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Musk mallow is a perennial plant that is part of the
Malvaceae plant family. It is native to Europe and was later introduced to North America. The musk mallow features an erect stem and pink flowers. It is commonly grown in flower beds or pots. This plant is prone to leaf spot and rust, both of which are fungal diseases.
Scientifically, musk mallow is known as
Malva moschata. There are several varieties of this species including alba and appleblossom, and varieties differ in flower color from the main species. Alba, for example, produces flowers that are white, while the appleblossom variety has a light pink flower.
The musk mallow grows in the northwestern and northeastern corners of the U.S. and Canada. It is considered a weed and is typically found along roadsides or railroads. The plant also grows in dry, grassy fields and old gardens.
Generally, the musk mallow reaches a height of 3 feet (1 m) and spreads about 20 inches (50 cm). The leaves differ in appearance depending on where they are located. At the base of the stem, the leaves are rounded, while leaves closer to the top of the stem are divided into several toothed sections. The leaves are green throughout the year and they emit a musky smell when crushed.
The flowers consist of five pink petals that are arranged like a saucer. Each petal is triangular, and the entire flower is about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. They usually form in clusters at the end of long flower stalks. If the flower is attached to the stem at the leaf node, then it will appear singly. The flowers usually bloom from June to September.
Musk mallow is propagated by seeds. If introduced to a new area, the plant becomes invasive and can overwhelm local plants. It is generally recommended to mow the plants before the seeds ripen to avoid overgrowth.
When growing the musk mallow for ornamental value, it is also recommended to plant it in well-draining soil. It can tolerate a variety of soil types including sandy, loamy, and clay. The pH of the soil can also vary since the musk mallow can thrive in both acidic and alkaline conditions.
Some problems to watch out for include leaf spot, which is identified by brown or black spots on the leaves. Rust is another issue which affects this plant and causes orange blotches on the leaves. Both are caused by a fungus, and both infections can be reduced by applying fungicides.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | 1.073227 | 591 | 590 |
The Calumet County Chapter of Thrivent Financial recently raised $5,166 for local food banks in a food collection challenge.
In addition to the funds raised, 854 pounds of food were donated to local food shelves. Through this hands-on service project the chapter awarded the dollars to three Calumet County area food bank—Bread of Life, Salvation Army, Chilton, $2,976; St. Vincent De-Paul, Brillion, $1,464; and Rays of Hope, Kiel, $726.
The Calumet Chapter of Thrivent Financial is privileged, through Care Abounds in Communities, to help these food pantries provide services to those in need with assistance this holiday season. Care Abounds in Communities is a program that provides chapters the flexibility to help other members, individuals and non-profit organizations in a way that works best for all involved. Funding can be used for charitable (fund-raisers and hands-on service projects), educational and member social activities.
Through its chapter programs, Thrivent Financial members come together in service to help their communities and congregations. Members are able to use Thrivent Financial dollars to add to the funds raised at an activity or to purchase materials for service projects, while energizing other members and volunteers to provide help that otherwise would not be available.
All Thrivent Financial members belong to a local organization—most often a chapter—that provides a way for them to give back to their communities, congregations and causes they care about through charitable activities, as well as connect with one another for social and educational events.
Anyone can join in volunteer and educational activities hosted by Thrivent Financial. To connect with the Calumet County Chapter of Thrivent Financial, e-mail bas1217@yahoo.com.To find other area Thrivent chapters, visit the Chapter Locator at www.thrivent.com/chaptersor call 800-236-3736.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a faith-based, Fortune 500 financial services membership organization helping its nearly 2.5 million members to be wise with money and to live generous lives. Thrivent Financial and its affiliates offer a broad range of financial products and services. As a not-for-profit organization, Thrivent Financial joins with its members to create and support national outreach programs and activities that help congregations, schools, charitable organizations and individuals in need. For more information, visit Thrivent.comor find it on Facebook and Twitter. | 1.496149 | 511 | 510 |
1. In Rugby League, coach, TV presenter and former great
Andrew Johns, described a Queensland player as a "black c---". Dropped from coaching position and public apology.
2. Former AFL player and West Australian,
Mal Brownhas been hounded by the media for giving a joking speech in which he referred to Aborigines he once played with as "cannibals". Forced to publicly apologise.
3.
Robert DiPierdomenico, Hawthorn AFL Legend and popular ambassador for the AFL's Auskick program in an admiring reference to Gavin Wanganeen, in which he detailed the fellow Brownlow winner's honours, he added: "Not bad for an Abo." Now dumped from the job.
So what went wrong and why are their reputations of these sporting legends now tarnished for their public comments?
Well in a media statement today, the head of one of sport’s premier ‘fair play’ programs is concerned the problem runs far deeper than a few wisecracks.
Steve Rossingh, Executive Director of the Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport and co-chair of Play by the Rules, a national initiative to encourage fair play in sport, says racism in any form is just that: racism.
“Any comment that is derogatory, insulting or offensive is disrespectful and saying it as a joke is no defence. I fear that racist comments like those we’ve heard recently are really symptoms of an underlying prejudice.”
But Rossingh was quick to point out that racism isn’t just evident in elite sport and that everyone in sport has a responsibility to see that their sport is welcoming and inclusive..
“Club sport lies at the heart of our communities and, although the elite sports stars can provide important role models, it’s the parents, coaches, players and administrators in clubs all over the country who must also play a role in addressing racism.
“Racism is hurtful and damaging and pointless – it can also be unlawful. There’s no place for it in sport. In fact, sport offers a wonderful opportunity to put our differences aside and engage in friendly and sometimes fierce competition with people regardless of their backgrounds, skin colours or the language they speak. Sport can be a great leveller.”
Rossingh believes the current debate provides an opportunity for all sports to consider the culture of their clubs and what they can do to promote fair and inclusive environments for participation.
“It’s disappointing to hear people we respect using racist language but, if we can acknowledge that racism exists, rather than laughing it off, we can start to actually do something about it.”
Play By The Rules offers online training, information and resources for clubs and sporting organisations to ensure everyone involved in sport can do so in enjoyable, safe environments, free from discrimination or harassment.
Play by the Rules is a unique partnership between the Australian Sports Commission, Australian Human Rights Commission and all state and territory sport and recreation and anti-discrimination agencies.
Want to avoid this happening to you in a speech.
Here are some options:
1. Never swear in a speech or near a microphone
2. Never make racist comments
Please consider our next Speechwriter and Speech building seminar in Perth on August 17th 2010 or our personal mentor program. More details here. | 1.844231 | 665 | 664 |
Ancient History of Tamil LanguageThe oldest accounts in ancient Tamil language are short inscriptions on pottery and in caves that dates back from around 2nd century BCE. The inscriptions are composed in a deviation of the Brahmi script known as Tamil Brahmi. Tolkappiyam, the earliest text in ancient Tamil language, is an initial work on grammar and poetics of Tamil. The earliest layers could be traced back to the 1st century BC. Along with the Tolkappiyam, numerous other literary works from the ancient era has also been recovered. The most prominent being the Sangam literature which is a corpus of 2,381 poems. The poems belong to the period between 1st and 5th centuries and thus the Sangam literature is the earliest available work of secular literature in India. Manimekalai and Cilappatikaram are 2 long epics which are amongst the other renowned literary works that belong to the ancient Tamil language. Moreover, numerous didactic and ethical texts, written between the 5th and 8th centuries, have also survived.
Ancient Tamil contained several traits of Proto-Dravidian, like the syllable structure, the inventory of consonants and various grammatical characteristics. There was the absence of a discrete present tense and similar to Proto-Dravidian, ancient Tamil contained only 2 tenses, the past and the non-past. Ancient Tamil verbs also contained a distinct negative conjugation. Nouns could take pronominal suffixes like verbs to express ideas. Even though there are significant grammatical and syntactical changes between different classifications of Tamil language, but it demonstrates grammatical continuity.
Medieval History of Tamil LanguageMedieval history of Tamil language is considered to have begun from around the 8th century and the evolution from ancient Tamil to medieval Tamil is described by numerous grammatical and phonological changes. The phonological changes were marked by the practical disappearance of the Aytam, an old phoneme; the transformation of the alveolar plosive into a rhotic; and the coalescence of the alveolar and dental nasals. In grammar, the most significant change was the advent of the present tense. The present tense developed out of the verb Kil, which meant “to befall” or “to be possible”. In ancient Tamil language, this verb was utilised as an aspect indicator to specify that an action was micro-durative, non-sustained or non-lasting, generally in amalgamation with a time marker such as n. In medieval Tamil, this practice progressed into a present tense marker- kinr- which pooled the old facet and time markers.
Medieval Tamil language also witnessed the increasing use of Sanskrit in Tamil. Since the reign of the Pallava dynasty, several Sanskrit loan words appeared in Tamil language, particularly related to philosophical, religious and political concepts. Tamil grammar was influenced by Sanskrit with the augmented use of cases and in declined nouns becoming adjuncts of verbs and phonology. The Tamil script also underwent transformation during this period. It evolved into Tamil Brahmi and Vatteluttu which were the major scripts utilised in ancient Tamil inscriptions. Later Vatteluttu was replaced during the 8th century, as the Pallavas started to use a new script which was derived from the Pallava Grantha script and was used to write Sanskrit.
Medieval Tamil language is demonstrated in several of inscriptions and in a noteworthy body of religious and secular literary works. These consist of the religious poems and songs of the Bhakthi poets, like Nalayira Tivya Pirapantam on Vaishnavism and the poems of Tevaram on Shaivism. These also include adaptations of religious epics like the tale of 63 shaivite devotees known as Periyapuranam and the 12th century Tamil Ramayana written by Kamban. A 12th century grammar known as Nannul which was the standard grammar of literary Tamil and Iraiyanar Akapporul, an early thesis on love poetics, are also from Medieval Tamil literature.
Contemporary History of Tamil LanguageThe Nannul is still considered as the standard normative grammar for modern Tamil literature, which is based on medieval Tamil of the 13th century instead of contemporary Tamil. Colloquial spoken Tamil language portrays several of changes. The negative conjugation of verbs has fallen out of use in contemporary Tamil rather negation is expressed either syntactically or morphologically. Modern verbal Tamil also illustrates numerous sound changes, particularly a propensity to lower high vowels in initial and medial positions and the fading of vowels between plosives and between a plosive and rhotic.
Both written and spoken Tamil were also influenced by European languages like the use of punctuation and the use of consonant clusters, which were conceptually not allowed in medieval Tamil language. The syntax of written Tamil has also converted with the emergence of new aspectual aux | 1.657037 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Open letter to Mr Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal
Dear Mr Coderre,
Your decision to lose weight and get into shape in order to participate in the upcoming Tour de l’île de Montréal on May 31 is very inspiring.
We congratulate you for being a “champion” of the 5/30 Health and Wellness Challenge, the awareness campaign that my company SOSCuisine.com contributes to by proposing menus full of fruits and vegetables for the six weeks of the challenge so as to achieve the “5” goal of the challenge.
Hats off to you for having already lost 15 pounds since January 19. We understand that your plan is to lose another 38 more before May 31. Again, it’s very inspiring but perhaps a bit unrealistic, especially if you don’t want to surrender to the yoyo effect that afflicts all those who want to lose lots of weight in little time.
Instead, I suggest that you develop better eating habits that will last even after May 31. If you exercise regularly and follow our personalized menus, you can easily lose 15-20 pounds by May 31. The extra 15-20 pounds will follow naturally and most importantly… you won’t regain them!
It will be a pleasure and an honour for our Montreal-based SME to help you achieve your goal, as we have already done for thousands of other people throughout Quebec and elsewhere. In fact, the CHUM, the Montreal Heart Institute’s EPIC Centre and the Médecins francophones du Canada have all recommended us.
Don’t give up, Mr Mayor! You’re the best mayor that Montreal has had in a very long time and we’re going to help you stay on longer and in good health!
So, please
contact us before the start of the Challenge and our nutrition team will take care of you.
Cinzia Cuneo
President and Co-founder SOSCuisine.com Proud partner of 5/30 Health and Wellness Challenge
Author Latest posts by Cinzia Cuneo (see all) What’s Happening with the Price of your Shopping Basket? – January 16, 2017 How to Cook the Perfect Turkey in a Few Simple Steps – December 18, 2016 Duck Festival – September 18, 2016 practice leaders: | 1.754811 | 491 | 489 |
US Calls for Global Destruction of Illegal Ivory
The US Government today called on the international community to destroy all stocks of illegal and confiscated elephant ivory.
The US will be destroying its own ivory stockpile on October 8, 2013, as a powerful symbol that ivory trinkets have no value and are leading to the unprecedented slaughter of elephants.
“An elephant loses its life to poaching, on average, every 15-minutes,” said Jeff Flocken, Director IFAW North America (International Fund for Animal Welfare – www.ifaw.org).
The battle to save elephants cannot be fought in isolation. The US is calling for countries to stand together in the global effort to combat the current poaching crisis and the illegal wildlife trade.
The US Government has demonstrated strong leadership in this battle including Barack Obama’s recent Executive Order on combatting wildlife trafficking.
The US stockpile includes raw and carved elephant tusks, smaller carvings and other elephant ivory items. It weighs 5.4 tonnes and will crushed outside Denver, Colorado.
Illegal wildlife trade generates an estimated US$19- billion per year, and poaching and worldwide insecurity is connected. Often, the proceeds are used to fund and arm rebel and militia groups who are willing to slaughter imperiled species and kill people to obtain elephant ivory, rhinoceros horn and other wildlife parts.
Media reports this week linked the Al-Shabaab attack in Nairobi to poaching and illegal trade of ivory. It is alleged that up to 40 per cent of Al-Shabaab’s funds come from ivory buyers and consumers.
Ends
A new IFAW report,
Criminal Nature: The Global Security Implications of the Illegal Wildlife Trade, documents the threat the illegal trade poses to animals like elephants and rhinos, and also people.
The learn more about the illegal ivory trade, download IFAW’s digital magazine
Unveiling the Ivory Trade..
About IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare)
IFAW is working to help protect elephants on the ground by supporting anti-poaching patrol trainings, working with Interpol to boost enforcement to fight wildlife trafficking and reducing demand for ivory through consumer awareness campaigns. IFAW is supporting the Indian Government in presenting the historic E50:50 Elephant Congress which will take place in New Delhi in November 2013, bringing together for the first time ministers from the 50 elephant range countries to address the conservation and welfare needs of elephants worldwide for the next 50 years. Visit IFAW at www.ifaw.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. | 1.561357 | 531 | 530 |
Heart Attack Recovery Lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, changing your diet, and increasing your physical activity, are important when recovering from a heart attack. Cardiac rehabilitation programs help people throughout their recovery; these programs include education on heart-healthy living, exercise training, and counseling to reduce stress and help people return to an active life. Medications can also be prescribed during heart attack recovery.
Millions of people have survived a heart attack, and many have a complete recovery and are able to lead full and productive lives.
During the heart attack recovery period, your goals are to:
Recover and resume normal activities as much as possible Prevent another heart attack Prevent complications, such as heart failure or cardiac arrest.
After a heart attack, you will need to see your doctor regularly for checkups and tests to see how your heart is doing. Your doctor will also most likely recommend:
Lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, changing your diet, or increasing your physical activity Participation in a cardiac rehabilitation program Medications such as aspirin, nitroglycerin tablets for angina, medicines to lower your cholesterol or blood pressure, and medicines to help reduce your heart's workload.Not that investors have been hard done by. At this stage in the property cycle the argument for companies owning their workplaces is compelling, especially when the proposed offices provide plenty of room for expansion into the upturn. The wonder is that more have not made the switch from long, inflexible leases to the joys of home ownership.
The yields implied by the pounds 21m combined purchase price of the two buildings (7 per cent in the West End and 5.7 per cent in the City) do not suggest bargain basement prices.
But shareholders are tied into probable capital gains and released from the unpredictable shackles of rising rents.
The flexibility that gives a cyclical service business should not be underestimated.
Many a high-profile service provider would have given a great deal not to have been saddled with high fixed overheads just as revenues started to plunge.
The closing price of the shares, down 2p at 58p but 14 per cent higher than the theoretical ex-rights price of 51p, indicated the market's justifiable satisfaction with the deal.Reuse content | 1.594939 | 455 | 453 |
<p><a href="https://www.verywell.com/polarized-sunglasses-3422163" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1">Polarized sunglasses</a> are specialized eyewear designed to reduce glare and increase contrast sensitivity. Glare distorts the true color of objects and makes it harder to distinguish.</p><p>Unlike traditional sunglasses, polarized sunglasses block out glare instead of dimming the entire field of vision. Traditional sunglasses may reduce glare, but they may also block out subtle details about the surroundings because of the dye used in tinting the lenses.</p><p>Polarized sunglasses have been enjoyed for years by boaters and fishermen to reduce unwanted glare from the water. This glare prevents fishermen from spotting fish swimming below the surface. Wearing polarized sunglasses reduces this glare, allowing fish to be more easily seen.</p><p>Today, polarized sunglasses are becoming more and more popular with other sports enthusiasts, including skiers, golfers, bikers and joggers, as well as the general public. Although they are more expensive than <a href="https://www.verywell.com/tips-for-buying-sunglasses-3421919" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="2">traditional sunglasses</a>, polarized sunglasses effectively reduce glare from surfaces other than water, such as snow and glass. Drivers can also benefit from polarization, as the special lenses help reduce glare and reflections from the surface of the road.</p><p><sub>Source</sub></p><p><sub>American Optometric Association, Texas. Shopping Guide for Sunglasses. AOA, 2008. </sub></p> Appendix IIa: Guidance Document Appendix III: Corrective Action Plan Enquiries as to the certification of factories to the ICTI code of Business Practices should be directed to : ICTI CARE Foundation Asia Limited Room 518, Star House 3 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong Phone: +852 2111 2462 Fax: +852 2111 2126 e-mail: asia@icti-care.org © International Council of Toy Industries Ltd. 2004 | 1.269593 | 494 | 492 |
MISSOULA, Mont. - A study led by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks kicked off Thursday that will help researchers understand elk distribution in western Montana.
It's called the North Sapphire Elk Research Project, and is focused in an area that stretches from the Northern Sapphire Mountains from Miller Creek to the north, to Rock Creek in the east, down to Burnt Fork Creek in the south.
"There's been some changes in elk distribution in the last 10 years, probably in the last 20 years," said FWP Biologist Nathan Borg. "We're trying to figure out some of the reasons for that."
Borg says biologists will begin the 2-year study by collaring 20 bulls and 45 cow elk from a herd on MPG Ranch, near Florence, that will allow them to monitor migratory behavior and nutrition.
The goal is for public and private landholders to use the information gathered to update their management policies.
"Here, on this landscape, if we find we find them changing distribution on this landscape, then that means we need to change some of our management, and that means we need to work more hand-in-hand with some of these landowners to see what we can do to improve winter range," said Borg.
Project directors say $150,000 in funding for the study has been privately donated, and they hope to collect $50,000 in additional funds to cover the 2013-14 field season., an affirmative finding is far from certain, and any remedy proposed by the ITC following such a finding would be subject to Presidential review and thus could be reversed. Indeed, the last time a 337 complaint involving steel products alleged an antitrust violation based on pricing behavior, then-President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential determination disallowing the ITC's proposed remedy (a cease and desist order), citing national interest reasons and the need to avoid duplication and conflicts with trade remedy proceedings. The next President might take similar actions, particularly given that many of the products covered by the US Steel complaint are covered by existing AD/CVD orders and investigations against Chinese steel products. Moreover, if the ITC were to find a violation in this case, the resulting determination could be appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. An exclusion order issued by the ITC in this case also would likely be challenged by China at the WTO as a potential violation of GATT Article XI:1. | 1.652874 | 506 | 504 |
Home prices aren’t just slowing down – they’re on track to skid next year as supply rises and income growth remains tepid, economists said Tuesday.
According to a fresh forecast from CoreLogic, an Irvine, Calif.-based analysis firm, year-over-year home-price growth will slow to 6% by May 2015, compared with almost 9% this May.
Meanwhile, analysts at Capital Economics, focusing on the S&P/Case-Shiller price gauge that tracks 20 major cities, expect annual growth to drop to 4% by the end of 2015, compared with almost 11% in April. Similarly, Freddie Mac /quotes/zigman/226335/delayed /quotes/nls/fmcc FMCC , the federally controlled mortgage-finance giant, sees Case-Shiller’s home-price gauge slowing to 3% next year.
“Although home sales are now recovering, a further increase in the supply of homes to the market will ensure that house price inflation continues to slow,” said Paul Diggle, property economist at Capital Economics.
Also, as homes become pricier, that will curb some demand, limiting further growth.
While homeowners won’t love slowing appreciation, it’s far from all bad. Double-digit growth rates simply aren’t sustainable, especially given tepid income growth. Real weekly earnings for full-time workers have actually declined 3% since the recession ended, according to government data.
“Home buyers are starting to feel an affordability pinch,” said Len Kiefer, Freddie’s deputy chief economist.
Home-price growth of 3% to 4%, or about 1% factoring in inflation, is a sustainable rate over the long term, analysts say.
“I see slower appreciation as a positive sign we are moving toward a normal housing environment. Several more years of double-digit growth would incentivize reckless behavior again,” said Jack Micenko, a housing analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group.
But here’s one negative about slowing appreciation: It may take longer for owners of troubled properties to regain equity and return to financial health. Escalating prices over the past year helped sharply narrow the pool of underwater properties — a home for which an owner owed more on a mortgage than the property was worth.
“Many borrowers are deeply underwater. Those borrowers are going to continue to have a very hard time,” Freddie’s Kiefer said. “Those that are current on their mortgage and keep paying it down will get to positive equity, but it won’t be instantaneous.”
–Ruth Mantell
Check out these Capitol Report links: As Britain’s economy snaps back, incomes still lag Obama to target tax loopholes in highway fight, and more must-reads | 1.570796 | 555 | 554 |
(CNSNews.com)– A bill passed by the Baltimore City Council in November and signed into law on Dec. 4 will require pregnancy resource centers operating within the city to post signs stating what services the facilities do not offer. Signs -- to be posted outside the centers -- must state that they do not provide or give referrals for abortion or contraceptives.
Pro-life activists say this is the first time in the United States that a nonprofit service provider has been required to post such signage. They believe the law is intended to undermine their efforts to help women make an informed decision about an unplanned pregnancy. The signs will turn more women to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, they say.
“The passage of this piece of legislation may serve as serious encouragement to those who would like to see our organizations saddled with more laws and restrictions,” Carol Clews, executive director of the Center for Pregnancy Concerns in Baltimore, told the Baltimore Sun after the council passed the bill by a 12-3 vote in November.
“I cannot think of a single situation where a non-profit organization or for-profit business is required to post a sign that states what it does not do,” Peggy Harnshorn, president of Heartbeat International said in a statement submitted at a hearing held prior to the vote on the bill.
“Planned Parenthood is not required to post a sign that states it does not provide adoption services. A car dealership is not required to post a sign that states that it does not sell bicycles or offer landscaping services,” Harnshorn added.
Planned Parenthood does have information on adoption, but according to its 2007-2008 annual report, only about 5,000 women were referred to adoption services while more than 305,000 abortions were performed at its clinics around the country.
Joe Young, vice president at Heartbeat International, a network of pregnancy resource centers around the world, said Planned Parenthood and other providers don’t offer abortions free of charge, which is the case for the services offered at centers. Those services include free pregnancy testing, parenting classes, support groups and connecting clients with services in the community that can help them with pre-natal care, housing, counseling and other support. At medically certified centers, clients can be tested for sexually transmitted diseases and get ultrasound exams, which can determine a viable pregnancy at its earliest stages.
“I am very disappointed that the Baltimore City Council would jump into the abortion issue by singling out non-profit pregnancy resource centers,” Young told CNSNews.com.
“These centers are among the few places that women in Baltimore can get medically accurate information to make a truly informed choice when facing a life changing and difficult decision about an unplanned pregnancy.
“Pregnancy centers serve the women of Baltimore without financial motivation and present the truth about all of the options available,” Young said. “The same cannot be said about the abortion providers in Baltimore and yet, they are not affected by this ordinance.”
Young, who attended the hearings in Baltimore, said that the pregnancy resource centers affected by the new law provided as evidence during hearings the paperwork that clients at the centers must sign to get services, which include a disclaimer that neither abortions nor contraceptive services or referrals are included.
Not one witness at the hearings who had used the services of a pregnancy resource center testified that they felt misled, Young said, adding that groups like NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood have a vested interest in undermining the work done by the centers.
“It ultimately cuts into the profit margins of abortion centers,” Young said.
Melinda Delahoyde, president of Care Net, which supports more than 1,000 pregnancy resource centers around the country, said in a written statement that money should have been considered when the bill was debated.
“It is nonsensical for the Baltimore City Council to undermine local efforts to provide free support to pregnant women in this city, but that’s exactly what they’ve accomplished with this legislation,” Delahoyde said. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for the Baltimore City Council to pass a resolution praising the contribution of pregnancy centers, which rely solely on charitable contributions, not on state or local funding?”
Planned Parenthood received $349.6 million in federal funding, according to its 2007-08 annual report, although federal law states none of that funding can be used for abortions.
Bill 09-0406 was sponsored by Baltimore City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a Democrat and outspoken pro-abortion advocate. It was signed into law by Mayor Sheila Dixon three days after she was convicted of embezzling $600 worth of gift cards intended for charity. | 1.381498 | 953 | 952 |
Using the Project Management Process to improve Your Project Success
Project Management Process vs. Project Management Lifecycle vs. Project Management Methodology
As mentioned on the Define Project Management page, there are several Project Management methodologies in use around the world.
In fact, most of the “methodologies” in use are actually project management processes, which attempt to encapsulate and standardize the project management lifecycle. Typically, a “methodology” is at a much higher level, a more “strategic” definition of project management. The project management process or lifecycle is a “tactical” view of the project management work – it defines not only “what” is to do; but also “how” you will accomplish the work.
This page discusses the project management process and lifecycle – the tactics of successfully completing your project.
Project Management Process
Typically, a project management process follows a flow similar to the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” cycle, defined by Shewhart and modified by Deming (from the ASQ Handbook, pages 13-14, 1999). Simply, the phases or steps of the PDCA cycle are linked together by results – the result of one step becomes the input to another.
A successful project management process must address the various phases of the project lifecycle. In some cases the work phases are arbitrary, based on organizational project practices. In all cases, the phases are well defined and the transition from one work phase to another typically involves the transfer of some sort of deliverable (a document, piece of software, invoice, bill of materials, report, etc.)
Alignment between project management processes and the project lifecycle is driven by project work, deliverables, and milestones. Although project lifecycle phases appear to be sequential, involving the exchange and approval of deliverables, the vast majority of all projects are actually highly iterative. Work phases of a project are defined by specific schedule milestones and deliverables, or Work Product.
Project management steps or phases of the project lifecycle are similar to those of most project management processes.
The project management process defines the following
what work needs to be accomplished in each project phase
Who performs the work in each project phase
When the deliverables are produced and delivered in each project phase
Who is responsible for review and approval of each deliverable
How the delivery, review and approval of each deliverable, as well as the work of each project phase, is monitored and controlled The criteria which determines the conclusion of the project phase and the initiation of the next phase
What is the deliverable acceptance criteria
Which group is responsible for the deliverable requirements, review, and acceptance
Typically, the project management process includes the following project characteristics:
Stakeholders have much more ability to influence the project (cost, deliverables, resources, and schedule) earlier in the project rather than later
Project costs and resource levels begin low, peak during the middle phases (the Project Execution steps), and drop-off as the project nears closure
Project risk and uncertainty are highest early in the project and will typically reduce as the project progresses – assuming it is on-schedule and on-budget
The project management process defined by the PMBOK®, from PMI, mirrors the typical project lifecycle phases. Remember that all organizations apply the phases of the project lifecycle differently; and even differently for different projects. For example, one company may apply a single design phase while another might apply 2 or more design phases during a single project.
Throughout the pages of this website, I will assist you in bringing the application of the project management process to a tactical level. I will also work with you to align the project management process phases to the project lifecycle phases within your organization.
Project Management Statistics and Performance Poorly planned, mis-managed, undisciplined and poorly executed projects are doomed to failure... So what else is new, right? Read on...
Some statistics I gathered look like this:
if a project is in trouble within 15% into the project, the project will never recover and stay in trouble through completion (from a DOD study of over 700 projects).
it almost always takes twice as long to complete a task as what we originally thought it would take (more a “true-ism” than a statistic).
70% of projects fail to deliver the benefits anticipated at the outset.
a government study (GAO) showed that major projects were overrunning budgets by 75% on average and that the huge projects ($1B and over) were 14% over budget. Seven years later, these overruns were measured at 140% and 189% respectively.
using the "80/20 Rule", we will typically accomplish 80% of our results using 20% of our resources. While the other 20% of additional results comes from using about 80% of our resources. (Again probably more of a truism.)
over 90% of project failures are due to poor planning.
A 19 | 1.654758 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
98 Information Technology project survey (seems old, but is still quoted) of 203 participants indicated the following reasons for failure:
75% deadlines missed,
55% budget exceeded,
40% poor communications,
37% unmet project requirements.
The same survey indicated the following as project success factors:
51% meet milestone objectives,
32% maintain quality levels,
31% meet budget objectives.
According to most studies in this area, poor software implementation is due to bad or poorly articulated requirements. Many experts agree that 40-60 percent of software defects and failures are attributed to bad requirements.
Most who quote project management failure statistics are quoting, usually out of context, from a 1994 report by The Standish Group, called the CHAOS Report.
The Standish Group has been producing and updating its research report since 1994. Their report on project performance, called The CHAOS Report of 1994 documented sobering statistics: 31.1 percent of projects cancelled, 52.7 percent "challenged" (completed over budget and/or behind schedule), and just 16.2 percent successful. An updated report, 2003 CHAOS Chronicles, shows a 50 percent improvement in project success rates.
Even though statistics may look gloomy, they are continually improving due to:
Improved information sharing through web sites such as this
Self-Discipline through industry associations, such as PMI and IPMA
Improved practices through project management certifications and continuing education requirements
Increasing discipline among company leaders, focused on projects as implementing change and ensuring that project meet ROI thresholds
All of these reasons, along with your search for the best information, tools, and coaching (by using this web site) means that project success rates will continue to increase – and we will all win.
PMBOK® -- Project Management Body of Knowledge
The Project Management discipline mentioned above is embodied in the various, proven project management processes, such as PMI's PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge) and the OGC's PRINCE2®. Although these are often called “methodologies”, they play a dual role. They provide the tactical tools and guidance for you as a Project Manager and for your Project Team Members to effectively and successfully manage projects to conclusion.
Although I have worked projects in the UK (in England) which used PRINCE® and PRINCE2®, I am most familiar with PMI’s PMBOK®. Although less a project management process than PRINCE2, PMBOK® provides high-level structure through its project lifecycle, called Project Process Groups.
Project Initiation – Project Planning – Project Execution – Monitoring & Control – Project Closure
PMBOK® also weaves in 9 “Project Management Knowledge Areas”:
Project Integration Management
Project Scope Management
Project Time Management
Project Cost Management
Project Quality Management
Project Human Resource Management
Project Communications Management
Project Risk Management
Project Procurement Management
PMBOK® further defines the Inputs and Outputs for each individual project management process within each of the 5 Process Groups. There is enough detail within all of the 44 project management process, grouped under the 5 process groups, to provide specific tactical project management steps, tools and templates.
As stated in the PMBOK® Guide (3rd Edition), for your project to be successful, you must work with your team to:
Select appropriate processes within the Project Management Process Groups required to meet project objectives
Use a defined approach to adapt the product specifications and plans to meet project and product requirements
Comply with requirements to meet stakeholder needs, wants and expectations
Balance the competing demands of scope, time, cost, quality, resources, and risk to produce a quality product.
Although you follow the PMBOK® and have adapted those project management processes to your project, your project’s success is meaningful only when it encompasses:
the degree to which the technical goals were achieved on time and within budget
the contribution that the project makes to achieving the strategic mission of the enterprise or customer.
(I will discuss the PMBOK® and how it can benefit your project on a subsequent pages.)
Project Quality Management Project Quality Management is an extensive subject area that I will begin to explore on this page and continue provide additional, more detailed pages of discussion and examples.
Project Quality Management is one of the nine PMBOK® Project Management Knowledge Areas, which align with the five project management process phases. PMBOK® defines “Project Quality Management” as:
”… all of the activities of the performing organization that determine quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. It implements the quality management system through the policy, procedures, and processes of quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control, with continuous process improvement activities conducted throughout, as appropriate.”
As you can see from the definition, the PMBOK® provides a somewhat “basic” | 1.563621 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
and “general” approach to project quality management. According to the PMBOK® Guide, this is done on purpose to allow for compatibility with the various approaches to quality, as might be implemented within your organization or your client’s organization. The PMBOK® approach is compatible with ISO, TQM, Six Sigma, Cost of Quality (COQ), Continuous Improvement and others. It also is compatible with approaches espoused by Deming, Juran, Crosby, and others in this field.
PRINCE2®, mentioned above is an “open” method, meaning no license fees. It is sponsored by the UK government's Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and recognized as best practice project management process. A basic difference, among others, is that PMBOK® is customer requirements driven, while PRINCE2® is business case driven.
