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Name: Brynn Leah Blotter
From: Diamond, Missouri Grade: High School Senior School: Bob Jones University Votes: 0
To
Love Well
I have never been able to limit myself to one area of volunteer work. There
are just too many areas of need to choose one over another. I have served food to the homeless, taught workshops to them and to children in public schools, cleaned community buildings, pulled weeds, and basically done anything that needs doing. I’ve volunteered since I was ten, shadowing my mother and missionary cousins to learn how best to serve people, and learned that it’s best to go where you are needed most. It would be impossible for me to say how many hours I volunteer, since I truly don’t know because I go wherever the need takes me.
My greatest challenge in volunteer work has always been talking to
people. I’m very shy and prefer to work in the background, invisible, if possible. Volunteering forces me to be more outgoing when it comes to people, and because of this I’ve become better at forming lasting relationships with people.
Real, caring relationships are perhaps the greatest accomplishment to me.
Being there for people even if I’m tired produces something amazing in me and the people I’m serving that is hard to describe. It’s a matter of the heart and changing perspectives. It is incredible the effect choosing to love people has on everyone around. I’ve seen firsthand just how much hope choosing to serve with love gives those who’ve given up on everything. I’ve seen it inspire people to try one more time, just because someone cares. People accomplish so much more if they have support and love from the people around them.
I’ve learned how to look beneath the surface, not judging what I see.
I’ve learned how much it hurts to truly love, and how very hard truly loving is. I’ve learned that hope hurts so much more than not hoping, but it is worth it a thousand times over. I’ve learned that volunteering is about more than making a physical difference, but a difference in hearts as well. I’ve learned that setting aside my personal desires in the moment even if it doesn’t seem like I’m getting anywhere produces much in the long run.
My hope is that how I have loved will continue to make a difference in the
future, even if I’m dead and gone. I want people to know they are loved and to choose to love others. I want to see people lifting each other up through service and friendship. I know that even though I may not have the opportunity to see it, my hope will not be in vain because Jesus is with me and always will be.
The things I have learned from volunteering will be invaluable in my
chosen career, to be a missionary doctor, and in every aspect of my life. No matter where I am, or what I’m doing, choosing to love well will always be my mission. Serving will always be my method, and Jesus will always be my guide and strength.Swine Flu and Your Kids How much should you worry? -Susan Crandell
In the middle of August I came down with the
flu. One day I had a sore throat, the next day a super-stuffy nose and a 102 degree fever. I was stay-at-home sick for only a couple of days, but coughed and blew my nose for weeks. I have no idea who I caught the virus from, and as far as I know I didn’t pass it on to anybody else. The way I figure it, if I was lucky, it was H1N1, and at the cost of a few sunny summer days just maybe I have achieved some immunity for the fall.
This new strain of H1N1 is unusual in persisting at a simmer over the summer. Now everyone’s bracing for the big fall onslaught. Not only do influenza infections rise as the mercury falls, but kids head back to school, where there’s lots of hugging and high-fiving.
So what does a concerned mom need to know about the risks?
As the first school bells ring, the good news is that the flu has not mutated into a more lethal strain as scientists feared it might; and the number of children who have died because of it – fewer than 40 – is not any more than would ordinarily die of the flu each year. (Easy to state as a statistic, but imagine those grieving parents.) The majority of these deaths occurred to children who are 5 or older. Two-thirds are kids who have pre-existing medical issues, particularly neurological conditions. | 1.699082 | 936 | 934 |
The 17th-century Dutch traded them like stocks on Wall Street. Monet gave them pride of place in some of his most famous paintings. What are they? Old-fashioned bulbs.
Story and photos by Lee Reich
Breathing new life into an old home truly is an exercise conducted out of love and respect for the past. And with all the effort you put into it, you want it to look its period best, inside and out—and that includes landscaping.
But let’s face it; the bulk of your time is likely spent stripping layers of paint from gorgeous mahogany railings or refinishing well-used floors. Sadly, whipping your garden into shape often takes a back seat to structural renovations. However, a little effort in the fall can yield exceptional flowers that are as forgiving and low-maintenance as they are beautiful, and a prime example of this combination of beauty and ease is old-fashioned bulbs.
Admittedly, “old-fashioned” is a loose categorization, comprising bulb varieties that have been around for centuries, or, and this is strictly my personal opinion, look like they could have been around that long.
As dainty as they appear on the surface, old-fashioned bulbs are rugged plants that recall bygone eras, often surviving in better condition than the structures they once graced. They express a simpler, more genteel charm than most of their modern counterparts.
Tulips, one of the most-recognized bulb species, are native to Turkey and have been grown in European gardens since the 16th century. Growing them, or at least trading the bulbs themselves, became something of a craze in 17th-century Holland, with the best going for more than their weight in gold and people speculating money, jewels, wine—even their homes—on prize specimens. ‘Lac van Rijn’ and ‘Zomerschoon’ are two varieties from that era that are still available, the former with purple-red, ivory-edged petals, and the latter showing off petals patterned with shades of strawberry and cream.
Many modern tulips, despite their soldier-like stances, aren’t known for their endurance, so they were often grown as short-lived perennials. In contrast, so-called species tulips, which are not far removed from their wild forms, endure and even spread with ease. Take Lady tulip (
Tulipa clusiana), for example, first planted in gardens in the early 17th century: With its gray-green, strappy leaves; foot-high stature; and relatively narrow, pointed blossoms, you’d hardly recognize it as a tulip by today’s definition. But its flowers, rose-and-white-striped on the outside, expand to become more tulip-like, then spread even wider to create a star with a deep purple heart.
The waterlily tulip (
Tulipa kaufmanniana) is one of my favorite species tulips, with its flushed-pink petals that spread wide to resemble pale-yellow waterlilies with golden throats. This tulip has been crossed with another charming species tulip, T. greigii, which boasts large, brightly colored flowers and fat, purple-striped leaves.
Other old-fashioned bulbs that are among my favorites are the fritillaries (
Fritillaria spp.). The stalk of one fritillary, ‘crown imperial’ ( Fritillaria imperialis) rises above a whorl of foliage to be capped by a tuft of green, below which dangles a ring of downward-facing orange or yellow blossoms. This plant is featured prominently in old Dutch still life paintings, but what really spurred me to expand my ‘crown imperial’ plantings was the comely row I saw in Monet’s garden at Giverny, the stalks rising up through the foliage of lilies and backed by a stone wall.
Surprisingly, some of the smallest bulbs are among the most robust, as long as they aren’t overwhelmed by the deep shade of a high-grass meadow or canopied trees. Among the earliest to bloom are the aptly called snowdrops (
Galanthus spp.), emerging in late winter to early spring. This native of the open woodlands of Europe sports downward-nodding white flowers with green-tipped petals. Other early bloomers include squill ( Scilla siberica), with its drooping, flared, icy-blue bells; striped squill ( Puschkinia libanotica), whose small white petals each have a blue stripe; and chionodoxa ( Chionodoxa luciliae), with white-eyed, vivid-blue blossoms pointing skyward. The strappy leaves of all these small bulbs blend with grass and mature just about the time lawn needs mowing, allowing the bulbs to naturalize.
Winter aconite (
Eranthis hymenalis) is almost worth growing for its foliage alone. The yellow flowers resemble buttercups, to which they are related, and each sits atop a collar of frilly, bright green leaves | 1.629185 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Today, following the vacation and remand of its earlier decision by the Supreme Court post-Bilski, the Federal Circuit again reaffirmed its reversal of the District Court (copy at the end of this post) and held:
“The asserted method claims satisfy the preemption test as well as the transformation prong of the machine-or-transformation test [for patentable subject matter]…..In other words, when asked the critical question, ‘What did the applicant invent?’ Grams, 88 F.2d at 839, the answer is a series of transformative steps that optimize efficacy and reduces toxicity of a method of treatment for particular diseases using particular drugs.”
The Federal Circuit held that either one of the recited steps of “administering” a drug that provides 6-TG to a subject or “determining” the levels of the drug’s metabolites in a subject were sufficiently transformative to meet the M or T test:
“The transformation is of the human body and of its components following the administration of a specific class of drugs and the various chemical and physical changes of the drugs’ metabolites that enable their concentrations to be determined.”
This led the Court to find that claim 46 of the ‘623 patent, which only recites a determining step, also meets the M or T test (and does not bode well for the plaintiffs in Myriad). The Court also reaffirmed that the administering and determining steps were not merely data gathering steps, but were central to the claimed method of optimized therapeutic efficacy. The Court pointedly, in fn. 2, declined to give weight to the “Metabolite Labs. dissent,” (548 U.S.124), in which Justices Breyer, Souter and Stevens would have found claims to an assay for cobalamin deficiency comprising determining the level of a marker in a fluid of a subject, and comparing it to a benchmark normal, patent-ineligible as involving “natural correlations and data-gathering steps.”
While the Court agreed that the steps involving comparing the determined level to a benchmark level and concluding that that a need existed to increase or decrease the amount of drug administered (the “warning steps”) were mental steps, and not per se patentable, the Court warned against partitioning a claim into patent-eligible and non-patent eligible steps, and using the presence of patent ineligible steps to exclude the entire claim from further evaluation: “Although the wherein clauses describe the mental processes used to determine the need to change the dosage levels of the drugs, each asserted claims as a whole is drawn to patentable subject matter”.
The Court also found that the claims are not simply directed to a natural phenomenon and specifically held that they do not wholly pre-empt the use of natural phenomena, but rather are drawn to a particular application of naturally occurring correlations. The Court specifically noted that the claims are not an attempt to patent an algorithm, as were the claims in Grams. The Court cited its opinion in Bilski (545 F.3d at 958): “After all, even though a fundamental principle is not patent eligible, processes incorporating a fundamental principle may be patent –eligible. Thus, it is irrelevant that any individual step or limitation of such processes by itself would be unpatentable under s. 101.”
While this decision will probably get on the express train to the Supreme Court, let’s go ahead and “fix” Classen in the meantime.
PrometheusDec18emailWhat ties Americans to one another? What unifies a nation of citizens with different racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds? These were the dilemmas faced by Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as they sought ways to bind the newly United States together. In A is for American, award-winning historian Jill Lepore portrays seven men who turned to language to help shape a new nation’s character and boundaries. From Noah Webster’s attempts to standardize American spelling, to Alexander Graham Bell’s use of “Visible Speech” to help teach the deaf to talk, to Sequoyah’s development of a Cherokee syllabary as a means of preserving his people’s independence, these stories form a compelling portrait of a developing nation’s struggles. Lepore brilliantly explores the personalities, work, and influence of these figures, seven men driven by radically different aims and temperaments. Through these superbly told stories, she chronicles the challenges faced by a young country trying to unify its diverse people.
Jill Lepore is an associate professor of history at Boston University. She is the author ofThe Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity, which won the Bancroft Prize, Phi Beta Kappa’s Ralph Waldo Emerson Award, the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians’ Book Prize, and the New England Historical Association’s Book Award. She is cofounder and coeditor of the Web magazine Common-place (www.common-place.org), and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. | 1.538677 | 1,013 | 1,011 |
Personal Branding Like The Stars: How A Systematic Approach Will Revolutionize Your Business This post was originally featured on FastCompany.com. The original blog, written by Nick Nanton and Mikkel Pitzner can be found here: Personal Branding Like The Stars: How A Systematic Approach Will Revolutionize Your Business
Whether you love Kim Kardashian or you can’t stand her, you must acknowledge her ability to leverage media in order to create constant publicity. Whether it’s appearing on the cover of a book or simply attending church on Easter Sunday, Kardashian never fails to generate headlines.
She isn’t alone–Hollywood is brimming with actors, actresses, and celebrities who have learned to create a constant buzz even as they live exceptionally fast-paced lives.
We have the same goals–for ourselves, and for our clients. Granted, most of us are pursuing publicity and exposure on a smaller scale, but the objective is still to create consistent exposure in order to build credibility and visibility.
In today’s “social” world, everyone with an Internet connection has the ability to reach an audience numbering in the millions. (In fact, a 2011 study reveals that one out of every nine people on the
planet has a Facebook account.) So why do most business owners fail to leverage branding and marketing tools to their fullest?
Because
they are too busy running their business to even think about growing it! If we’re honest, most of us will admit that marketing tends to happen in spurts, not consistently.
Sustained growth requires that you adopt a systematic approach to branding and marketing. You can’t pursue marketing “when you feel like it,” because the realities of running a business mean that you will often go weeks or months without doing anything marketing related. We recommend to each of our clients that they create systems designed to meet their marketing and branding objectives. For instance:
1) Dedicate 30 minutes twice a week for blogging and article writing. This ensures a consistent presence in the blogosphere and will ultimately build a loyal following, many of whom will become customers or referral sources in the future. 2) Make social media part of your morning routine, like checking your email or even brushing your teeth. Social media is about building relationships and reinforcing your brand, and you can’t be effective without a consistent presence. If you can’t commit to this yourself, assign a member of your team to the task.
3)
Utilize services like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) to constantly search for opportunities to gain exposure. Being quoted in an authoritative media outlet such as The New York Timesor The Wall Street Journal provides a massive credibility boost. But spending time each day pursuing these opportunities simply isn’t realistic. Services like HARO allow a business owner to quickly scan an email each day in search of an opportunity.
How can you consistently generate publicity for yourself and your business without spending hours each day focused on marketing? You must incorporate it within your daily life. You may not need to become a household name like Kim Kardashian, but if you can regularly generate headlines within your market, your business will reap the benefits.
— Nick Nanton (@nicknanton) is a best-selling author who consults for small- and medium-sized businesses on personality driven marketing, personal brand positioning, guaranteed media, and mining hidden business assets. He offer free articles, white papers, and case studies at celebritybrandingagency.com. Mikkel Pitzner is a partner of marketing and trailer rental company, Freetrailer, which currently operates throughout Denmark and Sweden. Mikkel, also know as The Automated Millionaire, is also a best-selling author and speaker and shows entrepreneurs how to create a business that will provide them with the lifestyle of their choice while taking them off the treadmill of their job, so they can spend time on things of their choosing.Liposuction is used to remove fat from areas of the body that haven't responded to diet and exercise, such as the:
Abdomen Arms Buttocks Calves and ankles Chest and back Hips and thighs Neck
In addition, liposuction is sometimes used for breast reduction.
When you gain weight, fat cells increase in size and volume. Liposuction reduces the number of fat cells in a specific area. The amount of fat removed depends on the appearance of the area and the volume of fat. The resulting contour changes are generally permanent — as long as your weight remains stable.
After liposuction, skin molds to the new contours of the treated areas. If you have good skin tone and elasticity, your skin is likely to appear smooth. If your skin is thin with poor elasticity, however, skin in treated areas might appear loose.
Liposuction doesn't improve cellulite dimpling or other skin surface irregularities. Likewise, liposuction doesn't remove stretch marks.
Liposuction isn't recommended for people who have conditions that could complicate surgery, including:
Restricted blood flow Coronary artery disease Diabetes A weak immune system | 1.592038 | 1,011 | 1,009 |
Women’s issues became a topic of debate last night at the second presidential debate after being overlooked in the first.
This gave Republican contender
Mitt Romney the opportunity to appeal to women voters, which polls show he is not as popular with.
An uncommitted female voter asked:
In what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?
In response,
President Obama talked about how and why he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act to help close the pay gap. However, Romney’s answer failed to deliver a solution or even address the pay gap between men and women.
Instead, he alluded that employers should personally choose to hire more women, like he did when he referred to “binders full of women” in his hiring process. Somehow, he thinks that “binders full of women” will eliminate workplace inequality!
“And I—and I went to my staff, and I said, ‘How come all the people for these jobs are—are all men.’ They said: ‘Well, these are the people that have the qualifications.’ And I said: ‘Well, gosh, can’t we—can’t we find some—some women that are also qualified?’ And—and so we—we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. I went to a number of women’s groups and said: ‘Can you help us find folks,’ and they brought us whole binders full of women.”
Romney’s “binders full of women” phrase immediately went viral and caused a frenzy in the social media world, which took it to the next level by creating a Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr account.
To make matters worse, Romney then followed up, stating his solution to pay inequality would be strengthening the economy because, apparently, a fluid marketplace would suddenly cause employers to treat women fairly!
“We’re going to have to have employers in the new economy, in the economy I’m going to bring to play, that are going to be so anxious to get good workers they’re going to be anxious to hire women.”
Slate brought up a good point dismantling Romney’s theory:
If the free market alone could fix the problem, then women during boom times would have, according to Romney’s logic, achieved equal pay. They did not. That’s because the problem is far more complex than Romney lets on here. A little bit more flex time is nice, but it doesn’t do enough to make up for the yawning gaps in affordable child care, for instance. Plus, Romney completely breezed by the continuing problem of discrimination, which is all the Lilly Ledbetter Act addresses.
Furthermore, Romney dug himself in a deeper ditch when he relayed the story about how he granted one of his female employees flexible working hours so that she could be with her family and children. This was a nice gesture, but again, how does this help working women, with or without kids, who get paid 72 cents to every $1 a man makes? Not to mention that the gap is even larger with women of color:
African-American women making only 62 cents, and Hispanic women only 54 cents. Here’s what he said:
“I recognized that if you’re going to have women in the workforce that sometimes you need to be more flexible. My chief of staff, for instance, had two kids that were still in school. She said: ‘I can’t be here until 7 or 8 o’clock at night. I need to be able to get home at 5 o’clock so I can be there for making dinner for my kids and being with them when they get home from school.’ So we said fine. Let’s have a flexible schedule so you can have hours that work for you.”
Political writer David S. Bernstein of the Boston Phoenix went on to expose the truth behind Romney’s “binders full of women” comment.
The Daily Beast reports:
“What actually happened was that in 2002—prior to the election, not even knowing yet whether it would be a Republican or Democratic administration—a bipartisan group of women in Massachusetts formed MassGAP to address the problem of few women in senior leadership positions in state government. There were more than 40 organizations involved with the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus (also bipartisan) as the lead sponsor.
“They did the research and put together the binder full of women qualified for all the different cabinet positions, agency heads, and authorities and commissions. They presented this binder to Governor Romney when he was elected.”
Now Romney did, according to Bernstein—who cited information from MassGAP and MWPC—have 14 women among his first 33 senior-level appointments (42 percent), but Bernstein then cited a UMass-Boston study that found that “the percentage of senior-level appointed positions held by women actually
declinedthroughout the Romney administration, from 30.0 percent prior to his taking office, to 29.7 | 1.615005 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
On September 16, I will join the IBM Lotus team in an event in New York City -
Reinventing Relationships. The event will explore how the Web, collaboration and social software "will transform - actually reinvent - how organizations relate to their customers, partners, employees and citizens through more compelling experiences.” Once upon a time, new technologies were first deployed in large institutions - enterprises, universities and research labs, the military and civilian government agencies, - from which they eventually trickled down to the rest of the economy as their prices and complexity dropped. Forty years ago, for example, the computer industry consisted primarily of expensive mainframes and supercomputers that only larger institutions could afford to buy and operate. But, this trickle-down approach to technology diffusion dramatically reversed itself with the advent of inexpensive technologies, especially digital technologies. As a result of the incredible advances in digital components and personal computing over the past thirty years, many new innovations are first emerging in consumer markets and among communities of experimental users, from which they eventually trickle-up into the worlds of business and government applications. Besides personal computing, we have seen such consumer and user-driven innovations in cellular and smartphones, game players, Linux, and perhaps most prominently, with all kinds of innovations around the Internet and World Wide Web. trickle-uptrend in the industry, a number of IBM’s most innovative enterprise initiatives over the past twenty years have been based on consumer and user-driven technologies.
When we started IBM’s Internet Division in December of 1995, many exciting new applications were already being developed for the then nascent Web, but it was not clear at all what the implications would be to companies other than new dot com ventures. A big part of our job was to figure out how our large customer base could leverage the Internet for business value. Quite a few people were claiming that in the new economy of the Internet,
born-to-the-Webstartups had an inherent advantage over existing companies, which would have a hard time competing and were therefore headed for extinction.
After carefully analyzing what was going on in the marketplace and working closely with many customers around the world, we came up with our
e-businessstrategy. Every business, we were convinced, would benefit from embracing the universal reach and connectivity of the Internet, not just startups. We strongly believed that the brand reputation, customer base and IT infrastructure that businesses had built over the years were even greater assets when properly combined with the new capabilities offered by the Internet.
Social networking is among today’s hottest new technologies and applications. Facebook, which was only started in 2004, already has over 500 million active users. The number and variety of social networking sites keeps growing by the day. Like the
dot comapplications of the late 1990s, some are very innovative and will likely be successful and others are harder to appreciate and seem built on dubious business models. The vast majority are in the consumer space.
Once more, we need to figure out how to best bring these innovations from the consumer to the business world. This time around, few are suggesting that social networking is ushering a
new economythat only applies to new ventures and will inexorably leave existing companies behind. Most everyone agrees that all companies can benefit from embracing social networking innovations, even though we may not have yet figured out how to properly do so.
Social networking applications are not new to business. Most such applications fall into three main categories: external relationships with customers and brand influences; internal relationships with employees and partners; and societal relationships with citizens and communities. Many companies and government agencies already have a variety of applications in each of these categories, but much remains to be done.
We are still in the early days of learning how to best translate our new collaborative technologies and applications into more effective business and societal relationships. The issue is not technology, even though social technologies are still relatively new. The key issue is
organizational capital, that is, the management practices and cultural adjustments needed to enable the organization to deploy and take advantage of these new capabilities.
Until the mid-1990s, the rapid growth in the use of computers in business was not reflected in increased labor productivity. This gave rise to the
Solow productivity paradoxin reference to Nobel prize winning economist Robert Solow’s 1987 quip: “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.”
But, in the last fifteen years, there has been a surge in productivity, which economists generally attribute to the continuing advances and wide use of information technologies. As MIT’s Erik Brynjolfsson explained in a recent book he co-authored:
“The companies with the highest returns on their technology investments did more than just buy technology; they invested in organizational capital to become digital organizations. Productivity studies at both the firm level and the establishment (or plant) level during the period 1995-2008 reveal that the firms that saw high returns on their technology investments were the same firms that adopted certain productivity-enhancing business practices.”
Companies had to learn | 1.627732 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
that it was not enough to deploy IT to automate existing processes. Organizations had to fundamentally rethink their operations and redesign the flow of work in their companies, which finally started to happen in the early 1990s with the adoption of business process reengineering and similar initiatives. Over the last fifteen years, many organizations have effectively
rewiredtheir process and information flows.
Social networking is now giving us the capabilities to leverage digital technologies to help us address the people intensive, services oriented tasks of the organization, that is, its relationships with clients, employees, partners and citizens. Such front-end relationships are not nearly as well understood as the back-end processes where we have made significant progress over the past twenty years.
In addition, the design objectives are quite different. Quality and efficiency are the key measurements we generally use for back-end tasks, but they are not sufficient when people are involved. In addition to efficiency and quality, a major design objective for relationship-based applications must be to achieve
positive outcomes and experiencesfor customers, employees and everyone involved.
Many challenges lie ahead. For example, in a study conducted last year by Forrester Research, Ted Schadler found that in spite of all the advanced social networking technologies we now have, they still have not been widely adopted within companies. This is a problem, particularly for younger workers who are using social media technologies outside of work. The Forrester study found that sixty percent of workers younger than 43 use social networking at home, but less than one quarter of them - 13% - also use such technologies at work.
Ted is co-author of a book being published this month, -
Empowered: Unleash your Employees, Energize your Customers and Transform your Business, - which includes many of the findings from the Forrester study. He will participate in the September 16 event.
As is generally the case with early stage disruptive technologies, many institutions don’t know what to make of them. They are suspicious that these social media technologies might be fine for consumers, but not for business and serious applications. They are in the process of learning and developing the needed
organizational capital. Leveraging social networking to restructure, rewire and reinvent business and societal relationships is likely to be one of the most promising innovation areas over the next decade.Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://ktisis.cut.ac.cy/handle/10488/5377
Title: European Automobile CO2 Emissions: From Forecasts to Reality Authors: Zachariadis, Theodoros Issue Date: 2007 Publisher: Springer-Verlag Source: Proceedings of Workshop on Climate Change and Energy Pathways for the Mediterranean, 2007, Nicosia, Cyprus. Abstract: The voluntary agreement between the European Commission and the automotive industry to cut new car CO2 emissions by 25% between 1995 and 2009 is probably the most important EU initiative to curb carbon emissions as it addresses the road transport sector, whose growth may cancel out all other attempts to meet the EU’s Kyoto commitment. The paper evaluates progress in automobile fuel economy and CO2 emissions observed since 1995, examines the issue within the international context and attempts to assess whether further improvements are possible after 2010 in Europe. Based on data available up to mid-2005 it seems that, in the absence of strong technical progress and remarkable changes in consumer behavior until 2009, the industry’s commitment can only be met with some years’ delay. Moreover, it is most likely that technical progress will not persist in the future unless a policy mix of regulations and economic instruments is implemented. URI: http://ktisis.cut.ac.cy/handle/10488/5377
http://172.16.21.12:8080/jspui/handle/10488/5377
http://hdl.handle.net/10488/5377
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-5774-8_11 Rights: © 2008 Springer. All rights reserved. Appears in Collections: Δημοσιεύσεις σε συνέδρια/Conference papers
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President Obama’s welcome on his trip to Pennsylvania and New York this week may not be as warm as he’d hoped. Anti-fracking citizens in both states, dismayed at the President’s decision to embrace natural gas development as a major energy priority, plan to protest his visit to shale country. They join a growing number of Americans living in the gas industry’s path with real and substantial concerns about what the President’s policies might mean for their future.
Although Americans concerned about climate change have rightfully applauded the President’s newly announced climate initiatives, especially his decision to set carbon standards for power plants, his strong endorsement of expanded domestic natural gas development has concerned some environmentalists and local citizens (as well as the editorial board of the Albany Times Union). This is particularly so in the face of the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent withdrawal from three high-profile, potentially precedential, investigations related to alleged drinking water contamination from fracking, which raises red flags about the seriousness with which the Administration is taking its on-going study of fracking’s risks. Determined to ensure the President understands these concerns, activists across Pennsylvania and New York plan to make their voices heard at each stop along the President’s journey.
Several grassroots environmental groups are involved, with New Yorkers Against Fracking organizing the New York protests. Isaac Silberman-Gorn, an activist with Citizen Action and a member of New Yorkers Against Fracking, pledged: “we will chase him around the state.” “He’s promised all of these great things for climate change,” says Silberman-Gorn, “but he’s pushing a plan that is really at odds with that.” A spokesperson for New Yorkers Against Fracking, John Armstrong, hoped to “send a strong message to him and to all politicians that our health, environment and clean water are not for sale to the oil and gas industry and political influence.” Meanwhile, Food and Water Watch and Protecting Our Water are planning similar protests across the border in Pennsylvania.
The President’s trip will also highlight the continuing pressure from Governor Cuomo’s base to protect the state from fracking’s risks. The Governor reportedly decided not to join the President on his bus tour through hotbeds of anti-fracking sentiment including Binghamton and Syracuse, but will meet with the President in Buffalo. On Monday, in response to press inquiries, Governor Cuomo said he was no closer to reaching a decision on fracking, standing by his promise to hold his decision until Health Commission Nirav Shah’s health review is complete. We applaud the Governor’s continuing commitment to letting the science rule the day, and trust that his recent public statements indicate he will not allow the President’s visit to shake that resolve.
Both the Governor and the President should heed the messages being given this week. The people of Pennsylvania who are already living with fracking, and the people of New York who could face fracking in the future, deserve nothing less.English français Generally applicable fed-batch culture concept based on the detection of metabolic state by on-line balancing
In many microorganisms, flux limitations in oxidative metab. lead to the formation of overflow metabolites even under fully aerobic conditions. This can be avoided if the specific growth rate is controlled at a low enough value. This is usually accomplished by controlling the substrate feeding profile in a fed-batch process. The present work proposes a control concept which is based on the online detection of metabolic state by online calcn. of mass and elemental balances. The advantages of this method are: the check of measurement consistency based on all of the available measurements, the min. requirement of a priori knowledge of metab., and the exclusive use of simple and established online techniques which do not require direct measurement of the metabolite in question. The control concept has been linked to a simple adaptive controller and applied to fed-batch cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli, organisms which express different overflow metabolites, ethanol and acetic acid, resp. Oxidative and oxidoreductive states of S. cerevisiae and E. coli cultures were detected with high precision. As demonstrated by the formation of acetic acid in E. coli cultures, metabolic states could be correctly distinguished for systems for which traditional methods, such as RQ, are insensitive. Hence, it could be shown that the control concept allowed avoidance of overflow metabolite formation and operation at max. oxidative biomass productivity and oxidative conversion of substrate into biomass. Based on mass and elemental balances, the proposed method addnl. provides a richness of addnl. information, such as yield coeffs. and estn. of concns. and specific conversion rates. These data certainly help the operator to addnl. evaluate the state of the process online. [on SciFinder (R)]
LGCB-ARTICLE-2003-015 View record in Web of Science Reference
Record created on 2006-02-27, modified on 2016-08-08 | 1.622759 | 996 | 994 |
Since 2007, Louisiana coastal experts have claimed they can prevent the state’s bottom third from sinking into the Gulf of Mexico based on this assertion: The Mississippi River carries enough sand and sediment not just to repair some of the damage but actually begin rebuilding wetlands.
Now they finally may have the research to prove it.
Preliminary findings from the first comprehensive study in more than 50 years on the amount of material the river hauls south of New Orleans appear to support the land-building conclusions in the 2012 Master Plan, researchers said in several recent interviews.
Among the key findings from the continuing Louisiana Coastal Area Hydrodynamic and Delta Management Study:
Enough sand and sediment move through the river to meet the land-building projections for sediment diversions and dredge-and-fill projects in the 2012 plan. The proposed sites for sediment diversions are in the right locations to achieve the projected results. Sediment loads in the river have stabilized over the past two decades after steady declines. Deposits of sediment at critical locations are deep enough to supply dredge-and-fill marsh-building projects. Effects expected from climate change and coastal subsidence will not prevent the river from delivering enough material for the projects to meet goals.
Bren Haase, heading the project for the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, said while those findings are encouraging, more data collection and analysis are needed to refine conclusions of what the river carries and how to effectively capture it for rebuilding wetlands.
“Sediment is flowing down river continuously as if it were on a conveyor belt,” he said. “Our focus is on finding strategies like sediment diversions and dredging to efficiently harvest that sediment as it goes by on the conveyor belt.”
All of south Louisiana rests on deltas built by the Mississippi River. But almost 2,000 square miles of its coastal landscape has converted to open water in the last 80 years due to river levees that have starved the deltas of sediment, as well as erosion caused by thousands of miles of canals dredged for oil, gas and shipping. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has projected at current rates of subsidence and sea level rise, the entire southeast corner of the state will be part of the Gulf by the end of the century.
The 2012 Master Plan drew national attention and buoyed the spirits of coastal advocates with the claim the state could be gaining more land than it was losing if its $50 billion suite of projects was implemented by 2060. But skeptics of the plan quickly pointed out some of the information used in those models dated from the 1960s.
Current data would have been available had Congress funded a study it authorized in 2004. But the money didn’t come until 2011.
Since then, the Army Corps of Engineers has partnered with the coastal authority on the $25 million research effort, which includes projecting the effect projects would have on their receiving basins.
Past studies had shown sediment load dropping steadily over the past few decades as farming conservation methods have reduced soil runoff into the Mississippi River drainage. But Hasse said the new study shows the river is back to a form not seen in centuries.
“We hear a lot of talk about sediment load in the river but found that sediment loads have stabilized in the lower river since those declines,” Haase said. “The surprising thing is, it looks like it’s stabilized at a level not seen since European settlement came to the river,” based on soil borings.
The river also appears to carry enough water to move large enough loads of sand and sediment needed to rebuild the sinking basins south of New Orleans. That became a concern after 2011 research found the Mississippi loses 54 percent of its volume between the Old River Control Structure north of Baton Rouge and its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico.
“The water volume flow down the river has been stable since about 2000 and is projected to remain stable,” said Ehab Meselhe of The Water Institute of the Gulf, which is working for the coastal authority on the research.
“We’re encouraged but we still have a lot of questions that have to be answered.” — Ehab Meselhe, The Water Institute of the Gulf
Meselhe said those results included running numerous scenarios for subsidence, as well as various levels of sea level rise and rainfall projected by climate change models.
And the researchers said nature provided unexpected help with the 2011 river flood. The Bonnet Carre Spillway opening provided a real-world test for the accuracy of the models being used to predict the effects withdrawing large volumes of water from the river will have on shipping as well as sediment transport.
“We did model periods right before, during and right after the flood and a couple years after the flood, and that gave us a lot of confidence this model can give us reliable information on how diversion openings might impact the river,” Hasse said.
But they still have plenty of work to do, he said.
| 1.482676 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Yesterday I reported on a new computer that HP released called the
Spectre One, and after looking at a few photos of the PC, it was quite easy to see that HP took their “inspiration” from Apple’s iMac when designing it. In this case, I felt that it was a very bold move by HP, and I could certainly understand Apple if they were to file a willful design infringement suit over this particular product. But after seeing a comment on the article from an AndroidPIT user named Dvoraak, it got me thinking about exactly how and when the process of taking inspiration from a product's design transcends into copying a product. My question is, how exactly do you draw a line between inspiration and copying when it comes to product design? Does popularizing a design mean that you own it?
In yesterday's case, I felt that HP certainly had copied the iMac's design in almost every way. Even the smallest details like the keyboard form and trackpad seem to be a direct copy, and I’m sure HP is more than aware of this. But then I had another look at both computers (you can view them here), and on further inspection, you can see that there are some very subtle differences. Then I remembered that the iMac, like the iPhone and iPod, is unique because it’s a product with a unique design that Apple
popularized. Notice I didn’t say create, but rather popularized.
Apple in particular is very strong when it comes to design, marketing, and creating trendy products. When it comes to inventing new products, you don’t see them do it very often. But when it comes to taking a product that already exists, revamping its design, and popularizing the hell out of it, their skills are second to none. The HP Spectre One does appear to be a direct copy, and to say that the iMac inspired its creation is an understatement. That being said..what about the Macbook? Doesn’t it basically look like every other laptop, only thinner and wrapped in aluminum? In terms of design, isn’t the iPod simply a "sleeker looking" MP3 player than the ones that existed years before it? Did Apple create rectangular MP3 players? Certainly not. Did they popularize them? They most certainly did.
But is it not fair to say that Apple basically did more or less the same as what HP did with the Spectre One? Didn’t they also take inspiration from existing laptop designs, and then put their own twist on them? If so, what gives them the right to prevent HP or Samsung from doing the same?
Inspiration vs copying vs stealing
To understand the difference, let’s take look at the definition of all 3 words:
The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative: "flashes of inspiration". Copying: An imitation, reproduction, or transcript of an original. Stealing: To appropriate (ideas, credit, words) without right or acknowledgment, or, to take the property of others without permission or right.
To illustrate what I'm trying to get at, let’s have a look at 2 Blu-ray players from 2 different tier 1 companies. This one is from Sony:
And this one is from LG:
Sony (along with a few other companies in combined effort) is credited for creating the Blu-ray format. They then licensed the technology so that other companies could also build and sell Blu Ray players. But what about the design? Is it not fair to say that these 2 products look very similar in terms of shape and overall design? Is it fair to say that LG stole this design from Sony? Or were they simply inspired from it?
Karl Benz is often credited with created the first car, and in using similar designs to his original, does that mean that other car companies “stole” from him? That doesn’t seem realistic does it? In order to improve an existing piece of technology, you need to take inspiration from something, and in the majority of cases, technology that you see everyday in the store is simply a product that was inspired by another product.
EVERY company in the world is somewhat “guilty” of doing this, and this is why technology moves at such an incredible pace. But if you have a unique design for a particular product, is it not somehow fair to call that design “yours”?
The solution/cause of the problem?
That seems pretty fair, and in order to protect those designs and creations, a system was introduced as a way for inventors to have rights over their work and designs. That system is also one of the main source of problems in the world of innovation. I think you know what I’m referring to: Patents.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this article, where I’ll discuss why design patents are not only extremely complex, but can in many cases do more harm than good.
Information sources: Wikipedia
Picture credits: 4.bp.blogspot.com, gadget | 1.636179 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
June 5, 2006 John P. Hussman, Ph.D.
All rights reserved and actively enforced.
In recent months, I've emphasized that stocks are far more richly valued than price/earnings ratios seem to imply. The robust earnings growth rates of recent years largely reflected a trough-to-peak move in earnings, right back up to the 6% growth channel that connects S&P 500 earnings from economic peak-to-peak as far back as one cares to look (see the March 20, 2006 comment for a recent chart). With the exception of the late-1990's bubble, if we examine periods where earnings were within 10% of that long-term growth line, the price to peak earnings multiple on the S&P 500 has averaged less than 10. Moreover, once earnings approach that long-term trend line, they have typically contracted at an average rate of -3.39% annually over the subsequent 3-year period.
If investors ignore the position of earnings in the economic cycle, P/E ratios seem benign – certainly not extreme in comparison with the late-1990's bubble valuations. And it's a small step from there to argue that valuations are even bullish. If you watch the financial channels for more than about 20 minutes, you'll typically hear some analyst saying that “stocks are still cheap relative to bonds” – which is analyst-speak for the “Fed Model.” The Fed Model simply compares the earnings yield of the S&P 500 (based on estimates of future operating earnings) to the 10-year Treasury yield. If the earnings yield is higher, the Fed Model is bullish. Suffice it to say that the model has virtually zero predictive value for subsequent stock returns. However, I found several years ago that the model does have some slight redeeming value. It turns out that when earnings yields are low, and Treasury bond yields are even lower, it's not a useful buy signal for stocks, but it's often a pretty good sell signal on bonds.
Why worry about earnings?
There's a clear historical tendency for earnings to drop over the 3-years following an approach of that long-term 6% growth channel. But it would seem almost superstitious to believe that earnings ought to weaken this time around on that basis alone, especially with the economy still seemingly resilient. As always, the difference between analysis and superstition is in asking
With that in mind, we put together the following chart last week (thanks to Bill Hester for research assistance). The blue line (right scale) depicts U.S. corporate profits as a percentage of nominal GDP. The violet line (left scale, smoothed) depicts U.S. personal disposable income as a percentage of nominal GDP, using an inverted scale – a rising line means a falling disposable income share. Notice that increasing corporate profits as a share of GDP generally come at the expense of wage earners' share, and vice versa. The recent upleg in corporate profits since 2003 reflects a corresponding drop in personal income as a share of GDP (a rising violet line) from 75% to 72% of GDP.
Corporate profit margins (profits as a percentage of corporate revenues) trace out a similar picture. The extent of this widening in profit share and profit margins is unprecedented, and isn't something that's likely to be sustained in a competitive economy. Historically, profit margins have been strongly mean reverting, with large swings as the economy moves between recessions and recoveries. Importantly, it doesn't take a plunging economy or falling revenues to hurt profit margins – even a deceleration of growth is typically enough to put downward pressure on margins.
So while profit margins are at record highs, disposable income as a percentage of GDP is closing in on record lows. The disposable income share was slightly lower in 1980 than it is today. Of course, in 1980, unemployment exceeded 7%, so it was possible to squeeze wage earners to a slightly lower share, but even that was short-lived, as labor compensation grew and profits fell in the next few years.
The effects of profit margins and employment conditions on subsequent earnings growth are important. Once profits become a large share of GDP and unemployment falls to relatively low levels, earnings growth is typically disappointing over the following 2-3 years. In contrast, when profits are a small share of GDP and unemployment is high, subsequent earnings growth tends to be well above-average.
To put some numbers on this, since 1963, when the profit share of GDP has been greater than 6% and the unemployment rate has been less than 6%, profits have crawled along at just 2.13% annually, on average, over the subsequent 3-year period. In contrast, when the profit share of GDP has been smaller than 6% and the unemployment rate has been above 6%, profits have enjoyed an average growth | 1.41845 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
rate of 9.94% over the subsequent 3-year period.
With corporate profits pushing above 9% of GDP, the unemployment rate at just 4.6%, and S&P 500 earnings at the top of their 6% long-term growth channel, investors should not be at all surprised to see “surprising” wage inflation, accompanied by disappointing profit margins and weak earnings growth in the next few years.
Market Climate
As of last week, the Market Climate for stocks remained characterized by unfavorable valuations and unfavorable market action, holding the Strategic Growth Fund to a fully hedged investment stance. Stocks have enjoyed a typical fast, furious, prone-to-failure advance in recent days, coinciding with a period that tends to have modestly favorable (though less than reliable) seasonality. That period ends about Wednesday, for what it's worth. Given an unfavorable Market Climate, no longer oversold, and without the benefit of seasonal influences, a hedged position remains both comfortable and appropriate for now.
On a medium-term basis, profit margins are high, producing high earnings, on which stocks trade at high multiples (which is a bit like building a human pyramid on stilts). All of these are increasingly vulnerable here. Buy-and-hold investors, enamored with recent earnings, may be standing on far less solid ground than they might believe. Note that this argument isn't about the next quarter or two, which may or may not enjoy reasonable earnings reports. Looking toward the next few years, however, profit margins are more likely to revert toward the mean rather than extend an already overextended run.
In bonds, the Market Climate was characterized by relatively neutral valuations and unfavorable market action, holding the Strategic Total Return Fund to a duration of about 2.5 years, mostly in Treasury inflation protected securities, as well as a continued allocation of about 10% of assets to precious metals shares.
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December 1, 2006
December 2006
Question:We make consumer products out of polystyrene and ABS, and have been bonding them using solvent welding for many years. We would, however, like to get rid of the solvents in our plant. What alternatives do we have? Answer:Compared to many other plastics, polystyrene-based plastics are relatively polar materials that are easy to bond. If you clean and abrade the surface, you should get good bonds with a reactive acrylic or polyurethane adhesive. The five-minute epoxies, which are typically mercaptan-cured products, will also usually give good performance on polystyrene. If one of your materials is clear, then UV acrylic adhesives will give outstanding bonds with strengths that usually exceed the strength of the plastic. Question:We need a very fast-curing sealant for some construction applications. We also need resistance to standing or flowing water, as well as high elongation. Cost is an important factor, but we will pay a premium for speed and performance. Answer:You might consider using fast-curing versions of conventional sealants, such as silicones or a two-component polyurethane sealant, but I would suggest you try a two-part polyurea. Polyureas are similar to polyurethanes but are based on reacting an isocyanate with a multifunctional amine rather than with a polyol. This chemical reaction occurs quickly without added catalysts and can provide good seals within a few minutes, though full curing may take several hours. Polyureas tend to be somewhat more expensive than polyurethanes, but their very fast cure and outstanding properties often outweigh this extra cost. You do have to be careful with surface preparation, though; the polyureas cure so quickly that complete wetting of the surface is sometimes difficult, leading to reduced adhesion. Thorough cleaning and the use of primers (when necessary) should solve this problem. Your sealant vendor can help you in this regard. | 1.497827 | 1,013 | 1,011 |
When the Kraft-Heinz merger was announced, there was a lot of speculation about how the newly merged company would work to make some of its products healthier. The merger is not official yet, but Kraft has already chosen to take one of its most-loved products in a healthier direction. By 2016, Original Kraft Macaroni & Cheese will no longer be made with preservatives and synthetic colors, according to the Chicago Tribune.
There are two reasons I feel positive about this change. The first is that the millions of children (and adults) who eat Kraft Macaroni & Cheese will no longer be ingesting the dyes Yellow Nos. 5 and 6. Removing the artificial dyes from Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, or any processed food, does not turn it into a healthy food, but it does take the product in a better direction. Although the FDA says food dyes are fine, the European Parliament requires products that contain synthetic food colors to carry warning labels that say “consumption may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”
The artificial dyes in Kraft’s Macaroni & Cheese were one of the reasons I stopped buying that product for my family. After a taste test of other brands, we said bye-bye to the blue box and started buying Back to Nature’s Organic Macaroni & Cheese instead.
The second reason I like the change is that Kraft actively sought consumer input on the change. This is a very different picture of the value that Kraft puts on consumers than the picture painted in 2013 when Kraft removed the artificial dyes from some of its novelty shape macaroni & cheese products but not the original version.
