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Shrinking Possibilities Lithography will need multiple strategies to keep up with the evolution of memory and logic Say good-bye to the node. For 39 years, the node endured as the elusive and yet universally accepted metric that semiconductor specialists used to indicate how small their transistors were. Like depth readings on a wild descent into the infinitesimal, node figures were plotted out for the near future in a ”road map” released annually by the semiconductor industry associations of Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. That map was, and is, a collection of the global semiconductor industry’s best ideas about how it was going to fulfill the Moore’s Law prophecy of a 30 percent shrink in transistor size—and consequent doubling in density—on chips every two years. But now, in the first tremor of what promises to be a tectonic shift in the semiconductor industry, the node is no more. For decades, makers of logic chips used the concept of the ”node” not only to measure their transistors but also to indicate how advanced their chip-fabrication lines were. Memory chipmakers, meanwhile, used a different measure, halfâ¿¿pitch, for the same purpose. Now lithography, the printing process at the heart of chipmaking, is being pushed to extremes to get to the end of that road map. These extremes will affect different devices on different timescales, but the end of the road looks the same for every device. We’re pulling out all the stops for the current generation of chips. And if that sounds like a platitude you’ve heard before, consider this fact: Nothing significant that we’re using now will work to create the chips we plan to produce commercially just five or six years from now—least of all the current method of lithography. The next generation of chips won’t be possible without the next generation of lithography. And that, in turn, means that the next generation of lithography will depend critically on what happens to the different chipmakers. For example, memory technology, an industry that sees prices falling at the staggering rate of about 40 to 50 percent per year, faces significant pressure to scale up faster than logic devices do. Industry observers will not be surprised by the death of the node, as the node and half-pitch, once synonymous, have been diverging for some time. This minor change foreshadows a big change in the way the lithography business will deal with memory versus logic. For the first time, lithography will apparently have to adjust to follow both microprocessors and the different memories—including NAND flash, DRAM, and SRAM—down their respective paths, which have been diverging for decades. Optical lithography, the most important and technologically demanding aspect of chipmaking, is a pillar that won’t be easily toppled. But the technology is at a critical point. The technique, which uses radiation with about half the wavelength of purple light, is fast approaching steep, if not insurmountable, obstacles. Unfortunately, none of the various technologies proposed over the years to replace it has inspired confidence that it will be ready when the time comes. Nevertheless, one thing is clear. From now on, the relationship between chips and lithography will be two-way. Not only will the fate of chips depend on the future of lithography, but also the reverse will be true. Let’s start by defining our terms. Today’s most advanced microprocessors use a 32-nanometer process, and thus are said to be at the 32-nm node. To get a sense of how infinitesimal 32 nm is, consider that to span the width of the lowercase letter l on this page, you would need to bunch together more than 9500 32-nm objects. Node in this context has historically been used to refer to the size of the smallest parts of the transistors on the chips. Until the late 1990s, that was typically a feature called a gate. But there is a very fuzzy relationship between the technology node’s number and the actual dimensions of the gate it purports to signify. In fact, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, the industry’s guide star, abandoned the term in 2005, but its usage has persisted. In both logic and memory chips, each of the vast profusion of transistors acts like a switch that allows electrons to flow through the device. A metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), the kind found on virtually all chips, has three main parts: a source, a drain, and a gate. A voltage applied to that gate lets the electrons flow from source to drain. Physically, the gate sits between the source and the drain. On a chip, that translates to the distance between the parallel metal lines, called interconnects, that carry the electrons through the chip. These interconnects are stacked today in multiple levels, and as many as 10 can populate a chip (a cutting-edge chip could have 10 kilometers of interconnects). The distance between these metal lines at the first level is called the pitch, and logically, the half-pitch is half that distance. The half-pitch of the metal lines on the first and densest level is special, because that distance was what once defined not only the half-pitch but also the gate and, consequently, the node. But by 2000, it was a dicey relationship. The half-pitch was becoming bigger than the node. So, for example, in 2005 the gate width on an Intel micro-processor was 32 nm. The node was called ”65 nm,” but the half-pitch for the first level of wires was 105 nm. Confused yet? The node’s dilemma The half-pitch of the first wiring layer is the defining feature for memory chips, while the gate length is the gauge for logic manufacturers. Neither is entirely representative of the node. The trouble with the terminology started in the early 1990s, when these gate widths fell down a steep slope [see table, ” Pitch Counts”]. For logic devices, the gate length became the smallest feature, but for memory the half-pitch remained the smallest feature. Those were simpler, happier times. The industry sold microprocessors based on how fast the chips could process instructions, and that rate was pretty much directly related to how small the gate width was. We in the industry (I was working for Advanced Micro Devices, in Sunnyvale, Calif., at the time) called it the time of the megahertz wars. These wars drove the shrinking, with the result that the gate width got much smaller than the half-pitch. So it was that, in the second half of the 1990s, the market’s endless appetite for better-performing logic devices drove microprocessors—which used to lag two to three years behind memory in half-pitch—to start closing the gap. Because microprocessor speed was largely determined by the dimensions of the gate, by 2000 the gate had become the smallest feature produced in the semiconductor industry. While speed is also a key parameter for memories, there was no similar war between memory manufacturers seeking to drive up the frequency with which transistors execute their instructions, known as clock frequencies. Memory makers focused on reducing the size of each memory cell on their chips so that they could squeeze ever more bits into less and less real estate. So let’s recap. Today’s cutting-edge 32-nm-node logic chips are actually at a 50- or 56-nm half-pitch . Today’s cutting-edge memory chips, if they were described in logic terms, would be at the 22â¿¿nm node , but they are in fact at about a 34-nm half-pitch, putting them ahead of logic development by a full chip generation. The unifying factor is that both memory and logic have always been made with optical lithography. But because memories and logic have different shrink rates, memory makers will have to be the first to make the transition from optical lithography to the lithography technology that will succeed it, called extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV). People who dread the transition to EUV often claim that it’s not optical lithography, putting it in the same zoo with the other next-generation lithographies, such as electron beam lithography and imprint lithography. I prefer not to distinguish between optical and EUV: EUV is optical, inasmuch as it is electromagnetic radiation, only with a wavelength that’s about one-fifteenth as long. The death of optical lithography, chipmakers have been known to say, is always seven years away. That joke was new 30 years ago, when chips were being fabricated at the 10-micrometer node. Today’s chips squeeze 4 billion transistors into a space smaller than a postage stamp. The technology that brought about that stunning advancement, and the key driver of the semiconductor industry (which this year is expected to have revenues of US $200 billion), is this method of tiny writing called lithography. Lithography is why Moore’s Law endures after 44 years. Nevertheless, for the last 20 years, experts have been uneasy about lithography, which projects the fabulously complex patterns of a modern chip onto a semiconductor wafer using electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than those of visible light. Fundamentally, optical lithography hasn’t changed much in almost 50 years. It has become more sophisticated, but its kinship to old-time film-and-chemistry photography is still discernible. Microchips start out as small blank patches on a silicon wafer about the size of a dinner plate. The virgin wafer is shuttled through a series of machines in a chip-manufacturing plant the size of a couple of American football fields. At the end of its journey through hundreds of tools, the wafer emerges inscribed with the patterns of hundreds of identical microchips. The wafer is then broken up into these constituent microchips, which are sent out into the world to populate laptops, thumb drives, cellphones, and the GPS in your car. The patterns that distinguish all these different kinds of chips are created with optical lithography. First, the wafer is covered with a thin insulating layer and then with a light-sensitive material called photoresist. Light streams onto the resist through an opaque mask with holes that let light through to form a pattern. This system projects postage-stamp-size patterns onto the wafer until the entire wafer is covered with identical microchip patterns. The exposed areas of the photoresist are weakened when the light hits them, and then a corrosive plasma etches the pattern into the silicon. The leftover photoresist is washed away, leaving the photoresist pattern engraved into the semiconductor wafer. The process has gotten more complicated with each generation of shrinking features. Lithography toolmakers have had to reduce the wavelengths of light they use to project chip patterns through the masks. They’ve also had to find heroic optical tricks to finesse the light into depositing patterns far smaller than the wavelengths themselves. The shorter the wavelength, the finer the resolution of the features you can print on the chips and the more transistors you can squeeze onto the chip. The history of semiconductor lithography is essentially the history of the search for stronger and shorter-wavelength sources of light. The first commercial lithography tools were manufactured in the early 1980s. They started skirting the edge of the visible spectrum with light at a wavelength of 436 nm, somewhere between violet and indigo. In 1987, steppers graduated to the ultraviolet 365 nm of mercury lamps and then to 248 nm in 1993. Finally, in 2001 the industry arrived at the 193-nm light, derived from an argon-fluoride laser. This laser, still used today to create patterns with feature sizes down to 38 nm, is projected through massive lenses that weigh nearly half a metric ton and cost several million dollars. When semiconductor lithography began in the 1960s, the feature sizes of transistors were much larger than the wavelength of the exposure light. To print his original transistors, Gordon Moore actually cut patterns into Rubylith and projected them onto chrome-covered glass plates, or masks, using 16-mm movie-camera lenses that Robert Noyce had bought in a northern California camera shop for a few hundred dollars. Moore’s transistors had a minimum feature size of around 100 µm, big enough to see with the naked eye. Lithography had to keep up with feature sizes as they shrank to the size of the wavelengths of light itself—in the hundreds of nanometers—and then, more recently, vanished into mere fractions of the exposure wavelength. As each image is exposed onto the semiconductor wafer, the lenses reduce the images 75 percent. Such sophisticated systems can expose more than 140 wafers per hour. Advances of this sort have improved resolution by a factor of about a thousand from the days of Moore and Noyce and the movie-camera lenses. Impressive though it is to be printing today’s 38-nm features with 193-nm light, what the industry would like more than anything else is to get back to printing features that aren’t any smaller than the wavelength being used to print them. Here’s why. Light diffracts when it shines through the mask, spreading out and blurring the edges. However, you want to capture as much of the light as possible to produce a good image. That means you need some pretty good tricks to corral all the light into the pattern. If you can’t, your image will be blurry. Because of tricks like water-immersion lithography—which increases resolution by replacing the standard air gap between the lens and the wafer surface with a liquid—chipmakers have been able to print sharp images within these parameters. But that ability has come at a great cost. ASML, Nikon, and Canon have all pushed water-immersion lenses as far as they can. Efforts to switch from a wavelength of 193 nm to 157 nm have failed because of difficulties with optical materials. Most industry experts agree that features of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) silicon transistors will continue scaling to below 20 nm. But that won’t happen without extreme ultraviolet lithography. Extreme ultraviolet lithography uses a wavelength of 13.5 nm, right near the point where the deep ultraviolet becomes X-rays. If we could harness light at that wavelength, we could continue shrinking features without many of the resolution enhancement tricks we have developed to push 193-nm lithography to the limit. ASML Holding, where I am chief scientist, recently introduced an EUV lithography system that can produce chips with features smaller than 30 nm. Nikon reportedly has a similar tool in development. ASML expects to ship its first commercial EUV production lithography systems next year. We have already installed two EUV development tools—one at the Albany NanoTech Complex, in New York state, and the other at IMEC, in Leuven, Belgium. These machines produce patterns with a 28-nm half-pitch, better than the so-called 22-nm node. These EUV developments are welcome, but they shouldn’t be interpreted as proof that EUV has arrived. The systems are experimental, capable of turning out chips at a rate of a few wafers per hour, much slower than would be needed for a commercial system. EUV still faces significant technical challenges. Consider the contortions we have to go through inside the box to get 13.5-nm radiation. It can’t be done with any traditional light source. Instead, we use a big carbon dioxide laser to vaporize liquid tin droplets [see illustration, ”Seeing the Light”]. First we boil the tin, and then we drip the liquid tin in carefully timed droplets, synchronized to the firing of the CO2 laser so that it hits each tin drop as it falls. When the laser hits the droplet, the tin is vaporized, and 13.5-nm photons are released. A spherical reflector mirror takes this radiation and channels it into the optical system. Quite a bit of the original radiation is lost in the process because you can capture only what is collected in the reflector, and the reflector does not surround the tin droplets completely. The upshot is that only a small percentage of the radiation created at the 13.5â¿¿nm wavelength reaches the photoresist to make the pattern. And that’s just the first challenge. At 13.5 nm, your optics can’t be made of glass, because glass—and air, and just about everything else—absorbs 13.5-nm radiation. You need a good vacuum to prevent EUV light from being absorbed by stray molecules. You need to use mirrors rather than lenses, and that brings up the next issue: About 30 percent of the light that hits that mirror is absorbed. Finally, not all the radiation emitted by your CO2 laser and tin setup is 13.5â¿¿nm radiation—some of it is infrared and is lost as heat. EUV’s critics say that too much power is necessary to yield the number of photons required to expose wafers at the chip fab. The mirrors in our EUV lithographic system are based on Bragg reflection, a concept used for optical fibers and other waveguides. To create a strong Bragg reflector, you start with a rigid substrate, then coat it with several dozen alternating layers of molybdenum and silicon. The layers must be spaced with a uniform thickness of about half the wavelength to reinforce the reflected wave as it bounces off the many dozen layers. With this staggering technique, it’s possible to make a surface that’s about 70 percent reflective (the other 30 percent is absorbed by the mirror surface). The EUV development tools use a different light source. They still use the tin droplets, but instead of a CO2 laser, they vaporize the tin drops with an electrical discharge—a small lightning bolt, basically. These have proved rather inefficient. One of the many technical challenges of making EUV work is figuring out how good the vacuum has to be to prevent EUV light from being absorbed by stray molecules. Who are the potential customers for EUV? Anyone who wants to stay on the road map implied by Moore’s Law: big memory makers that have to shrink relentlessly, the largest microprocessor companies, and chip foundries. But the majority of semiconductor companies don’t and won’t need to be at the cutting edge. Consider the chip-foundry business, which accounts for a large and growing share of the overall chip business worldwide. Taiwan is home to several chip foundries, the two biggest being Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and United Microelectronics Corp., both headquartered in Hsinchu. A chip foundry fabricates anyone’s chips, on a contract basis. Unlike integrated device makers like Intel, Samsung, and Toshiba, which design and build all their own chips, some semiconductor companies do none of their own fabrication. Others have evolved from a past where they made their own chips to becoming ”fabâ¿¿lite,” where they retain some facilities to develop the initial technology but then send their volume business to foundries. This allows these companies to do rapid development under their own control and avoid the cost of massive fabs for volume. More and more companies in the United States and Europe are taking these approaches because they believe that building a new fab (which can cost about $5 billion) is an impossible expense in the current economic climate. In the United States alone, AMD, Freescale, and Texas Instruments all recently went fab-lite. Soon only a few foundries, many of them in the Far East, will remain to run all these companies’ production lines. Others include Chartered Semiconductor in Singapore and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. in Shanghai, as well as IBM Microelectronics in East Fishkill, N.Y., which makes processors for its own equipment but has also become a dominant foundry for game processors. AMD recently spun off its manufacturing operations to start Globalfoundries, a joint venture with the government of Abu Dhabi. About half the foundry customers need chips that can be fabricated with the previous generation of process technology—currently 65 nm. Another 40 percent of foundry customers use even larger, earlier nodes. At most, only 10 percent have orders that require the most up-to-date chipmaking technology, to keep up with the likes of Intel and Samsung. These customers include companies that create graphics processors, FPGAs, and phone chips. Many foundry customers are focusing on design innovation, which may or may not require being at the forefront of chip-fab technology. The standard sedative to EUV anxiety is the assurance that the gap will be bridged by double-patterning lithography, a technique of last resort that improves the resolution possible with 193-nm light by making two or more exposures, slightly shifted with respect to each other, and with two or more different masks [see ”Seeing Double,” IEEE Spectrum, November 2008]. But double patterning is more cumbersome than many people realize. The trouble comes down to design restrictions, cost, and yield. To understand why, let’s go back to the foundry customer. With double patterning, these companies face a horde of new design restrictions. For example, with double patterning at 193-nm wavelengths, the only things that are easy to print are parallel or perpendicular lines and spaces. It’s quite difficult to print holes or elbows, and if you’ve ever looked at an actual (but unexceptional) circuit design, it’s absolutely lousy with zigs and zags. So, first, companies painstakingly rework their designs to meet these onerous restrictions (no elbows! no zigs! no zags!). Then they’ve got to split the design into two or more parts. There is just no easy way to do that. Different electronic design automation companies are working on that problem, but none of them has been able to create the vaunted ”black box” method, an ideal tool that will send the design on its way, no brain required. Double patterning also demands more process steps, which again adds to the cost by cutting effective throughput, increasing fab cycle time, and adding additional defects. If your original process could yield 100 wafers an hour, using double patterning will leave you with much less. If you’d been turning a profit at 100 per hour, there’s no guarantee you will at 50. Then there’s depreciation. Most fab owners keep their tools running 24 hours a day because they depreciate at the staggering rate of several thousand dollars per hour. That’s one of the major problems with double patterning. Cutting your throughput means you’re losing thousands of dollars an hour. Pretty soon you’re talking about real money. Memory-chip manufacturing doesn’t require as many masks as logic does. Where memories have only a few wiring layers, state-of-the-art logic has a complicated stack of as many as 10 metal layers. Consequently, a set of masks needed to make a logic chip is going to cost more than a set for a memory chip. Both processes require the use of expensive masks. And masks need an inspection tool to insure against infinitesimal flaws. Yet another tool is needed to repair these flaws, another expense that neither logic nor memory manufacturers can avoid. Memory makers don’t care as much about the cost of the masks because they don’t use as many. For them, a single mask set will make up to 100 million chips. A $1 million mask set, even doubled, works out to about a penny per chip. But for logic chipmakers, the economics are completely different, because the vast majority of mask designs may be used to make only a few hundred wafers. That’s because of the punishingly rapid evolution required to keep developing the latest features for cellphones or digital cameras. If we meet our targets for EUV throughput, EUV is preferable to double patterning because it lets layers be exposed with single masks. Double patterning begins to fail at about 20 nm. Lens designers at Carl Zeiss (ASML’s supplier) believe we can build EUV optics capable of reaching at least an 11-nm half-pitch. The principal logic makers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on R&D every year to keep scaling their transistors, in speed as well as in physical size. Memory chipmakers, on the other hand, are now in glorious pursuit of the ”Grand Unified Memory”—one technology that will do it all, easily taking over for the NAND flash memories you find in your MP3 player and USB drives, and the DRAM that dominates applications for high-speed (but power-hungry) computation. The contenders for this crown include phase-change memories, resistive RAM, and spin torque transfer magnetic RAM (STTâ¿¿MRAM), but these find themselves approximately in the same place as EUV—each concept has been proved and even demonstrated, but it’s not quite ready for prime time. Is it worth it? That’s the billion-dollar question. Scaling won’t continue forever, if only because we will eventually be down in the atomic realm. Right now we’re at 34-nm features. Let’s assume no features can be smaller than the spacing between one atom and the next, which in silicon is 0.546 nm. Within a few years, progress won’t depend so much on making transistor parts smaller. Instead, it will increasingly depend on new transistor designs and on materials that will make the transistors and the chips they reside on unrecognizable. In the next few generations of shrink, the industry needs EUV lithography to continue Moore’s Law economics. The enormous capital investments required by optical lithography and silicon manufacturing mean that no new technologies will easily displace these workhorses. To take over, any contender technology must build on, and incorporate, the incumbents. About the Author BILL ARNOLD has been chief scientist at ASML since 1998, which means he’s helping to shape the next generation of lithographic processes. His article, ”Shrinking Possibilities” [p. 26], is about the future of chipmaking, the inevitability of extreme ultraviolet lithography, and how the continued realization of Moore’s Law will affect the semiconductor industry.