The layout of PRINCE2® is comparable to PMBOK® and the two are in close alignment in many areas. One of these is Project Quality Management, with the difference that PRINCE2® provides a more tactical, process-based approach than PMBOK®. PRINCE2’s approach to project quality management consists of:
Clear quality management points (esp. Quality Control), and Quality Assurance roles and responsibilities
Defined and orderly handling of Work Packages (Managing Product Delivery)
A fit with the ISO 9000 Quality Management System and consistent with CMM Level 5, though rarely considered as a "quality tool"
Specifies one type of Quality Control (work product focused)
Used for documentation, websites, and other text-oriented deliverables
Consensus on completion and scope verification
Provides clear, tactical guidance on how-to implement quality management
There are definite synergies between the two project management processes – PMBOK® and PRINCE2®. PMBOK® provides structure, depth, and techniques which are adaptable to all project situations. PRINCE2® provides complimentary techniques and project guidance in areas of Organization (such as establishing “Project Board” governance), Product-Based Planning (a focus on the product produced), Product Descriptions, Quality Review, Configuration Management, Change Control, and Work Packages (definition, review, and approval processes).
The basis of solid Project Quality Management is the discipline of your project management process and the rigor with which you apply it, as the Project Manager. Next, you as the PM must comply with your organization’s (or your customer’s) quality policies and procedures.
(Does your organization have an enterprise-wide quality initiative?) Finally, you must be rigorous and consistent in your application of your Project Quality Management Plan (which is an important component of your overall Project Management Plan.
(I will address all of the above topics in more detail throughout this web site, as we continue to define project management.)
Back to the Project Management Tools & Resources page for practical templates and tools to take better advantage of the Project Management Process.
Take another look at Project Management Career & PM Certification opportunities, now that you have a good understanding of the answer to “what is project management”.
Return to Home Page from this Project Management Process page. | 1.984039 | 633 | 632 |
Pune
DSCI Pune Chapter was established to connect the security and privacy professionals in Pune and neighboring cities. It provides a platform for discussions on data protection matters and helps members remain abreast with the latest developments in the field. The Chapter, anchored by
Dr. Arvind Tilak, AIPL India, regularly organizes events in Pune, actively participate in DSCI national events, and is contributing to the fast evolving ecosystem of data protection in the country. Please register to be a part of the growing fraternity.
Enlarge
It is my pleasure and privilege to take over as the Chairman of the Pune Chapter of DSCI and lead the activities.
Cyber security, online privacy, piracy and data thefts are emerging as very major concerns not just for enterprises but also for every citizen and user of internet and communications technology. The crimes being perpetrated in these areas are ruining fortunes and reputations of companies and individuals alike. Loss of productive resources and time is another impact of these crimes. In other words vulnerability to cyber threats and attacks is increasing every single minute.
While these threats are increasing, we see a very dismal picture in terms of awareness about these issues and threats and also how to fight these. Preventive and corrective measures and processes are not being followed in even the most disciplined and vulnerable organizations. At individual levels like that of senior citizens and young adults, the picture is even more disturbing.
At DSCI we are committed to do our bit and work tirelessly to increase awareness about these issues. But we don’t want stop at just that but also actually enable organizations and citizens to fight the crimes and build a secure and well managed cyber world. The task is mammoth and ongoing efforts will be needed to achieve even limited results. However, we cannot be deterred by the enormity of the task and must start the campaign in earnest right away.
For this let’s build a very cohesive and structured organization of volunteers and security professionals and implement the programs that are on the drawing board. We will seek support and cooperation from likeminded organizations and also Police and administration machinery
I appeal all of you to actively join the movement and contribute in the efforts to build secure cyber world.
Thank you,
Dr. Arvind Tilak
Quarterly Chapter Updates
Chapter Meetings from July-September Download: Chapter Meetings from April-June Download: Join the discussion Connect with security professionals across India Contribute to Public Advocacy Organize meetings and discussions Participate in all DSCI activities, initiatives, and public outreach programs DSCI Chapters 13 Chapters Over 2500 security and privacy professionals Across sectors – IT, BPM, Banking, Finance, Security, Insurance, Healthcare, Energy, Telecom Represent senior management, academia & LEAs | 1.915497 | 549 | 548 |
North Korea’s Yongbyon facility has a decades-long history marred by fatal accidents, radiation poisoning and human experimentation, one defector with working experience of it says.
In 2002 a group called ‘Rescue the North Korean People Urgent Action Network’ interviewed defector Lee Mi (a pseudonym) about her work as a researcher at the secretive Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center in the 1990’s.
The interview, conducted originally in Japanese and translate this year for the first time into English, reveals intricate details behind the facilities’ construction, the consequences for those working at it, and how the North Korean government grew the nuclear program from its infancy.
ORIGINS OF YONGBYON
In her testimony Lee said that the plant’s construction began in 1953 with the building of a research center in Hamhung City, which eventually expanded into the Bungang Region in Yongbyon County in the late 1950s.
Without the expertise to develop the site independently, North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il Sung sought the help of the Soviet Union, who Lee said provided up to 200 scientists and advisers, as well as initial materials for the construction of the Yongbyon complex.
Although North Korea was said to have been able to operate the Yongbyon facility with relative independence from 1970 onwards, Lee instead claimed to have seen Russian personnel emerging from restricted areas in the Yongbyon facility as late as 1998.
Lee was able to detail and draw the physical layout of the Yongbyon nuclear facility, which includes a hidden railway line, nuclear waste dumps, research labs and secret underground complex complete with “caves that branch out into different interconnected tunnels.”
Lee said that an underground cave network was used to store nuclear and chemical research material during International Atomic and Energy Agency’s (IAEA) inspections in the 1990s.
The Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center has always been a critical focus for denuclearization talks with North Korea, with the complete and verifiable shut-down of the facility a long-standing American goal.
HUMAN CONSEQUENCES
Lee worked at the 304th Research Laboratory at Yongbyon, where she said development of nuclear weapons was emphasized, but research into chemical weapons also took place.
Of the activities Lee details, the most sinister allegedly occurred in the testing laboratories at the Hamhung branch where chemical and biological experiments took place.
“At the first stage, they used rabbits or mice and squirrels for animal tests, but for the first-hand experiments, they employ(ed) prisoners or felons by using injections,” Lee said.
The interview also reveals the tragic consequences of the construction and operation of the Yongbyon Research Center. Lee said that during the construction of the hidden cave systems, large numbers of workers were killed or injured as a result of the poor conditions.
Lee also claimed that until around the year 2000 there were signs of physical ailments among the scientists that worked at Yongbyon, as well as a series of birth defects, caused by the leaking of nuclear material in the past.
A South Korean official speaking to Yonhap News disputed the idea that a defector with this knowledge even existed. The official told Yonhap that no such defector had passed through the South Korean processing system in place to screen North Korean refugees.
Nonetheless, Lee Wha-rang, who received his doctorate in high-energy particle physics from Purdue University, and who published Lee’s recollections, said that although some of her statements were not factually accurate, “the general picture described is correct.”
The full transcript of Lee’s interview, commissioned by historian Bill Streifer, is available in the latest edition of KPA Journal.
Picture: Yongbyon roadsign, KEI | 1.743353 | 778 | 777 |
The Transparency Bill – on which I seem to have spent most of my waking hours, excluding the few days with our grandchildren over Christmas – has had some very positive results for the House of Lords.
Setting aside the particular areas of agreement and disagreement the reputation of the House has been improved in four ways.
First, a large number of charities, campaigning and pressure groups have become much more aware of the significance of Parliament, and of the Lords itself, in our role as scrutineers of Government proposals. That must be good.
Secondly, they have worked together to a much greater extent than previously in ensuring we were well briefed. The independent Commission led by Lord Harries of Pentregarth was especially effective in this respect, but so too were the Charities Aid Fund, Bond, AVECO, and individual organisations like the Royal British Legion, OXFAM and Friends of the Earth. That too was very helpful.
Thirdly, the result was a whole package of sensible amendments on which we worked together, with support from various parts of the House. A number of these were first tabled by me at the Committee stage but this week we shared responsibility for leading on them, with Lord Harries making the first case, and others of us following on, and some with me taking that role. We therefore had signatories from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat benches as well as from Crossbenchers. We also had Labour supporters when we voted, and carried the day as a result.
Fourthly, the combined effect of the above was that we have been securing some really useful improvements and clarification from Ministers. In particular, my colleagues Lord Wallace of Tankerness and Lord Wallace of Saltaire (no relations !) are to be commended for not only listening so carefully, but in seeking to meet the many concerns expressed by so many organisations – and expressed by us on their behalf during the Committee stage – before the Christmas Recess.
My only disappointment is that a cross-party attempt to exempt charities from the provisions of this Bill altogether was stillborn when the Opposition indicated it would back the Government in voting to keep charities inside the regulations. After all the complaints about the inadvertent effect the Bill could have on charities, I was perplexed by their decision.
We still have Third Reading on Tuesday, and I expect further improvements to be made at that point in relation to the operation of constituency spending limits. It is only to be hoped that the Prime Minister does not then wish to instruct colleagues in the Commons to vote against any of the amendments sent to them by the Lords. All are carefully considered and should be accepted. All in all, the end result will be a MUCH better Bill than the one which came to us from the other end of the building… and a very healthy reminder of the value of the House when it truly represents opinion outside. | 2.037719 | 570 | 569 |
Pioneer Editor: 'Cash for Clunkers' is stimulus
Car dealers are back in business as Congress sent President Barack Obama on Thursday night another $2 billion for the "Cash for Clunkers" program.
Congress and the president have been struggling with ways to jump start an economy in recession, and earlier this year passed a $787 billion economic stimulus bill. The monies there are surging through the economy but none has had the widespread impact as the Cash for Clunkers program.
The program was found to be so successful that it soon ran out of the $1 billion appropriated for it. In fact, had not the Senate acted on the additional funds Thursday, the program would have been suspended today. The program would have otherwise only run for 10 days.
But Americans used the money to help purchase 250,000 new cars, giving the automobile industry the shot in the arm it needed. The additional funds will allow Americans to buy 500,000 more vehicles.
Cash for Clunkers allows people to trade in certain older models for up to $4,500 credit on a new, energy-saving vehicle that gets at least 28 miles per gallon and the old car less than 18 miles per gallon. A $3,500 voucher is available if the new car is getting at least 22 mpg.
It's obvious the American people have embraced the program, as the initial transaction generates more than a 50 percent in fuel economy, generating $700 to $1,000 in annual savings, President Obama said in a statement as the bill headed to his desk. "And they are getting the oldest, dirtiest and most air polluting trucks and SUVs off the road for good,"
As part of Cash for Clunkers, the traded-in vehicles must not be resold and must be destroyed.
So only is the program instilling consumer confidence to purchase such a big-ticket item as a new car, it is also removing gas-guzzling vehicles from American roads, thus promoting a cleaner atmosphere and less reliance on foreign oil.
That seems like stimulus funding with a huge return for the investment. | 1.602232 | 450 | 449 |
CBC News -[LINK] Mother represents son at Taser inquiry
Sometimes it seems like the debate has multiple battle-fronts. There will be one bunch still holding onto, or even propagating, the myth (lie) that tasers are safe; and another bunch that accept that use of tasers carries risks (including death) but they state that the police in a given incident were justified in using potentially lethal force.
The first bunch are either being deceptive, or are simply ill-informed. The fact is that use of tasers DOES carry risks, including the risk of death. One of the conclusions of the Braidwood Inquiry was that tasers can cause or contribute to death, even with healthy adults. Even Taser International has incrementally updated their legal warnings to now (1 May 2010) allow that death-by-taser is a risk with each deployment.
The second bunch are starting from a more-reasonable position, and it's worth taking their argument forward to maturity...
Given that tasers can occasionally (almost randomly) kill even healthy adults, then how much more risky are they for use on those already in a crisis? Do the police involved accept that there are risks? Or are they still in a state of denial?
I've stated my position many times before and I'll repeat it again here:
I don't care if the police are equipped with fricken flame-throwers, but when they start blaming 'Spontaneous Human Combustion' for the crispy-fried victims, then the salesmen should be arrested. 'Excited delirium' is to tasers what 'Spontaneous Human Combustion' would be to flame-throwers.
Braidwood pointed out that as an explanation for death, 'excited delirium' was "unhelpful". It's actually worse than unhelpful. One only has to examine the connections from those that make a career out of 'excited delirium', the links from them to Taser International (incompetently whitewashed through IPICD), and how Taser International has been actively promoting an essentially evidence-free conclusion to supplant death-by-taser (also essentially evidence-free). It's all way too convenient for those that might wish to conduct a deceptive marketing campaign based on false claims of safety.
--
Many of the commenters on the above CBC News website are not showing much sympathy for the family of Trevor Grimolfson. Many are quoting the "drug-fueled rage" report, and using that to justify the decision to use the potentially-lethal taser.
It has the potential to be a rational argument, but the entire law enforcement community first needs to get fully on-side with Braidwood. They all need to acknowledge that tasers are potentially lethal (with each deployment), especially with those that may already be in crisis.
It is not acceptable to first claim that "tasers are safe", and then (in cases where the subject does not survive) use the fall-back position that the death was justifiable.
It's not rational to permit the debate to be conducted on two fronts: "
Tasers-R-safe, and he deserved it anyway."
Once everyone is fully on-side that tasers can occasionally (almost randomly) kill even healthy adults, and that the risks can only be higher with those in crisis, then they can tighten their Taser Use Policies.
I'd be happy if we could move the debate that far along. | 1.966669 | 704 | 703 |
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette signed an agreement Friday with a university in the Mexican state of Tabasco, opening the door for academic and research partnerships between the two institutions focused on developing engineers for the southern Gulf of Mexico neighbors.
The partnership with the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Centla in the state of Tabasco is the first of 15 agreements UL-Lafayette will sign with the Mexican state’s major universities, said Mark Zappi, dean of the UL-Lafayette College of Engineering.
Reforms in Mexico have opened up the country’s energy fields for direct foreign investments, and both Mexican business and education officials have visited Lafayette and Louisiana to attract interest. The country’s national oil company, Pemex, is seeking investment partners and technical expertise as it plans to ramp up offshore production.
Mexican officials claim they’ll need thousands of engineers to meet demands in the country over the next five years and universities are seeking partners to help supply the workforce, Zappi said following a signing ceremony with Centla higher education officials Friday at the UL-Lafayette Alumni Center.
As part of the partnerships, undergraduate students from Tabasco will have the chance to transfer to complete their degree at UL-Lafayette. Zappi said the partnership also will enable the creation of a joint master’s program and doctoral program, and provide opportunities for Tabasco engineering faculty to advance their studies and research.
“They don’t feel they have the means to meet the capacity needs,” Zappi said. “They want to use this relationship to meet a goal of having a high percentage of their faculty achieve (doctorate) degrees.”
UL-Lafayette’s engineering program is a model for universities in Tabasco, said Ramón Antonio Rodriguez Laynes, director of the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Centla. Laynes spoke in Spanish and his comments were translated for the audience of UL-Lafayette officials and members of the media.
Laynes thanked the university for the opportunities that the partnership will provide.
“We consider education an instrument to development” in the country, Laynes said.
The Tabasco universities also hope to learn from UL-Lafayette’s existing partnerships with industry, as well as ways to diversify the state’s economy — lessons Lafayette has mastered, Zappi said.
“UL is ranked by the National Science Foundation as one of the top universities in the country for working with the energy industry. That shows our strong relationship with industry,” Zappi said. “They’re also interested in looking at our model to diversify their economy and how we’ve survived downturns in the industry and how to pick their target (industries) — like for us, it’s been information technology and health care.”
Zappi said he and other university officials will travel to Tabasco later this spring to finalize agreements with the 14 other universities, and similar agreements with schools in the neighboring coastal state of Veracruz also are planned.
Follow Marsha Sills on Twitter, @Marsha_Sills. | 1.564615 | 606 | 605 |
Petrol in Russia set to rise despite falling oil
Retail petrol prices in Russia have been going up for 9 weeks in succession, having added 1.4% since the start of the year, according to the country’s Statistics Service. During this time, oil markets have seen prices slide. WTI has gone down to about $84/bbl from around $105/bbl in April, with Brent crude decreasing to $99/bbl from $120.5/bbl in the same period.
“
In Russia there’s no 100% correlation between the prices for oil and petrol, as it is different taxes that make up for more than 50% of the final gasoline price,” Sergey Vakhromeev, oil and gas analyst at Metropol IFC, explained to Business RT.
“
With the petrol excise being constantly raised from the start of the year, it’s no surprise that petrol in Russia is going up”, adds Vakhromeev.
In July another increase of the petrol excise is set to come, with the cost of Euro-3 to increase to $0.184 per liter from the current $0.172.
The Russian state sets petrol excises that effectively have the biggest say in deciding the final petrol price in Russia, Vakhromeev explained.
Also, as part of the presidential election campaign Russian authorities gave instructions to put a lid on petrol prices, the Metropol expert told Business RT. This was just as wholesale prices were going up, creating losses for companies, Denis Borisov, Nomos –Bank analyst, reminded Vedomosti daily. The margin in the retail market was down to 11.7% as of the end of May from a February figure of 16.3%, according to data from Kortes – Russia’s information center for oil markets. So, by raising petrol prices Russian companies are trying to compensate for the losses, Vakhromeev concluded.
“
The number of cars in Russia is constantly growing, which means the demand for petrol is also rising,” the Metropol expert continued his line of reasoning.
Overall, petrol prices in Russia could add about 10% this year. “
The price rise should be above the annual inflation rate that is expected to be at around 6% this year. Russian companies would need not just to cover their costs that’ll rise at the inflation rate at the minimum, but also to make profits,” Vakhromeev explained.
In the meantime, on June 8 the leaders of Russia’s oil industry held the first meeting of the newly created “oil club.” This was initiated by Russia’s oil major Rosneft with Igor Sechin as its head. The club members are set to meet on a regular basis to “
discuss the state of affairs and hear the opinion of the head of Russia's largest oil company – Igor Sechin," according to Kommersant daily. Among the parties involved are Lukoil, Surgutneftegas, Bashneft, Gazprom Neft, Transneft and Itera. | 1.590518 | 638 | 637 |
The University received the Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year Award at a ceremony in London which was hosted by actor Richard E Grant on Thursday 24 November.
There are around 375,000 young adults in the UK aged 14-25 who act as unpaid carers for family and friends. Half of young carers report they are struggling with their studies because of their caring role, and without the right information and support they are four times more likely to drop out of education altogether.
During 2014-15, the University of Winchester worked with a number of different partners - including Carers Trust, Hampshire Young Carers Alliance, Hampshire Children's Services and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Hampshire - to pave the way for the higher education sector as a whole to increase support for young adult carers in accessing and succeeding in higher education.
The Award recognises work undertaken by the University's Widening Participation team including outreach sessions across Hampshire, on-campus events attended by nearly 200 young carers, and the development of a toolkit of ideas and practical advice written in collaboration between the University of Winchester, Carers Trust and the National Network of Universities Supporting Young Adult Carers.
The University has also supported Carers Trust to persuade the Office for Fair Access to recognise young carers as a disadvantaged group for the first time, and has launched an annual bursary of £500 to help young carers studying at Winchester to cover extra costs such as frequent travel home.
The Award judges said that the University's work "directly addresses" the needs of individuals who "too often find higher education difficult to access and hard to complete".
"The University has led a multi-agency approach to ensure that every opportunity is taken to encourage young carers to succeed," the panel said. "The project has acted as a catalyst not only in making a difference for the individuals concerned but in securing wider recognition of the unique needs of these committed young people."
Professor Joy Carter DL, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Winchester, said: "We are hugely proud to have received this award in recognition of our work with young carers. As a University driven by a strong commitment to social justice, this important work is a wonderful example of our values in action. Our aim is that anyone who might benefit from a University of Winchester education has the opportunity to study here - whatever their background, we will help them achieve their full potential.
"Without additional support, young people with caring responsibilities could be at a disadvantage compared to their peers and the important work that our Widening Participation team is undertaking is leading the way for other universities across the UK. We are incredibly proud of the work the team does and congratulate them for this outstanding achievement."
Sarah-Louise Collins, University Widening Participation Manager, said: "As part of our commitment to widening participation, we recognise young carers as a marginalised group and are making it a priority to raise the educational aspirations, awareness, confidence and motivation of all young carers, whether they eventually choose to study at Winchester or not. It's fantastic for our work to be recognised by a
Times Higher Education Award."
Pictured left to right in the photograph above: Mary Curnock Cook, Chief Executive, UCAS; Professor Colette Cherry, Assistant Vice-Chancellor, University of Winchester; Richard E Grant,
THE Awards host; Dr Terri Sandison MBE, former Director of Lifelong Learning, University of Winchester, and Sarah-Louise Collins, Widening Participation Manager, University of Winchester. | 1.316785 | 725 | 724 |
Title
Market Reform and the Expansion of China’s Moral Horizon
Document Type
Article
Abstract
In this paper, I will examine the transformation of the Chinese moral universe as it is reflected in their changing evaluation of occupational prestige. The first study took place, in 1983, during the height of Chinese socialism in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (IMAR). A follow-up study was conducted in 1987 at the beginning of the urban China's market reforms. The third and substantially larger survey (n= 844) was conducted in 2000 in two separate cities (e. g., Hohhot and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, in Southwest China) when the work unit system was a secondary, albeit still significant, player in the urban economy. In all the studies I was not interested in understanding the Chinese perception of occupational prestige per se. Rather I wanted to know which cultural principles shaped their perception in ranking an occupation as having more or less esteem. Special attention has been given to analyzing the way Chinese place themselves conceptually into hierarchies of social standing, which is the basis for ascribing social prestige. By exploring the cultural principles that frame the urban Chinese perception of social hierarchy, I will show that the Chinese conceptual order expanded from one2 organized in 1983 around four distinct cultural principles: (extraordinary administrative authority/no administrative authority, academic knowledge/ignorance and the genteel /the crude) had incorporated, by 1987, a new principle: money/no money. The 2000 occupational survey added one additional cultural principle: beneficial /not beneficial for national well being. The emergence of this new principle did not, however, eliminate or undermine the importance of the others. Yet it did add an additional criterion to the mix of the evaluative continuum. The emergence of these new principles constitutes a fundamental shift in our understanding of how present-day Chinese regard their place in society and in the world. The implications of this finding for understanding contemporary China as well as debates over the meaning of social hierarchy, nationalism, and altruistic behavior (Uzelac 2001) will be further explored. The shift in cultural logic altered the way urbanités perceive their relative social standing. In probing the motivation for the new rankings, what is revealed is a profound transformation in Chinese social and moral consciousness.
Disciplines
Anthropology | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social and Cultural Anthropology
Permissions
Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.
Citation Information
Jankowiak, W. R. (2004). Market Reform and the Expansion of China’s Moral Horizon.
Journal of Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development, 33(2-4), 167-210. | 1.574974 | 639 | 638 |
Accessories to maximize access and storage Sections of this story:
Acknowledgment of the human aging process and increasing appreciation for the diversityof physical characteristics in household members have changed the approach to access andstorage in both the kitchen and the bathroom. In general, rehab work should take intoaccount that access and storage can be improved by following basic universal designprinciples and practices.
These guidelines establish flexibility and improve access and support to make the spaceuseable by more types of people most of the time. Critical to access is creating storageand work centers within the comfort zone of most people.
Storage should be concentrated in the universal reach range of 15" to 48"above finished floor height, and near its point of use. Work surface heights should varyto accommodate standing or seated people of varying heights.
While the kitchen or bath cannot be totally redesigned when keeping existing cabinetryin rehab work, much can be done to enhance the storage and other functional aspects of thespace.
TECHNIQUES, MATERIALS, TOOLS
The following are examples of accessories available in a range of costs with a varietyof benefits to improve existing cabinetry:
1. INSTALL A STEP STOOL.
Step stools can easily be installed on the inside of a base or tall cabinet door foruse in a single location, or they may be stored in either of these spaces or in thetoekick of a cabinet, to be removed and used where desired (Fig. 10).
Figure 10
Typical units store in 4" of space and unfold to a height of 15" assingle-step units or higher in the two-step version. Both Hafele and Rev-A-Shelf offerstep stool accessories.
ADVANTAGES: Provides safer access to storage above the universal reach range. Built-in units provide storage at the point of use. Easy to accomplish in a rehab project. DISADVANTAGES: Deeper units may absorb some base cabinet storage. Built-in units can only be used where installed.
2. IMPROVE CORNER STORAGE.
A corner revolving shelf or corner swing-out shelf will improve access to previouslyblind corners (Fig. 11).
Figure 11
Recent needs for recycling have brought responsive design in the form of rotatingmultiple bins that make good use of the otherwise poor storage in the corners.
ADVANTAGES: Improves access. DISADVANTAGES: To fit within the cabinet, the movable storage is often smaller than the overall space available. Successful installation in rehab requires precise dimensioning of available interior space and the opening.
3. REPLACE FIXED SHELVES WITH ADJUSTABLE/ROLL-OUTSHELVES.
In wall, tall, or base cabinets, converting to adjustable shelves allows the homeownerto maximize storage (Fig. 12).
Figure 12
In base or tall cabinets with a typical depth of +24" roll-out shelves andaccessories further increase access to storage. Note that when cabinet depth is less than18" roll-outs are usually not necessary.
ADVANTAGES: Items can be easily stored and used without reaching into cabinets. DISADVANTAGES: Weight of items to be stored must be considered for proper function of the roll-out shelf (hardware/ shelf ratings for maximum load are usually available).
4. INSTALL SPECIFIC PURPOSE ACCESSORIES.
Accessories are available to support recycling, tray storage, spice storage, appliancestorage, and more (Fig. 13, 14, and 15). Typically, these accessories are designed to beremovable to allow for flexibility in storage.
Figure 15 ADVANTAGES: Improves organization and efficiency. DISADVANTAGES: Permanently installed items eliminate flexibility. After-market accessories often use less than the full cabinet interior.
5. INSTALL BACKSPLASH STORAGE ACCESSORIES.
Easy to install "appliance garages" and railing systems supporting a varietyof storage options can be added to an existing backsplash area to increase and improveflexible and accessible storage. Railing systems, manufactured by Hafele and Rev-A-Shelf,are growing in popularity.
Storage provisions include knives and utensils, wraps, cutting boards, condiments andspices, paper towels, cookbooks, dish draining racks, and more (Fig. 16).
Figure 16
Tambour, sliding, or (occasionally) hinged doors are installed in the backsplash belowthe wall cabinets, to conceal stored appliances. Including outlets provides true storageat the point of use.
ADVANTAGES :Increases and improves storage with easy installation in rehab situation. DISADVANTAGES :Can be costly, can interfere with counter top use. In the case of appliance garages, appliances to be stored must be measured for a good fit.
6. INSTALL HEIGHT-ADJUSTABLE STORAGE.
In existing cabinetry and design, wall cabinet storage can be made height-adjustablevia an Accessible Design Adjustable Systems motorized unit or Hafele mechanical system(Fig. 17).
Figure 17 ADVANTAGES | 1.819182 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
:Brings wall cabinet storage within the reach of most people. Growing use has brought the cost down. DISADVANTAGES :Difficult to install in existing location and requires approximately 3" in depth, either in addition to cabinet depth or absorbed from cabinet depth. When used, cabinet in lowered position can interfere with counter.
"1999 Buyer's Guide," Kitchen and Bath Business, Feb. 1999. "Annual Directory and Buyer's Guide," Kitchen and Bath Design News, Feb. 1999. Kitchen Industry Technical Manual; Volume #4, Kitchen Planning Standards and Safety Criteria, Ellen Cheever, CKD, CBD, ASID, National Kitchen and Bath Association, 1996. Universal Kitchen and Bath Planning, Mary Jo Peterson, CKD, CBD, CHE, McGraw-Hill, 1998. Accessible Designs Adjustable Systems, ADAS, 94 North Columbus Road, Athens, OH 45701; 740-593-5240; 740-593-7155 (fax). Feeny Mfg., PO Box 191, 6625 Old State Rd. 3 North, Muncie, IN 47303; 765-288-8730; 765-288-0851(fax); www.kv.com. Hafele, PO Box 4000, 3901 Cheyenne Drive, Archdale, NC 20263; 919-889-2322; 800-423-3531; 910-431-3831 (fax); www.hafeleus.com. Hinge-It Corp., 3999 Millersville Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46205; 800-599-6328; 317-542-9514; 317-542-9524 (fax); www.hingeit.com. Rev-a-Shelf, PO Box 99585, 2409 Plantside Dr., Jeffersontown, KY 40299; 800-626-1126; 505-499-5835; 502-491-2215 (fax); www.rev-a-shelf.com. This story is excerpted from The Rehab Guide:Kitchens & Baths , one in a series of guidebooks produced by the U.S. Departmentof Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to keep the design and construction industryabreast of innovations and state-of-the-art materials and practices in homerehabilitation. About the Author The Old House Web | 1.621788 | 624 | 623 |
I was carried away by the sound. Beautiful beyond words. Beautiful beyond anything I had
ever heard.
Each note, each passage, more glorious, more magnificent than the last
A soaring concerto.
A virtuoso violinist.
I was the commencement speaker at a high school music academy. And this – this masterpiece – was the evening’s prelude… played by a graduating senior.
I leaned over in my chair on the stage and whispered to the assistant director sitting next to me. “What music school is he going to?”
She frowned and rolled her eyes. “He’s not. His parents want him to study economics.”
I was stunned. And sad.
What the world would never hear.
Even more, I knew how the story would unfold.
You see, many of my clients seek me out for
career coaching. Quite a few of them are in their 30’s although some are in their 40’s or 50’s. They’ve gone to great colleges, graduating at the top of their classes (and have a lot of debt). They’ve gone on to graduate school, business school or professional school… and excelled. They’ve landed the plum job with a great salary… and a lot of prestige. And they’re miserable. They hate their lives. They don’t know how they got to where they are. They can’t figure out how to break free.
For the young violinist, it was the moment he walked off the stage.
Because he had the wrong map.
In a recent article, Dick Bolles, career guru and author of the ten million copy best seller
What Color Is Your Parachute says that following your dreams still matters; love still matters; love of what you do.
Benjamin Bloom at the University of Chicago studied 120 athletes, artists and scholars in order to determine the ingredients of greatness. He controlled for intelligence and family background and all sorts of variables… and what he discovered was that
there was only one common denominator for greatness: extraordinary drive. Extraordinary drive fueled by passion.
“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself,” said Abraham Maslow.
I asked a coaching client today how he ended up a lawyer rather then pursuing the graduate studies in philosophy that he so loved.
“People told me that I needed to be
realistic,” he said.
Too many parents, following a well-worn map and pressured by cultural expectations, push their young adults into a college paradigm that is economically broken, into hollow, empty fields that masquerade as ‘real’ jobs , only to end up seeing them unemployed, in debt and living in their basements. Or worse, to see them on my doorstep –
after the years have dulled their eyes and sucked their souls – empty, sad and lifeless. Despite our best intentions, it is a map that leads to nowhere good.
Those who read me often know that I am passionate about life-long learning and about success.
But if you’re going to climb that ladder of success, you better make pretty damn sure it’s against the right wall. And the only way to do that is to start from a place of love. Deep love. | 1.678985 | 662 | 661 |
Abstract
Water of drinking water quality is one of the most important resources in the food and beverage industry, e.g. for breweries. In this ‘Water Quality Management’ project, a new strategy of partial process water stream treatment is presented. Based on our own investigations, a water saving potential of 10–20% of the entire water consumption is possible with regard to displacement and rinsing water. The separation of different water qualities in real time, via the water switch, is achieved by several measurement techniques and the exploration of the desired information by multivariate data analysis. In combination with the water switch, the generation of drinking water quality regarding sterility is assured by a ceramic ultra-filtration membrane. Aside from basic on and inline measurement parameters in breweries, e.g. pH-value, temperature, electrical conductivity and turbidity, modern measurement techniques, e.g. infrared sensor, which can measure several parameters, such as Brix and organic acids, are utilized. The combination of the rule-based fuzzy-logic system and expert knowledge is called a hybrid methodology. In the current study, the experimental design (DoE) techniques were applied to reduce the number of required experiments. The experimental results were then explored by the well-known projection method, i.e. principal component analysis (PCA).
brewery fuzzy logic membrane filtration multivariate data analysis water treatment Received July 16, 2012. Accepted October 4, 2012. © IWA Publishing 2013In an event where you notice your casualty is not breathing, check their pulse. If their pulse is weak or has stopped, you’ll need to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
What you can do to help:
The basic principle here is to get oxygen into the casualty’s lungs. You can do this by squeezing their nostrils and blowing into their mouth, then pushing the carbon dioxide into the lungs by pumping the chest again with the heel of your hand. You’ll need to do this harder than they show you on
Baywatch. Grylls says you might even break their ribs while doing it, but you have to keep going, and corny as it may seem, he recommends performing CPR to the rhythm of the Bee Gees’ ‘Staying Alive’. Keep it in the ratio of 30 chest compressions followed by two rescue breaths.