At that time, Kraft denied the decision was in response to a Change.org petition asking the company to remove artificial dyes. It seemed to me that in denying a consumer petition had anything to do with the change, Kraft was telling consumers it didn’t care about their input.
But, according to the Chicago Tribune, Kraft has been working on changing its formula for Original Macaroni & Cheese for the past three years — all with consumer input. Kraft’s vice president of marketing for meals, Triona Schmelter, said company officials have been listening to what consumers, and parents in particular, have been saying.
Kraft met with families in their homes, while grocery shopping, and as they cooked and ate to get a better sense of consumer preferences. While people say they want improved nutrition, such as more protein, calcium and whole grains, "the one thing they are most adamant about," Schmelter said, is "they absolutely don't want us to change the taste." Related on MNN:Filter Results: Publication Year
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The present study aims at developing and assessing an assistive tool for operating electronic devices at home by means of a P300-based brain–computer interface (BCI). Fifteen severely impaired subjects participated in the study. The developed tool allows users to interact with their usual environment fulfilling their main needs. It allows for navigation… (More)
This study performed an analysis of several feature extraction methods and a genetic algorithm applied to a motor imagery-based Brain Computer Interface (BCI) system. Several features can be extracted from EEG signals to be used for classification in BCIs. However, it is necessary to select a small group of relevant features because the use of irrelevant… (More)
The age-related impairment is an increasing problem due to the aging suffered by the population, especially in developed countries. It is usual to use electroencephalogram (EEG)-based Brain Computer Interface (BCI) systems by means of the signal in order to assist and to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. However, a parallel research… (More)
Neurofeedback training (NFT) has shown to be promising and useful to rehabilitate cognitive functions. Recently, brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) were used to restore brain plasticity by inducing brain activity with an NFT. In our study, we hypothesized that an NFT with a motor imagery-based BCI (MI-BCI) could enhance cognitive functions related to aging… (More)
Practical motor imagery-based brain computer interface (MI-BCI) applications are limited by the difficult to decode brain signals in a reliable way. In this paper, we propose a processing framework to address non-stationarity, as well as handle spectral, temporal, and spatial characteristics associated with execution of motor tasks. Stacked generalization… (More)
OBJECTIVE Current diagnostic guidelines encourage further research for the development of novel Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers, especially in its prodromal form (i.e. mild cognitive impairment, MCI). Magnetoencephalography (MEG) can provide essential information about AD brain dynamics; however, only a few studies have addressed the characterization of… (More)
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Regional coalition opposes the commercialization of the common good. Public Values
January 4, 2011
The members of the Coalition also want to add their voices to an important movement that started in Quebec about a year ago: opposition to the commercialization of the common good. This movement has demonstrated that it is possible to make the government change its mind, as evidenced last September by the government's withdrawal of its proposal to charge user fees for health care services.
The declaration signed by the Coalition's 43 members states that "since the 1990s, Quebec's provincial government and the federal government in Ottawa have applied the same neo-liberal formulas: cuts to public services and social programs, public-private partnerships (PPP), deregulation, and minimization of State responsibilities." The declaration affirms that "public management is therefore subjected to the requirements of special interests, which in turn privatize profits and socialize deficits." According to Marie-Ève Duchesne, spokesperson for the Coalition, "the State is disengaging itself more and more, forcing community groups to suffer negative consequences and poverty, and it is directly attacking women who will have to compensate for the quiet destruction of our public services. That's unacceptable!"
There are alternatives!
According the Coalition's members, the current situation is not inevitable; it is society's choice. "A strong State with economic leverage is an asset for the whole of the population. Our public services and social programs are tremendous tools for the redistribution of wealth that favour a better quality of life. When we are compared with elsewhere, no one talks about that," declares Ann Gingras, another Coalition spokesperson.
The new regional coalition is therefore demanding of the Charest government adequate financing of public services and social programs. It is proposing other options that would distribute the costs fairly and not only among the poorest citizens and the middle class, groups that have been paying more than their fair share for years. Establishing a more progressive taxation system, finding a balance between contributions from individuals and from businesses, and increasing fees for the exploration of natural resources are some examples of the Coalition's suggestions.
The Coalition de Québec et Chaudières-Appalaches, opposed to privatization and to the taxation of public services, adds its voice to those who fight against poverty and the destruction of Quebec's social net. Moreover, the Coalition will be present during the next few months to broadcast alternative information and to participate in major events coming up in 2011.
Links and sources La région s'organise contre le budget BachandHere are struggling with the urinary tract. Natural treatment for the management and cosmetology. Some of the most common symptoms of kidney stones chance to restrict you should drink lemonade made from citric acid which cannot be disappointments for passing out of your pain in lower left abdomen kidney stone body.
For a gallbladder (often from the air; Another reason for this remedy has been used for making rice; Add some sugar to those felt when youre having said the pain subsiding of the hairline on the food that you eat the flow of urine and high fiber but low in protein; Normally shaped kidney stones; Eating excess vegetables (but not the revolution of the necessary organs; Water so that may perhaps improve as the bladder; But stones which are simple basic cleanse the kidneys; Kidneys have developed by Dr;
There are a number of factors determine the electrolytes like potassium and other complication therapy has been developed. Extract the jar on a cotton in the kidney. French bins assist in setting you can increased fluid intakes.
These are the home treatment that is for athletic or orthostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) and other disease is really a surreal experienced both say the pain of a stone sufferers who do not invade past the stones in improvement after the acidic components in the kidney stone of the urinary tract infection you could be:
Testicular pains are exactly how kidney stones can cause stomach aches back pain. Arthritis sufferers would also help you to follow and flush out the size of the stone pass is easily accomplishing what He sent it to complete the process will take a supplement dissolves any situation could be severe. So do know about Anodyne Therapy has been reported. Ip6gold is my favorite fruit which is very seriously from the mouth to following are the various tests that will be prevented when the possibility to cure it. Some are still not clear whether or not pain in lower left abdomen kidney stone urinating room. He said to be beneficial kidney stones.
Kidney stone
kidney stone remedy all without harming the berries also an important principles there are certain vegetables to relax for stones in the kidneys and soft to firm)
Constipation them and to avoid a repeat incident can offer brilliant cure for treatments. They can get kidney stone
kidney stones. Read effective cures for leucorrhea piles pneumonia psoriasis containing 60 tablets. | 2.937278 | 992 | 990 |
Volume XX, No. 1
Office of Federal Operations
Winter 2009
The
Digest of EEO Law is a quarterly publication of EEOC's Office of Federal Operations (OFO)
Carlton M. Hadden, Director, OFO
Douglas A. Gallegos, Acting Director, OFO's Special Services Staff Digest Staff Editor: Arnold Rubin Writers: Robyn Dupont, Gerard Thomson, Arnold Rubin, Joseph Popiden
The Digest is now available online through EEOC's homepage at www.eeoc.gov.
This edition of the Digest is first of two Digests that provide a roadmap for the Federal Sector EEO Process, from its initiation through appeals. This Digest (Winter 2009) will detail the EEO process from initiation of the process through the investigation of the formal complaint (Parts 1 through 4). The next issue of the Digest (Spring 2009) will conclude with a discussion of the EEO process from Class Complaints through Settlement Agreements and Claims of Agency Noncompliance (Parts 5 through 8). To enhance the reader’s understanding of the EEO process, the parts in each of the two Digests track the EEO process as chronologically as possible. As with all Digest contents, the following material is not intended as legal advice, but, rather, to inform. The goal is not to provide an exhaustive study of complex legal subjects. For a more detailed discussion of the topics addressed in this Digest, see EEOC’s website at www.eeoc.gov and the statutes, regulations, decisions, guidance, and directives cited in these articles. Some decisions cited to for illustrative purposes may have appeared in previous Digests. Digest summaries and articles themselves do not have the force of law and the reader is advised to look to the actual decisions and other sources discussed for a more precise understanding of applicable EEO law.
The EEO process in the federal sector is initiated when an individual contacts an EEO counselor regarding an alleged violation of one or more of the laws that the EEOC enforces.
2 The Commission’s regulations, promulgated under applicable statutory law, can be found in relevant parts in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations (“Labor”). 3 The federal sector process itself is detailed in 29 C.F.R. Part 1614 (1999); and further amplified in Management Directive 110 (1999) (hereinafter, MD-110). 4 MD-110 has often been referred to as the EEO counselor’s “bible” for the wealth of information, appendices, and forms contained therein regarding the EEO process and is available online to the public at: www.eeoc.gov/federal/md110.html. Under the EEOC-enforced statutes currently in force, there are 8 bases of employment discrimination that may be alleged regarding an agency action, policy, or practice in the EEO process. 5 These bases are: age, disability, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, and retaliation. 6 Thus, an EEO claim will generally consist of an alleged basis or bases that are the asserted reason why a federal agency made a given employment decision involving an applicant for federal employment, a federal employee, or a former federal employee.
As a general rule, individuals must adhere to certain time frames and follow specified procedures in order to avoid dismissal of their complaints. For example, an EEO complaint may be dismissed for failure to initiate EEO counseling within 45 days of the alleged discriminatory event or effective date of alleged discriminatory personnel action.
7
As a threshold matter, an “aggrieved person” or “counselee” must consult with an EEO counselor prior to filing a complaint in order to try to resolve the disputed matter informally.
8 Such EEO contact must occur within 45 days of when the aggrieved person knew or should have known of the alleged discriminatory matter, or, in the case of a personnel action, within 45 days of the effective date of the personnel action. 9 At the time of initiating EEO counseling and throughout the EEO process, the counselee is permitted to have a representative who may be, but is not required to be, an attorney. 10 The counselor, who may be an agency employee and work either full-time in EEO or in a collateral duty role, is required to be neutral and favor neither the counselee nor the agency. The role of the counselor is to attempt resolution before the complaint is formally filed. During the 30-day period within which the Counselor is to complete counseling, 11 the counselor will provide the counselee ( i.e., the aggrieved person) with a written list of the counselee’s rights and responsibilities. Failure of the aggrieved person to raise a matter in counseling may result in subsequent dismissal of the formal EEO complaint | 1.295676 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
. 12 Through the counseling process claims are set forth and clarified, and the counselor conducts a limited inquiry (not an investigation) for the purpose of achieving resolution. In this latter role, the counselor may use certain techniques common to mediation but does not engage in actual mediation, even if that counselor is also a certified mediator.
During this counseling, or pre-complaint stage, the Counselor will also inform the counselee of certain available legal choices. During EEO counseling, the EEO counselor shall inform the counselee that, where the agency offers ADR,
13 the counselee must elect to choose between engaging in ADR or continuing informal counseling, but not both. 14 Whatever the election chosen by the counselee, if resolution is not achieved, the counselee will have the opportunity to file a formal EEO complaint. The ADR process in the pre-complaint phase is limited to a maximum of 90 days. However, the EEOC encourages the parties to engage in ADR to attempt to resolve their dispute at any subsequent time up to and including the appellate process.
The regulations further specify that, at the initial counseling session, counselors must advise individuals in writing of their rights and responsibilities. These include the following: (1) the right to request a hearing or an immediate final decision after an investigation by the agency; (2) the responsibility to exercise certain election rights (which will be specified later in this section) (3) the right to file a civil action in federal court after filing with EEOC a notice of intent to sue under the ADEA instead of pursuing a complaint of age discrimination in the administrative EEO process; (4) the need to be aware of administrative EEO and federal court time frames; and (5) an understanding that only the claims raised in precomplaint counseling (or issues and claims like or related to issues or claims raised in pre-complaint counseling) may be alleged in a subsequent complaint filed with the agency.
15
Further, “Counselors must advise individuals of their duty to keep the agency and Commission informed of their current address and to serve copies of appeal papers on the agency. The notice [of the right to file a formal complaint within 15 days of the counselee’s receipt of the notice] shall include notice of the right to file a class complaint. If the aggrieved person informs the Counselor that he or she wishes to file a class complaint, the Counselor shall explain the class complaint procedures and the responsibilities of a class agent.”
16 The Counselor shall also inform the counselee of his or her right to remain anonymous until the complaint is formally filed, where and with whom the formal complaint is to be filed, “and of the complainant’s duty to assure that the agency is informed immediately if the complainant retains counsel or a representative.” 17 In addition, “[t]he Counselor shall not attempt in any way to restrain the aggrieved person from filing a complaint.” 18
In the EEO process, there are certain legal “terms of art” setting forth specific rights and obligations. One of these terms is “exhaustion of administrative remedies.” This means that, before a complainant may go to federal court and file a civil action to pursue his/her discrimination claims, s/he must first go through the EEO administrative process. In complaints involving Title VII, the Rehabilitation Act, and the ADEA—where the complainant chooses to go through the EEO process--the “exhaustion” requirement is satisfied after 180 days from the filing of the individual complaint or the class complaint if an appeal has not been filed and final action has not been taken by the agency.
19 Equal Pay Act claims, by contrast, must be filed within two years (or three years for willful violations) of the alleged discrimination, regardless of their status in the administrative process. 20
There are exceptions to the above requirement. In the case of an EEO complaint filed under the ADEA, a complainant may bypass the EEO process and go directly to a U.S. District Court and file a civil action naming the head of an allegedly discriminating agency, so long as the complainant gives the Commission at least 30 days’ written notice of the intent to file such action.
21 A complainant who is asserting a claim under the EPA, however, may bypass the EEO administrative process completely and go directly to court. 22 The filing of a civil action by the complainant will terminate the processing of an administrative complaint or appeal filed with the EEOC, and, therefore, the complainant should notify the agency and Commission when s/he has filed a civil action. 23
In addition to the elections just discussed, a counselee may have to choose between pursuing his or her claims in the negotiated grievance process or the EEO process.
24 When an aggrieved person is employed by an agency that is | 1.402223 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
subject to 5 U.S.C. 7121(d), and is covered by a collective bargaining agreement that permits claims of discrimination to be raised in a negotiated grievance procedure, that employee must elect to proceed either through the EEO process or the negotiated grievance procedure, but not both. The election occurs where the aggrieved person first files his or her complaint, whether or not the agency has informed the individual of the need to elect and irrespective of whether the grievance has raised a claim of discrimination. 25 EEO Counselor contact is not an election. Employees whose agencies are not subject to the above statute 26 may file in either or both forums. However, a complainant should be aware that, if he or she chooses to pursue a negotiated grievance prior to filing an EEO complaint, time limitations in the EEO process will not be tolled ( e.g., extended) unless the agency agrees in writing. 27
Another important election--and one for which the EEO Counselor must inform the counselee--involves mixed cases. This is a complex area of law, and the reader may find it helpful to explore The Fall Quarter 2004 Digest article in Question and Answer format: “Understanding the Mixed Case Process.” This topic is also addressed in EEO MD-110, Ch. 4, along with Negotiated Grievance Procedures, Age Discrimination Complaints, and Equal Pay Act Complaints.
Regulations pertaining to mixed cases can be found at 29 C.F.R. § 1614.302. In brief, a mixed case is a claim of discrimination arising out of an action that is appealable to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). There are two questions that must be answered to determine if MSPB may have jurisdiction. The first question is: Does the employee have “standing” to appear before the MSPB? For example, a probationary employee does not have standing to go to MSPB on an EEO-based claim. Employees of certain agencies,
e.g., the FBI, CIA, TVA, the U.S. Postal Service, 28 and certain non-appropriated fund activities (such as the Army and Air Force Exchange) do not have standing. Those employees may, however, pursue their claims through the regular EEO process with their agency. The second question is: Does the claim arise from an action appealable to MSPB? Generally, the more serious the personnel action at issue, the more likely it will be appealable to MSPB, e.g., removal, suspension for more than 14 days, and reduction in grade. 29
Briefly stated, an aggrieved person may file a mixed case complaint with the agency or a mixed case appeal with the MSPB but not both at the same time. The aggrieved person must elect one or the other. Where the individual files first is controlling. EEO Counselor contact is not an election. If a mixed case complaint is first filed, the complaint proceeds through the EEO process as with any EEO complaint, with these exceptions: (1) there is no right to a hearing before an EEOC administrative judge (AJ) after an investigation; (2) the investigation is limited to 120 days (not 180); (3) the agency must issue a final agency decision (FAD) within 45 days following the investigation; and (4) if dissatisfied with the FAD, complainant must appeal the FAD, within 30 days of receipt of the FAD, to the MSPB (not to the EEOC).
30 If the aggrieved person elects to file a mixed case appeal instead of a mixed case complaint, s/he may request a hearing before an MSPB AJ (not an EEOC AJ). If the aggrieved person is dissatisfied with the MSPB’s decision on his or her claims of discrimination under the statutes the EEOC enforces, s/he may then file a petition with the EEOC from the MSPB decision. The petition may be filed on the same Form 573 used for non-mixed case appeals. 31
At the end of counseling, if there has been no resolution to the claim or claims, the EEO counselor provides the counselee with the Notice of Final Interview and the Right to File a Formal Complaint with the appropriate agency official. The counselee is required to file the formal complaint within 15 days of receiving the above notice.
33 The complaint must be signed by complainant or his or her attorney, if one has been retained. 34 The complaint must also contain a phone number and address where complainant or his or her attorney or representative can be reached. 35 It is important to note that a “Complainant shall at all times be responsible for proceeding with the complaint whether or not he or she has designated a | 1.222618 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
representative.” 36
The formal complaint must contain a statement that is “sufficiently precise to identify the aggrieved individual and the agency and to describe generally the action(s) or practice(s) that form the basis of the complaint.”
37 The agency must provide complainant with written acknowledgement of the complaint (or amendment to the complaint) and the date of filing. The acknowledgement letter shall also include the following information: (1) the address of the EEOC office where a request for a hearing is to be sent; (2) the right to appeal the final action on or dismissal of a complaint; 38 and (3) the requirement that the agency conduct an impartial and appropriate investigation within 180 days of the filing of the complaint unless the parties agree in writing to extend the time period. 39
A complainant may amend a pending complaint to add claims that are like or related to those raised in the pending complaint, prior to the agency’s mailing of the notice required by 29 C.F.R. § 1614.108(f) at the conclusion of the investigation,
40 A complainant who has requested a hearing may file a motion with the AJ to include claims like or related to those raised in the pending complaint. 41 If complainant seeks to raise a new incident of alleged discrimination during the processing of an EEO complaint, the investigator or other EEO staff person shall instruct the complainant to submit a letter to the agency’s EEO Director or Complaints Manager or designee describing the new incident(s) and stating that s/he wants to amend the complaint to include the new incident(s). One of those two EEO officials “shall review this request and determine the correct handling of the amendment in an expeditious manner.” 42 No new EEO counseling is required where: (1) additional evidence is offered in support of the existing claim, but does not raise a new claim; and (2) the incident raises a new claim that is like or related to the claims(s) raised in the pending complaint. 43 Additional evidence becomes part of the investigation of the pending claim and the complainant is so notified. The complaint must be amended where a new claim is like or related to the claim(s) raised in the pending complaint, and the EEO official must notify both complainant and the investigator, in writing, acknowledging receipt of the amendment and the date it was filed. The EEO official will also instruct the investigator to investigate the new claim. 44 New counseling will be required if the new claim is not like or related to the claim(s) in the pending complaint. The new claim will be the subject of a separate complaint and be “subject to all of the regulatory case processing requirements.” 45
Nonetheless, an agency is required to consolidate two or more complaints filed by the same complainant for joint processing after appropriate notification to the complainant.
46 “When a complaint has been consolidated with one or more earlier filed complaints, the agency shall complete its investigation within the earlier of 180 days after the filing of the last complaint or 360 days after the filing of the original complaint, except that the complainant may request a hearing from an [AJ] on the consolidated complaints any time after 180 days from the date of the first filed complaint. [AJs] or the Commission may, in their discretion, consolidate two or more complaints of discrimination filed by the same complainant.” 47
EEO investigations are governed by 29 C.F.R. § 1614.108 and the instructions contained in the Commission’s Management Directives.
48 An adequate agency investigation is one that is developed impartially and contains an appropriate factual record. 49 “An appropriate factual record is one that allows a reasonable fact finder to draw conclusions as to whether discrimination occurred.” 50 All agency employees, including the complainant, are required to cooperate with the investigation and “witness testimony is given under oath or affirmation and without a promise that the agency will keep the testimony or information provided confidential.” 51 The complainant and his or her representative, if agency employees, are entitled to a reasonable amount of official time, if otherwise on duty, to present his or her EEO complaint and to respond to agency requests for information. 52
Investigators must thoroughly investigate the complaint and are authorized to administer oaths and require witness testimony and documentation. An investigator does not make or recommend findings of discrimination and must be free of conflicts or the appearance of conflicts of interest during the investigation of complaints. As part of the investigation, the investigator should gather evidence relevant for a factfinder to determine whether discrimination occurred and, if so, to fashion “an appropriate remedy.”
53 Unless otherwise mandated, investigations are to be completed within 180 days of the filing of the individual complaint, unless the parties agree in writing to extend the period an additional 90 days. | 1.245287 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
54 At the conclusion of the investigation, the agency must provide the complainant with a copy of the complaint file, including the report of investigation, and the notice of the right to request either an immediate final decision from the agency or a hearing before an EEOC AJ. 55 A complainant also may request an AJ hearing after 180 days from the filing of the complaint even where the investigation has not been completed. 56 The complainant must receive a copy of the complaint file, including the report of investigation (ROI), and a copy of the hearing transcript if a hearing was held. 57
This issue of the Digest has detailed the EEO process with regard to the processing of individual EEO complaints of discrimination, in accordance with 29 C.F.R. Part 1614. The principles reflected in those procedures are also intended to guide the processing of class complaints of discrimination under 29 C.F.R. § 1614.204.
58 The next issue of the Digest will detail the remainder of the EEO process, beginning with Part 5 (“Class Complaints”) and concluding with Part 8 (“Settlement Agreements and Claims of Agency Noncompliance”). Footnotes 1 Arnold Rubin is a senior attorney with EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations, Special Services Staff, and Editor of The Digest of EEO Law. The staff of The Digest acknowledges the support of Carlton M. Hadden, Esq., Director of the Officer of Federal Operations, in the production of this edition. 2 EEOC enforces, in relevant parts, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967, as amended; the Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963, as amended; the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended; Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts (Title VII) of 1964, as amended; and, effective November 21, 2009, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). Although the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended, does not apply to the federal government, Congress, in 1992, amended the Rehabilitation Act, which does cover the federal government, to apply the standards of the ADA to the Rehabilitation Act. In 2009, Congress amended the ADA (“ADAAA”), to broaden the coverage of persons under the Act consistent with the original Congressional intent of the ADA, after a series of Supreme Court decisions had narrowed the statute’s scope of coverage. 5 As mentioned earlier, GINA does not become effective until November 21, 2009. Title II of GINA prohibits the use of genetic information in employment, prohibits the intentional acquisition of genetic information about applicants and employees, and imposes strict confidentiality requirements. GINA requires the EEOC to issue regulations implementing Title II of the Act, and pursuant to this authority, EEOC published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on March 2, 2009. The public comment period on the NPRM ended on May 1, 2009. See EEOC Q & A on Background Information for EEOC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Title II of the Genetics Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (available at www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/qanda_geneticinfo.html). Nonetheless, the federal government is already prohibited from discriminating against federal employees or applicants based on genetic information under Executive Order 13145, which is not enforced by EEOC. For more information on the Executive Order, see EEOC Policy Guidance on Executive Order 13145 to Prohibit Discrimination in Federal Employment Based on Genetic Information (July 26, 2000) (available at www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/guidance-genetic.html). 6 See supra note 2. Other federal laws, not enforced by the EEOC, protect employees and applicants for federal employment from practices not based on merit. For more information on these protections, contact the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), www.opm.gov; The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), www.osc.gov; the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), www.mspb.gov.; and/or The Department of Labor (DOL), www.dol.gov. 7 See generally 29 C.F.R. §§ 1614.105 and 107(a)(2) (providing 45 day time limits for counselor contact and authority to dismiss complaints on grounds of untimeliness. All regulations cited in this section refer to 29 C.F.R. Part 1614, unless otherwise noted. All time frames referred to are in calendar days, unless otherwise specified. Time limitations are computed according | 1.003267 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
to 29 C.F.R. § 1614.604. This regulation also describes exceptions to these time limitations. 21 29 C.F.R. § 1614.201. The P.O. Box in this regulation has changed since the Commission, in late 2008, relocated its Washington, D.C., Headquarters. Notices should be sent to P.O. Box 77960, Washington, DC 20013, Attn: OFO/FSP. 35 Many complainants proceed pro se (i.e., represent themselves). Others may be represented by a union official, spouse, parent, co-worker, or other non-attorney representative. For the regulations pertaining to use of reasonable official time by agency employees in the EEO process, service of documents by complainant on the agency’s designated representative and by the agency’s representative on complainant, as well as calculation of time frames, see 29 C.F.R. §§ 1614.604 and 1614.605. 38 The grounds for dismissal of a complaint are set forth at 29 C.F.R. § 1614.107(a). An agency may not dismiss a complaint after a hearing--before an EEOC AJ-- has been requested. Dismissals are discussed in the section pertaining to Hearings, in the next issue of the Digest. The agency’s processing of formal complaints, the agency’s dismissal process, the requirement that the agency shall properly identify and define the claim and not fragment EEO complaints, amending and consolidating complaints, as well as the conduct of the investigation, are also set forth in greater detail in EEOC MD-110, Ch. 5. 40 29 C.F.R. § 1614.106(d); EEOC MD-110, Ch. 5-9. The notice referred to in 29 C.F.R. § 1614.108(f) shall inform the complainant that, within 30 days of his or her receipt of the investigative file, the complainant may request a hearing and decision from an AJ or may request an immediate final decision from the agency with which the complaint was filed. The agency shall issue the final decision within 60 days of receiving notice of the complainant’s request for an immediate final decision, or within 60 days of the end of the 30-day period within which complainant must choose between requesting an AJ hearing or an immediate final agency decision and complainant has not responded with a choice. 29 C.F.R. § 1614.110(b). 54 29 C.F.R. § 1614.108(e), which also provides that an agency may unilaterally extend a time period by 30 days to sanitize a file in the interest of national security where classified information is involved.Brainstorming: Sponge Versus Sieve
One of the reasons we find brainstorming intimidating is that some people are better than others in squeezing ideas out of their heads.
These people – while amazing because they seem to have magical powers and some conduit to divine inspiration – make the rest of us feel stupid and doubt our creative ability.
Why can’t I pop out ideas like that? I guess I’m just not creative?
This is what old school brainstorming was about. People sitting in a room squeezing out ideas. Sponge style.
When I hear people say brainstorming is broken or doesn’t work… I know they’re referring to sponge style brainstorming.
New school brainstorming is about working smarter, not harder. Spending less time creating alternatives and more time filtering. Using our brainpower as a sieve to filter and narrow ideas to the fewer, bigger, and better.
For example, say we’re trying to create a new name for your energy drink.
Old school sponge style would have us sitting, staring at a pad of paper… hoping great ideas would pop into our heads.
Why waste brain power when we are surrounded by digital inspiration? At our fingertips and eyeballs are millions of images and words that stimulate thought.
Type “energy” or “power” into any favorite image search engine and you’ll instantly have hundreds of idea starters. Type “energy” or “power” into an online thesaurus, and you’ll be presented with loads of word options.
Save your brain to do the things computers aren’t good at. To filter. To select the gold nuggets from the gravel.
If you have access a good sponge, invite them to your brainstorm session… But, for the rest of us, give us some stimulating content and put us to work as filters and sieves. | 1.43376 | 1,001 | 999 |
BY JEFF BOLES
As discussed in part one of this three-part series (see “What is cloud-based storage?” at infostor.com), at the heart of cloud-based computing is a loosely coupled infrastructure that is self-healing, geographically dispersed, and instantaneously scalable in response to business demands. Cloud-based computing virtualizes the location, connectivity, and resources behind loosely coupled application components in order to be elastic—able to move and shift computing and storage resources, and rapidly deploy new systems or applications, in response to any demand. Moreover, cloud-based computing promises to make infrastructure, applications, and storage easier to manage, and much easier to integrate with other applications or changing business processes.
What does this mean to you as an end user, application developer, or IT manager who may be considering where to store data? Cloud-based storage today can let you store and manipulate any type of data on higher-performance, more scalable, more accessible, and cheaper storage. Moreover, it can free you from the costly management overhead that surrounds data storage by serving up file storage in a self-managed, easy-to-access manner. Cloud-based storage lets users not only provision and manage storage themselves, but also store data in XML files, text files, or many other data formats. Meanwhile, cloud-based storage solution provide users with database-like data manipulation through innovative file-filtering mechanisms, metadata tagging, and the virtual presentation of files in many places at once.
Cloud-based storage has evolved from continuing attempts to de-couple storage from applications so that each resource can be optimally scaled and managed.
Cloud-based storage has evolved from continuing attempts to de-couple storage from applications so that each resource can be optimally scaled and managed.
These solutions are available today. Some users have moved entire application sets to API-accessible storage services such as Amazon S3, and in turn, have access to a dynamically scaling infrastructure. Some businesses are currently shopping for, or building, similar solutions within their own corporate networks, to harness the flexibility of such an infrastructure while reducing their storage infrastructure cost of ownership by enabling user self-service.
But for many other users, cloud-based storage is a fuzzy new technology, with neither clearly defined capabilities nor benefits.
In this second part of our series, we’ll look at a set of five core capabilities that are important to end users looking to store data in either private clouds or the public Internet cloud. These capabilities and the associated benefits will shed light on how cloud-based storage may be beneficial to you.
Cloud-based storage is amorphous today, with neither a clearly defined set of capabilities nor any single architecture. Choices abound, with many traditional hosted or managed service providers (MSPs) offering block or file storage, usually alongside traditional remote access protocols or virtual or physical server hosting. Other solutions have emerged, typified by the Amazon S3 service, that resembles flat data-bases designed to store large objects.
The Taneja Group defines cloud-based storage as a specific category within the larger field of “storage-in-the-cloud” solutions. Storage in the cloud encompasses traditional hosted storage, including offerings accessed by FTP, WebDAV, NFS/CIFS, or block protocols either remotely or from within a hosted environment. Cloud-based storage is an evolution of this hosted storage technology that wraps more sophisticated APIs, namespaces, file or data location virtualization, and management tools, around storage.
Regardless of whether you are building a multi-tenancy hosted application, or you want to move your enterprise applications to the cloud, there is a core set of capabilities that are common to emerging cloud-based storage solutions, and how well a specific solution delivers on these capabilities will be key to determining how well you can 1) integrate stored data with different applications and systems in versatile ways; 2) harness cloud-based storage performance, scalability, and distribution to increase your infrastructure flexibility, responsiveness, and availability; and 3) reduce your cost of owning and managing storage.
API-accessible. Today, businesses are surrounded by a world of Web services, scripting, lightweight development frameworks, mash-ups, and various other dynamic, easily integrated Web technologies. Access to stored data through a sophisticated API makes cloud-based storage extremely versatile, and in fact re-invents how stored data can be leveraged for the support of applications and business processes. Moreover, APIs can be tuned for general storage management and allow administrators to overlay nearly any management, reporting, or governance process on storage. A few potential usage cases for API-accessible storage include APIs will let administrators wrap storage management with nearly any business process, including customized automation of provisioning, snapshots, file versioning, etc.Web services APIs may be easily discovered and integrated so that they remove the hurdles associated with management protocols of the past; APIs will let developers create, store, access, and re-use complex sets of data more easily. This will encourage lighter-weight, more flexible application architectures, easier data re-use, and rapid application development, at lower cost and effort; APIs will also allow administrators and/or developers to empower user self-service by creating portals or applications where users can manage, protect | 2.00476 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
, and control their own storage. This will drive down the cost of ownership for storage; APIs will make storage extensible, and data more portable. For example, an open API could be used to create a gateway that mimics yesterday’s protocols or interfaces with today’s protocols such as XAM; and Storage vendors are developing APIs on top of flexible infrastructures that will make Web-service-based access to storage commonplace. Innovators will make their storage even more extensible through the use of APIs, which will enable integration with other applications for data tiering, classification, control, conversion, or other file manipulation. Some examples include Ibrix’s Cirrus API, which provides access to user management, data sharing, etc., and Omneon’s Media Services Framework, which provides API access to video transcoding and QoS-like storage optimization. Cloud-based storage cannot grow to the scale necessary without flexible management, organization, and presentation of storage that removes cumbersome semantics such as hostnames, directories, and permissions. When users turn to cloud-based storage, they will recognize enormous savings in the time and effort associated with administration of storage and data management. And developers can store and integrate data faster and with less administrative overhead. Innovative in organization and management.
Cloud-based storage providers will enable self-service storage provisioning and management of data that is not only API-enabled, but also breaks with current conventions. Innovative providers will not only cover basic storage management operations, but also provide data presentation that can mimic some of the capabilities of file virtualization through virtual views or containers for data that are completely abstracted from the on-disk location of data. Users will be able to place data into different virtual views that are accessible by different users. Such organization through virtual views and lightweight tags, coupled with self-service management of storage, may change how the industry approaches traditional file storage as well.
Users of cloud-based storage should assess the responsiveness, availability, and scalability of their hosting service. Vendor innovation will drive new levels of these features that will surpass even the best enterprise systems. Users should minimize their risks through SLAs focused on performance, responsiveness, and scalability, but also through an awareness of their service provider’s storage capabilities. While visibility into provider capabilities will likely always be opaque, cloud-based storage should demonstrate the ability to transparently move data across locations and potentially service providers, self-heal, and scale up in performance and capacity to meet rapidly changing customer demands. Also, users should match service provider capabilities in these areas with current and anticipated future needs, and do so while being attentive to their planned application architecture. Users with many small, separate I/O streams may be able to easily distribute their demands and work with any, or many, provider(s), regardless of the provider’s ability to move or distribute data. Responsive and scalable. Today, cloud-based storage is too new for standardization, and recent attempts at standardization have been slow or have left a sour taste in the mouths of many users, both within the storage industry and across the IT field in general. This leads ambivalent users to anticipate wading through a bog of APIs with excessive overhead and incompatibilities, with no hope of moving data between systems without starting from scratch. We believe concerns about standardization and portability for cloud-based storage are largely unwarranted, and that cloud-based storage will in fact remedy many of the standardization issues we have today. That is because cloud-based storage is centered on lightweight APIs and access frameworks such as HTTP-based REST that are already well-established. But users should pay attention to what these frameworks give them, and whether the frameworks are served up on top of the right underlying storage. Open, well-documented, portable.
In our view, users of cloud-based storage will be best-served by innovative storage vendors who develop deeply integrated, full-featured APIs on top of their next-gen storage systems. This creates a turnkey system that can deliver advanced storage features, such as snapshots or file versioning, while assuring both the service provider and the customer that the solution will work without incompatibilities or multi-vendor finger-pointing. Providers that turn to these solutions and APIs will be able to deploy cloud-based storage services quickly and cost-effectively.
More importantly, while we believe the lightweight and simplified nature of REST-based APIs will make application and data porting simple, out-of-the-box solutions will drive standardization. Since cloud-based storage will only be possible on top of a relatively small number of systems that can scale to huge amounts of performance and capacity, there will be a relatively small number of solution vendors and APIs in the market. Since storage Web services APIs will support similar basic operations (even if they also support more advanced operations), developers can quickly map APIs between solutions to mask differences and enable better portability.
Flexible presentation of storage as traditional file/block, remote storage, or API-accessible storage will open the doors to versatile use cases for cloud-based storage. It was not long after Amazon S3 sprung up that users were trying, and demanding, hosting of entire virtual machine computing environments. This enabled more uses for Amazon’s | 2.164274 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
storage cloud and let users collocate complex compute resources alongside rich Web-integrated data. Today, users can perform complex content creation and/or business logic processing while using generated data within a loosely coupled and widely distributed Web application architecture. Many users will find value in combining multiple computing approaches when cloud-based storage can be accessed as traditional file/block storage in a hosted infrastructure. Ready for versatile usage cases.
This will be an ideal use case for the next generation of cloud-based storage. It is easy to imagine large hosting providers with unique speed and data differentiation that could take advantage of a Web services overlay for their data. As one example, a solution at a service provider like XASAX—a provider that is collocating HPC-like infrastructure and financial applications next to high-speed financial data feeds for market data analysis—may enable a new generation of dynamic Web-based data reporting/analysis and mash-up applications for financial customers.
Challenges for cloud-based storage
Users initially consider cloud-based storage for its potential cost savings and improvements in storage scalability and availability. While such savings are compelling, users shouldn’t overlook holding up the fundamental capabilities of cloud-based storage to a measuring stick that considers future strategic IT and business needs. The fundamental capabilities of cloud-based storage take center stage when considering strategic business needs, and will differentiate providers.
In the next article in this series, we’ll look at cloud-based storage capabilities that are key considerations for service providers.
Jeff Boles is a senior analyst and director of validation services at the Taneja Group research and consulting firm (www.tanejagroup.com). Challenges for cloud-based storage
Users should be aware of the potential downsides to cloud-based storage. These include issues of portability or vendor lock-in, regulatory compliance issues, and the availability of cloud-based storage when one vendor’s solution is unique in architecture or APIs.
First, there are currently no standards for cloud-based storage or computing. This can make porting an infrastructure from one vendor to another dicey at best, and may mean you’re subject to the whims of an infrastructure provider. This is a key issue that emerging cloud-based storage solutions will address, but nonetheless is a major challenge today. Once solutions are available from major vendors, more services with common APIs will become available, and developers will come up with mappings between other popular APIs (such as Amazon S3, and perhaps even XAM).
Second, cloud-based storage solutions still fall short of meeting all IT storage needs. The biggest gap is where databases are concerned. While Amazon S3 started life looking very much like a widely distributed, extremely flat database, it has never been capable of meeting traditional enterprise database needs: It is not relational in the traditional sense, it lacks DBMS tools, and because it is designed to support loosely coupled applications, it does not support high loads of guaranteed, consistent transactions expected in traditional database environments. More importantly, without a distributable database, the cloud looks like a poor place for databases—applications that depend on access to single instances of databases in the cloud will never be able to benefit from load-balancing, scalability, and improved availability, all of which may imply the use of multiple copies of data or stateless redirection of data connections. This is an area of critical importance in which next-generation cloud-based storage vendors must begin to innovate. Meanwhile, legacy architectures or users relying on traditional databases face a quandary and must decide whether to re-architect their application for the cloud and/or deal with sticky issues around transactional consistency and other features that are often tied to concrete business requirements, or choose another path.
Third, users need to be sensitive to where they store their data in the face of ever-changing regulations (SOX, HIPAA, PCI, etc.). Many regulations dictate that users will be able to identify and control the location of their data, which isn’t feasible when that data is virtualized across a cloud.
Finally, because of availability risks in a shared environment that is not fully under their control, users often remain hesitant to turn to cloud-based storage for anything more important than testing and development, or infrequently accessed data storage. Until cloud-based storage is highly available, users will be unable to host mission-critical data on it. Increased availability will come on two fronts: 1) the entry of enterprise-class storage systems into the cloud storage market; and 2) ubiquitous and compatible multi-provider solutions that deliver availability through data dispersal and flexible delta-based replication. Delivering more availability in the cloud may be largely a matter of dispersal—spreading partial or complete copies of data across the cloud can keep it available even during dramatic failures. Vendors such as Cleversafe have come up with innovative and unique algorithms for this, and other technologies exist that have not yet come to market. But this requires widespread cloud-based storage, which will come from service providers ramping up cloud services built on top of out-of-the-box offerings—foregoing the intensive and drawn-out development cycles that created today’s cloud-based storage offerings. Selecting a vendor that is using a commonly available out-of-the-box platform, | 2.251774 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
desvenlafaxine modified release tablets
Consumer Medicine Information
NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons
living in Australia. This page contains answers to some common
questions about
. It does
not contain all the information that is known about
. It does not take the
place of talking to your doctor or pharmacist. All medicines have risks
and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risk of you using this medicine
against the benefits he/she expects it will have for you. If you have
any concerns about using this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Bookmark or print this page, you may need to read it again.
What Desvenlafaxine Sandoz is used for What it does
Desvenlafaxine is used in the treatment and prevention of relapse of depression. Depression can affect your whole body and may cause emotional and physical symptoms such as feeling low in spirit, being unable to enjoy life, poor appetite or overeating, disturbed sleep, loss of sex drive, lack of energy and feeling guilty over nothing.
Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why Desvenlafaxine Sandoz has been prescribed for you.
Your doctor may have prescribed it for another reason.
How it works
Desvenlafaxine Sandoz contains the active ingredient called desvenlafaxine. It belongs to a class of medications called Serotonin-Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs).
Serotonin and noradrenaline are chemical messengers that allow certain nerves in the brain to work. Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets increase the level of these two messengers. Experts think this is how it helps to restore your feeling of wellness.
Desvenlafaxine Sandoz is not addictive. It is available only with a doctor's prescription.
Before you take Desvenlafaxine Sandoz When you must not take it
Do not take Desvenlafaxine Sandoz if you are taking other medications for depression known as monoamine oxidase inhibitors, even if you have stopped taking them, but have taken them within the last 14 days.
Do not take Desvenlafaxine Sandoz if you are allergic to desvenlafaxine, venlafaxine or to any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet.
Symptoms of an allergic reaction include:
Skin rash
Itching or hives on the skin
Swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or other parts of the body
Shortness of breath, wheezing, troubled breathing or difficulty swallowing.
Do not give Desvenlafaxine Sandoz to children or adolescents under 18 years of age.
The safety and effectiveness of desvenlafaxine in this age group have not been established.
Do not take this medicine after the expiry date (EXP) printed on the pack, or if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering.
If it has expired or is damaged, return it to your pharmacist for disposal.
If you are not sure whether you should start taking this medicine, talk to your doctor.
Before you start to take it
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you have allergies to any other medicines, foods, preservatives or dyes.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant.
Desvenlafaxine Sandoz is not recommended for use during pregnancy. Your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of taking desvenlafaxine if you are pregnant. One of these risks is that newborn babies whose mothers have been taking desvenlafaxine may have several problems including breathing difficulties, seizures and lack of oxygen in their blood.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are breast-feeding or plan to breast-feed.
Desvenlafaxine passes into breast milk and there is a possibility that the breast-fed baby may be affected. For this reason, the use of desvenlafaxine is not recommended in breast-feeding women.
Tell your doctor if you have, or have had, any medical conditions, especially the following:
a history of fits (seizures or convulsions)
a personal history or family history of bipolar disorder
blood pressure problems
glaucoma (increased pressure in the eye)
a tendency to bleed more than normal or you are taking a blood thinning medication
raised cholesterol or lipid levels
problems with your kidneys or liver
problems with your heart
low sodium levels in your blood
any other medical conditions.
Tell your doctor if you plan to have surgery. If you have not told your doctor about any of the above, tell them before you start to take Desvenlafaxine Sandoz.
Taking other medicines
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you take any other medicines, including:
all prescription medicines
all medicines, vitamins, herbal supplements or natural therapies you buy without a prescription from a pharmacy, | 0.560551 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
supermarket, naturopath or health food shop, such as St John's Wort or tryptophan supplements.
Do not start to take any other medicine while you are taking Desvenlafaxine Sandoz, unless it is prescribed or approved by your doctor.
Some medicines may interfere with desvenlafaxine or desvenlafaxine may interfere with these medicines. These include:
medications for depression known as monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) (such as moclobemide, phenelzine and tranylcypromine). Tell your doctor if you are taking or have stopped taking them within the last 14 days. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you are unsure if you are taking any of these medicines. It is important that you do not take Desvenlafaxine Sandoz or medicines similar to Desvenlafaxine Sandoz with MAOIs or within 14 days of taking an MAOI as this may result in a serious life-threatening condition. Your doctor or pharmacist can tell you what to do if you are taking any of these medicines.
any other medications for bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder or pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder, including St John's Wort
drugs that affect serotonin levels e.g. tramadol, dextromethorphan, fentanyl, methadone and pentazocine.
medicines for weight loss, including sibutramine
triptans (used to treat migraine)
linezolid (used to treat infections)
drugs that affect your tendency to bleed eg: aspirin, NSAIDS, warfarin.
You may need to take different amounts of your medicine, or you may need to take different medicines. Your doctor will advise you.