Location: Tigray province, parts of Wollo and Bergemir provinces, northern Ethiopia Population: about 5 million % of population: about 12% Religion: Christian, Muslim Language: Tigrinya, minority languages The Tigrayans are the chief inhabitants of Tigray province in Northern Ethiopia and in some adjoining areas in Wollo and Bergemir provinces. Seventy per cent of its estimated population of five million are Christians, members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, while one-and-a-half million people are Muslims. Eighty per cent of the population speak Tigrinya and the remainder is made up of minority groups such as the Afar, Agew, Saho and Kunama. Most Tigrayans are peasant farmers. Background and history Tigray is made up of a central highland plateau bordered on the east and west by lowland plains. The highland region has the highest population density in the country owing to its favourable climate, although the western plains have a more fertile soil. The eastern region is the site of the Danakil depression, one of the hottest places on earth. It is dry and infertile and supports only small numbers of nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralists. Tigray has frequently undergone catastrophic drought, famine and locust plagues, the effects of which have been exacerbated by economic underdevelopment, an oppressive land tenure system and the lack of an administrative infrastructure. Tigray has been under the control of various dynasties since the founding of the first Axumite empire in the first century AD. An Amhara emperor led a successful campaign against the Italian invasion of 1896; however the cost of the campaign was high and the country was left in a poor economic state which deteriorated further after the accession of the new Amhara emperor, Haile Selassie in 1930. A Tigrayan National Movement composed of peasant armies revolted in 1943 both against the emperor’s soldiers garrisoned throughout the country and the Tigrayan feudal lords who held taxation rights over much of the cultivated land. The rebellion was halted with the help of British warplanes, and soon after thousands of people living in the southern and western regions were dispossessed of their land and crippling taxes were imposed. Under Haile Selassie’s rule Tigray was administered by Tigrayan feudal lords although few Tigrayans held government office. War with the Dergue The Tigrayan National Organization (TNO) was formed in the early 1970s with the aim of improving literacy and promoting political debate, and it also played a part in bringing about the overthrow of the Emperor in 1974. With the ascendance of the new military regime, the Dergue, the TNO opposed military rule, especially after it became clear that national self-determination would not be granted to Tigrayans and after the use of Amharic, declared the official language of Tigray in 1958, was retained by the predominantly Amhara Ethiopian government and publications in Tigrinya were suppressed. In 1975 the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was formed. Its objective was self-determination for the Tigrayan people. Its ideology had much in common with that of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF); however whereas the EPLF is fighting an anti-colonial battle with Eritrean independence as it goal, the TPLF sees its struggle as one of national liberation against an undemocratic central regime which has allowed their country to stagnate economically. Like the EPLF, the Tigrayan movement recognized the importance of major change for the most oppressed groups in society: the landless, poor peasants and women. The Ethiopian government launched a series of military campaigns in Tigray. The sixth such campaign, waged in 1980-81, was aimed at disrupting agricultural production and the economy of the densely populated central region. Government troops were heavily armed and were successful in their aim; however the major damage done to vast areas of cropland at a time of prevailing famine had the effect of causing an upsurge of popular support for the TPLF, and by 1983 it controlled about 85% of Tigrayan countryside and was administering several sizeable towns. Government troops remained in urban garrisons and government convoys were heavily protected. Despite the successes of the TPLF many people fled over the border into neighbouring Sudan, most of them during the period of the “Red Terror”, when thousands of young people were shot or tortured on suspicion of having opposed the military regime. The TPLF has gained the active support and participation of the majority of the Tigrayan population. Land reforms were implemented and a campaign to promote women’s interests was mounted. The Relief Society of Tigray (REST) has undertaken education, health, agricultural, craft and resettlement programmes and by 1983 was administering over 40 schools, over 35 clinics, 70 mobile medical teams, eight resettlement schemes and a nationwide literacy programme. Drought and famine The drought from 1983 in northern Ethiopia was equal to that of 1970-73 in which an estimated 200,000 people died in Tigray and northern Wollo province. According to REST officials, in early 1983 two million people were living in drought-affected areas under the TPLF’s control, of which at least 1.2 million were in urgent need of assistance. There was a large-scale displacement of people and, by February 1983, 400,000 had arrived in western Tigray. REST launched an appeal for food supplies and set up reception centres and collection points for food. Because of the slowness and limited amounts of aid these were later disbanded and the affected people distributed to villages in the west. There were logistic problems also with transport. Tigray was frequently unable to have access to food supplies donated by Western governments and agencies, most of which went through the Addis Ababa regime, which also attempted to deal with the famine by resettlement schemes to send people from the north to the relatively unpopulated areas in the south. There were allegations that the resettlement programme aimed to depopulate the rebellious northern areas, including Tigray, and there were well attested reports of forced resettlement and human rights abuses both during the movement of people and in camps in the south. Some Tigrayans managed to escape from the camps, and after a hazardous journey, to reach the Sudan. Despite the devastating effects of the drought of 1983-5, in which hundreds of thousands of people died throughout Ethiopia, the TPLF retained its support in Tigray and continued the war against the Dergue. From early 1988 fighting intensified, leading to large scale casualties. By the end of May the TPLF had gained control of most of Tigray including the historic centre of Axum and the area surrounding the regional capital of Makelle. Government forces counter-attacked, beginning a ruthless aerial bombardment of the main TPLF towns, including the use of napalm. This bombing seriously disrupted economic activity, as towns, villages and fields had to be evacuated during the day, and killed and injured large numbers of civilians. But the TPLF remained largely intact and confident and in early 1989, acting in co-ordination with forces in Eritrea and Afar areas, decisively defeated Ethiopian government forces, taking the strategic garrison at Endaselassie, and Makelle. The TPLF claimed that 26,000 government troops had been killed, wounded or captured. There was now intense pressure on the Addis Ababa regime, by the USSR among others, to make peace with the Tigrayans and Eritreans. There was internal disaffection also which resulted in an attempted coup by military officers in May. On June 5 the government announced that it would be prepared to enter into unconditional negotiations with the TPLF. In March the TPLF had issued an eight-point peace plan as a basis of discussion. Among other things it proposed an immediate ceasefire as soon as a peace agreement was reached, restoration of democratic rights and the establishment of a provisional government made up of all political organizations. It also insisted that a mediator or third party should be present at the talks. However, no talks took place and by September 1989 the TPLF and allied forces were advancing rapidly southwards through Gondar and Wollo provinces towards Addis Ababa. (See also Eritreans; Falashas of Ethiopia; Oromo of Ethiopia)
News: JJT - Jerry needs to commit to Garrett or fire him Discussion in 'News Zone' started by Risen Star, Jan 11, 2013. 1. Risen Star Risen Star Likes Collector Zone Supporter 25,120 Messages 13,038 Likes Received IRVING, Texas -- The sun should not set again with Jason Garrett as coach if Jerry Jones isn't committed to him beyond next season, regardless of whether the Dallas Cowboys make the playoffs. Either ride with Garrett or get rid of him. Anything else is a colossal waste of time. Hey, the Jacksonville Jaguars fired coach Mike Mularkey on Thursday after one season, so it's not like there's some statute of limitations on firing coaches once the season ends. Jerry made it clear he's the person calling all the shots with his soliloquy about the factors that led to defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's dismissal while taping his weekly TV show. Monte Kiffin is considered the leading candidate to replace Ryan. Kiffin spent the past three seasons at Southern Cal coaching with his son, Lane, the head coach. Kiffin's claim to fame is creating the Tampa 2 defensive scheme that involves playing the safeties deep and limiting big plays, forcing an opponent to drive methodically down the field. The Cowboys' defensive assistants already have been told they will have to interview with the new defensive coordinator. If he chooses to keep them, fine. If not, they'll be unemployed. There's also a possibility Jerry will yank the play-calling duties away from Garrett and hire someone else to call plays. Norv Turner, fired by San Diego, would be near the top of the wish list. Whether Jerry hires Turner or someone else, that person will get an opportunity to add assistants familiar with his offense and philosophical approach. Now, we're talking about the potential addition of two coaches who have considerable more loyalty to the owner than the head coach. How dumb is that? Disaster lurks in that scenario. The only question is how long it takes before the back-stabbing and infighting begin, especially on a staff led by a dude who's not confrontational. 2. Aven8 Aven8 Well-Known Member 4,882 Messages 1,413 Likes Received And JJT finally gets it! Yes we should have made a play for Payton, and now we are making a bigger mistake not going after Gruden. Oh well. At least Jerry isn't boring. I'll give him that. 3. DallasDW00ds0n DallasDW00ds0n Well-Known Member 3,361 Messages 356 Likes Received You have to kind of agree. But not letting Garrett work these decisions, if thats what is truly happening, what does that say about Garrett-Jones relationship? 4. Iago33 Iago33 Well-Known Member 1,483 Messages 70 Likes Received In general, I think JJT is not a very good or thorough writer. I completely agree with this article, though. 5. Boys122 Boys122 Well-Known Member 1,382 Messages 35 Likes Received Yeah, really, I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with JJT here. 6. starfrombirth starfrombirth Well-Known Member 4,016 Messages 511 Likes Received jerry is a self made billionaire and has run a multibillion dollar corporation successfully and has been around football people for a large part of his adult life. he has the ear of people who have forgotten more about football than any of us will ever know.... qnd these writers and some of you fans think you know more than h does? Your arrogance is appalling. 7. DBOY3141 DBOY3141 Well-Known Member 4,065 Messages 968 Likes Received I think Jerry is loyal to Garrett and I think the Ryan move is more Garrett than Jones. 8. Boys122 Boys122 Well-Known Member 1,382 Messages 35 Likes Received Jerry has already said it was his decision to fire Rob Ryan. But made Jason call him via cell phone on vacation. 9. wileedog wileedog Well-Known Member 10,496 Messages 1,033 Likes Received If I owned the team I would know enough to hire a GM, give him a budget and get the flip out of the way. Especially after 17 years of me playing fantasy football with the team had produced nothing. 10. ravidubey ravidubey Active Member 4,868 Messages 12 Likes Received It's Jerry's record without strong coaches like Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells that's appalling. 11. DBOY3141 DBOY3141 Well-Known Member 4,065 Messages 968 Likes Received Jerry also said he wouldn't get rid of TO or he wouldn't fire Wade mid-season and so on and so on. I don't put a lot of stock into what Jerry say. Garrett has connections to Kiffen, I think that is a factor. 12. RS12 RS12 Well-Known Member 15,322 Messages 1,787 Likes Received Jerry starting cutting on the wrong end of the fish. It stinks from the head down. 13. Fletch Fletch To The Moon 10,874 Messages 1,780 Likes Received Whoa! Wait a sec. The masses in here already know Garrett has no input at all. This is all JJ! :rolleyes: 14. lurkercowboy lurkercowboy Active Member 4,053 Messages 21 Likes Received How does anyone know what is being discussed between Garrett and Jones and who is deciding what? 15. CowboysYanksLakers CowboysYanksLakers Well-Known Member 4,430 Messages 578 Likes Received Huh??? He has committed to Garrett unfortunately.. :( 16. rocboy22 rocboy22 Active Member 1,606 Messages 0 Likes Received get out of here with this totally logical take on the situation!!!! everyone KNOWS that Jerry is forcing the moves on Garrett!! lol 17. dfense dfense Well-Known Member 2,953 Messages 410 Likes Received If I ever have to spend my sundays watching CHucky make faces all game long, I'll kill myself. The only thing that could be worse, is having to watch Cowher march up and down the sideline chanting "LETS GO! LET'S GO!" Everytime there's a change of posession. 18. john van brocklin john van brocklin Captain Comeback 1,631 Messages 270 Likes Received Not much to disagree with there ... 19. john van brocklin john van brocklin Captain Comeback 1,631 Messages 270 Likes Received It's seldom boring being a Cowboys fan with Jerry as the owner... 20. dfense dfense Well-Known Member 2,953 Messages 410 Likes Received JJT, so you're a GM now eh? I move holes on the golf course greens. What makes you so more qualified than me to advise the Cowboys how to run their operation. Aren't you just suppose to tell me what goes on at valley ranch when I'm taking a divit break? Share This Page
Obama Poised to Dine with Architects of Burma’s Ethnic Cleansing Cross-posted from the United to End Genocide blog. Rohingya refugees. Rohingya refugees. Why is President Obama about to meet with leaders in Burma who are systematically fomenting hatred and violence that has already claimed innocent lives, destroyed entire villages and displaced tens of thousands? In just a few days, President Obama will travel to Burma to recognize progress that one of the most brutal regimes on the planet has made toward democracy. Now that modest improvements have been made or pledged by the regime, and Aung San Suu Kyi is free, the U.S. government has decided to lift the economic and diplomatic pressure that made reform in Burma possible. That is bad news if you are part of an ethnic minority in Burma. And it is life threatening if you are a member of the Rohingya Muslim minority. Systematic hate speech and entreaties for the local population to isolate and attack the Rohingya Muslim minority are pervasive in western Burma. The Burmese military stand aside or actively participate in attacks against innocent men, women and children. More than one hundred people have already lost their lives, tens of thousands have lost their homes, and over one hundred thousand have been displaced. What is the U.S. government doing about it? On Sunday, President Obama will become the first President to visit Burma. He is there to recognize and congratulate the military-dominated government for making modest reforms toward democracy. As hundreds of thousands of Rohingya continue to live in fear, President Obama will be congratulating a government that wants to ethnically cleanse every one of them from Burma. Burma’s President Thein Sein–who Obama will be sitting down to dine with–has been actively fomenting hatred against the Rohingya community. He has gone so far to ask the United Nations to help him ethnically cleanse Burma by forcing 800,000 Rohingya people out of their home villages and into refugee camps or out of the country altogether! I saw what violence and persecution looks like first-hand in Burma when I snuck into Kachin State last May. I saw entire villages abandoned, its population driven into makeshift camps filled with desperate people without adequate food, shelter of medical care. I spoke with families whose loved ones had been tortured, raped, incarcerated or killed by Burmese troops. Without international pressure on the regime, I know what the Rohingya are experiencing will only continue to get worse. An entire people are under attack not because of what they have done but because of who they are. Instead of traveling to Burma, President Obama should be leading the call for a United Nations observer mission to investigate the violence in Rakhine State, deter the escalation of the violence and hold the perpetrators accountable. The leading role that the Obama administration played in scaling back sanctions on Burma obligates the U.S. government to act urgently to hold the Burmese government to its responsibilities to protect its ethnic populations. We’ve seen these warning signs before. The hateful rhetoric of Rakhine monks is reminiscent of the hateful propaganda directed at the Tutsi population and their sympathizers leading up to, and during the Rwandan genocide. While renewing calls for their expulsion from Burma, several Rakhine monks have urged the local population to sever all relations with the Rohingya, including trade and the provision of humanitarian aid and have called on Rakhines to expose Rohingya sympathizers as national traitors, potentially exposing them to violent attacks. There is no word to describe the response from the United States and the international community other than inadequate. The conditions that led to two major outbreaks of mass killings in the last few months are worsening daily. Greater loss of life and displacement are a certainty without a change of course. In a day and age in which technology affords us the ability to connect with people across the world, we can no longer claim ignorance to the fact that the Rohingya people are being slaughtered, displaced, and terrorized. When we look back on the books of history, will this be another example of when we failed to show up or showed up too late? Take action: Tell President Obama to call for an end to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya. Tom Andrews is the President of United to End Genocide.