A common misconception is that if a casualty isn’t breathing despite 10 minutes of CPR, they’re as good as dead. Don’t buy it. Keep at the CPR until medical help arrives or until the casualty starts breathing again. | 1.798644 | 528 | 526 |
I recently wrote about the potential impact on differential pricing caused by the Supreme Court decision in
Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley and Sons which found that the first sale doctrine applies to copyrighted works lawfully made abroad. I noted in that article that since most digital goods are licensed, not sold, differential pricing is still possible for digital goods, but that licensing has had side effects, such as limiting the ability of consumers to resell their digital goods in the used goods market.
Generally, consumers are allowed to legally buy and sell used goods. For example, if you buy a music CD, you can listen to it as many times as you want and then, if you don’t plan to listen to it again and you haven’t made any copies, legally sell the CD. But the same isn’t true of digital goods that the consumer does not own but instead has only received a licensed to use.
For example, Amazon’s MP3 store license agreement includes the following restrictions:
“You must comply with all applicable copyright and other laws in your use of the Music Content. Except as set forth in Section 2.1 above, you may not redistribute, transmit, assign, sell, broadcast, rent, share, lend, modify, adapt, edit, license or otherwise transfer or use the Music Content. We do not grant you any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the Music Content. As required by our Music Content providers, Music Content is available only to customers located in the United States.”
Recently, one company has attempted to change this. ReDigi has tried to create a virtual marketplace for “pre-owned” digital music so that individuals can legally buy and sell songs. Their basic idea is to have a three step process:
Users install ReDigi’s software which identifies if certain digital music files are legally owned. Users upload music they legally own to ReDigi’s cloud storage service. Users offer this music for sale. If someone buys a particular song, the seller loses access to that file and the buyer gains access. No new copies of the file are made—changes are only made to cloud-based access control system.
ReDigi argues that step two is legal because users are allowed to backup copies of their files under fair use and step three is legal because they are not creating any copies of the files (again, only changing the access control permissions). Not surprisingly, some rights holders are skeptical of the ReDigi system and have challenged its legality.
This past week a U.S. District Court issued a ruling in
Capitol Records , LLC. v. ReDigi Inc. that rejected ReDigi’s arguments. The court found that while copying music files to a cloud service does not necessarily violate fair use, copying these files to a cloud service for the purpose of selling the music does fall outside of fair use. In addition, since the court does not believe the copy falls under fair use, it is not a lawful copy and therefore not subject to the first sale doctrine.
The court is quite explicit in its ruling:
“Here, a ReDigi user owns the phonorecord that was created when she purchased and downloaded a song from iTunes to her hard disk. But to sell that song on ReDigi, she must produce a new phonorecord on the ReDigi server. Because it is therefore impossible for the user to sell her “particular” phonorecord on ReDigi, the first sale statute cannot provide a defense. Put another way, the first sale defense is limited to material items, like records, that the copyright owner put into the stream of commerce. Here, ReDigi is not distributing such material items; rather, it is distributing
reproductionsof the copyrighted code embedded in new material objects, namely, the ReDigi server in Arizona and its users’ hard drives. The first sale defense does not cover this any more than it covered the sale of cassette recordings of vinyl records in a bygone era.” (emphasis in original)
The ruling goes on to argue that U.S. copyright law quite clearly does not allow for secondary markets of “pre-owned” digital goods. Indeed, Reps. Boucher and Campbell had proposed legislation in 1997 to update Section 109 of the Copyright Act so that the first sale doctrine would apply to digital works, but their legislation was never enacted.
Of course, there are many reasons why not allowing users to sell “used” digital goods makes sense. As explained back in 2001 by Marybeth Peters, former Register of Copyrights:
“Physical copies degrade with time and use; digital information does not. Works in digital format can be reproduced flawlessly, and disseminated to nearly any point on the globe instantly and at negligible cost. Digital transmissions can adversely affect the market for the original to a much greater degree than transfers of physical copies.”
But while digital goods may be intrinsically different than non-digital goods, should that necessarily exclude them from being re-sold? Back in 2 | 1.360285 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
001, Ms. Peters argued that the status of the technology necessary to allow the sale of used digital goods is uncertain. She wrote:
“Additionally, unless a ‘forward-and-delete’ technology is employed to automatically delete the sender’s copy, the deletion of a work requires an additional affirmative act on the part of the sender subsequent to the transmission. This act is difficult to prove or disprove, as is a person’s claim to have transmitted only a single copy, thereby raising complex evidentiary concerns. There were conflicting views on whether effective forward and delete technologies exist today. Even if they do, it is not clear that the market will bear the cost of an expensive technological measure.”
Whether a system like ReDigi actually prevents music piracy is an open question. There is certainly a degree of consumer trust involved—and I’m sure it is possible to circumvent the system, at least on a limited basis. But the same is true when buying and selling CDs since it is impossible to be sure that the seller has not made an illegal copy. To its credit, ReDigi has implemented various controls to try to prevent users from cheating and keeping copies of the music that they upload. (For the full details, check out their FAQ “Is ReDigi Legal?”)
There are no obvious answers here, but if Congress does consider additional reforms to the Copyright Act, it is worth revisiting whether the technology has changed enough to warrant rethinking the First Sale doctrine for digital goods or if we are willing to accept that the First Sale doctrine is no longer feasible in a digital world.
Image credit: Photo by Flickr user fensterbmeHealth impact assessment (HIA) is a systematic assessment of the potential health impacts of proposed public policies, programs and projects. While HIA is currently used infrequently in the United States, it has proven effective internationally for advancing population health. This article discusses the variety of ways that HIA can be applied, outlines challenges in adoption and identifies areas where research is needed to advance the field from theory to routine practice in the U.S.
Key Findings:
Functional, transparent screening tools should be developed to help analysts determine the appropriateness of HIA for a particular policy question. Work should be done to facilitate mutual exchange between those who develop and apply HIAs and policy-makers. A collection of applicable HIAs should be created and follow-up research conducted to test whether the use of the HIA contributed to policy decisions. | 1.968022 | 496 | 494 |
New York, NY (PRWEB) December 10, 2012
On December 10, 2012, collection company Rapid Recovery Solution commented on a recent Des Moines Register article by Emily Schettler regarding the oversight of debt collection requiring cities to report tax increment financing revenues and debts.
According to the Des Moines Register article, “West Des Moines will collect about $10.8 million in tax increment financing during the fiscal year that begins July 1 to use toward bond repayments and infrastructure improvements within the city’s urban renewal areas.”
The article states that the collecting of tax increment financing is due to a new practice required by Iowa Legislature. The article defines TIF as, “an economic development tool that allows a city to freeze property taxes within a designated urban renewal area and collect any incremental taxes generated from development there to use toward improvements in the area.”
The article states that, “State lawmakers this year passed legislation requiring cities to certify annually the amount of TIF revenue they will need to use and the amount that can be released to other taxing authorities, including school districts and counties.”
John Monderine, CEO of collection company Rapid Recovery Solution, offered his comments on why collecting on TIF could be a problem. “As the tax law's get more complicated, people will try even harder to avoid the taxes which could hurt everybody instead of helping,” said Monderine.
Founded in 2006, Rapid Recovery Solution is headquartered at the highest point of beautiful Long Island. Rapid Recovery Collection Agency is committed to recovering your funds. We believe that every debtor has the ability to pay if motivated correctly. We DO NOT alienate the debtors; we attempt to align with them and offer a number of ways to resolve not only your debt but also all their debts.
#####While it varies, the ideal range for blood glucose in most adults is between 70 and 130 milligrams per deciliter before meals. This increases to less than 180 milligrams per deciliter within two hours of eating, as Healthline explains.Continue Reading
Blood glucose transports needed energy to cells, explains WebMD. Blood glucose levels are tested by either a fasting plasma test or an oral glucose test. Both tests require fasting for at least eight hours. For the fasting test, blood is drawn and tested immediately, while the oral glucose test is taken by consuming a sugary beverage, waiting two hours, then testing glucose levels.Learn more about Medical Ranges & Levels | 1.614664 | 512 | 510 |
When buying cable, most companies offer bundled channels, i.e. a group of channels. Your favorites ones (say, ESPN) might be in a bundle, but you end up paying for channels you don't need like the Soccer Channel. To do away with such complications, Canadian Industry Minister James Moore will propose new legislation that would make it easier for customers to choose channels à la carte (individually), as a way to show that the Conservative Party is friend on the middle class rather than of big business.
However, don't think that Canada has suddenly become a free-market model, because cable is still highly regulated by the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC, the equivalent of the FCC). For starters, whenever buying cable, a customer has to have at least as many Canadian channels as there are “foreign” channels. Also, whichever bundle/à la carte selection he gets, it always comes with channels that would be unlikely to be chosen, like APTN.
And even if we consider unbundling, which the CRTC started last year, it comes with a catch: Choosing fewer channels is likely to be proportionally more expensive than getting 250 of them. To get around those costs, many channels would disappear either because they would be too expensive or because their cost would keep buyers from obtaining channels from the former bundle.
ESPN is a often-cited case in this dilemma in the U.S. Choosing this channel alone could cost customers up to $30, five times more than it costs to get bundled with other sports channels. This would yield less viewers – only 20% would take it – and less advertisement revenues for everyone, as sports channel rely heavily on that source of revenue.
Furthermore, for once, free-marketers and statists both agree that forcing unbundling would be detrimental for everyone. On the “right”, bundling is seen as efficient because of the high cost of operation for cable, whereas on the “left”, unbundling is seen as detrimental for specialized channels, which would probably not exist due to very limited audiences.
In other words, be it from James Moore or John McCain, government shouldn't meddle more into telecommunications. Considering the number of options like Netflix and Hulu, customers have ample choice to satisfy their TV needs. If there should be an intervention, it should be to deregulate so more competitors can come in. As it stands, the CRTC and the FCC both hamper competition, which results in higher prices. | 1.900067 | 505 | 504 |
No, it's not against the law, but it is not a good idea. At 8 years of age, your daughter should not be sleeping with her father. You might want to gently suggest to him that either she or he should sleep on the couch. You will also want to keep an eye on your daughter to see if there are any behavior changes that might indicate a problem. If you do see behavior changes or changes in the quality of her school work, get her to a therapist.
Is this a divorce situation or a child born out of wedlock? If it is a divorce situation, check your Judgment and Decree to see if there is anything in that document about sleeping arrangements. If it is a paternity case (a child born out of wedlock), if there has never been a court order giving the father some rights, he has no rights and you can withhold his parenting time until he makes the appropriate sleeping arrangements. You will not, of course, want to withhold them completely, but rather change the arrangements so that he doesn't have her overnight. You can't arbitrarily change his parenting time if there is a court order giving him specific rights.
I'm not necessarily suggesting that the father is intentionally doing something bad, but we don't know what we do in our sleep. Even if he is not intentionally doing something wrong, he could be reaching out in his sleep and making inappropriate contact with her.
Sign up to receive a 3-part series of useful information and advice about child custody law.He knows me. She gets me. He cares. She’s real.These comments represent the best compliment leaders, or anyone, can get. They demonstrate why people choose to trust you. With trust, they are more … [Read more...]
The cutting words, "Don't be so sensitive," have characterized being sensitive as a weakness when it is actually a strength. It takes courage to be sensitive. It’s worth the work to develop your … [Read more...]
Activating Sensory Awareness to Create More Meaningful Connections...Every aspect of your presence has social meaning, including your emotions, intentions, and regard for the people in the room. … [Read more...]
Leaders who avoid conversations that could be difficult are missing the best opportunities to help others grow. They rationalize their reluctance and then claim their excuses are "undeniable truths." … [Read more...]
How many conversations do you have that seem to go well but nothing happens as a result? How many other conversations do you have that don’t go well because no one wants to mention the truth about the … [Read more...] | 1.750534 | 530 | 528 |
YODO is the hot new thing when it comes to talking about death - that's if people are willing to talk about it at all.
So, do you only live once or do you only die once? That's the question that seems to be popping up in the media in recent weeks, as a new trend, YODO - "You Only Die Once," a play on YOLO or "You Only Live Once" - has begun spreading across the United States and much of the United Kingdom. Not only has the #YODO hashtag taken off on Twitter, but it's been a centerpiece of "Dying Matters Awareness Week," which occurred last week in the United Kingdom, The Huffington Post reported. Jaweed Kaleem wrote for HuffPost that "more than 100 sites around the United Kingdom" would be spreading that message. It has little to do with religion. It's more about discussing death, Kaleem wrote. "Most of the British public still doesn't want to talk about dying," said Joe Levenson of the Dying Matters Coalition to HuffPost. "We want to raise awareness and help people come to terms with dying and bereavement." In fact, a recent study by ComRes, a research company in the U.K., Europe and Asia, found that 83 percent of people in Britain are uncomfortable speaking about death. And more than half have partners who don't know their partners' death wishes, the study found. "Despite this widespread reluctance to talk about dying and plan ahead, 80 percent of the public believe all adults should be required to have a will to avoid disputes after they have died," the study read. "There's also a real desire for doctors to receive support in talking about dying: 90 percent of the public agree that all healthcare professionals should receive compulsory training in how to talk sensitively to people who are dying and their families." Aiding people in the discussion of death is something that's been creeping into the mainstream of American culture. Movies like "Heaven is For Real" offer a peek into what America thinks about the afterlife and death, and other films and TV shows constantly show death. But there's more than that. Erick Eckholm of The New York Times reported in February about assisted dying, where those with terminally ill conditions who are on the brink of death can get help from others. "There is a quiet, constant demand all over the country for a right to die on one's own terms, said Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, and that demand is likely to grow, she said, as the baby boomers age."%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D172204%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E | 1.577707 | 595 | 594 |
Sweden knows how to save the world from Islamic State (IS) terrorists as they tire of beheadings, crucifixions, murders and random acts of extrajudicial killing. Just be very, very nice to them.
According to WND news service, a programme to help jaded IS fighters rejoin society has started in Sweden’s Örebro Municipality, where jihadists can obtain “psychological help to overcome traumatic experiences they may have suffered while fighting in Iraq and Syria.”
The Swedish newspaper
Expressen reports that councillor Rasmus Persson advocates offering terrorists jobs so they don’t “feel alienated” as they endure their post-battlefield existential funk. At the same time Stockholm has released a document outlining its “strategy against violent extremism.”
Here is a translated excerpt from that nine-page guide to helping jihadists when they return home.
“
Post-perspective: When a person wishes to leave a violent extremist grouping or coming home from combat overseas, it is crucial to provide customized inclusion efforts. Even then, it is important to have a local cooperation between various actors. Voluntary organizations can provide targeted support and advice. Even faith communities working with advice, but also psychosocial support.
When it comes to people who participated in combat there is likely to be great need of health efforts. Therefore, it is important to establish cooperation between social services, social psychiatry and drug units, as well as health centers and psychiatric services (trauma, PTSD, etc.)
When it comes to security, it is important that cooperation between social services, income support, employment and other efforts by the Labour Department, as well as assistance with job placement.
Finally, the accommodation issue is a prerequisite that must work. Therefore, cooperative housing companies needs to be included in the post-perspective.”
Councillor Persson agrees. He told the news program Tvärsnytt, “We have discussed how we should work for these guys who have come back, and to prevent them from returning to the fighting, and that they should be helped to process the traumatic experiences they have been through.”
All this fast-tracked past the queue of law-abiding immigrants and indigenous Swedes. Such conspicuous acts of kindness to avowed Islamic murderers are not cheap, either. That’s why Sweden’s official coordinator against violent extremism, Mona Sahlin – a former leader of the Social Democrat Party – advocates using taxpayer funds to underwrite the services.
WND reports one Swedish soldier stationed in Kabul during his third mission in Afghanistan is not so sure the plan will work or even if it is available to those on the front line taking the fight to IS. He posted a challenge on Facebook and asked that Sweden extend the program to its own warriors returning from active duty.
“In a few months, I’m back in Sweden after being deployed in Afghanistan, against the Taliban and others who have really jeopardizing development in this very sore country,” Frederick Brandberg wrote. “There is no permanent job waiting for me when I come home.”
Brandberg added: “It would be wonderful if I was met with a comparable program after my homecoming, after which I could feel safe in having a regular job, with monthly income and a social stable situation in the society where I wouldn’t need to wonder whether I’m wanted or not.”
In November 2014, the Swedish government estimated between 250 and 300 of its citizens have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS.
Just two months ago, Sweden’s national job agency fired all of its own contracted “immigrant resettlement assistants” because they were recruiting fighters for ISIS. | 2.124189 | 726 | 725 |
Perspectives, Measurement and Empirical Investigation New Horizons in Regional Science series Edited by Robert Stimson, Roger R. Stough and Peter Nijkamp Chapter 7: An Exploratory Approach to Model Determinants of Endogenous Regional Growth Performance Extract
7. An exploratory approach to model determinants of endogenous regional growth performance Robert Stimson and Roger Stough* INTRODUCTION Regional economic development may be viewed both as a process and a product (or outcome). It is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, involving many actors and being influenced by many factors. It seems to defy precise definition, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative dimensions. Further, the study of regional economic development incorporates a concern not only with analysis and modelling, but also a concern for policy and strategy that may facilitate the regional development process and facilitate regional change. The process of regional economic development is certainly dynamic. Over time, various theoretical approaches to theorizing about and modelling regional growth and development have evolved, and, during the last couple of decades, there has been an increasing emphasis on the role of endogenous factors. Stimson et al. (2003) have proposed the notion of the ‘virtuous circle’ as a path to achieving sustainable regional economic development (see Figure 7.1). They suggest that the ‘virtuous circle’ may be maintained through the mediating or intervening effects of factors such as effective leadership as it might be used to change and adjust institutions in order to adapt the structure, processes and infrastructure of a regional economy that is appropriate and needed to meet and anticipate changing circumstances, and to facilitate the optimal use of the region’s resource endowments and to assist industries to tap their full market potential. Stimson et al. (2003) put forward the proposition that: ● strong leadership means...
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Your library may not have purchased all subject areas. If you are authenticated and think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.. Bill Kennedy from the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division noted the military has been virtually on its own in trying to revive the city. after Katrina, though many others went to the coasts. . . . | 1.632777 | 517 | 514 |
The hype around innovation right now seems overwhelming. Does this mean that we’ve hit Peak Innovation? No – we’ve hit Peak Innovation Hype. To avoid the hype, we need to understand what is already known about the substance of innovation.
“The Googles, Amazons, Apples, Netflixes, and Capital Ones … don’t insist on performing lots of interesting experiments because they’re rich; they’re rich because they insist on performing lots of interesting experiments.”
If all new ideas get killed as soon as the first see the light of day, you will never be able to build an effective innovation culture. Here are some thoughts on how to work around this problem.
Business needs more art, as simple as that. Art teaches many critical skills, including risk taking, dealing with ambiguities, discovering patterns, and the use of analogy and metaphor. And we need all of those.
The blog will be under construction this weekend as I work with Todd Lohenry from e1evation to upgrade the site. Todd does fantastic work, and I recommend him highly. In the meantime, the latest online update to the UQ Business School’s Momentum magazine includes an interview with my discussing my thoughts about my recent trip […]
One of the reasons that people try to avoid failing is that it seems like they’ve screwed up if they fail. This can certainly be the case, if your failure is major. But if you set up experiments to test ideas out, and you learn from them, then failing can be very productive. Here is […]In this paper we investigate the options of a network operator faced with the requirement of reducing its carbon footprint, expressed in terms of a global energy cap. First, we propose two ways to meet the energy limitations: by efficiently managing the energy consumed by the legacy networks or by installing additional capacity to the initial topology. We show the power savings that can be obtained in both cases as well as the incurred costs. Then, we identify the initial composition of the network and the available technology in the upgrade phase as the factors that have the most influence on the ability of a network to meet the energy caps. Finally, we show the intrinsic unfairness of the energy caps, which are imposed to all the networks without taking into account the differences among them. Therefore, we highlight the fundamental role of carbon markets and emission trading systems in guaranteeing a measure of fairness between the operators.
Paru en
avril 2015 , 20 pages | 2.062676 | 500 | 498 |
"Age-related hearing loss is a very common symptom of aging in humans, and also is universal among mammal species, and it's one of the earliest detectable sensory changes in aging," says Tomas Prolla, a professor of genetics and medical genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Prolla is senior author of a paper in today's (Nov. 9 ) PNAS that looks at the genetic roots of this type of hearing loss, which is not due to noise exposure.
The study has identified a gene that is essential to age-related hearing loss, a condition marked by deaths of sensory hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons in the inner ear. These cells are at the heart of the conversion of vibrations into nerve impulses that the brain can decipher, and yet these cells cannot be regenerated.
In mice, the new study shows that the damage starts with free radicals, which are key suspects in many harmful changes of aging. Free radicals trigger a process called apoptosis, or programmed cell death, by which damaged cells "commit suicide." Apoptosis is often beneficial, as it eliminates cells that may be destined for cancer.
Before the study, it was already clear that "aging was associated with a major loss of hair cells and ganglion cells, so it was plausible that programmed cell death was playing a role in hearing loss," says Prolla. "We also thought that oxidative stress — the presence of free radicals — contributes to age-related hearing loss, so we put two and two together and showed that oxidative stress does indeed induce age-related hearing loss."
In mice, Prolla and the study's first author, Shinichi Someya, a postdoctoral researcher at UW-Madison, found that the suicide program was operating in hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons, and that the suicide program relied on activity in a suicide gene called bak.
Activity of the bak gene "is required for the development of age-related hearing loss," says Someya. "The strongest evidence for this was the fact that a strain of mice that did not have the bak gene did not show the expected hearing loss at 15 months of age."
In one way, the new results are a bit unusual, Prolla admits. "In most genetic diseases, it's a mutation that causes the disease. In our study, a mutation in the gene prevents the disease."
Someya says he measured mouse hearing with an instrument like that used to test hearing in newborns. "It's a standard test for infants. We place electrodes on the skin above the brain, and when they respond to a sound an electric current is generated from the brainstem, and we detect that current."
The new results, obtained with collaboration from the universities of Florida, Washington and Tokyo, hint that the oxidative stress and hearing loss may be preventable. Although antioxidants have been widely used, with generally disappointing results, to prevent free-radical damage in aging, Someya and Prolla found that two oral antioxidants were effective. "One of the most surprising findings was that these two — alpha lipoic acid and coenzyme Q10 — were very specific in their protection against apoptosis and hearing loss," says Prolla.
Programmed cell death is triggered by mitochondria, small units inside cells that process energy for the cell. But when the mitochondria receive signals indicating that the cell is damaged, they break up and begin the process of apoptosis.
Confirming the importance of mitochondria in hearing loss, both of the helpful antioxidants are known to make mitochondria less responsive to oxidative stress.
The study provides strong evidence linking free radicals, the bak gene and hearing loss, Prolla says. "We wanted to know how oxidative stress leads to deaths of these critical cells, and when we looked at mice without bak, they were entirely protected from age-related hearing loss. One of our major findings is that free-radical damage does not kill the cell directly, but rather induces the pathway to programmed cell death. Mice without bak still accumulated oxidative damage, but did not undergo programmed cell death, did not lose hair cells or these neurons, and their hearing was fine."
Bak may play a role in other age-related conditions, Prolla adds. "This study focused on hearing loss, but there is evidence that other diseases associated with the loss of neurons, like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, are associated with oxidative stress, and it's possible that the bak protein plays a role in apoptosis in those diseases as well. We are very intrigued by the possibility that blocking bak may have broader utility against neurodegeneration."
— Dave Tenenbaum, 608-265-8549, djtenenb@wisc.edu
Tomas Prolla | EurekAlert!
Further information: http://www.wisc.edu
Team discovers how bacteria exploit a chink in the body's armor
20.01.2017 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Rabies viruses reveal wiring in transparent brains
19.01.2 | 0.891002 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
017 | Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
An important step towards a completely new experimental access to quantum physics has been made at University of Konstanz. The team of scientists headed by...
Yersiniae cause severe intestinal infections. Studies using Yersinia pseudotuberculosis as a model organism aim to elucidate the infection mechanisms of these...
Researchers from the University of Hamburg in Germany, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, have synthesized a new superconducting material by growing a few layers of an antiferromagnetic transition-metal chalcogenide on a bismuth-based topological insulator, both being non-superconducting materials.
While superconductivity and magnetism are generally believed to be mutually exclusive, surprisingly, in this new material, superconducting correlations...
Laser-driving of semimetals allows creating novel quasiparticle states within condensed matter systems and switching between different states on ultrafast time scales
Studying properties of fundamental particles in condensed matter systems is a promising approach to quantum field theory. Quasiparticles offer the opportunity...
Among the general public, solar thermal energy is currently associated with dark blue, rectangular collectors on building roofs. Technologies are needed for aesthetically high quality architecture which offer the architect more room for manoeuvre when it comes to low- and plus-energy buildings. With the “ArKol” project, researchers at Fraunhofer ISE together with partners are currently developing two façade collectors for solar thermal energy generation, which permit a high degree of design flexibility: a strip collector for opaque façade sections and a solar thermal blind for transparent sections. The current state of the two developments will be presented at the BAU 2017 trade fair.
As part of the “ArKol – development of architecturally highly integrated façade collectors with heat pipes” project, Fraunhofer ISE together with its partners...
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Heuristic Definition - What does Heuristic mean?
In computing, heuristic refers to a problem-solving method executed through learning-based techniques and experience. When exhaustive search methods are impractical, heuristic methods are used to find efficient solutions.
Heuristic methods are designed for conceptual simplicity and enhanced computational performance - often at the cost of accuracy.
Techopedia explains Heuristic
Heuristic methods use available data, rather than predefined solutions, to solve machine and human problems. Heuristical solutions are not necessarily provable or accurate but are usually good enough to solve small-scale issues that are part of a larger problem.
When a heuristic algorithm meets a new crossroad, a decision is made and learned. Successive iteration results are interdependent, as each level learns which avenues to choose and discard, based on its proximity to the solution. Thus, because some possibilities are less likely to reach a viable solution, they are never generated.
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Free 30 Day Trial – Turbonomic: payments. Secure websites are designated with the prefix https:// in the URL box (or website address box) and usually have a lock or key symbol displayed on the bottom of your browser window. If you don’t feel comfortable giving your credit card number online, some sites may allow you to fax or call in your credit card number. Do your research. If you are not familiar with a particular destination, check to see if the online travel agency has some information about your destination to help you make the right decision. Alternatively, you may wish to check the website of the tourist board for that particular destination. Always remember that different standards of living and practices may exist outside of Canada. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Online travel agencies should have a Customer Service contact number that consumers can call to ask questions or request further information. Consider checking whether there are any Travel Advisories or Reports on your destination. Check the website for the Department of Foreign Affairs at http://www.voyage.gc.ca/index-eng.asp Once in destination, where do you call if you run into problems? Find out what type of customer support service the company offers in destination. Most tour operators have destination representatives to assist travelers with any issues that may arise. | 1.680549 | 510 | 508 |
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It all starts with what we put into our bodies. The matter we eat is the oil to bread and butter the motor running. The chemical element we payoff in is the happening of our biological process and our water bodily process cools us and keeps everything liquid through the convention. The just item asked of us is to resource appropriate ingredients future in, in harmonize near the wishes of the piece of equipment. It is only just approaching gastronomic. If you use neat ingredients, in the straight-laced amounts, and grill it merely right, you will be paid thing delicious. If you select to do otherwise, you get the identical grades. Learn your organic process charge per unit. If you call for X number of calories per day, get them. No more, no smaller number. It truly is that frugal.Post ads:
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As one who at the moment resides on the prime outskirts of the babe-in-arms roar generation, I cognise that my perspectives are shaded, so I poverty to brand name confident that everybody linguistic process this, man or female takes a full existence perspective of what I'm saw. This is not a disorder record or formula for occurrence. This is going on for choosing a road to stay alive on that can grant suitable wellbeing and joy throughout your outing. My position is haggard as such from benevolent for my preceding classmates as it does from nurturing those who will replace me.
So our motor is moving well, what next? Our bodies are planned for career and fun and we are definitely experienced of a lot of both. From our Chi's perspective, a position that wishes to ever have a swill from the Fountain of Youth reachable for you, it is howling out for your notice. Our tough grind and theatre can throw our lives and we can forget more or less or even invective our true key driving force. Maintaining a mindset that will support you cultivating, moving, and storing your Chi is the key to acquiring you to the highly developed levels of anything you pick out. Fortunately, at hand is an hands-down way to do this. If you poorness your life's course of action to consider a wholesome old age, you essential get going to view speculation as chunk of your daily life span. There are lots way and forms of meditation, both progressive and passive, so I would recommend exploring them until you insight a popular and after pull off to on a daily basis pattern. As longitudinal as it involves parcel the consciousness and wakeless body part breathing, it will be decisive. Meditation acts as a hassle assuagement that is indispensable in a engaged being. I use an assortment of forms of Chi Gong (Qigong) because it works so all right next to my golf alternate career.
The next end is to shelter and keep the body and your Chi completed the curriculum of a lifespan. This is where on earth motive and lastingness get superior. It is unfortunate, in my generation, that we have been steered into intelligent that we don't have need of to donkey work at it or worry; a lozenge will be unspoken for to fix whatsoever ails us. Well, I dislike to disregard the news, but the Fountain of Youth will not come with in the word form of a dosage. The Fountain of Youth is a deep well of tasteful enthusiasm residing inside all of you. Since you have right-down take over finished it, the first-rate way to conserve it | 3.724294 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
is to write off as it your most valued take pleasure in. In that deduction alone, you have the potential to switch your enthusiasm indefinitely. Taking obligation for your life's spirit will wake up you to the reality that you essential design on doing thing all day, protrusive permission now, to defend the individual you will be decades from now. It is time to have your home the song, "Come on baby, fluffy your fire"... and keep hold of it lit.Post ads:
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The motivation must locomote from a abstraction or passionateness that requires live sentient. Martial Golf does that for me. In its purest form, Martial Golf is a dance, next to the golf game move to and fro and Tai Chi as partners. Both are long physical pursuits with flawlessness solitary a dream, yet any promotion in one leads to positive, measurable grades in the another. My wool-gathering is to be a well again golfer, year after year, even in my top geezerhood. I cognise that the prophecy comes next to the price tag of maintaining and on an upward curve my body, so my Tai Chi acts as my inducement time I get to delight in the finest of both worlds. When you are people the grades of your work, it genuinely is a lot of fun. Martial Bowling, Martial Gardening, Martial Dancing, mayhap even Kungfu ScrapBooking could tough grind for you. The constituent is, no thing what your age or interests, a member of unremarkable essential consist of whichever donkey work on the natural object to living it modernized and always innards your well of Chi.
So is Martial Golf the Fountain of Youth? Well, it is for me. And I believe, in that is one for you. If you don't have one, I call you to try hole in the ground.Employees can now take the promise of flexibility at work into their own hands. This Toolkit offers workers a blueprint for making workflex a reality in their careers, and it provides a realistic perspective on what workflex options are possible for the companies that employ them. It features real-world advice and guidance from workplace experts including self-assessment tools, directions on how to ask for workflex and how-to’s on making it work once implemented. It’s a valuable workflex resource for every worker and manager striving for flexibility at work.
For more workplace effectiveness and flexibility resources, please visit the When Work Works website. | 3.559109 | 542 | 540 |
Essays Tagged: "National Crime Victimization Survey"
two sources of criminal justice data in the United States: the Uniform
Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS). The URC data is made from law enforcement agencies and ... de crime incidents reported to or obtained by the police. NCVS data is obtained from a very complex national survey of a sample of homes and provide information about crime incidents and victims for b ...
t. The text also notes that blacks commit crimes at three times the rate of their percentage in the national population.The official crime rate in the United States is measured by the Federal Bureau o ... ckbook was misplaced and was in fact not stolen.Another source of crime information is found in the
National Crime Victimization Survey. This survey is conducted through 100,000 households across the ...
of managerial reforms? Corruption cannot be estimated by examining the Uniform
Crime Reports or the National Crime Victimization Survey. Thus, it cannot be determined whether any particular anticorrup ... ver, estimates of police honesty appeared to be related to the respondent's race; starting from the National Opinion Research Center survey and the Louis Harris poll conducted for the President's Comm ...
e guns for much of the nation's violence, but I have no beef with gun owners. I actually joined the
National Rifle Association in 1997 when I went to a gun show to see what it was like.Last year, when ... considered a child? How many miles does the abductor take the child? For how long?According to one national study, a stranger abduction has to meet one of the following criteria to be considered a "s ...
ownership and use. Gun Control efforts generally focus on passing legislation - by local, state, or national government - to restrict legal ownership of certain firearms. Most countries have some rest ... lion defensive gun uses (DGU's) per year by law abiding citizens. That was one of the findings in a national survey conducted by Gary Kleck, a Florida State University criminologist in 1993. Prior to ...
Uniform
Crime Report vs. National Crime Victimization Survey Arguments over crime statistics have existed ever since governme ... ted ever since governments began counting criminal activity. The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) are two methods in which the government collects data, an ... llects data, and monitors criminal activity in the United States. The Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey have both positive and negative attributes that have influenced ...