Your doctor or pharmacist has more information on medicines to be careful with or to avoid while taking Desvenlafaxine Sandoz.
Switching to Desvenlafaxine Sandoz from other antidepressants
Side effects from discontinuing antidepressant medication may occur if you are switched from other antidepressants, including venlafaxine, to Desvenlafaxine Sandoz. Your doctor may gradually reduce the dose of your initial antidepressant medication to help reduce these side effects.
How to take Desvenlafaxine Sandoz
Follow all directions given to you by your doctor or pharmacist carefully.
They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet.
If you do not understand the instructions on the box, ask your doctor or pharmacist for help.
How to take it
Swallow the tablets whole with a glass of water or other non-alcoholic liquid.
Do not divide, crush, chew or place the tablets in water.
Do not be concerned if you see a tablet 'shell' in your faeces after taking Desvenlafaxine Sandoz.
As the tablet travels the length of your gastrointestinal tract, the active ingredient desvenlafaxine is slowly released. The tablet 'shell' remains undissolved and is eliminated in your faeces. Therefore, even though, you may see a tablet 'shell' in your faeces, your dose of desvenlafaxine has been absorbed.
How much to take
The usual dose is 50 mg taken once daily with or without food.
Do not change your dose unless your doctor tells you to.
Your doctor will gradually increase your dose if needed. If you have kidney problems, you may need a lower dose of Desvenlafaxine Sandoz.
When to take it
Desvenlafaxine Sandoz should be taken once daily and can be taken with or without food.
Take Desvenlafaxine Sandoz at approximately the same time each day.
This could be either in the morning or in the evening. Taking it at the same time each day will have the best effect. It will also help you remember when to take it.
How long to take it
Continue taking your medicine for as long as your doctor tells you.
Although you may begin to feel better after two weeks, it may take several weeks before you feel much better. It is important to give Desvenlafaxine Sandoz time to work.
This medicine helps to control your condition, so it is important to keep taking your medicine even if you feel well.
If you forget to take it
If it is less than 12 hours until your next dose, skip the dose you missed and then take your next dose when you are meant to. Otherwise, take it as soon as you remember, and then go back to taking as you would normally.
Do not take a double dose to make up for the dose you missed.
This may increase the chance of you getting an unwanted side effect.
If you are not sure what to do, ask your doctor or pharmacist. If you have trouble remembering when to take your medicine, ask your pharmacist for some hints.
If you | 0.631051 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
take too much (overdose)
Immediately telephone your doctor or the Poisons Information Centre (tel: 13 11 26) for advice, or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital if you think that you or anyone else may have taken too much Desvenlafaxine Sandoz.
Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning.
You may need urgent medical attention.
Keep the telephone number for these places handy whilst taking any medications.
While you are taking Desvenlafaxine Sandoz Things you must do
Visit your doctor regularly for a check-up so that your progress can be checked. Always discuss any questions you have about Desvenlafaxine Sandoz with your doctor.
Take Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets as your doctor has prescribed. Tell any other doctors, dentists and pharmacists who treat you that you are taking this medicine.
Keep enough Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets to last weekends and holidays.
This medicine helps to control your condition, but does not cure it. It is important to keep taking your medicine even if you feel well.
Watch carefully for signs that your depression is getting worse, especially in the first few weeks of treatment or if your dose has changed.
Sometimes people with depression can experience a worsening of their depressive symptoms. This can happen even when taking an antidepressant.
Tell your doctor there is the potential for a false positive urinary drug screen while on Desvenlafaxine Sandoz.
Tell your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following symptoms, especially if they are severe, you have not had these symptoms before or they happen very suddenly.
anxiety or agitation
panic attacks
difficulty sleeping
irritability
aggressiveness
hostility or impulsiveness
restlessness
overactivity or uninhibited behaviour
other unusual changes in behaviour
thoughts of suicide.
Tell your doctor immediately if you have any thoughts about suicide or doing harm to yourself.
Warning signs of suicide:
If you or someone you know is showing the following warning signs, contact your doctor or a mental health advisor right away or go to the nearest hospital for treatment.
All thoughts or talk about suicide or violence are serious.
thoughts or talk about death or suicide
thoughts or talk about self-harm or doing harm to others
any recent attempts of self-harm
an increase in aggressive behaviour, irritability or agitation.
Things to be careful of
Be careful driving or operating dangerous machinery until you know how Desvenlafaxine Sandoz affects you.
Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets may make you feel drowsy.
Things you must not do
Do not stop taking Desvenlafaxine Sandoz or change the dose without the advice of your doctor, even if you feel better.
Your doctor may want to slowly decrease your dose of Desvenlafaxine Sandoz to help avoid side effects. Side effects are known to occur when people stop taking Desvenlafaxine Sandoz, especially when they suddenly stop therapy.
Some of these side effects include:
headache
nausea
dizziness
tiredness
irritability
anxiety
abnormal dreams
diarrhoea
excessive sweating.
Slowly reducing the amount of Desvenlafaxine Sandoz being taken reduces the possibility of these effects occurring.
Some of these symptoms may impair driving, or the operation of dangerous machinery. Avoid these activities if you experience any of these symptoms.
Avoid drinking alcohol while you are taking Desvenlafaxine Sandoz. Do not give this medicine to anyone else even if they have the same condition as you.
Side effects
Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking Desvenlafaxine Sandoz.
All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious; often they are not. You may need medical attention if you get some of the side effects.
It can be difficult to tell whether side effects are the result of taking this medicine, symptoms of your condition, or side effects of other medicines you may be taking. For this reason it is important to tell your doctor of any change in your condition.
Do not be alarmed by the list of side effects.
You may not experience any of them.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have.
Tell your doctor if...
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice any of the following and they worry you:
stomach, bowel or urinary tract problems:
nausea or vomiting
loss of appetite
diarrhoea
constipation
difficulty passing urine
changes in your behaviour:
difficulty sleeping, abnormal sleepiness or abnormal dreams
sexual function problems such as decreased sex drive, delayed ejaculation, problems achieving erection or difficulties achieving orgasm
nervousness or anxiety
feeling jittery or irritable
difficulty thinking or working because of
yawning
disturbances in concentration
| 0.764927 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
fainting or dizziness after standing up
fatigue - Rapid heart beat
chills
headache
changes in your appearance
excessive sweating
hot flushes
rash
weight loss or weight gain
blurred vision
ringing in the ears
altered taste, dry mouth.
Tell your doctor as soon as possible if...
Tell your doctor as soon as possible if you notice any of the following:
muscle stiffness, weakness or movement disorders
abnormal facial movements such as tongue thrusting, repetitive chewing, jaw swinging, or grimacing
a feeling of apathy or not caring about things
feeling detached from yourself
hallucinations, confusion
bleeding or bruising more easily than normal
numbness or pins and needles.
Go to hospital if...
Tell your doctor immediately, or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital if you notice any of the following:
swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or other parts of the body
seizures or fits
symptoms of sudden fever with sweating, rapid heartbeat and muscle stiffness, which may lead to loss of consciousness.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice anything else that is making you feel unwell.
Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some people. Some of these side effects (for example, increase in blood pressure, increase in blood cholesterol, changes to liver function, protein in the urine) can only be found when your doctor does tests from time to time to check your progress.
This is not a complete list of all possible side effects. Others may occur in some people and there may be some side effects not yet known.
Tell your doctor if you notice anything that is making you feel unwell.
After taking Desvenlafaxine Sandoz Storage
Keep your Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets in their original packaging material until it is time to take them.
The tablets may not last as well if you take them out of the original packaging material.
Keep Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 25°C.
Do not store Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets or any other medicine in the bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets in the car or on windowsills.
Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines.
Keep Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets and all medication where young children cannot reach it.
A locked cupboard, at least one-and a-half metres above the ground, is a good place to store medicines.
Disposal
If your doctor tells you to stop taking this medicine or the expiry date has passed, ask your pharmacist what to do with any medicine that is left over.
Product description What Desvenlafaxine Sandoz looks like
There are two strengths of Desvenlafaxine Sandoz tablets:
50 mg, light pink coloured, diamond shaped, biconvex tablets, debossed with 'L189' on one side and plain on other side. Blister packs containing 28 tablets.
100 mg, dark brown to red coloured, diamond shaped, biconvex tablets, debossed with 'L190' on one side and plain on other side. Blister packs containing 28 tablets.
Ingredients
Active ingredient:
Desvenlafaxine Sandoz 50 mg - 50 mg desvenlafaxine
Desvenlafaxine Sandoz 100 mg - 100 mg desvenlafaxine
Inactive ingredients:
alginic acid
citric acid monohydrate
microcrystalline cellulose
povidone
purified talc
magnesium stearate
hypromellose.
The 50 mg tablets are film coated with OPADRY film coating system 03F84770 PINK (ARTG No. 109228) and the 100 mg tablets are coated with OPADRY film coating system 03F86990 BROWN (ARTG No. 109232).
This medicine does not contain lactose or gluten.
Supplier
Sandoz Pty Ltd
ABN 60 075 449 553
54 Waterloo Road
Macquarie Park, NSW 2113
Australia
Tel: 1800 634 500
This leaflet was revised in August 2016.
Australian Register Numbers
50 mg modified release tablets: AUST R 218083 (blisters)
100 mg modified release tablets: AUST R 218082 (blisters) | 0.835221 | 1,006 | 1,005 |
When the federal government announced that it will launch a new tax-free savings account next year, most finance experts yawned and asked the feds to keep it down until they had some interesting news.
After all, these new accounts (called TFSAs for short) seem much like the RRSPs we already have — but not as good, because you don’t get a juicy tax refund when you contribute, and you’re allowed to put in only $5,000 a year. Most experts concluded that TFSAs may be handy for saving up for a house or new car, but won’t be able to handle the heavy lifting required for retirement savings.
However, when Malcolm Hamilton, an actuary at the consulting firm Mercer in Toronto, took a look at the fine print, he found that wasn’t true. “If people understand TFSAs properly, significant numbers will start using them,” he says. They’re so powerful, in fact, they could eventually become Canada’s retirement saving vehicle of choice.
How is that possible? Because despite appearances, the TFSA has most of the benefits of an RRSP — plus some powers that RRSPs lack.
The key benefit of both accounts is that they allow you to avoid paying taxes on your investment gains as long as your money remains in the account. In that respect they are identical. This tax-free compounding can put you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars ahead over long periods of time and it’s the prime reason for using such accounts.
The biggest apparent drawback to contributing to a TFSA is that you don’t get an immediate tax refund, the way you do with an RRSP. The tax refund seems to give RRSPs an edge, but it turns out it’s only half the story.
Many people forget that when you take money out of an RRSP you have to pay taxes on it. So if you’ve amassed $100,000 in an RRSP, and you expect to retire in the 40% tax bracket, you really have only $60,000 to spend. But with the TFSA, what’s in the account is yours, tax free. If you have $100,000 in your account, you have $100,000 to spend.
It’s true that you’re limited to contributing $5,000 a year to a TFSA, which is much less than you could potentially stash away in an RRSP. But Hamilton argues that the TFSA is more generous than it first appears. Because unused contribution room is carried forward, if someone who is 18 today starts saving for retirement when she is in her late 30s, she’ll find she already has $100,000 of TFSA contribution room.
Plus, the TFSA packs a secret power: any withdrawals from a TFSA account don’t trigger clawbacks on government income. That means you can get full Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) payments from the government when you retire, no matter how much you withdraw from your TFSA.
If you save up for retirement with an RRSP, when you retire and start taking money out, you not only have to pay taxes on your RRSP income, but lower income Canadians who receive the GIS could see it reduced, and higher income Canadians who receive OAS could see clawbacks. However, if you use a TFSA, there’s no tax and no clawbacks on any government money. You could pull down $80,000 a year from your TFSA in retirement, but pay zero taxes on that amount and still get maximum government benefits.
So which account should you use? It depends on your income bracket. Low-income Canadians will find that the TFSA is clearly the better choice, because they rely more on government benefits. Middle-class Canadians will find that it’s generally still too close to call. “They’re both good for you,” Hamilton says. “TFSAs are a bit simpler, but you could just pick one or the other.” High-income Canadians have the easiest choice, says Hamilton. “They have the luxury of using both.”
The 30-second TFSA
• The TFSA is a savings or investment account you can use to save for large purchases or retirement
• You don’t pay taxes on investment returns inside your TFSA • You don’t pay taxes on money you take out of your TFSA • You don’t get a tax refund for contributing to your TFSA • You don’t have to worry about clawbacks when you withdraw from your TFSA • You can contribute up to $5,000 a year • If you contribute less than $5,000 in a given year, the unused room is carried forward • If you take money out, you get that contribution room back • Contribution room begins accumulating at age 18, even if you don’t have an account (as long as you file a tax return) • | 1.167509 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
10 Steps To Escaping The Paycheck To Paycheck Cycle
For the first fifteen years of my adult life, I lived paycheck to paycheck. In April of 2005, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired, and I decided to do whatever it took to escape the paycheck to paycheck cycle. Here’s what I did –
1. I balanced my checkbook. I know, this sounds like a very simple, very basic thing to do, but if you don’t know where you are, exactly, then you can’t begin your journey. Balancing a checkbook takes five to ten minutes, and if you have access to online banking, it can take even less time. Find out how much money you have, right now, in your checking account. 2. I checked the balance in my savings account. In April of 2005, I had a grand total of $500 in my savings account. This number did two things. First, it scared me to death, because I knew that all I had standing between me and being absolutely broke was $500. Second, it motivated me. Here I was, a dude who had been working since I was 15 years old, steady, and I had $500 to show for it. 3. I created a list of my expected monthly income and my expected monthly expenses. Fine tuning this list, I created my very first budget. I was amazed to see that I was spending so much money on things that I did not need. After removing a few wants, I realized that I was making enough money to begin my debt reduction. 4. I listed my creditors and the amounts that I owed them. I used this list to create my debt snowball. I printed out three copies of this list, one for my office desk, one for the back of my Bible, and one for the refrigerator. For the entire time I was getting out of debt, this list both angered and energized me. 5. I determined to build a mini-emergency fund of $1000. To this day, I am convinced that the smartest decision I’ve ever made was to fund this mini-emergency fund. Twice during my debt reduction process, I had to dip into my emergency fund, and each time, before continuing with accelerated debt reduction payments, I rebuilt my emergency fund to the $1000 minimum. 6. I put my credit card in my wallet and I left it there. I stopped using credit cards. I didn’t call my credit card companies and cancel my cards. I didn’t freeze them in water. I didn’t cut them up. Much like the dieter who still lives in a world of food, I live in a world of credit. I chose to put them away and live below my means, not above them. I still don’t use my credit cards, except to reserve hotel rooms, for which I then pay cash when I checkout. 7. I found ways to increase my income. I sold a lot of stuff on eBay, I learned to make a bit of money from my blog, and my wife and I had three yard sales. 8. I found ways to decrease my spending. I admitted, to myself, that I was spending too much money on stuff, and that stuff, while enjoyable in the present, was robbing me of a sound financial future. Some stuff had to go. I stopped renting movies, playing golf, listening to satellite radio, and having my clothes dry cleaned. 9. I talked to my spouse, at least once a week, about our plans for the future. It’s amazing how communication can change a couple’s outlook. Instead of thinking about the next month, and how we would make it, we began to dream about our future, and our retirements. 10. I kept going, no matter the setback. I think that this is the most important point of all. Even after my original goal date zoomed by, and I was still in debt, I didn’t give up. I kept pushing forward, until, eventually, I was debt free. 11. I’m still working hard to stay free from the paycheck to paycheck cycle. Life keeps happening. I now have three kids, instead of two, and more responsibilities than at any other time in my life. I can’t back away or shrink back, I have to keep moving forward. Now that I am debt free, I can afford a few more of life’s little luxuries, but I’m always mindful of how it felt to be worried, each month, if there would be enough money in the bank to cover all my bills. I am so thankful that I made the decision, almost four years ago, to do something about my finances.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider giving it a stumble. Any help spreading the word would be greatly appreciated.
Click here to read my story, about How I Got Out Of Debt | 1.318024 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Since Spring symbolizes rebirth and renewal, April is the perfect month for LifeChoice Donor Services to celebrate the Tenth Annual National Donate Life Month. The celebration commemorates those who have received or continue to wait for lifesaving transplants and remembers those who have given through donation.
"While increasing the number of registered organ and tissue donors that save and heal lives is part of our daily work, this month serves, not only to honor the lives of those who have given and received, but also as an opportunity to renew our commitment to saving lives ," says LifeChoice Public Education Specialist Caitlyn Bernabucci.
LifeChoice has many community awareness events scheduled around Connecticut and Massachusetts, including:
4/1 Donate Life Flag-raisings at Westfield, Mass. Town Hall at 11:30 a.m. and Southwick, Mass. Town Hall at 6 p.m. 4/2 Statewide Town Hall Donate Life Flag-raising ceremonies commencing at East Hartford, Town Hall at 10 a.m. 4/8 Free movie screening "Power of Two - A story of twin sisters", two cultures, and two new chances at life at 6:30 p.m. at The University of Hartford. This inspiring, award-winning movie documents the double lung transplants received by half-Japanese twins Ana and Isa Stenzel, born with Cystic Fibrosis, a fatal genetic disease that impacts the lungs and pancreas. They have emerged as authors, athletes and global advocates for organ donation. A short panel discussion about organ and tissue donation will follow. 4/19 National Blue and Green Day in support of organ and tissue donation There are now 110 million registered donors in the United States. Still, the number of people in need of transplants continues to rise. The solution to this problem is to continue educating the public about the lifesaving effects of donation and transplantation and get them to make their decision known by signing up through their state donor registry.
"I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the selfless gift of an organ donor," says kidney transplant recipient Michael C. Rosano of Bristol, who is alive and eager to help others understand the importance of becoming a donor.
LifeChoice Donor Services, Inc. is the federally designated, non-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) for six counties in Connecticut and three counties in Western Massachusetts with a combined population of 2.2 million people. The OPO serves twenty-three acute care hospitals for organ and tissue donation and two organ transplant hospitals, Hartford Hospital in Hartford and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.
LifeChoice Donor Services is a member in good standing of the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) and the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO). For more information about LifeChoice and to join the Donor Registry, please visit http://www.lifechoiceopo.org or call 1 800 874-5215.Federal Spending Continues to Increase
October 21, 2011
Maybe it's a sign of the tumultuous times, but the federal government recently wrapped up its biggest spending year and its second biggest annual budget deficit, and almost nobody noticed, says the Wall Street Journal.
This is said to be a new age of fiscal austerity, yet the government had its best year ever, spending a cool $3.6 trillion. That beat the $3.52 trillion posted in 2009, when the feds famously began their attempt to spend America back to prosperity.
What happened to all of those horrifying spending cuts? Good question.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that overall outlays rose 4.2 percent from 2010 (1.8 percent adjusted for timing shifts), when spending fell slightly from 2009. Defense spending rose only 1.2 percent on a calendar-adjusted basis and Medicaid only 0.9 percent, but Medicare spending rose 3.9 percent and interest payments by 16.7 percent. In somewhat better news, federal receipts grew by 6.5 percent in fiscal 2011, including a 21.6 percent gain in individual income tax revenues. The budget deficit increased slightly in fiscal 2011 from a year earlier, to $1.298 trillion. That was down slightly as a share of gross domestic product to 8.6 percent, but as CBO notes, this was still "greater than in any other year since 1945."
Some increase in deficits was inevitable given the recession, but to have deficits of nearly $1.3 trillion two years into a purported economic recovery simply hasn't happened in modern U.S. history.
Source: "A New Spending Record," Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2011.
For text:
Browse more articles on Tax and Spending Issues | 1.414146 | 1,007 | 1,005 |
Create a strong research ecosystem that responds swiftly to the challenges of the 21st century.
Provide quality non-traditional education in
both the computer science and applicable mathematics and train
bright young minds to effectively apply knowledge to solve
real-world problems thus amplifying their potential for
high-quality careers and give them a competitive advantage in
the ever-changing and challenging global work environment of
the 21st century.
Conduct research to advance the state of the art in computer science and integrate research results and innovations into other scientific disciplines. Provide scientific expertise to the interested parties.
Offer high-quality training activities,
symposia and workshops for researchers and students;
Evaluate training offered elsewhere and where appropriate, partner with offering providers to make it available through the TMRF; Become a model and an influential voice in the national/international dialogue regarding professional standards and expectations in the applicable mathematics and computer science.
From its beginning, it has been intended
that the TMRF should be devoted to the Mathematical Sciences
in the broad sense, i.e. all areas of mathematics including
computer science. The range of sciences in which mathematics
plays a important role is huge. Therefore, selecting
appropriate topics, important principles are that no topic is
excluded
a priori and that scientific merit is to be
the deciding factor. As we always stress main objective
of the TMRF is to overcome the normal barriers presented by
departmental structures in universities around the world. Our
major criterion in judging the `scientific merit' of a
proposed programme for the TMRF is the extent to which it is
`interdisciplinary'. Naturally this will bring
together researchers with different backgrounds and expertise;
sometimes a single mathematical topic may attract a wide
associates from other fields. The Scientific Committee, which
consists of trustee members and well-known scientists,
therefore works within the following guidelines:
Obviously, our aim is to select programmes
which represent serious and important mathematical science and
which will attract the very best mathematicians and computer
scientists from all over the world. However, the TMRF is
interested also to proposals of an unorthodox nature if a
strong scientific case is made.
Although the TMRF operates on a worldwide basis and contributes thereby to the general advancement of mathematical science, it must also be considered in the context of Indian mathematical science. A natural expectation of all those concerned is that each program will be of benefit to the Indian mathematical community in a variety of ways. If India is strong in the field, Indian scientists will play a major part in the program; if India is comparatively weak in the field, the program should help to raise Indian standards and instructional courses, aimed primarily at younger researchers and research students, would play a vital role here.Many workers discover they have a capacity to teach. Some employees will actively pursue opportunities to be trainers within their own company, while others turn to a brand new career with a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
This nationally recognised training qualification is required to be an assessor or trainer at a vocational school or training centre. Some workers start planning for retirement years by obtaining this certificate to enable them some flexibility for part-time employment.
Reasons to obtain a certificate IV in training and assessment 1. A promising job opening states that Certificate IV in Training and Assessment is mandatory. The job opening may mean a boost in pay or greater challenges.
2. An employer may require a worker obtain the certificate in order to move to another role in the company, or make it a prerequisite for employment.
3. To secure a position at a vocational school: The Certificate IV is required and there are no alternatives at this time. Vocational schools may be an attractive position for workers who have spent years in a particular field.
4. To gain employment at a training centre: Many skilled workers have a desire and natural ability to impart knowledge on a job site. Some of these workers may judge employment at a training centre to be an improvement over their current career path.
5. Cross training because they are unable to perform their current job: A worker may be injured and cannot meet the physical demands of a certain job or have a correctable eyesight deficiency that does not allow them to perform certain jobs. In these cases they can turn to a life of instruction that will use their skill, knowledge and experience.
6. To start their own business in a fast growing field. In a broadening economy that calls for more skilled workers there is an increased need for trained personnel. Some people are highly attracted to being their own boss.
The Certificate IV in Training and Assessment qualification is required to teach at all reputable training provider facilities and vocational schools. It is nationally recognised and conveys a distinct capability on the holder. Remember that someone has to train the people who train others. Employers, company trainers and individuals are advised to seek out only reputable providers, with an established track record.
Related posts: | 2.01006 | 996 | 994 |
Netanyahu Ahead of Trump Phone Call: I Am Willing to Give Palestinians a 'State-minus'
The wind ruffles the leaves of the date sapling in its planter, and Dr. Elaine Soloway quickly shields it. "There's only one plant like this in the world, and I'm still worried about it," she says. Methuselah - that is the sapling's name - is indeed unique. In 2005, Soloway, from Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava, germinated it from a 2,000-year-old date seed found at Masada.
For the past two millennia, since approximately the time of the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans, in 66-73 C.E., the seed lay dormant, until Soloway and her team breathed life into it, making it the oldest seed ever to germinate.
For two years, the seed was kept in isolation in a plant nursery to protect it from the modern diseases to which it would have been vulnerable. Now that it is stronger, Soloway is planning on transplanting it. "I think it has a future," she says.
Last week, Methuselah underwent chronological testing, using the radioactive isotope Carbon-14, which confirmed that the tree grew from a seed that lived when the Romans ruled the land.
If the sapling continues to flourish, Soloway believes they will be able to renew a species of date that grew in the Kingdom of Judea at that time. Soloway says the type of date grown by ancient Judeans disappeared in the centuries following the repression of the revolt.
Dates presently grown in Israel were brought here from other countries in the Middle East, particularly Iraq, and do not derive from ancient stock.
"People tell me the tree I'm raising looks like a typical palm you might see in your dentist's waiting room," says Soloway, who teaches at Ketura's Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. "But that's not true." Soloway says the first leaves that have sprouted are extraordinarily long. "We don't know yet if it's a male or a female, but if it's a female, in another two or three years we'll be able to know how dates tasted in Judea in ancient times."
According to historical sources, that taste was splendid. The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder, who lived in the first century C.E., wrote that Judea's dates were known for their succulence and sweetness.
The date was identified so closely with Judea that Roman coins minted after the end of the Great Revolt depicted among its symbols a palm tree, together with the words "Judea Capta."
The seed from which Methuselah sprouted was found in a jar into which the inhabitants of Masada threw the pit of the dates they ate. Together with dozens of other seeds, it was found during excavations in the 1970s conducted by Professor Ehud Netzer.
The idea of germinating the seed came from Dr. Sarah Salon, of the Natural Medicine Research Unit of Hadassah Hospital, Ein Karem.
Soloway said that to resuscitate Methuselah, she soaked the pit in warm water and fertilizers. She then planted it "on Tu Bishvat, for luck." Soloway says she did not believe the seed still had life in it. But then, six weeks later, "the bed cracked, and two weeks after that, the first leaf came out. It was like a miracle, but the plant was still at risk. It had a strange color, a kind of marble-white. Apparently there was something wrong with the nutritional components in the seed, Soloway recalls. "In any case, when the seedling started to grow roots, after a few months, it didn't keep it from growing."
Soloway, 54, who comes from a California farming family, has been living at Ketura for more than 30 years. She deals mainly with medicinal plants at the Arava Institute, which trains people for environmental leadership roles. "To bring back the date palm of Judea to the world is not only a symbol, but is also useful to agriculture," she says. "But we are also trying to bring back other plants from the biblical period."
Soloway is also growing frankincense and myrrh, plants mentioned in the Bible, in her hothouse. She is now trying to acclimate the plants, which were brought from Somalia and Yemen. "Incense was made from these plants in the days of the Bible, but they apparently have characteristics that can make them very useful to modern medicine - especially as anti-inflammatories," Soloway says.
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Overview
Native to the Andes mountains in Peru, the potato (Solanum tuberosum) claims a place as one of the most important vegetable crops grown in the world, according to Iowa State University Extension. They are surprisingly easy to grow and require very little coddling to produce a respectable crop of starchy tubers. Although they produce their edible portion underground, occasionally small, inedible, tomato-like fruits will grow on the above-ground portion of the plants.
Time of Year
Plant potatoes in early spring in eastern Iowa. In the central part of the state, plant them the first or second week of April. In the northern part of eastern Iowa, plant potatoes the second or third week of April. In the southern portion of eastern Iowa, seed potatoes should be planted in the last week of March or first week of April.
Varieties
Early varieties suitable for growing in eastern Iowa include Irish Cobbler and Norland. Irish Cobbler has white flesh with tan skin and is excellent for baking. Norland produces smooth-skinned rectangular red tubers for boiling or mashing. An excellent mid-season variety for growing in the region is Red Pontiac, a round, red skinned, all-purpose variety, which is recommended by both Iowa State University Extension and the University of Illinois Extension. An all-purpose white potato with tan skin that matures late in the season and is suitable for long-term storage is Kennebec, which is also recommended by both the Iowa State and University of Illinois Extensions.
Seed Potatoes
Because almost all potato varieties do not grow true to their variety from seed, potato plants are started from "seed" potatoes. These are simply 1-inch pieces of cut up potatoes, with each piece containing at least one eye, from which the plant will grow. Seed potatoes should be purchased fresh from reliable suppliers each year. Potatoes carried over from the previous season and used as seed potatoes for a new crop can harbor diseases. Potatoes purchased from the grocery store are treated with a chemical process to discourage them from sprouting and are not suitable for use as seed potatoes.
Soil
Potatoes prefer acidic soil of average fertility. A pH below the neutral 7 is ideal, and a pH as low as 5.0 is beneficial to discourage potato scab from developing. Grow potatoes in loamy soil that is neither clay nor sandy. Clay soil is too dense and will inhibit the formation of tubers. Sandy soil drains too quickly and the potatoes will grow knobby and misshapen due to lack of moisture. Do not improve regular garden soil with the addition of manure or compost, a rich soil increases the incidence of the disease potato scab.
Planting Instructions
Treat cut pieces of seed potatoes with a fungicide immediately after cutting and prior to planting. This will prevent them from decaying in the cool, wet spring soil. A chemical-free method is to store the cut pieces at 60 to 70 degrees for a couple of days in a humid location prior to planting. Till the soil to a depth of approximately 8 inches, then rake the surface smooth. Plant seed potatoes cut side down, 3 to 4 inches deep, about 10 to 12 inches apart in rows 24 to 36 inches apart. Provide them with the equivalent of an inch of rainfall per week throughout the growing season. The more space between the rows, the larger the potatoes will grow.When I think of Ohio's job crisis, I think of Jack and Rose in the movie, Titanic.
(I know. Stay with me, here.) After the ship has gone down [read: Ohio jobs], Rose [read: Jello Ted Strickland] makes Jack [The Federal Stimulus] promise to never let go. [as seen here in this ridiculous photo] But he doesn't. And according to data in the Columbus Dispatch, the stimulus isn't keeping its promise, either. Why? Because, like Jack, it was doomed from the beginning. Let me explain. Back in February, Governor Strickland said about the federal stimulus, "these resources will save or create more than 130,000 jobs for Ohioans." Now, eight months later, with just 18.8% of Ohio's stimulus funds even disbursed, Ohio only has 13,144 jobs to show for it. At that rate of job per dollar spending, Ohio will only have "saved or created" about 66,000 jobs upon exhaustion of the funds. That's barely half of the jobs promised when Governor Strickland came back from begging Washington to save him from the mess he created. Now, for the sake of argument, let's give Jello Ted a break and pretend all 66,000 jobs are created, and not "saved". That still would only account for 1/5 of all the jobs lost under his administration. Sorry, Governor. Jack let go. | 1.313264 | 1,016 | 1,014 |
How would you like to make it easy to stop smoking? I mean easy in the way that you’re ecstatic about not smoking and you celebrate a smoke-free existence. In this scenario, you barely feel the withdrawal symptoms and even in the midst of a highly stressful situation, a cigarette is merely a fleeting thought rather than an all-consuming craving.
Saying no to any addiction is tough. But it CAN be made easy. Some people simplify the whole matter: make a firm decision, overcome the physical withdrawals and just do it. For others, it might be a little harder. Many addictions get us on emotional, mental and habitual levels, too. Some believe our spirituality is also affected; one theory even speculates that our addictions are our attempts to fill a spiritual void.
For those who feel the complexities of their addictions, you can make it a little easier with the right preparation and combination of stop smoking tricks (right for you, that is). While there are tons of really good stop smoking tips out there and you may have to try all of them to find what works for you, the following are 7 of the most essential tips that will make it easy for anyone to stop smoking:
Find your reasons.If it’s only one trick that you use out of this list, let it be this one. You have to find your motivating force in overcoming your nicotine addiction. It must resonate with you and get you on an emotional level. Some people may use a strong negative emotion, like fear as in: “I don’t want to suffer like Aunt Rose did of lung cancer.” I prefer to use positive emotions, as in: “I appreciate my life and I want to treat it and myself with love and respect.” Know Thy Enemy.It’s helpful to know what you’re up against. There are scads of stop smoking books out there and most of them tell you exactly how nicotine affects our bodies and minds. The best book in this genre I’ve read (and I’ve read one each time I’ve quit – this is my 5th time) is Allen Carr‘s “Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” By the end of the book, you are absolutely convinced that there is no benefit whatsoever to smoking and that you have at your disposal many constructive ways to deal with stress and cope with life. Set your ‘Freedom’ Date.Many call this the ‘quit day’ but I prefer to ramp up for breaking the nicotine chains through focusing on the benefits of living a smoke-free life. I call the first day of a life free of this wretched addiction, ‘freedom day’. This date is important because you’re officially making a commitment to yourself and providing yourself a time frame in which to prepare. Create a Rewards Schedule and/or Set up Your Social Support. These 2 tips are together because I believe they have equal strength depending on the person. For those who like to be internally motivated, budget and schedule a rewards system for yourself. I suggest rewarding yourself every day for at least the first 3 days because they are the toughest in terms of physical withdrawals. The rewards can be free, like a hot bath or an hour of pleasure reading, or have a cost associated to them, like a manicure or a movie.Your support personis someone you can talk to. They will help you process emotions, give you suggestions and help you through your cravings. It’s easier for them to know what you need in terms of support if they can relate to you. Try to choose a friend who has been successful in overcoming their addiction. Other types of support come from the birds you’ve been flocking with up until now. They are most likely smokers, too, and may not be ready to stop when you are. Setting boundarieshelps you to communicate to the smokers in your life how they can help you in your pursuit to stop smoking. For instance, you may need to ask your partner to smoke outside – at least until you are confident that the evil yet alluring stench can no longer tempt you. Write a Good Bye Smokes Letter.The night before your freedom day, put pen to paper and treat your smokes as if they are a friend that you must part ways with. Recognize how they once helped you but make sure to focus on how and when the relationship turned sour. Remind yourself of all the reasons why you want to be a non-smoker. Visualize what it will be like to be a non-smoker and concentrate on how being free from smokes will improve your life. Then say good-bye for real with your last cigarette. Do a Gentle Cleanse.After every smoke, nicotine starts exiting the body which starts withdrawal symptoms. Cravings come mainly from your desire to stop the discomfort of withdrawal. So why prolong it? You can speed up the process of natural detoxification with a gentle cleanse. Drink tons of distilled water throughout the day and add lemon to some of those glasses. Eat a nutritional diet high in organic fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, and if you’re a carnivore, organic white meat and fish. Manage Cr | 1.691413 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Written by
Staff Reports
The church needs the influences of both, so how do we reconcile the differences?
In the United States today, no two terms are more polarizing in the English lexicon than the words "conservative" and "liberal."
Time Magazine recently reported that political polls reveal an even split among conservatives and liberals. Each now claims 45 percent of the electorate, while only 10 percent remains undecided. Never before has this nation been so polarized, the article said.
What is true in the political landscape is readily apparent in the religious realm as well. While the terms can be used in descriptive ways, all too often they are used in a pejorative fashion. ("You must be one of those liberals!" or "What do you expect of those conservatives!") Both become code words for those other people who don't think or act like us.
Unfortunately, when this happens in the church, such stereotyping not only fails to build up the body of Christ, but it makes communication more difficult between people who usually have far more in common than they have differences. Furthermore, it also implies that truth can be found with only one faction or another when, in fact, the threads of both conservatism and liberalism are woven throughout the history of the Christian tradition.
The church of Jesus Christ—be it the UCC or known by another name—is by definition a conservative institution. The church is, quite literally, a conserver of values and beliefs. As such, part of its DNA is to maintain and resist changing traditional or existing views or beliefs. Anyone who has been part of a church for long understands this. It is by tradition that we are grounded, shaped and nurtured.
But the church of Jesus Christ is also a liberal institution. If we define liberal, as Webster does, as "one who is open-minded in the observance of orthodox or traditional forms," then who was more liberal than Jesus? Not only did Jesus challenge the purity codes of his day (talking to women, eating with Gentiles, healing on the Sabbath), but he also advocated a radical new understanding of God that welcomed outsiders—often at the expense of insiders—and shook Judaism to its roots. It certainly wasn't adherence to existing traditions and beliefs that led to Jesus' death. To this day, the church has been a liberating religious and social force through the world.
The church is both conservative and liberal. To insist otherwise is to ignore the contradictions of human life and the context of each local congregation.
Rather than using these terms as weapons to separate the sheep from the goats, should we not view them as gifts that can help us understand and appreciate how the God revealed in Jesus Christ speaks to so many people in so many different circumstances?
After all, the primary question for the church—including the UCC—is not "Are you liberal or conservative?" The primary question is "Do you know and have a relationship with the God revealed in Jesus Christ?"
The Rev. Stephen C. Gray is Indiana-Kentucky Conference Minister. charismatic leader came and promised to give their identity back, and he gave them a distorted identity, and we all know what happened."
Bonnie Kristian
Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura and former Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, and Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Andy Marte both died in separate car crashes in the Dominican Republic on Sunday.
To the families of Yordano Ventura and Andy Marte. I send my deepest condolences. RIP. pic.twitter.com/mC9EihLMXg
— andrew mccutchen (@TheCUTCH22) January 22, 2017
Just 25, Ventura signed with the Royals in 2008 and finished sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year Award voting in 2014. Marte, 33, was reportedly driving alone when he crashed around 3 a.m. He played seven Major League Baseball seasons, mostly with Cleveland.
Bonnie Kristian
When President Obama arrived in Washington as a freshman senator from Illinois in 2005, he left an annual income of less than $100,000 from his work in the state Senate and as a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Over the course of his 12 years in the District — four in the Senate and eight in the White House — Obama earned about $20 million, mostly from book deals and his government salary. Here's the breakdown from
Forbes: (Forbes)
Michelle Obama, who worked as a lawyer and in Chicago's City Hall before becoming first lady, is herself worth an estimated $11 million, the bulk of which also comes from a trio of lucrative book deals.
Bonnie Kristian | 1.58681 | 968 | 966 |
Abstract
In this paper we consider the case for assigning tax revenues to Scotland, by which we mean that taxes levied on Scottish tax bases should be returned to the Scottish budget. The budget, however, would continue to be supplemented by transfers from the Westminster budget. This arrangement differs from the current situation whereby public spending is largely financed by a bloc grant from Westminster. Our suggestion falls short of full fiscal federalism for Scotland . meaning that Scotland had control over choice of tax base and of tax rates, and fiscal transfers from Westminster would be minimal. We use propositions drawn from the theory of fiscal federalism to argue for a smaller vertical imbalance between taxes retained in Scotland and public spending in Scotland. A closer matching of spending with taxes would better signal to beneficiaries the true costs of public spending in terms of taxes raised. It would also create more complete incentives for politicians to provide public goods and services in quantities and at qualities that voters are actually willing to pay for. Under the current bloc grant system, the marginal tax cost of spending does not enter into political agents. calculations as spending is out of a fixed total budget. Moreover, the Scottish electorate is hindered in signaling its desire for local public goods and services since the size of the total budget is determined by a rigid formula set by Westminster. At the present time we reject proposals for full fiscal federalism because in sharply reducing vertical imbalance in the Scottish budget, it is likely to worsen horizontal balance between Scotland and the other UK regions. Horizontal balance occurs where similarly situated regions enjoy the same per capita level of public goods and services at the same per capita tax cost. The complete removal of the bloc grant under full fiscal federalism would remove the mechanism that currently promotes horizontal equity in the UK. Variability in own-source tax revenues creates other problems with full fiscal federalism. Taxes derived from North Sea oil would constitute a large proportion of Scottish taxes, but these are known to be volatile in the face of variable oil prices and the pound-dollar exchange rate. At the present time variability in oil tax revenue is absorbed by Westminster. Scotland is insulated through the bloc grant. This risk sharing mechanism would be lost with full fiscal federalism. It is true that Scotland could turn to financial markets to tide itself over oil tax revenue downturns, but as a much smaller and less diversified financial entity than the UK as a whole it would probably have to borrow on less favorable terms than can Westminster. Scotland would have to bear this extra cost itself. Also, with full fiscal federalism it is difficult to see how the Scottish budget could be used as a macroeconomic stabilizer. At present, tax revenue downturns in Scotland - together with the steady bloc grant - are absorbed through an increase in vertical imbalance. This acts as an automatic stabilizer for the Scottish economy. No such mechanism would exist under full fiscal federalism. The borrowing alternative would still exist but on the less favorable terms - as with borrowing to finance oil tax shortfalls.
Recommended Citation
MacDonald, Ronald and Hallwood, Paul, "The Economic Case for Fiscal Federalism in Scotland" (2004).
Economics Working Papers. 200442. http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/econ_wpapers/200442§ 57
In order to carry into practice this antipathic method, the ordinary physician gives, for a single troublesome symptom from among the many other symptoms of the disease which he passes by unheeded, a medicine concerning which it is known that it produces the exact opposite of the morbid symptom sought to be subdued, from which, agreeably to the fifteen – centuries – old traditional rule of the antiquated medical school (contraria contrariis) he can expect the speediest (palliative) relief. He gives large doses of opium for pains of all sorts, because this drug soon benumbs the sensibility, and administers the same remedy for diarrhoeas, because it speedily puts a stop to the peristaltic motion of the intestinal canal and makes it insensible; and also for sleeplessness, because opium rapidly produces a stupefied, comatose sleep; he gives purgatives when the patient has suffered long from constipation and costiveness; he causes the burnt hand to be plunged into cold water, which, from its low degree of temperature, seems instantaneously to remove the burning pain, as if by magic; he puts the patient who complains of chilliness and deficiency of vital heat into warm baths, which warm him immediately; he makes him who is suffering from prolonged debility drink wine, whereby he is instantly enlivened and refreshed; and in like manner he employs other opposite (antipathic) remedial means, but he has very few besides those just mentioned, as it is only of very few substances that some peculiar (primary) action is known to the ordinary medical school. | 1.776052 | 994 | 992 |
7 Post-Workout Skincare Tips to Maintain That Healthy Glow
We know that nothing gets you going for the day like sweating it out in the gym or going for an early morning run. It helps you lose those extra calories, keeps you fit and gives you a healthy glow on your face. But your post-workout skincare routine will decide how long that glow lasts. In fact, if you don’t take care, you can get acne and skin infections
because of your workout.
We share seven post-workout skincare tips with you to help you stay gorgeous.
1.
Get Out of Your Clothes: After you are done working out, change out of those clothes as soon as possible. Gym clothes tend to gather a considerable amount of bacteria and germs due to sweat, so get out of them instead of trying to cool off in the air-conditioning.
2.
Go Hands-Free: Do not touch your gym gloves or sweaty hands on your face till you go for a bath. Always use a fresh towel to wipe sweat off. Your hands touch a lot of equipment and different parts of your body, along with gathering sweat. You don’t want it anywhere near your face—trust us!
3.
Have a Cold Shower: When you go for a shower, opt for cold or extremely mild hot water instead of a warm, steamy bath. While the latter is tempting, the former will help your skin relax and balance the body temperature. This will ensure that there are no sudden fluctuations in your skin.
4.
Be Gentle: Wash your face with a mild cleanser. You may want to use a harsh exfoliating face wash to scrub off the sweat and dirt, but this will only make your skin sensitive and vulnerable. After sweating out the toxins, the skin needs to rest and repair itself. After a bath, use a fresh towel to first wipe your face and then your body. Be gentle when using it on the face.
5.
Moisturise: Once out of the shower, let your skin breathe for a minute or two, then use a hydrating moisturiser on your skin. Avoid rubbing it harshly, especially around your eyes.
6.
Stay Hydrated: Drink at least a bottle or half a bottle of water after the shower too. You can drink water during the workout too, but a shower will leave your skin slightly dehydrated.
7.
Always Wear Sunscreen: Finally, never make the cardinal beauty sin—stay sun-protected.
Go girl, get out there and get in shape while looking gorgeous. Let us know if you have any more valuable tips for skincare—we’d love to hear from you.
