained, “desperate times call for desperate measures.” Specifically, at stake is whether the new concepts in emerging in physics – specifically, the string andmultiverse concepts – is true science or just a philosophy. The pivotal issue centers on whether empirical evidence is still required to establish a scientific theory. Since science standards apply across the spectrum of the natural sciences, the outcome also determines the evolution’s science status.
The crisis tip-point occurred with publication of controversial ideas advocated by Richard Dawid, (pictured to the right) an Austrian philosopher in the 2013 book “String Theory and the Scientific Method.” The problem stems from the absence of empirical evidence to scientifically supported these new concepts. Dawid argued that the essence and definition of science should be revised to allowing for three kinds of “non-empirical” evidences. The testability and falsifiability requirements of the Scientific Method would be optional.
In response to Dawid proposal, George Ellis from the University of Cape Town, and Joe Silk of the Paris Institute of Astrophysics (the two white-haired physicists pictured above in the front row) called for a consensus work shop to assess Dawid’s proposal in an “incendiary opinion piece” in Nature (2014) entitled “Scientific Method, Defend the Integrity of Physics – attempts to exempt speculative theories of the Universe from experimental verification undermine science.
The problem is, the ancients used beautiful and logical ideas – otherwise known as deductive reasoning – ended up wrong theory. Historically, deductive reasoning track record has been a disaster in discovering the secrets of nature.Aristotle (384-322 BC), one of the most famous Greek philosophers, once reasoned that the “Earth is the center of the universe.” However, when Aristotle’s idea was tested using only empirical data, Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) successfully falsified Aristotle’s reasoning – but, at great personal sacrifice.
Gross, a prolific string advocate, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2004, had kicked off the workshop noting that the problem lies not with physicists, but with the “fact of nature” – an excellent example of anthropomorphic arrogance.
Over three winter days, scholars struggled with the meaning of scientific theory, confirmation and truth; how science works; and whether, in this day and age, philosophy should guide research in physics or the other way around. Over the course of the work shop, any degree of consensus to move the “goal posts” of science was lost in the resulting blur of confusion.
To the question of whether testable and falsifiable is still required to validate a concept as scientific, there was no new consensus. If a theory has no predictive value, can it be scientific? There was no new consensus. What keeps theorists within the bounds of science? There was no new consensus.
Once there was a teenage girl with a sweet personality, selfless spirit, and diverse skills. But she was so envied by her cruel stepmother and two rude stepsisters that they forced her to constantly do the nastiest jobs in almost total obscurity. The Cinderella story is so universally appealing that it has been translated into over 60 languages and made into multiple films. In these types of stories, the perpetrators’ bigotry reflects their constrained mindset. The worthy becomes worthless in their view.
This is also true in origins research. Some belief systems liberate thinking. Others, like an evolutionary worldview, are so confining that evolutionary biologists may either observe non-existent or overlook actual biological functions based on preconceived notions of what they expect to see.1 One example of this bias is the categorization of the human appendix as a worthless organ by thought-constrained evolutionists. This assumption hindered research on a truly useful part of our digestive system and highlights a colossal evolutionary blunder.
Since Darwin’s time, the world’s sharpest evolutionary biologists have championed the human appendix as unquestionable evidence for evolution and against intelligent design. But scientific research demonstrates the folly of both assertions by showing the appendix to be a fully functional organ.
These are definitive declarations—conclusions that the appendix is undeniable evidence for evolution and against creation. The result? By the mid-20th century, thousands of “prophylactic” surgeries had been performed based on assumptions that “the sooner [vestigial appendages] are removed the better for the individual.”8 Unfortunately, these recommended surgeries flowed from evolutionary beliefs rather than scientific findings.
“Immune cells make appendix ‘silent hero’ of digestive health” was the November 30, 2015, headline for a report on recent research in ScienceDaily.9 The story made plain that “new research shows a network of immune cells helps the appendix to play a pivotal role in maintaining the health of the digestive system, supporting the theory that the appendix isn’t a vestigial—or redundant—organ.” The study found that cells in our gut and appendix interface directly with intestinal microbes to regulate colonies of bacteria. The appendix facilitates recovery from threats to gut health by repopulating the gut with “good” bacteria.
One primary researcher quoted by ScienceDaily focused specifically on popular unfounded beliefs.
Belz’s findings reinforce earlier research. A 2007 Duke University Medical School press release challenged Darwinism’s naïve view of the appendix: “Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix now appears to have a reason to be—as a ‘safe house’ for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut.”11 Informed researchers would neither be surprised nor make such a blunder since medical textbooks have identified functioning lymphoid tissue in the appendix for decades. |