The Police-Public Contact
Survey, (PPCS) is in a series that is known as National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Series. It was started to gain knowledge of how often and ...
s Go Wild," which described "the significant rise in violent behavior among girls" as a "burgeoning national crisis." (Scelfo, 2005) The United States department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs ... t annually to 50,000 8th, 10th and 12th graders throughout the nation. 3) A survey conducted by the
National Crime Victimization Survey (NVCS). This survey is conducted by the Census Bureau for the NC ...
iolence of African American women and Caucasian, where the numbers were similar, yet different. The
National Crime Victimization Survey does not portray a substantial difference within the ethnic grou ...
d of measuring crime and victimization in the U.S. are the UCR (Uniform
Crime Report) and the NCVS ( National Crime Victimization Survey). Both the UCR and the NCVS are overseen by the FBI (Federal Bur ... e.You have to account for each category that there is a crime reported or arrest actually madeNCVS ( National Crime Victimization Survey)The NCVS doesn't include serious crimes such as murder because t ... | 1.87642 | 807 | 806 |
Travel Tips for Booking Online Benefits of booking online with an Ontario Registered Travel Agency
When purchasing travel services online, remember to ensure that you are dealing with a TICO-registered travel company, as these companies must adhere to the Province’s very strict consumer protection laws. Ontario’s Travel Compensation Fund reimburses consumers up to $5,000.00 per person if the travel services purchased from an Ontario registered travel agent are not provided due to the bankruptcy or insolvency of either a registered Ontario travel retailer, travel wholesaler or due to the cessation of an airline or cruise line. In addition, TICO-registered travel companies must comply with specific disclosure requirements. For example, registrants must disclose the terms and conditions of the reservation before reserving the travel services and advise the customer about the travel documentation that will be required for each person traveling. After the booking is completed the travel agent must disclose in writing many of the terms & conditions disclosed prior to booking. As well, TICO-registered travel companies are required to follow invoicing and advertising requirements, which are in place to protect the consumer.
Know who you are dealing with
Look for the Ontario registration number on the website. Ontario travel retailers are required to display their address, phone number and Ontario registration number on their website. If you are unsure, read the “About Us”, “History” or “Our Company” section on the website to learn about the travel company. Remember that if the Internet address ends with “ca”, it does not necessarily mean that you are dealing with a Canadian company. If in doubt as to whether the travel agency online is registered with TICO, give our office a call or visit TICO’s website at www.tico.ca.
Know where your credit card payment is going
When making an online purchase, find out who you are paying. Who will be charging your credit card? Is the online company forwarding your credit card number to a tour operator or airline for them to process or is the online travel agency charging your card and in turn, paying the other companies or travel suppliers involved? When booking online, some websites are only “search engines” or booking agents for other service providers. When you actually confirm your travel services and make payment, you may be directed to a site hosted by an airline or another company who may or may not be registered in Ontario. Find out how your credit card payment will be processed. If you make your payment to or through an Ontario registered travel agent, you will have the protection available to consumers under the Ontario
Travel Industry Act, 2002 and Regulation. Consumers are only protected through the Ontario Travel Compensation Fund to the extent of the amount of money paid to or through the Ontario registered travel agency. What documents should be provided?
Ontario travel agencies who sell travel services online are required to provide the same documentation and information to a consumer as they do when a booking is made in person or over the telephone. Once you have made payment, the online travel agency must provide you with a detailed receipt outlining such information as what travel services were purchased, the payments received and information with respect to what travel documents will be required for each person travelling. Consumers should note that changes to the entry requirements for a destination may occur after travel services are purchased but before departure. The onus is on the consumer to ensure that they have the proper travel documentation at the time of departure. You may be required to print off your own vouchers from the website for your hotel accommodations or transfer to/from the airport. Without these documents, you may not receive the services once in destination.
Read the Terms & Conditions of your booking
Before you confirm your travel services online, make sure you read and understand the Terms and Conditions of the travel services being purchased. Many websites will not allow you to continue a booking until you acknowledge reading this section and indicate your acceptance of the terms and conditions outlined. Make sure that you review the terms and conditions, particularly those that relate to cancellation, changes to bookings and refundability. Know what the travel agent or tour operator’s responsibilities are.
Always consider purchasing insurance
Ontario travel agencies selling travel services online are also required to advise you of the availability of trip cancellation insurance and out-of-province health insurance at the time of the booking. Your receipt from the travel agency must specify whether or not this insurance has been purchased or declined.
Keep a record of all your transactions
When you are purchasing travel services online, it is recommended that you keep a paper copy of all transactions, correspondence, confirmations and anything else related to your online booking such as the description of your hotel and the services and amenities to be included. This is proof of your online booking.
Other Things To Consider What currency are the prices quoted in? Ensure you are clear on exactly what the cost will be. Ontario travel agencies selling travel services online are required to disclose the total price of the travel services. This would include any service fee or consulting fee that will be charged. Be sure you know what the total price is before you make a commitment. Ensure that the website is secure before making credit card | 1.371056 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Geolocation Technology and Privacy
TAKEAWAYS: Chairman Chaffetz and Ranking Member Cummings will review updated guidance issued by the Department of Justice post S. v. Jones. These memos provide guidance on the use of geolocation technology by federal law enforcement. Various legal standards and guidelines are used to manage the use of geolocation technology at a local, state, and federal level. A clear standard is needed to govern the use of this technology. Congress ...
Oversight of Federal Vehicles
PURPOSE: To review the structure of accountability for owned and leased federal vehicles, and incentives for proper management. To assess the status of vehicle management by the National Passenger Rail Corporation (Amtrak). BACKGROUND: According to the General Services Administration, federal agencies owned or leased 633,851 vehicles in fiscal year 2014 at a cost of $4.4 billion. The Government ...
Review of Obamacare Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (CO-OPs)
PURPOSE: To question Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about factors leading to the failure of over half of Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (CO-OPs). To examine ...
Security Clearance Reform: The Performance Accountability Council’s Path Forward
TAKEAWAYS: Department of Defense (DOD) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) officials cannot give a timeline for incorporating social media monitoring into the security clearance ...
The Zika Virus: Coordination of a Multi-Agency Response
PURPOSE: • To examine the coordinated federal response to the spread of the Zika virus both within the United States (US) and internationally. • To address confusion and misinformation surrounding measures taken at home ...
IRS: Reviewing Its Legal Obligations, Document Preservation, and Data Security
TAKEAWAYS: On multiple occasions, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) failed to meet its legal obligations to properly preserve documents. According to the IRS Deputy Commissioner of ...
The President’s Waiver of Restrictions on the Visa Waiver Program
PURPOSE: • To examine and assess the impact of Congressional changes made to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) to prevent terrorists from exploiting the program. • To review steps taken by the ...
Developments in the Prescription Drug Market: Oversight
TAKEAWAYS: Former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, Martin Shkreli, refused to answer questions from Committee Members, opting instead to invoke his
Securing Our Skies: Oversight of Aviation Credentials
PURPOSE: To examine aviation security issues, including weaknesses in airmen certificates, airport credentials, and other challenges. To better understand proposed solutions for increasing safety and ... | 1.509529 | 532 | 531 |
Clearance Sale
CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $24.95. AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!
A quiet revolution is taking place: People across the United States are turning toward local food. Some are doing it because they want more nutritious, less-processed food; some want to preserve the farmland and rural character of their regions; some fear interruptions to the supply of non-local food; some want to support their local economy; and some want safer food with less threat of contamination. But this revolution comes with challenges.
Reclaiming Our Food tells the stories of people across America who are finding new ways to grow, process, and distribute food for their own communities. Their successes offer both inspiration and practical advice.
The projects described in this book are cropping up everywhere, from urban lots to rural communities and everywhere in between. In Portland, Oregon, an organization called Growing Gardens installs home gardens for low-income families and hosts follow-up workshops for the owners. Lynchburg Grows, in Lynchburg, Virginia, bought an abandoned 6.5-acre urban greenhouse business and turned it into an organic farm that offers jobs to people with disabilities and sells its food through a local farmers' market and a CSA. Sunburst Trout Farm, a small family business in rural North Carolina, is showing that it’s possible to raise fish sustainably and sell to a local market. And in Asheville, North Carolina, Growing Minds is finding ways to help bring fresh foods into schools. Author Tanya Denckla Cobb offers behind-the-scenes profiles of more than 50 food projects across the United States, with lessons and advice straight from their founders and staff. Photographic essays of 11 community food projects, by acclaimed photographer Jason Houston, detail the unusual work of these projects, bringing it to life in unforgettable images.
Reclaiming Our Food is a practical guide for building a local food system. Where others have made the case for the local food movement, Reclaiming Our Food shows how communities are actually making it happen. This book offers a wealth of information on how to make local food a practical and affordable part of everyone's daily fare.
Author: Tanya Denckla Cobb
Pages: 320
Format: PBK
Weight: 1.73
Item Number: 5610
We stand by our products. If you are not fully satisfied at any time with your purchase, simply return the item and we will issue you a full refund. No questions asked. Shipping and handling is non-refundable. | 1.464776 | 521 | 520 |
Measurement of dissolved helium in ground water
To arrange for sampling of dissolved helium start with the sampling page.
There are many reasons to measure helium in ground water, but as it applies to ground-water dating, there are two important reasons:
Helium accumulation in ground water can be an indicator of ground water age (see for example: Andrews and Lee, 1979; Heaton, 1984; Torgersen and Clarke, 1985; Andrews, 1985; Stute et al., 1992; Solomon et al. 1996; Castro et al, 1998a,b; Castro et al, 2000; Busenberg and Plummer, 2000). If a local helium accumulation rate can be determined, it may be possible to estimate ages of waters that exceed 100 years to tens of thousands of years based on helium accumulation.Helium analyses can be used to screen samples collected for
3H/ 3He dating that may contain large excesses of terrigenic helium (helium of mantle and/or crustal origin), and ultimately cannot be dated. This problem occurs primarily in samples that are mixtures of old water and recent recharge. The 3H/ 3He method can be applied to date the young fraction only if the sample is not contaminated with a large excess of terrigenic helium from the old fraction (see for example Plummer et al, 2000). The relatively low-cost gas-chromatographic analysis of helium prior to submittal of samples for 3H/ 3He analysis can result in a significant cost savings.
For samples with high terrigenic helium, the
3He/ 4He ratio of the terrigenic helium must
be known for the sample within 1% or
better to permit reliable 3H/ 3He dating of
the young fraction. Water in equilibrium with air normally
contains about 4.6x10 -8 ccSTP/g water of helium.
Depending on the source, helium excesses
of even 50% over air-water equilibrium can
create large uncertainties in 3H/ 3He
dating, such as in areas where the old fraction contains mixed
mantle and crustal helium sources (Plummer et al, 2000). In
other cases, the excess helium may be primarily of radiogenic
origin (typically the 3He/ 4He ratio of
2x10 -8 can be assumed) and samples containing helium
excesses of even several hundred percent may be datable by the
3H/ 3He method.
Comparison of dissolved helium determined by mass spectrometry on samples collected in pinch-off copper tubes with helium determined by gas chromatography on water samples collected in septum bottles without headspace and analyzed at the Reston GW Dating Laboratory. Agreement of the GC measurements is generally within 20% of the mass spectrometric measurements.
Selected References
Andrews, J. N., The isotopic composition of radiogenic helium and its use to study groundwater movement in confined aquifers, Chem. Geol., 49, 339-351, 1985.
Andrews, J.N., and Lee, D.J., 1979, Inert gases in groundwater from the Bunter Sandstone of England as indicators of age and paleoclimatic trends. Jour. Hydrology, v. 41, p. 233-252.
Busenberg E., and Plummer, L.N., 2000, Dating young ground water with sulfur hexafluoride: Natural and anthropogenic sources of sulfur hexafluoride. Water Resources Research, v. 36(10), 3011-3030.
Castro, M.C., Stute, M., and Schlosser, P., 2000, Comparison of 4He ages and 14C ages in simple aquifer systems: implications for groundwater flow and chronologies. Applied Geochemistry, v. 15, p. 1137-1167.
Castro, M.C., Jambon, A., deMarsily, G., and Schlosser, P., 1998a, Noble gases as natural tracers of water circulation in the Paris Basin, 1. Measurements and discussion of their origin and mechanisms of vertical transport in the basin. Water Resour, Res., v. 34(10), p. 2443-2466.
Castro, M.C., Goblet, P., Ledous, E., Violette, S., and de Marsily, G., 1998b, Noble gases as natural tracers of water | 1.222853 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
circulation in the Paris Basin, 2. Calibration of a groundwater flow model using noble gas isotope data. Water Resour, Res., v. 34(10), p. 2467-2483.
Heaton, T.H.E., 1984, Rates and sources of 4He accumulation in groundwater. Hydrological Sciences - Journal, v. 29, 29-47.
Plummer, L.N., Rupert, M.G., Busenberg, E., and Schlosser, P., 2000, Age of irrigation water in ground water from the Eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, south-central Idaho. Ground Water, 38(2), 264-283.
Solomon, D.K., A. Hunt, and R.J. Poreda. 1996. Source of radiogenic helium 4 in shallow aquifers: Implications for dating young groundwater. Water Resources Research 32, no. 6, 1805-1813.
Stute, M., Sonntag, C., Deak, J., and Schlosser, P., 1992, Helium in deep circulating groundwater in the Great Hungarian Plain: Flow dynamics and crustal and mantle helium fluxes. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, v. 56, p. 2051-2067.
Torgersen, T., and Clarke, W.B., 1985, Helium accumulation in
groundwater, I: An evaluation of sources and the continental flux
of crustal
4He in the Great Artesian Basin,
Australia. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, v. 49, p.
1211-1218.. “After we had one bad storm, we had no problems with evacuations for the next three or four storms,” he said. “But we know that won’t be the case next time because we haven’t had one for a long time, and people just don’t know what they can do. “But I’ll tell you one thing,” he continued. “I’ve been here for storms and I’m seen the damage they can cause, and there’s just no way I’d want to be on this island when there’s a serious storm on the way. No way.” Gareth McGrath: 343-2384 On Twitter: @Gman2000 | 1.434783 | 533 | 531 |
Sunday, April 12, 2009 – Some Improvement
Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius. ~ William Blake
Though all society is founded on intolerance, all improvement is founded on tolerance. ~ George Bernard Shaw
To preserve the freedom of the human mind then and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, and speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement. ~ Thomas Jefferson
I hate it when people say somebody has a “speech impediment,” even if he does, because it could hurt his feelings. So instead, I call it a “speech improvement”, and I go up to the guy and say, “Hey, Bob, I like your speech improvement.” I think this makes him feel better. ~ Jack Handy
Those who would administer wisely must, indeed, be wise, for one of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity. ~ Andrew Carnegie
Every improvement in communication makes the bore more terrible. ~ Frank Moore Colby
All intellectual improvement arises from leisure. ~ Samuel Johnson
The rich adopt novelties and become accustomed to their use. This sets a fashion which others imitate. Once the richer classes have adopted a certain way of living, producers have an incentive to improve the methods of manufacture so that soon it is possible for the poorer classes to follow suit. Thus luxury furthers progress. Luxury is the roadmaker of progress: it develops latent needs and makes people discontented. In so far as they think consistently, moralists who condemn luxury must recommend the comparatively desireless existence of the wild life roaming in the woods as the ultimate ideal of civilized life. ~ Ludwig von Mises
The diffusion of taste is not the same thing as the improvement of taste. ~ William Hazlitt
It’s the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you’re mad, then dangerous, then there’s a pause and then you can’t find anyone who disagrees with you. ~ Tony Benn
Time advances: facts accumulate; doubts arise. Faint glimpses of truth begin to appear, and shine more and more unto the perfect day. The highest intellects, like the tops of mountains, are the first to catch and to reflect the dawn. They are bright, while the level below is still in darkness. But soon the light, which at first illuminated only the loftiest eminences, descends on the plain, and penetrates to the deepest valley. First come hints, then fragments of systems, then defective systems, then complete and harmonious systems. The sound opinion, held for a time by one bold speculator, becomes the opinion of a small minority, of a strong minority, of a majority of mankind. Thus, the great progress goes on. ~ Thomas Babington Macaulay
But for the silly chaps, we would still be living in the Stone Age. ~ Sir Christopher Cockerell
A collection of good books, with a soul to it in the shape of a librarian, becomes a vitalized power among the impulses by which the world goes on to improvement. ~ Justin Winsor
I feel not unlike a small boy, waking from a bad dream to find reality not much of an improvement. ~ John Byrne
If the world were extremely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world, and a desire to enjoy the world. That makes it hard to plan the day. ~ William Allen White
No one imagines that a symphony is supposed to improve in quality as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing it is to reach the finale. The point of music is discovered in every moment of playing and listening to it. It is the same, I feel, with the greater part of our lives, and if we are unduly absorbed in improving them we may forget altogether to live them. ~ Alan Watts
The Cube is an imitation of life itself – or even an improvement on life. ~ Erno Rubik
That is why, no matter how desperate the predicament is, I am always very much in earnest about clutching my cane, straightening my derby hat and fixing my tie, even though I have just landed on my head. ~ Charlie Chaplin | 1.66326 | 911 | 910 |
India's elite educational institutions have been producing first-rate scientists, engineers, and managers who helped India's information technology sector take off during the 1990s.
Far less visible is the more recent, quiet revolution in India's elementary education that, if successful, will equip an entire younger generation with skills to improve productivity and reduce the burden of disease, high birth rates, hunger, and poverty, while changing societal attitudes toward gender, caste, tribe, and disability.
What India has accomplished is no small feat -- especially given that its population grew from about 840 million to nearly one billion between 1991 and 2001, with the number of children between the age of 6 to 14 rising by 35 million to 205 million.
Over roughly the same period, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in primary education (grades 1) rose from 82 per cent to 95 per cent, and in upper primary education (grades 6) from 54 per cent to 61 per cent (see table).
Available government data suggest that in that age group, the number of children not in school fell sharply from about 60 million in the early 1990s to 25 million in 2002, and this decline is continuing. While specific numbers in such a large federal system may be viewed with caution, the rough magnitude of the progress appears to be in little doubt.
Educating the masses
After primary education was made a national priority, enrolment --especially for girls -- showed dramatic gains.
1993
2002
(percent)
Primary education (grades 1-5 for ages 6-11)
(percent of GDP)
Total public spending on education and training
3.6
4.1
(dollars)
Public spending per elementary student
Sources: Data from India's Ministries of Human Resource Development and Finance; and World Bank estimates.
The expansion of primary education -- driven by major policy changes along with higher demand for schooling stemming from economic growth and globalisation -- took hold all across India. Historically, India's southern and western states had always been far ahead in education of the large northern states, which accounted for most of the out-of-school children.
Over the past decade, however, many poorly performing states began to make real overall advances -- the primary GERs in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh were well over 90 per cent, although the ratio remained at 74 per cent in Bihar.
The southern states, the states on the east and west coasts, the Himalayan states, and the northeastern states -- except for Assam and Nagaland -- were either approaching universal primary enrolment or had already achieved it.
Increased access for girls and children of disadvantaged groups accounted for much of the improvement. The overall GER for girls was 92 per cent and over 95 per cent for children of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes -- the most disadvantaged groups, which make up 18 and 9 per cent, respectively, of all primary school-age children.
Given the momentum built up over the years, India will, in all likelihood, meet the education Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of universal primary education -- which calls for all children of primary school age to participate in the school system and complete primary school. This article explores India's quiet revolution.
From elite to all
India's education development since Independence can be divided into three phases.
Phase 1: Educating the elite to build national capacity. From Independence in 1947 through 1986, education policy emphasised building national capacity for self-government and self-sufficiency through elite education. The states were mainly responsible for financing and providing education, which led to mixed results as commitment varied between states. Initially severely constrained, public spending for education rose from below 1 per cent of GDP in 1950 to 3.4 per cent in 1986.
Phase 2: Making primary education a national priority. In 1986, the Government of India (known as the Union Government) launched the landmark National Policy on Education, which resulted in a series of pilot projects on a large scale. Following the World Conference on Education for All in 1990 in Jomtien, Thailand, India opened up to external assistance for primary education.
The most extensive external partnership, involving the World Bank, the United Kingdom, the European Commission (EC), the Netherlands, and UNICEF, was the District Primary Education Program in 18 large states, covering about half of India's 600 districts with low female literacy rates.
The program created active partnerships between the government and civil society organisations and strengthened coordination in the areas of planning, training, and research. Financial management and procurement systems, procedures, and checks and balances have been put in place, making it possible to scale up in the next phase.
Between 199 | 1.36101 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
3 and 2002, total public spending on education rose steadily from 3.6 to 4.1 per cent of GDP, higher than the average spending of 3 per cent of GDP among low-income countries. Elementary education expenditure rose from 1.7 to 2.1 per cent of GDP, accounting for over 60 per cent of the growth in public expenditure on education in this period. As the economy grew about 6 per cent annually over this period, resources increased in both relative and absolute terms and spending per elementary student rose from $25 to $44 despite higher enrolment. The Union Government's share of total public expenditure on education rose to about 15 per cent, with the states covering the remainder (see chart).
In 2001, India launched the National Programme of Universal Elementary Education, known in Hindi as
Phase 3: Universalising elementary education.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA), and amended its Constitution to make quality elementary education a fundamental right of every child. The program is designed so that by 2007, all children, including children with disabilities, will have completed primary schooling, and by 2010, upper primary schooling -- a much stiffer requirement than the MDG of universal completion of primary education by 2015.
The SSA program combines centrally set targets and norms for planning and costing with decentralised management, bottom up planning, community mobilisation, and social audits. With the Union Government contributing 75 per cent and the states 25 per cent, SSA funds annual work plans submitted by states and districts to meet the targets.
To ensure that central funds are not used to substitute state spending, SSA obliges the states to maintain spending for elementary education in real terms at the 1999 level and to match growing central funds above this level. The expected incremental SSA cost of $3.5 billion for 2004 would add another 9 per cent per year to the total resources for elementary education. Three external partners (the World Bank, the United Kingdom, and the EC) contribute $1.05 billion to the Union Government's share.
SSA finances civil works, salaries for additional teachers, alternative schools in sparsely populated areas, bridge courses for dropouts, innovations, teacher training, school and teacher grants, and community-based organisations to provide on-site support. To tackle gender and social inequalities, SSA subsidises the cost of providing free textbooks to all girls and all students of scheduled castes and tribes, special facilities for girls (such as early childhood education centres for alternative sibling care and girls' toilets), and grants to districts to support students with disabilities.
SSA also funds a national component for capacity building, technical support, monitoring and evaluation, financial management, dissemination of good practices, and media campaigns.
The program is designed to emphasise participation, transparency, and public accountability. It requires that every state take a baseline household census of children to ascertain their age, gender, social, and education status. Once the Project Approval Board agrees to the states' and districts' annual work plans, funds are released to the states for implementation. The funds are overwhelmingly spent at the community level, and their sources and uses at the school level are required to be posted publicly.
Since its 2001 launch, SSA has focused its efforts -- with initial signs of success -- on enrolling children who have never enrolled and in bringing dropouts back to school, while at the same time taking in new age groups and improving the quality of educational inputs. SSA is complemented by another national program, the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, that provides daily school meals to all primary school students, thereby providing not only the needed nutrition but also incentives for poor children to enrol in and complete school.
SSA enjoys non-partisan political backing, as evidenced by major budget increases under both the present and previous Union Governments. The prime minister of India is the chair of SSA's National Mission, ensuring the highest-level attention.
Risks and challenges
As India has vastly expanded enrolment, it now needs to reduce high teacher and student absenteeism, lower repetition and dropout rates, and improve student achievement. In 2002, an early assessment of public school student achievement in grade five suggested huge differences within and across states.
India tends to reward rote learning, and there are no international benchmarks for judging education standards. At the national level, periodic assessments of student achievement are planned. It is vital that the test instruments be valid, reliable, and well designed. Participation in international comparative assessments should be used to improve and strengthen the technical capacity for measuring quality.
Some states are taking steps to focus on quality. Madhya Pradesh has a system of tracking each child's achievement in each subject for diagnosis, remedial education, and teacher training, and the results of state-wide examinations at the end of grades 5 and 8 are reported to the state legislature, putting the focus on learning outcomes.
Meanwhile, sustaining improvement in | 1.702152 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
the teaching and learning process, increasing the time-on-tasks, and devising specific strategies to address special needs are essential. Multigrade classrooms, common in rural areas, require far more learning materials and teachers than are currently provided. With 17 official languages and more than 300 spoken languages and dialects in India, tribal children need help to overcome language barriers.
Lessons for others?
Could India's experience help guide other countries striving to reach universal primary education? Five lessons come to mind.
First, successive Union governments have provided strong leadership in defining national goals and setting time-bound targets -- elimination of gender inequities, full participation of disadvantaged groups, universal completion of elementary education, and establishment of minimum standards for inputs across and within states. Second, to advance these national goals, India's Union government -- aided in part by external assistance -- not only sustains massive transfers of resources but also requires the states to commit resources to meet the goals through the matching fund mechanism. Third, SSA combines central leadership with decentralised planning and implementation. It provides ample flexibility to design locally specific strategies. It encourages partnerships with non governmental organisations and requires community oversight to ensure transparency and sustainability. Fourth, investment in school meals has raised enrolment and helped retention, while providing much needed nutrition to poor children. Fifth, substantial efforts were put into institutional development and capacity building while the education programme was rapidly expanded. This approach provides room for innovations (such as the provision of alternative schools, which brought flexibility to a rigid system, and the use of community-based teachers) and enables successful models to be developed for large-scale implementation.
References:
Government of India, 2001, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: A Programme for Universal Elementary Education Framework for Implementation (New Delhi).
_____, various years, Economic Survey (New Delhi).
_____, various years, Selected Education Statistics (New Delhi).
Govinda, R, 2002, India Education Report, Oxford University Press (New Delhi).
Kremer, Michael, Karthik Muralidharan, Nazmul Chaudhury, Jeffrey Hammer, Halsey Rogers, 2005, Teacher Absence in India: A Snapshot, Journal of the European Economic Association, forthcoming.
World Bank, 2004, Elementary Education Project Appraisal Document, Report No 27703-IN (Washington).
Kin Bing Wu is the Lead Education Specialist, Venita Kaul is a Senior Education Specialist, and Deepa Sankar is an Education Economist in the World Bank's South Asia Human Development Department. Wu and Kaul are co-task team leaders of the World Bank project supporting SSA. The article first appeared in Finance & Development, June 2005, Vol 42, No 2, published and copyrighted by the International Monetary Fund. | 1.569519 | 578 | 577 |
On April 26, 2016, the United States Steel Corporation ("US Steel") filed a complaint under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 , 19 U.S.C. § 1337, seeking the exclusion of Chinese carbon and alloy steel products from entry into the United States. The complaint alleges that more than forty Chinese companies have exported steel products into the United States using the following "unfair" practices, in violation of Section 337: (i) a conspiracy to fix prices and control output and export volumes; (ii) the misappropriation and use of US Steel's trade secrets; and (iii) the false designation of origin or manufacturer for the purpose of evading duties.
The complaint is unusual in that it seeks the exclusion of all Chinese carbon and alloy steel products from the US market, regardless of their source, rather than targeting a narrower subset of products and companies. Moreover, while most complaints arising under Section 337 involve alleged infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR), the US steel complaint alleges antitrust violations and duty evasion – issues not typically of focus in the US International Trade Commission's (ITC) investigations under Section 337. Given the breadth and unique aspects of the complaint, an investigation resulting in a determination of violation of Section 337 by the ITC could have wide-ranging implications.
Background
Section 337 makes it unlawful to (i) import articles that infringe on US intellectual property rights; or (ii) engage in "unfair methods of competition and unfair acts" in the importation of articles, the threat or effect of which is to (a) destroy, substantially injure, or prevent the establishment of an industry in the United States or (b) restrain or monopolize trade and commerce in the United States. Complaints arising under Section 337 are investigated by the ITC through a process that involves an initial determination by an Administrative Law Judge and a final determination by the Commission.
If the ITC finds a violation of Section 337, three potential remedies are available – general exclusion orders, limited exclusion orders, and cease and desist orders. A general exclusion order directs US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to exclude all of the infringing or unfairly traded articles from entry into the United States, regardless of their source, whereas a limited exclusion order directs CBP to exclude articles originating from a respondent in the Commission investigation. The ITC issues general exclusion orders where there is a pattern of violations and it is difficult to identify the source of the articles, or where it is necessary to prevent circumvention. A cease and desist order directs a respondent in the investigation to cease certain actions, such as selling infringing or unfairly traded articles. ITC remedial orders are subject to review by the President, who may disapprove them for policy reasons, but such disapprovals are rare.
Details of the US Steel complaint
The complaint proposes more than forty Chinese steel producers and distributors –including many of the largest producers in China – as respondents to the investigation. The complaint alleges that the proposed respondents have engaged in unfair trade practices "across their entire range of carbon and alloy steel products", and seeks the inclusion of all Chinese carbon and alloy steel products within the scope of the complaint.
US Steel asserts the following causes of action against the proposed respondents: (i) an alleged conspiracy to control production, output, and export volumes in order to injure US competitors (in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act); (ii) misappropriation and use of US Steel's trade secrets, including those relating to the manufacture of Advanced High-Strength Steel (AHSS) used by the automotive industry; and (iii) circumvention of US antidumping and countervailing duty orders against Chinese steel products through actions such as transshipment and submission of false documents to CBP (in violation of the Lanham Act).
The complaint requests relief in the form of a permanent general exclusion order prohibiting the entry into the United States of the allegedly unfairly traded Chinese steel products, regardless of their source. Instead of a limited exclusion order, which would apply to steel products originating from the proposed respondents, US Steel argues that a general exclusion order is necessary because (i) Chinese steel manufacturers allegedly evade US duties, and therefore would likely evade a limited exclusion order; (ii) the alleged coordination of prices and output decisions is imposed on the entire Chinese steel industry; and (iii) US Steel’s trade secrets were allegedly stolen for the benefit of the entire Chinese steel industry. The complaint also requests permanent cease and desist orders prohibiting the proposed respondents from conducting various activities in the United States such as importing, selling, marketing, or distributing the allegedly unfairly traded Chinese steel products.
Implications
Given the broad range of issues and products covered by the complaint, the ITC's findings in the resulting investigation could have a substantial impact on US-China trade relations, and might also encourage similar complaints from other US industries. However | 1.051435 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Infectious diseases and allergens have a huge impact on the health of human, animal and plants. The emergence of old and new pathogens, together with increasing spread of allergens originating from pollen and spores that trigger hay fever and asthma demonstrates why research is imperative. This distinctive programme meets the demands of curious minds of young scientists, nurses and clinicians in this field.
What and how will I learn?
The programme provides students with learning of; the source and impact of infections and allergens; how immune system of organisms cope with these exogenous triggers; how it translates into the agriculture, veterinary and patient clinic, offering the latest developments in detection, molecular and immunological diagnostics, forecasting, therapeutics and management. Students gain a tremendous experience in the research methods and techniques used to study infectious disease, allergens and the immunology of the host.
Degree Structure
Students undertake courses to the value of 180 credits.
Full-time and part-time study will be available.
MSc: one calendar year full-time, two calendar years part-time (6 x 20 credit modules and a 3-month research project).
Postgraduate Diploma: 9 calendar months full time, two calendar years part-time (6 x 20 credit modules without the 3-month research project).
Postgraduate Certificate: up to 12 weeks full-time, up to two academic years part-time (3 x 20 credit modules).
Modules
Fundamental and Translational Aerobiology
Detection and Identification of microorganisms
Impacts of Infectious Agents on Plants, Animals and Humans
Allergens and Allergen Carriers
Allergy Diagnostics and Management
Research Methods
Dissertation/Thesis
All MSc students undertake an independent research project in the areas of Aerobiology, detection, diagnostics, infectious agents, allergens, forensics and immunology which culminates in a 10,000-word dissertation.
Further details available on subject website: http://www.worcester.ac.uk/journey/airborne-infectious-agents-allergens-msc.html
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials, database mining, journal articles, wet-lab based experiments and self-directed learning. The last three months of the programme is spent on a laboratory-based research project. Assessment is through coursework, written examination, project reports, oral presentation and the dissertation.
Why should I study this degree at Worcester?
The Airborne Infectious Agents and Allergens MSc introduces exciting new themes that reflect the research excellence within NPARU Division of Institute of Science and the Environment at Worcester University. Students would benefit from the expertise of first-class teaching facilities, molecular, immunological, microbial, forensics and Imaging laboratories, and from the pollen research and forecasting expertise that exist within ISE/NPARU.
The last three months are spent on a practical research project that can be undertaken within ISE/NPARU at Worcester or in a related company or another institute at the UK. Strong links exist with several biotech companies or universities.
Entry Requirements
Applicants must hold a minimum of a minumum lower second-class Bachelor's degree in life sciences from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.
How to apply
Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.
Who can apply?
This programme is particularly suitable for scientists or clinicians who wish to be trained in the field of infection, detection and diagnostics, forensics, pollen biology, allergy and immunity. It offers a range of courses and a specialist research project that leads to a specialism in microbiology, allergy and immunology.
Industrial or University Studentships may be available for this programme.