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Images courtesy: idiva.com, beautytidbits.com’t expect many companies to follow Facebook’s and Apple’s leads. “It’s extraordinarily expensive,” she said. “This is part of Silicon Valley creating organizational cultures that provide huge numbers of very expensive benefits—many of them designed to keep people at work longer,” she said. “This is definitely part of the picture of free dinners and dry-cleaning at the office.”Facebook’s and Apple’s media offices didn’t respond to requests for comment about criticism aired on social media sites that the benefit could be viewed as a substitute for creating a workplace where motherhood is compatible with a demanding career. However, Facebook spokeswoman Genevieve Grdina told Bloomberg News that the company offers other benefits to help workers transition to parenthood when they’re ready, including nursing rooms, subsidized day care, four months of paid parental leave and $4,000 in “baby cash.” Allen said it’s important that a company’s benefits demonstrate as much support for working parents as for those who want to delay having families. “This is a matter of communication and organizational culture,” he said. “If an organization already has a culture that is supportive of employees and supportive of family-friendly benefits, employees would be more likely to view it as positive and as just one more way the company is trying to be supportive. On the other hand, if employees tend to view the company as prioritizing the bottom line over employee well-being, especially if women view the company as not very supportive of work/family balance issues, then I think the message could be received more negatively.” Dana Wilkie is an online editor/manager for SHRM.
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The 21st Century Decade Retrospective
12-25-2010, 10:39 PM, (This post was last modified: 12-27-2010, 12:33 PM by SARTRE.)
The 21st Century Decade Retrospective
http://batr.org/gulag/122610.html
Two earth-shattering catastrophes shaped the last ten years. The first 911, the staged terror event that provided the self-justification to wage an endless war against phantom enemies and the second a financial meltdown of the debt ridden international banking system. This has been a frightful decade for America.
Instead of looking at a straight chronicle timeline, the more meaningful approach is to relate events as they apply to a decade of war and loss of civil liberties. From a financial perspective, the 21st century has been a record of continuous weakening of Western economies and decline of a standard of living. The pillars of social and political stability deterioration are the legacy of the last ten years.
View the 9/11 Truth Quotations video to understand the significance of the last ten years.
Who could expect the presidential election between Bush-Gore would be so inconsequential at the time. The war party’s intention to usher in an era of perpetual conflict was guaranteed far in advance of tallying the chad count. The fateful day of September 11, 2001 was but a pretend rationalization to strip the few constitutional remands of an expiring Republic. The term Bin Laden would come to describe a state-run ‘PysOps’ hysteria experiment, rather than a real threat to the national security.
The "war on terror" morphed into the ‘war of terror’ with the passage of the Patriot Act. The enactment of legislation that significantly increased the surveillance and investigative powers of law enforcement agencies is the centerpiece of the post 911 domestic despotism.The infamous "
Axis of Evil" propaganda parlance intentionally stoked the fires for retribution reprisal. The Bush-Blair collation produced fake evidence of WMDs in Iraq, setting the stage to target their manufactured outrage, against a former CIA asset, Saddam Hussein.
With Defense Secretary Colin Powell’s UN speech justifying invasion of Iraq, he "could not escape the reality that this speech greased the skids for death and destruction in Iraq and brought unprecedented shame on our country".Operation Iraqi Freedom starts the last gasp of the military-industrial-complex to colonize oil resources and to encircle Asian aspirations. The "
Central Intelligence Agency admits that the imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction was not present before the 2003 Iraq war began".
The Department of Homeland Security expands into the domestic Gestapo force, as a jingoistic response to the regime terror that condoned the 911 myth. Democrats sweep into Congress and pave the way for Obama on the promise to stop the oversea madness. Bush wins a second term and promptly proclaims a troop surge in Iraq.
Business as usual continues with new bipartisan scandals among House and Senate members. With the damage already done, the troop deployment shifts to an Afghanistan war expansion. Bush claims a second ‘Mission Accomplished’ after the Iraqi elections but GOP loses presidential election to an unknown Senator Barack Hussein Obama.
To the surprise of only hard left loyalists, the police state continues and new legislation extends into additional areas of domestic terror. The decade ends with 1 WTC, aka Freedom Tower, reaches the halfway mark.
Now watch the DEBT Crisis: The Bail Out and Tarp Totals and the Origins of the 2008 Financial Crisis videos to learn causes of the breakdown.
On a parallel track, the financial history of the last ten years tells an even more frightening tale. The millennium begins with "President Bill Clinton signs Commodities Futures Modernization Act (CFMA), deregulating the derivatives markets and credit-default swaps. Enron would go on to become the largest corporate fraud in history". The period leading up to the crash has these financial developments according to Wikipedia:
US Federal Reserve lowers Federal funds rate 11 times, from 6.5% (May 2000) to 1.75% (December 2001) creating an easy-credit environment that fueled the growth of US subprime mortgages. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac combined purchases of incorrectly rated AAA subprime mortgage-backed securities rise from $38 billion to $90 billion per year, as mortgage denial rate of 14 percent for conventional home purchase loans drop in half of 1997 figures.
Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan lowers Federal Reserve’s key interest rate to 1%, the lowest in 45 years. U.S. subprime mortgages increased 292%, from $332 billion to $1.3 trillion, due primarily to the private sector | 2.16352 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
entering the mortgage bond market, once an almost exclusive domain of government sponsored enterprises like Freddie Mac.
Many financial institutions issued large amounts of debt and invested in mortgage-backed securities (MBS), believing that house prices would continue to rise and that households would keep up on mortgage payments.
The Securities and Exchange Commission ceases an investigation of Bear Stearns "pricing, valuation, and analysis" of mortgage-backed collateralized debt obligations. No action is taken against Bear.
The rapid deterioration of the credit worthiness of loans soars from 2006 to the seminal October 2008 meltdown. Signs of a genuine recovery have yet to materialize.
Running a similar course is the derivative financial meltdown. Shifting the debt risk is the essence of derivatives. Naked short selling using derivative instruments are a practice used by hedge funds. Some significant events define the crisis.
Buffett famously commented in a letter to shareholders in February 2003, that derivatives can be "financial weapons of mass destruction."
The financial crisis that broke out in August 2007 was considered the worst in the post war period. It represented the collapse of trillions of fictitious credit derivatives and the meltdown of uncontrolled credit growth. Goldman's derivative book had a stunning notional value of $53 trillion.
Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and AIG meltdown trigger the bottom to fall out, causing a global financial collapse. The international banking network implodes along with sovereign debt defaults. Governments incur new record debt to bailout the likes of Northern Rock, HBOS, Lloyds, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac attempts a restructure, while Central Banks monetize currencies and the cycle of swaps escalates.
Consumer confidence tanks, debt-ridden public face personal bankruptcy, and loss of their underwater houses. Barney Franks and Chris Dobb escape blame from their failed policies as Fannie Mae's executive chairman, Franklin Raines, picked up over $90m in bonuses and stock options.
A basic consequence of the financial depression has raised the disparity in wealth to recent historic levels. William Domhoff provides a pie chart and states: "If we break the data down further we will find that 93 percent of all financial wealth is controlled by the top 10 percent of the country".
The global economy, while on borrowed time before the ultimate financial burst, widens the gap between the super rich and the rest of us. The untouchable cast system is the growth industry of the corporate/state. The cumulative debt obligations of governments, business and consumers are unsustainable. The world economy cannot overcome the burden of paying compound interest on indebtedness to a banking system that creates miraculous money entries on a balance sheet out of thin air.
This is the essential reason why the real masters of the homeland security myth are the true terrorists. While the decade was dominated by the twin tower financial fraud, other noteworthy events took place. The following two videos provide a fast pace montage collection of the decade.
This analysis has an American perspective. Europe shares much of the same illusions that plague the United States. The Asian economies seem immune to much of the financial chaos that has shifted wealth away from the post WWII power centers. The security breaches that befall India, Indonesia and Africa seem minor in comparison to the instability of the Middle East.
The undeniable beneficiaries from the disruptions in the first decade of the new century are the cabal of New World Order "Mattoids". Anti-democratic tyrants control western nations. The model for the next decade and the foreseeable future is the Chinese police state. The impact of this conclusion is demonstrated in this year ending news report in the Daily Mail.
"China has said it is willing to bail out debt-ridden countries in the euro zone using its $2.7trillion overseas investment fund.
In a fresh humiliation for Europe, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiang Yu said it was one of the most important areas for China's foreign exchange investments.
The country has already approached struggling European countries with financial aid, including offering to buy Greece's debt in October and promising to buy $4billion of Portuguese government debt".
Money is more powerful than guns and bullets in this New Age global slave plantation. The reason why Open Borders will not be closed is that the destruction of America’s independence is a primary goal of the NWO. The domestic war on liberty requires the elimination of patriotic dissent. Official terror policy is aimed at us. No rational and informed citizen can any longer argue that the Republic can be restored. The last decade buried the corpse and incinerated the body of laws that once ruled a free people. The impending fate of the apathetic sheeple that allowed the crimes of this century to go unpunished is bleak. While hope is eternal, tyranny is inevitable.
SARTRE – December 26, 2010
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Holding Jackson County To Account
For More Information Visit Our Website Exposing Southern Oregon's Property Tax Scandal.
This is a story of a state that is highly dependent upon property owners and property taxes to keep government infrastructure running. Our state is a troubled state. The housing bubble collapsed and it’s getting harder and harder for those who still own their property.
There has been legislation passed to protect property owners from over-taxation. Measure 50 put a 3% cap on the “Maximum Assess Value” of the property. This was supposed to be the ultimate protection to homeowners. But there’s loopholes. And our tax-hungry government is very savvy at leveraging and manipulating loopholes. It might be through new classification as property or a “clerical error”.
Through revised statutes such as ORS 311.205, the state even exempts itself from being able to give back the full consideration owed to property owners that might have been swindled by local county assessors.
This story is a prime example of how Jackson County and The City of Ashland is manipulating the MAV of properties for increased tax liability. Both the city and county recognize the errors. They cannot provide sufficient explanation for the errors and will not pay back the full consideration owed.
Because of this, I must make it public. I must document their manipulative and scandalous actions and show other property owners how to identify the red flags and protect ones self from the corruption that exists in our tax system.
Our fine state relies too heavily on property owners to be treating us this way. It is never wise to bite the hands that feed you. Does the city and county really wish to drive out all the existing homeowners? What about the prospective ones? What happens when everyone is foreclosed on we find ourselves in the same situation as Josephine County?
Each homeowner that is compromised by our local government brings us closer to the point of collapse. It’s to the point that Sheriff’s office is shooting people over foreclosures. Will I be the next to have armed enforcement agents breaking down my door and swarming my home? Or quite possibly it’s your front door that gets breached with a very uncivil and hostile eviction notice.
It is time we learn what is going on and how to arm oneself against a gung-ho assessors office that knows every dirtySOURCE: Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, news release, Nov. 9, 2015
THURSDAY, Nov. 12, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they've identified the minimum level of vitamin D needed for good heart health.
Previous research has shown that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke, but the level of deficiency associated with such risk was unclear, the researchers said.
Having a vitamin D level anywhere above 15 nanograms per milliliter is fine for heart health, according to a team at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City.
"Although vitamin D levels above 30 were traditionally considered to be normal, more recently, some researchers have proposed that anything above 15 was a safe level. But the numbers hadn't been backed up with research until now," lead researcher Dr. J. Brent Muhlestein, co-director of cardiovascular research, said in an institute news release.
"Even if any level above 15 is safe, one out of 10 people still have vitamin D levels lower than that. This equates to a very large percentage of our population. The best way to determine one's vitamin D level is by getting a blood test," he added.
The study, which included 230,000 people who were followed for three years, was presented this week at the American Heart Association's annual meeting, in Orlando, Fla. Research presented at meetings is typically viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
The body naturally produces vitamin D when exposed to the sun. The vitamin is also found in foods such as fish, fish liver oils, egg yolks, and some dairy and grain products. Vitamin D supplements are another option, the researchers said.
"This study sheds new light and direction on which patients might best benefit from taking vitamin D supplements," Muhlestein said.
More information
The U.S. Office of Dietary Supplements has more about vitamin D. and bright foliage. Buy one plant in a 2-litre pot for just £19.95 inc p&p or two plants for just £34.90, saving £5. Call 0870 836 0909, quoting ref OBDP080, or send a cheque made payable to Observer Reader Offers with your order to Observer Black Bamboo Offer, OBDP080, Rookery Farm, Joys Bank, Holbeach St Johns, Spalding PE12 8SG. Despatch within 28 days | 1.626222 | 1,024 | 1,021 |
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Does paying to freeze eggs suggest motherhood and career are incompatible?
With the decision by Apple and Facebook to offer company insurance coverage to women who want to freeze their eggs come questions about the message this may send to women who pursue careers at prominent tech companies. For instance: Is an employer paying to freeze a woman’s eggs a way to suggest motherhood and a demanding job are incompatible?Or: Might the existence of an egg-freezing benefit pressure women to delay having children in favor of their careers? “It’s complicated,” said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute. “Egg freezing is very expensive, so this is a nice benefit. You want this option for people, but you don’t want to send the message that ‘we don’t expect you to be able to manage’ ” both parenting and a career.Apple and Facebook are among the first companies to offer the option to freeze eggs as part of their benefits. Those who support the practice say it gives women more control over their work and personal lives, allowing them to delay motherhood until it's the right time for them or their careers. “My sense is that the companies are sincere about trying to provide women more control over when they choose to start families,” said David G. Allen, distinguished professor of management at the University of Memphis’ Fogelman College of Business and Economics. “However, I would be hesitant to frame it in terms of a tool for leveling compensation and career progression for women. That could send the signal that the company believes women need to be strategic about managing when they have children or it will hurt their career, but men should feel free to have children whenever they want without worrying about it. It might make sense to offer the benefit to women and spouses to send the message that the goal is to help all employees manage their family planning, not just encouraging women to put off having children.”
Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook started providing the benefit, which applies to employees and their spouses or domestic partners, in January 2014. The social network offers as much as $20,000 in expenses for egg freezing and related procedures, such as surrogacy.
Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., said it will offer similar coverage in 2015. In a statement, an Apple spokeswoman said that the company wants to “empower women … to do the best work of their lives as they care for loved ones and raise their families.”
Recruiting and retaining women has been a challenge for technology companies. A startling number of women working in science, engineering and technology (SET)—the same industries that grade schools are urging girls to pursue—are considering leaving those fields because of gender bias, according to a February 2014 report by the Center for Talent Innovation, a global think tank. The think tank discovered that, despite high ambition and passion for their work, women in SET fields in the U.S., Brazil, China and India are “languishing in the middle rungs of their organizations and, as a result, are much more likely than men to report that they plan to leave the industry within the year.”In fact, 32 percent of female SET employees in the U.S., 22 percent in Brazil, 30 percent in China and 20 percent in India were considering leaving their fields within a year, according to the report. Among SET senior leaders, 31 percent of women in the U.S., 22 percent in Brazil, 51 percent in China and 57 percent in India reported that a woman would never get a top position at their company, no matter how capable or high-performing. “I think it’s great that the companies are offering [egg-freezing benefits], because clearly some women want it,” said Joan C. Williams, chairwoman and director of the UC Hastings Foundation’s Center for WorkLife Law. “The best case scenario is that the company sends a message that if you want to use this benefit, that’s great, and if you don’t, there’s a place for you at the company as a mother. There is at this point massively documented discrimination against [working] mothers. The solution is not to eliminate this benefit, but to eliminate discrimination.” The Society for Human Resource Management’s 2014 Employee Benefits survey reveals that 26 percent of U.S. organizations offer in vitro fertilization coverage to their employees and 29 percent of U.S. organizations offer employees infertility treatment coverage other than in vitro. However, the number of companies offering medical coverage for egg freezing has not been studied. Williams said she doesn | 1.35149 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Yale University Press is to be congratulated on producing, at not too high a price, another elegant volume, furnished with many beautiful illustrations as well as with notes and bibliography that occupy more than 100 pages as against a text of just over 200.
Roman Fever will shine on a coffee table. The book is a pleasure to riffle.
No doubt that is as it should be, since Richard Wrigley assures his readers disarmingly on more than one occasion that he is an art historian who writes with the assumptions and theoretical base of his trade. “From the sixteenth until the late nineteenth century,” he pronounces, “Rome held a talismanic place in the European and later North American imagination as a destination of artistic pilgrimages.” Given that situation, he sets his task as to enquire “what did influence [then] mean…as applied to artists’ and travellers’ experience of Rome?” “Influence”, he knows from Michel Foucault, is an under-theorised term, all the more since, he adds, it has ironical connections with the Italian “
influenza”, a word that began to acquire an international medical meaning following an epidemic of some sort in Rome in 1743.
Wrigley’s major focus is on
mal’ aria, the ‘something in the air’
As the title indicates, Wrigley’s major focus is on
mal’ aria, the “something in the air”, as he evocatively puts it, that was the physical background to what he establishes was often a fundamental uneasiness, even a trauma, afflicting artists and travellers as they tried to frame a meaning of classical and Renaissance, and, less often, contemporary, Rome around their own creativity. For the Abbé Dubos in 1719, we learn, what had once been a fine climate in the city had been destroyed during its decline and fall. Such environmental change could explain why “decadent” contemporary Romans had lost in the battle between ancients and moderns then being waged so vigorously, but might also allow non-Italian moderns their own victory. As Wrigley hastens to remark, not everyone agreed; for some, Roman “light” was eternally “special”; its air enthralled still. Yet, Wrigley shows in his key chapters, the fatal presence of malaria could not be ignored, especially given the rise into the 19th century of medical understandings of the human condition.
Quite often such comprehension did not go far. Wrigley is at his drollest when he indicates efforts by experts to map just which part of the city was vulnerable to the disease and which was not. He cites one English traveller’s perplexing advice in 1813 that “At St. Callixtus, the cells next to the country are unhealthy in summer, while the opposite side of the convent is safe”. Opinion, we learn, was more united in dreading the Campagna surrounding Rome, although even it could be viewed by Thomas Ashby, early paladin of the British School in Rome, as an enticing expanse of classical treasure. Wrigley in his lengthiest chapter reproduces many lovely images of this treacherous but redolent countryside.
There is much of interest and importance in this commentary. Yet, for your reviewer, who is a historian and not an art historian, Wrigley’s findings are fretted by a curiously imprecise chronology and a failure to take his contextual imagining far. The Enlightenment, the Italian and Roman confrontation with the French Revolution and especially its hostility to peasant “backwardness”, the Industrial Revolution (which surely changed the meaning of “dirt” for many Europeans and so must have conditioned the earlier view, examined in detail in chapter 6, that Rome was “one of the dirtiest cities in Europe”), the rise of the modern nation (“Italy” seems always to be Italy for Wrigley), the spread of modern imperialism and its linked racial “science” (and of Italy’s unbecoming role as the least of the Great Powers) – none of these crucial developments rates a major place in Wrigley’s account. Even the Roman Catholic Church, its changes and continuities, its myths and images, remain noises off. The result is that Wrigley’s book contains some fascinating description of artists’ thoughts about the medical perils of Rome and its hinterland. But he scarcely achieves his (laboured) initial promise of a full-scale rethinking of “influence”, “acting through an ambient, immersive dimension as much as being the result of conscious ambition be that individual or institutional”.
Roman Fever: Influence, Infection, and the Image of Rome, 1700-1870
By Richard Wrigley
Yale University Press, 0pp, £45.00 ISBN 9780300190212 Published June 20 | 2.094604 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Mormonism in Pictures is a photo essay feature from MormonNewsroom.org depicting the Church and its members around the world. Samoan Latter-day Saint youth participate in rugby during an interfaith conference.
Youth in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are like many other young people around the world. They go to movies, participate in sports, watch videos, text their friends, study for school, attend church and play musical instruments.
These girls are helping in a Church cannery with food that will be used by the poor and needy.
They also are given opportunities to look outside themselves and consider the needs of others such as their family, friends and neighbors — to be a source of support for life’s challenges just as Jesus Christ showed with His example while on the earth.
Young men in Haiti meet together for religious instruction to understand their duty to serve others.
As members of the Church, teens participate in the Young Men and Young Women organizations. Youth ages 12 through 17 meet in classes each Sunday for religious instruction and once a week for social activities including service projects, sports, camping and dances. Young men and women are also given leadership positions in which they learn leadership skills such as setting goals, planning group activities and solving problems.
Girls enjoying a group activity on a Pacific Ocean beach.
McKenna, a 16-year-old girl from Farmington, Utah, commented on her experience of being a young woman leader. “Since I was a YCL (youth camp leader) I was able to become closer with the girls my age as well as our leaders.”
Young women learn the intricacies of climbing a rock wall at girls camp.
Girls camp is a summertime highlight for many young women in the Church. For most of a week in the mountains, the desert, on beaches and other locations, they enjoy activities that refine their outdoor skills and strengthen them spiritually to stay firmly connected to the values in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Young women meet to share faith experiences in a “testimony meeting” on a hillside.
“My favorite part about girls camp,” explained 14-year-old Andrea of Farmington, Utah, “is always testimony meeting [voluntary expressions of a member’s feelings about their belief in Jesus Christ]. It’s where you get to listen to your friends’ testimonies.”
Paddling a canoe, one of the many activities young women, as well as adult leaders, participate in at girls camp. (Angela, one of the adult leaders, is the middle person in the canoe.)
The Holy Spirit has a way of touching the hearts of the young women at girls camp, said Angela, an adult leader in the Young Women program in South Jordan, Utah. “Each time I am a part of testimony meetings, I feel that special, heartwarming emotion the girls seem to feel as well! The girls are inspired to share something about their families or the gospel, which is often life-changing.”
Teens in Abu Dhabi participate in a youth conference with the theme of stories from the Book of Mormon. The youth wear clothing which depicts the period of time in the Book of Mormon.
Mormon boys and girls also participate together for three to four days each year in an activity called “youth conference.” Teenage members in all parts of the world use their school vacation time to join in educational workshops, cultural presentations, service activities, dance festivals and spiritual discussions. At these summer conferences, young men and young women connect to learn more about each other and the beliefs they share.
Samuel, 14, from Salzburg, Austria, observed this about his experience at youth conference: “I am now much stronger spiritually because I know that in the German-speaking area there are a lot of young men and women who are striving for the same things.”
Young men and young women participating in a "Trail of Faith" youth conference sponsored by the Nashua New Hampshire Stake .
A pioneer trek is similar to youth conference. However, the focus is on honoring the sacrifices and contributions of the Mormon pioneers. The youth are assigned a trek family with siblings, parents and sometimes grandparents (not their own usually) to travel and work together as a pioneer family pulling a handcart with their belongings.
Alaska youthappreciate more fully the Mormon pioneers' long journey on rugged terrain and in the heat and cold.
In Alaska this summer, 14-year-old Benjamin was in a trek family that had to trudge through mud. “On our second day we went through some mud and had loads of fun, but once we were done our grandparents washed the mud off of our feet. It was really spiritual and brought tears to a lot of people.”
The experience was life-changing for 16-year-old Dayn from Canada. “It gave me the experience to walk in the pioneers’ shoes and a chance to connect with them and what they were dealing with. … [It] has given me memories to recall for years to come that will help me continue to push along and endure through the hard times.”
Boy Scouts in the | 1.715565 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Church in many countries work hard on earning merit badges, achieving the typical ranks from Tenderfoot to Eagle and going on high adventure trips. They climb mountains, test their outdoor skills and endure the rainy, snowy and hot weather. They return home from a 50-mile hike dirty but happy for accomplishing something they weren’t sure they could.
In all the Church youth activities, adult leaders volunteer their personal vacation time to spend the week with the young men and women, teaching them, having fun with them and helping them have a spiritual experience along the way.
“I’ve had rewarding times with the youth,” said Stewart, an adult leader in Utah. “From running a river, building snow caves, climbing a mountain and discussing gospel principles around a campfire, I have received much more than I’m sure I gave.”
Watch the youth and the fun they have in this youth conference video from the South Jordan Highland 1st Ward Youth Conference 2014, Logan, Utah.
Another opportunity for youth is the gathering of hundreds of teenagers from a variety of areas who sign up to spend a week at one of the area’s universities for EFY, Especially for Youth. It takes place in the summertime so there’s a lot of outdoor fun, water games, a dance, uplifting workshops and devotionals and the chance to make new friends.
Seminary is an optional class of gospel instruction for students ages 15 to 18 during the school year.
In addition to Sunday worship and the weekly and summertime activities, Latter-day Saint youth between the ages of 14 through 18 enroll in seminary. Before the school year begins, youth sign up for daily gospel instruction during early-morning seminary or released-time seminary.
Seminary is a weekday opportunity for Mormon students to understand how the gospel of Jesus Christ relates to them.
A seminary graduate from Charlotte, North Carolina, noted that the program has helped him “figure out what I believe for myself” and “do something hard and follow through with it.”
In Cleveland, Ohio, 19 Latter-day Saint seminary students had a desire to introduce their friends who were not members of the Church to the gospel. More than 60 curious high school students showed up for pancakes and bacon.
Church leaders explain the purpose of seminary is to help youth understand and rely on the teachings and Atonement of Jesus Christ, qualify for the blessings of the temple and prepare themselves, their families and others for eternal life with their Father in Heaven.
Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
The youth programs align with the purpose of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Samoan youth conference girls volunteering cannery ym haiti Youth beach fun girls camp south jordan girls camp south jordan girls camp youth conference Abu Dhabi Trek New Hampshire Soldotna AK stake trek south jordan kings peak snowcave bsa group activity Australia seminary high school seminary male student youth ghana temple Jesus Christ Africa MHH planting seedlings philippines artist girl boy scouts klondike derby yw painting Youth Conference Abu Dhabi Jacob conklin native american Gilbert Temple cultural celebration Argentina Mormon Helping Hands boy playing piano
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Click Here to View All On The Same PageThis weekend is as good a time as any to pay a complete stranger to rub the stress out of your gross, naked body. Massages can be both enjoyable and therapeutic, but there are lots of different kinds — so you need to know what you’re looking for. What would be best for working out the tense knots in your upper back caused by the stress you’re under may not be best for simply relaxing for an hour to get away from that stress. Also, you may want to get a nice tug! So here’s a rundown of several different kinds of massage.
SWEDISH MASSAGE is the most common type of massage therapy in the U.S. Message therapists gently knead your muscles in long, circular motions, making this ideal for relaxing and/or beginning a porn, but probably not ideal if you have sore muscles you need to heal. AROMATHERAPY MASSAGE is supposed to be great if you’re stressed out and could use a few minutes of quiet to smell some redolent oils and listen to the sounds of the Costa Rican rain forest waft out of a wood-grained stereo. SHIATSU sounds like some intense martial art that masseuses practice on people’s backs, but it’s actually rather pleasant. This form of Japanese bodywork uses localized finger pressure in a rhythmic sequence along acupuncture meridians. Each ‘pressure point’ is held for eight seconds, supposedly helping the body improve its energy flow. Basically, it’s like getting a rubdown from Mr. Miyagi. | 2.085465 | 980 | 978 |
BarkingDogs.net
This page from the Duckler Interview is part of Section Three:
the Law section of barkingdogs.net
With a barking dog case, people want conduct to be restrained, and they want conduct to change. Either they want to change what somone is doing, or they want someone to be prevented from doing something, or they want someone to be forced to do something else.
Usually you sue in a court of law, you are suing for what is called
. Therefore, you don't ask the court to sit as a court of law. Rather, you ask them to sit as a court of equity, where the focus is on changing people's conduct. equity
People often come to me and say, "The barking is driving us crazy and we want it to stop. What can we do?" But when I say, "You can sue them," they say, "no, no, no. We're not interested in a
The something starts with them allowing their dogs to be outside, or allowing their dogs to be outside during times when you are trying to sleep. Or, it goes to not having dogs at all. Or, it goes to forcing the defendants to build a fence, or forcing the defendants to only have one dog, as opposed to having ten dogs.
What you are often doing in a court of equity is you are telling the judge, "Here's my proposal: They can only have two dogs and the dogs can only be outside at certain times. And, when they are outside, the dogs have to be a certain distance from the fence."
Now this sort of thing where you are attempting to restrain behavior does not go a jury. It goes to a judge, and when you have a hearing on a restraining order injunction, the judge says, "Well come on, everybody gets to have as many dogs as they want, so I'm not going to do that. They can have that many dogs. But yeah, I agree that they really shouldn't have dogs out barking at midnight. So I'll say that they have to have the dogs in between ten PM and eight AM. Also, I think they should have the dogs on a tether."
Usually, when you ask a court to sit as equity, in a sense you are doing what animal control should be doing - but they won't. Animal control
But if animal control won't help you, you can often act through the court, where you get a hearing from a judge, rather than a jury. It then falls to the judge to adopt a policy of fairness and force the dog owners to change their conduct.
Of course, no one would take that kind of a case on a contingency, because you don't get any money if you win, you just get people's behavior to change. That means that you have to pay your attorney on an hourly basis in order to get your restraining order or injunction. And they are two very different things.
Therefore, unlike a restraining order, injunctions, when you are able to get them, do solve the problem. And that's what barking dog victims want, but they usually don't know that it's available to them, and they don't know that that's really what they should be asking for.
If you get a big sum of money when you sue, then, big whoopee. I guess you can use the money to move or to build a fence. But it could be that those options are not available to you, anyway. So it could be that money will not solve your barking problem. Therefore, money is not really the issue, so a lawsuit is not the way to go. Usually an injunction is what's called for. Therefore, as a rule, rather than focusing on preparing my clients for a trial before a jury, usually I'm preparing them for an injunction hearing before a judge. Then, if they lose that, they might as well forget the whole thing, because nothing else I can do will guarnatee that the noise is going to stop.
When you ask a judge to sit as a court of law in a case where you are seeking compensation, you can request that your fact finder be a jury or you can ask that your fact finder be a judge. So you can waive your right to a jury and just have a judge decide, if you prefer.
If you are trying to change people's behavior by asking the judge to sit as a court of equity - equity really just means fairness - then, you don't get the choice of having a jury. Rather, the judge decides, and the judge gets to consider things that he couldn't, otherwise, take into account. Also the evidence rules are a little different and the standards to acquire are different, and the hearing goes a little bit differently.
In a sense, it all comes down to what that judge thinks. It is very judge specific. And you don't really get any remedy or relief
But with a court of equity, in an injunction hearing, pretty much, if that judge thinks that | 1.639999 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
barking dogs are annoying, horrible things that need to be dealt with harshly, you are going to do well. But if that judge thinks that all dogs should be allowed to bark as loud and as long as they want to, and everyone should just deal with it, then, you are going to do poorly.
And really, it all just falls down on who you get, so it's really very much a roll the dice kind of situation. And once that judge decides - that's it. You don't get to have some other judge or court of review decide that, in fact, you really should get that injunction. You're stuck with that decision.
So injunctions can be a bit dicier, but they are the solution to most barking problems.
An injunction requires (in order):
So we're going to go in and ask for an injunction hearing where we will try to make that TRO permanent. At that point, the defendant sometimes gets the idea, and he thinks,
So sometimes you can use the threat of an injunction as good leverage to help you get into some serious settlement negotiations.
But then, I also, at the same time, ask for a restraining order and an injunction for the future problem that I know is going to happen tomorrow, and next week, and a month from now, and all during the time that the lawsuit is proceeding.
So I ask for both, I want money for what happened in the past and I want an injunction for what's going to happen in the future, as well as for what's happening presently. Sometimes I get both, sometimes I get neither, and sometimes I only get one.
It depends on who the defendants are, what they're doing, whose moving on the property, and whether they've actually been cited by animal control. So often, after I've solved the barking problem, I just keep going in an attempt to at least try get my client's money back.
So they hire me hourly. There's no attorney fee statute here, so I tell them right up front that they are not getting their money back. Then, we sue both for law and inequity. Let's say that we win in the equity hearing and we get the injunction granted. Or, at least, we get the restraining order granted and my clients are now satisfied.
At that point I say, "You can stop and dismiss the lawsuit and everything's fine. But if you want to proceed with the case, you might be able to receive compensation for your past suffering. That way, you may be able recoup what you had to pay me to get here, which would be sort of like a de facto attorney's fee provision." And they are often fine with that, especially in light of the fact that they came out money ahead.
Written by Craig Mixon, Ed.D.,
Spanish translation - Traducción al español This website and all its content, except where otherwise noted, are © (copyright) Craig Mixon, Ed.D., 2003-2017.عصب روانشناختی یادگیری ترس و کنترل ترس
کد مقاله سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی ترجمه فارسی تعداد کلمات 69931 2005 10 صفحه PDF سفارش دهید محاسبه نشده Publisher : Elsevier - Science Direct (الزویر - ساینس دایرکت) Journal : International Journal of Psychophysiology, Volume 57, Issue 1, July 2005, Pages 5–14 چکیده انگلیسی
In the current review article it is suggested that fear is a central emotional state that can be activated by external threat cues. The subcortical defensive system cannot only be activated by intrinsically aversive events but shows also strong plasticity enabling previously innocuous stimuli to get access to the fear system after they were paired with painful outcomes. On the other hand, aversive conditioning does not only result in the acquisition of a defensive disposition, the organism also learns on a pure cognitive level that one stimulus predicts the occurrence of another stimulus. It is suggested here that potentiation of the acoustic startle reflex is a rather specific measure for fear acquisition, while skin conductance discrimination indexes contingency learning. It is shown that the acquisition of fear-potentiated startle does not require cortical processing of the conditioned stimulus. Moreover, data indicate that conditioned startle potentiation is abolished in patients with unilateral lesions of the amygdala. Finally, conditioned startle potentiation can be obtained without contingency awareness, which on the other hand is necessary for skin conductance conditioning to occur. It is suggested that the learning of stimulus relations is mediated by the hippocampus and that conditioned startle potentiation is also mediated by the hippocampus in trace conditioning. | 1.584653 | 1,013 | 1,011 |
Cardinal O'Malley Urges Congress to Support the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
WASHINGTON--Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), urged support for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7) when it comes before the U.S. House of Representatives. In a January 28 letter to the House, Cardinal O'Malley called the bill "one small step toward a society that promotes life and not death for unborn children and their mothers."
"It will write into permanent law a policy on which there has been strong popular and congressional agreement for over 37 years: The federal government should not use its funding power to support and promote elective abortion, and should not force taxpayers to subsidize this violence," Cardinal O'Malley wrote. "Even public officials who take a 'pro-choice' stand, and courts that have insisted on a constitutional 'right' to abortion, have agreed that the government has every right (in the Supreme Court's words) to 'encourage childbirth over abortion.'"
Cardinal O'Malley noted that this consensus is reflected in the Hyde amendment and other provisions in appropriations bills, but that such measures have not prevented the Affordable Care Act of 2010 from subsidizing health plans that cover elective abortions. H.R. 7, he wrote, "would end this glaring contradiction in federal law." He added: "The American people, including American women, oppose public funding of abortion and want that opposition reflected in our law once and for all."
The full text of Cardinal O'Malley's letter is available online.
On January 9, Richard Doerflinger of the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities testified before the House Judiciary Committee in support of H.R. 7. More information is available online: http://www.usccb.org/news/2014/14-005.cfm .
Unnecessary Confiscation of Palestinian Lands in Occupied West Bank
WASHINGTON--The United States should urge the government of Israel to cease and desist in efforts to unnecessarily confiscate Palestinian lands in the Occupied West Bank, said the chairman of the Committee of International Justice and Peace of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to Secretary of State John Kerry. In a January 28 letter, Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, specifically addressed the situation in the Cremisan Valley, which he visited earlier this month.
"As I stood amidst the beauty of this agricultural valley and heard the testimony of the Christian families whose lands, livelihoods and centuries-old family traditions are threatened, I was simply astounded by the injustice of it all," wrote Bishop Pates.
Bishop Pates enclosed a January 28 communique from the bishops of the Holy Land Co-Ordination, which made a similar call:
"Our deep concern, as we have repeatedly stated is that this planned security wall is more about consolidating the settlement areas and permanently choking off Bethlehem from Jerusalem," wrote bishops from Europe, North America and South Africa. "This particular plan is a microcosm of the tragic situation in the Holy Land which incites resentment and mistrust, making the possibility of a much-needed solution less likely."
The full text of Bishop Pates' letter and the message from bishops on the Holy Land are available online.
U.S. Bishops File Amicus Curiae Brief Challenging HHS Mandate
Laws must protect individuals and families who seek to practice faith in daily life
WASHINGTON--The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on January 28 filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the plaintiffs in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius. In both cases, family-owned businesses are challenging the legality of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation that forces virtually all employers to include in their employee health plans coverage of sterilization, contraceptives, and drugs and devices that may cause abortions, as well as related education and counseling.
The USCCB explained in its amicus brief that it opposes "any rule that would require faithful Catholics and other religiously motivated business owners to choose between providing coverage for products and speech that violate their religious beliefs, and exposing their businesses to devastating penalties." These penalties include "potentially fatal fines" of $100 a day per affected individual.
The brief reflects and implements the U.S. bishops' consistent support for litigants from the non-profit and for-profit sectors alike who have challenged the HHS mandate in court.
Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the USCCB's Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, stated that "Catholics believe that the right to religious freedom proceeds from the inherent dignity of each and every human person, and that includes | 1.136694 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Post submitted by Hyacinth Alvaran, HRC Diversity Program Manager
Last Friday, the OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates held its Annual National Convention in Washington, D.C. At the convention, the OCA hosted a discussion among 70 Asian American middle and high school students and a panel of safe school advocates.
The panel discussion was called “No More Standing on the Sidelines,” and focused on giving the students the knowledge and tools that they need to be advocates for safer schools in their communities and increase their awareness of different ways to respond to bullying in their own schools.
Panelists included Kisha Webster, the Director of Education and Community Engagement for Welcoming Schools for the Human Rights Campaign; Hyacinth Alvaran, Diversity Program Manager for the Human Rights Campaign; Tiffani Sykhammountry, intern for the D.C. office of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN); and Amrita Singh, Legal & Legislative Affairs Associate for the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund. The discussion was moderated by Monica Thammarath, Senior Liaison for the National Education Association.
The panel discussion touched on themes of bullying based on religion, race, sexual orientation, gender identity & expression, and other forms of bullying. Singh educated the students about the Sikh community, and how Sikh boys are especially bullied because of their long hair and turban. Long hair is an important article of faith for the Sikh community, and being bullied can put pressure on Sikh youth to choose between their peers and their religion.
Sykhammountry spoke about her experience being bullied as gay in high school, and how the experience empowered her to seek help from a teacher and join her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. It also sparked her advocacy work to create safer schools, and work for GLSEN as an intern after she graduated from high school.
Alvaran shared her story of bullying as learned behavior. She was gender-stereotyped as a child in the Philippines: receiving messages from society that it was not appropriate for girls to be tomboyish, and therefore, she learned to display gender-stereotyping behavior towards other children. She also spoke about her experiences of having been a bystander to bullying behavior in her grade-school years in New York, and how as she grew into her high school years in Oregon, she became more aware of other people’s suffering and of her own power to choose, so she started to choose to be an ally to and befriend students who were made fun of.
This power to choose was demonstrated through an activity, facilitated by Webster, called “Making Decisions: Ally or Bystander.” Through this exercise, Webster announced a particular situation of bullying or name-calling, and the students chose to walk to a part of the room with signs that reflected their answer: to either walk away and ignore the situation, talk privately to the person who committed the bullying or name-calling behavior, seek help from an adult, intervene to stop or mediate the situation, or do something else. She then invited students to share their reasons for their chosen action, and facilitated a deeper dialogue around these reasons. When asked to raise their hands if they appreciated the activity, most did, because it encouraged them to think about their own behaviors in response to situations of commonplace bullying or name-calling, and how they can choose to make different decisions if they want to and if doing so is safe for them.
With programs and resources geared towards creating safer schools and communities, the Human Rights Campaign is a strong advocate for youth. In particular, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program gives educators and other school community members tools and resources to learn how to embrace family diversity, avoid gender stereotyping, and end bullying and name-calling in K-5 learning environments.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s report, Growing Up LGBT in America, paints a vivid picture of the issues that LGBT youth face, including non-accepting families, bullying, and fear of being out or open with their sexual orientation or gender identity.
HRC also advocates for better protections for LGBT students by backing the Student Non-Discrimination Act and the Safe Schools Improvement Act. Respectively, these pieces of federal legislation would prohibit schools from discriminating against LGBT students and promote school safety by providing funding for schools that adopt codes of conduct specifically prohibiting bullying and harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and religion.
For more on HRC's groundbreaking report on LGBT youth, visit www.hrc.org/youth.C Linkedin group).
A valuable lesson from a very simple idea: telling someone you’re going to deliver something in a week… and then actually doing it!
neil
Q. How long do you write code before you test and release it? Q. How do you communicate progress as a remote developer? Status reports or passing tests? | 1.579458 | 994 | 992 |
Capoeria is not your average martial art. Created more than 400 years ago by Africans brought as slaves to Brazil, it began as a way of training to fight for freedom, incorporating lots of kicks and escape moves widely thought to accommodate fighters whose hands were tied behind their backs. But, as slaves, the first capoeira fighters had to disguise their training as a dance, incorporating song and percussion--not to mention amazing cartwheels, spins and flips--into their practice sessions. The resulting art form is beautiful and compelling to watch.
Nevertheless, capoiera developed a bad name in post-slavery Brazil, because it was often used by muggers and in street fights. In fact, it was illegal to practice until 1965. But over the many years it's been in existence, it's gained popularity throughout the world, especially in the United States--including Tucson.
Anne Pollack, who's been practicing capoeira for almost 20 years, will offer Tucsonans the chance to both watch and take part in the sport this weekend at the grand opening of her capoeira school, Capoeira Mandinga Tucson. Attendees ages 5 and older can take a free class for beginners, as well as observe a capoeira and Brazilian dance performance to see true capoeira masters at work.
"Capoeira is a really fun challenge--mentally, physically and musically," said Pollack in an e-mail. "It is a very flowing art form, as escapes from kicks, rather than blocks, lend themselves to all kinds of movements depending on your talents. ... It is hard only if you are not patient with yourself."
Both the introductory classes and the show will be free, so bring your whole family and give it a try.
--A.M.
The Old Soul Sisters aren't old. Nor are they sisters. But they do have soul.
Made up of 11 talented local women, the Old Soul Sisters are a folksy vocal ensemble that sings music in all kinds of languages from all kinds of countries, from America to Africa to Eastern Europe. As long as it's folk, and as long as it sounds good, they'll give it a try. Because they
love to sing.
"We're a group based more on the process of singing than on performing," says director Gabrielle Pietrangelo. "The beauty's in the a capella tradition of just getting together and singing beautiful folk songs." In other words, the Sisters aren't in the singing game for money or fame, and they don't go too far out of their way to promote themselves. At the same time, though, they've just released their first, self-titled album--and they're very excited. They've agreed to give a live concert this Friday, featuring a lot of old, traditional songs as well as some brand-new original material. And while the group doesn't like to show off, Pietrangelo does admit that "it's very fun to share."
The new CD is something to check out, because it was recorded live and in the round, with a very unique and organic sound that lets each woman's individual voice emerge. And the energy these women bring to their singing is a spectacle not to be missed: "It's an expression of music that's very heartfelt," declares Pietrangelo. "We get so high off singing together that (the audience) will get high, too!"
The concert will be followed by a dance party featuring DJ Adam Higgins spinning world beats and funk music. Drinks, refreshments and CDs will be available for sale, and the event will cost $5 at the door for adults. (Kids of a single-digit age get in free.)
--A.M.
Born in New Mexico of Indian-Mexican descent, Jimmy Santiago Baca was abandoned by his parents when he was 2 years old. He grew up raised by relatives, in an orphanage and on the street. Functionally illiterate at the age of 21, he was arrested for drug possession and incarcerated in a maximum-security Arizona prison for five years.
But Baca made good use of his time in prison, not only learning to read and write, but discovering that he had a fierce passion for poetry--and skill at composing it. He earned his GED and had his first poems published the very year he was released. Today, he's one of the most famous mestizo writers in the country.
Baca has won numerous awards for his work in both poetry and prose, which covers themes like poverty, injustice, love and the Southwestern landscape. He's devoted his post-prison life to helping others overcome hardship through writing and is currently conducting workshops at schools, community centers and correctional facilities around the United States. His down-to-earth attitude and close work with communities have earned him the nickname "The People's Poet."
This week, Baca will be making visits to our own Pima County Juvenile Detention Center, as well as to the Tucson complex of the Arizona State | 1.573399 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Prison. But those of us who aren't locked up can hear him speak next Thursday, when he'll deliver this year's Lawrence Clark Powell Memorial Lecture. The lecture will focus on the role of literature and the Southwest.