Why "Daisy" in 2001: A Space Odyssey? Why did the HAL 9000 computer sing "Daisy Bell" in the 1968 science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey, written by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke? Maybe this video clip, taken from a documentary where Arthur C. Clarke is visiting Bell Labs back in the early 60s, will give you an answer to that question. Link [YouTube] - via Fanboy Newest 5 Newest 5 Comments The voice synthesis part seems to be in its entirety on the record Album "First Philadelphia Computer Music Festival" published by Creative Computing in 1979. It also includes a really nice computer generated Toccata. Hey it's on-line here: The last track is the one. make sure to check out: J.S. Bach/Toccata & Fugue in d Minor J.S. Bach/Suite for Orchestra #2 in b minor (excerpt) Johann Wanhal/Rondo from Sonata in B flat for Clarinet and Piano Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.) I heard the same recording around 1965-6, when my father was doing his doctoral research on computer voice recognition at Case Institute (now Case/Western) in Cleveland. At the time, the 'Daisy-voice' was astounding quality for a computer; my Dad's "advanced" setup could only generate and recognize the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 -- so maybe it could sing that Feist song from a couple years ago... Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.) I remember hearing this exact rendition in the mid 60s at a science museum in Ohio. It was right next to the working traffic light mock-up. Cheap thrills for a ten year old. Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.) Commenting is closed. Email This Post to a Friend "Why "Daisy" in 2001: A Space Odyssey?" Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5. Success! Your email has been sent! close window
Fire Engulfs Car Service, Burns Cars By Brittany Nicholson CARROLL COUNTY, Tenn. -- Anytime temperatures drop, firefighters warn about the dangers heat sources can bring. A Carroll County family sadly saw that first hand on Saturday. Tony Dill and his family are devastated. They lost their family business they have been building for the past five years. Dill's son, T.J., who works down the road, was almost speechless when he saw the damage. "I wasn't expecting everything to be gutted," he said. T.J. said a wood burning heater started the fire as his dad and brother worked on a car. His father's first reaction was to save the client's car. "It definitely could have ended a different way, with him trying to pull the car out and having part of the roof fall on him," T.J. said. The two were able to safely escape. Fire officials said this fire was hotter than normal, hot enough to melt the front end off a car that sat about 20 feet from the building. "The building had a lot of tires and flammables in it. It's just hard to get it under control," firefighter Richie Matthews said. Fire officials said it took just 15 minutes for the entire building to go up in flames with two cars and a motorcycle inside. Despite the family's loss, T.J. said his family will find a way to make it through and remain positive. "To have that lost in a matter of hours, it's just devastating. This is their livelihood. But everybody come out safe. So that's something you can be thankful for," T.J. Dill said. Fire officials say using wood or oil burning heaters will be inevitable over the next few days with freezing temperatures. They say to make sure you keep a close eye on them and don't leave them unattended.
5:32 pm ET May 31, 2011 FAA Chief Faces Heat For Controller Lapses • Thanks to the new "non-punitive" reporting system touted so highly by Captain Babbitt this controller was able to go report the incident...even though the pilots of the US Air flight were also reporting it as a near miss so this isn't one of those "previously unknown events" that Captain Babbitt says is causing the error numbers to spike. Now that the incident has been reported by the controller he is totally immune from any type of disciplinary or other adverse actions including performance based actions to help him improve unless a board approves those actions. But guess what...the Union that represents this controller has a seat on that board and the approval from the board MUST be unanimous....so good luck getting the Union to approve actions against its own dues paying member. Thank you Captain Babbitt for your help, maybe if you were in the left seat of this particular US Air flight that barely missed the same plane TWICE, you'd re-think this nice cozy relationship you've created with the Union.....by the way, weren't you previously a Union boss yourself? That's right, you were....and Obama appointed you to watch over the hen house......I think I'll ride Amtrak until somebody with the authority to make the proper changes gets a chance. • @Jay ---- your knowledge of the aviation industry is laughable. Captain Babbitt, by the very nature of his background, has experienced many close calls in his career as all pilots have. He was not BORN in to his position (like George W) as a pilot and then ALPA national President, he worked his way there and was elected to that position. Unions are not the problem, they are the solution to aviation safety. Contriollers just recently recieved the same safety tool as pilots have had for years. Immunity from accidental mistakes by reporting them in a timely manner in order to enhance the science based problem solving data base that would otherwise be hidden due to legal defense manuevering. It sounds as if you recieved your problem solving skills from some military institution based on 17th century disciplinary action!! Besides, TCAS has virtually ELLIMINATED mid air collisions. Do you even know what TCAS is? • Apparently the "pilot" of the turbo prop" did not have or does not understand "TCAS," because he was not aware of what he was flying towards. The information here indicates that the pilot of the jet did not have a TCAS warning, becuase his comments, as reported here, were made when he visually observed the aircraft below his position. According to the reported text, the "controller" was about to "CONTROL" the two aircraft into a collision course after the initial near miss. If the "controller's" are so sure of themselves, I would assume that they would be more then willing to give up the immunity status and still making their "safety" related operational error reports. Yea, let's all hold our breaths for that one. • Having over 26,000 hours I have always said the the best service the Government provides is the FAA. A true professional would report obvious breakdowns in the system no matter who is at fault. Punitive results or not. Keep the union's out of the discussion. • IMHO the problem is that the FAA has to hire (or has been hiring) people who know NOTHING about aviation. The "screen" is laughable, and we now have second generation post-strike "controllers" who never learned how to control in the first place as instructors -- of the third generation post-strike trainees. I retired on the FIRST day I was eligible because of these people who must have trouble "controlling" their bladders because they can't control planes and never think of how their "actions" affect downstream sectors. But to be fair, I would have quit anyway with all the new "stuff" that the FAA's lawyers have dumped onto controllers through the 7110.65.... and their habit of "management by GENOT". No matter how hard you try you cannot dump 10 lbs into a 5 lb bag. • Unfortunately, this appears to be another example of mismanagement by Randy Babbit. As an airline pilot of more than 19000 hours, I appreciate what he did while running ALPA, but I think he is in over his head trying to run the FAA, or better yet, trying to "fix" the FAA. As a buroucracy, the FAA is broken. About the only way to fix it might be to close shop and contract it out. If we are having hundreds of ATC controller problems, it reflects on a broken system and a broken management. Sorry to have to say it. • Immunity from prosecution for operational errors in all probability will breed a lapse in attention by a few controllers that have not been doing the job adequately. What happens if 100 ft turns into a midair? What program will be used by Randy and the boys to cover up the "operational error" and resultant smoking hole? FAA management has no concept of what it takes to get the job done and done right. I think Harold covered it well. Close the government fiasco down and start out with a contract syustem. We watched this inept management blow this to bits. It can't hurt trying a different approach. • Just an added comment to Jay. How in the world do you tie George W to the ineptness of Randy Babbitt. He is more of a politician then Geprge W ever thought of being. How did he get elected to the head of the union? When you want to advertise for the union just come out and say it. George W had nothing to do with the corruption and misconduct and unprofessionalisnm that extends throughout ATC and AVS. and Randy baby is aware and does nothing to correct it. Don't expect much in the line of professional respect fop your main man. • @Ric Actually, Jay is just about right on the money, and I can tell you from first-hand inside FAA exoerience that he must be on the inside himself because his comments about the ATSAP system and the union on the ERC board are 100% correct. • Travis you are correct. The comment should have been in response to Ric. My apologies. • Harold and Ed - Obviously you do not remember what happened when the government contracted out Flight Service, it has gone from essential services to a joke, yet Lockheed-Martin is raking in the bucks and crying for more and more money every year while doing less and less. Enjoy being controlled by 2/3 less Controllers so that a fat cat contractor can make more profit. • There are hundreds of mistakes by human beings in the Aviation System daily. The only thing has changed is the reporting of these anomolies by the media and the lack of ability of people with no aviation experience to put them in the proper context. Some of the comments above are obviously politically biased or anti-union or anti- government. JUST because the media starts suddenly reporting incidents everytime a contoller sneezes does not mean that teh incidents of sneezing in the tower have INCREASED! Someone name the LAST time there was a mid air collision in this country in controlled airspace. Mid air collisions are virtually non existent in controlled airspace due to radar, TCAS, Pilot see and avoind, controller professionalism, etc. This alleged 100 foot miss is another example. The pilots saw the TCAS alert, gained visual on the target thus relieving them of the TCAS command to deviate their flight course, had the time and the presence of mind to querry the controllers and avoided the conflict without breaking a sweat. This is hardly news or justification to FIRE the head of the FAA, Fire all the controllers, and start over from almost 100 years of evolutionary building of the safest air traffic control system in the world. • Why is it that Ric and Jay don't admit the truth: ATSAP has kept tens of thousands of safety violations hidden from Babbitt, the Congress and the public. NOT JUST THE IDENTITIES OF THE ATCs involved, but also the real numbers reported to the system. Why is the ATSAP database hidden away--OUTSIDE FAA--resident with CSSI, a contractor? Why is it that only three people get to review each reported error or safety violation: two FAA senior officials, and one NATCA official? Why is it that not even IG Scovil has access to ATSAP's numbers--again, NOT THE IDENTITIES--the numbers in the aggregate, and by type of error or safety violation. Above all, why isn't anyone connecting the dots and asking questions about the quality and amount of training provided to new and existing controllers? Is it that perhaps Raytheon--the training contractor hired by Bobby Sturgill--has "lobbied" away accountability? ATSAP was NOT Babbitt's idea, it was former Acting Administrator, BOBBY STURGILL's, who directed the creation of the system. Sturgill was a "Bushie", and on his shoulders rests responsibility for the failure of ATSAP to enhance, not erode, aviation safety. Babbitt is simply ignoring reality because--as during the Bushie reign--the Obama Administration is beholden to contractors like Raytheon, whose former senior vice president of Government Operations and Strategy is the current Deputy Secretary of Defense. According to three former FAA officials intimately knowledgeable of ATSAP, operational errors and ATC training, it is "not a matter of if, but when" the 100 feet turn into a mid-air. • Why is it that safetyminded has do make up rediculous conspiracy theories in order to try to prove a point. We KNOW that people will lie, provide misleading facts and tell half truths in order to mitigate criticism and punishment directed at them for mistakes made during employment in safety related industries. The key to good decision making is based on accurate facts and the statistics derived from them. The way to do that is to provide immunity from prosecution or punishment to people that make mistakes as long as they provide timely and accurate details of the facts and circustances surrounding the mistake. Immunity does NOT apply to willful misconduct, gross negligence or deliberate violations of the law. • Ric, this is not a conspiracy theory. You've not refuted a single fact I mention in my comment. I emphasize, this is not about WHO made the error, but about reporting to the flying public, Congress and Administrator Babbitt, accurate numbers and types of operational errors. Accurate statistics are useless if they're kept hidden away from those who can assess their merit and provide solutions to problems. Fact: ATSAP was Bobby Sturgill's creation Fact: ATSAP data reside with outside contractor, CSSI Fact: ATSAP data is examined by three arbiters, one delegate from the union (NATCA); two FAA officials, no one else. Fact: These three individuals decide which errors merit attention, which do not. They decide how they will be handled, by whom; they decide whether or not the errors will be reported officially to FAA's statistical database on operational errors. Fact: ATSAP contains tens of thousands of anonimously reported errors that have not ever been transmitted to anyone outside CSSI. As a result, FAA's published statistics on operational errors and other safety violations are incomplete, inaccurate, heavily edited by individuals representing organizations with vested interests in not revealing the facts to the prees, Congress and the public. Ric, aviation safety is not the private concern of one small contractor vested in financial interest, and three reviewers vested in institutional bias. Shouldn't we let the truth about ATSAP statistics come out? NOT IDENTITIES, JUST THE NUMBERS AND TYPES OF PROBLEMS THAT BESET THE SYSTEM AT PRESENT? • This surely makes great sense to me • I do not disagree with this article!! • Thats some significant article!! • You are completely right with this blog! Add a Comment About Washington Wire Sign up for Capital Journal Daybreak • Washington Wire on Twitter • Washington Wire on Facebook Top Groups In Politics • Election Day • The Treasury Department
Welcome to Jinotega.com. Welcome to Jinotega.com. Your Portal to Jinotega Nicaragua. Our new website are currently under development and in the interim you can read some basic information about Jinotega here but fear not, we will soon be back bigger and better than ever. Jinotega is both a city and a department in Nicaragua. The city is the capital of the department. Jinotega Department The department is located in the northern part of the country and borders to honduras. It is one of the largest departments in nicaragua and the biggest producer of coffey in the country. It is souronded by Matagalpa to the south, RAAN to the east, and Estelí, Madriz, and Nueva Segovia. It covers an area of 9,755 km² and has a population of 297,300 Jinotega contains the following municipalities: 1. El Cuá 2. Jinotega 3. La Concordia 4. San José de Bocay 5. San Rafael del Norte 6. San Sebastián de Yalí 7. Santa María de Pantasma 8. Wiwilí Jinotega City The city of about 50 000 people are also known as "La Ciudad de las Brumas" ("City of Mists"). It is unclear when the city was claimed by the Spanish but it is known to be before 1731. Before the Spanish settled the down it was an Indian Settlement. The local tails claim that the area was settled by five spanish families around year 1700. The meaning of the mane Jinotega is hotly debated. The word is derived from the Nahuatl word "Xinotencatl" but some claim the meaning of that word to be "Neighbors of the Jiñocuabos" while others claim it to mean "City of the Old Men" and that it was a referens to the old age the Indian who lived here achieved, Tourist that want to visit Jinotega will find plenty to see ranging from historical buildings and the Sandino Museum to coffey plantations, (0% of the nations coffey is grown here after all) and stunning nature. Some parts of Jinotega can not be recommended to tourist as they are to be considered dangourous. This include Wiwili, a wild west type gold digger city located in the mountains and home to seven casinos and countless brothels. Large part of Jinotega is however completely safe for tourists. Tourist will find cheap food, cheap hotels and modern conviniences ranging from phone and internet to atms.
Thousand Year Egg: Is it Edible? Alex Rushmer of Just Cook It! Blog wrote an eye-popping account on eating the Asian delicacy (read: gross!) thousand year egg or century egg for breakfast: What we know as the white is not white at all. It is a translucent brown colour reminiscent of recycled glass. The yolk, far from being an appetising yellow, is grey. And hard. Depending on how old the egg in question is, the smell can be no more than a tickle of ammonia to an eye-wateringly sulphurous tang. Century eggs tend to be milder whereas the millennial counterparts really are a force to be reckoned with. Governments in need of an alternative fuel source need look no further than these potent little ova. They are made by wrapping regular eggs (that taste so very good fried or poached or boiled or scrambled) in a mixture of salt, lime, mud, clay and straw and then leaving them. For ages. Occasionally they are even buried in the ground for several months before they are deemed edible. And here they were staring me plainly in the face, at breakfast. Now, even though I'm Chinese and have eaten my share of weird food, I have to say that I've never had century egg and after reading Alex's account, probably never will: Link Newest 5 Newest 5 Comments I LOVE them!!! They're not THAT bad if you're used to the taste, I mean like, I've eaten some pretty odd things in my life, but fermented duck eggs is the LEAST of my worries! Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.) These things are delicious!!! How are you chinese if you haven't had these? The writer clearly doesn't know anything about these things: 1) They're not nearly that bad 2) He doesn't describe the taste Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.) Commenting is closed. Email This Post to a Friend "Thousand Year Egg: Is it Edible?" Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5. Success! Your email has been sent! close window
Michael: What the hell is going on? Nellie is not a, uh, uh, a prostitute. Gob: Of course, she is. Oh, but I can see where the misunderstanding is. You didn't know. (yelling to Nellie in the background) Maybe we can give him a family discount! Michael: Family discount is right, Gob. This is the sister I've been talking about. Gob: Maybe I should have been getting a family rate ... (breaking down) Oh, my God. Michael: Other than Lindsay, of course. Gob: Oh! Lindsay! (as Franklin) Like to see a whore that does that! (as himself) Not the carrying the weight part, but ... on the other hand, if it's free. Franklin: My name is Judge. Gob: Whose name is Judge? Franklin: My name is. Michael: Okay. Gob: That's a silly name. Michael: That's enough. Franklin: Judge, my name. Gob: Yes, I am judging your name. It am silly. Franklin: Is. Michael: Please stop. Gob: Oh, now, you're correcting my grammar. Michael: Hey. What's this? Gob: Just practicing my testimony. Needed a fake witness box. Michael: And you couldn't have just taken my stuff off the desk first, or unplugged my computer? Gob: Justice is swift, Michael. Gob: The boy who couldn't cry. Michael: Gob, pal, how about you? Can you find some work? Gob: Oh, sure, Michael. As what, a waiter? Can I get you something, madam? Lucille: I will have a vodka, though. (Lucille and Gob laugh) Gob: What? Oh. Michael: You know, if you'd ever accidentally worked a day in your life, you'd know that there's no indignity in it. Gob: Great. She'll have a vodka. Gob: If you didn't have adult onset diabetes, I wouldn't mind giving you a little sugar. Mrs. Van Skoyk: Oh, Gob ... you could charm the black off a telegram boy. Narrator: Ok, we should tell you right now. She is the one who dies! Michael: You just thought you'd put the stand right here? Michael: Don't call it that. It's okay, son. We'll figure it out. When we do, we'll have the last laugh. We'll be the laughing stock of the boardwalk. Arrested Development Quotes I am having a love affair with this ice cream sandwich. George Sr.