Applicants must hold a minimum of a lower second-class Bachelor's degree in life sciences from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. | 1.492318 | 803 | 802 |
US Bancorp
October 18, 2002
From: Director, Business Continuity To: Jennifer J. Johnson Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 20 th Street and Constitution Ave. NW Washington, DC 20551 Docket No. R-1128
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
250 E Street, SW Public Information Room, Mail Stop 1-5 Washington, DC 20219 Docket No. 02-13
Jonathan G. Katz
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission 450 5 th Street, NW Washington, DC 20549-0609 File No S7-32-02 Response to: Draft Interagency White Paper on Sound Practices to Strengthen the Resilience of the U. S. Financial System
Dear Regulators:
US Bancorp appreciates the opportunity to respond to the "Draft Interagency White Paper on Sound Practices to Strengthen the Resilience of the U.S. Financial System" white paper. This response is on behalf of US Bancorp and its subsidiaries, Piper Jaffray and Nova Information Systems. We have commented on the areas solicited by the paper and included questions it prompted.
Scope of application. Have agencies excluded any critical markets?
A: Further definition of "critical markets" is needed. Regulators should formally notify institutions of the specific requirements applying to them, the timeframe to comply and resulting penalties for non-compliance. Perhaps guidelines for an Industry Impact Analysis (vs. a Business Impact Analysis) would be beneficial in determining inclusion in critical markets.
We encourage the regulators to consider the substantial cost that will be incurred by firms included in `critical markets" and "core cleaning and settlement organizations" and, therefore, required to comply with the new regulations. If a subset of financial institutions have to provide a higher level of business recovery, for the benefit of the entire financial industry, there should be some financial compensation for those organizations.
Is there an impact or cost/benefit analysis associated with the definition of inclusion in these categories? Is there any planned reimbursement vehicle to help institutions fund compliance with the new regulations?
Have the agencies sufficiently defined the term "core clearing and settlement organizations" for such organizations to identify themselves?
A: "Core clearing and settlement organizations" is not sufficiently specific. Does core clearing and settlement refer to entities involved in stock market operations only, or does it also refer to clearing and settlement in credit card processing operations, for example? Perhaps a broad definition of clearing and settlement organizations should be considered, such as, "A clearing and settlement organization would be defined in general terms as an organization that initiates or receives monetary settlement each and every business day and is contractually obligated to do so with external customers".
Have the agencies provided sufficient guidance for firms to determine whether they play "significant roles in critical financial markets?"
A: No. It is not understood how far-reaching the business-to-business or business-to-vendor dependency chain goes, when addressing critical markets, or what thresholds determine participation. Do regulations address relationships with providers of infrastructure, such as telecommunications vendors, with single points of failure?
Should the agencies establish an average daily dollar volume (e.g., $20 billion, $50 billion, $150 billion or some larger amount) or a market share test (e.g., 3, 5, 7, 10 percent market share or some larger amount) as a benchmark for either or both of these categories? Should such benchmarks differ by market or activity?
A: Again, a "one size fits all" approach may not sufficiently address the intent of this effort or correctly identify participants. Threshold guidelines with respect to intent would be helpful.
In some market segments, there are geographic concentrations of primary and backup facilities of firms with relatively small market shares. Should sound practices take into consideration the geographic concentration of the backup sites of firms that as a group could play a significant role in critical markets?
A: Regulatory guidance in this area, also, would be helpful. Is the intent of this paper to address impact as an industry or a firm, and under what conditions? Will there be any regulatory guidance concerning the ratio of firms to recovery site, with respect to any geographic area?
One of the reasons core clearing organizations are expected to recover and resume is that there are no effective substitutes that can assume their critical activities; is this also true for some or all firms that play significant roles in critical markets?
A: Again, a clarification of "critical markets" is requested.
Does the paper's definition of a "wide-scale, regional disruption" provide sufficient guidance for planning for wide-scale, regional disruptions? Is there a need to provide some sense of duration of a wide-scale, regional disruption? If so, what should it be?
A: Further clarification of the risk analysis leading to a "Wide-scale Regional Disruption" is needed. Previous risk analysis does not support the preparation for massive regional loss due to accident or | 1.666598 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
natural disaster, unilaterally. If the premise for a new level of preparation is the intentional disruption of infrastructure, then more specific risks to the infrastructure need to be identified, to narrow the focus of mitigation. That is, is it acceptable to conduct a risk analysis specific to each of the infrastructure components, independent of an arbitrary geographic radius, and plan contingencies accordingly? Are there other specific threats dictating a minimal geographic envelope for all, such as, nuclear, chemical or biological attacks, that are deemed relevant to this response?
. Recovery and Resumption of Critical Activities Sound practice seems to require firms that play significant roles in critical markets to establish recovery targets of four hours after an event for their critical activities. Is this a realistic and achievable recovery-time objective? If not, what should it be? Sound practice seems to require core clearing and settlement organizations to establish recovery targets of two hours for their critical activities. Is this a realistic and achievable recovery-time objective? Should recovery- and resumption-time objectives differ according to critical markets?
A: Two to four hour recovery time objectives for large-scale critical activities are not achievable with current technology, given that primary and back-up processing sites must also be physically separated by long distances, i.e., more than about 20 miles. Two to four hour recovery time objectives for large-scale critical activities are achievable with current technology at distances of 20 miles or less.
A recovery time objective should be determined based on the results of a Business Impact Analysis. Agencies should release more specific guidelines on conducting a Business Impact Analysis with respect to intent of strengthening resilience, or, as suggested earlier, an Industry Impact Analysis.
Sound Practices. Have agencies sufficiently described expectations regarding out-of-region resources?
A: Staffing for primary versus back-up sites should be addressed to cover the risk of personnel loss concurrent with site loss. However, is it reasonable, again, to drive all business recovery and resumption planning on the assumption of wide-scale, regional disruptions.
Should minimum distance from primary sites be specified ? What factors should be used to identify a minimum distance? Should the agencies specify other requirements (e.g., back-up sites not be dependent on the same labor pools or infrastructure components, including power grid, water supply and transportation systems)? Are there alternative arrangements within a region that would provide sufficient resilience in a wide-scale regional disruption?
A: Geographic area, alone, may not be criteria for defining a wide-scale region. There is mitigation to the disruption of regional infrastructure within the Twin Cities metropolitan area, as Minneapolis and St. Paul have redundancy in transportation, telecommunications, water and power.
The white paper focuses heavily on wide-scale, regional disruptions as background for new business recovery and resumption expectations. This assumption drives long-distance primary versus back-up site separation.
The assumption of wide-scale, regional disruptions should be questioned. Specific threat profiles may indicate that much shorter distance separation between primary and back-up sites could be acceptable. Requirements for long distances between primary and back-up sites and short recovery time objectives dramatically increase the cost of disaster recovery. We expect a substantial financial impact in meeting out-of-region expectations and would appreciate any insight into the cost benefit analysis and subsidy plans for compliance. Looking back to 9/11/2001, which seems to be driving this new regulatory initiative, businesses affected typically recovered operations within very short distances from the affected area.
Timetable for Implementation. To ensure that enhanced business continuity plans are sufficiently coordinated among participants in critical markets, should specific implementation timeframes be considered? Is it reasonable to expect firms to achieve sound practices within the next few years? Should agencies specify an outside date for achieving sound practices to accommodate those firms that may require more time to adopt sound practices in a cost-effective manner? Would such distant dates communicate a sufficient sense of urgency for addressing the risk of a wide-scale regional disruption?
A: As previously stated, out-of-region recovery, within the timeframes defined, is technically infeasible with current technology. With regard to labor pools, 180 days from the time the agencies release their final views is not sufficient time to implement this. This would incur significant expenditures of time and resources that would make quick implementation prohibitive. The organization would need to consider options such as cross training existing employees to support critical functions, agreements with employment agencies to provide qualified personnel in the event of a disaster, etc. Urgency must coincide with realistically achievable dates.
Thank you for considering the comments of US Bancorp on these critically important issues. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at (651) 205- 1749 or at michael.rattigan@usbank.com.
Sincerely,
Michael B. Rattigan
Director, Business Continuity
US Bancorp, Piper Jaffray, and Nova Information Systems | 2.109169 | 973 | 972 |
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Kankakee County; the Hon.
HERMAN W. SNOW, Judge, presiding. Judgment affirmed.
SCHEINEMAN, J.
Harold E. Lape was a beer distributor for the plaintiff. In July of 1962 he obtained a loan from the defendant bank for which he gave a Security Agreement and Consignment covering an inventory of beer in containers, and with an after-acquired property clause. This document was filed with the Secretary of State, together with a Financing Statement as required by law in order to perfect its Security Interest.
Lape failed to keep up his payments to the bank according to his arrangements so that early in December of 1963 the bank took possession of the property Lape had on hand and thereafter sold it.
In the meantime the plaintiff was also having trouble over collections from Lape. He had asked Hamm's for a three-load credit in a letter dated in April, 1961, which enclosed a financial statement. Hamm's refused this because of his "very small net worth." However, sometime later they did place him on a one-load credit.
Early in 1963 Lape's checks began to be returned because of insufficient funds. In May, plaintiff tried to set up a system of operations for Lape, stating in a letter to him that he had to accrue a profit that summer or be in "desperate financial shape."
This proved to be prophetic. From time to time checks drawn by Lape would be returned for insufficient funds. In December on the 9th, 12th, 16th and 19th he bought loads of beer for which he gave checks, all of these checks were returned for insufficient funds. Thereafter Hamm's was disposed to repossess the beer but found it had already been taken by the bank. Another creditor of Lape had obtained a judgment against him on December 2, 1963, for more than $9,000.
The foregoing data appears from pleadings, motions, exhibits and affidavits on file in a suit wherein plaintiff asserted the right of a seller to possession of goods sold upon a written representation of solvency given by Lape, having reference to the checks that failed to clear. The bank denied that checks were a representation of solvency, and also claimed it stood in the position of a purchaser. The court decided the argument in favor of the bank and gave it a judgment on the pleadings dismissing the complaint with prejudice. Hamm's brings this appeal.
The parties are in agreement that the applicable law must be found in the Uniform Commercial Code which appears in chapter 26, Ill Rev Stats, but they disagree as to the proper interpretation of its various provisions. The numbers in this opinion refer to the section numbers of the Code in chapter 26.
Section 2-702(2) provides for reclaiming goods by a seller within 10 days if the buyer was insolvent. "But if misrepresentation of solvency has been made to the particular seller in writing within 3 months before delivery, the 10-day limitation does not apply."
The bank's security interest in the beer as inventory, under 9-109 was properly perfected pursuant to 9-302. Thus, with the after-acquired property clause in the Security Agreement, the bank should be entitled to priority in the beer as against Hamm's unless Hamm's complied with 9-312 or unless Hamm's is entitled to reclaim the beer under 2-702(2) previously quoted. Hamm's did not avail itself of 9-312 protection, and thus relies solely on its argument of right to the beer under 2-702(2). Hamm's attempt to take possession of the beer came more than ten days after the delivery of the last load of beer, and thus the only provision of section 2-702(2) available to Hamm's is that permitting reclamation without regard to the ten-day limitation if a written misrepresentation of solvency is made within three months before delivery.
The writings of Lape's which appear in the exhibits and affidavits incorporated in the pleadings and relied upon as representations of solvency received in the three months prior to final delivery, consist of checks for the loads. The issue is thus presented whether the checks here constituted written misrepresentations of solvency. We view the question of the status of the checks as a question of fact. The parties have not directed the court's attention to any cases discussing the issue in relation to 2-702(2) nor have we been able to find any. However, other questions involving the conduct of parties in certain circumstances having consequences under the Code have been treated as questions of fact, e.g., preservation of collateral, Travers v. Liberty Bank, 5 UCC Rep 535 | 1.445781 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
(Mass. Sup Ct 1967), and in other areas, the Code itself directs when an issue is to be determined by the court as a matter of law, i.e., 2-302. Further, occasions can be imagined where the same writing is a representation of solvency in one instance, but would not be in another, depending upon the surrounding circumstances. Under pre-Code law in Illinois, requirements for reclamation from a buyer, such as intent, were treated as questions of fact, e.g., Huthmacher for Use of Levy v. Lowman's Sons, 66 Ill. App. 448.
The Code could have usurped the whole field of law as to commercial transactions, but it does not purport to do so. By 1-103 it states that certain rules of common law may still be consulted on a number of subjects, including such items as misrepresentation, and fraud.
The trial court here entered judgment on the pleadings for the defendant Bank. We could therefore affirm the trial court judgment only if the undisputed facts in this case submitted in the form of affidavits and exhibits would permit the trial court to rule that as a matter of law, the facts here did not permit Hamm's to utilize the rights accorded by 2-702(2), i.e., that the checks and the use thereof did not amount to representations of solvency.
Although 2-702(2) does not so prescribe in express terms, an implicit requirement of the section is that the particular writing be treated as a representation by the seller. While the check can comply with the literal requirements of a writing, i.e., in writing, addressed to the particular seller and dated within three months of the delivery, unless the writing is treated by the seller as a representative, he should not be accorded the benefit of the section.
At least one indication of treatment of a writing as a representation is whether the seller relied upon the writing as an element in determining its course of dealing with the buyer. Section 2-702(2) does not specifically require reliance; however, the concept is present by implication. In reasonable commercial expectation, ... dairies and 10 conventional ones in Sonoma and Marin Counties who treat their cows well and do not inject rBST (artificial growth hormones) into them.
Also today (or more appropriately, tonight) millions of children and adults will go to sleep comforted by Gene Benedetti's brilliance and forethought.
I'm pretty sure Evelyn Rose does. | 1.843664 | 532 | 530 |
Towards the end of last year, Ed Vaizey addressed a telecommunications conference in London organised by the Financial Times. In his address, he pointedly failed to give his support for ‘net neutrality’. In fact, although he has denied it, it would appear that he supports scrapping it altogether. In a section of the speech on ‘net neutrality’, Vaizey commented:
“Consumers should always have the ability to access any legal content or service. Content and service providers should have the ability to innovate and, most importantly, to reach end users … This could include the evolution of a two-sided market where consumers and content providers could choose to pay for differing levels of quality of service.”
The Guardian goes on to state:
The comments sparked a furore as his words were seen as allowing a two-tier internet in which companies would have to pay to get their content to arrive in timely fashion – a complaint that Erik Huggers of the BBC made last month over the corporation’s iPlayer catchup service.
There’s a phrase that should strike fear in any information professional: “two-tier internet”. ‘Two-tier’ inevitably means unequal and, consequently, entrenching a divide those that can access the top tier and those that can’t. But before going any further, what is ‘net neutrality’?
Net neutrality is this:
If I pay to connect to the Net with a certain quality of service, and you pay to connect with that or greater quality of service, then we can communicate at that level.That’s all. Its up to the ISPs to make sure they interoperate so that that happens.
Net Neutrality is NOT asking for the internet for free.
Net Neutrality is NOT saying that one shouldn’t pay more money for high quality of service. We always have, and we always will.
…
Control of information is hugely powerful. In the US, the threat is that companies control what I can access for commercial reasons. (In China, control is by the government for political reasons.) There is a very strong short-term incentive for a company to grab control of TV distribution over the Internet even though it is against the long-term interests of the industry.
…
Let’s see whether the United States is capable as acting according to its important values, or whether it is, as so many people are saying, run by the misguided short-term interested of large corporations.
As Berners-Lee suggests, abandoning ‘net neutrality’ could lead to very real dangers in terms of the control of information. At present the flow of information is neither controlled by the state (as it is in China) or by corporate interests. The removal of ‘net neutrality’ would change this, leading to corporations controlling access to information – a worrying prospect.
Over in the US, the debate over net neutrality has been waging for some time. Democratic Senator Al Franken has been particularly vocal in defending the principles of neutrality. As one US blogger puts it:
Net neutrality is, of course, the exact opposite of the freedom-trampling “government takeover” as it is tarred by opponents in the capital. Net neutrality
isinternet freedom, not its adversary. The doctrine is designed to protect consumers’ rights to access information that is unfiltered and unrestricted by telecommunications companies that stand to profit from what could constitute, come to think of it, a “corporate takeover of the internet”.
“The only freedom they are providing for,” Democratic Senator Al Franken and several colleagues snapped back at Republicans in a recent letter, “is the freedom of telephone and cable companies to determine the future of the internet, where you can go on it, what you can attach to it, and which services will win or lose on it.”
The removal of ‘net neutrality’ could do very real damage to both the Internet as we know it today and seriously impact on the consumer’s ability to access information. If ISPs are able to discriminate the flow of content there could be very serious consequences and it would undoubtedly be, as the ALA recently put it, ‘a severe violation of intellectual freedom’. Take these examples from
The Nation:
Imagine how the next presidential election would unfold if major political advertisers could make strategic payments to Comcast so that ads from Democratic and Republican candidates were more visible and user-friendly than ads of third-party candidates with less funds. Consider what would happen if an online advertisement promoting nuclear power prominently popped up on a cable broadband page, while a competing message from an environmental group was relegated to the margins. It is possible that all forms of civic and noncommercial online programming would be pushed to the end of a commercial digital queue.
This is an even greater consideration in the UK where there are three main political parties and a number of smaller parties that are growing in popularity. How would the Greens and UKIP, for example, be able to compete if ISPs discriminate against them and in favour of the main political parties? And if they are able to discriminate, how will we be able to ensure that the consumer receives a range of information rather than just that which is ‘approved’ by the ISP?
As I mentioned above, the effect | 1.858736 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
of a ‘two-tier’ Internet should have very real concerns for all information professionals. The ALA made their concerns clear in 2006:
First, Network Neutrality is an intellectual freedom issue. The ALA defines intellectual freedom as the right of all people to seek and receive information from all points of view, without restriction. Unfortunately, there is no law that protects intellectual freedom on the Internet today. Internet service providers (such as the cable and telephone companies) have the ability to block or degrade information or services travelling over their networks. If these companies discriminate against certain kinds of information based on the content of the message being delivered, this would represent a severe violation of intellectual freedom.
Second, Network Neutrality is a competition issue. Libraries in the digital age are providers of online information of all kinds. Among hundreds of examples, public libraries are developing online local history resources, and academic libraries allow the online public to explore some of their rarest treasures. Libraries, as trusted providers of free public access to information, should not compete for priority with for-profit history or literature Web sites that might be able to afford to strike deals with service providers. This makes the Network Neutrality debate not only a matter of philosophy and values for librarians, but also of livelihood.
Couple this with some local authorities’ eagerness to close public libraries, and it is clear there are problems ahead. One of the arguments against the need for a network of public libraries is that we ‘all’ have access to the Internet (of course we don’t but that doesn’t fit the narrative). This is all well and good at present, but with ‘net neutrality’ under attack and an increasing amount of content being locked behind paywalls, it won’t be long before we find that the Internet as we know it is but a distant memory.
This is, again, yet another reason why libraries and information professionals are so important. Librarians do not (or at least should not) discriminate on the information they provide their users. If, for example, a customer visited the library and requested a book on ‘Islamic terrorism’ a librarian would (provided both texts are available of course!) lead you to a copy of both ‘Al Qaeda‘ by Jason Burke and ‘Londonistan‘ by Melanie Phillips and allow the user to decide which one is appropriate for them (the former hopefully!). It may seem insignificant, but if the information professional was to behave as an ISP ‘unburdened’ by ‘net neutrality’, you would be presented with one or the other, potentially without even being aware that the other was available. Imagine an information space where access to information was subject to vested interests. Librarians do not have vested interests, they simply point you to a range of information resources and allow you to decide which is suitable.
Imagine, for a moment, that there are no public libraries and net neutrality is a thing of the past. Imagine what the implications are for access to information. Imagine the impact that this would have on our democracy. Imagine the impact that this would have on society and how it would reinforce the gap between the richest and the poorest. Sure, you may not think libraries are that important when you have the whole of the world-wide web at your finger tips. But once paywalls are common place and ISPs are able to discriminate content, you may just realise what you’ve lost. And don’t be fooled into thinking this is a far-fetched fantasy. We are only a short step away from this eventuality. Information has been commodified, once there is money to be made it won’t remain free and open for long. | 1.678197 | 734 | 733 |
A confidential Connecting for Health briefing paper for the prime minister has claimed that much of the NHS's £12.4bn National Programme for IT (NPfIT) is complete - although an integrated national care record system has yet to materialise, and software delivered under the scheme has been criticised by some trusts as not yet fit for purpose.
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The paper, dated 19 February 2007, said, "Much of the programme is complete, with software delivered to time and budget," though, "some deployment is progressing more slowly than we would wish for and is dependent on legacy IT suppliers and NHS preparedness."
The paper was included in a Connecting for Health document presented to a health care technical standards conference in Canada.
It said, "Key challenges and risks to delivery are now not about the technology to support NPfIT but about attitudes and behaviours, which need to be the focus of senior management and ministerial attention as we move forward."
The paper's findings come despite a Public Accounts Committee report in April which found that significant clinical benefits were unlikely to be delivered by the end of the contracts in 2013/2014.
Connecting for Health, which runs the NPfIT, said, "We stand by the data contained within the presentation including the working calculations for the percentage completion data as provided as all this information has been independently verified."
The paper put the progress towards a life-long health record service at about 35%, although a national electronic health record system is still only at the trial stage.
It also said that "procurement processes had saved £4.5bn", but this figure has not been independently audited and represents a projection of savings based on existing installations.
During a debate in the House of Commons last week, MP Richard Bacon praised Accenture for its honesty in admitting its losses of hundreds of millions of dollars.
He said that, in his view, local service providers BT, CSC and Fujitsu had "not done anything to try to account for the losses that must have been made". These losses could run into hundreds of millions of pounds, Bacon believed.
"The government ought to be aware of that now, as it has consequences for the behaviour of local service providers in trying to claw back money because they did not make any on the contracts," he said.
Comment on this story: computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk | 1.811215 | 507 | 506 |
Date & Time Overview
Privacy is a theme that enjoys increasing media attention. Besides Edward Snowden’s disclosures, recent news items include the consequences of Europe’s Draft Data Protection Directive on the use of personal data for advertising, and Mattel’s “Eavesdropping” Barbie doll that can send recordings of conversations to third parties for voice recognition processing. A different and more subtle form of breach occurs when personal information can be inferred from data and information that has been deemed safe and consequently disclosed. An example is AOL’s search data leak in 2006. AOL released detailed search logs of users for academic research purposes, but the public release of information raised privacy concerns since users could be identified through personal information in their search logs. The New York Times identified several users, including 62-year-old Thelma Arnold, a widow in Liburn, Georgia. The breach led to a media frenzy and the eventual resignation of AOL’s CTO, Maureen Govern. In this talk, Dr. Vinterbo discussed why he feels privacy is needed, why it is useful to think of privacy not as a fixed state, but a never-ending process, and why intuition about how to protect privacy can be misleading. He also presented an example of a state-of-the-art privacy protection technique and how it could be used to inform HIV prevention efforts in San Diego. The event featured three guest panelists.
Speaker
Robert Marasco, an attorney with Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, LLP, utilizes his experience as a former federal prosecutor to effectively and efficiently defend corporate clients and individuals, in all contexts, who are working through complex internal or government investigations, responding to grand jury and administrative subpoenas, investigative demands for interviews, or facing criminal prosecution. Additionally, Robert advises clients on the topics of data privacy and security, helping with preparedness, responding to breaches, and in the healthcare context compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), and other health care privacy laws.
Harold Cooks, local Californian, has lived in San Diego for the past 25 years. He has been HIV+ for 25 years and holds a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Counseling.
Miguel Goicoechea, M.D. has a research background in HIV clinical therapeutic trials and translational studies in immune reconstitution at the University of California San Diego. Dr. Goicoechea’s expertise is in clinical trial design, statistical analysis and research ethics in human subjects. His current position is Head of Division of Infectious Diseases at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California. | 1.879342 | 545 | 544 |
This post originally ran a year ago. I dusted it off because I was looking up medical terms online last night and encountered some photos that brought the old squeamishness back. -Jackie
Patient empowerment is all the rage lately. While I distrust the way the “e” word sometimes verges on ideology, I’m all for learning what’s happening when we get that front row seat to medicine thanks to cancer or another big diagnosis.
But how best to learn if you tend to be medically squeamish? My previous patient experience was limited to an annual visit, with a handful of garden-variety illnesses and the inevitable screening tests required once you hit your 40s and 50s. I’ve never had a problem with those tests, or with needles, but once I learned my breasts were going to be the focus of a cancer adventure I felt a bit queasy.
The thing is, I can’t even stand nipple rings. Back when my husband Bruce and I used to take his Harley to the big bike rally in Sturgis, S.D., I averted my eyes a lot. I found myself doing the same thing now as I loaded up on breast cancer books. How do those DCIS cells act? Sure. An illustration of a nipple floating off into space during a mastectomy? Not so much.
I wanted to know what to expect without getting too much detail, if that makes any sense. So while I learned enough to know I wanted implants instead of tissue replacement surgery for reconstruction, I didn’t read about surgery details, and I couldn’t look at before and after reconstruction photos available online.
I had gone through the mastectomy and first-stage reconstruction before I became curious about things like how my surgeon was able to balance tissue removal and skin preservation during the mastectomy, or how my plastic surgeon was able to recreate a nipple.
Believe it or not, I actually watched him do it, since it only required local anesthetic. If you had asked me five years ago if I wanted to watch myself getting a nipple built, I probably would have yakked on your shoes. But this was my fifth surgery in nine months, so I had gotten used to it. And I’m really glad I watched because it was fascinating.
But that’s me, and it happened over time. You may want every last detail, or you may prefer letting the experience wash over you. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I would recommend learning enough to be able to make an informed treatment choice, and giving yourself enough time to make that choice. Whether you ever learn what they do with those scalpels or watch them do it is totally up to you.
For the record, nipple rings still gross me out. | 1.889308 | 555 | 554 |
The markets are fairly range-bound as we wait for today's main event the ECB rate decision and then ECB President Trichet's press conference at 1330 GMT (0830 ET). The single currency is also drifting, but remains at its highest level since November and continues to look comfortable above 1.3800.
Economic data this morning has been a fairly mixed bag. German retail sales were stronger, growing by 1.4 per cent in January relative to the end of 2010. The final reading of February's Eurozone PMI for the services sector was revised slightly lower to 56.8, down from the initial reading of 57.2, this followed downward revisions for both the German and French services PMI's earlier this morning. Service sector activity is still expanding at a healthy clip in Europe, although growth lost a bit of its shine last month.
In the UK the services sector slowdown was more severe. It fell to 52.6 from 54.5, which suggests only a moderate expansion in the largest section of the UK economy. The manufacturing sector in the UK is firing on all cylinders, however it is less than 10 per cent of GDP, whereas the services sector is nearly 70 per cent. If we see a protracted slowdown in the service sector then growth will be at risk and the economy could slow sharply as we move into the middle of the year. The pound has lost some of its lustre especially against the dollar and it is now below 1.6300 after reaching an 8-month high yesterday. EURGBP is also above0.8500 and is testing the 100-day moving average, a key resistance level, at 0.8515.
The ECB press conference will be key for the markets today and will set the tone for the euro. The ECB is the first major central bank to hold a policy-setting meeting since the oil price spike and it will be interesting to hear how ECB President Trichet will react to the step-up in commodity prices. While we expect Trichet to talk tough on inflation and reiterate that the ECB is vigilant on inflation - which typically precedes a rate hike - we think he will stop short of laying out a path for policy normalization. Growth is still massively imbalanced in the currency bloc, with Germany powering ahead, while peripheral nations are still struggling. Overall growth was a meagre 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010 it was reported today, that equates to a fairly average 2 per cent annualised rate.
The ECB has to balance growth fears alongside the inflation risk. It also has to consider the suffering peripheral nations struggling under sovereign debt burdens. Until the EU authorities make a decision on how a monetary union copes with members' problems of a fiscal nature then the onus is on the ECB to keep policy loose. We will learn more at the upcoming EU meetings (this Friday and 11
th March). In our view, only if a credible solution to the fiscal crisis is found will the ECB be able to tighten policy in the coming months.
Ben Bernanke finished his testimony to Congress yesterday. He reiterated that rising oil prices were problematic if they feed into other price pressures, but he continued to add that the economy required stimulus, suggesting that QE2 will not be curtailed early. His fairly dovish talk is adding to dollar weakness, and the dollar index is close to its November low.
Elsewhere, the oil price came off after hopes of an end to the Libyan crisis appeared to be premature - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez was rumoured to be brokering the deal. Brent is back at $115 per barrel, with WTI above $101. Some speakers have caused a few waves in the FX markets this morning. Swiss National Bank chairman Jordan said that the risk of deflation had diminished and there was no need to intervene to try and weaken the franc. This supports further Swissie strength and USDCHF remains at record lows below 0.9300.
In Australia, Prime Minister Gillard said that she was worried about the economic effects of a strong Aussie. However, if she was trying to talk down the currency she failed, it remains fairly static after she also added that she was optimistic about the growth outlook and demand from China for Australian natural resources.
Stocks are up slightly again today after small gains were made yesterday. The markets remain jittery and are likely to react to events in the Middle East as they unfold, especially if events in Bahrain heat up. Saudi protests scheduled for next week also threaten to dampen sentiment. However, for now the focus is back on the underlying strength of the developed world economies. The ECB today and non-farm payrolls tomorrow will dominate.
Ahead today, watch out for the Bank of England's Charles Bean who is talking to see if he is likely to be persuaded to join the three hawks | 1.630149 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
on the MPC.
Data watch: EU Mersch & Rehn speaking EU ECB Governing Council meeting 12.45 EU ECB Interest rate announcement Last 1.0 Exp 1.0 13.00 UK BOE Deputy Governor Bean Speaking 13.30 US Non - Farm Productivity Last 2.6 Exp 2.3 13.30 US Non - Farm Unit Costs Last -0.6 Exp -0.5 13.30 US Initial Jobless Claims Last 391K Exp 395K 13.30 EU ECB Press conference - Trichet speaking 15.00 US ISM Non - Manufacturing Last 59.4 Exp 59.3 16.00 US Kocherlakota Speaking on Labour markets and monetary policy 17.15 US Lockhart speaking on the Economy and labour Don't forget that you can now follow Forex.com's research team on Twitter: http://twitter.com/forexresearch
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THE ICAEW has issued its 100th alternative business structures (ABS) licence to Tiffin Green Limited, one year after being granted powers to regulate firms wishing to conduct probate and form an ABS.
Tiffin Green, a Brentwood-based five-director practice, made it a century for the ICAEW, just 12 months after the institute awarded its first licence to Kingston Smith.
Stephen Mitchell, a director at Tiffin Green, said: “Having significant experience in the area of inheritance tax planning, trusts and estates already, it was a logical step for the business to apply for a probate licence.”
The ICAEW is now urging bodies and companies to review and update their guidance and procedures to recognise the changes.
Peter James, head of ICAEW regulatory policy said: “ICAEW became a regulator and licensing authority for probate and ABS in the hope it would give more choice to the consumer, who might want their accountant to handle their legal services too.
“One year on, accountancy firms are seeing the advantages that ABS and probate can bring to their business. It is disappointing however that some organisations have failed to recognise this change in the market place and not updated their guidance accordingly.
“
Kingston Smith, a top 20 firm, was the first to be awarded a licence and I am pleased that Tiffin Green has been awarded the 100th licence. It is a positive step that firms of all sizes are developing a strategy to go beyond traditional accountancy service and offer their clients a holistic approach to probate services.”
In addition to the 100 firms licensed as ABS’s, the institute now has 147 firms accredited to perform probate.
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Report argues that the government must change the way it makes tax and budget decisions
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The new team will begin their new roles on May 9, 2017 for a year term-europa.com/standde.html
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hits since 8 Sept 2005 | 1.889007 | 571 | 569 |
News International award for low cost inflatable baby incubator
A Loughborough University graduate has won the International James Dyson Award with his life saving low cost inflatable baby incubator for use in the developing world.
Over one in ten babies worldwide are born prematurely. According to the World Health Organisation, 75% of deaths resulting from premature birth could be avoided if inexpensive treatments were more readily available across the globe.
Created by James Roberts, MOM provides the same performance as a £30,000 modern incubation system, but costs just £250 to manufacture, test and transport to the desired location. The device can be collapsed for transportation and runs off a battery which lasts 24 hours, in case of power outages. The incubator is blown up manually and it is heated using ceramic heating elements.
A screen shows the current temperature and the humidity which can be custom set, depending on the gestation age. An alarm will sound if the desired temperature changes. And for babies that suffer from jaundice there is a phototherapy unit which is collapsible too. MOM complies with British incubation standards – delivering a stable heat environment, humidification and jaundice lighting.
James, who recently graduated from the Loughborough Design School with a BSc in Product Design and Technology, has won £30,000 to invest into further prototyping and testing, with a view to further cost reductions and ultimately seeing MOM mass produced.
He said: “I was inspired to tackle this problem after watching a documentary on the issue for premature babies in refugee camps. It motivated me to use my design engineering skills to make a difference. Like many young inventors, there have been struggles along the way – I had to sell my car to fund my first prototype! The dream would be to meet a child that my incubator has saved – living proof that my design has made a difference.”
James Dyson said: “James’ invention shows the impact design engineering can have on people’s lives. The western world takes incubators for granted – we don’t think about how their inefficient design makes them unusable in developing countries and disaster zones. By bravely challenging convention, James has created something that could save thousands of lives.”