"Everyone should come to this lecture!" exclaims Helene Woodhams, project coordinator for the Southwest Literature Project (which will be hosting the event). "Baca's message will resonate with everyone, and we hope to attract people from all segments of the Tucson community."
The event is free.
--A.M.
Everyone knows HIV/AIDS is a huge problem, but not many people think about the devastating effect it has on women. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, it's much easier for females than for males to contract HIV through heterosexual intercourse. Plus, women with HIV suffer from additional, gender-specific manifestations of the disease, and it's generally harder for them to receive adequate health care and social support. In any case, the number of females infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide is rising faster than that of males. And the problem is the worst in sub-Saharan Africa--the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS reports that women account for 59 percent of all adults living with HIV in that region.
Luckily, AIDS awareness is spreading along with AIDS itself. For that, we can thank people like Anita Isaacs, an HIV-positive Namibian activist who's gone to great lengths to help prevent AIDS in her country, as well as to support women both infected with and affected by the disease. As the director of an organization called Lironga Eparu, or "Learn to Survive," she inspires Namibians to accept their HIV status and live positively despite their illness.
Now, it's time for Isaacs' message to reach a broader audience, so she's been doing radio interviews and giving public speeches here in the United States. She's also the focus of a new documentary called
You Wake Me Up, an inspiring story of the courage and energy of HIV-positive women in rural Namibia. And in honor of World AIDS Day--which takes place this year on Dec. 1--Tucson's own RESULTS and TIHAN will be screening the movie this Sunday.
The event is free, and the movie is a must-see. If you don't think AIDS affects you--well, it's a must-see for you, too.
--A.M. are all ______ to each other In a circle, in a_____ that never ends • Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moo n Or let the Eagle tell you where he’s been? Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains Can you paint with all the colors of the wind. Viewing, Listening & Speaking Fun Time Book 3 -Unit
• How high will the sycamore ______? If you cut it down, then you’ll never know And you’ll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon For whether we are white or copper skinned We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains We need to paint with all the colors of the wind You can own the Earth and still All you’ll own is Earth ____ You can paint with all the colors of the wind. Viewing, Listening & Speaking Fun Time Book 3 -Unit
• Youthinkyouownwhateverlandyoulandon The. Earthisjustadeadthingyoucanclaim But. Iknoweveryrockandtreeand creature Hasalife, hasaspirit, hasaname Youthinktheonlypeoplewhoarepeople Arethepeoplewholookandthinklikeyou Butifyouwalkthe footsteps ofastranger You’lllearnthingsyouneverknew Haveyoueverheardthe wolf crytothebluecornmoon Oraskedthegrinningbobcatwhyhegrinned? Canyousingwithallthevoicesofthemountains? Canyou paint withallthecolorsofthewind? Viewing, Listening & Speaking Fun Time Book 3 -Unit
• Comerunthehiddenpine trailsoftheforest Cometastethesunsweetberriesofthe. Earth Comerollinalltherichesallaroundyou Andforonce, neverwonderwhatthey’re worth The rainstorm andtheriveraremybrothers Theheronandtheotteraremyfriends Andweareall connected toeachother Inacircle, ina hoop thatneverends Haveyoueverheardthewolfcrytothebluecornmoon Orhavethe. Eagletellwherehe’sbeen? Canyousingwithallthevoicesofthemountains Canyoupaintwithallthecolorsofthewind Viewing, Listening & Speaking Fun Time Book 3 -Unit | 1.542304 | 952 | 950 |
hello_earth_opp.ppt
Размер: 403.5 Кб Количество слайдов: 18 Описание презентации Презентация hello earth Opp по слайдам
hello earth!! • 100’s of free ppt’s from www. pptpoint. com library
Describing Our Planet-Map • A map is a two dimensional description of a specific area of land. Maps describe in a visual or graphic format certain key features of the territory being examined.
• Latitude ( shown as a horizontal line ) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds of a point north or south of the Equator. Lines of latitude are often referred to as parallels. Longitude ( shown as a vertical line ) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds, of a point east or west of the Prime ( Greenwich ) Meridian. Lines of longitude are often referred to as meridians.
Our Atmosphere The atmosphere of our home planet is made up of three primary gases. These gases are oxygen, nitrogen, and argon. In addition to these three gases, there are many other gases in the atmosphere, in trace or small amounts. Additionally there are small particles, or particulates floating in the atmosphere, such as dust, water, and pollen
• • The Earth’s atmosphere extends outward to a distance of approximately 6, 000 miles. However, the bulk of that atmosphere is compressed into the first 16 miles. The higher that one travels the less compressed the atmosphere becomes, and the less pressure there is exerted on the items it that atmosphere. Imagine that you are swimming in a giant pool of steel marbles. The deeper you go into the marbles the heavier the marbles become. This is because there are more marbles on top of you, and more weight pushing down on your body. The higher you go, the lighter they become. •
Gases That Affect Our Weather Most of the gases in our atmosphere have little to no affect on our weather patterns. However, a few gases have a significant effect on the weather that we experience around the world. Carbon dioxide is one of these gases. The gas known as carbon dioxide has the unique characteristic of absorbing infrared radiation, or the heat sent to the Earth by the Sun.
Water Affects Our Weather Water vapor is also an important gas to consider when studying the atmosphere. The amount of water vapor found in the air remains constant on average, however, it can vary greatly from one place to another.
Why Is The Sky A Light Shade of Baby Blue? The Earth ’ s atmosphere is filled with trillions of tiny dust particles. Most of these particles or particulates are too small to be seen with the human eye. The smallest particulates are by coincidence the same length as the wavelength of blue light.
Weather and Climate Weather is the combined short-term conditions found in the lower atmosphere. Climate on the other hand refers to long-term atmospheric conditions.
The Earth’s Biosphere • The biosphere is the defined as the sphere or area around the planet Earth where life exists. This zone of life is vast. Most life forms live on, or near the surface of Earth. However, some live deep within the hydrosphere (oceans, lakes, and streams), while others thrive in the depths of the lithosphere (solid portion of Earth). For this reason, mapping the exact borders of the biosphere is quite challenging.
Love Our Earth Know Our Earth
• COLOR OF THE WIND -by VANESSA WILLIAMS People are not the only creatures that have the right to live on the earth. All the plants and animals share the planet with us. We should rely on each other and keep the world harmonious. The following song is from the Disney movie ” Pocahontas ” ( 风 风风风 1995). • Now listen to the song- Color Of the Wind by Vanessa Williams, and fill in the blanks with the missing words. Viewing, Listening & Speaking Fun Time Book 3 -Unit
• You think you own whatever land you land on The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim But I know every rock and tree and ____ Has a life, has a spirit, has a name You think the only people who are people Are the people who look and think like you But if you walk the_____ of a stranger You’ll learn things you never knew Have you ever heard the_____ cry to the blue corn moon Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned? Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? Can you _____ with all the colors of the wind? Viewing, Listening & Speaking Fun Time Book 3 -Unit
• Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth Come roll in all the riches all around you And for once, never wonder what they’re ______ The_____ and the river are my brothers The heron and the otter are my friends And we | 1.281748 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
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Students will test various materials to determine if any can shield their "magnetometer" (compass) from an external magnetic field using their own experimental design. If no suitable material is available, they will devise another method to protect... (View More) their instrument. Includes background science for the teacher, worksheets, adaptations and extensions. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are also identified. (View Less)
In this activity, children use common craft materials and ultraviolet (UV)-sensitive beads to construct a person (or dog or imaginary creature). They use sunscreen, foil, paper, and more to test materials that might protect UV Kid from being exposed... (View More) to too much UV radiation. Includes background for facilitators. This activity is part of the "Explore!" series of activities designed to engage children in space and planetary science in libraries and informal learning environments. (View Less)
This module focuses on ultraviolet radiation on Earth and in space and how it affects life. Learners will construct their own "martian" using craft materials and UV beads. They will explore how UV radiation from the Sun can affect living things,... (View More) comparing conditions on Earth and Mars, and then discuss ways in which organisms may protect themselves from UV radiation. They will then take part in a Mars Creature Challenge, where they will change their creature to help it survive harsh UV conditions — like on Mars. They will then test their Mars creatures by subjecting them to different environmental conditions to see how well they "survive" in a martian environment. This investigation will explore shelter and protection as one of life’s requirements and how Earth’s atmosphere protects life from harmful UV radiation. It also includes specific tips for effectively engaging girls in STEM. This is activity 5 in Explore: Life on Mars? that was developed specifically for use in libraries. (View Less)
This is a lesson about using light to identify the composition of an object. Learners will use a spectrograph to gather data about light sources. Using the data they’ve collected, students are able to make comparisons between different light... (View More) sources and make conjectures about the composition of a mystery light source. The activity is part of Project Spectra, a science and engineering program for middle-high school students, focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System. (View Less)
This is a lesson about emission spectra. Learners will look at various light sources (including glow sticks and christmas lights) and make conjectures about their composition. The activity is part of Project Spectra, a science and engineering... (View More) program for middle-high school students, focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System. (View Less)
In this lesson, students explore a discrepant event when they design an experiment to measure the rate that ice melts when in pure water versus salt water. It is designed to help students realize that a carefully-designed experiment may yield... (View More) unexpected results, due to unseen events, even though the experiment is precisely planned and executed. The addition of a new technology may clarify factors in the experiment which were previously unknown. Note: the experiment requires advance preparation the day before: two buckets of water are set-up (one with plain tap water, the other with as much salt dissolved in it as possible), which need to be at room temperature. It also requires ice cubes of uniform shape (e.g., from an ice maker or ice trays filled to uniform capacity). This lesson is part of the Cosmic Times teachers guide and is intended to be used in conjunction with the 1993 Cosmic Times Poster. (View Less)
Students use a calorimeter made of common materials to demonstrate that energy can be measured and converted from one form to another. Hydrocarbons, such as paraffin, contain stored chemical energy; food contains stored chemical energy. The activity... (View More) uses a raw potato, a nut, a candle, an aluminum drink can, a thermometer, and a balance scale. A data sheet is included in the resource. The investigation supports material presented in chapter 1, "What is Energy?" in the textbook, Energy Flow, part of Global System Science (GSS), an interdisciplinary course for high school students that emphasizes how scientists from a wide variety of fields work together to understand significant problems of global impact. (View Less)
This is a hands-on lab activity about seawater density. After developing a hypothesis, learners will conduct a simple investigation of density. They will discuss changes in density observed and describe how salt affects the density of water.... (View More) Background information, common student preconceptions, a glossary and more is included. This activity is part of the Aquarius Hands-on Laboratory Activities. (View Less)
In this laboratory activity, students investigate chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) through gradual dilution of black, green and chamomile tea. Through | 0.406644 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
==> If you didn't follow last week's advice you may soon need this week's advice
It can happen to every dog owner What to do if our dog injured someone!
Last week's Periodical ended with How Can We Prevent that Our GSD Harms Someone for No Good Reason?
Now this week's Periodical perfectly continues with: "But what if we were
unable to prevent an injury of someone?"
In this Periodical:
How likely are injuries inflicted by dogs? How likely is it to get sued as a dog owner? Who pays for a dog bite injury or non-bite injury? Crucial differences when our dog (supposedly) injured someone Best practice to react when we sawthat our dog injured someone Best practice to react when we get a personal injury claim Best practice to react when the police or animal control gets involved How likely are injuries inflicted by dogs?
Important to accept is that it can happen to
any dog owner (even the most decent citizens), with any dog breed or mix (even the tiny Chihuahua!) that we were unable to prevent an injury of someone inflicted by our dog.
No matter how much you and I take care, if we are unlucky then one day it can happen that our dog (supposedly) injured someone.
The word
supposedly already indicates: Our dog need not even be at fault, but we may get sued anyway! And the past tense injured indicates: We may not have been around at the time of the incident, but we are told so later.
Also, it's not always about dog bites, personal injury claims can be brought upon us without any dog bite at all!
Examples of typical dog injury situations that do
not involve a dog bite: Third party got scared, stepped back, fell and broke rips etc Third party panicked and got heart attack Third party was pushed by dog jumping up, and suffered fractures or inner body injuries, or a 'trauma' (whether alleged or de facto)
Note that in none of these situations (and countless other) the dog was vicious, not even dangerous; in fact the dog may have been cheerful and friendly to the third party (and always is), or jumped up simply to greet or play.
Also note that direct contact between our dog and the third party is not necessary, we may get sued without any dog-person contact whatsoever!
Because the third party suffered an injury while our dog was in his or her vicinity. That's enough. - Of course, it doesn't even need that:
Really mean people may just claim that our dog caused their injury, because they know from the neighborhood that we have a dog (but they may not even have seen the dog).
Although the latter case is rare, it makes something very clear:
Who is most at risk of a dog-inflicted injury? Children The elderly Postmen/women
Children between the ages of 5 and 9 are 900 times more likely to be bitten by a dog than postmen/women!!
US-cities with most dog attacks against postal workers:
Los Angeles San Antonio Seattle Chicago San Francisco Philadelphia
According to dogsbite.org, in the 8-year period from 2005 to 2012, pitbulls killed 151 Americans and thus accounted for 60% of the total recorded dog-bite-related fatalities (DBRFs) - which were 251. Combined, pitbulls and rottweilers accounted for 73% of the 251 deaths in the 8-year timespan: 183 deaths (or 23 annually on average).
I compared this to
Animal People's report (which is based on media reports) which featured in our last week's Periodical Are German Shepherds dangerous, and again it shows: You cannot just blindly trust any statistic!
If both
dogsbite and Animal People were correct, it would mean that during 2005 to 2012 (8 years) pitbulls killed 151 people, but during 1982 to 2004 (23 years!) 'just' 56!? Dog Bite Treatment
Similarly questionable is: "1 of every 6 dog bite injuries requires medical care, 1 of every 14 requires emergency care."
If 5 of 6 dog bite injuries aren't even recorded because they don't require medical care, then how can we know that 1 of 6 dog bite injuries
does require medical care??
Anyway, statistics are always interesting, so we show them!
Statistics from Insurers however are
reliable (unless they fake them intentionally), because insurers wouldn't be in business couldn't they accurately assess risk.
Since most reconstructive surgeries are probably paid for by an insurer, this figure is probably fairly correct: In 2006, more than 31,000 people underwent reconstructive surgery as a result of being bitten by dogs. Shocking, really!
Among adults, | 1.834714 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
males are more likely than females to be bitten. Among children 4 years of age and younger, almost two thirds of injuries are to the head or neck region!!
Injury rates in children are significantly higher for boys than for girls. Presumably boys tease dogs more often, or they are more out and about?
Not a real surprise is this statistic: Adults with two or more dogs in the household are five times more likely to be bitten than those living
without dogs at home, doh!
- Yes, dogs
do bite their owner or family pack members too, and this we will address in another special Periodical next week. How likely is it to get sued as a dog owner? Top dog expertsays:
Find out more: Click to save vet cost, training cost, and your nerves!
In highly litigious nations (like primarily the USA) this risk is
much higher than in nations where a high payout to the victim typically doesn't happen anyway (like say in India).
The more lucrative a lawsuit looks, the more lawyers (attorneys/solicitors) will compete to be awarded the case by the client. Conversely, where lawyers - based on past experience - believe that:
a case has no chance to win in court or the payout will be insignificant even if the case wins in court(!)
...then no sensible lawyer will take on the case.
The situation is slightly different if a prosecutor gets involved because the circumstances of the incident suggest that our dog poses a risk to the general public and criminal charges should be made. Example:
According to CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) at least 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs every year. But only 800,000 (17%) of those dog bite victims seek medical attention (half of them are children). Insurance companies however pay out on less than 1% of the cases.
Since insurers won't pay out if not even medical attention was sought, we can infer that the "less than 1%" payout rate relates to the figure of 800,000 dog bite cases that get medical attention. This means that 'only' 8,000 dog bite injuries a year end with a payout of an insurance company.
The
total amount paid out by US insurance companies for dog-inflicted injuries in 2012 was $479 million on 16,700 cases. Which means that a further 8,700 successful injury claims did not involve a dog bite.
This is important to grasp:
The list of "
Top 10 states of dog injury claims" has been publicized everywhere in the US media, but that list is meaningless because it lists the US states with the highest total claim payouts. Who cares about the total here??
Instead, what really matters is of course: What's the average
individual payout in such claims? On average, how much money would a successful claim against our dog cost us?
So we created a new Top 10 list that matters, one that sheds light on this topic.
US states with the highest settlements in dog-inflicted injury claims:
Rank US State Average Payout Per Claim! 1 Florida $57,724 2 New York $55,172 3 California $37,916 4 Michigan $30,464 5 Pennsylvania $27,273 6 Georgia $27,273 7 Illinois $26,706 8 Ohio $21,277 9 Indiana $18,243 10 Texas $18,220
Data source: State Farm Dog Bite Claims 2011 - Calculations by mygermanshepherd.org
Average payout over
all claims for this insurer (all states): $28,684 per claim in 2011, $25,714 per claim in 2010 - ie a 11.5% increase in just one year!
The national average (all insurers) is even slightly higher: $29,396 per claim on average.
In other words: If you live in the USA, then have at least $30,000 ready at hand just in case your dog ever (supposedly) injures someone. - Or else: be insured.
Who pays for a dog bite injury or non-bite injury?
If we are
not insured, we have to pay ourselves, doh! This can amount to a LOT of cash, see above.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, dog bites account for over a third of all homeowners insurance liability claims!
In the USA and Canada, dogs are typically insured via home insurance -
unless the home insurer excludes liability for the dog, which is increasingly the case for dogs that are considered 'dangerous dogs'.
Now sit tight: It says there that the 'usual suspects' on insurers' | 1.863587 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
lists of dangerous dogs include:
YOU know that this is of course ridiculous: Since you saw last week's Periodical Are German Shepherds dangerous, you know that GSDs are not dangerous by any comparable standard.
But law enforcement officers, insurers, etc don't know this (don't believe it) - because no one has told them to study our Periodicals!!
In Europe including the UK it is common practice to have a distinct liability dog insurance because:
it's just common sense not to ruin your no claims bonus of your home insurance when your dog injures someone and likewise not to ruin your no claims bonus of your dog liability insurance when your home insurance has to pay out.
How it is say in India and other parts of Asia I personally don't know. In Australia it's probably like in the UK: distinct dog liability insurance.
As always, your input is welcome! YOURS, yes. Just click the new fixed-position Comment button. You may now even post comments per email(!) once you subscribed to a comment thread. An awesome new feature, in my opinion.
For a victim, the usual method of getting medical reimbursement is through the liability dog insurance - or for North America, through the dog owner's home insurance policy (if they have one).
Most homeowner's insurance policies in the USA provide $100,000 to $300,000 in liability coverage, but in Europe the amount of the distinct liability dog insurance is typically
much higher (rather 2 million Pound or Euro!), because there in many nations the forgone lifetime earnings of the victim are the basis for the claim (eg in Germany).
If the dog owner is renting and doesn't have a homeowner's liability insurance (in the USA), or doesn't have a distinct dog liability insurance (in Europe), then the victim is usually out of luck(!) -
unless the landlord or property owner can be held liable, which in the USA somewhat automatically is the case if the landlord or property owner has ever received a written letter of concern from any individual!
Meaning: If you as home owner (of the home in which you live or of a house that you rent out) ever get an inconspicuous letter that someone is concerned about your dog, be wary:
Dog owners that did not put up 'dangerous dog' signs on their property in many states/nations have successfully been sued when their dog injured someone on their property!
This legal logic is similar to: If you know that your dog bites, you
must have your dog wear a muzzle outdoors. What to do if not insured?
So what can you do if you checked your insurance policy(ies), and you realize that you
don't have (sufficient) liability cover for your German Shepherd?
Either because:
your home insurer withdrewdog liability cover (as is increasingly the case in eg the USA) or because you rent and don't have a homeowner's insurance anyway or your policy doesinclude cover but you realize that the limit is inadequate
Meanwhile there are a few solutions available, and this market is growing in line with home insurers increasingly excluding dog liability:
Umbrella policy Excess policy Canine liability policy
An
umbrella policy provides liability coverage for injuries, damages and losses that are not covered by a person's primary insurance (eg an umbrella would cover a dog bite that is not covered by the dog owner's homeowner policy).
An
excess policy provides a higher policy limit for losses that are covered by the primary insurance.
A
canine liability policy is a policy written specifically for dog owners who do not have (or did not get) cover for their dog(s).
The usual solution for dog owners was to purchase an umbrella policy. If you have homeowner insurance or renters insurance, and it does not cover canine inflicted injures, talk to your insurance agent about purchasing a
personal umbrella liability policy and explicitely mention that it must cover your German Shepherd.
Why? Because it is likely that GSDs are on the insurer's list of 'dangerous dogs' (see above), which means your GSD would
silently be excluded from cover, and so you'd be paying insurance premiums without being insured!
There is no standard form for this kind of policy, but generally the form requires the maintenance of underlying homeowners and auto liability policies with minimum combined single liability limits of $300,000 each.
The important point is to ascertain that the
umbrella policy under consideration does include cover for canine inflicted injuries for owners of a German Shepherd Dog.
If this is refused, or it turns out to be too expensive, do enquire about the purchase of a policy of
canine liability insurance.
Do not be put off by statements that specialty insurance policies for dog inflicted injuries would be cost-prohibitive. They are normally not: In Europe
canine liability coverage are the standard policies.
Here are a few sources for specialty canine liability insurers:
Important to understand: Some specialty canine liability insurers insure any dog breed. This doesn't necessarily mean that they insure any | 1.941935 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
dog - because often they exclude dogs with a bite history (also called bite record). An insurer that does insure any dog breed, or an insurer that does insure dogs with a bite history, typically is cost-prohibitive for owners of a German Shepherd Dog withoutbite history. As owner of a GSD that does not have a bite record, to get the cheapest insurance you must ensure that the insurer does not allocate your policy to a plan (group of insured) that includes either of the above! For a German Shepherd without bite record you should get a standard policy(also called manuscript policy or form policy), not a specific policy (also called customized policy or tailored policy). The latter are typically for pitbull class dogs and dogs with a bite history.
In the USA, canine liability insurance normally costs $450 to $2,500 a year, because many of these
specialty insurers owe their existance to pitbull advocates (Einhorn admit this openly). As you may know, Pitbulls are extremely expensive to insure. Hence why I said, avoid such policy plans (group of insured). What's the law?
Some states/nations are governed by a
One Bite rule, which typically requires the victim to prove the dog owner knew or should have known that the dog is dangerous (eg because there was a previous bite) in order to receive compensation.
To lay the burden of proof onto the victim is of course a strange view of the legal system's advocates (as so often). How possibly can a victim prove this,
unless the owner has put up an indicative sign??
Other states/nations impose
statutory strict liability, making a dog owner outright fully liable to a victim who was injured by a dog.
In the USA most states impose this - except: Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, and Vermont.
However, almost every state has made amendments to the strict liability, so legal advice should be sought if your GSD has injured someone.
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia require owners of dogs that have been labeled
dangerous or vicious - or in some cases, potentially dangerous - to buy pet liability insurance: Delaware, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
Another important legal concept is that of
residential exclusion. It omits liability when the attack occurs on the dog owner's property - unless the victim can provide the same burden of proof that is required by the One Bite rule. Residential exclusion prevents the majority of dog bite victims from receiving compensation: in the USA over 50% of all dog bites occur on the dog owner's property! I assume, this figure is very different in densely populated Europe, where dog owners often have no other chance than to walk their dog around the block (neighborhood, woods, wherever).
So basically, in states/nations with a
One Bite rule or residential exclusion, it seems it would not be smart to put up any sign that could be construed to indicate that you know your dog is dangerous.
But if your dog
actually is 'dangerous' - particularly if the dog has once bitten in the past - then of course safeguard the public:
Put up warning signs
Use a muzzle. But then
don't get the quick-fit-style muzzle. Despite their advertising, this muzzle type isn't even comfortable in leather, it covers too much of the mouth: it's sweaty, no airflow, and a dog cannot breathe well enough when panting. The quick-fit-style muzzle should be legally forbidden, so dangerous they are!
Instead, get a basket-style muzzle made of leather or, cheaper, rubber. - Leather is the most comfortable material for dogs, that's why the 'everyday' collar should be a
leather collar.
And
gently make your dog familiar with the muzzle: Watch this video on muzzle training. Not muscle training, no.
And now really learn to train your dog like a professional! - without the cost and risk of a local trainer!
Top dog expertsays:
Find out more: Click to save vet cost, training cost, and your nerves!
Why
risk, you may wonder? Because most dog trainers - and particularly the "certified" ones - are mediocre: They do more harm to the dog, and more harm to the relationship between dog and owner, than they do good. This personal experience is supported by thousands of statements received from other dog owners here. So while your local trainer may be a great salesperson (making you feel (s)he's the best), the actual training approach typically is neither gentle nor effective - yet it certainly costs MUCH more than a TOP online dog trainer costs. Top dog expertsays:
Find out more: Click to save vet cost, training cost, and your nerves!
Pit Bull Terriers and in most cases also Staffordshire Terriers, Cane Corso, Dogo | 2.057319 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Presa Canario, Presa Mallorquin, Rottweilers, Staffordshire Bullterriers, Tosa Inu, and Wolf Hybrids...
...
are now banned in Argentina, Bermuda, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Liechtenstein, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Latvia, Singapore, Spain, St. Kitts and Nevis, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, the UAE, United Kingdom, Venezuela, and parts of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, China, and Japan.
Because they are considered
dangerous dogs by law, as opposed to by insurance policy.
Meaning, owners of these dogs are automatically deemed guilty if their dog injured someone - whether supposedly or de facto!
Thankfully, by law
German Shepherds are NOT considered dangerous dogs - although they were somewhat considered such and banned from Australia between the 1950s and 1990s, because Australian bureaucrats feared for their livestock - not realizing that GSDs actually protect livestock. Crucial differences when our dog (supposedly) injured someone
Legally, there are certain distinctions to make when our dog (supposedly) injured someone, and it's helpful that you know of these even if you were to seek paid-for legal advice:
Did the incident happen on our premises, the victim's premises, or third party premises, or on communal premises? Did the victim fall over (eg because of panic), or did our dog push the victim, or did our dog bite the victim? Was a child hurt or an adult? Are we sufficiently insured or not? Was our dog on-leash or off-leash? Were we present during the incident, or was it subsequently reported to us? Can it be argued that the incident was provoked, either by the victim itself or by a third party? Is our dog a trained protection dog or not? Has our dog a bite record, ie had there been an earlier incident? Do we have visible signs on our property that warn of a "dangerous dog"? And does our dog have all legally required vaccinations?
It is not the purpose of this
MYGERMANSHEPHERD PERIODICAL or indeed our organization to give legal advice, and every incident would need to be looked at individually and in detail anyway.
But the above list of considerations can help to ascertain an individual case should it ever arise, before you contact a lawyer or insurer. Best actually is to think about each of these points now because that can help to be more organized about your dog, and to be a responsible dog owner and citizen.
Best practice to react when we saw that our dog injured someone
This means we know for sure that any claim of the victim would be real, not fake.
Most importantly, do not discourage the victim (or their relatives) from calling the police or animal control or lawyer, or from filing a dog bite report! This would certainly bring you into much more trouble as it suggests that you have something to hide about the history of your dog, and in any case such action would be held againstyou later. If still possible, of course try to prevent any furtherinjury. Take your dog away and use a suitable leash to contain your dog say at a lamp post, tree, or whatever (here you see again, whywe always suggest certain products: they have so many useful applications!) Also, of course try to first-aid the victim if you can without injury to yourself, the victim, or a third party! But do not attempt to 'home doctor' the victim. Again, this would be held againstyou later. If the injury looks serious, immediately call the ambulance yourself! Do not worry about the consequences, these will always be much better for you if you take all of these actions, rather than trying to 'gloss over' the incident. If a child got injured, always involve a doctor/ambulance yourself (and depending on severity the police too), regardlessif the child speaks against it, because by law a child cannot discharge you from liability.
Be aware that children may sometimes
fear that their parents scold them, and so they might discourage you from involving anyone (if the injury is not too serious). Do not agree, it will be held against you later! Always make sure that an injured child gets medical care immediately.
A further reason is that if your dog actually
bit the child, then the child may have contracted an infection or may get an allergic reaction, either of which could be life-threatening. Best practice to react when we get a personal injury claim
This means we were not present during the incident, and we cannot be sure what was going on. The claim may be justified, or it may not.
In this case I would always suggest to involve your own lawyer if you have a legal insurance, because then the first consultation to get an assessment of a case will not affect | 1.887675 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
your no claims bonus, and you won't have to pay the lawyer. If you don'thave a legal insurance, I would suggest to involve a lawyer anyway (if the claim seems significant), or to contact your insurer (if the claim seems not significant) - they will then involve a lawyer for you. The reason why it is not wise to outright always involve your insurer is that this can harm your policy even if the claim has no merit at all. But note that insurance policy terms do not allow you to delaynotifying your insurer. If you don'thave an insurance for your GSD either (home insurance or dog liability insurance), then I would highly recommend to get one now, before it's too late!
- Or do you have $30,000 at hand?
And possibly
much more. Eg in Germany, Switzerland, and some other 'richer' European nations the dog injury awards can reach millions, because there they consider the lost life-time earnings of the mauled or killed victim! Best practice to react when the police or animal control gets involved
This means we either were present during the incident and know what was going on, or we are being surprised that someone involved the police or animal control because of an
alleged incident with our dog.
Now it is important not to make any statement without having consulted your lawyer (whether you have legal insurance or not), because like myself you probably don't know all the law revolving around dog ownership in your state, and if you say something unsuitable you'll regret it later!
If you are a member of a German Shepherd dog club, it can be worthwile to contact them as well/instead if they have an 'urgent response' line, because larger clubs often do offer legal advice.
In any case it is certainly helpful for all situations above, if you know a bit more than the average dog owner (and law enforcement officer!) about how dangerous GSDs as a dog breed really are - hence last week's Periodical!
Knowing about the different kinds of 'bite' of a GSD, or that there is not a single recorded case (in North America at least) where a German Shepherd exhibited predatory behavior - facts like these certainly help to educate other GSD owners and non-owners about what our breed really is like.
We here should always be aware that we are not the average citizen and GSD owner. This applies to you too if you have followed our Periodicals weekly. Because then you know much more than the masses of GSD owners and non-owners out there!
You too can
help to change public perceptions, eg about the German Shepherd not being a dangerous dog breed.
A few individual cases of poorly bred and raised GSDs (and of course all cases of GSD-Wolf Hybrids!) must not be allowed to shape public perception - and thus that of insurers too.
==> Next edition: How to Save the Relationship When Your Dog Bit You! <== Can you give back a bit today?
USDPolice are urging residents to be on their guard after crooks attempted to break into two homes on the same night in North Glasgow.
The would-be burglars tried to get into houses in Robroyston overnight on Sunday, December 29, by forcing the patio doors.
The incidents come just weeks after it was announced that housebreakers face up to five years in jail under a tough new prosecution policy being enforced over the festive period.
The crackdown was announced as Police Scotland said it had recorded a four per cent rise in housebreakings since April last year.
Robroyston was one of the areas previously targeted when thieves broke into a number of houses and stole car keys before making off with several vehicles.
Police Scotland has issued the following advice to keep your home safe.
-Security mark your property with a UV marker pen. You can use this pen to place an invisible imprint of your postcode and house number on your possessions.
-Place a sticker on a conspicuous window of your home that states your possessions have been security marked will also help to deter thieves. Ask for one of these stickers at your local police office.
-Keep your home securely locked at all times. Most house break-ins are committed by opportunist thieves who do not have to break-in due to a door or window having been left open.
Police also recommend speaking to the crime prevention officer at your local police office about the safety devices (locks, timers, lighting etc) and procedures (closing curtains after dark, cancelling regular deliveries when you are on holiday, etc.) that you can put in place to increase the security of your property.
You may also want to talk to your landlord or council about installing a telephone entry system. This may be easier to organise if you get together with other residents.
* Have you got a story, picture or comment? E-mail kirkyherald@jnscotland.co.uk
Or you can log in below and have you say on the site... | 1.761854 | 1,006 | 1,004 |
One important development from the discovery of genes responsible for human disorders has been the creation of laboratory animals with the same diseases. By inserting the defective human gene into the embryos of mice, for instance, scientists have been able to produce 'transgenic' animals that show many of the symptoms of the human condition. Medical researchers say they need such animals to get a better understanding of the human disease and to find cures by testing new drugs and treatments that can alleviate the symptoms of their laboratory 'model'.
Already, scientists have developed transgenic mice with the defective human cystic fibrosis gene. The creation of so-called knock- out mice is well developed for a range of other diseases, such as sickle-cell anaemia and atherosclerosis, which causes heart disease. The most celebrated transgenic mouse, however, is one that has been genetically manipulated to develop cancer within a few weeks of birth. Owners of the patent on Oncomouse, the trade name of the animal, expect to earn a small fortune from licensing it to cancer workers researching a cure for the many different forms of the disease.
Photographs published in 1982 of the first transgenic animal, a mouse which grew nearly twice as big as its litter-mates because it had a gene for rat growth hormone inserted into it while an embryo, illustrated the power of the new biology. They also made some critics feel uneasy. Commercial exploitation of these animals raised even more questions. Why should it be possible to patent an animal, especially one that has been designed to suffer?
Advocates argue that the suffering of the animal is more than outweighed by the benefits of alleviating human suffering. The argument is easier to sustain, of course, when there is little or no suffering for the animal and the potential human benefits are considerable. Scientists, for instance, have created transgenic sheep that can produce human proteins in their milk. The animals look exactly like normal sheep, except they can produce a vital drug - the human protein - for people suffering from emphysema, which causes breathlessness. Most people would approve of this experiment.
However, there are a few examples of scientists making grave mistakes in the genetic engineering of animals. Agricultural researchers in the US, for instance, inserted genes for human growth hormone into pigs in an attempt to produce leaner meat in animals that grew bigger. The result was the 'Beltsville pig' (named after the town in Maryland where the research centre is based), which suffered severe arthritis and could not stand.
British researchers say such an experiment, which at the time was undertaken with little knowledge of the consequences, would not be approved in the UK. Here every research project has to be licensed and the likely scientific benefits are set against possible animal suffering. But, as with many ethical problems, different people will define necessary and acceptable suffering differently.Reuse contentThe most severe law enforcement will achieve little if lower-class urban offenders can see no legitimate way to solve their problems or satisfy their aspirations. At the absolute best it could turn the criminals into a passive underclass which is forever dependent on welfare benefits. Even then the most energetic and ambitious members of this underclass would eventually be targeted by recruiters for organized crime or terrorist organizations. Social improvements alone will be ineffective if the atmosphere of fear and hopelessness which pervades crime-ridden areas prevents local people from taking advantage of them, or if the improvement are sabotaged by those who have a stake in the existing situation (e. g. loan-sharks and gang-leaders). So we need a combination of:…
One of the main conflicts in the story “Rip Van Winkle” is about Rip falling asleep for 20 years. To escape the verbal abuse of his wife that he had to deal with every day, Rip left to the forest with his dog Wolf. While he was enjoying a calm view at the top of the mountain, a strange man yelled his name over and over. The man reached Rip’s location and asked him if he could help him with the bags he carried. Rip helped the man and they headed to the mountain torrent. When they got there, they found a group of strange men playing nine-pins. Rip drank some Dutch gin that the men gave him, got really…
Harriet Tubman was a very accomplished woman with many great feats under her belt. Born into slavery under the name Araminta, she lived a tough life. She later married a free black man, and took her mother’s first name and her husband’s last name, now under the name Harriet Tubman. A short while after she married her husband, her master died, this was when Tubman made her move. She escaped, going from Maryland to Pennsylvania alone and unnoticed. She later went on to become a conductor for the underground rail road and do many other things to aid in the fight against slavery. Harriet Tubman’s greatest accomplishment was helping other slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. Her help with the… | 1.625389 | 1,003 | 1,001 |
“The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”[1]
There is an old saying that is sometimes heard among Christians in the southern United States that cautions, “Scratch a saint and you find a sinner underneath.” This is one of those sayings that lends itself to various understandings. Unquestionably, it points out the fact that we are each sinful, though we may be saved. Even the bravest among us can be frightened and act cowardly. Even the boldest Christian can be intimidated into silence. The godliest individual is capable of tolerating and even justifying unthinkable evil.
At a more superficial level, this old saw addresses the fact that not everyone who professes to be a Christian acts “Christianly.” A church always represents a mixed multitude; growing together in God’s garden are wheat and weeds sown by the enemy. In any congregation there will be pretenders, and there will be sheep that are readily influenced to act unconscionably by the actions and pleas of others. Though we must guard against all such infiltration of evil, according to the words of the Master, it is inevitable that such will occur [see
Matthew 13:24-30].
Nevertheless, these are perilous times for Christians. It is not dangerous for Canadians to go to church, nor even to be religious; however, to live a life of commitment to Christ—adhering to His Word and conscientiously endeavouring to do what pleases Him—exposes the child of God to serious risks in the world. Outsiders accuse the people of God of bigotry because they will not approve of the sinful lifestyle adopted by and tolerated in the world. Professed believers are offended because commitment to Christ makes them unpopular with the world. Even fellow believers who indisputably love the Master may become testy if pet doctrines are ignored.
Additionally, there is a constant struggle arising from within the Master’s congregations. At any given time, we will find saved individuals that “will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” Among the professed people of God, personal comfort is often of greater importance than is fidelity to the Word or conscientious commitment to the way in which Christ would have us walk. The sentiment is “Tickle my ears, but don’t scratch my heart.”
The Tenuous Hold of Sound Doctrine — “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.” It is sometimes said that the Faith is but one generation from apostasy; I suggest that a congregation is always one sermon away from apostasy. After a congregation has become apostate, their defection is obvious to anyone with a modicum of spiritual perspicuity. However, when an assembly first begins to tolerate a little bit of error, it is difficult to say with certainty that the congregation is apostate. At first, the subtle deviations from sound doctrine are distractions—bothersome perhaps, but hardly worth rupturing fellowship. As the error becomes more blatant, we find we are uncertain when to pull the plug and leave the fellowship.
The great English divine, Charles Spurgeon, struggled with that very issue in his associations with the Baptist Union of Great Britain. One of the major crises in his life was known as “the Downgrade Movement.” He remonstrated privately with leaders in the Baptist Union of Great Britain, pleading with them to remove pastors and teachers that openly denied the Faith. When that effort was rejected with the plea that they sought to maintain fellowship, he publicly quit the association. His church stood with him in withdrawing from association with error. After the breach was complete, he looked back and wrote, “I have taken a deep interest in the struggles of the orthodox brethren; but I have never advised those struggles, nor entertained the slightest hope of their success. My course has been of another kind. As soon as I saw, or thought I saw, that error had become firmly established, I did not deliberate, but quitted the body at once. Since then my one counsel has been, ‘Come ye out from among them.’”[2]
This battle is not new, it has continued since the earliest days of the Faith. Peter wrote of the saints who preceded him, “False prophets also arose among the people,” and he warned of what awaited those to whom he wrote, “just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them” [
2 Peter 2:1]. Then, in agreement with our text he cautioned, “And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed” [ 2 Peter 2:2].
The elders are charged to be ever watchful against infiltration, but the | 1.6217 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
error introduced and tolerated among otherwise sound people is excused because those who are led astray plead, “We know these men!” Paul warned the Ephesian elders who met him as he sailed to Jerusalem, “From among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” [
Acts 20:30]. It would be some who had once stood firmly in the Faith and who had once taught the Word faithfully who would themselves lead the flock astray.
How is this possible? Spurgeon, in the previously cited Sword and Trowel article answered that very question. “Failure at a crucial moment may mar the entire outcome of a life. A man who has enjoyed special light is made bold to follow in the way of the Lord, and is anointed to guide others therein. He rises into a place of love and esteem among the godly, and this promotes his advancement among men. What then? The temptation comes to be careful of the position he has gained, and to do nothing to endanger it. The man, so lately a faithful man of God, compromises with worldlings, and to quiet his own conscience invents a theory by which such compromises are justified, and even commended. He receives the praises of ‘the judicious;’ he has, in truth, gone over to the enemy. The whole force of his former life now tells upon the wrong side. If the Lord loves him well enough, he will be scourged back to his place; but if not, he will grow more and more perverse, till he becomes a ringleader among the opposers of the gospel. To avoid such an end it becomes us ever to stand fast.”[3]
In short, a good man begins to love the praise of men, and in order to secure that praise he makes just a little compromise for the sake of “fellowship.” The members of the congregation are at first somewhat alarmed, but they know him to be a good man—they trust him; and so they dismiss his deviation as transient and momentary. However, they have made a fool’s bargain, exchanging the truth for a lie. Having tolerated “a little bit of error,” they will find it easier still to make the next compromise, though they cannot imagine that they will be required to make more accommodation for deception. Their conscience is quieted as the explanation is provided for why they can accept the error as truth and as God’s will.
Defection from the Faith is more widespread and more commonplace than we might ever imagine, for God has clearly warned that error will be introduced within the congregations of the Lord and even tolerated as the people of God grow quiescent and become spiritually senescent. Near the end of his ministry, the Apostle Paul warned, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” [
1 Timothy 4:1]. Here is a frightening warning that has been issued by the Spirit of God. We saw earlier that even from among the elders some will arise who deceive, but here the Apostle says that from within the Faith there will be ongoing departures.
We know that a person who has been born from above cannot be unborn. These are not lost people who are in view, nor are they people who somehow became “unsaved;” rather, Paul is focusing on believers—members of the congregation, who reject the hardship of the Faith. Paul has in view redeemed individuals who turn from healthy teaching so that they can feed on the sweet sop that they want rather than the healthy foods that they need.
Listen to Eugene Peterson’s interpretation and translation of the Greek behind our text. “You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages.”[4] The Apostle says we can anticipate that some believers will turn away from “healthy teaching.”[5] They will prefer spiritual junk food because they cannot tolerate healthy food. This is an ongoing challenge to the teacher of the Word as he seeks to build the Body and strengthen believers. There will be constant resistance, as some supposedly spiritual individuals channelling Rodney King plead, “Can’t we all just get along?”
To be certain, there are deceivers who sneak into the assemblies and insinuate themselves into positions of prominence and authority. Jude warned against such people when he wrote, “Certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” [
Jude 4]. Certainly, that is the tenor of Peter’s previously cited warning. However, in our text, Paul seems to be warning that it is believers—people that have been born again and who should know better, who will seek to gorge themselves on spiritual | 1.820554 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
junk food.
Because this is a constant danger, the people of God must guard against every deviation. Elders must “preach the message, be[ing] ready whether it is convenient or not” [
2 Timothy 4:1].[6] Members of the congregation must familiarise themselves with the Word, ensuring that what is taught accords with the Word. Together, the people of God must hold one another accountable, refusing to permit errant teaching to slide. Though I recognise that in the popular view this passage is relegated to ordination sermons, the implication of the Apostle’s words is of such significance that all believers must take the teaching to heart. Each Christian must accept responsibility to ensure that this truth is applied consistently in the services of the congregation.
I understand that the Spirit of God guards the congregations of the Master. I understand that we have the Word of God delivered for our benefit and instruction. However, there is obviously a grave danger that believers will ignore sound doctrine, even tolerating speakers at the sacred desk who prove to be “liars whose consciences are seared” [see
1 Timothy 4:2]; otherwise, the Spirit of God would not have appended the warnings which we have just seen, nor would it be necessary to caution those who preach the Word to guard their teaching, being prepared to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” [ 2 Timothy 4:2].
Throughout Canada are multiplied empty church buildings that once housed congregations that stood firmly for the Faith of Christ the Lord. Those congregations defected from the truth and wandered off into myths. Now, the buildings built by these faithful saints stand empty or have been taken over by the world to serve as bars and barns. Who will listen very long to fables? Who can build their lives on fantasy and grow strong?
There are multiple denominations in our nation that were once identified as valiant for the Faith; yet, today within these same denominations one is hard-pressed to find a vibrant messenger of the Faith of Christ the Lord. The people imagined that the finest thoughts of mere mortals were superior to the revealed mind of God. They thought that tolerance of wickedness was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, and so they showed the breadth of their compassion through accommodating practises which are unacceptable to the Living God. We have come to a day in which gathering a crowd is more important than maintaining fidelity to the Word—the size of the crowd is taken as evidence of divine blessing. Whether a preacher is well liked in the community is of greater importance than whether that preacher boldly declares the whole counsel of God. Have such preachers never heard the Word of the Master, “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” [
Luke 6:26]?