Muscle Builder, Vol 10, Num 3, Page 21, December 1968 West Coast Editor (Photos by Juda) WHEN I was a kid so long ago, I used to love to play with chemistry. One of the experiments I would do was the "magic" one in which we dropped in some chemicals and watched the liquid miraculously go from clear to a brilliant color. Of course, what was done was to prepare a solution with other ingredients that would condition it to become colored with the next and correct chemical. As I remember, it was a beautiful color and I never ceased in delighting in doing the experiment. Short Class 1. Rock Stonewall 2. John Moldonado 3. Warren Frederick Medium Class 1. Frank Zane 2. John DeCola 3. Peter Caputo Tall Class 1. Don Peters 2. Richard Giofu 3. Robert Woods Overall Winner & new Mr. America - Frank Zane Most Muscular Man in America - Zabo Koszewsi. Best ArmsJohn Decola Best ChestMike Katz Best BackRock Stonewall Best AbdominalsZabo Koszewski Best LegsFrank Zane Short Class 1. Joe Nista 2. Elliot Gilchrist 3. Jose Donato Munoz Medium Class 1. Chuck Sipes 2. Roy Callender 3. Steve Burnette Tall Class 1. Conrad LaFramboise 2. Tony Carroll 3. Christopher Ward Overall Winner & new Mr. World - Chuck Sipes Most Muscular Man in the World - Chuck Sipes Best ArmsChuck Sipes Best ChestRoy Callender Best BackChuck Sipes Best AbdominalsChuck Sipes Best LegsNubuo Takemoto Sergio Oliva Maurice L. Baker I can't help comparing what has just happened with that chemical reaction. I just witnessed another type of phenomenon. This one was a more physical than a chemical one. For months the ingredients had been gathered with painstaking care. The components were in the form of IFBB contests that were held all around the country. Reg Lewis had the honor of adding next to the last "ingredient" with the Mr. Western America contest which was won by Dan Mackey. Mackey then jumped a plane and headed for Brooklyn and a try for the Mr. America crown. Now it was left to that master "chemist" Bud Parker to add the last component and stir well to see if a brilliance would burst upon the eyes. Everything was held in the embrace of Joe Weider and the IFBB. The night of the show was charged with more electricity than a power plant. you could feel it so strongly that you were afraid to rub your feet on a rug. This was it. The World Series and the Super Bowl all in one. Who would win Mr. America? Who would win Mr. World? Who would win Mr. Olympia? Who would be crowned the new arm wrestling champion of the world? And when would all of you reading this now be able to hear the results? Joe Weider decided that you should have the news as soon as possible and so here I am three in the morning with one eye closed so it can have its turn at sleep while the other scans my misspelling in horror. Simply put, the results are as follows: see right So that's the ball of wax, but not the story. That is too long to tell, for too many things happened to fit into the limited space that was allowed for this special report. now listen real good -- things happened this night of nights that will make bodybuilding history brighter than ever before. There was more excitement and news than I have ever gathered at a contest before. So much, that it'll take me a week just to find the end of the string to pull to unwrap the whole package. Just like in the serials -- stay tuned and you'll never forget what you read. Till next month -- patience. - MR. AMERICA - FRANK ZANE, IFBB Chief Joe Weider congratulates Frank Zane on his victory. It was a tough contest . . . closest rivals were Rock Stonewall and John Decola, but Zane, in the best shape of his life, emerged victorious. - BEST BACK WINNERS, The greatest backs in the world - Roy Callender (left), MR. WORLD Best Back winner, and Rock Stonewall, MR. AMERICA Best Back winner. Callender placed 2nd in his class; Zane won his height class and Best Back. - BEST CHEST WINNERS, Mike Katz (left), MR. AMERICA Best Chest winner, and Chuck Sipes . . . he won the title, Most Muscular, Best Arms, Chest, Abdominals. - MR. WORLD - JOE WEIDER - MR. AMERICA, The fans call for a most muscular pose and IFBB Chief Joe Weider strikes one in fun. MR. WORLD Chuck Sipes (left) and MR. AMERICA Frank Zane take a breather between poses. Both men also won other awards. - SPECIAL HONORS TO THOSE WHO TRAVELED THE GREATEST DISTANCE, Many contestants traveled thousands of miles to compete. To those who traveled the greatest distance went special recognition awards. Each man was given a bronze IFBB medal. Left to right: Odd Erling Hauge (Norway); Gainsford O'Brien (Venezuela); Jose Donato Munoz (Spain); Nobuo Takemoto (Japan); Takeshi Kimura (Japan); Bikash Datta (India); and Jay Gonzalez (Phillipines). - IFAW WORLD ARM WRESTLING CHAMPION, It was a record turn-out of the strong-armed men. Referee John Haemmerle briefs the finalists . . . and the winner was big Maurice Baker (left) - 1968 IFAW WORLD ARM WRESTLING CHAMPION. - BEST ABDOMINALS WINNER, Chuck Sipes (left), MR. WORLD Best Abdominals winner, and Zabo Koszewski, MR. AMERICA Best Abdominals winner. Both champs were equally great - but it came as no surprise that Zabo won this division . . . he always does. - BEST ARMS WINNERS, John Decola (left), MR. AMERICA Best Arms winner, and Chuck Sipes, MR. WORLD Best Arms winner. John Decola placed 2nd in his class, losing 1st place to Frank Zane, who won the overall title. If you find these articles interesting and useful, please
Featured Articles Theological Matters Theological Insights from Southwestern Wholly Bible: Preaching Revelation The book to end the Book is an incredible book. Some look at it as a road map through which they can navigate modern events. Therefore they go slow. They stop to gaze at the magnificent visions in Revelation, and as they gaze they wonder exactly why it is written this way. They poke and prod, they squeeze and mix, until what is extracted from this vision becomes a blend of modern events glazed over with speculation and hope. And then there are the rest of us. On the whole, Christians look at the back of the book, and they understand that we win. That is quite enough. If you know the end, then why read it? After all, the freakish images are beyond interpretation anyway. Perhaps it’s for this reason that the book of Revelation is largely neglected today. It’s neglected from a mix of apathy and a fear of the unknown. Why take the time to understand and unpack this for people when they do not care for the bizarre? How does understanding the book of Revelation actually help people? Why bother? The answer is found in the first verse. The book of Revelation, from beginning to end, is a book about Jesus. The book never gets past the first verse, “The revelation of Jesus Christ.” This is Jesus Christ revealed. You do not have to love end times prophecy to love Revelation; you simply have to love Jesus. To love Jesus is to love Him revealed. The preposition “of” implies that this is the Revelation from Jesus Christ. 1 This is what Christ said to John. However, what Christ said is all about Christ. So Revelation is about Jesus, but more specifically it is how Christ wants us to understand Christ. This is the self-portrait of Jesus. How could this be anything but fascinating? What is there not to love, given the Author and the content? The challenge for the preacher is how to extract this. How do you preach the book of Revelation in a way that will give people a full glimpse of its content yet not be intimidated by the details? There are many strategies to preaching the book of Revelation. However, for this short post let’s look at one unique feature of the book—its structure. Revelation has a unique structure This unique structure is identified in 1:19. John is told to “Write therefore things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.” This has commonly been seen as an outline of the entire book. The things that he has seen: chapter 1. The things that are: chapters 2, 3. And the things that will take place: chapters 4-22. This has to do with the content of the book, since the first chapter deals with introductory matters, chapters 2 and 3 are the letters to the seven churches, and the rest is the revelation of the future. Another note is that the genre shifts as well. The first chapter has unique introductory features. The second and third chapters are direct addresses to the churches filled with judgment, commendation, and commands to change. The last chapters are filled with prophecies containing vivid images. Remember also that this structure has a visionary feel to it. John is telling us the things that he has “seen.” The preacher’s challenge is to tell the vision. John wrote what he saw, and we speak what he wrote about that vision. In the translation process, make sure that people see what you are saying. 2 Because of this unique structure, here are a few strategies for preaching Revelation. Mix it up. Since there are shifts in the genre, there can be shifts in the sermon structure. A sermon from chapter 1 might feel like it has too much biblical backgrounds information for our liking, but it is a necessary framework for the message that is coming. The letters to the churches are favorite preaching material. They are clear and explicit. Major portions of what follows are descriptions of events that will come. A sermon from this last section may feel like a list of descriptions. That is simply how the genre feels. And the variety this provides in preaching is very compelling. The point is, preaching through Revelation is, by definition, a sermon series that may need multiple sermon structures. Point to the structure from time to time. The book seems like a labyrinth. The listener may wonder how they will wade through all of the information that is coming their way. It is always wise to point to the macro-structure of a book and maybe more so in Revelation than in other books. This will help them see the momentum of the book, leading up to the climactic ending. A good way to do this would be to present the book visually as you preach through it, assuming the technology is available. There is much that video technology cannot do, but one thing that it can do well is provide a view of the macro structure of a book. People will enjoy seeing where you are, and this will create much-needed signposts in such a dense book. You can do this by first choosing a simple outline for the book. Then graphically recreate it in a normal list, or a time-line format, to point your people in the right direction. Then, from time to time, show it to them. This can be overdone. But done well, this could help them get their bearings as you walk through a dense book. Preach the Text not the System In the seminary context in which I live, when you talk about Revelation the question that follows is often, “Well, what are you?” The question is not begging for your nationality or college football allegiance, rather the question is trying to identify your eschatological disposition. In other words are you a-mill, pre-mill, post-mill, etc. This eschatological identification is such a real part of one’s theological development that when students finally come to the pastorate, they often gravitate to two extremes: They ignore the book of Revelation altogether, or they preach their theological system using the book as a means to defend their position. Jesus is coming back to defend His bride. However Jesus is not revealed in the book to come to the aid of defending our theological system. It’s bigger than that. So, yes, preach the book and show them how it fits into a systematic whole. But, only after you have preached Jesus revealed. Print Friendly 1. See Grant Osborne, Baker Exegetical, Revelation, p. 52. Osborne understands the preposition as a subjective genitive, not an objective genitive, thus it is revelation “from” Jesus, not necessarily about Jesus. Yet, it is no matter since the content of so much of the book is the identity of Christ. 2. See Kostenburger, 532. Kostenburger and Patterson provide an outline of the book based on the visions of the book 558-59. Tags: , , , , , , , Steven Smith Steven Smith Related Posts
Sign in to comment! Talking Points Bill O'Reilly: The biggest failure of the Obama administration By Bill O'Reilly In order for more than 300 million Americans to have a chance at prosperity, you need a vibrant economy. At this point the USA does not have one. And that is now on President Obama. As you may know, the President's economic vision is focused on so- called economic justice, giving help to Americans who don't have very much, providing vast federal entitlements means big spending and big taxation. Also the President doesn't seem to trust the capitalistic system therefore he has instituted new regulations in the marketplace and those might be inhibiting business expansion. So the social justice economic plan is failing. The U.S. economy is stagnant as are wages for working Americans, thus quality of life is going down in this country. Here are the facts to back that statement up. Seven out of eight jobs created during the Obama administration have been part time jobs; 54 percent of American workers make less than $30,000 a year. When Mr. Obama took office, the average duration of unemployment paid to an individual was 20 weeks. Now it's 37 weeks. The number of Americans who have stopped looking for work now more than eight million, the highest number in any four-year period. When Mr. Obama took office, the trade deficit with China was $268 billion last year. It had risen to $315 billion. The U.S. poverty rate now stands at 16 percent, that number is higher -- higher -- than when the war on poverty began in 1965. Americans receiving food stamps in the President's first term increased by 11,000 every single day when Mr. Obama took office, the average price for gas, $1.85 a gallon, now $3.53 a gallon. Finally health insurance premiums in the USA have increased 29 percent since the President took office. So by nearly every measure, working Americans are not in good shape economically. The Democrats put the blame on income inequality and want even more federal intrusion into the economy. Republicans want the exact opposite, the GOP believing that helping private business expand is the key to a more competitive marketplace. "Talking Points" well understands that wages rise when workers are in demand. Today in America, competition for jobs is driving down wages because there are not enough jobs. Only business expansion will turn that dire situation around. Why President Obama doesn't seem to understand that, I simply don't know. And that's "The Memo."
Wednesday, December 22, 2010 It's already the 6th snowiest December in Indy ever... We're also experiencing the coldest December in a decade. Stuart the Viking said... hehehe, it really torks my progressive friends when I say that. They usually come back with some lame remark about "Global Climate Change". Thats good, they'll just keep changing the terminology until they get it right, dumbasses. Anonymous said... In the year 1000 AD there was no snow anywhere in the lower 48. Vikings made the mistake of colonizing Iceland and Greenland only to be driven away generations later by global cooling. The pendulum swings. BFD. Desertrat said... Ehhh, mornings are chilly, but mid-day is nice. Been getting a lot of yardwork caught up. Getting rid of dead trees, cutting the azaleas back, raking pine needles and pulling moss. Rather pleasant, really. Nathan said... If Al Gore stops by here, I intend to slug him. And then push his face into the snowpile next to my garage, which is getting as large as the one I remember from about, oh, 1968. Clearly he was not bullied enough as a child. Anonymous said... You folks haven't kept up. It isn't global warming anymore; it's climate change. And, it explains everything from hot, dry summers to the coming ice age. The only way to slow it down is to give all power and allegiance to Algore. Joanna said... The pendulum swings. BFD. Nailed it. Anonymous said... Anon it's: Man infuenced climate change. There have never beed any climate change before the industrial development of the West. Don Meaker said... Here in sunny California, we have had a horrid outbreak of rain. The wind (Pineapple Express) blows from Hawaii, bringing wet weather. A lot of the traffic lights don't work, but we don't have to do any shoveling unless in hilly areas it turns into a mudslide. Just thought you might like to know how the other half lives. Bubblehead Les. said... Snow in December near the Great Lakes? Inconceivable! Stuart the Viking said... Man, I WANT to accept the whole Global Climate Change thing, except all those studys done by so-called scientists in the last 20 years prove, absolutely, that the entire earth was warming, and anyone disagreeing was a stupid stinky pants uneducated brute repugnant. Now, those same people STILL want to call names and act like they are better, all while saying that those study's have a differant interpretation (which is what we said that got us called stinky pants). Except they say the studys are (irrefutable) evidence of a new improved unproven pet global disaster theory that they need trillions more dollars to study and push the same ol' solutions that won't fix this new thing any more that it would have fixed the old thing, but does end up having a damaging effect on the economy and job creation. All of which gives them the perfect excuse to expand government, you know, to help the poor children. It will never end. Anonymous said... I guess Al Gore has a cottage near you now? Anonymous said... "Al Gore has a cottage near you" Anony 12:52, have you ever heard the phrase "stick your dick in a meat grinder and dare me to crank on the handle"? Algore will never mix with the masses.
Saturday, May 17, 2014 Not halting capital production just yet Capital prices are shooting up, presumably in advance of the industry changes, and the changes themselves have been pushed back to 2 months from the time of posting. At this time I am NOT shutting down production. Unfortunately I'm a little short on liquidity after buying the titan blueprint, but I do have a few runs worth of isk sitting around. There will have to be a shutdown after the patch, though. Even if the market remains solid continuing will mean refactoring my entire process, and whether or not I have the motivation to do that is unknown. 1. I think many large industrialist are going to be shutting down after the patch hits. Its going to be interesting how prices react. My research, nor production was at all large scale, but with all the changes I'll me taking down my tower and halting all the research. I'm really interested how 3rd party tools will be able to replicate ingame manufacturing pricing. 2. I have one question: Why are so many industrialist shutting down? 1. Well, most generally, the changes are just sort of bullshit. They make things harder and more complicated for no reason, which is the opposite of what reworking a system is supposed to do. Less generally, if somebody wants to build in null and transport to high or low they have a huge advantage (like, 10-20%), and some high and low producers are less than enthusiastic about that. Also, for capitals in particular, in addition to the above the compression changes mean there will be a period before the patch hits when we can't buy minerals to compress because the compression wouldn't finish before the patch hits, and then a period afterward when the market doesn't yet have enough ore for compression, so there's going to be an interruption in our ability to produce no matter what.