Dr Steve Jones, Consultant Paediatrician at the Royal United Hospital, Bath said: “MOM is a really interesting piece of innovation – I particularly like the integration of phototherapy, as jaundice is a very common co-morbidity alongside prematurity. Its use needn't be limited to developing world scenarios. I could see it being used in the UK to support community midwifery units, or following home births.” | 1.560129 | 544 | 543 |
Nur Fatema, a twenty-six year-old mother of 4, left her home in Arakan State and fled to Bangladesh along with her disabled husband eight years ago, because of brutal treatment by the Burmese Military.
“I along with my family members came to Bangladesh because of religious persecution and other human rights abuses such as forced labor, restrictions on movement and land confiscation, unfair taxation, extortion and arbitrary arrest by the military junta,” she told BNI in an interview.
Fatema, a mother of four children, sells food goods to feed her sons and disabled husband because she is not recognized by the UNHCR and Bangladeshi authority at Leda (Tal) In January 2003, she crossed the Burma-Bangladesh border at night by row boat illegally from Shapuri Dip, under the Teknaf police station.
After her arrival, she lived in a rented house in Teknaf for nearly six months, until Bangladeshi authorities started arresting Rohingya people living in the area illegally .
She moved the family to Dum Dum Mea unofficial camp for fear of being arrested by the Bangladeshi authorities.
They stayed at Dum Dum Meah camp without refugee status for nearly five years. They struggled to find food and survive in unhealthy living conditions . Flooding of the nearby river threatened to wash away their home .
Many unregistered refugees at Dum Dum Meah suffered from diarrhea and pneumonia. Many died as a result.
Unregistered refugee children from Leda Camp selling fire wood
Today, she is the sole provider for her four children and her disabled husband, who cannot walk or earn an income.
They all crowd into a very small hut, struggling to survive without support from any aid agency because the family is still not recognized officially as refugees by the UNHCR and Bangladeshi authorities.
She goes to Teknaf market every day and buys potatoes, dried fish, onions, beans, chili and tomatoes. She sells them in Leda camp, but struggles to feed her family on the 40 to 50 taka profit from her business, which is about 50 cents.
She said she is very sad she can’t send her son to school because the Bangladeshi authorities don’t provide school in Leda unregistered refugee camp.
“My child’s life is going to continue to be difficult with no education,” she said.
“We are still not recognized as legal refugees. How long can we live this way?”
So, Fatema calls for urgent intervention by the International Community, UNHCR and Bangladeshi authorities to provide official recognition as legal refugees, education, a higher standard of living, and equal rights for Rohingya people- recognizing their dignity as human beings in Arakan State, Bangladesh and wherever they live.
Like Fatema, many unregistered Rohingya refugee women and young children go to forest to collect firewood. Some go to Teknaf and purchase food stuffs to resell or make Rotee to sell in Leda camp.
A small boy carries firewood to his hut. He has never attended school
Refugees said in an interview most Rohingyas work as daily laborers and live in squalid conditions in the camp. So parents are not able to feed their children properly. The children suffer from malnutrition.
A refugee community member told Kaladan Press Network (KPN) that he has been struggling to survive at the unofficial refugee camp over ten years without legal refugee status.
First, he lived at Teknaf upazila (Tal) from 2000 to 2003. After that, the Bangladeshi authorities forcibly moved the refugees from Teknaf without giving any reason.
Later, they gathered at Dum Dum Meah of Teknaf, near the bank of the Naff river bank and close to Teknaf-Cox’s Bazar highway because they had nowhere else to go.
Many Rohingya refugees died in road accidents and from disease at that time.
The EU and UNHCR said in a report during a visit to the area in April 2006:
“Between 10,000 and 14,000 members of the unofficial Rohingya population live in the makeshift Dum Dum Meah camp near Ukhiya, approximately six kilometres north of Teknaf. The camp is situated between the bank of the Naf River and a highway. The river floods regularly, making refugee shelters vulnerable to being washed away and the highway has claimed a number of refugee children’s lives. Refugees leaving the camp to look for firewood and other provisions are frequently exposed to abuse and harassment from the local Bangladeshi community.”
The UN also said both the UNHCR and delegates from the E.U. who visited Dum Dum Meah makeshift camp condemned the Bangladeshi government for the conditions endured by the refugees sheltering there. The United Nations declared it a state of humanitarian emergency, while the E.U. expressed concern over the “miserable” conditions experienced by | 1.62547 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Rohingya refugees outside of the official camps and asked the Bangladeshi authorities to “rehabilitate undocumented refugees from Burma. In April 2006, the Bangladeshi authorities permitted Médecins Sans Frontières – Holland (MSF) to document the Rohingya refugees in Dum Dum Meah camp and to provide them with some humanitarian support including latrines, blankets, and etc. An MSF clinic was established at the site of the makeshift camp soon after.
Dipu-Moni, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, speaks at a press conference in Dhaka after returning from Burma
When the situation became worse day by day, all the refugees were moved again to Leda (Tal) from Dum Dum Meah makeshift camp by Bangladeshi government in June, 2008.
Now, over 10,000 Rohingya refugees have been living in Leda camp from 2008 to now in even worse conditions.
A refugee teacher from Leda camp said, “The Rohingya refugees of Leda camp frequently go to Teknaf as laborers and rickshaw pullers because they don’t get support from anyone. They must do this to feed their children. If they don’t find work outside the camp, they have to starve with their family members.”
He also said that the camp situation of Leda Tal is awful because refugees leaving the camp are harassed, beaten and robbed by locals when they return to the camp in the evening with food for their family members.
Over 80 Rohingyas from Leda camp were arrested and sent to Cox’s Bazar jail by Bangladeshi authorities two months ago, while on their way to find work to feed their families. They receive no food ration as illegal/unofficial refugees.
Some were released, but more than 50 unregistered refugees have been languishing in Cox’s Bazar jail because their family members are unable to pay money for their release, according to a prisoner.
Muslim Aid provides basic treatment and sanitation in the Leda camp but they don’t provide food, sources said
An elder from Leda camp said many unregistered refugees are afraid the Bangladeshi authority is planning to repatriate them.
The Bangladeshi government has already had discussions with the Burmese military regime about repatriating the unregistered refugees to Burma. It is not confirmed yet when they will start the repatriation.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said in a January 25, press conference she discussed various bilateral issues, including hydropower, border trade zones with the military regime and repatriation of both registered and undocumented Myanmar citizens (Rohingya), when she visited Burma last month.
The Foreign Minister also said the regime agreed to repatriate its refugees as early as possible.
Twenty-eight thousand registered refugees from Burma are living in Bangladesh, while 300,000 to 500,000 unregistered may live there.
“We should go back to our motherland if we get full equal rights and citizenship like other ethnic groups,” a refugee leader said.
“We want to stay in Bangladesh or elsewhere until democracy is established in Burma, so we can obtain citizenship which is a human right the regime denies Rohingya citizens.
“How can we go back to Burma again when nothing changed after the 2010 elections? It is the same junta, same rules, like old wine in new bottles,” he said. | 1.666006 | 706 | 705 |
There has been an enormous amount of publicity surrounding the tobacco market. From advertising, to sales of these products in convenience and even grocery stores across North America, to where and when you can smoke tobacco, to around whom, the entire industry appears to be surrounded by nothing but trouble. And as with so many campaigns to quit smoking, and taxes and cigarette prices on the upswing, the marketing battle between the health conscious consumer, and the entire advertising industry is worthy of taking a look at.
The statistics on smoking are shocking, and continue to get worse, with smoking and tobacco use near the top of the list of dangerous pastimes, and abused substances. Smoking has detrimental health effects. It kills an average of 1200 people every single day across North America.
The real problems are heating up too as the big multi-billion dollar tobacco industry gets taken on in court. One federal judge has taken a stance that has turned heads, by re-emphasizing an earlier order that smoking and tobacco companies need to publish statements saying they weren’t truthful about the dangers of smoking cigarettes, and weren’t upfront about the ill health effects. What adds insult to injury and really sticks it to tobacco companies is that they are actually being told that not only will they need to issue the corrective statements, but they could need to pay for them too.
Every smoking ad that airs is told that they need to have full disclosure, and tell the public that not only is smoking dangerous, and each company was purposely misleading to the consumer, but that smoking in North America kills more people than murder, car crashes and death as a result of alcohol combined.
The original case that stated the need for these sorts of public statements go back several years, all the way back to 1999 in fact. One judge said that cigarette companies has been purposely deceptive by trying to hide the dangers of smoking from the public for many years and as a result it was only fair that they pay out of their own pockets for the ads to try and turn things around, or at least make an attempt at being more honest.
The statements Kessler chose included five categories: adverse health effects of smoking; addictiveness of smoking and nicotine; lack of significant health benefit from smoking cigarettes marked as “low tar,” “light,” etc.; manipulation of cigarette design and composition to ensure optimum nicotine delivery; and adverse health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke.
The dangers of smoking are vast, and most people find their strong addiction to nicotine to be the main reason why they done quit. The reasons why people should quit smoking are extensive, and include: Economic reform, particularly in Communist China since Deng Xiaoping’s days, has seldom occurred overnight. The vision set forth at this Third Plenum will likely come to fruition over a gradual process of reform over the next decade.
Ankit Panda is Associate Editor of The Diplomat. He tweets at @nktpnd. | 2.00015 | 587 | 585 |
Goats/ Boer goat with weak hip joints Question
QUESTION: Our little kid was born three days ago. He has had some improvement in his muscle and joints in his front legs but he is still dragging his hips and back legs. I don't know for sure if and how to wrap this area in vet wrap or if he is lacking selenium which I never heard of until I read this post. I would apperciate any help with this problem
ANSWER: Is he eating okay then, if he is not moving well? Do you have him in the house and on a bottle currently? Does he have other siblings that were born with him? Is he the runt? Did his mom receive selenium/E/D supplement 4 weeks prior to kidding? Did he need assistance in being kidded?
If he had multiple siblings or another big sibling who took up a lot of space then his symptoms could be from being "squished" in the uterus and may get better with time. If you need to pull him he could have been injured from that - a spinal issue. But, he could be simply selenium deficient - I do not use Bo-Se injectable as it does not have vitamin D in it, which is an important part of the selenium and E working together. I use human selenium mineral (over the counter) giving one 200 mcg tablet at his age - crush the tablet and dissolve in a little hot water and to that add half the oil from a 1000 IU vitamin E capsule and half the oil from an 800 IU vitamin D capsule, mix well, cool and give orally. Dosing is giving now and repeat in 2 days and repeat in 10 days. As an aside, I use selenium/E/D mix on all my goats, but there are different dosages for different ages of goats.
Let me know the answers to my above questions if you can - thanks much - Donna
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I hope you get this. First of all thank-you for the rapid response to my question. The little goat is eating very well he is still with his mother and sister. He is not the runt actually he is the larger of the two. Yes my son had to give him a little help being born but he can sort of use his back legs but it seems to be in his hips. When he was born his front legs were very weak but they came out of it and are quite strong now. As for the selenium I never heard of it being a problem so no we did not give any to the dam. I have since had another kid who is also weak in the hips who didn't have to be pulled. If you can help me get on the right track with this problem it would be great. Also we live in Kansas. Thanks
Answer
Thanks for the update. I would definitely start with the selenium treatment. Selenium deficiency can hit a herd or just a few goats and then cause major issues, not only with kidding and kids, but with reproduction and growth. If the issue is selenium deficiency, you should see results within 2 to 3 days of the second dose. Selenium needs are different for each goat. Some goats only need a small amount of selenium which they get through their hay/forage and mineral licks whereas other goats need the extra supplementation. The selenium dosing above will not hurt the goats - I would give the newest little one the same dosage as above.
Was the same buck used for both these breedings? If so, it can also be a genetic fault that has come up.
Hope this helps - let me know. | 1.781226 | 740 | 739 |
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Although flash storage has largely replaced hard disks in consumer class devices, enterprise workloads pose unique challenges that have slowed adoption of flash in ``performance tier'' storage appliances. In this paper, we describe Purity, the foundation of Pure Storage's Flash Arrays, the first all-flash enterprise storage system to support compression,… (More)
In this paper we review drift-feeding models for stream salmonids. We assess their historical development and current state, and we propose areas for future research. Drift-feeding models serve as the critical input for energetics-based habitat selection and habitat quality models, which have recently begun to see widespread use for predicting salmonid… (More)
This paper will present a project in progress on the use of computer graphics to enhance the communication of an emerging Urban Design concept -- Transit Oriented Sustainable Urban Design (TOSUD). Two detailed virtual environments have been created relating to hypothetical TOSUD developments within an Australian and Chinese context. The process of… (More)
Land use change results in soil migration into aquatic streams during storm events. This suspended sediment, even in the absence of adsorbed contaminants, may be a significant stressor to aquatic organisms. In some parts of the US, total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations surpass 100,000 mg/L during storm events. The limited data on effects of suspended… (More)
" Imagine a fish feeding in swift water. " With this statement in their landmark foraging model paper, Nicholas Hughes asked the reader to visualize how a drift-foraging fish captures its prey (Hughes and Dill 1990). It is a simple, elegant statement, but it captures the essence of stream fish ecology. A stream is defined, after all, as flowing water. Its… (More)
‹ 1 › religious intolerance and introduce Sharia and blasphemy laws, the long-term trend for Christians in their ancestral lands will only grow bleaker.
The one bright spot is the state of Israel – “the only place in the Middle East [where] Christians are really safe,” according to the Vicar of St. George’s Church in Baghdad, Canon Andrew White. Home to Christianity’s holiest sites and to a colorful array of Christian denominations, Israel has the only growing Christian community in the Middle East.
Because Israel is the only non-Muslim state in all of the Middle East and North Africa, it represents a small victory for religious minorities in the region, and serves as the last protector of freedom and security for Jews, Christians, Bahai, Druze, and others. Without Israel, how much more vulnerable would Christians in the Middle East become?
Noah Beck is the author of The Last Israelis , an apocalyptic novel about Iranian nukes and current geopolitical issues in the Middle East. | 1.834389 | 594 | 592 |
According to The Conference Board, 40% of the US workforce will be poised for retirement within the next two years. What's your human capital strategy to hold onto and stay connected with this valuable talent, their contacts, and business wisdom?
Like many forward - thinking organizations, particularly in the science and engineering industries, Dow Chemical is embracing Corporate Social Networking technology to keep retirees engaged and connected with each other and the organization. Dow recognizes that relationships and connections with retirees through Corporate Social Networking technology will place them ahead of the looming brain drain and the global race to retain the institutional knowledge that retirees possess. In this webcast, Trish Bharwada will discuss how Dow Chemical is leveraging their Corporate Social Network to connect with their mature talent to accommodate cross-cultural considerations, ensure milestone successes, and achieve desired outcomes. Anne Berkowitch, CEO of SelectMinds, will present best practices and strategies to launch a networking initiative and stay connected and engaged with retirees for knowledge transfer, mentoring, and a just-in-time talent pool.Historic house museums can be found in nearly every city in the United States and Canada. These are the homes of the earliest settlers, statesmen, frontiersmen, great writers, artists, architects, and industrial magnates. These are the places, carefully saved and preserved, that represent acultural heritage. Despite their popularity, it is not uncommon to find museums that are in poor repair, their collections neglected and their staffs grossly overworked. Many are run by well-meaning and hard-working volunteers who have little or no professional training. Often they survive onshoestring budgets and are able to present only limited programs. Serving both as a hands-on guide and reference, this book examines these problems, offering practical advice and solutions which can be easily implemented. Its useful "lessons" include governance, where to find help, care ofcollections, conservation, security, and interpretation--all designed to increase the professionalism of the historic house museum. of C for 2008 and 2009 which is in contrast to the measured decline of 1 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ from New Zealand’s flat to rolling dairy pastures. Cultivation of dairy pasture soil resulted in net C losses, however, these losses were not large enough to account for the measured decline in soil C from New Zealand’s flat to rolling dairy pastures. Further research is required to investigate long term soil C recovery following initial cultivation of pasture in order to be confident of this conclusion.
Date2010 Type Degree Name Supervisors Publisher
The University of Waikato
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All items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Collections Masters Degree Theses [1552] | 1.982894 | 565 | 562 |
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American Horror Story: Why U.S. Broadband Is Sooo Sloooow
By global standards, U.S. broadband speeds are slow—and getting slower. In Akamai's worldwide ranking of Internet speeds, the U.S. recently dropped from 12th place to 14th, lapped by Denmark, Norway ... and Romania.
True, in absolute terms, U.S. speeds are still edging upward. In the second quarter, for instance, average broadband speeds in this country rose to 11.4 megabits per second (Mbps), up from 10.5 Mbps in the previous quarter. That's the good news. Bad news is, the rest of the world is getting even faster Readwrite.com
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For those who still languish over "losing to China" or believe that the economy is still in recession, wake up and smell the data. Economic development in the South was about as good as it gets in calendar year 2015 according to the data. And as for China, borrowing a quote from the late football coach Bear Bryant that he made in the half-time locker room down 15-0 to Georgia Tech in 1960, "We got 'em right where we want 'em." For those of you who don't know the rich history of Alabama Crimson Tide football, Bama scored all of its 16 points in the fourth quarter, kicking a field goal on the last play of the game to beat Tech 16-15.
FEATURE
By Mike Randle
Today, factories in the U.S. make twice as much product as they did in 1984. And they are doing it with one-third of the manufacturing workforce. In fact, the output of durable goods in 2015 was the highest in the nation's history. So, we do have a strong manufacturing base, at least in the South, much of the Midwest and parts of the West, and it is getting stronger because on a cost-basis, we can compete with any major manufacturing nation in the world.
FEATURE
The argument for or against a minimum wage hike continues between the reds and the blues, as well as within the economic development community in the South. Should we stay the course with a minimum wage under $8 an hour to better compete with Mexico, the South's biggest competitor for jobs, or set a minimum wage just over $10 an hour, a wage floor most centrists support? That $10 per hour is, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, about right in most states in the South for one adult to be able to cover basic expenses plus all relevant taxes.
Recent data from the Computing Technology Industry Association (Comp TIA) showed that the technology industry is one of the fastest growing job generators in the South and the nation. The report also indicated that technology job compensation is growing faster than any other sector. | 1.672949 | 634 | 633 |
Microbial Transformation of Organotin Compounds under Simulated Landfill Conditions
Abstract (Summary)
Mono- and di-alkyltins are used extensively as heat stabilizers for processing of poly vinyl chloride (PVC). Tin mercaptide stabilizers are some of the most effective PVC stabilizers available. The main applications for tin stabilizers are building/construction products, such as pipes, fittings, siding and profiles (windows etc.), packaging and flexible PVC plastics. Most PVC products have been and are subjected to landfilling, when their use is terminated. The structure of the polymer itself and the substances used as additives have been a concern for environmental authorities in many countries since long, which also includes their presence in landfills. In the case of the organotin stabilizers their leaching out from (PVC) plastics into the leachate phase of landfills with the risk for further transport to ground and surface waters is in focus.The main objectives of this thesis take their start in this background and, thus, included the elucidation of whether organotin compounds (OTs) in stabilized PVC products contribute to the pool of OTs observed in landfill leachates and if these compounds are degradable by the microorganisms developing under anaerobic landfill conditions.To reach these aims and the research questions raised the forwarded PVC materials were added to muniscipal solid waste (MSW) processed in containers used to simulate the ageing of landfills under forced conditions. These include traditional landfill simulation reactors (LSRs) at a scale of ca 100 L and also at a smaller scale ca 5 L constructed for the purpose of this study, i.e. the modular environmental test system (METS). The latter were used to investigate temperature effects on the possible release of OTs from different types of PVC materials. The capacity by microorganisms in landfill environments were used to investigate their capacity to degrade or transform organotin stabilizer compounds focused on in this thesis. Differences in this capacity in relation to the ageing of landfills and exposure to the alkyltin stabilizers were studied with microorganisms sampled from LSRs spiked with PVC over time and from landfill site.Access to sensitive and reliable equipment and analytical protocols for the analysis of OTs and their transformation intermediates and end products are prerequisites for this kind of studies. This necessitated an adoption and adaptation of analytical methods for the low concentrations occurring in the environment. Two methods were established and well served the requirements.Indeed OTs migrated out from especially flexible PVC materials, while rigid PVC was less prone for OT release as judged from the METS simulations. The METS studies showed that the OT release increase substantially at higher temperatures and especially so when the temperature was higher than the glass transition of the PVC.materials.The organotin stabilizers were transformed, partly or completely degraded, by anaerobic microorganisms derived from landfill environments. Upon prolonged exposure to OTs leaching from PVC in LSR simulations the microorganisms displayed a higher efficiency in degradation of the leached OTs. The microorganisms would methylate inorganic tin and metyltin present in the MSW material as well as perform dealkylation depending on the tin concentrations prevailing. During these studies it was discovered that the organotin stabilzers were inhibiting the methanogens and fermentative bacteria, which lead to a retardation of the anaerobic mineralisation of the MSW in the assays. An in depth study revealed that the OTs themselves but also their ligands and degradation products from these together effected the inhibition.However, given the extent of leaching in relation to the water flows in landfills, the concentrations will mainly be too low to pose any risks to the surrounding environment.
Bibliographical Information:
Advisor:
School:Linköpings universitet
School Location:Sweden
Source Type:Doctoral Dissertation
Keywords:NATURAL SCIENCES; Chemistry; Environmental chemistry; Organotin compounds; landfill simulation; PVC
ISBN:978-91-85895-13-7
Date of Publication:01/01/2007 | 1.610658 | 835 | 834 |
Islamist terrorists have exploited the lawless Sinai to perpetrate vicious attacks on Egyptian Christians there, as reported recently by the
New York Times. Indeed, throughout Egypt, the Copts continue to be targeted and scapegoated for the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood.
As defenseless and abandoned as Mideast Christians seem today, it is worth remembering their historical roots, and recognizing just how much the plight of Middle East Christians has deteriorated. Over 2,000 years ago, Christianity was born as a religion and spread from Jerusalem to other parts of the Levant, including territories in modern Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt. The Christian faith flourished as one of the major religions in the Middle East until the Muslim conquests of the 7th century.
Despite Muslim domination of the region, Christians comprised an estimated 20% of the Middle East population until the early 20th century. Today, however, Christians make up a mere 2-5% of the Middle East and their numbers are fast dwindling. Writing in the Winter 2001 issue of Middle East Quarterly, scholar Daniel Pipes estimated that Middle East Christians would “likely drop to” half of their numbers “by the year 2020” because of declining birth rates and a pattern of “exclusion and persecution” leading to emigration.
The “Arab Spring” has only worsened conditions for the indigenous Christians of the Middle East. Like the Kurds, Middle East Christians are a stateless minority, struggling to survive in the world’s toughest neighborhood. But the Kurds at least have enjoyed partial autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991 and most of them are Sunni Muslim, making it easier for them to survive in the Muslim-dominated Middle East. Christians, on the other hand, are a religious minority that controls no territory and is entirely subject to the whims of their hosts. These host countries – with the exception of Israel – offer a grim future to Middle East Christians.
Home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, Egypt also has the largest Christian population in the Middle East, totaling 8-12 million people. But because Christian Copts make up only about 10-15% of Egypt’s estimated 80 million people, they have for decades lived in fear as second-class citizens, subjected to attacks on churches, villages, homes, and shops; mob killings; and the abduction and forced Islamic conversion of Christian women compelled to marry Muslim men. Such abuse took place under the staunchly secular regime of Hosni Mubarak, but grew much worse under the rule of Mohammed Morsi, the jailed Muslim Brotherhood activist who succeeded Mubarak, and they are now being blamed for Morsi’s ouster.
In Lebanon, Christians represent a bigger portion of the population, so their fate is for now less precarious than that of their Egyptian coreligionists, but their long-term prospects are worrisome. The Christian population is estimated to have dropped from over 50% (according to a 1932 census) to about 40%. Over the last few years, the de facto governing power in Lebanon has become Hezbollah, the radical and heavily-armed Shiite movement sponsored by Iran. With all of the spillover violence and instability produced by the Syrian civil war and Hezbollah’s open involvement in it, and/or the next war that Hezbollah decides to start with Israel, the emigration of Christians out of Lebanon will probably only increase in the coming years, leaving those who stay increasingly vulnerable.
In Syria, 2.5 million Christians comprised about 10% of the population and enjoyed some protection under the secular and often brutal regimes of the Assad dynasty. But as jihadi groups fighting Assad extend their territorial control, the past protection of Christians is often the cause of their current persecution by resentful Sunnis who revile the Assad regime and seek to impose Sharia law wherever they can. Christians have been regularly targeted and killed by rebels, and the sectarian chaos and violence that will likely prevail in Assad’s wake will only increase the number of Christians fleeing Syria.
In Iraq, the bloody aftermath of the 2003 invasion demonstrated how dangerous life can become for a Christian minority when a multicultural society in the Middle East explodes into sectarian violence. By 2008, half of the 800,000 Iraqi Christians were estimated to have left, rendering those remaining even more insecure. In 2010, Salafist extremists attacked a Baghdad church during Sunday Mass, killing or wounding nearly the whole congregation. Such incidents turn any communal gathering into a potential massacre, forcing Christians across the Middle East to ask the ultimate question of faith: “Am I prepared to die for Christian worship?”
The so-called “Arab Spring” threatens to exacerbate matters in much of the Middle East, as Islamists now either control the government or influence it enough to persecute Christians with impunity. As new Islamist regimes in the Middle East condone | 1.512442 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
The right to know is the birthright of every child born in this democracy. The challenge is to recognize and nurture that right, to inculcate the attitudes and skills that make it a reality. The welfare of the child and of the nation depends on the exercise of this fundamental right.
The problem is that the right itself is exercised not in the abstract but in the concrete – in the ways a young person develops the habit of probing, questioning, weighing facts, defending a position, understanding the sources, the barriers, the politics and economics of access to information by and about the government.
It is stories that young learners come to understand what lies behind the published narrative, the editorial, the decision, the report, the media analysis or, in the midst of a campaign, the hype.
Young people need concrete examples of how, when and why access to good information makes a difference. Then, and only then, can they appreciate their inalienable right to know.
Even in this digital age, the written word remains an effective teaching tool. Good books communicate connections, convey the ways in which information comes to be, illustrate how it is shared or secreted. A good story well told demonstrates the power of information to shape decisions that ultimately determine action.
Open government and the role of a free press are difficult concepts, the link between cause and effect of access is frequently nuanced, always dependent on human interaction at every link of the information chain.
Explaining the right to know in a captivating tale – such as, for example, in the American Library Association’s Young Adult Services Association 2015 award-winning “Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War” by Steve Sheinkin – can make history and the right to know the truth about that history vivid for readers of all ages.
—- Treacy writes the “Poking Around With Mary” blog. She is a longtime FOI advocate in Minnesota and serves as outreach coordinator for OpenTheGovernment.org.“This is a no-brainer. This is a loan spread over five years but with the savings were making of more than £5,000 a year, we can pay it back in 16 months”
“There’s tremendous competition from the Far East and our margins are very slim. Being energy-efficient used to be an option, but now if you don’t run your business efficiently you go under,” says Joe Reeve.
Mr Reeve is managing director of Data Plastics, a company based in Oxford which makes a wide range of injection moulded plastic items, from mouth guards to surgical equipment. Operations like Data Plastics use large amounts of energy in the manufacturing process and the company’s energy bills were more than £40,000 a year last year, a big expense for a small business with just 45 | 2.078825 | 572 | 570 |
Pet Tips Teething Puppies – Pet tip 191
Just like with human babies, little puppies have 2 sets of teeth. When their first set of teeth start to come in between 3 and 6 weeks of age, they will begin teething which is uncomfortable for puppies. In order to relieve the discomfort they will often chew on anything that is available which soothes their teething pain. Usually we don’t encounter puppies at this age because they should still be with their mother and litter-mates at this time. They are too young to be adopted and need to be with their litter-mates to learn proper socialization skills.
Normally people get their puppies when they are between 8-12 weeks of age. At this time the puppy usually has all of its baby teeth but they will begin to fall out at around 4 months of age. As the baby teeth fall out and are being replaced by permanent teeth, teething discomfort begins again and you are likely to see an increase in your puppy’s tendency to chew everything. Your puppy won’t care what it is chewing so it’s up to you to guide your puppy to chew the right things during teething time. If you don’t, your puppy could easily try to soothe its teething pain with something dangerous like an electrical wire.
It’s important to remember, that at this crucial time in a puppy’s life, it is learning all kinds of things that will transform its future behaviour. If your puppy tries to teethe on something that you find inappropriate like shoes or socks, it’s up to you to substitute those items for objects that the puppy will still be allowed to chew on when it becomes a dog. Dogs also love to chew. It’s part of their normal behaviour and should not be discouraged as long as the dog is chewing on safe and appropriate objects.
Cold is known to soothe the discomfort of teething, so freezing things and then allowing your puppy to chew on them is a great idea. Good puppy toys like breed appropriate Kongs and Nylabones can easily be placed in the freezer and then given to your puppy as a soothing chew toy. You can get very creative with this though and the only limit is your imagination paired with common sense. Many dogs will like the soothing feel of chewing on ice-cubes but they will LOVE to chew on ice cubes made from beef or chicken broth. Frozen carrots are also an excellent food for puppies to chew on when teething. You can even freeze a small plastic bottle of water and give it to your puppy to chew on. Just make sure you take it away as it starts to melt so your puppy won’t chew through the plastic.
Teething is a part of life for all puppies and the previous suggestions are meant to soothe your puppy. If these suggestions prove ineffective for your particular puppy, please seek veterinary advice. Your vet may also be able to prescribe medication that can help your pup with its teething pain. | 1.378448 | 599 | 598 |
The First Steps to Getting Out of the Gay Life The following is a short list of the steps or phases I went through in my own personal journey out of the gay community and gay life. I don’t claim they will work for you. I know they worked for me. 1 Get to know and approve of yourself
Psychologists, clergy and various activists are certainly right about that. Accept yourself; don’t hate yourself for who you are. In fact you can’t move on until you have learned who you are and to accept yourself with faults and all.
2 Be one hundred percent deadly honest with yourself
Be honest about what you see going on, what you yourself and others do, what you’ve been told and what actually goes on around you. Make a note of it, however painful and embarrassing it may be. Ponder the things that just don’t add up. It’s ok. Nobody is going to spy on you or read your journal notes (if you keep them in a good secure place). This is your own private and secret process. Ponder questions like: “why does my partner say they are faithful when it’s been proven that he/she has been unfaithful numerous times?”, “does he/she know that he/she is lying?”, “is he/she in control of his/her own actions or being controlled by his/her own compulsive behaviour?”, “how long has my longest relationship lasted?”, “are there things that just don’t add up about what I am being told and what I see going on?”, “do I find myself saying one thing and then suddenly, often impulsively doing another?”, “am I in complete control of my own actions?”.
Your Working Motto: “Words are cheap. Actions speak!”
3 Compare what you thought it would be like with how it actually has been
Life hardly turns out exactly as one has expected or dreamt. But what is meant here is that while we may have convinced ourselves that one day we would find warmth and companionship, we find that relationships have been short-lived (over and over again), purely sexuality-based and chaos has been the norm (together with extreme turmoil and pain). Have relationships consisted of pure infatuation (“limerance” to use a term from Dorothy Tennov’s very good book) without progressing to genuine friendship and companionship?
It may help to write down a scenario of how you perceive your life would be if you could have a good relationship. What does this partner do? Where do you live? How do you live? Do you find yourself only capable of writing a “shopping list” of physical characteristics? What about the personality traits or values? Is this person a fantasy figure or characature of a certain type of person or possibly a real personality type from the real world?
If you are only capable of infatuation and experience that you loose your attraction to a person once you get to know them with all of their quirks and flaws, if you notice a pattern of being more physically attracted to strangers than to someone you have gotten to know, then this could be a sign of inability to establish real intimate relationships. In other words, if you need the other person to be “bigger than life” or a “completely unknown quantity” in order to be interested in them, then this is likely not a real relationship.
4 Shop around and compare values
One activity that woke me up was to look at heterosexual personal ads in various media (men to women and women to men) and then compare the content with the “men seeking men” ads. I found a world of difference and experienced that although not heterosexual, I identified with and could relate to the content of the heterosexual ads (about family, living, companionship and shared interests) much more than to the homosexual ads I viewed (shopping lists of physical characteristics, explicit sexual references). Note, however, that I am referring to ads and venues that are known to be more upscale and reputable; not simply any internet dating site.
If you find yourself in arguments defending monogamy, stable relationships, varied interests and other subjects against those who officially represent you in the community, then chances are there is a values-related conflict. If most people there do not share your values then at least in that sense you are probably in the wrong crowd.
5 Take responsibility for yourself
Unfortunately, we have an innate tendancy to blame nearly all relationship failures and unhappy events directly or indirectly on society (specifically the “heterosexual society”). Let’s face it: never has there been such widespread legalization and acceptance in western society of same-sex relationships as there is in many western countries today and yet relationships (both heterosexual and homosexual) are short-lived and turbulent with most same-sex relationships ending after only a very short time. Statistics from countries with some form of registration of these relationships (insomuch as the local law requires immediate registration of changes) are alarming, as are those kept by police and social services agencies.