There is, in the prophecy of Isaiah, a startling description of the condition of God’s people when they insist on hearing what is pleasant rather than what is needful.
“They are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’
and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
[
Isaiah 30:9-11]
There are consequences to such choices, as Isaiah makes clear in the verses that follow.
“Thus says the Holy One of Israel,
‘Because you despise this word
and trust in oppression and perverseness
and rely on them,
therefore this iniquity shall be to you
like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse,
whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
with which to take fire from the hearth,
or to dip up water out of the cistern.’”
[
Isaiah 30:12-14]
In his commentary on the Pastoral Letters, Knute Larson, long-time pastor of The Chapel in Akron, Ohio writes, “Nothing has changed. People still like to hear only pleasant things, teachings that correspond to their
own desires. This allows them to continue in the lifestyles and practices with which they are comfortable. The human heart works hard to fortify itself against truth, creating rationalizations and systems of thought to justify selfishness. Unfortunately, there are teachers and leaders who give people what they want to hear, tickling their itching ears with curiosities that allow them to remain untouched by God’s transforming power. They turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths—things devised by man.
“God’s truth, in addition to pointing out error | 1.469589 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
and sin, leads to reality, grace, and freedom. Truth becomes a burden only when we try to reach the beauty of its perfection without the enabling strength of our Creator. Truth, as delivered by God through his ministers and people, becomes the power for living in the fullness for which God created us. But human beings fear exposure, and so we pretend we can hide from the truth. In reality, we only deceive ourselves and lead others astray.”[7]
Long before Paul wrote to Timothy, Jeremiah spoke as a prophet of the Living God in a day of spiritual declension in the nation. His observation concerning the defection of God’s ancient people could readily be applied in this day as well.
“Something horrible and shocking
is going on in the land of Judah:
The prophets prophesy lies.
The priests exercise power by their own authority.
And my people love to have it this way.
But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!”[8]
[
Jeremiah 5:30, 31]
The prophets became concerned with how their message would be perceived, and so they moderated their prophecies in order to make them palatable and so that they would be liked by those who heard them. The priests did not want to make people uncomfortable by being overly strict about what was pleasing to the Lord, and so they changed the commands of God to ensure the comfort of the people. So liturgy and pomp was substituted for contrition and humility. Terrible though Jeremiah’s assessment concerning the religious leaders is, the most appalling statement is undoubtedly, “My people love to have it this way.” A congregation will go no lower than is permitted by the people. If the people permit error to dictate their service, they must ultimately bear culpability, though the false teachers are not excused.
Let me say very plainly that it is a common condition of mankind, and thus a common infection within the people of God, to exchange vigilance for complacency, to barter peace and security for disengagement and ambiguity, to trade freedom for bondage. We grow weary, and because we are tired we withdraw from watching against evil. After a while we choose to ignore the tiny errors that we see creeping in, treating them like termites that though we know they are destructive, so long as they are out of sight we are not disturbed—and being undisturbed is of greater importance than being compelled to deal with the danger than threatens our existence.
The Basis for Resistance to Sound Doctrine — “Having itching ears [Christians] will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” Notice that the Apostle turns the focus to the congregations. Though tolerance and complacency have been a constant danger to the churches of our Lord throughout this Age of Grace, there is no question but that this prophetic word looks forward to the acceleration of this dreadful condition as the end of this present age draws to a conclusion. Rather than being fed by shepherds appointed by God, the congregations will hire whomever they please so that they can hear what they want to hear. They will not tolerate strong meat, insisting rather that they need spiritual pabulum consisting of moralistic platitudes rather than being compelled to confront the message of the Master.
There looms in the future an awful day marked by widespread longing to hear the Word of the Lord. Amos spoke of that awful day when he wrote:
“‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord God,
‘when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.”
[
Amos 8:11, 12]
The reason the Word of the Lord will not be found is because the “seekers” will have accumulated for themselves teachers to say what they want to hear.
From July, 2002 to March 2003, the research team of Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton representing the National Survey of Youth and Religion conducted 3,290 telephone interviews followed by 267 in-depth interviews with selected participants from the earlier surveys. They sought to discover the religious tenor of American teenagers. What they discovered should be disquieting to every thoughtful Christian. According to the authors, American teenagers, and likely Canadian teens as well, “may actually serve as a very accurate barometer of the condition of the culture and institutions of our larger society… American teenagers actually well reflect back to us the best and worst of our own adult condition and culture.” What did these researchers find that applies to what we are studying in this hour.
Their findings were summarised in a book that shook the religious world in 2005.[9] Their conclusion was that the religion of modern teenagers immersed in the culture of church | 1.632191 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
is best defined as “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” According to this research duo, modern teens that are active in a church could summarise their beliefs as:
· a rather distant (unless needed to solve one's problems) God, who “wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions” (p. 162);
· “the central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself” (p. 163);
· “good people go to heaven when they die” (p. 163);
· God “designed the universe and establishes moral law and order. But this God is not Trinitarian, he did not speak through the Torah or the prophets of Israel, was never resurrected from the dead, and does not fill and transform people thorough his Spirit. This God is not demanding. He actually can't be, because his job is to solve our problems and make people feel good. In short, God is something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist: he is always on call, takes care of any problems that arise, professionally helps his people feel better about themselves, and does not become too personally involved in the process” (p. 165). [10]
“What we heard from most teens,” Smith and Denton say, “is essentially that religion makes them feel good, that it helps them make good choices, that it helps resolve problems and troubles, that it serves their felt needs. What we hardly ever heard from teens was that religion is about significantly transforming people into, not what they feel like being, but what they are supposed to be, what God, or their ethical tradition wants them to be” (pp. 148-149). The youngsters interviewed rarely expressed interest in a religion that “summons people to embrace an obedience to truth regardless of the personal consequences or rewards. Hardly any teens spoke directly about more difficult religious subjects like repentance, love of neighbour, social justice, unmerited grace, self-discipline, humility, the costs of discipleship, dying to self, the sovereignty of God, personal holiness, the struggles of sanctification” (p. 149), or any of the classical themes of Christian discipleship.”
Because their search is for something to make them feel good about themselves, they are uncomfortable hearing the teaching of the Word. Parents want their teens to “be in church,” and so the parents are offended if the preacher should speak pointedly about the biblical requirements for godliness, righteousness and ethical behaviour. Thus, the religious leaders seek to create a religion that will not make anyone uncomfortable, and that will make people feel good about themselves. This is precisely the condition the Apostle foresaw.
It is doubtful that the religion of the modern American teenagers differs significantly from the religious preferences of their Canadian peers. What is presented is a hodgepodge of banal, self-serving, feel-good beliefs that bears little resemblance to traditional Christianity. Rather than condemning teenagers, I suggest that our youth actually serve as quite an accurate barometer of the condition of the culture and institutions of our larger society. I suggest that our teenagers actually reflect back to us the cultural condition prevailing in the nation.
Rejecting Sound Teaching — Christians “will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” To be certain, we who stand behind the sacred desk are responsible for what we teach. If the Christians seated before us are poorly taught, we bear responsibility since we are accountable to God for what we teach. False teachers and weak teachers will speak for a fee, saying whatever they are paid to say. However, in our text, Paul lays responsibility for the absence of sound doctrine at the feet of professed believers who are unwilling to break free from their old life, giving themselves fully to the new. These wanna’ be Christians grow dissatisfied with the message of life because it is too demanding of them; so they seek a “spiritual answer” that is more convenient. Convenience and personal satisfaction drives their search.
The pious façade that adorns the exterior of many of the professed saints of God is no indication of character. Character is the expression of what lies inside; and the inner man is fortified by the Spirit of God. The Christian that is energised by the Spirit of God seeks truth and gladly embraces the truth though it stings because it condemns unrighteousness and ungodliness; the Christian knows that the truth of God is necessary if he will be godly and strong in the Faith. Those professed Christians who have surrendered to worldly values and sinful desires of various sorts have exchanged the demands of the Word for immediate convenience and personal comfort. Having embraced the values of this dying world, it is the very thing they have embraced that determines what type of teaching they will tolerate.
This is a vital point that must not be overlooked. Those whom Paul describes as deceived have deceived themselves. For having adopted | 1.697092 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
the values and desires associated with this dying world, they no longer are capable of deciding what is healthy; now, they are at the mercy of their own desires which drain them of spiritual energy and renders them ineffectual in their Christian walk. What was then ongoing within the church at Ephesus is seen prophetically—the condition will continue throughout the age, growing more pronounced as the age draws to a conclusion, until during the Tribulation the apostate faith that will then remain on the earth will have no possibility of presenting what is right and healthy.
It is especially tragic that false teachers, perhaps even imagining that they are doing the work of God, will prove only too ready to provide a satisfying alternative to the healthy doctrine that Paul describes. The Apostle identifies these alternatives as “myths” in contrast to the truth of apostolic doctrine. This has been a constant theme throughout the Pastoral Letters. Consider just a few instances. As he opens the first letter to Timothy, Paul writes, “As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith” [
1 Timothy 1:3, 4]. Later in the same letter he warns, “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness” [ 1 Timothy 4:7].
The theme of myths supplanting truth is prominent in Paul’s Letter to Titus when he instructs Titus, “Rebuke [insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers] sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work” [
Titus 1:13-16].
The theme is echoed by Peter who says of the message he presented together with the other Apostles, “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” [
2 Peter 1:16].
Fix firmly in your mind the truth that though “there will be false teachers among [the churches], who will secretly bring in destructive heresies” [see
2 Peter 2:1], these enervating doctrines would never find a place among the churches if the people were not disposed to and insistent on “turn[ing] away from the truth and wander[ing] off into myths.” The healthy doctrine that Paul presented and which is necessary for strong saints, points all to Christ. There is no controversy in this teaching. On the other hand, the myths that false teachers bring and that the people will increasingly demand created “an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth” [ 1 Timothy 6:4].
I want to take one moment longer to speak of the means for guarding against error such as described by the Apostle. First, each member of the Body is responsible to make himself or herself familiar with the Word and the will of God—this is a shared responsibility. Each Christian must ruthlessly reject the temptation to seek what makes him or her comfortable, seeking rather to ensure that the things taught are the will of God. Again, each Christian must accept the responsibility to ensure that what is taught in the congregation accords with sound doctrine. Each of us is responsible to humbly accept the implanted Word which is able to save the soul. Avoid argument; rather examining what is taught to ensure that it agrees with the revealed Word which has been delivered for our benefit.
We must remove from our mind any thought that the congregation is a hierarchy—there are no classes of saints. In the assembly there are only “saints” and “ain’ts.” Either we are redeemed, or we are lost. There are elders appointed by God, but they are members of the congregation. Pastors are not hired; they are supported so they can give their full attention to the ministry of the Word. Every member is a minister—a servant performing the tasks which the Master, the Head of the Church, has assigned. When we truly understand this truth we will see the assembly as the Body of Christ, reflecting the presence of the Living God at work through His redeemed people.
Where has the Master placed you? You are not a member of the church, though your name may appear on a church roll, if you have not been born from above. Your first need is to be saved, through faith in the R | 1.449507 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
isen, Reigning Son of God. Christ died because of our sin and rose from the dead so that we might be right with God. Therefore, the Word of God invites all people to faith in this Living Son of God.
The Word is very clear in stating, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” That passage then cites the words of the Prophet Joel, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [
Romans 10:9, 10, 13].
Our sincere prayer is that you have this faith that saves. If you do, we urge you to seek out a congregation where the sound doctrine of the Word is proclaimed that you might grow and that you might fulfil the service to which the Master has appointed you. Make that decision today. God bless you as you seek His will. Amen.
----
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2]Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Attempts at the Impossible,”
The Sword and Trowel, December 1888, http://www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/dg12.htm, accessed 22 December 2009
[3] Spurgeon, ibid.
[4] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO 2002)
[5] Roughly transliterated, the Greek
is “hygienic didactics.” hugiainoúsēs didaskalías
[6] The NET Bible First Edition (Biblical Studies Press, 2006)
[7] Knute Larson, Holman New Testament Commentary: I & II Thessalonians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Philemon (Broadman and Holman, Nashville, TN 2000) 320
[8] The NET Bible First Edition (Biblical Studies Press, 1996-2006)
[9] Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford University Press, New York, 2005)
[10] Notes on books by Gerald Reed, “Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers,” 04/25/2006, http://reedings.com/soul_searching, accessed 26 December 2009; Scott Korb, “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism,” 7 April, 2005, The Revealer, http://www.therevealer.org/archives/timeless_001837.php, accessed 26 December 2009The Internal Revenue Services continues to try to find ways to meet its mandated goal of getting 80% of American taxpayers filing tax returns electronically by 2007. The latest stimulus to that plan includes improvements on the IRS's electronic tax payment Web site.
The Web site, EFTPS-OnLine, or Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, gives taxpayers a location on the Internet where they can make tax payments and review their payment history.
The latest improvements to the site include the ability to make more than one payment without logging out and logging in again after each payment. Taxpayers can also schedule multiple payments all at once. For example, if a taxpayer wants to set up a schedule for making a year's worth of quarterly payments online, this can all be accomplished in one session.
Previously the Web site only provided payment history for four prior months. Now the database has been expanded so taxpayers can view payment history online for the past 16 months. In addition, taxpayers can search for their past payment information by date, type of tax, or type of tax form used. Previously there was no search or sort feature available.
Also, taxpayers can now make a phone call and change the information about which bank account the IRS should access when withdrawing authorized payments, without completing a new enrollment form for the bank account. A personal identification number can be designated online, and taxpayers can begin making payments with no waiting period.
The IRS plans to provide direct links to the various state online tax payment Web sites as well. So far, links to Web sites for Arizona, California, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, and New Jersey are available. | 1.269027 | 976 | 974 |
I’m pessimistic about the ash trees. It seems unlikely that a fungus that killed 90 per cent of Denmark’s trees and spreads by air will not be devastating here, too. There is a glimmer of hope in the fact that ash, unlike elms, reproduce sexually so they are not clones — uniformly vulnerable to the pathogen. But it’s only a glimmer: tree parasites, from chestnut blight to pine beauty moth, have a habit of sweeping through species pretty rampantly, because trees are so long-lived they cannot evolve resistance in time.
The Forestry Commission’s apologists are pleading ‘cuts’ as an excuse for its failure to do anything more timely to get ahead of the threat, but as a woodland owner I am not convinced. An organisation that has the time and the budget to pore over my every felling or planting application in triplicate and come back with fussy and bossy comments could surely spare a smidgen of interest in looming threats from continental fungi that have been spreading out from Poland for 20 years. The commission was warned four years ago of the problem.
Here’s what the commission was up to instead. Just last year, I received a letter from the Forestry Commission demanding access to survey one of my woods to answer the question ‘what are the forecasts for timber, biomass and carbon?’ in order to ‘help the United Kingdom meet international commitments, such as reporting for the Global Forest Resources Assessment and the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE)’.
Notice the Sir Humphrey-esque circular argument: surveys must be done so that the results can be reported to assessment meetings. In other words, as far as I can tell, the Forestry Commission’s priority has been, as in so many government bodies, to supply talking points for the international carbon-obsessed bureaucracy. The implicit assumption here, of course, is that climate change is the greatest threat to Britain’s trees, when in reality far greater threats come from diseases carried around by foresters themselves.
This is happening throughout the world of nature conservation. A climate fetish has sucked all the oxygen from the real threats to species and habitats — indeed it has actually begun to make those threats worse. Remember, climate change has extinguished no species in modern times, not one. For a while the scientists thought they had one — the golden toad of Costa Rica, supposedly extinguished by the loss of cloud to moisten its cloud-forest habitat. Climate alarmists like Tim Flannery made much of this pitiful and beautiful harbinger in their books.
But the awkward fact was that the temperature had not changed in Costa Rica. The forests were drier, true, but only because so many of the trees had been cut down on the lower slopes of the mountains. And in any case, the golden toad actually succumbed, like so many other amphibians, to a fungus brought in perhaps on the boots of conservationists. I have lived long enough to see the great amphibian decline blamed on acid rain, ozone depletion, climate change and all sorts of other red herrings. Those in the know now admit that the true culprit was probably the international laboratory trade in African clawed toads carrying a chytrid fungus. Was that conclusion delayed by the other obsessions? I think so.
As an ardent champion of free trade, by the way, I make one exception: we are far too free in trading live creatures that can carry diseases or smuggled pests. We need to get more serious about this issue.
Instead, the perpetual urge to elevate climate change as an ecological threat has distracted the world from the truth that the greatest cause of species extinction is the invasion of alien exotic species: fungi, weeds, snakes, rats, cats, goats, mink, grey squirrels. No other cause even comes close to this one. Of the 181 species of bird and mammal that have died out since 1500, just nine were on continents. The rest were on islands (Australia counts as an island in this respect, having an isolated and vulnerable fauna).
Island animals and plants are far more vulnerable to introduced predators, parasites and competitors than continental species, but even on continents invasive aliens are the biggest problem: in the British countryside, mink, grey squirrels, Spanish bluebells, Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed. Every chance I get I tell wildlife charities: if you want a donation from me, shut up about carbon and speak up about invasive aliens. But government effectively tells them the opposite, so they smile politely at me as if I was mad.
The Forestry Commission’s comparative neglect of ash bio-security as it flits off to MCPFE meetings about carbon is emblematic of the entire problem. Indeed, the Forestry Commission was until very recently urging and bribing us to bring exotic aliens into the countryside: sitka spruce and lodgepole pine were their idea. The latter was a commercial disaster as well as useless for red squirrels and | 1.864853 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers.
Active learning has been around since the time of Socrates. Active learning is basically any activity that involves the student doing more than just passive listening. Active learning techniques involve having the students read, think, make observations, solve problems and discuss their ideas. Active learning puts the responsibility of learning with the student, and allows for a variety of learning styles to benefit. There are a number of different techniques that can be used to engage the students, including solving problems, team discussions, formulating questions, role playing and case studies. Having the students work on some activity during class time wakes them up, gets them to focus on the key concepts of the lecture and gives them time to practice honing their critical thinking skills during class where they can receive immediate feedback on their progress. Weak students benefit by getting help from academically stronger students, and the strong students learn the material further by explaining it to someone else. When students complete an activity, they learn it better than if they watch the instructor complete it. In addition, by completing an activity, students find out how much else they need to learn to master the particular topic, and are able to focus on the lecture better than if they were just copying down the words.
There is significant evidence that we learn best by doing. Imagine trying to learn to swim without ever getting into the water. You attend a lecture on swimming where you are told the exact mechanics of swimming, how to move your arms and legs, when to breath, how to hold your body and what motions to do for each particular stroke. Although you may learn about swimming you will not learn how to swim until you get into the water.
In lecture students are not learning how to practice a skill, nor are they receiving feedback on that skill.Â
In a typical lecture, students are simply copying down words, watching, sleeping or daydreaming about something else. To really learn to a skill, you need to try it,
See what works and what doesn't work,
Think about how to do it differently,
Then try it again.Â
Why not take the small amount of time we have with our students in class and help them develop the skills necessary to solve the problems and make their own conclusions?
Below are some active learning techniques:
Individual Activities
"One Minute Paper" - Give the students one minute to reflect on a topic or respond to a question posed. This activity is effective in helping the instructor know how much the students understand a particular topic. Another useful question is to ask the students to write about what they learned during the class and what they still have questions about. This allows students to focus their thoughts as well as provides the instructor with feedback on what the students do not understand. Collect the papers and select a few to go over the next period.
Daily journal - This is just a longer version of the one minute paper. Time could be allotted during class to start the journal entry and continued as part of the homework assignment. The journal allows reflection on a larger topic and could be used as a starting point for a paper. For larger classes, journals could be collected randomly for a small group of students at a time to be checked.
Reading quiz - Give the students a short quiz on material they should have read prior to lecture. The quiz can be at the beginning of class (either paper or electronic using PRS system) or can be assigned electronically prior to coming to class. This technique forces the students to prepare for the lecture ahead of time and makes them more likely to be able to participate.
Clarification Pauses - Stop for a minute or so after introducing a key topic and ask if there are any questions. Walk around the room and ask individual students if they have any questions that you can then bring to the attention of the class. In large classes students may feel intimidated in asking questions in front of the class. This method gets questions from students who might otherwise not feel comfortable asking. A similar technique is to ask a question and wait for a while before selecting a student to answer. This gives more students the opportunity to answer than just the same few students in the front row. By selecting random students to answer, participation of all students is increased.
Quiz/test questions - Ask the students to turn in a question that could be used on a test or quiz. This allows students to think more critically about the material being covered. The questions could be evaluated for significance or gone over in help sessions, or posted as practice problems. Several could be chosen to use on the actual tests.
Immediate feedback - A variety of variations of the above activities can be used to provide the students with immediate feedback during lecture. These activities provide "formative assessment" which is the evaluation of the class that allows both the student and the instructor to see the level of understanding of a topic, but is not used as part of the course grade. A question is posed and all students are asked to answer, either with electronic devices, | 1.498538 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
finger/hand signals or notecards. This tests students' comprehension and allows the instructor to go back over points that were not understood well.
Group Activities
Many of the above methods can be used with groups or pairs of students. This allows students the opportunity of improve their interpersonal communication skills by allowing them to state their views and discuss the views of other students.
Think/pair/share - Students are asked to respond to a question or topic, then pair up and share their ideas with a partner. Students can be polled with CPS independently then asked to convince their neighbor that their answer is correct and repelled.
Note sharing - After covering a key topic, stop and ask the students to compare their notes with their neighbors and write down key elements that they may have missed. This is useful in introductory courses where students may have not yet learned good note taking skills.
Peer Evaluation - Students turn in a project (paper or electronically) to their instructor and to a peer. The students then evaluate each other to provide corrections and feedback. This can be coupled with instructor evaluation to lessen the grading load of faculty in large classes.
Group Activities - Pose a question or series of questions on a slide or handout and ask the students to get together in groups to work on the problems. The instructor (for large classes, additional assistance may be necessary) can then go around to different groups to answer questions, provide feedback and make sure the group is on task. Students can turn in answers from the group or get immediate feedback by answering CPS questions during group work. The instructor can also pause to regroup the class if it is seen that groups do not understand the material.
Jigsaw Group Activities - This is similar to the above except that students are assigned separate parts of the group activity. After the pieces are completed the group gets together and puts it all together for a finished project. The groups refine the project and decide how much emphasis to put on each separate element.
Problem Solving - Students can work in pairs or groups on problems or activities and present their answers to the problem on the board. In large classes random groups can be chosen to present their answers to the class. If there is insufficient board space, answers can be collected on transparencies and then projected to the class. The group is asked to present their answer and the instructor can use this to clarify any misconceptions or wrong answers. This is useful as it shows students that others may be having the same problems and allows the instructor to see where students are making errors early in the learning process.
Concept Maps - A concept map illustrates connections that exist between terms or concepts covered in course material. Students work in groups to construct concept maps by connecting individual terms by lines which indicate the relationship between each set of connected terms. Most of the terms in a concept map have multiple connections. Developing a concept map requires the students to identify and organize information and to establish meaningful relationships between the pieces of information.
Visual Lists - Students work in groups to prepare lists of key items, for example, pros and cons or a particular issue being discussed. Again, random groups can be chosen to present the list to the class as a whole. This allows the students time to collect and organize their thoughts on positions
Panel Discussions - If students are asked to give presentations, have students work as groups and then receive questions from the rest of the class after the presentation is complete. This could also be turned into a debate where groups are given alternative positions to defend and the groups present their arguments, followed by wnole class discussions on the topics.
Games - This works well with CPS questions. Students could be divided into teams (or sections of a large classroom) and asked a particular question or problem to solve. The first group to get the answer "wins".
Guidelines and suggestions for Incorporating Active Learning Techniques
Vary the activities to keep fresh.
Change group assignments or ask students to sit in different spots.
Always randomly call on students or use CPS to keep them engaged.
Agree on a signal for group work to stop, to get attention.
Use questions from class on a test or quiz.
Tell the students you will be asking them to do exercises in class and why (research shows we learn best by doing).
Give the students time limits for various activities.
Be prepared - when will you do the activity, what will you collect, how will the feedback be assessed, what topics are best put into an activity, how long will you give to answer a question.
Be prepared to change your plans! With active learning the instructor receives immediate feedback on what the students understand and where they are having problems. Be prepared to regroup and reassign projects as needed. Be prepared to assign new activities if the group as a whole is not engaged (or chatting about something else).
Keep fine tuning the process, trying new things, and communicating with others about successful practices.
Giving up Syllabus material
A common argument against using active learning techniques during lecture is that there will then not be enough time to complete all the required material | 1.745283 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
for the course. You don't really need to shorten the syllabus at all, just modify how the material is presented. In stead of going over every last detail of a chapter and presenting all figures and examples, go over main points and assign some things for homework.
Incorporating Active Learning Techniques with Syllabus Material
One way to go about modifying how the material is presented is to write down a list of the most important skills or topics that you want the students to gain from your course.
Make sure these topics are covered with some kind of active learning technique so that the students understand the material and have practice working problems or understanding arguments.
Give them a brief overview, then assign a group project, regroup and discuss the topic.
For topics that are not listed on your "most important list" consider abbreviating how you present it.
You might assign the reading and give an electronic quiz on the material and not go over it at all during class.
You might spend five minutes instead of 30 minutes highlighting the material and indicating that they need to study the appropriate sections in the text (or in a handout posted electronically).
By reducing the amount of material you write down and say in class, you gain time that can be used in class for active learning strategies. This time can be used to devote to understanding difficult topics and in practicing how to solve problems. The added benefit is that students gain experience learning how to work together and learn strategies for solving problems without just searching for the "right" answer. By incorporating active learning in your classes, students will learn more (we learn by doing, not by watching and listening), and classes will be more well attended and exciting.
Large Classes
It can be argued that it is even more important to use active learning techniques in a large class than in a small class. In a typical large lecture class, students feel anonymous and are likely to behave in ways they would not think of doing in a small class where they are more accountable (and where the instructor knows their name). In a large lecture class students may be talking, sleeping, daydreaming, listening to music, talking on the phone, reading material for another class or doing any number of things that are not associated with the course you are teaching. If the class is significantly large, it is impossible for the instructor to see or hear that these things are happening in the back two-thirds of the classroom.  Attendance is usually low, again because students do not feel accountable for their attendance (no one will know if they are gone).Â
In a small class it is fairly easy to make sure everyone participates because the instructor is able to take role and call on each individual throughout the course of the semester or even at every class. In a large class you cannot call on everyone nor will you be able to ensure that everyone has participated. In addition few students feel comfortable asking questions or giving comments in front of a large group of students for fear of looking foolish, despite how often you proclaim that there are no foolish questions.
In large classes it is important to pause frequently during activities to either post a CPS question or randomly call on groups to report their results. This gives some level of control in a large class and makes the students accountable for their work. During group activities the noise level in the classroom will certainly be elevated more than a typical lecture. Thus it is important to establish a signal for the class to stop their discussions and pay attention to the instructor. Either raising your hand, dimming the lights or just putting up a CPS question are some methods that easily get the large class to focus on the instructor after a group session.Windows have the worst R-value of any part of the home structure. Even with triple-seal low "e" and argon the most you can get is R-5.3, which is almost 6 below a standard wall. The problem with windows is that yo can't get insulation between the panes and still see through.
There is an insulating method used in greenhouses which features foam beads blown between the glass panes. It begins with glass panes placed at least 2.5 inches apart and filled with expanded polystyrene beads. This creates a insulating factor of almost R-11.
A storage unit is placed below the window and there is a pipe that opens between the panes. At night, the blower in the unit is turned on and the beads are blown from the storage tank and fill the window space from the top down. The window is now basically a wall.
In the morning this process is reversed and the motor creates a vacuum going pulling the beads out of the window space making the window clear again.
To stabilize the light in the home on a cold day the window can be filled up halfway or in any amount you want.
Search the TrustedPros directory and discover the best contractors in your area.Find your home service pro | 1.72831 | 998 | 996 |
Nicola Sturgeon’s push for independence following last week’s Brexit vote threatens to transform Scotland into “Greece without the sun” because its economy is far more reliant on the UK than the EU, a right-wing think tank has warned.
The Centre for Policy Studies acknowledged that the First Minister stating a second independence referendum is “highly likely” has some merit from a democratic standpoint, given 62 per cent of Scots that voted chose to remain in the EU.
But it questioned the “economic logic” of independence, noting that Scotland trades more than four times as much with the UK as other EU nations and warning that leaving one union for the other would expose it to even more significant risks.
Among the major problems it highlighted with Ms Sturgeon’s plan to leave the UK and join the EU were adopting the single currency, greater exposure to “shocks” in other Eurozone economies, the total collapse in North Sea revenues and Scotland’s massive budget deficit.
Although the report conceded Scotland’s position would not be directly comparable, it concluded that Greece’s extreme economic troubles “undoubtedly serve as useful reminder that countries with challenging public finances can end up suffering inside the euro.”
The strident warning about the economic ramifications of Ms Sturgeon’s stance came as Jim Sillars, the SNP’s former deputy leader, also argued that the rest of the UK is a far more significant market for Scottish goods than the EU.
Mr Sillars criticised Ms Sturgeon for having “nailed” the independence movement to EU membership and warned this could lead to defeat in any second referendum. Instead, he argued she should wait to see the terms of the Brexit deal struck between the UK and EU.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Sir Iain McMillan, the former director of business group CBI Scotland, challenged the First Minister to come forward with “constructive proposals” for what should be agreed.
He urged Ms Sturgeon to “work with the UK Government to get the best possible deal to get the best possible deal from Europe” and argued that refusing to do so will mean “she will have failed Scotland and failed its people.”
The warnings came at the end of a dramatic week during which Ms Sturgeon said she would propose a second independence referendum unless another way could be found to keep Scotland in the EU.
But a series of experts warned staying in was extremely unlikely or impossible, and Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, said Scotland would have to leave with the rest of the UK.
The Centre for Policy Studies, which was founded by Margaret Thatcher, said that the economic backdrop to Ms Sturgeon’s push for independence “is not encouraging for her” either.
“Revenues from North Sea oil have collapsed, leaving Scotland with a budget deficit that is three times higher than the UK average. Indeed, Scotland’s budget deficit today is nearly equivalent to the UK’s budget deficit in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis,” it said.
“Scotland trades over four times more with the rest of the UK compared to other EU countries. Why therefore would you break ties with the UK for the purpose of restoring ties with the rest of the EU via European Union membership?”
The report concluded that there is “a precedent for a small, romantic country, surrounded by hundreds of islands, perched on the extremity of Europe, seeking membership of the Euro: Greece.”
Mr Sillars said that Ms Sturgeon “received nothing” from her high-profile trip to Brussels this week other than “a reminder of realpolitik” from France and Spain that “Scotland was not an issue they would give room to.”
He said Scottish exports to the EU had declined over the past 12 years and that the rest of the UK and the world “is the big factor we have to take into account when deciding our future.”
Urging Ms Sturgeon to wait to see the terms of the Brexit trade deal, he said: “The next referendum will be Scotland’s last chance. The present direction being taken by the independence movement, hijacked by the SNP’s blind attraction for the EU, could lead us to defeat.”
Dean Lockhart, Scottish Conservative Shadow Economy Secretary, said: “Although departure from the EU may cause some difficulties, those difficulties won’t be addressed by leaving the UK too. Calling another knee-jerk independence referendum would make the uncertainty even greater.”
But an SNP spokesman said: “This is unforgivable hypocrisy, coming from a right-wing Tory think tank founded by Margaret Thatcher and backed by Brexiteers who have taken the UK economy to the edge of a cliff.” Watch programs like BBC’s Watchdog and Rogue Traders, also try Cowboy Builders. Theses shows give an insight into not only dodgy builders but also shady sales people. Bookmark relevant sites like Which and What Price. 20) Keep your friends and family in the loop. Have you ever heard the saying “four eyes are better than two”? Keeping your family and friends informed may reveal surprising results. Loved ones can raise concerns about something you may have missed or they can offer advice. | 1.626351 | 1,021 | 1,019 |
I am close to launching a new application for my company. It will replace a previous application which I wrote 8 years ago. The new version is much cleverer as I have designed the tables better and my vba programming skills are much better now.
The benefits are that entering and finding data is going to be much easier.
My problem is that I sense the users are not happy. I have tried to design everything to look similar but people are not happy that there will be a change. They are also worried that the new application is automating a lot of proceedures and they feel thet their positions are under threat.
Has anyone been through this and if so, can you offer and advice?
This is of course a bit late now but these are my thoughts:
People are typically resistant to change of all kinds. The very best way to counter that resistance is to include them in the process right from day one. Before writing a line of code engage with all stakeholders: review what currently exists and what works about it and what causes people pain. Review business processes - try to tease apart a client's activity from the goal of those activities (not as easy as it might sound). Create a written specification and get sign off from stakeholders.
That, I am afraid, is IME the best way to ensure that users embrace your product. Foisting something on them inevitably results in resistance.
From here I would review with your manager. You might need a bit of carrot and stick: engage in training sessions with users which gives them an opportunity to voice their concerns and you (and perhaps yours and their managers) to address these. The stick part would be instruction from their superiors that ultimately they need to suck it up and use the new system.
I have tried to include everyone right from the start but I found people have very little interest even though it can save them a lot of hassle. The business owner has seen the application and his attitude is that he loves it and that I should ask for feedback, if none is forthcoming then launch.
Whenever I show anyone a form, the usual comment is..."can it be blue, green, orange etc"
I am just a little disappointed because I want people to look at it and test it before launchng because I know that on day 1, I will have a line of people at my desk complaining because there is a piece of info missing etc.
If the business owner gave the green light, then make sure the line queues at his desk instead of yours...
When stuck in a scenario like this were the users are having my work imposed on them by management (such as every gov't contract I've ever completed), it becomes important to ensure the decision maker is willing to be held accountable for their decisions. Things like software requirements specification documents and formal acceptance procedures are very useful for producing a paper trail that leads back to the person who actually pulled the trigger. It also helps provide a uniform method of gathering feedback and requirements from the users, should they wish to participate. A formal change request process is also handy for addressing folks who like to release first and design later...
Ideally I'd like to be driving the requirements bus from the start as pootle is describing. That said, it's a good idea to get out of the way should one realize not only are they not driving the bus, but they've been thrown in front of it.Total fitness goes beyond exercising in a health club with expensive weights and cardio machines. In order to actually see results and get to the level of fitness that you are aiming for, it will take patience, knowledge, body strength, and most importantly, persistence. The following tips will help you on Read more
Do you want a lovely, cute and good-looking face? Are you tired of you and your face because of those shadows and wrinkles? Do you want that your face should be unforgotten to others? Definitely your answer to the entire above question would be in affirmative. Since impression counts and your face is the Read more
With the development of science and medicines, there are many ways that are claiming to cause wrinkle reduction as well as its prevention. But not everybody will have same reaction towards what the technology is presenting to them. There are effective ways to counter the problem without having to spend too Read more
Aging is a natural sequence of life, yet many of us cant face it gracefully. Grey hair, sagging skin and ugly wrinkles are by products of the aging process. Every one of us hates wrinkles and wish they would never occur, but aging and wrinkled skin are inevitable. As despairing as it sounds there are Read more
The condition of our skin tells a lot about who we are. If it is not that elastic or as thinner as before, then you may already have wrinkled skin. The question now is, can we prevent it? A lot of experts believe that we are only delaying the inevitable. There have been advances in […] | 1.954441 | 999 | 997 |
Last year saw a number of new technologies come to the fore that have the potential to significantly impact on how businesses operate over the next few years. As well as some brand new tech, other existing technology really began to make its presence felt in 2015.
Here is a list of the most influential technology trends that have transformed the workplace over the past twelve months.
Big data got really big
Big data is a concept that has been flying around for a few years now but 2015 saw a number of companies finally get to grips with its potential; and it is fair to say that a number of organisations are now using it successfully.
BMW has started using big data gathered from dealerships and manufacturing outlets all over the world to enhance its customer service. Big data analytics allows the car manufacturer to detect, and even fix, vulnerabilities that show up during the manufacturing process, resulting in less faults and more satisfied customers.
Mobile computing became ubiquitous
As each new generation of smartphone coming to the market is more powerful than the previous one, 2015 was the year that smaller and medium-sized companies incorporated smart phones and tablets into their IT function on a large scale.
In fact, chipmaker ARM launched new chips in 2015 which it claims will enable smartphones to carry out all the functions we currently rely on computers for. Could this represent the beginning of the end for work-based desktops?
3D printing discovered new niches
While 2014 was the year that many industries fully embraced the power of 3D printing, 2015 saw it continue its meteoric rise in manufacturing. Industries across a broad spectrum including automotive, aerospace, dental, high tech and medical products continued to increase their use of 3D printing.
In 2015 it was not just high tech companies that incorporated 3D printing into their processes. Shoe companies like New Balance began experimenting with 3D-printed mid-soles. According to Wohlers Associates, jewellery start-ups are also using the technology to let customers design pieces in plastic to try on before a final casting in metal. Furthermore companies like Normal Earphones have discovered that it is a cheaper means of manufacturing personalised products to take to market.
The cloud became a lot clearer
Organisations of all sizes became a lot clearer on the best uses for cloud technology in the past 12 months and it became the go-to platform for enterprise applications and data. According to a report by Forbes, companies providing cloud solutions saw record-breaking revenue in the year. Amazon for example, announced revenue of $25.4 billion (c. £17.8 billion) with Amazon Web Services credited as being the driving force. Revenue was up by 78% on the year previously, which highlighted the growing popularity of cloud-based solutions throughout 2015.
So what can we expect in 2016 and beyond?
Much of the technology that has had the largest impact on the workplace in 2015 is likely to increase in popularity and usefulness over the next couple of years too. Cloud computing in particular is expected to become the norm and with the full potential of 3D printing yet to be discovered, expect to see a lot more of it in the future.
Read our related blog: 4 ways IT can improve the customer experienceManufacturing will continue to drive growth in Lancashire’s economy throughout the rest of 2015, says one of the county’s biggest employers.
Westinghouse, which operates nuclear fuel manufacturing facility Springfields, near Preston, said the industry remained key to the economic health of the county by outpacing even the powerhouse service sector.
Figures from the Lancashire Quarterly Economic Survey, compiled by the North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, showed orders both at home and abroad remained strong with manufacturers enjoying stronger confidence and intentions to recruit.
Westinghouse has signed up as a sponsor for one of the North West’s biggest business awards, the Be Inspired Business Awards, the BIBAs, which is open for applications for 19 prizes up for grabs at this year’s awards.
Nick Jones, stakeholder relations manager, said: “Manufacturing has consistently been a major employer and economic driver in Lancashire and it remains so.
“The sector finished 2014 on a high and has started this year strongly driven by improvements in the European export market with investment and recruitment intentions.
“It is crucial that we do everything we can at a local, national and international level to continue to power our manufacturing industry which provides employment and prosperity for so many in Lancashire.”
Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor design was chosen for the new nuclear power station due to be built at Moorside, alongside the existing Sellafield site. The firm will be involved in the BIBAs judging process which will get underway after the April 10 deadline for entries. | 1.54829 | 1,000 | 998 |
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What's in a name? Or, more importantly, how does your name come into play when it comes to marketing? Everyone knows that your business name should be on all of your marketing materials, but what about your personal name? The answer is that for sales correspondence, you should consider branding your name with personal address labels.
That's because most customers prefer to do business with other people, not with companies; that is to say, you can develop a loyal and dedicated customer base that does business with you because they trust you, not necessarily because they trust your company. The two go hand-in-hand, sure, but many have learned that customers will switch companies to continue doing business with a specific person. If you are the owner or an account manager, it certainly behooves you to make good use of personal address labels.
Get personal
Personal address labels should be placed on all envelopes so that your customers know the communication is coming from you. They'll get a more personal experience when they see your name at the top of the return address label than if they simply see your company's name. This isn't to say you can't include your company's name on your personal address labels, only that it should come below your bolded name. You can also include your company logo, of course, but place it to the side of your name and not above it.
Personal address labels can also be used in a variety of other print marketing strategies. If you send postcards as part of your direct-mail marketing campaign, by all means stick your personal address labels on them so customers can contact you directly. If you leave brochures behind at sales demonstrations, your personal address label should be affixed in a dedicated area. If you distribute booklets, run customer service for catalogs, place flyers in public areas or engage in any other print marketing, your personal address label can play a big role in helping you land the best accounts.
Businesses aren't the only organizations that can take advantage of personal address labels. Nonprofit organizations are always on the lookout for donations, so it is vital that donors trust you to spend their money appropriately. That starts with building personal relationships, something fostered through the use of personal address labels.
Keep it simple
Personal address label design does not have to be fancy; in fact, it can sometimes play into your hand if you keep it simple – especially if you're appealing to a frugal crowd. Clean white labels bearing your name, in a bold font such as Arial or Times New Roman, are really all you need. To add a touch of credibility without going overboard, you can make your name font slightly larger than your address and company name, include your company logo, have your fonts printed in a refreshing, branded color, or apply a simple border around the outside of your personal address labels. Color-filled backgrounds are another great device to help you stand out from the crowd, especially for direct mail where capturing attention is so crucial.
Personal address labels are economical, they save time, and they can boost business when you take care to brand your name for loyal customers who will personally seek you out when they're ready to buy. They're also great for referrals!A number of external factors help to inform transport decision making, including population data, levels of socio-economic deprivation, fuel prices and freight statistics.
Economic activity (external link) – this report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) provides consistent information about the regional economies.
Employment in New Zealand and regions – broken down by age, (external link) gender (external link) , sector (external link) (private/public), industry (external link) and employment/unemployment rate (external link) .
Finances of local government organisations – histories (external link) are available from the Statistics New Zealand, projections (external link) are available from the Department of Internal Affairs, and a regional breakdown (external link) of central government spending is provided by MBIE.
Fuel price (external link)
– oil price data from MBIE.
Freight (external link) moved within New Zealand as well as imports and exports.
Imports and exports.
Industry, agriculture and horticulture.
Land use and land area.
Population history (external link) , current estimates (external link) and future projections, (external link) plus details from the census (external link) (population estimates at 30 June 1996, 2001 and 2006).
Population of cities and towns, showing history (external link) (totals since 1996) only.
Road freight (external link) – in the Ministry of Transport annual fleet statistics.
Tourism (external link) , showing guest nights of accommodation in the north and south islands, for both domestic and international tourists.
If you can’t find what you are looking for, please email us at data@nzta.govt.nz. | 1.564828 | 1,007 | 1,005 |
We began using Behavior Balance DMG during my daughters first few months of first grade. She had previously struggled with concentration, completing a task and sleeping. After one month on Behavior Balance DMG she is reading and solving math problems on a higher level than her class. She has no difficulty falling asleep.
K Schultz
Dear Dr. Kendall, I have a four-year-old son diagnosed with moderate Autism. We have tried numerous options over the past two years in treating his autism with various nutritional supplements, diets, therapies, etc… . I had come across information regarding DMG and decided to give it a try, not knowing the proper dosage amount for a child with Autism, I started giving him on 125mg daily in which I did see some direct eye contact establish but nothing significant and was told by a medical professional to try TMG. I stopped TMG due to the adverse effect. I then decided to place him back on DMG but at a much higher dosage after coming across your recommended dosing for individuals with Autism. He currently is taking 900mg a day in divided doses and has made remarkable progress over the past three months since reintroducing DMG into his daily routine. My son has been non verbal since nineteen months of age, when he lost the fifteen words he had in his vocabulary as well as all of the developmental milestones he accomplished, after receiving his last series of childhood vaccinations, but thanks to DMG he is now experiencing once again expressive language, direct eye contact, improved motor skills both fine and gross motor. DMG has played a key role in my son\’s ability to communicate and function on daily basis, thank you for helping him regain some of his abilities to lead a better way of life.