Moshni is typical of many small villages in the vast coastal delta region of Bangladesh, where the population depends largely on agriculture and aquaculture for food, nutrition and income. The people of this coastal region, and the aquatic agricultural systems their livelihoods depend on, are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. These include increased frequency of flooding due to sea-level rise, elevated salinity in agricultural areas, greater monsoon precipitation, and increased vulnerability to cyclone and storm surges, drought. These challenges are already being faced to varying degrees by people across Bangladesh, but particularly those living in this highly vulnerable coastal area. Research is playing a role in helping the people of Moshni and surrounding villages develop productive aquatic agricultural systems that are more resilient to climate change. Two WorldFish projects, the Cyclone Affected Aquaculture Rehabilitation project and the Greater Harvest and Economic Return through Shrimp project (GHERS) are offering solutions to some of the challenges. The Cyclone Affected Aquaculture Rehabilitation Project, initiated in 2007 to help rehabilitate aquaculture following Cyclone Sidr, aims to make households more resilient to frequent climate-related problems, such as periodic tidal surges that flooded their ponds and affected livelihoods. Participatory action research identified various strategies to address these problems, including raising pond dykes and using nylon nets to adapt to high water levels and prevent fish escaping during storm surges. Since 2008, the GHERS project has been exploring ways for farmers to increase productivity and household income from farming systems facing increasing salinity. Improved management techniques such as shrimp and prawn farming methods that reduce the risk of disease and improve yields, and the cultivation of vegetables on pond dykes, have provided around 26,000 farming households with diversified incomes and systems of farming that are better adapted to increasingly saline environments. “The training that WorldFish has given us has helped us right across the business. With the additional money we are getting from shrimps we were able to buy our land and within a year we had enough money to finish our house,” says Banalata Das, a woman fish farmer who participated in the project. Impact assessments have shown that farm productivity has increased across around the 1,500 villages involved in the projects, with indications of improved food and nutrition security. Members of GHERS project households, including women and children, are eating more fish, vegetables and fruit. Demand for labor has also increased as a result of the integration and intensification of aquatic-agricultural farming systems, creating opportunities for women to become involved in the production system. Many people in this complex and large region remain vulnerable in various ways, but the experiences of Moshni and neighboring villages show that progress can be made in developing aquatic agricultural systems that provide food and income, and resilience to climate change stressors. The CGIAR Research Programs on Aquatic Agricultural Systems and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security will build on these experiences, seeking to contribute solutions at scale to the development challenges facing the poor in this vulnerable region.
Take the tour × Let's say that I've finished programming an indie MMO game similiar to Tibia. I've got a stable server application that is ready to launch, i've got a tested bug-free working client application that is ready to play and the game's official website (ready to host) with payment system and client that is ready to be downloaded for free. No matter how impossible it sounds, let's also assume none of them break copyright laws. My game divides accounts into two groups - free and premium. If someone gets premium, he has access to all possible game features, that of course, need server authorisation to work properly. Let's say that the "premium account" can be bought on the website for a fixed money/month. Free accounts mean that everyone can actually play, but without paying, you get limited access. This is what the mentioned payment system will be for. If I understand wikipedia properly, it's called Freemium model. Well, I'm completely novice to these business entities issues, so in short: what, in terms of law, are steps from here to the state where my game earns money in a fully legal way? Also, is there for example, something like verification if game gives the user what it actually offers when paying on its website? I live in Europe, if it changes something. share\|improve this question add comment 3 Answers up vote 16 down vote accepted As made painfully obvious by recent events, 'Europe' is not a unified place in terms of laws or taxation, so giving a definitive answer here would be tricky to say the least. Even EU law is only a guide as each member state implements it differently. Generally speaking, everything is legal until decided otherwise, so it's not so much "how do I earn money legally" but more "how do I avoid breaking laws when taking people's money". Nobody can give you a comprehensive list of things to watch out for here - not even a lawyer, though they will most likely do a better job than me, for a price - but here are some you will need to consider in terms of money coming in: • Business tax - most countries expect your business to pay tax on profits, or similar. • Income tax - you will probably have to pay tax on your own income from the company. • Value-added tax - some jurisdictions require that you pay VAT on services you sell. • Trade laws - each country has its own laws on sales of goods and services, usually requiring that the goods/services are of reasonable quality, fit for purpose, matching the description, etc. Buyers may be entitled to refunds or replacements in certain circumstances, and there may also be laws that state that a buyer is entitled to a 'cooling down' period after purchase during which they can change their mind and receive a refund. • Record-keeping - in the UK at least, companies need to keep records of your accounts for almost six years after the tax year they relate to. Your jurisdiction may be the same. Then there are various other laws you need to be careful not to fall foul of: • Storing user data - many countries have restrictions on what data you can collect from users, how long you can store it for, what form you have to store it in, whether you can disclose it to others, whether the user is entitled to see a copy of their data, etc. • Other privacy issues - Storing cookies on an end user's machine requires their permission, if I read recent EU law correctly. Anything similar to a cookie mechanism is probably covered. • Employment law - if you pay anybody to help with your game, you will need to follow various employment related laws. Note that if you accept volunteer labour, this may also end up being covered (especially by minimum wage laws), although I am unsure if it's been tested in EU courts so far. • Libel, slander, defamation - If people use your service to illegally criticise others, you may be liable for facilitating it, depending on the nature of your service. • Copyright and IP - even if your game does not infringe copyright, if it's possible for users to use it to infringe copyright, you could be held liable. share\|improve this answer +1, detailed answer. "if it's possible for users to use it to infringe copyright, you could be held liable." - do you mean, that if it's easy for a typical user to replace game's data so it uses copyrighted content, I can be sued ? Or, that it is illegal if I for example implement an in-game music player ? Could you please extend this point ? – Daedalus Jun 8 '12 at 18:10 Yes, if your in-game music player takes one person's music and plays it to others, that will be a copyright infringement. Also, anything in your game that allows others to infringe copyright while using it - eg. creating copies of other games, making in-game books containing text from real-world books - could be a problem. Finally, merely facilitating copyright infringement can be an issue: imagine a game which let people share URLs on a messageboard - if you're not careful you'd end up as a game version of MegaUpload.com or The Pirate Bay. – Kylotan Jun 8 '12 at 18:42 @geneotech it's not quite that black and white; there's often Safe Harbor laws which reduce your liability to user actions which incidentally infringe copyright en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_harbor (granted my knowledge of that is mostly from the US) – Ben Brocka Jun 9 '12 at 2:11 What recent events, I'm curious? – Cyclops Jun 9 '12 at 10:56 @Cyclops: The current economic crisis in Europe in general. Much of the problem is that different countries have different rules and regulations but the ones with stronger regulations still have to bail out the others. – Kylotan Jun 9 '12 at 13:15 show 1 more comment Others are saying to start with a lawyer or a publisher. While I agree that a lawyer will be important to the process (a publisher is not critical, and should be thought about with skepticism for indie games), the most important person to answer your question would actually be an accountant. In the U.S. (and I am sure Europe) business accountants have a great deal of required knowledge of laws, taxation, and regulation that are required in order to gain certification. So, instead of running to an attorney, who may or may not understand this area of law, go first to an accountant who is certified to handle domestic accounts. Because the EU has intricate rules governing interstate commerce, a good place to start would be this site: A proper accountant will be able to do everything from setting up your payment system to explaining the various legalities of charging folks in different countries, tax handling, etc. The lawyer will not likely know these things explicitly unless they specialize in that specific area, which will be rare and expensive. share\|improve this answer +1 for not running to a lawyer for everything, an advice I never quite understood (and quite frankly thought was mostly an American recommendation at that) ^^ – Oskar Duveborn Jan 17 at 12:33 +1: hire an accountant. Not only will he take care of all the "boring" bookkeeping, he also knows how to do it in a way which fulfills all legal requirements and doesn't get you arrested for tax evasion (which happens quickly in many EU countries). – Philipp Jan 17 at 13:04 add comment Indie workflow: 1. Make the game 2. Find publishers 3. Find a cheap attorney to get the general advice of protecting your game 4. Submit to publishers 5. Consult with an accountant 6. Let your publisher tell you what to do next I say all this just to say, make your game first then worry about this stuff. If you make something worth selling you will have to commit a small amount of funds to getting valid advice and not random people's understanding of business and tax law share\|improve this answer The definition of indie game is that you create it without a publisher. – Philipp Jan 17 at 13:06 post development publishers are a lot different than ones that invest on the front end, but strictly speaking, you're somewhat right. I prefer indie development, professional marketing. – brandon Jan 17 at 16:36 add comment Your Answer
Re: Do-it-yourself CCTV your not nuts, all a "CCTV" is; is a slightly modified laboratory optical magnifier, the only thing you will probably have any trouble with is finding a mount that uses a sliding table to put it on, and things can be made, that used to be my job before I lost my sight, grins. you could also undoubtedly mount it on the underside of a "reading light" using a florescent bulb, to provide the hi intensity light to make the text more contrasted. and that would cost you only a small amount of money. I'd go for it, I had thought about this from time to time myself, my only ill thought was the expense of marketing the thing for profit, not the cost of the unit itself... I'm still trying to find my "pet rock" that one idea that can make me enough so I can get off SSA and live decently. if you want any further assistance with designing of hardware just let me know and I'll see what I can cook up or find that can be adapted. the elf proprietor, The Grab Bag, for blind computer users and programmers Owner: Alacorn Computer Enterprises "own the might and majesty of a Alacorn!" ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Martz" <pmartz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 10:38 AM Subject: Do-it-yourself CCTV Hi all -- I have been partially sighted due to RP for a number of years and am now at the point where I need to buy a CCTV because normal size print is just out of the question. I'm considering the SmartView Graduate. If you're not familiar with it, it is simply a camera on a stand, and it hooks up to your computer for display. I really like this, as it doesn't require its own dedicated monitor and it's very portable. But here's my problem. The camera has a resolution of 640x480 pixels, which produces a noticeably blurry image when displayed on my 24" monitor (maybe I'm just not blind enough yet, ha ha). Considering that the system sells for a retail price of about $2300, I would've expected better resolution than 640x480. Interestingly, I see that consumer grade HD camcorders with a resolution of 1024x720 are readily available at Best Buy for under $200. This started me thinking about how I might be able to make my own high resolution CCTV. I figure there are basically four components: the software to display the image, the stand to hold the camcorder, the camcorder itself, and the optical system. The software component is not an issue. I'm a professional software developer and can slap this together easily. For the stand, there should be some kind of off the shelf solution. I don't think I would need to make my own. The camcorder can also easily be purchased off the shelf. This leaves the optics as the last component. It's likely that a consumer grade camcorder simply lacks the optics required to make it useful as a CCTV. So I might need to purchase a higher-end camcorder or at least one with a swappable lens system. It seems like I ought to be able to do this for a total out of pocket cost under $500, and the real cost would be my own time spent writing the software, debugging, and optimizing the system. So that's a summary of my limited thinking about this project so far. Has anyone attempted something like this? We're all programmers here, so maybe someone else has some ideas about how to make this work? Or am I nuts and I should just shell out the $2300? View the list's information and change your settings at View the list's information and change your settings at Other related posts:
[mythtv-users] LiveTV isn't flexible enough about its inputs Mon Dec 12 21:08:38 EST 2005 Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 20:50:27 -0500 >, but I >haven't (yet) tested this thoroughly to see which way it works.) >Would unchecking that option allow LiveTV to grab the appropriate >input from any card, or is this just an architectural limitation >of how 0.18.1's LiveTV is supposed to work? I'm pretty sure in 0.18.1 you have to explicitly change cards (and perhaps inputs) if a channel isn't available on the current. How exactly would I do that? After all, no matter which way the option is checked, it's basically up to Myth to choose which card is the one used when capturing input that's going to LiveTV. Is there some magic keystroke sequence that says, "Change to card number n, and now change to card n's input m" when in LiveTV? (And man, is that ever risky, because it requires someone using LiveTV to have an intimate knowledge of exactly which card(s) Myth is using [and planning to use] in order not to disrupt a recording.) Otherwise, the only way I see to do this is to put an extra input on my 350 and bring all composite inputs to that card, just 'cause it's the card being used for output, and that seems crazy. [Or is this what you actually meant, e.g., rearrange the hardware?] Architecturally, there seems to be no impediment grabbing input from any tuner and tossing it to any FE, and that would seem to apply for any input to any tuner. OTOH, I'd certainly believe it if there's some implementation limitation in 0.18.1 that makes this not work. In which case, I'll repeat my question: Does this sort of thing at least work in SVN? And is it truly an implementation restriction in 0.18.1, or is something misconfigured in my setup? More information about the mythtv-users mailing list
COMPUTER MUSIC; Program Notes Explain It All Published: April 28, 1991 To the Editor: In discussing my composition "The Music Machine," performed at Carnegie Hall by Jorge Mester conducting the National Orchestral Association, Donal Henahan seemed bent on dismissing my work because of its specific programmatic premise: a machine or computer that composes music, thus the title [ "Paramusical Notions That Turn to Dust," March 3 ] . But as explained in the program notes, the allusion to a music machine or computer was conceived well after the work was composed, as an aid for first-time listeners. The piece, an orchestral fantasy, is no more computer music than Dukas's "Sorcerer's Apprentice" is magic-broom music. Yet Mr. Henahan jumped up and down on the computer angle instead of leveling with genuine criticism. With all due respect to the players involved, he might have mentioned that the performance was largely misrepresentative; that the orchestra, made up mostly of young students, had insufficient rehearsal time; that Carnegie Hall's acoustics, which cannot handle fast music louder than a forte, rendered much of the detail incomprehensible. Instead we had the Henahan refrain: fear and ready-made hatred of computer music, atonality, serial music, electronics, etc. Perhaps he was also set off by the critical element in the music, which questions traditional symphonic gestures. There is apparently a lot going on out there that Mr. Henahan does not like in principle or philosophically. Since composers respond to a culture, a social construct, instead of leading, he might better engage in social criticism. AMES SELLARS Hartford, Conn.
SailNet Community SailNet Community ( - Cruising & Liveaboard Forum ( - - Too Much Boat? ( Tanny 11-09-2009 10:59 AM Too Much Boat? Hello everyone, I'm in the process of researching before buying a boat to live aboard and single hand - probably in the Caribbean. I'm planning on doing this alone, at least to start, I'm 57 and have no family - and I don't have a lot of sailing experience. I'm going to the USVI in April to take an extensive Ocean Sailing and Navigation course. My experience to date is many years ago in university - took a good, basic sailing course and went on a few cruises, piloted by others. I've posted questions here about rigging for single-handed sailing a 34-40 foot boat and got some excellent advice. I've also read a few other threads on this site about cruising. Up to now, I've identified the following 'needs'. 1. I want to spend as little time in a slip as possible - preferring to try being 'on the hook', so storage of water, fuel, waste and basic living needs is important. I'm quite comfortable being on my own and don't want to blow the budget on slip fees. 2. From what I've learned here and from my own research is that a cutter rig with furled 100% yankee headsail (to clear the mid-stay when tacking), self-tending furled staysail, gale sail that can be raised over the furled yankee, no furling on the main (unreliable), below deck autopilot (and wheel mounted autopilot back-up) are what is recommended for single-handed sailing - although some people recommended a fractional sloop. My budget is $80k - $100k for a used boat that would suit my needs - but I wouldn't mind spending less. So far I've been looking at the 20-30 year old Tayana and Hans Christian because of their large tankage, sturdiness and good below deck storage. Don't know if insurance would be an issue with older boats like these. Here's my question. Am I crazy? I don't want to spend tens of thousands every year on maintenance and repairs (I'm not currently all that knowledgeable about doing my own repairs), and I certainly don't want to get a boat that would prove too big for me to handle either at sea or when docking. I've read that 'smaller is better' for cruising, meaning lower costs and fewer worries - and I really don't intend on sailing across oceans any time soon. Do I need to re-evaluate my criteria - and look for a smaller boat? Your advice and responses would be greatly appreciated... Zanshin 11-09-2009 11:14 AM If you intend on remaining in the Caribbean islands then your boat options go up, since you don't need a rock-solid bulletproof "bluewater" cruiser. While I don't have many of the financial constraints that others do, I think that bigger is better; there is a lot more space, storage and living, in a bigger boat, it tends to be faster and much more comfortable. I have furling main and foresail and have never had issues with either and wouldn't want to handle the 49' without either system - so far I have never had to go forward in bad conditions and I singlehand most of the time. Ex-charter boats can be had for good prices in the USVI/BVI that will be more than enough for your intended use. Tanny 11-09-2009 12:03 PM Gorgeous boat! Unfortunately, my financial restraints require me to think a bit 'smaller'. I don't know about a used charter boat. Most of them are Beneteaus and their tankage capacities are tiny. Plus I just worry about the shape they're likely to be in after being used as bareboat charters. My reasons for a 'rock-solid bulletproof bluewater' boat are mainly tankage capacity and sturdiness - not bluewater capabilities. Maybe my criteria is unwise, but that's the reason for my original question regarding the state of my mental health. Do you live on your Jeanneau, or do you have a land base? What are your yearly maintenance costs? Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7 Copyright ©2000 - 2013, vBulletin Solutions, Inc. SEO by vBSEO 3.6.1 (c) LLC 2000-2012
I was asked this at the Providence, RI event and didn't think it could be, but I did find this that works for SQL 70 and SQL 2000. I haven't really verified it but I'm sure it would work with SQL 2005 either as is or with some minor modification.