If we cannot even take responsibility for our own actions and must blame our | 1.923823 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
own blunders on others, then it’s probably no wonder that we can’t make relationships work! A sign of maturity is being able to step up to the plate or look at oneself in the mirror and say those three words that are so difficult today:
I screwed up! 6 If it doesn’t work unplug it
In engineering we often have to record various things we’ve tried out to fix or make something work, measures that have failed (in order not to keep repeating them). My sister was the one who probably spoke the wisest words related to my personal growth and transfer out of the gay life many years before it happened.
She sent me a paper about viewing one’s life as a series of drawers or compartments. If one’s life is made up of many compartments and one or two of them turns out to be bad or a failure, then there are still many functional compartments left and no major harm is done. If, however, a life is made up of only a few compartments and even a couple of these modules turn out to be poor, then proportionally speaking, one’s life is largely in trouble. Sexuality and the longing for romantic relationships are at the very most a couple of compartments. Many other interests, activities and aspects can make up parts of a successful life, like friendships, community activities, educational edeavours, some important life quest, religion, family and maybe even belonging to the local Masonic lodge!
I found that one or two “compartments” were for me a source of nearly constant turmoil, upheaval and negativity in life from my middle teens onward until I was thirty-five. The best thing that ever happened to me was to turn away and leave behind those two rotten tomatoes!
To my knowledge (and that of most scientists), there is no proof that anyone has died for lack of sex. In fact numerous books have been written by authors who claim that life can actually be better “without sex”. And for those who are afraid of ending up “alone”, let me assure as one who has walked the path before, that I would much appreciate more time alone than I have today! The house is full of guests much of the week. Family calls or writes with questions and advice and friends make demands that I immediately come out to a cottage to talk into the wee small hours on a summer night.
In 2003 my life took a dramatic change- a change for the better. And for the past six years, after having followed the steps above, my quality of life has been much better than at any time since I was fifteen years old. In fact, looking back on those years of looking for my happiness in the gay life, I have never been so alone as I was during those darkest years of my life. | 2.230245 | 562 | 561 |
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is responsible for creating some of the most widely adopted standards in the country. ANSI doesn’t have strong enforcement options since it is not a governmental institution, but despite that, most companies follow ANSI standards because they are so highly respected and known for helping ensure safety.
One of the most essential sets of standards is the ANSI Z535 series. This is a set of standards for safety signs. The standards go over many essential components of these signs including their design, evaluation, use, colors, symbols, and more. Safety signs are one of the most important aspects of any visual safety program, which is why having a good understanding of these standards is so critical.
What Is ANSI Z535?
The ANSI Z535 standards are broken down into six parts numbered Z535.1 through Z535.6. This makes it easier for facilities to reference the exact portion of the standards they need at any given time. This also helps ensure the standards are easier to understand and not overwhelming for those in the facility.
ANSI Z535.1 | Safety Colors
ANSI Z535.1 sets the standards for the colors used on safety signs. It provides readers with detailed definitions for the signs, the color standards that should be used, the tolerances for the colors, and more. Whenever creating or buying safety signs, it is a good idea to double check to make sure the colors are in line with the colors listed in this section.
ANSI Z535.2 | Environmental and Facility Safety Signs
When making safety signs that are used for facilities and out in the environment, all signs must follow a uniform look and style. This helps people recognize the size, shape, symbols, lettering, and other components of a safety sign, even from a distance. Following these standards can make safety signs much more effective.
ANSI Z535.3 | Criteria for Safety Symbols
Safety symbols are one of the most important aspects of any good safety sign. Symbols are used in many industries and typically have the same or similar meanings. This is critical for safety because it makes it easier to convey a specific safety message to as many people as possible. Even those who can’t read or don’t know the language can quickly understand the meaning of these safety symbols.
ANSI Z535.4 | Product Safety Signs and Labels
When using safety signs on products or labels, this is the section of the Z535 set of standards needed. It covers a variety of types of signs that are used in these situations, and thanks to a recent update to the standards, it also has definitions that are easier to understand.
ANSI Z535.5 | Safety Tags and Barricade Tapes (for Temporary Hazards
Temporary hazards such as spilled water or other risks have their own set of standards from ANSI because they are unique. Putting up safety signs, temporary barriers, or other types of visual safety items to alert people to a temporary hazard is covered in this section.
ANSI Z535.6 | Product Safety Information in Product Manuals, Instructions, and Other Collateral Materials
Creating product safety manuals, giving employees safety instructions about when and where to use signs, and other extra material should follow the ANSI standards covered in this last section of the Z535 standards.
Updated Z535 Standards
Most facilities have been using safety signs, labels, and other items for years and likely have great results thanks to the standards set by ANSI. For those businesses that have been open for more than a few years, it is quite possible that they are using the older ANSI Z35.1-1968 and/or ANSI Z53.1-1967 standards.
These are the older standards that were used by OSHA for quite some time, but are now being phased out. While it is not strictly required that a facility update all its safety signs to the new standards (put in place in 2011 and 2013 primarily), it is a good idea. Even if a facility does not do one large overhaul, it can slowly transition into the updated standards as older signs wear out or need to be replaced.
One of the biggest differences between the old and new safety sign standards is the amount of text on a sign and the clarity. Having slightly more text allows safety signs to convey information much more clearly, which makes them far more useful to the average employee. Whenever dealing with visual safety standards, clarity is critical.
Understanding that both the older versions and the newer are acceptable for OSHA compliance is also very important.
Safety Sign Components
Safety signs that follow the ANSI Z535 standards have four main components. They are the safety alert symbol, the signal words, the symbols, and the word message. Whether creating a custom safety sign for a facility or ordering pre-printed signs, it is a good idea to have a strong understanding of what each of these components are.
Safety Alert Symbol
Just | 1.284292 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
about everyone is familiar with the safety alert symbol. It is a triangle with an exclamation point in the middle. The triangle is often black with the white exclamation point, but that is not always the case. People can recognize this item no matter what industry they work in, which is why it is such an important part of safety signs.
Signal Words
The signal words are the large, bold words that draw people’s attention to the top of the sign. These words are not chosen randomly for a sign, however. Each one is used in specific situations.
DANGER- Danger (written in white, surrounded by red) is used for situations where there is a specific hazard present that will cause a serious injury or even death if people don’t actively avoid it. The danger signal word should only be used in very serious situations. WARNING– The word warning (written in black, surrounded by orange) is the right choice when there is a serious hazard that could result in injury or death. CAUTION– Caution (written in black, surrounded by yellow) is used for hazardous situations that, if not avoided, might cause an injury that is classified as minor to moderate. NOTICE– Notice (written in white, surrounded by blue) is used for signs that convey other information not related to safety. There is no hazard present. SAFETY– Safety (written in white, surrounded by green) is an informational signal word that lets people know that there is helpful information on the sign—usually related to instructions or first aid—so they should read it. Safety Symbols
Safety symbols are fairly simple images that people can see and understand, even from a distance. They are usually bold, black symbols with a white background. There are many standard symbols used in different industries. Providing employees with training on the specific symbols used in the facility will help them quickly learn their meaning.
Safety Words
Finally, the safety sign typically includes a written message that gives more details to the person viewing the sign. While there is no set length that the word message must be, it is generally a good idea to keep it as brief and concise as possible. Wording like “BRIGHT LIGHT – Wear Eye Protection” could be used on a sign.
When to Use ANSI Z535 Safety Signs & Labels
Facilities that need to follow OSHA and other regulatory guidelines often have trouble determining when and where these signs are needed. This can be even more confusing when dealing with groups like ANSI, which technically doesn’t have enforcement powers like OSHA does.
For safety signs and labels, there are a number of mandatory regulations and many best practices that are recommended by not required. For facilities, the best way to handle this type of situation is to start by taking steps to ensure all the mandatory items are covered and then begin implementing other best practices as time and budget allow.
This is a good idea not only because will it help improve the overall safety of the facility, but it is also a great way to prepare for the future. OSHA often takes good practices and turns them into mandatory regulations down the road. When facilities implement these best practices now, they are ahead of the curve for when OSHA does make some type of requirement.
A good example of this is the ANSI Z535 standards. While OSHA certainly accepts them as fulfilling regulatory requirements, they don’t yet mandate that companies transition to this standard. Most safety experts agree, however, that this is something that will happen in the coming years. | 1.51608 | 702 | 701 |
Gluten-free baking, when done well, is looked upon by some as art even finer than the Mona Lisa. Many of us have experienced the worst of it, from cupcakes with the density of a sponge to cookies with the flavor of sidewalk chalk.
Two ladies who seem to have mastered this art are Christine and Sandy Penney, co-owners of the gluten-free (GF) bakery Something Sweet Without Wheat. With many years of experience – starting with a lot of trial-and-error – these sisters have developed and perfected a knack for creating delicious GF desserts. Christine and Sandy recently sat down for a Q&A to share some of their secrets to successful GF baking, from knowledge of celiac disease and flour types to money-saving tips and tricks.
How would you define gluten-free?
A. When we’re asked what exactly it means, we explain that gluten is a protein found in wheat that can be problematic for many people. For people with celiac disease, gluten attacks the small intestine, disallowing the body to absorb certain nutrients. This can cause headaches, fatigue and stomachaches, but there are many ways wheat can affect people.
What did you first struggle with when you began GF baking?
A. When we first began baking with gluten-free flours, it was a disaster. A niece was the first to be diagnosed and she wasn’t taking the news well, so we tried [working with] some gluten-free white rice flour.
It was not edible. It took a lot of horrible cakes and cookies to figure out that we needed to mix about three different kinds of flours, add xanthan gum and figure out the right textures of the batters. Sometimes, you also need to figure out the exact amount of guar gum that’s necessary.
What kinds of flours do you use and for which pastries?
In our bakery, we use a mix of bean flours, with sorghum and brown rice flour. That way, you get some fiber from the beans. It’s really about mixing the right amounts of up to four different flours and “playing” until you get the consistency – and most of all, the taste – right. It can’t taste grainy or gummy. That’s the tricky part.
To make an easy GF brownie or cookie, try replacing traditional flour with a combination of three different flours, or use a multi/all-purpose GF flour (see these from Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur). Using an all-purpose GF flour simplifies things by allowing you to follow old recipes. In fact, many of my recipes are the same ones I always used before; I just replaced the traditional flours and added xanthan gum.
Any money-saving tips for regular folks who want to try GF baking?
Unfortunately, GF flours can be more expensive, which is hard to avoid. But you can – and really have to – shop around. Some stores are very pricey compared to others. Ordering online, too, directly from your preferred flour company or a wholesaler, is often cheaper.
For more tips on gluten-free foods and lifestyles, check out these
6 Gluten-Free Foods To Live By. image: REL Waldman | 1.702106 | 639 | 638 |
ome time ago, I posted a blog entry entitled, "Refactor as you Develop." I did so because a buddy of mine out in Chicago was stuck in
Refactor hell
, as he put it. Now, Eric (my buddy's name) and I share a lot of design ideas and techniques so I know his comment [and term] came from the frustration he was feeling at that moment. However, it was not the first time I heard the term refactor used in a negative connotation so I thought it merited some comments.It's very rare that any project ends up exactly as the original design intended, at least from a code perspective. Nowadays, with buzz words swarming our industry like a locust plague, many forget the fundamentals of software development. The eagerness of many developers to have the "perfect" architecture laid out and the proper library of design patterns all set up in the class models has extended the "pre-code" period to an unnecessary length of time
But don't misunderstand the above paragraph. Architecture and design are extremely important stages of any project. In fact, as a consultant I am sometimes called strictly for the initial architecting in order for another team to then take over the development. Such cases call for more detailed initial work to be done due to my absence afterward. But most projects I do tend to involve me from beginning to end, and indeed those are the ones I enjoy most. I have found that such projects require initial architecting and design but I also tend to push into the coding stage a little sooner rather than later.Sure I design and lay out my initial object models, but even those typically start out as ORM models corresponding to some database layout. I don't feel it necessary at this stage to figure out what pattern I need to used and where I will inject it. Nor do I find the need to plan out extreme code reuse from the very beginning. I am a big supporter of object oriented programming and design pattern use, and the end results of my projects show that, but I don't get this detailed in the very beginning. Such over-architecting delays the time you start putting code together, and chances are you're going to wind up changing the design anyway. It can also bloat your design to a point of complexity that can further delay the start of the coding cycle. I'm not trying to lay out the model for agile development because, in fact, there are some points of Agile or Extreme programming that I am not a fan of (pair-programming comes to mind); nor am I saying that you don't need to have any idea of what your app is going to needthat would be ridiculous on my part. I'm just raising the altitude from where I see a project at the beginning from 1,000 feet to 10,000 feet.
I'm talking about a constant looking-back at the code you've written at several "milestone" levels, usually points of functional achievement.
Your project may call for a lot of abstraction due to future enhancement requirements or need for a more open "plug-in" design. If you know this up-front, good; keep it as your goal throughout your development cycle, but don't feel like you have to have your inheritance hierarchies down perfect and your strategy pattern all ready to go and put into play from the beginning. Get your functionality going using concreteness instead of abstraction. When you have a part of an application or a component working like you want, you can then go back and see what you can abstract or pull out into base classes for better reuse. In fact, a lot of this will almost snap out at you once you have a working piece of code.I'm not recommending that you develop an entire application then go back and look at what you can change; that would be the other extreme. I'm talking about a constant looking-back at the code you've written at several "milestone" levels, usually points of functional achievement. There's nothing wrong with writing a couple of classes in your model, then later noticing that they share a lot of code which you should not have to maintain twice. You can then refactor that code into a base class. You could repeat his simple refactor many times throughout the development of your project where your end result would be a nicely laid out object model with inheritance hierarchies that have grown throughout your development as the need has arisen. You can apply this simple example to Windows form visual inheritance, as well as the application of any pattern.
Programming using concreteness initially, then refactoring to abstractions, can get you started faster, get you to your goal faster, and achieve all of this while maintaining my favorite pattern of all, consistent throughout the projectthe K.I.S.S. pattern. (I'll let you look that one up.) | 1.894611 | 977 | 976 |
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (June 27, 2013) -- For smokers and former smokers, the risk of getting lung cancer is much higher than for non-smokers. But high-risk smokers can breathe a sigh of relief with a program at Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH) that diagnoses lung problems at the earliest possible stage.
NCH's Early Lung Cancer Screening program enables patients to find out if their lungs are cancer-free by taking a quick and painless, low-dose CT scan, which enables doctors to search for signs of cancer at an earlier stage -- when lung cancer is most treatable.
Traditional X-rays provide a 2-dimensional view of the chest, showing not only the lungs, but the heart, bone and soft tissue -- all of which can mask abnormalities. Low-dose CT lung scans create a detailed, 3-D image, giving doctors a clearer, unobstructed view of the lungs -- and the ability to detect tiny nodules that would often not be visible on a chest X-ray.
An eight-year national benchmark study by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network and the National Cancer Institute showed a 20 percent reduction in lung cancer mortality in current or former heavy smokers whose cancer was detected with a low-dose CT scan, compared with those whose cancer was detected with a chest X-ray.
Because radiation is involved in all imaging, patients must meet the following criteria to qualify for NCH's Early Lung Cancer Screening program:
• Age 50 to 74
• Smoked a pack a day for 30 years, or 2 packs a day for 15 years, OR
• Smoked a pack a day for 20 years, or 2 packs a day for 10 years - along with an additional risk factor such as an immediate family member with lung cancer
• Either currently smoking or quit within the past 15 years
• No chest CT scan in the past year
• No history of lung cancer
• No signs or symptoms of lung cancer
Patients who are eligible for the screening will receive quick and painless scanning and a review of the scan by a board-certified radiologist who will look for lung nodules, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and calcified coronary arterial disease. Patients also will receive basic lung function testing by a respiratory therapist with review by a board-certified pulmonologist. For current smokers who are looking to quit, counseling classes and support groups are provided onsite an NCH.
For more information about NCH's Early Lung Cancer Screening, visit nch.org or call 847.618.3700.
# # #
About Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH)
Serving Chicago's northwest suburbs since 1959, NCH is a comprehensive, patient-centered system of care that serves more than 350,000 outpatients each year, as well as nearly 30,000 inpatients treated annually at the 496-bed acute care hospital in Arlington Heights. The award-winning hospital holds the prestigious Magnet designation for nursing excellence, is designated as a Primary Stroke Center, earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval in 2011, and was awarded the Leapfrog Group's designation as one of the nation's Top Hospitals based on quality and safety criteria. NCH has four Immediate Care locations in the northwest suburbs and operates a FastCare Clinic in Palatine. NCH has a medical staff of more than 1,000 physicians, which includes the board-certified primary care doctors and specialists of the NCH Medical Group. For more information or to find a doctor on the NCH Medical staff, visit www.nch.org. | 1.04832 | 772 | 771 |
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Filling the dogs' water pail (5 gallons) has become a longer process; I utilized to just carry the water pail for the bathtub, fill it up, and make it back. Sometimes our bodies does not do what you need it to perform. It has been slow going, with folks swinging back and forth on the medical marijuana issue, in case researchers can discover a way to use the healthier affects of this plant, to assist those managing this disease, it could possibly all become a fantastic non-issue. Symptoms of upper motor neuron involvement include tight and stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes including an overactive gag reflex. Each night I give my Dad his evening Blood Pressure medication and there have been times when I've seen him lay it around the nightstand.
Multiple sclerosis is difficult in order to identify in its early stages. There a wide range of ways to take care of RSD plus they include medication to manage the pain, mobilization in the affected limb, physiotherapy and nerve blocks. Interferon-based medicines can also be prescribed as "disease-modifying agents. The inflammation occurs when our bodies's own immune cells attack the nervous system. Everyone knows how good nutrition is vital to any childs health and growth, however some believe a diet which is all natural and free of preservatives and additives may help lower muscle spasticity and support brain plasticity.
Spastic cerebral palsy patients may have mild cases that affect few movements, or severe cases which may get yourself a new body. Natalizumab (Tysabri) can be a medication that prevents the immune cells from entering into the mind through bloodstream thus reducing their impact around the damaged nerve cells. Other indicators include depression, fever, and inappetence. Talking about age, ALS can strike every age at random. Spastic cerebral palsy is one of everyday kind of cerebral palsy, comprising nearly 80 percent of the cerebral palsy cases.
Do this even when it appears being relieving your tinnitus symptoms and giving you some tinnitus relief because the medial side symptoms could possibly be far more dangerous to you personally than your tinnitus. Baclofen may temporarily increase weakness with your legs. Turning horses out on pasture may be the most pure treatment. It works by blocking the attachment of immune cells to brain blood vessels ' an important step for immune cells to cross into the mind ' thus decreasing the immune cells' inflammatory action on brain nerve cells. He increased my dose to 10 milligrams and took this for three days.
It has a nano-second for a cat or dog to obtain curious enough to sniff, and perhaps eat, things which are lying around - ingesting a pharmaceutical can prove to be deadly. When familial, it's inherited recessively and may be linked to chromosome 20. Used intrathecally in single bolus test doses; chronic use requires implantable pump. Iron can also be found in fertilizers and pesticides. Non-surgical options can be lidocaine infusions, continuous epidural infusions as well as the "awake" ketamine infusions. | 2.347133 | 687 | 686 |
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Shouldn't then law school be abolished altogether? After all, no other legal system in the world requires 3 years of postgraduate schooling before one can undertake the most routine matter of client representation or courtroom advocacy. Indeed, the maverick presidential candidate Morry Taylor made a pledge to close down American law schools for 10 years, a major proposal of his quixotic campaign. Why not make the study of law an undergraduate program, or a college major followed by some sort of postgraduate apprenticeship -- this would surely be a quintessentially rationalist response to an institution that survives, and even thrives, because it fills a deep cultural need for the maintenance of some atavistic set of rituals that will obscure the inescapably troublesome and often tragic relationship between moral belief, political science and social power.
Indeed, in UK to study law you go to college, that is not after earning a bachelor's degree.
The undergraduate law degree is the most common form of entry into the legal profession, followed by a 1-year professional course and examination (the professional stage). The academic stage usually consists of an undergraduate degree which is offered in any of the 89 UK universities. Entry is decided by reference to "A-Level" points -- "A-Levels" are examinations students take in the 2 years prior to entering university and each grade is worth a different level of points. Only a few law schools interview candidates before admission and some Oxford and Cambridge Colleges also set entrance exams. There is not an LSAT or similar. The majority of programs, commonly leading to a Bachelor of Laws or a Bachelor of Arts, joint honors degree, last 3 years. The study of law at undergraduate level is, as you can see, significantly different from the US where law is a postgraduate discipline. At the end of three years students are awarded a bachelor's degree in law and they must then decide what to do next. A large proportion -- possibly around one-third -- will decide not to enter a career as a lawyer. The others must choose between becoming a barrister (essentially, a courtroom litigator) or a solicitor. Students who do not have a qualifying law degree (either because they have not studied one of the subjects listed above, or because they have read for another degree) but who nonetheless wish to enter the professions must do a one-year course called the Common Professional Examination and then they too have to choose which profession to enter.
- Solicitors
The Law Society, the professional body representing solicitors, requires those who wish to qualify to join a Legal Practice Course (LPC). If they successfully pass this they will have to obtain a Training Contract from a solicitors' firm which will provide another 2 years training, before a successful law student is finally 'admitted as a solicitor' or entered on the Roll of Solicitors. The Law Society has franchised about 10 university institutions and two private education institutions to provide the course which it supervises closely. The Legal Practice Course lasts 1 academic year. Upon successfully completing the LPC a Trainee Solicitor enters a firm and continues on-the-job-training for 2 years. This period includes formal training in advocacy.
- Barristers
The General Council of the Bar has franchised a 1-year program and examination for those wishing to become barristers. Called the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) it was introduced in 1989 to emphasise the practising skills required for court work. The course utilises practical exercises for the DRAIN competencies (Drafting, Research, Advocacy, Interviewing and Negotiation), and its early development owed much to North American experiences, especially Canada. Substantive courses in crime, common law, and taxation are taught as well as civil and criminal procedure. Upon successfully passing the Bar exams, a student can be called to the Bar by her/his Inn of Court. All those wishing to become barristers have to join one of the four Inns of Court (Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple or Lincoln's Inn), which basically involves paying a membership fee and eating a number of compulsory dinners. Call to the Bar however does not entitle a barrister to practice and s/he must then complete a further 12 months "pupillage" in a group of barristers' offices or "set of chambers". A pupil in the first 6 months of pupillage will be assigned to an experienced barrister. The system is intended to introduce the novice to the forms and procedures that constitute a barrister's work. During the 'second 6 months' a barrister can appear in court, but is technically still under the supervision of a more experienced barrister.
Thereafter a barrister wishing to practice on her own account must find a 'set of chambers' to join as a 'tenant'. The biggest hurdles for trainee barristers are obtaining a pupillage and finding a 'tenancy'. There is a restricted number of vacancies each year for pupils and far more students pass the | 1.570509 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Why the legal industry shouldn’t wait for QASA
As reported in Legal Futures, the much delayed Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) – originally scheduled for implementation in December 2011 – is still showing no sign of movement.
QASA has been described as “the only way” to protect all members of the public involved in criminal proceedings “at an upper level” but has been plagued with interruptions and delays. The latest delay sees the profession awaiting the government decision on whether it will set up an overlapping panel of defence advocates which the government believes will “provide valuable quality assurance and enable the government to have greater confidence in the quality of publicly funded defence advocacy”.
The principle behind the scheme it that it is intended to assess and assure the quality of criminal advocacy in the courts in England and Wales and ensure that the performance of all advocates is measured against the same set of standards, regardless of an advocate’s previous education and training.
Kaplan Altior’s senior training consultant Roy Morgan, specialising in advocacy, said:
“QASA and other options for assessing the quality of advocacy in the higher courts have been in the pipeline for some time. Whether any of them come to fruition or not remains unclear. What is becoming apparent however, are the clear benefits in securing the Higher Rights of Audience qualification now, allowing newly qualified solicitor advocates to gain valuable experience in advance of any system that may be introduced.”
Commenting on the benefits of qualification now rather than waiting for QASA to be approved, Mr Morgan said,
“Given the already long delays and uncertainty, coupled with the knowledge that there is little, if any, profit to be made from magistrates court work, most criminal practices up and down the UK have recognised for some time that the future is in the Crown Court and are therefore looking to keep as much work as possible in-house.”
The profession now needs to consider what the alternatives are if QASA or any other scheme fails to be introduced. He added:
“If any sort of judicial evaluation is introduced, as envisaged in QASA, already gaining the Higher Rights of Audience qualification, and being confident of using it, will ensure that solicitor advocates are ‘trial capable’ and have a distinct head start in the process”.
Commercial awareness in criminal work clearly dictates that advocates need to be able to conduct work in the Crown Court. Our HRA course will prepare advocates for the assessment process to obtain the qualification.
Those who complete the HRA course will gain experience and confidence in many aspects of Higher Court advocacy including;
Trial strategy planning and trial preparation Cross –examination techniques; top tips and feedback exercises Conducting PTPH; prelim applications (e.g. bad character; hearsay; special measures; ) and skeleton arguments Opening/closing speeches and judges directions; court etiquette-“The little things that trouble you” Dealing with Experts; “How to win your case without going into Court!”
Be prepared to conduct Higher Court advocacy and have less to fear from any assessment system that may be introduced.
Associate News is provided by Legal Futures Associates. Find out about becoming an Associate | 2.018969 | 627 | 626 |
TEA-21 - Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century Moving Americans into the 21st Century
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Funding Level In a major change to Federal
budget rules, highway (including most highway safety programs) and transit
programs are now guaranteed a minimum level of spending under TEA-21.
Prior to enactment of TEA-21, funding for surface transportation programs
was one item among many on a list of priorities for Federal program
spending in the budget. Under the new budget rules, highway guaranteed
amounts are keyed to actual Highway Trust Fund (HTF) Highway Account
receipts and can only be used to support projects eligible under Federal
highway and highway safety programs. Transit funding is guaranteed at a
selected fixed amount over the TEA-21 period and can be used only to
support projects eligible under transit programs. Guaranteed spending levels. The amount guaranteed for
surface transportation, as explained above, is estimated to be $198
billion. In essence, the guaranteed amount is a floor; it defines the
least amount of the authorizations that may be spent. The full
authorizations for the highway (including highway safety) and transit
programs in TEA-21 total almost $218 billion. In the remainder of the
brochure, as well as in the authorization table on pages 44-49, the
funding levels shown are the authorized amounts, not the guaranteed
amounts. Authorizations and spending.
There are two ways that highway and highway safety spending levels can be increased. First, the guaranteed spending level is adjusted each year. To the extent that the HTF Highway Account receipts projected for the coming fiscal year exceed the estimate for that year stated in TEA-21, the obligation limitation (described on page 4) and the authorizations will automatically increase. The difference between the authorization level and the obligation limitation would remain constant. A downward adjustment of the obligation limitation and authorizations could also occur, but this is improbable given the conservative receipt estimates used to set the guaranteed spending levels in TEA-21. Second, the Congress, through the annual budget process, could choose to raise spending by dedicating a part of the general budget allocation for other Federal programs to highways and highway safety. This action would decrease the difference between authorized amounts and the obligation limitation.
For transit, the spending floor will be based on the guaranteed amount specified in TEA-21. The guaranteed funding level assumes that 80 percent of transit spending will derive from the Transit Account of the HTF and the remaining 20 percent will derive from the General Fund. Congress, through the annual budget process, could choose to raise the floor by dedicating a part of the general budget allocation for other Federal programs to transit.
In addition to defining
the floor for highway spending (described above), TEA-21 specifies how the
highway obligation limitation will operate. The obligation limitation is
the mechanism for limiting highway spending each year. Under TEA-21, the
highway obligation limitation applies to all programs within the overall
Federal-aid highway program except (1) Emergency Relief, (2) a part of the
new Minimum Guarantee program, and (3) remaining balances from the
repealed Minimum Allocation program and demonstration projects authorized
in previous legislation. A portion of each years limitation is
reserved, or set aside, for administrative expenses and certain allocated
programs, with the balance of the limitation being distributed to the
States. Highway obligation limitations.
A new feature in this Act is that the limitation set aside each year for certain programsHigh Priority (demonstration) projects authorized in TEA-21, the Appalachian Development Highway System, the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, and an additional portion of the Minimum Guarantee programdoes not expire if not used by the end of the fiscal year, but instead is carried over into future years. In addition, limitation set aside for research and technology programs may also be carried over, but only for 3 years.
Highway Funding Equity - Minimum Guarantee
Federal-aid highway funds for individual programs are apportioned by formula using factors relevant to the particular program. After those computations are made, additional funds are distributed to ensure that each State receives an amount based on equity considerations. This provision is called the Minimum Guarantee and ensures that each State will have a guaranteed return on its contributions to the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund. An open-ended authorization is provided, ensuring that there will be sufficient funds to meet the objectives of the Guarantee.
For each State, the Act specifies a
certain share of the aggregate funding for the following programs:
Interstate Maintenance (IM), National Highway System (NHS), Bridge,
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement, Surface
Transportation Program (STP), Metropolitan Planning, High Priority
Projects, Appalachian | 1.358773 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Development Highway System, Recreational Trails, and
the Minimum Guarantee funding itself. The shares specified were pegged to
meet the objective of a 90.5 return (described below) based on the data
available at the time of enactment. Specific share.
Adjustments to the share to guarantee a 90.5 return. The shares described above will be adjusted each year to ensure that each States share of apportionments for the specified programs is at least 90.5 percent of its percentage share of contributions to the Highway Account based on the latest data available at the time of the apportionment. The shares of States falling below that minimum return will be increased and the shares of the remaining States will be decreased. Each State must receive at least $1 million per year under the Minimum Guarantee program.
Of the Minimum Guarantee Funds
made available, $2.8 billion is administered as though it were STP funding
except that the STP provisions requiring setaside of funds for safety and
transportation enhancements and sub-State allocation of funds do not
apply. Within each State, the remainder of the funds (the amount above
$2.8 billion) is divided among certain programsIM, NHS, Bridge,
CMAQ, and STPbased on the share the State received for each program
under the program formula. Administration of funds.
Highway Trust Fund The Highway Trust
Fund is the source of funding for most of the programs in the Act. The HTF
is composed of the Highway Account, which funds highway and intermodal
programs, and the Mass Transit Account. Federal motor fuel taxes are the
major source of income into the HTF. As part of the changing budgetary
treatment of the surface transportation programs, the HTF will no longer
earn interest after September 30, 1998. At that time, any excess (amounts
more than $8 billion) cash balance in the Highway Account will be
transferred to the General Fund. The Transit Account balance will not be
adjusted. Operation of the Highway Trust Fund.
Federal law regulates not only the imposition of the taxes, but also their deposit into and expenditure from the HTF.
TEA-21 extends the highway-user taxes, at the rates that were in place when the legislation was enacted, through September 30, 2005. The truck taxes and all but the permanent 4.3 cents per gallon of the motor fuel tax were scheduled to expire on October 1, 1999. Provisions for full or partial exemption from highway-user taxes were also extended. The partial exemption from the fuel tax for alcohol fuels is extended through September 30, 2007 and the related income tax credit is extended through December 31, 2007. Both the exemption and the credit are phased down slightly beginning in 2001.
Provision for deposit of almost all of the highway-user taxes into the Highway Trust Fund is extended through September 30, 2005. The Transit Account share of the fuel taxes is changed to 2.86 cents (from 2.85 cents) per gallon retroactively to October 1, 1997 to correct an error in previous legislation.
Authority to expend from the Highway Trust Fund for programs under the Act and previous authorization acts is provided through September 30, 2003. After that date, expenditures may be made only to liquidate obligations made before that date.
The highway programs of the
Federal government and most States depend on highway-user tax receipts as
the principal source of funding. The Act continues the Highway Use Tax
Evasion program to halt motor fuel tax evasion. Because of the high rate
of return on investment for compliance efforts, TEA-21 provides both a
separate authorization for these initiatives and allows States to use up
to one-fourth of 1 percent of their STP funds for this purpose. Funds
authorized for this program will be used by the Internal Revenue Service
to develop, operate, and maintain an excise fuel reporting system and may
also be used by State and Federal tax agencies to augment fuel tax
enforcement. Highway tax compliance.
Other Revenue Provisions
The transfer of receipts from boat gasoline and small engine fuel taxes to the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund is extended, as is the authority to expend the funds for boat safety programs. The portion of the boat gasoline tax that is dedicated to the Aquatic Fund is increased to 13 cents per gallon (from 11.5 cents) on October 1, 2001, and to 13.5 cents on October 1, 2003.
The deficit reduction tax on rail diesel is reduced from 5.55 cents per gallon to 4.3 cents, effective October 1, 1998. | 1.579818 | 1,016 | 1,015 |
Our Slow-Motion Global Accident
Industry simply doesn't have an incentive to kick its fossil fuel habit.
Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a disaster--like taking a bend in the road too fast on a rainy night--where every second seems impossibly stretched?
The situation unfolds in slow motion. You know exactly how it turns out, even before your car plows into the guardrail. Somehow, there's time to ponder what you could have done differently--slowed at the yellow sign--and wish you could turn back the clock.