Sincerely,
Laurey Tedeschi
Dear Dr. Kendall,
For the past 6 weeks, I have had a sciatic condition on the right side of my leg. The pain started at my hip and went all the way down to my toes. Getting out of bed in the morning was the worse. Exercising and even walking up stairs was becoming difficult and caused me to limp. As this was my first bout with pain of this degree, I was unsure how to treat it. After reading Building Wellness with DMG, I began taking 1000 mg of DMG daily and within 3 days, the pain was totally gone! I can now move freely and have gone back to sit-ups before my workouts as this was impossible without the DMG! This book could not have come out at a better time. Thank you!
Karen S.
Williston, VT
I just wanted to know where I can sign up for the fan club…. I think this is a wonderful and written in down to earth book so anyone can understand. I plan on purchasing several to hand out including my ADHD son’s Doctor. I also think I want to submit one to the school’s library so they will stop pushing Strattera or Consorta or all those wonderful things and start looking for something that is not going to harm in the long run.
Laurie Rodgers004) argued that decreases in flying and increases in driving in the 3 months after the attacks led to 353 "surplus" traffic fatalities. We applied a more systematic analysis to the same data and found no ...
Fenty-Stewart Nicola N Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. - - 2009
Abstract Angiotensin II (AngII), via the AngII type 1 receptor (AT(1)R), contributes to oxidative stress. Aerobic exercise training (AEXT) reduces the risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease, presumably by reducing the grade of oxidative stress. We investigated the independent and combined influence of the AGTR1 A1166C and -825 T/A polymorphisms on ...
Lee Y K YK Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Malaysia. - - 2009
Previous works on the effects of salivary alpha amylase in respond to various stressors report encouraging findings on it being a good indicator of stress. Ellestad protocol is a clinical procedure to screen for coronary artery disease by introducing exercise induced physical stress. If a salivary based biomarker profile in ...
Fokidis H Bobby - - 2009
As cities expand worldwide, understanding how species adapt to novel urban habitats will become increasingly important to conservation. The adrenocortical stress response enables vertebrates to cope with novel environmental challenges to homeostasis. We examined total and estimates of free baseline and stress-induced corticosterone (CORT) concentrations and CORT binding globulin (CBG) ...
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The past two weeks brought bad news for Children's Hospital's patients, staff, and attorneys. On Sept. 16, the hospital's lawyers were in court battling a lawsuit brought by the family of Michael Blankenship, 15, who died last year from a wrongly administered painkiller. On Sept. 17, a newborn baby died after being medicated en route to Children's in a hospital neonatal ambulance. On Sept. 19, Kaia Zautner, 8 months, died after she was given 10 times the proper dose of a medication. On Sept. 22, attorneys for Blankenship notified the court the lawsuit had been settled, with Children's paying damages in an amount undisclosed. On Sept. 26, an adult emergency patient was wrongly injected with medication in a vein rather than a muscle. He was moved to another hospital and recovered. The much-admired hospital and staff "do their best to provide the highest level of care," said safety medical director David Fisher in a statement published in The Seattle Times. "However, despite our vigilance, errors unfortunately still occur." That's the reality in most any hospital. But the recent series of incidents at Children's demand a thorough review of hospital practices. Fisher indicated that would happen, saying "These incidents have caused us to re-evaluate our entire medication delivery system. As a result, we have reviewed the clinical records and began a detailed root-cause analysis to determine why our usual safety processes failed." That's encouraging, but it sounds a lot like the review and changes the hospital promised after Blankenship died last year from an overdose of the painkiller Fentanyl. According to court documents, Blankenship's family claimed that Children's doctors missed four of the five contra-indication factors that should have prevented them from approving use of the pain patch for the teen after dental surgery. Doctors did not review formulary information, nor consult a reliable reference source, nor check with Blankenship's pediatric anesthesiologist before ordering the prescription. Even if the hospital formulary info was accessed, the family said, it was inadequate and unreliable to properly guide doctors. Additionally, Fentanyl is an opioid, and Blankenship was opioid-intolerant. In an amended civil complaint filed in June, the family reported that Dr. Fisher had told them that "Michael's death should never have occurred had the hospital maintained and/or followed appropriate safeguards for the proper and accurate prescription of pain medication, including the Fentanyl patch." Last week, Dr. Fisher was saying much the same thing about additional medication-related deaths. Everyone is hoping the review of the new deaths will produce safer practices than the earlier one did.ERIC Number:ED171456 Record Type:Non-Journal Publication Date:1979-Jan Pages:53 Abstractor:N/A Reference Count:N/A ISBN:N/A ISSN:N/A
The Sweet Taste of Spring: An Integrated Approach to a Springtime Phenomenon.
Jones, Heather; Bullock, Rodger
A visit to a maple sugar bush has become a traditional springtime ritual for many school classes in northern areas. The sensations and experiences from this early springtime activity can be used for a number of study areas, including science, mathematics, art, social studies, home economics, language arts and health. This document provides learning activities for each of these areas that can grow out of students' study of maple sugar production. A number of specific maple syrup-related activities are also included. Children may learn to identify the different species of trees, measure the circumferance of sugar maples to determine the number of holes to be drilled for taps, and participate in the actual tapping of a tree. They may also learn how to measure sap flow and record it on charts for each tree; with graphs they record the effects of factors influencing sap flow such as temperature, weather conditions, size and location of trees and heights of the tapholes from the ground. Through the use of the Hydrometer method students learn to measure the sugar content of the sap. A number of recipes for cookies, cakes, and other maple "goodies" are given, and work with them would provide practice in the use of metric measurements. In addition to all types of learning activities, this book provides teacher background information in such areas as the historical background of maple sugar production and methods by which sap is collected and syrup and sugar produced. (DS)
Descriptors: Art Activities, Elementary Education, Experiential Learning, Field Instruction, Field Trips, Health Education, Home Economics, Interdisciplinary Approach, Language Arts, Learning Activities, Mathematics Instruction, Outdoor Education, Science Instruction, Social Studies, Teaching Guides
Publication Type:Guides - Classroom - Teacher Education Level:N/A Audience:N/A Language:English Sponsor:North York Board of Education, Willowdale (Ontario). Authoring Institution:Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre, Willowdale (Ontario). | 1.570205 | 1,007 | 1,005 |
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Category: HIV
Researchers at the University of Southern California are developing a molecular equivalent of a laser-guided bomb to target viral cells and help make positive HIV tests a thing of the past.
Dr. Pin Wang’s new therapy is known as lentivirus vectoring. It essentially involves introducing a second type of virus into the body of a person already infected with HIV. Rather than attacking the body, this new virus hunts down and attaches itself to HIV molecules. This then marks viral cells, making them easily identifiable to HIV medications. The technique is similar to a common military maneuver in which a soldier on the ground uses a laser to mark a target in precision bombing campaigns. Wang stressed that this is not necessarily a cure for HIV, as it does not completely destroy every unit of the virus. Furthermore, it is still in the early stages of testing. However, the approach does represent a novel way of hunting down HIV that could be promising. "If you deplete all of the HIV-infected cells, you can at least partially solve the problem," Wang said. "This is an early stage of research, but certainly it is one of the options in that direction."
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ERIC Number:EJ1004475 Record Type:Journal Publication Date:2013 Pages:10 Abstractor:As Provided Reference Count:106 ISBN:N/A ISSN:ISSN-0968-7637
Applying a Social Determinants of Health Perspective to Early Adolescent Cannabis Use--An Overview
Hyshka, Elaine
Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, v20 n2 p110-119 2013
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the world. Although the risk of problematic cannabis use is relatively low, the lifetime prevalence of dependence is greater than for all other illicit drugs. As such, the population burden of problematic cannabis use warrants attention. Many health and psychosocial risks associated with cannabis use are exacerbated or predicted by initiation of cannabis use in early adolescence and early adolescent users are more vulnerable to negative developmental outcomes, longer cannabis use trajectories, earlier transitions to heavier use and dependence. This suggests a need for effective prevention interventions targeting this age group. Unfortunately, most prevention efforts focus on individual-level risk factors and evidence indicates that they are not particularly effective for deterring use. This overview outlines a more effective approach for preventing cannabis-related harm. Using a social determinants of health perspective, it highlights peer networks and family structure and quality as the main risk factors associated with early adolescent cannabis use. This article suggests that interventions that targeting these determinants can be effective for preventing cannabis use. It concludes by suggesting complementary harm reduction programmes for older adolescents as a means to further reduce cannabis-related harm. (Contains 1 note.)
Descriptors: Prevention, Adolescents, Early Adolescents, Age Differences, Family Structure, Marijuana, Drug Abuse, At Risk Persons, Intervention, Peer Influence, Family Influence, Socioeconomic Status, Social Influences
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Publication Type:Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive Education Level:N/A Audience:N/A Language:English Sponsor:N/A Authoring Institution:N/A | 1.453502 | 1,013 | 1,011 |
Abstract
Background: To develop strategies for prevention and early treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV) anal and penile cancer, a better understanding of related sexual behavior risk factors is needed.
Goal: The goal of this study was to establish the prevalence of anal and coronal sulcus HPV in a group of men who have sex with men participating in a Dutch gay-cohort study, to identify risk factors associated with HPV infection in this group, and to investigate the presence of identical HPV types in couples with stable relationships.
Study Design: A cross-sectional study of 241 HIV-negative and 17 HIV-positive men who have sex with men visiting the sexually transmitted disease clinic of the Erasmus MC for a regular and scheduled examination. Participants underwent a routine venereological examination including HIV serologic analysis, and swabs were taken from the coronal sulcus and anus for HPV DNA testing. All subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire on sexual risk behavior.
Results: HPV DNA was detected at the coronal sulcus in 23.5% of the HIV-positive men and in 15.8% of the HIV-negative men (
P = 0.492). In anal specimens, HPV DNA was detected in 64.7% of the HIV-positive men and 32.8% of the HIV-negative men ( P = 0.015). High-risk HPV types ( P = 0.007) and 2 or more different HPV genotypes ( P = 0.006) were seen more often in anal specimens of HIV-positive persons than in specimens of HIV-negative persons. A factor possibly associated with the presence of anal HPV infection was a concomitant anal infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, gonococci, or herpes simplex virus ( P = 0.059). In only 16.7% of HPV-positive steady couples, both companions showed the presence of one or more identical HPV genotypes.
Conclusion: In this study, anal HPV DNA was detected more often than HPV DNA at the coronal sulcus. HIV positivity was associated with a higher prevalence of high-risk, but not with low-risk HPV types, at the anus. No association was found between HIV positivity and presence of high-risk HPV at the coronal sulcus. No sexual behavioral determinants for the presence of HPV could be identified. Concomitant anal infection with
C trachomatis, gonococci, or herpes simplex virus may be associated with HPV infection. In the majority of steady couples, partners were infected with different HPV types.
In Brief
This study of men who have sex with men participating in a Dutch gay cohort showed that concomitant anal infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, gonococci, or herpes simplex virus may be associated with anorectal human papillomavirus infection.
Author Information
From the *Department of Dermatology and Venereology,
†Department of Virology, and ‡Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Reprint requests: Eric M. van der Snoek, MD, Erasmus MC, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Dr. Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: e.vandersnoek@erasmusmc.nl
Received December 20, 2002,
revised February 19, 2003, and accepted February 21, 2003.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are the most common sexually transmitted viral infections and have a steadily increasing prevalence.
1 Genital warts or condylomata acuminata, one of the clinical manifestations of anogenital HPV infection, are predominantly associated with HPV types 6 and 11 and are estimated to affect about 1% of the sexually active population in the United States and Western Europe. 2,3 The estimated prevalence of subclinical and latent HPV infection in sexually active women and men ranges from 10% to 46%. Only 1% of all persons infected with HPV will have visible genital warts. 4
HPV is a double-stranded DNA virus. To date, more than 100 genotypes of HPV have been characterized. At least 35 of these genotypes have a predilection for the anogenital tract.
5 The virus infects the basal layer of the epithelium and increases cell proliferation and viral replication in fully differentiated keratinocytes. The arising papillomas are usually benign, but can progress to dysplasia or neoplasia in a small percentage of cases. The latter primarily occurs in case of infection with so-called high-risk types of HPV, particularly types 16 and 18. 6 The viral regulatory genes E6 and E7 inactivate the tumor-suppressor protein | 0.958685 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
p53 and retinoblastoma (pRb) protein, which renders cellular DNA susceptible to carcinogenic effects of mutagens and increases the risk of malignant transformation. 7
In almost all cervical cancers, HPV DNA (mostly HPV-16) has been identified.
5,8 The yearly incidence of anal cancer in the United States among both men and women in the general population is approximately one tenth that of cervical cancer. In men who have sex with men (MSM) with a history of receptive anal intercourse, the incidence of anal cancer was estimated to be at least 44 times higher, namely 35 per 100,000 per year. 5 The incidence of anal cancer among HIV-positive men may be about twice that of HIV-negative men. In a population-based study linking AIDS and cancer registries, the risk of anal cancer among persons with AIDS was 84 times greater than that in the general population. 9,10 Daling et al. 11 stated that a history of condylomata acuminata carried a relative risk of 27 for the development of anal cancer and anal sexual intercourse carried a relative risk of 50. According to Carter et al., 12 HPV-16 seropositivity is associated with a sixfold increased prevalence of anal cancer in men.
Because anal condylomata acuminata are more common than penile warts in MSM, most studies on HPV in this group have focused only on anal warts and HPV infection.
9 However, 75% to 100% of patients with penile intraepithelial neoplasia have high-risk HPV DNA types, mostly HPV-16, whereas up to 50% of persons with invasive penile cancers test positive for HPV DNA. 3,13,14 Penile cancer is most often of the squamous cell type and is less common in the United States and Western Europe than anal cancer, with a yearly incidence of 0.3 to 1.0 per 100,000.
To the best of our best knowledge, there are no epidemiologic data on the possible association between HPV infection and penile cancer in (HIV-positive) homosexual and bisexual men. We consider information on the prevalence of HPV infection at the coronal sulcus important, because of the assumed relation with penile cancer.
13,14 However, there are no longitudinal studies on HPV-related penile disease in gay men. Therefore, we performed a cross-sectional study in a Dutch cohort of MSM to establish the prevalence of both anal and coronal sulcus HPV infection and to identify sexual behavior risk factors related to the presence of HPV infection. The presence of identical HPV genotypes in steady couples was also investigated. To develop strategies for prevention and early treatment of HPV-associated high-grade anal squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), a better understanding of sexual behavior risk factors is needed. 15 Methods
Study Population and Study Design
The study was performed at the sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Beginning in February of 1999, we recruited MSM to participate in the Rotterdam Gay-Cohort study. Homosexual and bisexual STD clinic attendees were informed about the opportunity to take part in the study. In addition, men visiting gay bars and saunas in Rotterdam were asked to participate in the study. To enroll a diverse group of men, trained volunteers visited so-called meeting places, where gay men have (anonymous) sexual encounters. Advertisements were published in newspapers and gay periodicals. The last participant was enrolled in February of 2000. Cohort participants were tested for STDs and HIV every 6 months for a period of 3 years. HPV specimens were taken only during the third visit. Therefore, the data reported in this article only concern the third visit of the cohort participants.
Data Collection and Questionnaires
Demographic and sexual behavioral data were collected. These included ethnic background, age, educational qualification, sexual orientation, number of sexual partners during the last 6 months, practice of anal intercourse, intravenous drug use, participation in prostitution, and earlier diagnoses of STD, including HIV infection. Additional data regarding age of first sexual experience, estimated number of lifetime sexual partners, and condom use were collected with self-administered questionnaires. Participants were asked if they had a steady sex partner for longer than 6 months; partners who answered this question positively were recorded as steady couples.
Venereological Examination
At enrollment and at each semiannual visit, all participants underwent a standardized venereological examination as described previously.
16 In HIV-positive men, blood samples were taken for a CD4+ lymphocyte count. HPV DNA Sample Collection
Between January of 2000 and August of 2001, specimens for assessment of HPV DNA were collected from all participants using | 1.248582 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
a dry swab (Medical Wire & Equipment Co. (Bath) Ltd., Corsham, Wiltshire, United Kingdom) with sampling the coronal sulcus and the anal area.
17 In this study, we chose to sample the coronal sulcus for HPV. According to Holmes et al., 18 condylomata acuminata in men first appear on the frenulum and coronal sulcus because the area is liable to trauma during intercourse, allowing entry of an infecting agent. The swabs were immediately placed into standard collecting tubes without transport medium and sent to the Department of Virology for further processing. Detection and Typing of HPV DNA
In 119 of the 258 men (46.1%), HPV DNA testing was performed by using a specific HPV-type detection polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, and 33, as described elsewhere.
19 Later on, the SPF reverse-hybridization line probe assay (LiPA) HPV PCR test, which detects 25 different HPV genotypes, was used in 139 of 258 males (53.9%). Kleter et al. showed that LiPA results were highly concordant with those of genotype-specific PCR tests. 20,21 The total nucleic acid DNA was extracted by using the total nucleic acid isolation kit on a MagnaPure LC system (Roche Applied Science, Penzberg, Germany). Statistical Methods
Data were compared to assess statistically significant differences in the prevalence of HPV related to sexual behavior parameters. Prevalence was calculated as the number of positive tests per 100 tested individuals. Logistic regression analyses were used to test differences between the HPV groups. In these analyses, HIV status was included as a covariable along with the sexual behavior parameters. We also tested whether HIV modified the effect of these sexual behavior parameters. The result of a test was considered significant if the
P value was less than 0.05. Results
Population Characteristics
A total of 258 men were enrolled in this study, including 17 HIV-positive men (group I) and 241 HIV-negative men (group II). Of the 17 HIV-positive men, 3 were detected during the third semiannual visit and had recently (less than 6 months) seroconverted. Fourteen subjects had tested positive for HIV before the study, within a median of 2 years (range, 1–9 years). Five HIV-positive men were on antiretroviral therapy. The median age of participants was 42.0 years (range, 29–59 years) in group I and 41.0 years (range, 19–76 years) in group II (
P = 0.772). In group I, 94.1% of participants were of Dutch descent, compared with 93.8% in group II, a difference that was not significant. In group I, 88.2% of men were homosexual and 11.8% were bisexual, whereas 89.1% of men in group II were homosexual and 10.9% were bisexual; this difference was not significant. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of educational qualification. No exact data were available regarding the circumcision status of the participants, but an estimated minority of less than 5% of these men were circumcised. Sexual Behavior Characteristics
Participants in group I had had more sexual partners during the last 6 months, with a median number of 15 (range, 2–78) compared with 8 partners (range, 0–140) in group II (
P = 0.031). Not unexpectedly, the men in group I also had had more lifetime sexual partners, with a median number of 400 compared with 100 in group II ( P = 0.001). In group I, no man had “never” had anal sex, whereas 15.5% of group II participants stated to have never practiced anal sex; however, this difference was not statistically significant. Data concerning condom use, which were collected using self-administered questionnaires, did not show significant differences between groups. Four of 16 men (25.0%) in group I and 48 of 204 men (23.5%) in group II said that they “always” used condoms during anal sex. No participants in group I and 13 of 204 men (6.4%) in group II participants said that they “never” used condoms.
No significant differences were found between groups regarding age at first sexual experience with a male partner and participation in prostitution or intravenous drug use (data not | 1.127374 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
shown). Twenty-one steady couples participated in the current study, and none of these steady couples was mutually monogamous. Partners also had other sexual partners during the last 6 months, with a median number of 15 (range, 1–140).
Results of Venereological Examination
No differences regarding gonococcal, chlamydial, and herpes simplex virus infections, in the past or at the present visit, were found between the 2 groups. Reports of formerly diagnosed perianal and penile warts were similar in both groups. The median CD4+ lymphocyte count in HIV-positive men was 600 (range, 340–1,020). The median CD4+ count in the 5 HPV-negative men was 690 versus 490 in the 12 HPV-positive men, though this difference was not significant. CD4+ lymphocyte counts were not available for 3 of the 17 (17.6%) HIV-positive subjects.
HPV Detection
Table 1 summarizes the detection of HPV in anal specimens in this cohort. HPV DNA was detected in coronal sulcus specimens of 4 (23.5%) out of 17 HIV-positive men and in 38 (15.8%) out of 241 HIV-negative men (
P = not significant [NS]). In anal specimens, HPV DNA was detected in 11 (64.7%) out of 17 HIV-positive men and in 79 (32.8%) out of 241 HIV-negative men ( P = 0.015). In HIV-positive men, HPV-16 was the most frequently HPV subtype detected in both anal and coronal sulcus specimens, and was found in 5 (29.4%) and 2 (11.8%) of these patients in the respective samples. In HIV-negative men, HPV-6 was the most frequently detected HPV subtype, and was detected 30 times (12.4%) in anal specimens and 12 times (5.0%) in coronal sulcus specimens.
In anal specimens, two or more different types of HPV were more often found in HIV-positive men than in HIV-negative men; namely, six times (54.5%) versus 23 times (29.1%;
P = 0.006). With regard to coronal sulcus specimens, multiple HPV types were found once (25.0%) in the HIV-positive men versus eight times (21.1%) in HIV-negative men ( P = NS). Only high-risk HPV types were found in the anal specimens of seven HIV-positive men (41.2%) and in 32 (13.3%) of the HIV-negative men ( P = 0.007). In coronal sulcus specimens, only high-risk types were found in three HIV-positive men (17.6%) and in 19 (7.9%) of the HIV-negative men ( P = NS). HPV-16 was detected more often in both coronal and anal specimens in HIV-positive men ( P = 0.023). The simultaneous presence of only high-risk HPV genotypes in coronal sulcus and anal specimens was found three times (17.6%) in HIV-positive men versus five times (2.1%) in HIV-negative men ( P = 0.011).
In those specimens tested with the SPF LiPA HPV PCR test, HPV-52 was most frequently detected in anal specimens, and was detected in 16 of 139 (11.5%) patients. Anal HPV-52 was more often found in the nine HIV-positive men than in the 130 HIV-negative men; namely, 6 times (66.7%) versus 10 times (7.7%;
P < 0.0005). HPV-68 was seen in 13 (9.4%) of all anal specimens: three times in HIV-positive men (33.3%) and 10 times in HIV-negative men (7.7%; P = 0.039). In coronal sulcus specimens, both HPV-68 and HPV-70 were most often found by using the LiPA test; this method detected these HPV subtypes in 6.5% of all men. HPV-68 was seen more often (three times) in HIV-positive men, i.e. (33.3%, P = 0.013).
In 18 of the 21 steady couples (85.7%), at least one partner was HPV positive. In 3 of these 18 couples (16.7%), both partners shared the same type of HPV infection. Seventeen of the 18 couples (94.4%) were discord | 0.940187 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
ant in terms of at least one HPV type.
The effect of risk factors, adjusted for HIV-infection status, on HPV types 6 to 33 in coronal sulcus and anal specimens is shown in Tables 2 and 3. Having a concomitant chlamydial, gonococcal, or herpetic infection may be a risk factor for having a positive anal HPV test result (
P = 0.059). No other risk factors could be identified.
No relation was found between HPV risk and the variables Dutch descent, educational qualification, number of sex partners during the last 6 months, history of chlamydial, gonococcal, or herpetic anorectal infection, penile warts at present visit, or having had no anal sex during the last 6 months (data not shown in Tables 2 and 3). After including an interaction term between the risk factors and HIV infection in the model, no significant effect-modifying role of HIV could be found for all the explanatory variables listed in Tables 2 and 3, possibly because the number of HIV-positive participants in this study was small.
Discussion
In this study, we examined risk factors for the detection of coronal sulcus and anal HPV infections a Dutch cohort of MSM. Unlike most other studies, we also focused on coronal sulcus HPV infection, because of the assumed relation between HPV infection and penile cancer. In our study, HIV positivity was associated with a higher prevalence of anal high-risk HPV types, but not low-risk types. No association was found between the HIV serostatus and the prevalence of high-risk or low-risk coronal sulcus HPV infection. A limitation of this study is the small number of HIV-positive participants.
Factors associated with the presence of coronal sulcus HPV infection were not found. Possible risk factors associated with the presence of anal HPV infection could be a concomitant anal infection with
Chlamydia trachomatis, gonococci, or herpes simplex virus. No sexual behavior determinants for the presence of HPV could be found.
Other studies also found an association between HIV-positivity and a higher prevalence of anal high-risk HPV types.
9,22,23 In some studies, a relation between CD4+ counts lower than 200 × 10 6/l and high-risk HPV was detected as well. 9,22,23 However, other studies did not confirm this finding. 24,25 It is unclear why we did not find an association between HIV serostatus and prevalence of high-risk coronal sulcus HPV. Van Doornum et al. 26 found more HPV-infections in swabs taken from the urethra than from the coronal sulcus in heterosexual men. In that study, which enrolled 65 Dutch heterosexual men with at least five heterosexual partners in the last 6 months, the presence of HPV DNA in coronal sulcus specimens was only 3%, whereas 17% of the urethral samples tested positive for HPV DNA. 26 Possibly swabs taken from the coronal sulcus often fail to detect prevalent HPV infections, perhaps because of penile hygienic measures. No exact data were available about the circumcision status of our study participants. In uncircumcised men, the maceration from epithelial debris and glandular secretions could possibly give rise to a more prevalent HPV infection or HPV persistence. An estimated number of less than 5% of men in this study were circumcised. A higher “natural” susceptibility of the anal skin and more frequently occurring trauma caused by receptive anal sex could explain the higher prevalence of HPV types at the anus. Mucoid anal discharge and moisture are easily retained within the natal cleft, and might be a reason for HPV persistence at the anal epithelium.
The concomitant presence of HIV and other STDs, some of which cause skin and/or mucosal defects (e.g., syphilis and genital herpes), has been described previously.
9,15,27,28 Mucosal defects may explain the higher prevalence of HPV in MSM with concomitant rectal STDs, as found in this study.
A number of studies have examined factors associated with the detection of anal HPV infection in MSM. These studies showed high rates of HPV infection among those who had practiced receptive anal intercourse and had a large number of (lifetime) sexual partners. There also is an association between a high prevalence of anal HPV infection and trauma of the anal epithelium, younger age, rectal drug use, history of laxative use, hepatitis B infection, positive
C trachomatis serologic result, history of gonorrhea, history of rectal discharge, anal fissures or fistulas, and smoking. 9,15,29
In this study, the factors type of anal sex practiced, age at first sexual experience with a male partner, and estimated number | 1.308208 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
of (lifetime) sexual partners were not associated with the detection of anal HPV, contrary to results of other studies.
10,16 A recent study on the prevalence and determinants of genital HPV in heterosexual men could not detect an association of penile HPV infection and the factor age at first sexual intercourse. Also, no association was found between penile HPV infection and number of sexual partners. 29
Risks factors for penile cancer are penile tear, being uncircumcised, difficulty in retracting foreskin, more than 30 lifetime sexual partners, condylomata acuminata, lichen sclerosus of the glans penis, smoking, ultraviolet A photograph chemotherapy, and smegma.
14
The simultaneous presence of identical HPV types in steady couples was rarely seen. The majority (94.7%) of prevalent HPV types were not shared by both partners. The simultaneous presence of identical HPV types in steady couples is remarkably low. Rapid clearance, high numbers of sexual partners other then their steady partner, inadequate collection of specimens and HPV-induced type-specific immunity could perhaps explain this finding. To get a better idea of clearance and persistence rates, all individuals participating in this study will be retested for the presence of HPV DNA after 1.5 years, during their sixth semiannual visit.
Concomitant anal infection with
C trachomatis, gonococci or herpes simplex virus might have been associated with anorectal HPV infection in this group. References
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14. Dillner J, Krogh Gvon, Horenblas S, et al. Etiology of squamous cell carcinoma of the penis. Scand J Urol Nephrol Suppl 2000; 205: 189–193.
15. Critchlow CW, Hawes SE, Kuypers JM, et al. Effect of HIV infection on the natural history of anal human papillomavirus infection. AIDS 1998; 12: 1177–1184.
16. Snoek van der EM, Götz HM, Mulder PG, et al. Prevalence of STD and HIV infections among attenders of the Erasmus MC STD clinic, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, during the years 1996 to 2000. Int J STD AIDS 2003; 14: 119–124.
17. Lazcano-Ponce E, Herrero R, Munoz N, et al. High prevalence of human papillomavirus infection in Mexican males: comparative study of penile-urethral swabs and urine samples. Sex Transm Dis 2001; 28: 277–280.
18. Oriel D. Genital human papillomavirus. In: Holmes KK, Mårdh PA, Sparling PF, et al, eds. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990: 435–436.
19. Brule van den AJC, Claas ECJ, Maine du M, et al. The use of anti-contamination primers in the polymerase chain reaction for the detection of human papilloma virus genotypes in cervical scrapes and biopsies. J Med Virol 1989; 29: 20–27.
20. Kleter B, Doorn van LJ, Schegget ter J, et al. Novel short-fragment PCR assay for highly sensitive broad-spectrum detection of anogenital human papilloma viruses. Am J Path 1998; 153: 1731–1739.
21. Doorn van LJ, Quint w, Kleter B, et al. Genotyping of human papillomavirus in liquid cytology cervical specimens by the PGMY line blot assay and the SPF10 line probe assay. J Clin Microbiol 2002; 40: 979–983.
22. Aynaud O, Piron D, Barrasso R, et al. Comparison of clinical, histological and virological symptoms of HPV in HIV-1 infected men and immunocompetent subjects. Sex Transm Infect 1998; 74: 32–34.
23. Palefsky JM, Holly EA, Ralston ML, et al. High incidence of anal high-grade squamous intra-epithelial lesions among HIV-positive and HIV-negative homosexual and bisexual men. AIDS 1998; 12: 495–503.
24. Hagensee ME, Kiviat N, Critchlow CW, et al. Seroprevalence of human papillomavirus types 6 and 16 capsid antibodies in homosexual men. J Infect Dis 1997; 176: 625–631.
25. van Doornum GJJ, Hoek van den JAR, Ameijden van EJC. Cervical human papillomavirus infection among HIV-infected prostitutes addicted to hard drugs. J Med Virol 1993; 41: 185–191.
26. van Doornum GJJ, Hooykaas C, Juffermans LHJ, et al. Prevalence of human papillomavirus infections among heterosexual men and women with multiple sexual partners. J Med Virol 1992; 37: 13–21.
27. Greenblatt RM, Lukehart SA, Plummer FA. Genital ulceration as a risk factor for human immunodeficiency virus infection. AIDS 1998; 2: 4 | 0.99257 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society, explains how social investment helps social ventures and charities.
It is fantastic to be here today at the Social Investment and Public Services Conference. First of all – a big thank you to David and all of the team at Social Finance for putting together what promises to be a really engaging day. They have long been in the vanguard of the social investment movement and played a crucial role in developing a number of the 25 Social Impact Bonds that are now up and running across the UK.
I want to talk about 3 things today:
first, why government cares about social investment – to the extent that we placed it at the heart of the agenda for the G8
second, why outcomes-based investment is so important
third, what we are doing to support the growth of this radical approach to helping more social organisations become more sustainable
Why government cares about social investment
We all know that government, whether central or local, doesn’t have all the answers. We need new thinking, new ideas and new ways of addressing them.
And that is where charities and social enterprises can help. These are expert organisations, they are on the frontline and so see what works well and less well, and they are nimble enough to try new ideas.
That is why my office, the Office for Civil Society, works to support charities and social enterprises in every way we can. We want to unlock more opportunities for charities and social enterprises to deliver public services and win government contracts.
A problem that charities and social enterprises often face is that they don’t have the money required to deliver government contracts. That is where social investment comes in.
Social investment is money that is invested into projects in order to generate a social impact. It enables people to put their money towards something that they really care about and get it back if the project goes well. It provides a new source of funding to address difficult social issues such as homelessness.
Social investment can provide charities and social enterprises with the money they need to help vulnerable people improve their lives.
Government is committed to supporting charities and social enterprises to access the finance that they need to do more. And we are working with partners in the sector to grow the social investment market, developing a range of new financing options to support organisations wanting to innovate and develop their business.
Why outcomes-based investment is so important
Bernard has given you an excellent introduction to Social Impact Bonds and a lot has been written about them, but I believe what should really matter to all of us is:
that they put the best outcomes for people at the heart of the service that is being delivered
that they put evidence at the heart of building better services for the public
that the investment creates the space to innovate and develop better solutions to the social problems that we face
that perhaps most importantly – we have a model that rewards successful innovation, but where the taxpayer only pays for services that actually work
And this is not just the ‘next big thing’ coming down the line – this is happening now. We have more Social Impact Bonds here in the UK than in the rest of the world put together. I’m proud of that.
Just to give a few examples:
in Essex and Manchester we have programmes focused on supporting children in care
in London we have a coalition of organisations working to reduce homelessness
and in Newcastle we have a Clinical Commissioning Group working hand-in-hand with the local voluntary sector to help people manage their long-term health conditions
Government support for Social Impact Bonds
As we all know, social problems do not neatly fit into the budget silos that government – indeed any big organisation – has developed.
For example, an intervention that helps to move children from residential care into an adoptive family is likely to generate savings for the local authority in the short-term, but it also yields longer-term benefits to the exchequer in terms of the long-term prospects for these children.
Often, though, no one party benefits enough from that programme to get the whole thing off the ground. So collectively the opportunity is lost – and it’s the service user, some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who bear the brunt of that. I think that is fundamentally wrong.
So to get around that collective action problem, we created a top-up fund – the Social Outcomes Fund – that would help to support projects that saved the taxpayer money and improved people’s lives.
Alongside the Big Lottery Fund’s £40 million Commissioning Better Outcomes Fund, we have made £20 million available to support the development of new and innovative solutions to some of the most difficult problems that our society faces. I’m pleased to say that the Social Outcomes Fund has committed over £10 million to Social Impact Bonds already.
Importantly, we have also put in place the infrastructure needed to support the development of new Social Impact Bonds. This includes:
bespoke support from the Centre for Social Impact Bonds, including free legal templates for setting up Social Impact Bonds
the publication of a database on unit costs of services to governments, so that providers can let us know when they can | 1.51135 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
deliver a preventative service for less
the development of a network of What Works Centres that are starting to build a range of evidence about the types of intervention that are most likely to yield positive results
making Social Impact Bonds eligible for the new social investment tax relief, to attract a new set of investors and expertise to support these important projects
Supporting a sustainable civil society
Finally, Social Impact Bonds are part of a bigger picture – one in which we, as government, want to unlock more opportunities for charities and social enterprises to deliver public services, opening up public money and contracts for the sector.
We’re taking forward initiatives like the Social Value Act and supporting campaigns such as ‘Buy Social’ which are both focused on growing demand for goods and services from charities and social enterprises.
We have recently seen Croydon Council embracing this approach by embedding clear social value commitments into their £150 million contract for housing repairs. This translates into more apprenticeships, mentoring support for local SMEs and volunteering opportunities for staff.
At the same time we recognise the importance of building a sustainable market of providers who can meet this growing demand.
This is why we have developed a broad range of financing options to help social organisations, whatever their stage of growth.
We’ve provided the investment and expertise that new enterprises need to turn great ideas into real businesses through the Social Incubator Fund.
We’ve supported capacity building in the sector, with our Investment Readiness Programme drawing in over £25 of investment for every £1 of government grant.
We’ve backed Big Society Capital with £400 million from dormant bank accounts to create the world’s first social investment bank, which has already invested in over 100 frontline ventures.
And we will be providing an extra £140 million to help the sector develop and help individual organisations to implement the strategy that is right for them.
Part of this will through our upcoming Local Sustainability Fund, which will help charities and social enterprises articulate their core offer, reduce running costs if needed and explore different ways of diversifying their income.
This is alongside the £60 million endowment for a new social investment foundation called Access – a sister organisation to Big Society Capital – which will help more social ventures access the social investment market.
Taken together, you can see how we have the most developed social investment market in the world. And we need to be using it.
Conclusion
To sum up, government faces many issues that it isn’t best placed to solve.
But there are brilliant charities and social enterprises who do have the knowledge and skills to help the most vulnerable people in our society.
Social investment has a key role to play in enabling them to turn people’s lives around.
By working together across government and across sectors I believe we can confront complex issues – whether it is chronic health conditions or youth unemployment.
I would encourage all of you to go away today and think very carefully about how social investment could help you to unlock the resources and ideas needed to address the challenges that you face.
Thank you.
Find out more about social investment.Perek 55 draws on a comparison between water and Torah. Let us expand and explain this connection.
The Midrash in Shir Hashirim compares Torah to water, saying that “Just as water only has a sweet taste if one is thirsty, so too Torah only has a sweet taste if one has a thirst for it.” There are two important points to glean from this Midrash. First, we see that Torah is supposed to be sweet, and second, this sweetness is directly related to our desire for Torah.
Even though on a basic level the Torah is sweet to anyone who merits understanding a little of its truth, on a deeper level, the sweetness of Torah is the extent to which the Torah affects us personally. Just as sweetness of taste occurs when the water enters our body, so too, the sweetness of Torah corresponds to how much one internalizes it. The true sweetness is in allowing Torah to seep into our very fibre to uplift us and make us better people, more connected to a Higher Source. This is why we ask that the Torah should be sweet for us, for learning Torah has the greatest power to perfect our character and connect us to Hashem. Unlike other mitzvos, the point of learning Torah can be completely missed – one who sees Torah as mere intellectual stimulation will not taste the true sweetness of Torah. The word “
vehaarev” shares a root with the word ‘to mix’, for the sweetness of Torah is how much it has become mixed in to who we are. Thirst is a prerequisite for this sweetness, for the more one values something, the more one will ‘let that thing in’ to affect him. For example, one values and appreciates one’s parents much more than the mailman, and therefore one places trust in and generally allows one’s parents to shape one’s life more than the mailman. The same goes for Torah. The more we desire and value Torah, the more we allow ourselves to be exposed to and influenced by Torah. | 1.731054 | 1,023 | 1,021 |
State Education Commissioner Deborah Gist is calling for the closure of the Academy for Career Exploration (ACE), formerly known as Textron/Chamber of Commerce Providence Public Charter School, citing poor academic results and leadership failures.
According to a recommendation from Gist’s office, the school has not performed well enough to merit the renewal of its five-year charter. ACE had no students scoring proficient or better on the most recent state test of mathematics. The review also cites a systematic failure to provide support for students who struggle with math, poor administrative and board oversight and an incomplete curriculum.
ACE serves 225 high school students and is part of the Providence Public School District, which means teachers at the school are union members. The academic program includes a focus on job skills, requiring community service for 9th and 10th graders and partnering with local businesses to provide internships and afterschool jobs for 11th and 12th graders.
While the school has struggled consistently to raise student achievement in Math, 80 percent of its students were proficient in reading last year, one of the highest rates of any urban public high school in Rhode Island. Head of School Larry DeSalvatore said in written a statement that he is disappointed by the recommendation.
“We have a strategic plan in place that has resulted in consistently high reading and writing scores,” DeSalvatore said. “While our math program has yet to show the same success, we are confident that this same plan will bring improvement and achievement for our students.”
The Rhode Island League of Charter Schools said it also supports ACE.
Earlier this year, Commissioner Gist gave a lukewarm review to another charter school, the New England Laborer’s Construction and Career Academy in Cranston, citing similar academic and leadership problems. However, in that case the recommendation called for a three-year renewal of the school’s charter to give school leaders a chance to improve their program.
Asked why the two schools received different recommendations, a spokesperson from the commissioner’s office said only that the review of the Cranston school began prior to current regulations, which raise the bar for charter school renewals. Gist declined to comment directly about ACE until after the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education discusses the recommendation Thursday.
If ACE’s charter is not renewed, it would become the first public charter school to shut down in Rhode Island for any reason, academic or otherwise, but this is not the first time that Gist has moved to close a charter school.
Early in her tenure as Rhode Island Education Commissioner, Gist recommended non-renewal for the Highlander Charter School, also located in Providence. Parents and other community members were outraged and launched a public campaign to save the school, arguing that it was a haven for students who did not succeed elsewhere and accusing the Department of Education of massaging the numbers to make the school’s performance look worse than it was.
After a flood of emotional public testimony, Highlander received a three-year provisional renewal. In the most recent round of state testing, the school had 70 percent of middle school students proficient or better in reading and 56 percent proficient or better in math, a higher rate than any of Providence’s district middle schools but slightly lower than one other charter school located in the city.“Having life insurance as a senior can provide the essential financial relief family members need to cover last expenses,” said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.
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For more information, please visit http://www.freeonlinelifeinsuranceleads.com. | 1.523712 | 1,007 | 1,005 |
A new study published at
Political Research Quarterly indicates that many Americans who identify with one of the major parties make their electoral decisions more like a sports fan than an informed voter.
What motivates partisans to vote is "not high-minded, good-government, issue-based goals," says Patrick Miller of the University of Kansas, who co-authored the research with the University of North Carolina's Pamela Johnston Conover. Instead, "It's, 'I hate the other party. I'm going to go out, and we're going to beat them.'"
Using data from the 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, which identified strong and weak partisans and independents on a seven-point range, Miller and Conover's research found that 65 percent of partisans valued their team's victory as much or more than political convictions. Fewer than 15 percent of Democrats and Republicans believed their rivals possessed "core moral traits," and 38 percent of both sides were willing to "use any tactics necessary," including violence and fraud, to win an election. Rivalry increased with age, and the "more partisans are hostile and lean toward incivility, the more active they are politically."
Bonnie Kristian
FBI, CIA, and NSA agents have investigated communications between retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President Trump's national security adviser, and Russian officials to determine if the contact may have violated laws, people familiar with the matter told
The Wall Street Journal.
It's unclear when the inquiry began or whether any incriminating evidence has been found. Flynn plays a role in setting U.S. policy toward Russia, and the probe is looking into a series of calls Flynn made to the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, on Dec. 29, the day the Obama administration announced sanctions against Russia for interfering with the 2016 presidential election. Read more about the investigation at
The Wall Street Journal. Catherine Garcia
The Atlanta Falcons will take on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 51 on Feb. 5 in Houston.
The Patriots will be making their record ninth appearance in the Super Bowl, while this will only be the second time for the Falcons, who last played in 1998. The Falcons, led by quarterback Matt Ryan, defeated the Green Bay Packers 44-21 in the NFC championship game to advance to the Super Bowl, while the Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17 in the AFC championship game. Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady began the season with a four-game suspension.
Catherine Garcia
For two hours on Sunday night, every domestic United Airlines flight was grounded due to a computer outage, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The ground stop was issued at United's request, the FAA said, and international flights were not affected. United blamed the ground stop on "an IT issue," and U.S. officials told NBC News the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was having issues with low bandwidth. The ground stop was originally scheduled to end at 8 p.m. ET, but it wasn't lifted until shortly after 9 p.m.
Catherine Garcia
On Monday, a group of well-known Supreme Court litigators, constitutional scholars, and former White House ethics lawyers will file a lawsuit claiming that by letting his hotels and business operations accept payments from foreign governments, President Trump is violating the Constitution,
The New York Times reports.
The team will argue that the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution bans payments from foreign entities to Trump's companies, including those from guests at Trump's hotels and golf courses and loans for his buildings from banks controlled by foreign governments. "The framers of the Constitution were students of history," Deepak Gupta, one of the lawyers behind the suit, told the
Times. "And they understood that one way a republic could fail is if foreign powers could corrupt our elected leaders." The suit is not seeking any monetary damages, but rather that Trump stop taking foreign payments. Trump's lawyers have said the provision does not apply to fair-market payments, like a standard hotel room bill. Catherine Garcia
Pope Francis said in an interview Sunday it would be unwise to judge President Trump so soon after his inauguration, declining to offer an assessment of the new U.S. administration until more time has passed. "I think that we must wait and see. I don't like to get ahead of myself nor judge people prematurely," Francis said. "We will see how he acts, what he does, and then I will have an opinion. But being afraid or rejoicing beforehand because of something that might happen is, in my view, quite unwise."
The pope also issued a warning against turning to magnetic, populist "saviors" in times of fear. "Crises provoke fear, alarm," he mused. "In my opinion, the most obvious example of European populism is Germany in 1933. ... A people that was immersed in a crisis, that looked for its identity, until this | 1.473336 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Persistent settling difficulties or frequent night waking can be distressing for you and your baby. Fortunately, there are practical solutions to baby sleep problems that are backed up by plenty of research. This guide takes you through baby sleep problems and solutions.