Join the Car Talk Community! I have a Toyota Camry LE V which has a... Dear Tom and Ray: I have a 1998 Toyota Camry LE V6 which has a couple of disappointing characteristics. I drive frequently in town at around 40 mph. While driving at that speed, it feels like the engine is constantly searching for the right gear. The only advice I've gotten from the dealer is to disengage the Overdrive while in the city. But, when I do that, the car almost feels like the emergency brake is on when I let my foot off the gas. Any advice? -- Tom RAY: Yes. Listen to your dealer. You're driving the car right at the speed at which it shifts between Third gear and Overdrive (Fourth gear). In automotive parlance, the transmission is "hunting." If you crawled under the car, you'd probably see it dressed up in one of those orange safety vests. TOM: The only way to eliminate the hunting is to either change your driving (not drive at 40 mph in the city), which would probably be very inconvenient, or shift out of Overdrive and force the car to stay in Third gear. RAY: And while taking it out of Overdrive does eliminate the hunting, you do experience a little more "engine braking." Personally, I think it's hardly noticeable at 40 mph, but you're obviously a sensitive driver and it bothers you. TOM: Neither engine braking nor hunting will do your car any harm, Tom. It's really just a question of preference, Tom. Which one do you find less annoying? RAY: That's a question our readers and radio listeners ask themselves about US all the time! * * * PO Box 6420, Riverton, NJ 08077-6420. Support for Car Talk is provided by: Donate Your Car, Support Your NPR Station ...and get a tax break! Get Started Find a Mechanic
Thinking of swapping from MFT to full DSLR - Advice? Started 9 months ago \| Discussions thread Contributing MemberPosts: 594 In reply to Pebbleheed, 9 months ago You are allowed to have more than one camera system. I have a GF5 and I have a Nikon D5100. I use them for different things. But I don't think that DSLR lenses are any super bargins compared to m43 lenses. Oh you can find cheaper DSLR lenses, but they're often built cheaper. Of course there's also a larger pool of 3rd party manufacturers and that helps a lot. Macro is a notable weak spot in m43 to me though. The Oly 60 or the Panny 45 are extremely expensive. My DSLR has a "macro" (but not a real 1:1 macro) standard zoom on it that gets me far closer than the Panny X lens. On the other hand, the DSLR kit is bigger and heavier than the m43 kit by far. It needs a bag to transport; my m43 camera goes in my pockets. Often times I decide before I go out if I want to carry the bag o' gear or not. Reply Reply with quote Complain Post (hide subjects)Posted by Keyboard shortcuts: Color scheme? Blue / Yellow
x sarah shourd x activia English 35 Set Clip Length: was just given that update. >> whitmore will be our guest and he will let us know about this organization and what they meant by they would soon join their dead relatives in heaven. i will be interviewing him live in moments from now. meantime, after over a year in captivity and a notorious iranian prison, one of three american hikers who lost her way on the iraq-iran border is back in america. she is here in new york will in fact, she just spokey united nations where she maintains her innocence in the uh fair. >> shane and josh do not deserve to be in prison one day longer than i was. we committed no crime, and we are not spies. we in no way intended harm to the government or its people and believe a huge misunderstanding lead to our detention and prolonged imprisonment. >> her fiancee, shane and their friend josh remain in tehran's prison. >>> also in new york city, prap not a coincidence -- perhaps not a coincidence, the iranian president meeting with the secretary general. this week he will be attending meetings at the united nations' general assembly. we go now live to washington wit , everybody, i'm bill hemmer, welcome to america us newsroom. martha: short weekend for us good to see you here, good morning, i'm martha mcoccasionum. one of the highest researchinging republicans in the house says if it is the only option, he will go along with the president. we're talking, of course, about house minority lead john boehner, he got a lot of attention over the weekend with this one, he says he will go for allowing the bush tax cuts to end just for the middle class if that's all he can get, even though he he and her republicans think it would be bad to raise the taxes on anybody. listen to this: >> if the only option i have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, i'll vote for them. but i've been making the point now for months that we need to extend all the current rates for all americans, if we want to get our economy going again and we want to get jobs in america. >> so you are saying you would vote for the middle class tax cuts if that's all you can get done? >> if that's what we can get done, but i think that's bad policy. i don't think that's going to help our ec will be in shanksville, pennsylvania is karl rove. >> good morning. >> karl, can you bring us through karl rove's account? everyone wants to know about whe you were in 9/11 and how it unfolded? >> i was standing outside of booker elementary school in floda when my phone rang and my assistant said a plane was had flown in the world trade center and it was not known whether it was private or commercial. the president was shaking hans in the elementary school . related the information. condy rice called with the samema sketchy information and that began the day. that was in a staff hold. the president was meeting with students . the second plane went in the world trade center. a fow moments later, the president came in the room. the roo was full of anxiety and thereere little bit of anxiety in the room. he was pretty naturally calm . he said we are atm war give mhee direct to the f.b.i. and the vice-president. >> you document that in our book, karl. one of the images after 9/11 that the rest of the world and rest of americans remember president obama down in ground zero amidst the firefighters a took the bu . right now the storm 940 miles east of the leeward islands, british virgin islands, u.s. vrnlgen islands. wind speeds 150 miles per hour. it's going to get up to 155, that's category five. still west at 13, still plenty of warm water and not a lot of wind sheer. then let's watch it progress. it will run into shear, some cooler water. bermuda is a question as we head into the weekend. what could it do and when will it make the turn to the north and to the east? that's what we wait for. wonder and watch. we'll have more in a little while. but a big storm brewing in the atlantic. folks, back to you. >> thanks very much, dave. to the latest on the battle over the bush era tax cuts. should they be extended and who should get them? a top republican in congress seems to be willing to make a deal with president obama who wants to limit the tax breaks, but is the gop really ready to make such a deal? and if so, what will it mean for your wallet? cbs news chief white house correspondent chip reid has the latest. >> reporter: good morning. congress is back from recess at long last. and they are exp he steal the idea from his harvard classmates. they settled for $65 million, now they'll tell us while they think they deserve more. now they'll tell us while they think they deserve more. monday, july 20, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> and good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a monday morning, i'm matt lauer. >> officials in bermuda are saying that they are still trying to assess the damage from hurricane igor. >> hurricane force winds and driving rain has led to extensive power outages. >> it looks pretty this morning. >>> also ahead, former president jimmy cart is in the house and we'll be speaking toim about a number of topics including the rise of the tea party, those two american hikers still being detained in iran and what he seeses a his own place in history. >>> on a different note, there are new problems for lindsay lohan. could the troubled actress be sent back to jai after she admitted that she failed a court ordered drug test. wel have the latest on that story as well. >>> let's given with the damage caused by hurricane igor in bermu . megyn: you don't know what to do. you as a california guy can tell us, trace, you think earthquake you don't know what to do, you're supposed to just seek shelter. you're not thinking it's a gas line explosion. >> reporter: you think earthquake because of the proximity to the san francisco airport you think plane crash. the jets take off and go right over san bruno. those are the two things that came to people's minds right away, you don't think gas leak. we also learned that the explosion so powerful that the pipe in question, megyn blew a hundred feet in the air. the section of pipe 25 feet a hundred feet in the air. some houses were clearly burned down. did you see the wonder that -- ones that were incinerated. they blew down because of the strength of it. pg & e lowered the pressure in the populated area because they were pushing 2,000 pounds per square inch through this pipe. they have backed that off about 10% until they figure out exactly what pipes are safe and what pipes aren't. as you look at these pictures i want to run a new sound byte from the national transportation safet increasingly uncomfortable. >> it is. very uncomfortable. but a lot of us are uncomfortable about some breaking news overnight. the scary and alarming story out of california. 14 people missing who police believe are part of a cult. all that they left behind was a bag holding their cell phones, deeds to their property and letters indicating they were eagerly awaiting the end of the world. police, of course, are taking the matter very seriously and put out an alert fearing they may do harm to themselves. there are special fears for the eight children that are with them. so we'll have more. >> one is 3 years old. >>> the other story we have coming up, you know this being from texas, they love football in texas. it's a way of life down there. now, one town is mourning a star high school quarterback. he had just thrown a touchdown pass when he collapsed and died on friday night. this is just the latest tragedy surrounding high school sports and now there is a new push for mandatory heart screenings before they play sports. we'll get into that debate and tell you what you can do to keep your child s Excerpts 0 to 34 of about 35 results. 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Friday, August 22, 2008 Science Of Sound - U & I Hear The Track Here Hold on a minute, you have caught me at a most inconvenient time. See, I'm puzzled. I usually manage to keep things straight for such an old geezer, but somehow the connections that Tony Cummings makes are momentarily confusing me. Now, more about Tony in a minute, lets see some more of my current dilemma. I have always known that his musical alterego is Activeminded, whose My Star (July 2008) was his usual excellent standard. Now I have just discovered that the man is also behind Science Of Sound (aaahhh, the penny drops...) and I can't encompass all that information without going on a bender... and that will never do. U & I isn't that far removed from the style of Activeminded, so if you liked that, you'll love this. Like a lot of musicians in the POPspace/POPsphere, technical ability goes hand in hand with musical nous and this track shows Tony (in whatever guise he adopts) is a cut above most you are likely to hear. So the only really important question remaining to be answered is whether you would like it. S'no good looking at me like that, how the fekk would I know what you like?? Ahhh, yes, forgetting that I'm reviewing this for a moment there.... I've always found that relaxed electronic music, not matter what you call the genre, is most definitely a matter of personal taste. Some tracks I can really groove on, some I just can't stand from note one. I've never been a great fan of ambient, which this kinda/sorta is, but I am a very big fan of class workmanship and solid, interesting, out-of-the-ordinary sounds and this contains plenty of both those things. The opening piano sequence, and the spiky, echoey plucked sound make a perfect counterpoint and lead in to the track proper. So, if you don't like the first 10 seconds or so, chances are this isn't your style anyway. This track gripped me from the start because it is an excellent, intelligent peice of music that sounds as good as it plays. The six minutes or so it takes up vanishes in a haze of musical blissout that'll do for most people looking for a great peice of music - of whatever stripe. Class electronic chillout. Highly Recommended. No comments:
Market awaits WMC's Roman holiday By Barry Fitzgerald Resources editor January 4, 2005 WMC Resources' Southbank head office was busy during the public holiday yesterday, locking and loading the group's feisty formal rejection of Xstrata's $7.4 billion takeover bid. Barring a last-minute hitch, WMC plans to lodge the Target's Statement today, once a subcommittee of the board has signed off on what promises to be an all-out assault on the bid. The document will restate the earlier advice from the board that the offer of $6.35 a share is "materially inadequate" and should be rejected by shareholders. Its release could trigger a counter-bid by one of the world's mining superpowers given that it will, for the first time, provide an indication of what WMC thinks its own worth is. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have been studying their options, as have several overseas groups, some in joint-venture arrangements under which the spoils of a successful bid would be shared. Xstrata might also find some "new information" that would justify to its own shareholders and financial backers that an increased offer is warranted. The sharemarket continues to support WMC's view that the Xstrata bid is materially inadequate, with WMC shares last trading on New Year's Eve at a healthy $7.22 a share, valuing the nickel, copper, uranium and fertiliser group at $8.4 billion, or $1 billion more than the Zug-based Xstrata has on offer. WMC chief Andrew Michelmore has previously asked who Xstrata was kidding with the low-ball bid. But he and the rest of the board are under pressure to provide an argument in the Target's Statement that will win the debate on whether its shares would continue to trade at substantially more than $6.35 in the absence of Xstrata's tilt. WMC commissioned Grant Samuel to prepare an independent valuation of its shares but has yet to say if the report will be included in the Target's Statement. It is not legally obliged to include the report but has come under pressure from Xstrata and some institutional shareholders to make information available. Either way, WMC has said the statement will include a "clear indication" of what its directors think the company is worth. That indicates that the Target's Statement will include a detailed assessment of WMC's outlook for commodity prices. Xstrata has argued it is bidding at a time of historically high commodity prices. WMC is expected to mount a "stronger for longer" argument. Much of WMC's focus is expected to be on the outlook for uranium, produced at its Olympic Dam mine in South Australia. Mr Michelmore has previously revealed that a permanent change in uranium prices after 2010 of $US5 a pound would have an incremental cash-flow impact on Olympic Dam of $161 million a year. The incremental impact on the project's net present value (discounted back to 2004) was put at $1.62 billion. (The estimates were based on an expansion to 15,000 tonnes of uranium by 2010, a constant exchange rate of US70 ¢ , a 30 per cent tax rate, a 2.5 per cent royalty, and treatment of cash flows after 2025 as an annuity.) "Increased production plus higher prices will ensure that uranium becomes a much more important part of WMC and Olympic Dam's future value," Mr Michelmore said amid WMC's response to Xstrata's bid. "The contribution of uranium and gold underpins the viability of the planned ($4 billion) expansion at Olympic Dam. "Olympic Dam is the only uranium producer to meet all four requirements that buyers want: diversification, reliability, political stability and long life." The Target's Statement will also include an update on the group's growth projects and the $1 billion-plus profit for 2004 to be announced next month.
trolling flys Discussion in 'Stillwater' started by trout man, Jun 2, 2010. 1. trout man New Member Posts: 63 Ratings: +0 / 0 june and july and south west washington and thanks for all the suggestions! 2. Chap310 New Member Posts: 5 Fort Collins,Colorado Ratings: +0 / 0 Stillwater nymphs are good trolling flies,especially if there are scuds/damsels active. 3. ryfly Addicted to flyfishing Posts: 260 Snoqualmie, WA Ratings: +12 / 0 soft hackles too 4. ribka Active Member Posts: 1,403 E WA Ratings: +157 / 0 Black micro leech size 12 with red bead head or soft hackle midge or PT in a size 16 5. CovingtonFly B.O.H.I.C.A. bend over here it comes again Posts: 586 Covington, Wa Ratings: +0 / 0 Olive willy and a dragonfly nymph 6. Fast Action Freddie Member Posts: 127 Seattle, WA Ratings: +0 / 0 Now I've had luck with Spruce Fly - especially in mountain lakes. Why the hell does it work? Is it imitating anything? or just flashy? Does anyone use them in desert lakes? okanogan lakes? 7. Jim Wallace Smells like low tide Posts: 5,560 Somewhere on the Coast Ratings: +484 / 0 Now, I'm just supposin, here, having fished 'em: The fly was originated on the Oregon coast for the purpose of fooling searun cutthroat. The wing looks like a small forage fish from a distance. Then up close you have the naturally iridescent peacock herl and the red that cutts like so much. So I'd say its a combo forage-fish/attractor pattern. 8. Michael Nelson Old And In The Way Posts: 250 San Francisco, CA, USA Ratings: +0 / 0 Whatever fly you troll with, strip it in every few minutes to make sure you're not trolling with salad. 9. Gary Dills 3 weight to 10 weight Posts: 42 Sequim, WA Ratings: +0 / 0 Ditto the trailers. I've often trailed a chronomid 16 or smaller and caught more fish. Wind and some chop on the water can be as advantageous as the twitching. 10. Jim Wallace Smells like low tide Posts: 5,560 Somewhere on the Coast Ratings: +484 / 0 I can usually sense the slight increase in drag, but not always. I will admit to having trolled on for a good 20 minutes once after getting a hard grab, before the little lightbulb flashed on and I stripped in to discover that my fly was gone! I think I did that another time, too, before I finally learned to always check to see if its still there if I don't get another hit right away.