That's what it felt like in December at the 2010 UN climate summit held in Cancun, Mexico. The meeting's final hours, when world leaders gaveled through a flawed agreement, felt just as long as the preceding two weeks of negotiations.
Instead of calling the tow truck to haul away the wreck, however, leaders and representatives from the vast majority of the 194 countries present applauded their accord as a victory for multilateralism--saying a weak deal was better than no deal.
Sure, supporters admitted, the so-called Cancun agreement doesn't limit global warming to what scientists--and more than 100 countries--say is safe. Plus, pledges by individual countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, if you add them up, fall short of this inadequate target. And, yes, the Cancun deal doesn't hold anyone accountable for cutting climate pollution because these new pledges are voluntary.
But besides that--and that a fund promised by rich countries to help poorer nations deal with the impact of climate change has no dedicated source of funding--it's a great step forward. Huh?
We have to do better.
The Cancun deal won't change much in the United States. Obama's goal to reduce our greenhouse gas pollution remains an embarrassingly low four percent from 1990 levels by the end of the next decade. European countries have pledged 20 percent and Brazil 39 percent.
We still don't have a comprehensive climate law--and it's unlikely we'll have one soon.
Industry simply doesn't have an incentive to kick its fossil fuel habit. In fact, the Cancun agreement could open a loophole that lets companies in the United States continue to pollute--as long as they pay someone else in another country to reduce their emissions. It's called carbon offsetting, and it means U.S. families living in the toxic shadow of big polluters will have to suffer the health impacts of dirty energy, while companies get to claim credit for cleaning up their act.
Instead of getting motivated to stop climate change now, the world's countries will wait another year before trying again to secure a climate agreement with teeth. The next UN Framework Convention on Climate Change--to be held in Durban, South Africa--won't take place until December 2011.
That doesn't mean we have to sit back and watch as more environmental disasters unfold. We can take action this year.
We can start investing now in the transition to a green energy workforce. We can create jobs that bring workers the dignity of contributing to a better world and give families the security of a steady paycheck in a growing sector.
We can demand now that every dollar sent overseas to help people get out of energy poverty goes to renewable energy and low-carbon development.
And we can raise billions of dollars to make this happen by taxing the financial speculation of the Wall Street fat cats who brought us the economic crisis. European countries are already considering a regional financial transaction tax. If they can do it, we can, too.
Regardless of what happens at these annual global climate talks, we must all think and act fast now to avoid having to clean up a big mess later. Real success means changing course toward a strong green economy at home and a global climate deal that protects people and the planet.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License | 1.650708 | 789 | 788 |
Phnom Penh’s much-maligned waste-collection firm Cintri yesterday used a meeting with City Hall to ask for help in collecting between $10 million and $20 million in unpaid fees it says it’s owed by residents in the capital.
Speaking after the meeting – which was held to discuss the company’s performance – Cintri manager Ith Chenda said the municipality should push customers to pay and help find a solution, complaining many simply ignored the waste-management charge.
“According to the agreement, the company will collect, transport and clean, while the authority has the responsibility to encourage people to pay the fee,” Chenda said.
Chenda said the figure, which fluctuated regularly, included debt from the beginning of the firm’s service in September 2003 and comprises between 10,000 and 20,000 individuals and corporations – the latter, he said, were “most responsible” for the arrears.
“Some of them have not paid for 157 months, meaning from the beginning of our service,” Chenda said, saying staff constantly reminded residents about their debt.
“We cannot force them to pay.”
He added that the company was not considering legal action against households, but had pursued some companies in the courts.
The issue, born of vague contracts which do not stipulate which agency is ultimately responsible for collecting payment, according to an expert, is one of many challenges in a tumultuous relationship between authorities and the city’s sole garbage collector.
After years of threatening to cancel its contract over poor services, City Hall officials in July extended the firm’s contracts for four districts and gave it four new districts to service.
Coming after a review of the firm, the decision appeared to reflect improvements in Cintri’s performance, with Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatvong even vowing the city would cover losses the company incurred from households not paying, provided the “service is good and the capital is trash free”.
Reached yesterday, City Hall spokesman Mean Chanyada would not confirm the figure, saying “what the company says is up to them”.
Chanyada noted that some citizens, disputing their bill, refused to pay, but said the only solution the municipality could provide was to facilitate negotiations between customers and the company.
Daun Penh District Governor Kuoch Chamroeun also said it was not authorities’ responsibility to collect the cash.
“It is not our duty,” he said. Fees for garbage collection are tacked on to residents’ power bills, which are collected by state-run energy utility Electricite du Cambodge. Larger commercial operations, however, have direct contracts with Cintri.
EdC chief Keo Ratanak could not be reached yesterday. However, an employee who answered the agency’s phone said the group was not responsible for collecting waste-management fees listed on their bills.
“For waste, it depends on the customer; if they want to pay or not it is up to them; if they want to pay, we will accept it,” they said.
Phnom Penh-based waste-management consultant Jon Morales said that the problem was that contracts between the company and authorities did not stipulate exactly who was responsible for collecting unpaid fees.
“The contracts are just really, really vague in every direction,” Morales said, adding Cintri had long complained about unpaid fees. “There are no real enforcement mechanisms.”
Morales also added that Cintri’s calculation of the unpaid fees may also be off, as the company had been known to include areas that it didn’t service.
Additional reporting by Shaun Turton | 1.693844 | 723 | 722 |
Today’s episode of the
Daily Reckoning begins where yesterday’s left off: why everything may not be fine after all. From housing to Iran, there’s a lot to pick from. But it’s not all about the problems either. At the end of the day, you still have to do something with your money. For every problem, there is some solution, or at least some action to take.
There are many other things in the world that fall into the “not fine” category. Covered bonds and the people spruiking them definitely fall into the “not fine” category. Tomorrow, we’ll take up the issue of why Australia has overinvested in housing and underinvested in refining. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, let’s clear something up. From time to time we get a letter asking us to unequivocally state the
Daily Reckoning’s position on issue X. It could be a house price crash. It could be the oil price. It could be anything. It’s always the same question though, “What’s your consistent position on this matter?”
The answer is unequivocal: the
Daily Reckoning doesn’t have a consistent position on any matter. Our stock market analysts are free to disagree with one another. We encourage it. We don’t require them to tow the company line. There is no company line.
We recruit and hire stock market analysts who think for themselves and answer only to you. All we require from them is that they have original ideas, do their own research, aren’t lazy, and can string a couple of sentences together. The result, we hope, is a group of analysts with their own ideas, their own forum for explaining and advocating their ideas, and a portfolio of thought-provoking, useful ideas for you to choose from.
Of course we know that some people prefer to be told exactly what to do. Some readers don’t have time to sort out the differences in viewpoints and make up their own mind. That’s understandable. And all of our stock market analysts DO give precise recommendations on what course of action to take in their respective publications so that you can easily see what they’re recommending.
But what we don’t do here in the
Daily Reckoning is tell you which of our stock market analysts is right. That would be the equivalent of telling you what to think. And we wouldn’t dream of telling you what to think, either. The mere thought of telling someone else what to think is…almost unthinkable.
If there ARE two unequivocal positions at the
Daily Reckoning (and Port Phillip Publishing) it’s that we don’t know who’s right and you should always think for yourself. Life – financial and otherwise – is much more enjoyable when you resolve to make your own decisions based on your own thinking. It’s liberating when you decide you’re not going to be told what to do and think anymore.
Of course it takes time to do your own thinking. And when you make your own decisions, you don’t have any one to blame. You become accountable for your own actions. The alternative is to do what you’re told and be happy with what you get. Faced with those possibilities, it’s not such a tough choice.
Regards,
Dan Denning
for The Daily Reckoning Australia From the Archives…
An Ice Age For Australian House Prices
2012-02-24 – Greg Canavan
“Supranational” Investing
2012-02-23 – Addison Wiggin
Economic Recovery Without Pain
2012-02-22 – Bill Bonner
What the Greek Debt Crisis is Really About
2012-02-21 – Dan Denning
Greek Default Therapy
2012-02-20 – Eric Fry | 1.638071 | 783 | 782 |
Nestled 570 feet beneath the Alps on the Swiss-French border is the world's largest physics experiment—the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Constructed for $8.8 billion by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland in collaboration with hundreds of universities and labs worldwide, the LHC was built to test various key predictions of high-energy physics by smashing proton beams together at high speeds.
Critics contend that the awesome power of the LHC—which will accelerate particles at up to 99.99 percent of the speed of light and create temperatures in the trillions of degrees—has the potential to create a black hole that could consume the Earth. These fears have resulted in a lawsuit filed at the European Convention of Human Rights with motions against the 20 countries, including the U.S., which have funded the project.
Should we be worried?
"Absolutely not," is the verdict from Stéphane Coutu, Penn State professor of physics. "The world is constantly bombarded by energetic cosmic rays from the depths of space, some of them inducing particle collisions thousands of times more powerful than those that will be produced by the LHC," explains Coutu. "If these collisions could create black holes, it would have happened by now."
Fears about black holes are exacerbated by media hype about the supercollider, with headlines labeling it a "Doomsday Device" and "Big Bang Machine." What really is the LHC, and how can smashing particles together tell us anything new about the universe?
The most powerful particle accelerator ever built, "the LHC consists of an underground tunnel measuring over 17 miles in circumference," describes Coutu. Opposing beams of protons will be blasted through the tunnel, causing them to collide and break into smaller fragments; particle detectors positioned along the tunnel will analyze the fallout of the collisions.
Notes Coutu, "The end product of the particle collisions could provide new insight into how particles interact—ultimately, this could explain the outcome of particle processes shortly after the Big Bang from which the universe derives."
Another possibility is that "we could observe the Higgs boson as a by-product of the particle collisions," Coutu suggests. The mysterious Higgs boson is a hypothetical particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics, but never experimentally isolated. Thought to provide mass to other particles, the Higgs boson—sometimes dubbed the "God particle"—could hold the key to understanding why matter behaves the way it does—meaning that verification of its existence would be a breakthrough in particle physics.
"In addition to this experimental data, the LHC could yield practical improvements to our everyday lives," Coutu adds, pointing out that the World Wide Web was developed by the same organization that built the LHC for the purpose of exchanging large amounts of scientific information. "New computing methods to process and analyze these extremely large data sets will have to be developed," Coutu says. "These advances may percolate down to applications outside the laboratory," he concludes.
But the physicists chomping at the bit to get their hands on these vast amounts of new data will have to wait just a little longer. The LHC was slated to commence smashing in September 2008, but was turned on for just nine days before technical difficulties halted work and pushed back the start of regular operations to Spring 2009. The cause of the delay was faulty superconducting magnets (traced back to defective soldering on a connection) which leaked six tons of ultra-cold liquid helium into the accelerator tunnels. "The accelerator and associated particle detectors push the envelope of the technological state-of-the-art, and the sheer complexity of the endeavor leads to unavoidable delays," comments Coutu.
The LHC has some lofty goals—to answer questions about our universe which humans have puzzled over for centuries—and the sheer scale and scope of the project has captured the imagination of people everywhere. As Coutu concludes, "It is hard to imagine anything more fundamental as an example of human pursuit of pure knowledge."
Stéphane Coutu, Ph.D. is associate professor of physics in the Eberly College of Science and can be reached at coutu@phys.psu.edu. | 1.219352 | 866 | 865 |
Carbon dynamics of a dairy pasture: annual balance and impact of cultivation CitationExport citation
Wallace, D. F. (2010). Carbon dynamics of a dairy pasture: annual balance and impact of cultivation (Thesis, Master of Science (MSc)). The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/4343
Permanent Research Commons link: http://hdl.handle.net/10289/4343
Abstract
Maintenance of soil carbon (C) content is important because a relatively small percentage change in the global soil C store has the potential to cause a large change in atmospheric CO₂ concentration. Losses of soil C can also lead to a decline in soil quality and its capacity to be productive and carry out other services such as the filtering of pollutants. Globally, research on soil C dynamics has largely focused on forests, croplands and natural grasslands, while intensively grazed pasture has received much less attention. In New Zealand, the dynamics of soil C content and C cycling in intensively grazed dairy systems are poorly understood but large losses of soil C (1 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) have recently been reported for grazed dairy pastures. The objective of this research was to build on current knowledge of the C balance of intensively grazed dairy farm systems. To achieve this objective, net ecosystem CO₂ exchange (NEE) and water use efficiency (WUE) were measured over intensively grazed dairy pasture using eddy covariance from 15 December 2007 to 15 December 2009. Net ecosystem carbon balances (NECB) were then calculated for 2008 & 2009 from NEE measurements combined with measurements and estimates of C imports (feed) and C exports (milk, silage, methane). A further objective was to determine the impact of periodic cultivation of contrasting soils on the C balance of a dairy farm. To achieve this objective, measurements of soil CO₂ emissions were made using the closed chamber technique following the cultivation of three paddocks of Horotiu soil (Typic Orthic Allophanic) and three paddocks of Te Kowhai soil (Typic Orthic Gley). Annual NEE of the farm was -1,212 ± 500 kg C ha⁻¹ for 2008 and -2,280 ± 500 kg C ha⁻¹ for 2009. Including imports and exports of C to the farm resulted in an annual NECB of -199 ± 500 kg C ha⁻¹ and -1,014 ± 500 kg C ha⁻¹ for 2008 and 2009, respectively. Applied uncertainty is at 90% confidence bound and derived from previous studies reported in the literature. The site was a net sink of C during both 2008 and 2009 in agreement with EC studies performed over grasslands in Europe. The large difference in NEE and NECB between years was due to a drought in 2008, when the site was a C source for the first four months of this year. Average daily water use efficiency (WUE) for 2008 (4 g C kg⁻¹H₂O) and 2009 (4.2 g C kg⁻¹ H₂O) were not substantially different between years and agreed with international field and laboratory studies for pasture. Soil CO₂ loss following cultivation was measured using the closed chamber technique. During the period of cultivation photosynthesis ceased, and potential C input (NEE) to pasture during this time was estimated at -750 kg C ha⁻¹from the adjacent EC study site. To calculate the maximum net soil CO₂₋C loss the potential C input from photosynthesis (NEE) must be added to measured CO₂ emissions. Total soil C loss from the Te Kowhai was between 2,880 kg C ha⁻¹ (CO₂ flux only) and 3,742 kg C ha⁻¹ (CO₂ flux + NEE) while the Horotiu soil lost between 2,082 kg C ha⁻¹(CO₂ flux only) and 2,944 kg C ha⁻¹ (CO₂ flux + NEE). The significant difference in C loss between the two soils was likely a result of their contrasting clay mineralogy and drainage. The Horotiu soil contains allophanic clays with a very high specific surface area, which protects soil C from decomposition. Additionally, poorly drained soils such as the Te Kowhai tend to lose more C following cultivation due to aeration caused by cultivation which increases oxygen penetration into the soil and accelerates decomposition of soil C. Based on these results this grazed pasture was a net sink | 1.056494 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Body Mind Empowerment is about becoming as good of a human being as possible. The idea is to develop yourself both physically as well as mentally. As a result, you will reach your truest potential and turn yourself into Superhuman.
Join the Body Mind Agoge
The Agoge was the rigorous education system of Ancient Sparta.
They trained the best warriors of all time.
Body Mind Agoge is about empowering your physical, mental and spiritual performance.
Become a Superhuman Spartan.
Here's are some of my best posts to get you started.
Become Antifragile and Gain From Disorder
Anti-Positive Thinking Face Fear - Become a Lion and Transcend What I Learned at Sniper School How to Attain Jedi-Like Concentration The Magic of Waking Up Early How to Start Taking Cold Showers in the Morning Get to know me
Hi, my name is Siim Land. I'm a holistic health practitioner, fitness expert and a writer.
This website is about body mind empowerment that would improve every aspect of our lives. I offer guidelines on nutrition, exercise, mindset and other ways of mastering our physiology.
All of this knowledge is the result of a lot of research, self-experimentation, quantification and optimization. After years of practice and development, I've managed to find the best ways to improving health and increasing performance, both physical as well as mental.
Thanks to this, I've found the secret mechanisms in our biology and physiology that can turn us into superhuman.
My purpose is to make the lives of others better through body mind empowerment and improve upon the potential of mankind in general. have any clue regarding the potentially irreversible damage they are inflicting upon public education?
Don’t they realize that VAM is a disappointing, two-dimensional cardboard cutout for assessing educational quality?
Nope.
What we need to do, according to Orszag, is fire those bottom 10%. Sure, VAM isn’t perfect, but let’s use it, anyway, as a means of purging a profession to which we don’t even belong:
As the Gates report demonstrates, it’s possible to improve teacher effectiveness metrics. But that shouldn’t keep us from using the ones we have now. To help raise future productivity, we should set a clear goal for all school districts: to deny tenure to teachers in the bottom 10 percent of the distribution according to value-added measurements. That would still mean granting tenure to lots of teachers who perform worse than the average novice, but it would be a good start. [Emphasis added.]
Wow. And this man advised Obama. Good thing Obama replaced him with Wal Mart. | 2.043603 | 536 | 534 |
Now We Know Why Obama Doesn’t Understand VAM
In order to truly understand value added modeling (VAM), forget the likes of me and of others who hold degrees in mathematics, or statistics, or measurement. Forget that we offer solid, detailed discussions of the problems of VAM. Forget also that those who formerly promoted VAM, like Louisiana’s George Noell, are mysteriously “no longer associated with the project.”
According to Michael Bloomberg, just ask a banker.
That’s right. Banker and former director of the Office of Management and Budget for the Obama administration Peter Orszag has written an enlightening piece for Bloomberg.com explaining that VAM really does work. According to Orszag, VAM can determine “which teachers are best.” Now, mind you, I’m no banker, but I would like to offer my thoughts on Orszag’s very positive article on the value of the value added.
First, let me begin with Orszag’s statement regarding “promoting the most talented teachers.” What, exactly, is a “most talented teacher,” according to corporate reform? One whose students score highest on standardized tests, of course:
One way of measuring a teacher’s effectiveness has been to see how much his or her students’ test scores rise. This kind of “value added” measure is straightforward and can easily be used to weed out bad teachers and promote better ones. [Emphasis added.]
According to our banker, VAM is the answer to the “teacher problem.” And remember, according to corporate reform, the teacher must be the problem if the test scores are not stellar.
In a “sleight of word” in his “study,” Orszag decides to narrow the problems of VAM in his next statement:
Critics complain, however, that this measurement has two potential flaws:
In short, VAM has only “two potential flaws” because Orszag decided such was true.
Let me pause here to state that as an expert in statistics and as one who has written detailed accounts of the problems with VAM such as this discourse to Louisiana legislators, I did not (I could not) limit my discussion to only two flaws. VAM is replete with problems, not the least of which is the problem of data integrity and management of the so-called pilot studies purporting to support VAM. No study is ever better than the quality of its data. Neither will be any “testing” of teachers using VAM. Data collection for a high-stakes measurement situation must be flawless.
Orszag does not touch the data integrity issue. He does not address the erratic classification issue. He does not address the limitations of using hierarchical linear modeling (the statistical analysis commonly employed in VAM) in pinpointing “causes” for student test scores. He does not address the huge validity issue of using tests designed to assess student achievement as a measure of “backdoor” teacher “achievement.”
Orszag limits the reader to these two VAM issues, which he presents as if these are the only two issues:
Critics complain, however, that this measurement has two potential flaws: Some teachers’ scores may rise not because they have performed so well in the classroom but merely because they have better students. And some teachers may push up their students’ scores by teaching to the test, rather than giving students the understanding of concepts that pays off in the long run. [Emphasis added.]
Orszag then offers “two important pieces of research” to “rebut both of these concerns.” The first is a study sponsored by the Gates Foundation where students are “randomly assigned… to about 1600 teachers.” In a glaring jump in logic, banker Orszag’s next statement is
The random assignment ensured that any observed improvement in the students’ test scores was caused by their teachers.
So, random assignment removes any and all other influences upon student achievement as measured by the standardized test? Not so if these students are actual human beings with independent wills. And not so if the measures (standardized tests) are not designed for the purpose that they are being used (a looming validity issue). And not so if there is anything else, anything at all, in the lives of these students other than their teachers.
Student learning can never be absolutely controlled. Period.
Orszag’s “outcome” statement is also suspect:
The Gates team… found, as non-randomized studies had also found, that value-added measures were predictive of student achievement.
This statement actually says nothing. What does it mean that the measures were “predictive” of student achievement? I thought the focus here was on connecting student achievement to teacher effectiveness. Instead, Orszag connects VAM to student achievement. Orszag offers nothing solid, such as the reclassification rates of teachers given no change in student achievement. (High reclassification of teachers not altering their teaching into their original categories based upon multiple, subsequent measuring times is what is required to establish VAM as reliable. I have yet to see a VAM | 1.730576 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
stability study offer such proof.)
Intstead, Orszag offers yet another lukewarm outcome statement:
As [the Gates researchers] conclude, “our findings suggest that existing measures of teacher effectiveness provide important and useful information on the causal effects that teachers have on their students’ outcomes.”
Yet another uncommitted statement. What happened to the earlier statement that VAM is “straightforward” and “can be easily used”?
In the next paragraph, Orszag notes the usefulness of subjective measures to assist VAM, which is already doing the “heavy lifting” in labeling teacher effectiveness. He notes that the Gates study found that “bad” teachers are so bad that their self-reporting can be trusted because it cannot conceal just how bad they are:
The Gates researchers also experimented with various supplements to a purely test-based metric, and found that although the value-added measure did the heavy lifting, student surveys and observational analyses of teaching quality were useful. Interestingly, they found that teacher analysis could be done without having observers make random visits to the classroom; allowing a teacher to submit a self-selected set of videos from the classroom worked just as well, because even the best classes conducted by bad teachers were worse than those from better teachers. [Emphasis added.]
This last statement begs the question: If even subjective self-reporting by “bad” teachers is so useful in determining teacher quality, why are we doing all of this testing? Could the supposed VAM “heavy lifting” be a sham?
As to Orszag’s addressing the “second” critique of VAM, teaching to the test, well, he writes that teaching to the test isn’t happening (never mind that this year I have been instructed to “expose” my students to items relating to three separate standardized tests). Orszag offers two “studies” as proof. First, he offers this proof, which inadvertently undermines his first point for rebuttal, that teachers’ scores rise on VAM due to their having better students:
The Gates team also partially addressed the second critique — that “good” teachers are only teaching to the test — by examining results from other measures of educational quality. For example, the researchers administered open-ended word problems to test students’ understanding of math. The teachers who were predicted to produce achievement gains on state tests produced gains two-thirds as large on the supplemental assessments. [Emphasis added.]
Are these teachers predicted to produce achievement gains because their students are already achievers? Random assignment cannot account for this “what-comes-first-chicken-or-egg” scenario. Orszag does not address this issue.
And what of this “two thirds” gain on the supplemental assessments? Orszag is writing that the students score higher on the standardized tests than they did on the open-ended word problems. That is, the students did not score as high on the non-standardized test as they did on the standardized test. How is this proof of not “teaching to the test”?
Finally, Orszag offers this “proof” that teachers are not just teaching to the test (never mind the firsthand pressure I face as a teacher to do so):
An even more compelling rebuttal of the second critique, however, is found in a December 2011 paper by Raj Chetty and John Friedman of Harvard University and Jonah Rockoff of Columbia University. These researchers assembled a database of 2.5 million students in grades 3 through 8 along with 18 million English and math tests from 1989 through 2009. They then linked that database with income tax returns. Their paper is fascinating because the researchers assessed how a high value-added teacher can influence students’ later earnings and other outcomes. Someone just teaching to the test, without improving the quality of education, wouldn’t be expected to have any lasting impact on students’ earnings. Yet Chetty and the others found big effects later on in students’ lives from having a higher value-added teacher.
Okay. Here are some obvious issues: Are we to assume that there is a direct, otherwise-uninfluenced connection between my third- through eighth-grade math or English scores and my salary? And is my math or English score for each year nothing more than the math or English teacher I had that year? Does not my choice of profession have any influence upon my salary? How about my work ethic? The region where I reside? The economy?
What of those who cheat on taxes? This is a valid question concerning the integrity of the outcome data measure in the Chetty-Friedman study.
And should we assume that data from 1989 to 2009 really has captured the devastation that the 2012 nationwide emphasis on tying teacher jobs and reputations to test scores will bring?
Based upon the newly-instituted Race to the Top’s love affair with nonpartisan corporate reform and the unprecedented punitive measures levied against teachers, schools, and school districts, do corporate-reform-vested people like Orszag, and Bloomberg, and Obama | 1.850513 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
300 Florida DUI Cases To Be Dropped Because of Faulty Intoxilyzer Maintenance
By: Chris Kramer
Intoxilyzers are the source of controversy yet again in Florida cases of DUI!
Recently, a Florida appellate court ruled that certain breath-alcohol test machines were improperly maintained and thus produced inadmissible results in about 300 drunk driving cases.
Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeals upheld a previous ruling tossing out blood alcohol content results from Intoxilyzers that were tested with tap water instead of distilled water.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement requires breath test machines to be tested with distilled water.
The attorneys in these cases used their knowledge of Florida DUI law to successfully argue that Intoxilyzer results may have been skewed when the Broward Sheriff's Office and Davie Police Department tested the machines with tap water.
With this reinforcement from the appellate court, these 300 Florida DUI cases could now be thrown out of court.
This incident isn't the first time that Intoxilyzers have caused an intoxicating stir in Florida.
The Intoxilyzer 5000 was a major topic of debate in the state for nearly a year after its manufacturer refused to reveal its source code for proprietary reasons.
Florida DUI attorneys argued in more than 400 DUI cases that they could not determine the accuracy of the Intoxilyzer 5000 without knowing its source code.
Florida DUI law requires disclosure of "full information about the test" during DUI cases.
Since the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer 5000 would not share its source code, prosecutors in these cases were unable to comply with the law.
Some judges immediately dismissed Intoxilyzer results as evidence while other counties rejected these challenges by Florida DUI attorneys.
In response to such controversy, the Florida legislature passed a bill that clarified the meaning of "full information about the test" in DUI cases.
The bill made it known that a prosecutor's inability to produce source code from a manufacturer could not be used as a challenge to the Intoxilyzer test result.
While the Intoxilyzer 5000 was quickly replaced by the 8000 model, this recent ruling in Broward County further adds fuel to the fire about the accuracy of breath testing machines.
Remember that breathalyzer test results are not 100% certain, as they make certain assumptions about the "average person" which may not apply to everyone when estimating BAC.
Furthermore, breath test results may be skewed when machines improperly calibrated or maintained, as in Broward County. History, M.A., 2011; American history Native American studies Education -- Oregon 1960s Activism Boarding schools -- Oregon Native Americans Students Youth Chemawa Indian School Indians of North America -- Education -- Oregon "Forward You Must Go": Chemawa Indian Boarding School and Student Activism in the 1960s and 1970s Chemawa Indian Boarding School and Student Activism in the 1960s and 1970s Thesis | 1.533277 | 630 | 628 |
Missionaries… all who follow Christ… are told to count the cost. But what about when something unthinkable happens? How do you prepare for that?
Late at night, on August 24, 2011, we received the following in a letter from our sending organization:
“Following extensive objective assessment and the advice of legal counsel, we are beginning action to dissolve… The organization will be in the process of shutting down over the next week and a half. Funds to continue are not available… final payments of reimbursable expenses will be paid as of August 23rd and health insurance will be paid through September 2011. Thereafter, there will be no disbursement from EBM to anyone other than to protect and complete the above process… On September 2, 2011, the… home office will close its doors… Further, missionaries and sending churches should immediately contact donors and have their donations diverted to the sending church… If help is needed the staff… would be more than happy to assist you with this process until September 2, 2011. On August 31st, [our organization] will be closing its books after which all donations will be returned to the sender.”
Needless to say, we didn’t sleep much that night. We had lots of questions, and no immediate answers…
How in the world are we going to provide for 8 kids and an 18 year old niece… in a foreign land…with no salary? What about school for our children (recognizing that termites ate at least a third of our home schooling curriculum during our last home assignment)? Could we? How would we get home if we had to? What does this mean for now? And in the immediate future? What in the world should we do? How do we explain this to our local colleagues? What exactly is “this”?
I’d really thought I’d heard of and considered all the possible missionary “catastrophe” scenarios: medical emergencies, coup d’états, banditry or break-in, kidnapping and hostage situations, physical violence, in-country massive currency devaluation, drought, necessities unavailable, refugee influx, emergency evacuation… and while I didn’t ever want anything like that to happen to our family, it had, at least at some point, bleeped somewhere on my radar screen that it was a possibility.
The dissolution of our sending organization and as a consequence, of the majority of the infrastructure key to our W. African existence hadn’t… ever… crossed… my mind… Seriously. Not even remotely.
Our home office was closing its doors and from the backside of the desert in W. Africa (otherwise known as the land of frequent power outages, bipolar internet and the lesser known reality that we still cannot direct dial our home area code in the States from this place), we had one week to contact all of our supporters to tell them to stop giving until we could make other arrangements. We needed to find a new organization in the States able and willing to receive and receipt funds, but also one that would be acceptable to our current support team. Any services that our home office had handled before? We now needed to find someone else who could and would assume those responsibilities. And there was the concern that people might just decide to no longer partner with us in this ministry, feeling that our previous organization had been less than transparent… some even felt dishonest.
We understood immediately that our situation wasn’t catastrophic. We were all healthy, together, with a roof over our head and in the midst of an amazing missionary community that literally wrapped its arms tightly around us and cared for us, far above and beyond what we would have asked or could have imagined. On the other hand, it fely like calamity stalking… we were walking a high wire far above ground without any sort of safety net… and it wouldn’t take much to send us plummeting down…
I wish I could say that Tim and I immediately fell on our knees and took our worries before the Lord. Tim might have… I didn’t unless you count those “Oh God… what are we going to do?” type utterances as prayers.
Has anything similar every happened to you? Can you even imagine anything like this happening? What would be your first thoughts and worries?
(Post by: Richelle) | 1.927829 | 884 | 883 |
I know what you're thinking – that headline sounds like something you should have been reading 10 years ago, right? But how many times have you started working with a new client and been sent the outdated brand guidelines PDF to review?
We've all been there. 98 pages of print-focused layout rules, logo exclusion zones, CMYK references … Then right at the back, you'll find it tucked away: 'Digital usage'. Normally consisting of two pages of inadequate information, leaving you asking many questions.
It seems crazy that in this day and age the digital environment is still considered secondary to above-the-line communication when it comes to providing guidance on how a brand should be visually represented. Digital channels are at the heart of most brand communication nowadays, and are certainly the places where higher volumes of people will encounter a brand. Providing some guidance on how that brand should live and breathe online is essential.
Are they really needed?
Most creatively minded folk would argue that the lack of rules and guides is no bad thing, but from a brand's perspective it can be damaging to have so much inconsistency across its digital output. At Delete, many of the global brands we work with have a roster of digital agencies they often work with. This only reinforces the need to establish some base-line guides for people to work from.
So why is digital commonly neglected? Brand guidelines have traditionally been the output of branding agencies and design firms where digital communication is not a focus. This means the digital 'section' of a style guide is often not fit for purpose for the multi-device, multichannel world.
Just think about the multitude of places that exist online where a brand can be visually presented: a web page, mobile page, mobile app, email footer, Facebook ad, display banner, social post ... the list is endless. Of course, we're not just talking about a static presentation either. There's animation, audio, transitions – none of which can be delivered in a PDF document.
What can we do about it?
It's up to us, as digitally minded creatives, to challenge the traditional approach. There will always be an opportunity to have this discussion with your client early on. A few simple questions should soon make them realise work is required: “How should the logo behave at different responsive breakpoints? Is there an icon fallback for small screens? What are your web typography standards?” Clients will likely be looking to you for guidance on these issues.
Producing digitally focused guidelines is an opportunity for you to grow your relationship with a client, as you will be essentially operating as a digital brand guardian. If you're involved in a redesign project or even a one-off campaign, it's worth pitching this as a key deliverable.
So how should you approach these digital brand guides? Well, for a start they shouldn't sit inside a PDF document! It's essential the information is displayed in the medium in which it will exist. A simple HTML framework will allow you to categorise your elements clearly and provide code snippets where possible, to reduce the margin for error.
Things to consider include: logo usage (dimensions, colours, padding), responsive logo views, logo icons (app icon, favicon), RGB colour references, CSS typography styles, the standard masthead and footer, iconography, buttons (primary CTA, secondary), patterns (overlays, backgrounds), grid structures, form styles, animation examples, video opening and closing frames, social post examples and accessibility standards.
Providing examples of usage will also help any agency or external partner understand the dos and don'ts. Downloadable digital assets will also prove handy: PNGs, SVGs, font files and so on.
The future
Ideally, rather than ending up with two sets of brand guidelines, you want to have the print-focused guides accessible from this web page, too. That way you ensure there is one central point for accessing this information, which can be updated as required.
Picture this – you start working with a new client and you receive the link to its online brand guidelines. A slick, responsive style guide containing all the basic rules, code snippets and digital assets you need. And then down at the bottom, you'll find a downloadable PDF containing a few pages of print rules. Now that would be nice.
Words: Tom Dougherty Liked this? Read these! | 1.847938 | 873 | 872 |
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