About this guide to baby sleep problems and solutions
Newborns regularly wake at night – this is normal and healthy. Most babies will need you during the night for feeding and help with settling in the first six months of life. But even during this period,
you can help young babies develop healthy sleep patterns and reduce the chances of settling and waking problems coming up in the future.
This guide takes you through an approach to dealing with settling and waking problems that suits babies over six months of age.
Who is this guide for?
If you’re looking for solutions to baby sleep problems, this guide is for you.
If you don’t mind your older baby waking you up during the night, baby sleep isn’t really a problem. Settling or night waking is a problem only if it’s causing distress in your family and is affecting how you relate to your baby during the day.
Are your expectations too high? Researchers and child health professionals have noted there is a huge variation in sleep habits and behaviour in children.
Why try to change a baby’s sleep pattern?
Sleep disturbances in babies can affect both you and your baby.
Tired babies are grumpy and more difficult to manage.
You might not be getting enough sleep, and you might be feeling exhausted and stressed. This can cause relationship difficulties. Lack of sleep makes it harder for you to cope with the day-to-day demands of caring for your baby, and this can begin to negatively affect the way you interact with your baby. What to expect when changing baby sleep patterns
There are many good reasons why you might want to take action to deal with baby sleep problems.
But learning new sleep habits won’t be easy for your baby or you. He’ll prefer things the way they are and might be upset by the change. The strategies in this guide are designed to support your baby and minimise distress, but you might not be able to avoid some level of discomfort.
Be ready for some trying times while your baby is getting used to a different routine.
The good news is that most parents who try these strategies have success. Many say it wasn’t easy but they wished they’d tried something sooner.
How do we know this approach works?
The strategies in this guide are based on many years of Australian and international research into what works with young children’s sleeping problems.
But that’s not all. The advice here was part of a program of research conducted by the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. This research found that the recommended strategies were good for both children and parents.
How to use this guide to baby sleep problems
The articles in this series are written to be read in sequence.
Sleep needs for babies describes how much sleep babies need and how you can assess your own baby’s sleep compared to others her age.
What causes waking and settling problems? explains what causes settling difficulties and persistent waking at night.
Changing your baby’s sleep patterns has practical strategies for helping your baby settle and ‘sleep through the night’.Breastfeeding: Debunking Diet Myths, part 1 Myth #1: Breastfeeding mothers must follow a special diet
When it comes to diet, breastfeeding mothers are inundated with advice on both what they should and shouldn’t eat. Most of these warnings are old wives tales. A woman’s body will provide the perfect food for her baby despite her own imperfect diet. Very little of what we eat directly affects the composition of our breast milk. Of course the mother will feel better if she eats a healthy, well balanced diet, but she doesn’t have to in order to produce enough milk or good enough milk. Though breastfeeding mother’s are advised to consume 500 calories more than when they are not breastfeeding, researchers in developing countries found that it takes three weeks of near famine conditions until the quantity or quality of mother’s milk is compromised. Women with eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia will need close monitoring. Otherwise, a woman should eat according to hunger.
Enjoy those forbidden foods
Despite the rumors, there is no list of forbidden foods. Eat what you like and avoid what you don’t, even if someone advised you to eat it. Too often a baby’s discomfort is blamed on what the mother has eaten and the real cause is ignored. Before a mother is advised to eliminate certain foods, a pediatrician and a lactation consultant should explore all other causes. If you do need to eliminate foods, this should also be done with a specialist and not by hear say. You may be surprised to find that what bothers your baby is different than what people have told you. Just as there are no set rules for eating, there are none for drinking either. It is important to drink when you are thirsty. A breastfeeding mother needs to drink to stay hydrated, like everyone else. Your milk supply is not dependent on how much you drink. | 1.496063 | 1,018 | 1,016 |
Number 2532 brings together the attributes of number 2 appearing twice, amplifying its influences, the vibrations of number 5, and the influences of number 3. Number 2 resonates with kindness and consideration, service and duty, adaptability and co-operation, duality, finding balance and harmony, encouragement and support. Number 2 also resonates with faith and trust and serving your
life purposeand soul mission. Number 5 encourages making positive life choicesand important changes, adaptability and versatility, resourcefulness, auspicious opportunities, motivation and idealism. Number 5 also relates to doing things your own way and learning life lessonsthrough experience. Number 3 relates to optimism and enthusiasm, communication and self-expression, inspiration and creativity, optimism and joy, talent and skills, expansion and growth. Number 3 also relates to the Ascended Masters. The Masters help you to focus on the Divine spark within yourself and others, and assist with manifesting your desires.
Angel Number 2532 brings a message to be aware of your thoughts, intentions, ideas and feelings. By paying attention to the way you feel and understanding your emotional connection to your inner-self, you come to understand what is happening in your world, and why.
Angel Number 2532 indicates that important life changes are occurring in your life (or are about to occur) and you have manifested these changes with your thoughts, ideas and actions. Every thought that you give your attention to becomes part of your vibrational energy. Your attention invites it into your experience whether it is a thought about something positive (something you want), or a thought about something negative (something you don’t want). If the subject or focus of your attention is not in alignment with your higher-self you feel the disharmony of your thoughts in the form of negative feelings. When the subject or focus of your attention is in alignment with your higher-self, you feel the harmony of your thoughts in the form of positive feelings and a sense of calm and confidence.
Maintaining a
positive attitudeand mind-set will manifestand transform your ideas, dreams and aspirations into physical reality.
Number 2532 relates to number 3 (2+5+3+2=12, 1+2=3) and
Angel Number 3. * Sacred Scribes Joanne
Sacred Scribes
NUMEROLOGY - The Vibration and Energy of Numbers
NUMEROLOGY - The Vibration and Energy of Numbers
Body And Soul~Mind And Spirit of inflation for college tuition since this index began publication in December 1977.
The index for household furnishings and supplies fell 2.2 percent in 2013, led by a decline in prices for major appliances. Recreation commodities fell 1.9 percent; within this component, televisions fell 13.9 percent.
This
Beyond the Numbers summary was prepared by Stephen B. Reed and Kenneth J. Stewart, economists in the Division of Consumer Prices and Price Indexes, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Email: reed.steve@bls.gov. Telephone: (202) 691-6966.
Information in this article will be made available to sensory-impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339. This article is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission.
Suggested citation:
Stephen B. Reed and Kenneth J. Stewart, “Why does BLS provide both the CPI-W and CPI-U?” Beyond the Numbers: Prices & Spending, vol. 3, no. 5 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 2014), https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-3/why-does-bls-provide-both-the-cpi-w-and-cpi-u.htm
2 Not included in the CPI are the spending patterns of people living in rural nonmetropolitan areas, farm families, people in the Armed Forces, and those in institutions, such as prisons and mental hospitals. 3 George Stigler, “The Price Statistics of the Federal Government,” Report to the Office of Statistical Standards, Bureau of the Budget (National Bureau of Economic Research, 1961). The Stigler Committee report recommended broadening the target population to all Americans. 4 Joseph P. Goldberg and William T. Moye, First Hundred Years of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2235 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1985). 5 Price movements described in this text reflect December-to-December changes, unless stated otherwise.
Publish Date:
Friday, February 28, 2014 | 1.133633 | 994 | 992 |
Titles are always difficult, so give a good mark to
‘Australia’s Defence: Towards a New Era?‘
Mixing pickiness with praise, tick the ‘new era’ idea while guffawing at the question mark hanging off the title. Making the title a question is symptomatic of the timidity that gives academics a bad name. Don’t assert your argument, seek cover behind a query. Put a question mark in the title, then spend 344 pages ‘interrogating’ the question. Really? Oh, dear? Enough? This question-thingy does funny things to writing, eh?
Please disregard my querulous start. All praise for this first book in MUP’s series on strategy and warfare in Australia’s region.
Even as Iraq and the previous decade call again, the book makes the case that Oz faces new times, positioned between a rising China and a rebalancing America. The era will test Australia’s middle-power status and challenge its traditional vow to maintain a technological edge over regional militaries.
One product that’ll struggle as a new era marker is the coming Defence White Paper. The 2015 Paper will be the third such defining document in six years; these are evolving iterations, handmaidens rather than harbingers. Still, the proposition that Australia confronts a new era can stand tall as a statement, not cower as a question.
Where the book shines in conception and execution is in its building on a foundational tome of Oz strategic studies, Tom Millar’s ‘Australia’s Defence’, published in 1965 (my copy is stamped from the ship’s library of HMAS Melbourne). The New Era volume is good enough to sit beside Millar; in this realm, praise comes no higher.
The Millar base and quality writers deliver a book that works as a set of excellent variations on the central theme rather than disparate essays—the chapters are from a mix of old guns (style them heavy artillery) and an insurgency of young guns (impressive new firepower).
Writing well about Australian politics, defence and strategic culture is a deeply difficult task. Russell Trood is one of the few who can do it from the inside and from the academy, as an International Relations Professor and Liberal Senator. His chapter launches New Era by considering an Australian strategic culture ‘infused with traditions and ways of acting and behaving that shape policy
processes as much as they contribute to policy outcomes’.
One tradition is how Australia gets Defence Ministers. The former Senator is blunt—talent isn’t the top qualification to run Defence:
‘Holding office at the will of the standing prime minister, ministers invariably find themselves appointed for reasons other than talent—party political and factional balance, seniority and accommodation of state interests being most prominent among them. Regardless of the motivations, however, the regrettable record is that most occupants of the Defence Minister’s office have served for a relatively short time. Much the same came be said of Secretaries of Defence, of whom there has been a steady procession. In neither case has this been helpful to the stability of leadership in Defence or contributed to the continuity of policymaking.’
Trood judges Defence a portfolio where ‘persistent and repeated policy failures have exposed widespread shortcomings and weaknesses in the management of the department, eroded public confidence in the political and organisational leadership of defence and begun to undermine its historic and hard won reputation as one of the iconic and centrally important institutions of Australian society.’
Trood’s solution is not another independent review. Defence has had 15 of them since 2003. They are used for policy failure, to seek change, as political tool and to manage internal controversies, but Trood thinks Defence has become too dependent on reviews as a mechanism of governance.
Other old guns are equally quick on the draw. Paul Dibb shows again why he’s the Master; Richard Brabin-Smith is still the Sage.
The Sage can be sharp. The final sentence of the book is Brab calling for Defence to be treated ‘more like the instrument of state policy that it is, and less like a constituency that has to be flattered and cajoled’. His force structure chapter is a meditation on risks and resources beyond most people’s ken. The demand is for judgment, hard choices and big calls stretching decades.
The Master’s Strategy chapter is classic Dibb:
‘…a map of one’s own country is the most fundamental of all defence documentation. However, it is still conspicuously missing in force structure arguments coming from the single services, as well as some so-called expert commentators. The abiding nature of Australia’s continental geography and its maritime surrounds should be an iron discipline in determining force structure priorities and ADF dispositions.’
Salvos aplenty! | 2.432868 | 967 | 966 |
BASEL – The Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS), which monitors and examines broad issues relating to financial markets and systems with a view to elaborate policy recommendations to support the central banks, has published three reports analysing the financial market turmoil that began in summer 2007.
The papers cover private equity and leveraged finance markets; ratings in structured finance, looking at what went wrong and what can be done to address the shortcomings; and central bank operations in response to the financial market turmoil.
Donald Kohn, chairman of the CGFS, says these reports highlight the role the Committee has played during the market turbulence to inform central banks' assessments of risks to financial stability and provide appropriate policy recommendations. Earlier versions of the reports on central bank operations and credit ratings in structured finance served as input for the April 2008 Financial Stability Forum report to the G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors.
Private equity and leveraged finance markets was prepared by a working group chaired by Henk Brouwer of the Netherlands Bank. It was written against a backdrop of rapidly deteriorating conditions in leveraged finance markets and addresses two broad questions: What have been the important trends during the period of rapid growth in the markets for leveraged finance, private equity and leveraged buyouts, and how has market growth affected corporate finance? And how have leveraged finance markets performed since mid-2007, which risks have surfaced, and what preliminary lessons can be drawn for financial stability?
The report highlights a number of risks, including short-term risks associated with the unwanted expansion of arranger banks' balance sheets due to undistributed leveraged loans, medium-term risk resulting from the refinancing needs of highly leveraged corporations and long-term risks for the availability of leveraged finance.
The
Ratings in structured finance: what went wrong and what can be done to address shortcomings? paper was prepared by a CGFS study group led by the Bank of England’s Nigel Jenkinson. The report draws on the lessons learnt during the turmoil about the vulnerabilities of ratings of structured finance products. While emphasising that credit rating information should support, not replace, investor due diligence, the report provides a number of specific recommendations on how the information provided on ratings of structured finance products could be improved. It also includes a summary of the feedback received during a consultation process with credit rating agencies and investors. A number of initiatives to enhance the information provided on structured finance ratings are already under way. In the light of these initiatives, the CGFS will follow up with credit rating agencies and investors on the recommendations made in the report.
The final report,
Central bank operations in response to the financial market turmoil, examines how central banks have adapted their liquidity operations in response to the money market tensions that emerged during the turbulence. The report was prepared by a study group, chaired by the European Central Bank's Francesco Papadia, which included senior central bank market operations experts from seven major currency areas.
The report discusses the various measures taken by central banks, assesses the outcome of these measures and sets out seven recommendations for central bank liquidity operations. The report was drafted during a time when central banks were closely monitoring market developments and, more or less simultaneously, needed to respond to the evolving challenges. Some of the specific recommendations discussed by the study group had already been implemented during the drafting period.Play It Out: Understanding Sexual Consent (the physical, emotional and legal consequences)
$149.95
Many times people may feel confused when it comes to sex and intimacy. Sometimes it’s difficult to know if the person you’re with wants to be intimate and even more difficult to ask or find out. Everyone needs to understand consent is and is not. That’s what this program is about.
In this program students will learn that consent is not passive. Consent is a behavior that clearly shows that the person agrees to the sexual activity at the time. Viewers will come to understand that giving in is not the same as giving consent and you can’t assume consent.
The video points out that many people are manipulated into doing things they’re not ready or willing to do. The program show’s examples of how manipulators use insults and threats to get what they want and that manipulation is not consent.
Teens will learn that saying yes one time does not imply ongoing, unlimited consent and that they have the right to change their mind and say no anytime for any reason.
Students will come to understand what consent IS and what it is NOT. They will come to realize that a misunderstanding can cause physical, emotional and legal consequences that can impact the rest of their life.
Running Time: 21 min | CC: Yes | ISBN: 978 1936418466 | UPC: 092388114691 | 1.509719 | 975 | 973 |
After becoming President of Egypt in June 2012, Mohamed Morsi had to face the difficult tasks of appointing a new representative government, extricate the military from governing structures and stimulate the economy. Above all, he had to “forge a new polity – to cultivate, alongside Egyptians, a new relationship between the people and the political realm.” Drafting a new transformative Constitution was supposed to incarnate Egypt’s democratic aspirations and popular participation. Yet, the process remained opaque and “there was no sustained effort to engage Egyptians about what they wanted in their constitution.” Considering the vast array of conflicting interests and grievances within the opposition, a genuine political decentralization will be the only way to reach what could one day be described as an Egyptian sovereign nation.
By Paul Sedra December 10, 2012
The lines are now drawn. Five months ago, when Muhammad Mursi presented himself as a revolutionary to Tahrir, there was still room to conceive that he might take up the principles for which hundreds of Egyptians had given their lives since 25 January 2011 – bread, freedom, and social justice. When he claimed that he was an Egyptian just like the Egyptians in the square, and that he derived his authority only from the people, there was still room to conceive that Egypt was finally on a starkly different path from that of the sixty years prior.
At that time, back in June, the president was given a remarkable opportunity. Despite the enormous challenges that the country faced and still faces, not least in the economic sphere, he had received a mandate from the people – the first democratic mandate that Egyptians have had the opportunity to deliver in their lifetimes. With this mandate, he was empowered not merely to appoint a new government, but in an important sense, to forge a new polity – to cultivate, alongside Egyptians, a new relationship between the people and the political realm.
Much to his credit, the president succeeded in largely extricating the military from governance and thus fulfilling one of the central demands of the revolution. This was substantive change – a stark reversal of course for a government that had, for sixty years, remained led by military men.
One can well understand the frustrations that the president faced in dealing with the courts. In particular, the decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court to dissolve Egypt’s first democratically elected parliament seemed regressive in the face of the movement towards popular sovereignty. That the court was populated by appointees from the Mubarak era hardly gave one confidence that the best interests of revolutionary Egypt motivated the decision. Further, the failure of the prosecutor-general and the judicial system as a whole to deliver what the families of the revolution’s martyrs could regard as ‘justice’ only heightened these frustrations.
Nevertheless, in spite of the apparent resistance from the courts, and in spite of the skeptics who doubted the Muslim Brotherhood’s capacity to rule, the all-important opportunity to forge a new polity remained – and there was no venue more important to this task than the Constituent Assembly. In contrast to Egypt’s past constitutions, drafted behind closed doors to contain rather than promote political participation, this was a constitution that might finally have meaning and impact.
But rather than foster a national dialogue about the central issues this constitution would address – the bounds of Egyptian citizenship, for instance – debate was vouchsafed exclusively to the members of the assembly. Leaks and rumors emerged at times from the deliberations, but there was no sustained effort to engage Egyptians about what
they
If the president indeed believed that he was an Egyptian like all the rest who were in Tahrir on 29 June when he took his memorable symbolic oath of office, if he believed that the people were the only source of sovereignty in Egypt, one wonders why he failed to spearhead this national dialogue himself. Why not lead Egypt through a constitution-writing process that would transform the country as much as the revolution had – a process that would value the contributions not merely of the ‘expert’ or the ‘technocrat,’ but of the countless Egyptians who had confronted Mubarak in the streets in February 2011?
Regrettably, we got the answer to this question this past week. Despite the fact that the revolution seems forever on the president’s lips, the principles of the revolution weigh very little on his decision-making. In handing down his constitutional declaration, the president professed that he sought merely to ‘protect’ the revolution. But of course, in making his rule immune to oversight from all who might challenge and criticize him, he made himself no less a dictator than Mubarak was.
The president insisted that the declaration was only a temporary measure. And we have now discovered why: The Constituent Assembly would press ahead to pass the existing constitutional draft, approving article after article with each passing minute. This constitutional draft, written behind closed doors, with the input of scarcely the 100 members of the assembly let alone the millions of Egyptians who made the revolution, would be presented to the nation as a
fait | 1.66893 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
BOSTON — ANNE GOTHRO is the kind of student college campuses will be seeing more of in the future. Enrolled full time at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass., this 32-year-old former Wyoming coal miner is one of a growing number of adults who are going back to college or are starting for the first time. Ms. Gothro, who is pursuing degrees in liberal arts and civil engineering, decided to return to school to improve her skills and further her education.
According to the College Board, a nonprofit organization that provides tests and other educational services for schools and students, 45 percent of college students in credit-degree programs are 25 or older. That figure is expected to climb to 50 percent by 1993 and is prompting many universities to recruit adults.
Frank Burtnett, executive director of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, calls these nontraditional-aged students ``zoomers'' - a nickname derived from the word ``resume,'' because many are resuming their college education. A shift in motivation and maturity, an increase in company employee-assistance programs, and the changing nature of the work force have encouraged adults to sharpen and learn new skills and has added to the ``zoomer'' surge, he says.
``Entering, advancing, or changing careers [draw] adults back to school. ... They need that further education to get something - that next job, that next promotion - just entering the market or changing a career,'' says Carol Aslanian, director of the College Board's Office of Adult Learning Services.
At the same time, the baby bust of the late 1960s and '70s has meant fewer college-age students.
``The interesting thing is while the number of 18- to 22-year-olds has declined, this number [adults] has jumped up in the early '80s and continues to be on the plus side. And that's come as a boon to the colleges that would have been devastated by an absolute decline in 18-year-olds or high school graduates,'' Mr. Burtnett says.
To meet ``zoomer'' needs, many colleges offer more flexible programs to accommodate them.
At St. Mary's-of-the-Woods College near Terre Haute, Ind., more than half of the 910 women students earn degrees through independent study, conferring with professors by phone or mail. This program serves many women in rural areas who are unable to complete degrees on campus because of other responsibilities.
Georgia State University, a large commuter campus in the heart of Atlanta, has always catered to the adult student, but has seen a recent surge in adult admissions, according to Ernest Beals, dean of admissions. Besides offering adults flexible course scheduling, the university also provides inexpensive day care on campus.
Wellesley College last year saw a 25 percent rise in the number of adults applying for its Continuing Education program. Started by the faculty in 1970 to upgrade women's skills, the program has been so successful that adults now make up 10 percent of the student body. Continuing Education students have their own house for study groups, informal meetings, and special events. A peer tutoring program helps with study skills and academic consultation.
As schools become more age integrated, Ms. Aslanian expects more recruiting will be done at the workplace, orientations will differ between traditional and nontraditional students, and some institutions may rethink dividing financial aid. ``I predict they make the classroom better - the faculty is more inspired, more challenged,'' she says.
``Traditional students love to have them in class, after the initial shock [wears off]. Not only are they more enthusiastic, but they demand performance in the classroom by faculty and the course programs. I think that's a great advantage, and the professors respond to that,'' Dr. Beals says.
Aslanian says that as the number of jobs in new fields continues to grow, so will the number of adult students.Motorists tend to underestimate the risk of injury in a low-speed accident and tend to avoid belting up, Germany's automobile association (ADAC) has warned.
Crash tests conducted by the ADAC show that a head-on collision at a speed of 30 kilometres an hour without a seatbelt can cause serious injury to the neck, chest, head and knees.
Even if the driver is belted up and the rear passenger is not, serious injury can be caused when the passenger in the rear seat hits the front seat with great force, the ADAC said.
Belting up, even at low speeds, is an absolute must, the ADAC warned. | 1.558144 | 954 | 952 |
Brazilian Construction Sector Examined by Timetric in New Research Report Available at MarketPublishers.com24 Jun 2014 • by Natalie Aster
LONDON – The Brazilian construction market will likely reach a value of nearly USD 273 billion by 2018, posting a CAGR of close to 10%. The growth is set to be driven by the revival of the worldwide economy and expanding manufacturing activities. The growth in the automotive sector and the expansion of manufacturing facilities are likely to underpin the industrial construction output growth in the coming years. The output in the domestic construction industry is poised to record about 10% CAGR through 2018.
The health care establishments and educational institutions together accounted for just over 85% of the market value as of 2013, with these two categories expected to support the country’s construction market expansion up to 2018-end. The residential construction sector will keep on being the most lucrative one, driven mainly by sustained demand for housing, an ever-increasing population and growth in economy, fast-paced urbanization, and rising leves of disposable income. The sector is expected to record just under 8% CAGR to be worth over USD 60 billion by 2018.
New market research report “Construction in Brazil – Key Trends and Opportunities to 2018” developed by Timetric provides shrewd insights into Brazil’s construction industry, alongside a comprehensive analysis of the key forces driving the sector and the opportunities for growth in the marketplace.
The study features historical and forecast valuations of the national construction industry; provides market segmentation based on sector and project type; includes a breakdown of valuations within each type of project, by type of cost and by activity type; examines major construction sector related trends and issues, such as regulation, funding, cost management, and prices. Furthermore, the research report is supplemented with detailed profiles of the top construction firms operating in Brazil.
Historical and forecast figures are provided for 2009-2013 and 2014-2018, respectively.
Report Details: Construction in Brazil – Key Trends and Opportunities to 2018 Published: June, 2014 Pages: 73 Price: US$ 1,950.00 Other Construction Markets Reports:
Construction in Italy – Key Trends and Opportunities to 2018 Residential Construction in Indonesia to 2018: Market Forecast Multi-Family Housing Construction in Indonesia to 2018: Market Databook
More new studies by the publisher can be found at Timetric page.
CONTACTSSearch Engine Optimisation (SEO) is constantly changing, to keep ahead of your competition you need to stay abreast of all the latest techniques.
Let’s take a look at some of the new
SEO techniques for 2015. Mobile-friendly websites are now essential.
Mobile traffic is ever increasing, just take a look at the number of mobile visitors on your own sites and compare that with data from 12 months ago.
You will see a remarkable increase.
On February 26 2015 Google even announced that starting April 21 2015, mobile friendly websites will definitely become a ranking signal.
This change will have a significant impact on search results for non-mobile-friendly websites.
You will also now notice, Google have decided to add a ‘mobile-friendly’ label to their mobile search results.
HTTPS as a ranking signal.
As you may remember, in August 2014 Google announced that they were going to use
HTTPS encryption as a ranking signal.
This means that (if all other factors are equal) secure websites will rank higher than their non-http equivalents.
At the time of the announcement, Google stated:
“HTTPS would only be a very lightweight signal within the overall ranking algorithm”
Presumably, this was to allow website owners enough time to make the transition.
Google went on to say:
“Over time, we may decide to strengthen it, because we’d like to encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web”
So, nearly 12 months on, we’d say if you haven’t already, you really should be looking to purchase an SSL-Certificate and make the switch.
Conclusion.
For the most part,
SEO will still come down to the age-old techniques.
Quality content, powerful links and accessibility for users and search engines.
Nevertheless, as outlined, some things have indeed changed.
If you haven’t already, before 2015 is out, we’d highly recommend purchasing an SSL-Certificate and making the switch to
HTTPS, and also provide your visitors with a mobile-friendly website. | 1.477038 | 974 | 972 |
"Roll of Thunder" is a popular book for teachers in classrooms everywhere due to the highly teachable themes in the book on consistent social issues. Use this guide to create a "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" student page as an accompaniment to other articles in this series.
Universal assessment of student learning at the end of a reading is a tried and true way of observing your students' retention and understanding of the literature. This way of teaching is viable but is not always a good choice for students. Many of them will benefit from checkpoints as read through the literature. This is especially true for readings as profound as this Mildred Taylor title. A good way to provide feedback on students’ comprehension of the book's themes is to assign exercises to complete as they read. Here are a few ideas for composing a
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry student page.
A Family Tree of Characters
Filling the branches of Cassie’s family tree helps readers to keep track of characters in the story and their individual storylines. Place this exercise on a
Roll of Thunder student page for them to fill in each Logan family member’s name and pertinent and intriguing details about the character. As a challenge, encourage learners to list quotes on the tree next to the name of character who said if space is available. If space is limited, leave room at the bottom of the tree.
Puzzling Discrimination
This exercise is all about vocabulary found in the book, particularly terms that support and challenge racism. As you cover this title, make note of terms that support the message Taylor is sending in the book. Some of the terms convey the impact and multiple dimensions of slavery to readers while others relate to readers the pain that where stereotyped against felt from prejudiced people they promote, then and now. Crossword Puzzle Maker.
Name That Boycott
Give students blocks of text that describes notable events in history during which Americans have boycotted in opposition to inequality. These events do not necessarily have to focus on the civil rights of people of African descent; they can surround any instance in history when advocates and oppressors of civil rights met in head on in confrontation. A list of the names of events should accompany the events, with a good helping of curve balls thrown in to keep students on their feet.
Three Offenses and You’re Out!
How many times can one be offended before they snap? For some it only takes one time, but for many people it takes a number of times before they retaliate. In
Roll of Thunder, the Logans, and the other blacks in the county, find themselves faced with adversity at every turn, yet they manage to avoid falling into the pitfalls of racism where the white people of the county want them to land. Make this an exercise where your class must name all of the events in the book in which prejudiced attitudes rear their ugly heads and blacks fail to succumb to the bile they spew. When students have provided notes for these occurrences, then they must furnish instances in which the blacks in the book fought back.
My Life in the 1930s
A report of an interview conducted with a living relative or an ancestor of students paints a picture of life in the 1930s for a lasting impact on students. Readers of all races realize a multitude of gains from this activity by taking the history from their books and relating it to their own lives. If a family member is unavailable, encourage students to interview someone they are close to such as another teacher, a church member, a tutor, family friend, or neighbor. Possibly the teacher can arrange for students to visit nursing home residents who are willing to share their stories. Require learners to present their interview at the end of assignment as an oral report.
.
Use the Internet
Incorporate the use of the Internet into instruction for this book to meet your class’s technological needs. Many websites offer free site builders for teachers to use with their classes. Through these resources, you are able to create a “
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry student page" for upload of the exercises from this article. Printed copies of the exercises are also a good to keep on hand for students to use when they cannot access the class website.
Additional free class websites resources:
FreeTechforTeachers.com
EducatorPages0% pain science, that is because it is how I am in the clinic. Very few patients in my caseload, despite many being chronic/persistent pain cases need the approach because they respond to the treatment and education they are receiving. This is still a work in progress and I continue to follow and read research based on this; I hope to evolve and integrate it more than I have currently, if only because there may come a time when more of my caseload requires a pain science approach.
For more information on the pain science approach, please check out Dr. Joe Brence, DPT's new blog at Forward Thinking PT. | 2.161916 | 1,000 | 998 |
Information Security: IRS Needs to Further Improve Controls over Taxpayer Data and Continue to Combat Identity Theft Refund Fraud GAO-16-589T: Published: Apr 12, 2016. Publicly Released: Apr 12, 2016. Additional Materials: Contact: What GAO Found
In March 2016, GAO reported that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had instituted numerous controls over key financial and tax processing systems; however, it had not always effectively implemented other controls intended to properly restrict access to systems and information, among other security measures. In particular, while IRS had improved some of its access controls, weaknesses remained in key controls for identifying and authenticating users, authorizing users' level of rights and privileges, encrypting sensitive data, auditing and monitoring network activity, and physically securing facilities housing its information technology resources. These weaknesses were due in part to IRS's inconsistent implementation of its agency-wide security program, including not fully implementing prior GAO recommendations. GAO concluded that these weaknesses collectively constituted a significant deficiency for the purposes of financial reporting for fiscal year 2015. As a result, taxpayer and financial data continue to be exposed to unnecessary risk.
Identity theft refund fraud also poses a significant challenge. IRS estimates it paid $3.1 billion in these fraudulent refunds in filing season 2014, while preventing $22.5 billion (see figure). The full extent is unknown because of the challenges inherent in detecting this form of fraud.
IRS Estimates of Attempted Identity Theft Refund Fraud, 2014
IRS has taken steps to combat identity theft refund fraud such as improving phone service for taxpayers to report suspected identity theft and working with industry, states, and financial institutions to detect and prevent it. However, as GAO reported in August 2014 and January 2015, additional actions can further assist the agency in addressing this crime, including pre-refund matching of taxpayer returns with information returns from employers, and assessing the costs, benefits, and risks of improving methods for authenticating taxpayers. In addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2016 includes a provision that would help IRS with pre-refund matching and also includes an additional $290 million to enhance cybersecurity, combat identity theft refund fraud, and improve customer service.
According to IRS and industry partners, the 2016 filing season has generally gone smoothly, with about 95 million returns and $215 billion in refunds processed through April 1, 2016. In addition, IRS increased its level of phone service to taxpayers, although it has not developed a comprehensive strategy for customer service as GAO recommended in December 2015.
Why GAO Did This Study
In collecting taxes, processing returns, and providing taxpayer service, IRS relies extensively on computerized systems. Thus it is critical that sensitive taxpayer and other data are protected. Recent data breaches at IRS highlight the vulnerability of taxpayer information. In addition, identity theft refund fraud is an evolving threat to honest taxpayers and tax administration. This crime occurs when a thief files a fraudulent return using a legitimate taxpayer's identity and claims a refund. In 2015, GAO added identity theft refund fraud to its high-risk area on the enforcement of tax laws and expanded its government-wide high-risk area on federal information security to include the protection of personally identifiable information.
This statement discusses (1) IRS information security controls over financial and tax processing systems, (2) IRS actions to address identity theft refund fraud, and (3) the status of selected IRS filing season operations. This statement is based on previously published GAO work as well as an update of selected data.
What GAO Recommends
In addition to 49 prior recommendations that had not been implemented, GAO made 45 new recommendations to IRS to further improve its information security controls and the implementation of its agency-wide information security program. GAO has also made recommendations to help IRS combat identity theft refund fraud, such as assessing costs, benefits, and risks of taxpayer authentication options.
For more information, contact Gregory Wilshusen at (202) 512-6244 or wilshuseng@gao.gov, James R. McTigue, Jr. at (202) 512-9110 or mctiguej@gao.gov or Jessica K. Lucas-Judy at (202) 512-9110 or LucasJudyJ@gao.gov. clear and convincing evidence.
Finally, citing Dr. Miller's evaluations, the court found "absolutely no evidence . . . that termination of parental rights will do more harm than good" and concluded that, as A.A.J. was currently in a pre-adoptive home, only by terminating P.J.'s rights could that home become her permanent home. The court entered a judgment of ... | 1.259908 | 1,019 | 1,017 |
Mentioned in? References in periodicals archive?
On Walcott, Olaniyan quotes Alan Weiss's definition of coherent deformation as "the process whereby the form, the facticity of the world is shattered by praxis, with the result that a new meaning ensues.
Using these waves, the boxes are subjected to two deformations.
Because structural elements or subsystems of a vehicle involved in a crash undergo large plastic deformations, particularly the elements designed to serve as energy absorbers, ductility becomes a very important materials property.
This program calculates the type and quantitative amount of deformation that will occur throughout a part (each cavity is treated separately) as a result of the accumulated residual stresses left after the pack/hold phase.
Johnston also found increased tidal deformation in records from a second type of strainmeter, located only a few kilometers away from the other one he studied.
Controlled Deformations will also be included to allow the parameters of deformations to be retained as controlled objects, to facilitate editing and animation of deformation parameters.
Deformations in samples can tell us more about internal stress in wood due to the drying process.
Deformation and fracture in technological processes; proceedings.
In the Fall 2010 issue, in the editorial by Edwin May, there is a discussion about bending normal spoons by hand and that shock deformation is the simple secret to the trick.
SQ stretching involves two separate CW deformations of the specimen.
1] and a strain state by the main deformations ratio [beta] = [[epsilon].
The facing layer comprises a first region comprising a plurality of apertures and a second region comprising a number of out-of-plan deformations wherein each out-of-plane deformation has a longitudinal length less than a longitudinal length of the sanitary napkin and no out-of-plan deformation has a longitudinal length equal to the longitudinal length of the sanitary napkin.
Legal browser? ▲ definitional definitions on the law definitive definitive answer definitiveness definitus deflagrate deflagration deflate deflated deflation deflect deflection deflere Defloration deflower defluxion defoliate deforce Deforcement Deforciare deform deform one’s character deformare deformation deformations deformed deformity defraud defraudare defraudation defrauded defrauder defrauding defraudment defray defray expenses defray in advance defray the cost defrayal defrayment defrock deft deftness defugere defunct defy defying defying lawful authority degeneracy degenerare ▼ Full browser? ▲ deformation deformation deformation deformation deformation deformation bands deformation curve deformation ellipsoid deformation energy deformation fabric Deformation Induced Ferrite Transformation deformation lamella Deformation Meter deformation potential Deformation retract Deformation retract Deformation retract Deformation retract Deformation retract deformation thermometer deformational deformational deformational deformational deformational Deformational plagiocephaly Deformational plagiocephaly Deformational plagiocephaly Deformational plagiocephaly deformationally deformations deformative deformed deformed deformed deformed Deformed Alkaline Rocks and Carbonatites Deformed Atoms in Molecules deformed bar Deformed Bar Anchor Deformed Epidermal Autoregulatory Factor Deformed Epidermal Autoregulatory Factor 1 Deformed Gauss-Weingarten Equation Deformed Independent Particle Model deformed metal plate deformed reinforcement deformed reinforcing bar Deformed Steel Bar deformed tie bar Deformed Wing Virus deformedly deformedly deformedly deformedness deformedness deformedness Deformer Deformer deformeter deforming deforming ▼ crushed again? From this stage of
, crush or be crushed, I guess. #TheCycle
Our immediate-term
are now: Global Macro Risk Ranges
UST 10yr Yield 1.36-1.65%
SPX 2125-2184
NASDAQ 4
VIX 11.53-16.93
USD 95.99-97.45
Gold 1311-1370
Best of luck out there today,
KM
Keith R. McCullough
Chief Executive OfficerThe greater presence of women in business has changed many traditional practices, including the use of language. Historically, English grammar called for masculine pronouns (he, him, his, himself) to refer to both men and women. That practice is no longer acceptable. Now writers, including e-mail writers, must look for alternatives to avoid language that could offend clients, colleagues, or hidden readers.
Short of adopting the cumbersome he/she or he or she construction, what’s a gender-sensitive e-mail writer to do? flagyl online many safer classes in men over the behaviour. Styling and acne is, the different places. When this fateful addiction. Alcohol-based aftershaves should be very much work because it is one have to see the morning seems to breed of a walk. | 2.38156 | 1,019 | 1,015 |
Have you set a resolution to get into the best shape of your life, but can't afford a gym membership, or you simply shy away from a room packed full of treadmills, ellipticals, and free weights? Don't worry—not going to a gym doesn't spell disaster. You can still achieve your goals from the comfort of your own home.
The nice thing about home workouts is that they're high on the convenience factor. Whether you have kids and don't want to hire a sitter, or your schedule is just too hectic and that drive time to and from the gym isn't possible, a home workout solves most dilemmas. Not to mention, it eliminates any excuse for not working out.
Go Big, Stay Home
People often believe that home workouts are only for those who are just starting out, but that's not true.
Here are three at-home workouts designed by IFFB figure pro Jessie Hilgenberg and fitness and bikini model Lais DeLeon. They're broken down by experience level, so whether you're green to weightlifting or consider yourself a seasoned vet, you can get great results—no matter how busy your life.
These workouts require no more than a resistance band, a set of dumbbells, and the occasional pull-up bar. Pressed for time? No problem. They can be done in 30 minutes or less. Just remember to stay accountable.
Because motivation can tend to wane when you're at home and could easily browse the Internet or channel surf, it's important to schedule your home workouts just as you would any other workout session. Make an appointment with yourself—preferably at the same time each day or week to get in the groove and maintain accountability. Once you surpass the three-week hump, you won't even consider skipping your sweat session.
Also remember to add variety to your workout by changing up your exercises or rep schemes. A limited array of equipment might mean you have fewer exercises to choose from, but it doesn't mean you have to do the same workout day in and day out.
Don't fall into the trap of monotony. Instead, focus on introducing bands, dumbbells, and body-training splits into your workout. Try an upper/lower-body plan for a few weeks, then feel free to change to a full-body plan to help shock the muscles and keep them responding. The more variety you can include as you progress, the better.
Be sure to perform a light warm-up before each workout and finish off with some stretching at the end. Don't skip this. What you do today to help increase your flexibly will help improve your performance for tomorrow's workout session!
Beginner At-Home Workout Program
During the initial stages of a beginner workout, focus on getting form down pat. Now is not the time to lift very heavy; it's the time to perfect your exercise execution.
"Keep the weight in your heels during the exercises for the leg and back," advises Hilgenberg. "This will help target your glutes and hamstrings during the leg exercises and keep your posture and form correct."
Jessie also recommends that you alternate between having your toes pointed out, in, and straight ahead during calf exercises. This will help to stress the calves from different angles, sparking greater progress.
Plie Dumbbell Squat
When it comes to training your upper body, form is still essential. "During your biceps curl exercises, keep your upper arms directly by the sides of your torso without squeezing them inward," Jessie says. "This will keep your elbows stable during the exercise."
This program includes three workouts per week, so take at least one day of rest between sessions!
Intermediate At-Home Workout Program
Once you're ready to move to the intermediate level, it's time to elevate the intensity. This program, developed by Lais, has you hitting your body from all angles.
You'll use a band for resistance, adding an extra element of challenge. Bands do a great job at keeping constant tension on the muscle tissues throughout the movement, so this will really help build higher levels of strength.
This routine includes two workouts per week, so hit these sessions at least once each, and up to two times each per week. Your weekly routine could look something like this: lower body, upper body, rest, lower body, upper body, followed by two more rest days.
Push-up Advanced At-Home Workout Program
Once you're ready to move onto advanced workouts, it's time to up the volume. This protocol designed by Jessie has you doing four sets per exercise, allowing you to really stress your muscles to full capacity. You'll also introduce single-leg exercises, which recruit more total core muscle fibers.
"Go slow during the exercises and focus on balance, stability, and using perfect form on the single-leg moves," Hilgenberg advises.
One-arm dumbbell row
Another quick tip Jessie has pertains to that one movement most women have trouble with: pull-ups. For this upper-body killer, she suggests keeping your elbows directly at the sides of your torso | 1.581535 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
Inquiry-Based Learning Inquiry-based learning is an instructional method and form of active learning developed during the discovery learning movement of the 1960s. Inquiry learning emphasizes constructivist ideas of education. Students originate questions, search for information and learn on their own with the teacher’s guidance. Students may work in pairs or small groups to seek solutions while conducting investigations. Progress is assessed by how well students develop experimental and analytical skills rather than how much knowledge they possess. A spectrum of inquiry-based teaching methods has been articulated for science education (Herron 1971). While particularly relevant to science education, inquiry learning methods can be applied across the curriculum. . Guided inquiry provides a support structure for inquiry learning by focusing instructive interventions at each stage of the inquiry process. The teacher begins with a question, and a collaborative instructional team including teacher(s), school librarian(s) and other specialists enhance subject content, connecting it to the students’ world through thoughtful planning and adaptability. Guided inquiry extends the KWL (know, want to know, learn) framework and helps students move through an inquiry process of selection, exploration and formulation leading to deeper understanding of subject matter and skills transferable to other inquiry projects Evidence Base for Inquiry Learning and Guided Inquiry:Articles and Websites
The Buck Institute for Education: http://www.bie.org/. This website has a focus on Project-Based Learning and provides a host of resources for educators along with research on inquiry-based learning strategies.
Herron, M.D. (1971). “The nature of scientific enquiry.” Educational Psychologist 79 (2): 171–212.
McAlpine, Lynn, Maguire, S. and Lee, M.D. “The Pedagogy Excellence Project: a Professor-Student Team Approach to Authentic Inquiry.” Teaching in Higher Education 10.3 (2005) 355-370. Summarizes a two-semester course-based project at McGill University where professors conduct action research with MBA students whose task was to research teaching and learning, and develop recommendations for the McGill faculty.
Ogle, D.S. (1986). “K-W-L Group Instructional Strategy.” In Teaching Reading as Thinking, edited by A. Palincscar, D. Ogle, B. Jones, and E. Carr. Teleconference Resource Guide. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development: 11-17.
ReadWriteThink: http://www.readwritethink.org/ . The International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English website provides extensive resources for classroom teachers, professional development, after school providers, parents & community members. Excellent navigation allows site searches by grade level, resource type, learning objectives, or themes. Lesson plans on the site are aligned with state standards and 21st century learning outcomes.
Rhodes, Terrel, ed. 2010. Assessing Outcomes and Improving Achievement: Tips and Tools for Using Rubrics. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities. Rubrics from the VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) project are available on the following topics: inquiry & analysis, critical thinking, creative thinking, written communication, oral communication, reading, quantitative literacy, information literacy, teamwork, problem-solving, civic knowledge & engagement (local & global), intercultural knowledge & competence, ethical reasoning, foundations & skills for lifelong learning, integrative & applied learning. See http://www.aacu.org/value/index.cfm for the online version.
Rutgers School of Communication and Information: http://cissl.rutgers.edu/joomla-license. The research themes include: dynamics of student learning and knowledge construction, school library programs, inquiry-based learning, reading and literacy.
Swanson, Mary Catherine et.al. The AVID Classroom: a System of Academic and Social Supports for Low-Achieving Students. 1993: EDRS. ED 368 832. The report discusses the origins and early replication of AVID-Advancement Via Individual Determination—a program that places previously low-achieving students in college prep classes. AVID classes emphasize the writing process, inquiry methods, and collaborative groups along with explicit instruction in ‘college knowledge,’ and social scaffolds supporting student placement.
Todd, R. et. al. (2005). “Impact of School Libraries on Student Learning.” Institute of Museum and Library Services Leadership Grant Project Report. Available: http://cissl.rutgers.edu/joomla-license/impact-studies.
Books Barell, John. (2006) Problem-Based Learning: An Inquiry Approach, 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Burke, Jim. (2010). What’s the Big Idea?: Question-Driven Units to Motivate Reading, Writing, and Thinking. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Kuhlthau, Carol C. et. | 1.478247 | 1,024 | 1,023 |
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