Figure 3. Candidate motifs identified upstream of the micronemal protein-encoding genes, upstream location, site-directed mutagenesis and results of reporter assays. Motifs MICA and MICB display an additive effect in the regulation of the gene encoding microneme 8. (a) Sequence logos represent the consensus sequence for each candidate motif. The y-axis represents information content at each position. (b) Occurrences and positions of the motifs in the promoter region relative to the translational start site of each gene. The gene names are abbreviated as shown in Table 1. The underlined gene name indicates the representative promoter used in reporter assays. Motif MICA, found in both E. tenella and T. gondii, is denoted by a circle and motif MICB, exclusive to T. gondii, is denoted by a square. (c) The WT motifs and their mutagenized (MUT) versions in the representative promoter are represented. (d) The graphs depict luciferase activity as ratios of firefly:renilla activity in relative luciferase units (RLU) from the different constructs containing either WT or mutagenized versions of MICA, MICB, or both motifs. All luciferase readings are relative to an internal control (α-tubulin-renilla). Error bars represent standard error calculated across the means of three independent electroporations. p-values describe the probability that the difference in expression between the WT and mutagenized promoters may be due to chance. Mullapudi et al. Genome Biology 2009 10:R34 doi:10.1186/gb-2009-10-4-r34 Download authors' original image
iOS app Android app More The Morning After: Zuccotti Park Protestors Undaunted Posted: 11/16/11 01:08 PM ET I arrived at Foley Square at 6:30 a.m., expecting chaos. Surprisingly, the mood was calm. Some tired and hungry former Zuccotti occupiers were sleeping on the floor of the square as the sun rose. Cops were standing along the park as if they were merely bystanders. Others recalled the event last night - running away from the police as they try to avoid getting arrested. Some of them spoke in angry tones while other promised that their eviction would be only temporary. At the center of the square, a young man wearing black jeans and a brown jacket was waving the American flag. Around 7 a.m., I saw a young girl waking up. She was sleeping on the bare ground using a bag of her clothing as a pillow. I heard her conversation in fragments. She started to speak to the person next to her and I heard the word: revolution. I moved closer to her. She was asking in a concerned voice if her friend had been arrested. Suddenly the protesters in the park turned their heads responding to a "mic check." Someone yelled "two minutes to GA." Roughly 150 protesters quickly gathered for the General Assembly. One of the speakers announced that bagels, bananas, coffee and juice were available for protesters. Shortly after, the speaker declared a plan of action: take back Zuccotti Park. And the crowd started to move. As the protesters walked south toward City Hall, a man in his early 30s behind me shouted "Shame on Bloomberg!" Then the crowd behind me started to chant "We are unstoppable! Another world is possible!" Roughly 50 cops stood on the road, making sure that no one left the sidewalk. As I reached Canal Street, I saw three helicopters hovering over. A man started to scream at the police. He was angry because one of the officers had apparently touched him. When we reached Grand Street and Sixth Avenue, the pace of the march slowed. People gathered and someone called for the now famous "mic check" to start a general assembly to decide whether they should occupy an empty lot on the other side of a wooden wall from where they were. Some other protesters had small cardboard banners. One of the banners read: " I will never be able to pay off my student loan." Another read: "I will never own a home in my life." More debate followed. Some thought the group should continue on their way to Zuccotti Park. Around 11 a.m., faith leaders from various religious groups gave a speech. "This is not about cynicism, this is about faith," a Catholic priest said, "We will build a world. Amen." The group was fragmented, and some protesters decided to climb the wooden wall separating the crowd from the adjacent empty lot. The speaker said the space belonged to Trinity Church. Some protesters started to bring stepstools in an effort to scale the wall but the NYPD quickly stopped them. These protesters had a Plan B. They broke the lock of the fence and went inside the lot. I saw a flow of what looked like state troopers exiting a white police bus. They lined up and started to move towards the now-broken gate to the lot. I was standing by the gate next to a group of police when, through the crowd, I saw people distributing red roses. Protesters were chanting, "This park belongs to the God" and "police always incite the violence." Protesters were waiting to hear from the owner of the Trinity Church compound. NYPD told the protesters that if Trinity Church does not allow them to stay then everyone inside would be arrested. Soon, one of the protesters made an announcement that Trinity Church had denied the protesters' request to stay inside the park. People screamed in protest as the police moved in to make arrests. Ravi Kumar is a student at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. if you would like to contribute to the Huffington Post as a citizen journalist, please sign up at
Take the tour × The quote below is from Matt Strassler's blog: If I understand correctly, what he calls "ripple" is "probability wave". Why is it that the amplitude of a probability wave is the sign of "a single particle"? share\|improve this question You should accept anwers. – OmnipresentAbsence Feb 23 at 19:59 None of the answers are definitive enough to accept. – Zeynel Feb 24 at 20:36 You've asked 12 question and you haven't accepted one answer yet. Most of your questions (including this one) have fantastic answers. None of the answers are definite enough? Either you don't understand the answers or you don't understand your own questions. How can you possibly consider Terry's not definitive enough? – OmnipresentAbsence Feb 24 at 22:03 @OmnipresentAbsence: While I agree that the OP should probably accept a few answers, it's better to refrain from nay hints of rude language; thanks :) – Manishearth Feb 26 at 15:53 @Manishearth Yep, got a little carried away there – OmnipresentAbsence Feb 26 at 19:41 show 2 more comments 2 Answers Take a spring or coil of any kind. Look at it from the side, or even better, project a shadow of it onto a piece of paper. In both cases you will see what looks like a sinusoidal wave complete with peaks, troughs, and zero points. But the spring has a smooth, constant radius that doesn't show any such peaks and troughs. A quantum amplitude is very much like the radius of a spring, and the sinusoidal representations of a quantum wave function that you see in most text books are very similar to the shadows projected by such springs. When Strassler said that the amplitude represents "a single particle," he was trying to emphasize that a sequence of peaks and troughs separated by zero points is really a single entity (like the spring) with a single smoothly changing amplitude (the radius of the spring). The peaks and troughs are just illusions acquired by projecting the wave function onto an overly simple 2D screen or page of paper. (I added the above on 2013-03-04 My original answer, sightly edited, is below.) I looked at Matt Strassler's blog, and I'm pretty sure his real intent was just to keep the questioner from thinking that a particle is always a single peak in a probability wave function. That is just wrong, and Professor Strassler was trying to make sure that readers didn't get into the habit of thinking in such terms. Here's a slightly different way of looking at probability wave functions that may help. In an earlier answer about Fourier transforms I argued that a much better way to think of probability wave functions is to use a complex plane perpendicular to real space, and then visualize how the amplitude or height of the wave function maps into that space. The problem is that such an approach requires thinking in a five-dimensional space, which is tough! However, you can cheat a bit by looking at only one XYZ dimension at a time (e.g. the length X of a box), and "borrowing" YZ to represent the complex plane. Now, if you do that for say an electron bouncing back and forth between two ends of a box with length along X, the idea of "peaks" and "troughs" in the wave function pretty much disappears. Instead, you get various sorts of moving helical coils (moving electrons) and skip-rope-like stable states (the resonant or "stationary" wave function solutions) along a rope (representing amplitude) that stretches from one end of the X box to the other. I should mention that it never ceases to amaze me just how close the differential equations that control rotating loops in an ordinary string or rope are to the equations that control this composite real-and-complex representation of wave functions. For example, if you take a hose laying in the yard and give it a quick circular jerk at one end, you will see a short helical wave move from your hand and travel down the length of the rope. What's remarkable is that both the helix and the way it moves have almost exact mappings into the wave function of an electron wave packet moving through space. Moreover, the "skip rope" loop solutions represent the resonant states in which you in effect have the electron helices going both directions at once (a "quantum superposition" of left and right moving states of the same electron). In this rotating-rope model you only get peaks and troughs when you project a shadow of these coils onto a piece of paper. Think for a moment about how a spring or Slinky looks from the side and you can see how the usual sinusoidal curves with peaks and troughs can emerge from by limiting your perspective two only two dimensions (the projected shadow of the amplitude rope). I'm pretty sure in fact that that was the message Professor Strassler was trying to get over in his comment: There is just one more-or-less continuous amplitude (the coils of the helix) where the particle is located, with those peaks and trough literally just being shadows of the underlying reality of the wave function. Incidentally, I have to mention it: The rope analogy becomes even more powerful if you "standardize" the total volume enclosed by the various rotating coils and loops along the X length of the rope. If you do that, then each the volume enclosed along any segment of the rope becomes the probability of finding the particle along that part of the X rope. So, if you have two resonant loops (think of expert skip-ropers with double loops) along X, then the probability of finding the electron becomes 50% in either loop -- and 0% in the center! The electron sort of magically "tunnels through" that part of real space to get to either side. If you look carefully, however, the rope itself is moving like crazy at that same central location, so it's not quite as simple as saying that the electron is "not there" at the center. Its wave function is very active there, but just does not allow the particle to be found at that spot if you look for it. I should point out also that by intent I just undid my whole argument! That is, while I just argued that the projected peaks and troughs of a wave function do not accurately convey the continuity their underlying complex amplitudes, it is not correct to say that the wave functions amplitudes for a single particle are contiguous. It is actually very common for them not to be, since for example the various lobes ("skip rope loops") of electron orbitals in atoms are examples of discontinuous electron wave function amplitudes. Such electrons can be found in certain disconnected regions of space, but not in the regions in between. So, bottom line questions and answers: 1. Is the existence of an amplitude a sign of a particle? Yes, pretty much by definition. 2. Do the peaks and troughs of the real part of the wave function mean anything about where the particle really is? No; you must use the complex wave function for that. 3. If you find a single stretch of complex amplitude that surrounded entirely by zero amplitudes in XYZ space, does that stretch necessarily represent an entire particle? No, definitely not, since that very situation happens all the time in atoms. The wave function may be broken up into many pieces, some conceivably quite far apart in XYZ space. share\|improve this answer Terry Bollinger: Is there a contradiction in your answer? If I read it correctly you answer "it is" and "it is not" to the same question: [Why is it that the amplitude of a probability wave is the sign of "a single particle"?] It isn't. [Is the existence of an amplitude a sign of a particle?] Yes, pretty much by definition. – Zeynel Feb 26 at 23:06 Ah, got it: When I said [the amplitude] "isn't" [a single particle], what I meant is that it may be only part of a single particle. Oddly, Strassler seemed to have thought in his blog entry that a particle wave function is always in one continuous piece, like a little blob of dough. That is emphatically not the case, so I was really critiquing Strassler with that line for giving an incomplete desciption. On the other hand, literally by definition, a non-zero amplitude does always imply that there is a particle around somewhere, even if you can only seeing some tiny part of it. – Terry Bollinger Feb 27 at 0:37 Terry Bollinger: Is it possible to write a shorter answer including the ideas of these comments so that I can accept it? Thanks. – Zeynel Mar 2 at 19:47 Zeynel, thanks. I'll add this as a preface in front so people don't get confused; let me know if it's sufficient after I write it. – Terry Bollinger Mar 5 at 0:43 add comment In the bit of his article you quote Prof Strassler is specifically talking about photons, so the wave is an electromagnetic wave. Any EM wave can be interpreted as a particle, though this interpretation isn't always useful. An infinitely long wave corresponds to a photon with a well defined momentum but a very poorly defined position. If you pin down the wave so it has non-zero amplitude in a small area this corresponds to a photon with a well defined position but poorly defined momentum. (Incidentally such a localised wave is usually called a wave packet.) If you look at fig 4 in the article (this is what the comment you link to is about) you'll see it shows a wave packet, and this is what we intuitively think off as a photon. However a continuous wave is a photon too, just not one with a well defined position. Incidentally, the above trade-off between position and momentum might make you think of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. That's exactly what it is! Note that Matt Strassler's comment isn't just about the amplitude, it's the amplitude relative to the length i.e. how localised the wave packet is. share\|improve this answer I must admit I don't quite get his last point about the amplitude relative to the length: surely the only thing that can tell you how many particles are present is the number operator? What is amplitude even referring to - the amplitude of the classical mode function used for the photon basis? The ratio of the amplitude to length would have to be dimensionless in order to represent a number of photons. How is that done? – twistor59 Jan 27 at 21:14 You may be reading to much into a throwaway comment. I suspect he means a single photon and just means the amplitude and packet length are roughly inversely proportional. – John Rennie Jan 28 at 7:35 Maybe, but earlier on the page he says The real world is quantum mechanical, so in fact (as described in this article) the amplitude A cannot be just anything; it takes discrete values, and those values are proportional to the square root of n, a positive integer (or zero), which is the number of quanta of oscillation in the wave. so I thought maybe it was the quantized amplitude he was talking about, because that's what's determined by the number of photons present (at least for number eigenstates). But then I don't get the "ratio of amplitude to length" thing! – twistor59 Jan 28 at 8:07 @JohnRennie wrote: "If you look at fig 4 in the article"... When I look at fig 4 I only see a wave. Where is the particle in that animation? – Zeynel Jan 29 at 0:32 @JohnRennie wrote: "Any EM wave can be interpreted as a particle" How is the word particle defined here? – Zeynel Jan 29 at 1:12 add comment Your Answer
iOS app Android app More Stephenie Foster GET UPDATES FROM Stephenie Foster Talking With Kathryn Bolkovac About Her Experience as The Whistleblower Posted: 08/16/11 07:48 PM ET FOSTER: You were faced with a situation where the people you worked with were engaged in something very shocking. Do you have any insight as to how or why they got involved with trafficking? I really do not think there is clear cut answer for this. Everyone is an individual and is accountable to their individual behavior and potential illegal actions they committed and continue to commit in current missions. I think most people are truly just plain complicit in their thinking and tend to not get involved or look the other way to avoid any form of accountability, especially if they think that something does not directly affect them for their position. Then there is the group of people who can easily be swayed to join in on a pack mentality, who are morally and mentally weak or ignorant. When conditions are right as they have been and still are in many overseas missions around the world, or if they think they will not be caught or judged then it is easy for them to engage in illegal and corrupt behavior. They try to justify and minimize their actions. Finally, there are individuals who are just plain evil and corrupt, they see the money making potential of preying on the helpless and needy, and exploit every opportunity they can to make a buck, especially in an industry that involves sex. They are very good at dehumanizing, denial, and lying about what is going on. FOSTER: What do you think needs to be done to address the trafficking issue? What can government do? The trafficking issue at large is too complex to tackle with sweeping reform. There are so many different types of human trafficking each with different dynamics of funding the corruption. Obviously, many adults choose to be trafficked... or illegally transported across many borders to escape horrendous conditions in their own countries. These issues cannot be convoluted with organized criminal syndicates who are providing services to internationals all over the world, in the form of trafficking for forced prostitution. They are involved in the recruitment, abuse, desensitization, and sale of human flesh, into international missions as sex workers. This is what I want to discuss and what I think we can make a huge impact on based on my experiences as a former law enforcement officer, former UN employee, former representative of our U.S. government overseas, and as a former employee of one of the largest private government contractors in the world DynCorp. FOSTER: What can our government do? First, in the short term, the United States needs to take a serious look at why we are willing to allow private companies to engage in the profession of law enforcement. Government contractors are a needed and viable means to get many logistical and re-construction efforts accomplished. They are not a viable means for a protection force or as a mechanism for the use in training law enforcement officers in emerging democracies. Law enforcement is not a business. Policing is a calling. Does anyone really believe that private corporations are in this policing and operational mission business for anything but the money? We need to set an example with our own federal police selection units, perhaps via the Department of Justice as an example, why can we not recruit and most importantly train our own community police officers before we send them into these missions? My book accurately describes the pathetic training offered by the private company who sent me overseas, which I am sure was heavily subsidized with my tax dollars. It was a disgrace; none of us had even the minimum knowledge or idea of what we were supposed to be doing once we got into Bosnia. If we are to continue to send "rent a cops " overseas with inadequate knowledge and inadequate protections from corrupt private companies, some of whom had serious questionable policing backgrounds we might want to stop and think about how this damages our reputation and our goals. The private company who fired me had free reign to treat me however they saw fit, no one was in authority to stop them. They were exempt from all U.S. government accountability and have never been held accountable for what they did to me to this day. How has this changed? It has not. Second, get the Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (CEJA) out of committee and get it passed. It has been more than 12 years overdue. [NOTE: CEJA would allow the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute government contractors and employees for certain crimes committed overseas. It would complement the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), which provides similar criminal jurisdiction over Department of Defense employees and contractors but does not clearly apply to U.S. contractors working overseas for other federal agencies.] Third, make government contractors accountable for their employee actions, by putting a clause in their contracts that require them to facilitate and allow oversight of both external and internal investigations by outside government agencies, when probable cause exists that employees are suspected, or implicated in criminal offenses. They must cooperate in the facilitation of prosecutions. They can no longer just fire people, and hope the problem goes away, which automatically curtails any further investigation. Fourth, set examples by having the means available to prosecute and convict with meaningful sentences. FOSTER: What can individuals do? Learn, read, report, and stop burying your heads in the sand. Many of the people involved in these crimes could be your next door neighbor. Get local law enforcement initiatives started, and ask your police chiefs this question. What kind of training is being offered to your new recruits and officers on the streets to recognize and investigate all forms of human trafficking? Do you think a local police chief in the hills of Northern New Mexico, or in the farming community of southern Illinois, is even going to know what we are talking about? Does the local hotel have young female Hispanics working in the housekeeping department? They do not speak English, they have no documents, does he know what wage they are being paid and in what form? Think about it. I have been in these places have you? FOSTER: Many of the women and girls who are trafficked are promised jobs that don't materialize. What do you think would be effective to get the word out to them so that fewer of them fall prey to these types of promises? The only effect we can have on this is to stop the demand. FOSTER: How did you sustain yourself? Continued faith in our justice system, lots of hard workouts and sweat, many tears and my husband would make me a strong gin tonic with lots of lemon and ice once in a while. Follow Stephenie Foster on Twitter:
Rules of Engagement \| The Nation Rules of Engagement • Share • Decrease text size Increase text size As this is written, we wait and wonder what the military response will be to the inchoate enemy the President summoned up in his speech to the nation on September 20. Despite the near-unanimous celebration of it by the mainstream media, we were left with troubling questions. The President told the nation it was at war, "a lengthy campaign unlike any we have ever fought," its aim the total "disruption and...defeat of the global terror network." But he failed to clearly identify the enemy or specify any limits on the means to be employed, including avoidance of unnecessary civilian casualties. Osama bin Laden was denounced as the prime suspect, but no evidence of his guilt was adduced that night, and the Administration has yet to produce it. Bush said that this war would bring to bear "every resource at our command"--diplomacy, intelligence, law enforcement, finance. But the military option overshadowed all. And there was no mention of applying international law or working with the United Nations, which could lend international legitimacy to the fight against terrorism, giving political cover to Islamic nations who join it. The President pledged not to wage war on Islam but then proclaimed, "Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." He thus broadened the scope of his war to include, potentially, sanctions or even attacks on nation-states deemed not to be "with us," although state-sponsored terrorism has not been implicated in the World Trade Center attack. Since most of the countries thought to harbor terrorists are Islamic, the possibility of action against them sparking a backlash in the Muslim world remains. A wider war against Afghanistan will heap more misery on that war-ravaged theocracy without fostering the secularization and democratization it so desperately needs. The threat of war has already unleashed a flood of refugees that could destabilize other shaky states in the region, primarily Pakistan, a nuclear power. Bush's black-and-white worldview could justify eliminating Saddam Hussein, a project pushed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz. We support an all-out but carefully targeted effort to neutralize identified terrorist networks. This may involve a limited military response, like attacks on terrorist bases, but primarily it should rely on such nonmilitary means as exchanges of intelligence among nations, coordinated investigations by law-enforcement agencies in affected countries and pressure on financial institutions and governments to cooperate in cutting off terrorist-group funding. Beyond this kind of international campaign, the United States should re-examine the role its foreign policy has played in creating the pools of anti-Americanism that breed terrorists. Not that reciting the dismal litany of US interventions and realpolitik "explains" this tragedy; or that America somehow deserved to be attacked on September 11 because of past policies. Rather, such a re-examination should lead to a more humane and truly internationalist foreign policy that recognizes a responsibility to other nations. Chris Patten, European Union external affairs commissioner, called for dealing with such persisting evils as "the whole relationship between poverty, degradation and violence, between drugs and crime and violence, and trade and development and violence." America must moderate the parochial unilateralism that is branded arrogance. It must step up efforts to defuse the festering Israeli-Palestinian dispute and encourage democracy in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Algeria. In a sudden--and expedient--conversion to internationalism the Administration pressed Congress to pay long-overdue UN assessments and called on the Senate to ratify two UN conventions dealing specifically with terrorism. That's a start, but more could be done to align US diplomacy with international bodies, including joining the International Criminal Court to help make it an effective tribunal for bringing terrorists to justice; reversing the decision not to sign the biological warfare protocol; ratifying the test ban treaty and curbing nuclear proliferation, thus diminishing terrorists' access to weapons of mass destruction. On the home front, the newly created Office of Homeland Security should coordinate the overlapping efforts of the two dozen federal departments and agencies that deal with domestic security. The nature of the attack on US soil has blown to bits any possible rationale for national missile defense. That money should go instead to infrastructure and transportation improvements (including railroads) and for training "first responders"--police, fire departments, hospitals, emergency medical services--to deal with the kind of mass disasters terrorists may inflict. Enhanced homeland defense, constrained by strict protection of civil liberties, could justify a rollback of the US military presence overseas and undercut a rationale for inflated military spending and military interventions. It could also channel the spirit of civilian volunteerism that recently flowered in New York City. We do not accept the notion that patriotism precludes politics. If waged sensibly, the fight against terrorism will be long, low-level and sustained. Politics can't be suspended during that time. More than a million people have been laid off in this country since July 2000. US trade policies are wiping out industries here and increasing poverty around the world. Millions live without health insurance. The President has called upon us to resume our normal lives. Surely that includes implementing policies to make America better, not suspending vigorous debate and civil liberties for a decades-long fight against terrorism. Subscriber Log In: Subscribe Now! There's no obligation—try The Nation for four weeks free. • Share • Decrease text size Increase text size
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Amir Khan suffers crushing defeat Asian Image: Amir Khan, pictured, has lost to Danny Garcia Amir Khan, pictured, has lost to Danny Garcia Amir Khan's career lies in tatters after he suffered a devastating second successive defeat in Las Vegas as Danny Garcia knocked him down three times en route to a fourth-round stoppage win. The 25-year-old Englishman admitted recently that he had endured the toughest spell of his career after a torrid six months which saw him suffer a controversial defeat by Lamont Peterson and a bitter fall-out which saw their rematch scrapped after the American tested positive for synthetic testosterone. Khan came into the fight with a record of 26-2 with 18 knockout wins while Garcia boasted 23 wins, 14 early, and no defeats. Despite Khan coming off a defeat in his last bout, the Briton was a heavy betting favourite and the majority of the 7,000-strong crowd were in his corner. Khan flew out of the blocks and barely a second had elapsed when he landed a beautiful left hook-right hand combination. He easily won the first round with sharp, attacking jabs and hooks, while Garcia had to settle for two right crosses and a naughty low blow, for which he was warned. Garcia landed a nice right in the second but Khan retaliated immediately. Khan also won the second but had to take sporadic body shots and a strong overhand right from the Philadelphian. Garcia was cut over his right eye in the round, though it was unclear how the wound was inflicted. Khan landed an excellent lead left in the third which Garcia shrugged off well, while the American was also having occasional successes himself. Another warning for low hitting was perhaps harsh. The fight then exploded as a counter left from Garcia floored Khan hard. He got to his feet quickly but was clearly devoid of his senses. Referee Kenny Bayless scandalously allowed it to go on and the Briton was saved by the bell as Garcia threw a massive right. After a minute to recover Khan looked in better shape for the fourth but what followed was one of the most brutal rounds in recent memory. Garcia threw huge power shots in search of the stoppage and Khan was soon down again, this time from a right, which saw him trip on the rope. Khan somehow survived and amazingly began firing shots back as the two men stood and traded crashing blows. Khan actually goaded Garcia in and landed a good shot himself, hitting Garcia with an uppercut and left. Khan was then down a third time when he was caught by a glancing left and right to the temple. Again he got up quickly, but when Bayless stared into his eyes, the referee finally decided enough was enough. Get Adobe Flash player About cookies I agree
Email updates Open Access Research article MicroGen: a MIAME compliant web system for microarray experiment information and workflow management Sarah Burgarella, Dario Cattaneo, Francesco Pinciroli and Marco Masseroli* Author Affiliations BioMedical Informatics Laboratory, Bioengineering Department, Politecnico di Milano, piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milan, Italy For all author emails, please log on. BMC Bioinformatics 2005, 6(Suppl 4):S6 doi:10.1186/1471-2105-6-S4-S6 Published:1 December 2005 © 2005 Burgarella et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd Improvements of bio-nano-technologies and biomolecular techniques have led to increasing production of high-throughput experimental data. Spotted cDNA microarray is one of the most diffuse technologies, used in single research laboratories and in biotechnology service facilities. Although they are routinely performed, spotted microarray experiments are complex procedures entailing several experimental steps and actors with different technical skills and roles. During an experiment, involved actors, who can also be located in a distance, need to access and share specific experiment information according to their roles. Furthermore, complete information describing all experimental steps must be orderly collected to allow subsequent correct interpretation of experimental results. We developed MicroGen, a web system for managing information and workflow in the production pipeline of spotted microarray experiments. It is constituted of a core multi-database system able to store all data completely characterizing different spotted microarray experiments according to the Minimum Information About Microarray Experiments (MIAME) standard, and of an intuitive and user-friendly web interface able to support the collaborative work required among multidisciplinary actors and roles involved in spotted microarray experiment production. MicroGen supports six types of user roles: the researcher who designs and requests the experiment, the spotting operator, the hybridisation operator, the image processing operator, the system administrator, and the generic public user who can access the unrestricted part of the system to get information about MicroGen services. MicroGen represents a MIAME compliant information system that enables managing workflow and supporting collaborative work in spotted microarray experiment production. Microarray systems presently represent the most diffuse high-throughput technology in the biomolecular field. Among them, spotted cDNA microarrays are widely diffused both in single research groups and in biotechnology service centres because of their flexibility and lower running costs. However, they inherently require a few different technical skills and involve several articulated experimental steps, with numerous critical experimental parameters that must be carefully complied in order to ensure reliable and comparable results. Thus, complete information describing all experimental steps must be orderly collected to allow correct subsequent interpretation of experimental results. For these reasons, spotted microarray experiments tend to be produced in central facilities rather than in single laboratories. Furthermore, different actors, who can also be located in a distance, often take part in a microarray experiment, ensuring all required skills. In such cases, they need to access and share specific experimental information according to their skills and role in the experiment, thus they act in a typical collaborative work scenario. To standardize the considerable amount of heterogeneous information and data produced in a microarray experiment in order to allow their portability and comparability, the Microarray Gene Expression Data (MGED) society proposed a standard called Minimum Information Amount about Microarray Experiments (MIAME) [1,2]. It precisely defines the information that must be collected during microarray experiment production to completely define experimental and array design, experimental procedures, and generated data results. MIAME standard has greatly standardized presentation of microarray results and allowed aggregation and comparison of results from different centres within common public repositories such as ArrayExpress, GEO, and SMD [3-5]. To facilitate management and local storage, according to the MIAME standard, of great quantity of microarray data produced in single laboratories or research centres, a few software products are available [6-11]. However, they mainly focus on maintaining data integrity [6] in a flexible and robust database environment [7] directly compatible with production instrumentation platforms and in facilitating data analysis [8]. Very few of them limitedly consider a possible ideal production workflow [9], whereas at present to our knowledge none of them support collaborative work in microarray experiment production. Specifically focusing on these last two aspects, we developed MicroGen, a MIAME compliant web-based information system for managing all the information completely characterizing spotted microarray experiments and the produced data. Based on experiment workflow, it supports distributed collaborative work in the production pipeline of spotted microarray experiments. MicroGen is a MIAME compliant multi-database information system for the workflow management of the production pipeline of spotted microarray experiments. Its core relational database is designed according to the MIAME standard and gathers information of each performed experiment. In it, according to the experimental workflow, different sets of database tables have been implemented to store descriptions of experiment design, used samples, preparation extraction and libelling, array design, hybridisation procedures and parameters, measurement information and specifications. In accordance with the MIAME specifications, the following sets of information are structured within the database tables. The experiment design set includes: type of experiment (e.g. comparison of normal versus pathologic tissue), experimental factors (parameters or conditions tested), hybridisation design, number of hybridisations performed in the experiment, type of reference used for the hybridisations, performed quality control steps, and URL of any websites containing additional experiment information. The used biological samples, extraction preparation, and labelling set includes: origin of the biological sample (organism and sample provider name), its characteristics (gender, age, developmental stage and disease state), manipulation of biological samples and used protocols (growth conditions, treatments and separation techniques), protocols for preparing the hybridisation extract (RNA or DNA extraction and purification), labelling protocol, and used external controls (spikes). The array design set includes: platform type, surface and coating specifications, PCR amplification, commercial availability of the arrays, protocols of spotting, and information of additional treatments performed. The hybridisation procedures and parameters set includes: protocols and conditions used during hybridisation, blocking and washing. Finally, the measurement data and specifications set includes: type of used scanning hardware and software, used image analysis software and type of performed image quantifications, and description of measurements produced by the image-analysis software. A comprehensive view of all considered MIAME entries is reported in Table 1. Table 1. MicroGen core database tables containing information of microarray experiment production according to the MIAME standard. Other database tables have been implemented in order to collect data regarding all people, biologists or technicians, who take part in each experiment. All data regarding clones available for spotting (i.e. type, name, identification code, and characteristics) are orderly stored in additional databases customisable according to the types of used microarrays (e.g. medium or high density microarrays). Actors and experimental workflow In MicroGen we modelled six types of users, each with his/her own functionalities and privileges. The first four types correspond to the different actors possibly involved in the production of spotted microarray experiments, and the functionalities made them available were modelled according to the experimental workflow. These actors include: - the researcher who wants to perform the microarray experiment (a biologist or a medical doctor who asks specialized biotechnology technicians for microarray production and hybridisation); - the spotting operator (a technician specialized in microarray production and spotting); - the hybridisation operator (a technician specialized in microarray hybridisation); - the image processing operator (a technician specialized in analysis of generated microarray images and in production of quantification results). The last two modelled MicroGen users are: - the generic public user, who can read system service presentation and a tutorial of its use, and can download an example pdf document (see 1), automatically compiled by the system according to the MIAME standard, which describes a performed sample microarray experiment); Additional File 1. MIAME compliant description of a microarray experiment. PDF example file of the web page that MicroGen automatically generates with the whole MIAME compliant information collected about a specific spotted microarray experiment. Format: PDF Size: 45KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Adobe Acrobat ReaderOpen Data - the web master who manages users and registrations to the system, and has access to statistical data regarding performed experiments managed by the system. In order to access MicroGen system functionalities, the first four kinds of users must register to the system. A registered researcher has then three possibilities: 1) define a new experiment, 2) verify the progress of requested experiments, and 3) consult the fully compiled MIAME description and the quantitative data of concluded experiments (for an example, see 1). When the first option is selected, the researcher must define the general specifications about the experiment he/she wants to perform by entering the information required according to the MIAME standard (Table 1). Then, the clone libraries available for spotting the required microarrays can be selected. All the information about the clones chosen to be spotted on the microarrays is saved in a labelling excel file automatically generated by the system and easily downloadable by the researcher. Finally, the researcher must describe the required hybridisation design, in particular origin and manipulation of used biological samples. Also a registered spotting operator has three, but different, possibilities to choose from: 1) receive the request of a new experiment and start the creation of new microarrays according to their descriptions in the microarray labelling file previously generated by the researcher; 2) after spotting the required microarrays, complete his/her task by entering in the system all information about the performed experimental step according to the MIAME standard (Table 1); 3) consult the fully compiled MIAME description of concluded experiments (for an example, see 1). A registered hybridisation operator has three options as well: 1) receive new spotted microarrays and start their hybridisation, in case consulting the related experiment MIAME information compiled till that experimental step and the microarray labelling file; 2) after hybridising the spotted microarrays and scanning them in order to acquire their images, complete the hybridisation procedure by entering in the system all information about the performed experimental step according to the MIAME standard (Table 1). 3) upload on MicroGen web server the produced microarray images. This last option also allows consulting the fully compiled MIAME description of the concluded experiments (for an example, see 1). Also a registered processing operator has three different options: 1) receive the acquired images of a new experiment that need to be processed and quantified; 2) after downloading, processing and quantifying the acquired microarray images, and producing their quantification files, upload these last in a central system repository and complete the quantification step by entering, according to the MIAME standard, the specifications about instrumentation and software used for the quantifications; 3) consult the fully compiled MIAME description of the concluded experiments (for an example, see 1). When a processing operator completes all steps in his/her option 2), the whole experiment is completed and the system automatically sends an informative e-mail to the researcher who requested the experiment. In order to manage the workflow of each specific experiment and make automatically available to the involved actors the information they need at the right time when they require it, MicroGen assigns a status code to each managed experiment. Value of the current status and date of each previous status change are saved in each experiment workflow log together with identifiers of all actors that took part in the experiment. Seven different experimental statuses have been defined: 1 = experiment required by a researcher but not started yet, 2 = experiment started by a spotting operator, 3 = microarray spotting completed, 4 = experiment taken by a hybridisation operator, 5 = hybridisation completed, 6 = experiment taken by a processing operator, 7 = experiment completed. Three are the main issues related to information management and workflow support in the production of microarray experiments: the large amount of information produced, their heterogeneity, and the geographic distance that may exist among different actors working on a same experiment. Thus, a system designed to perform the tasks related to information management and workflow support, must grant flexibility, consistency and completeness in managing experimental workflow and correct storage of all produced information. Moreover, to support at the same time collaborative activities, it must be easily accessible to users geographically distant and provide them the information they need when they require it. Such information management can be achieved with appropriate architecture's design of the system database, which also gives better performances of the whole database. For example, if some data that are likely to be consulted at the same time are stored in the same table, less joins among database tables are necessary to extract the required data, thus database interrogation time is reduced. Furthermore, if all information about a performed microarray experiment is completely and orderly collected, it can be used to possibly improve analysis results of produced experimental data and to compare data from different performed experiments. Taking into account the above issues, the architecture of MicroGen core database has been carefully designed and experimental information has been structured in tables closely reflecting MIAME standard sections (Figure 1). thumbnailFigure 1. MIAME section tables of MicroGen core relational database. Besides problems related to a correct information management, our system also answers in many ways to the issue of supporting collaborative work. In fact, it eases information flow among different actors, and provides a mean to maintain constant knowledge about the current state of each performed experiment. An appropriate status flag characterizes each experiment and allows the actors involved in an experiment to check its current state at any time. An ideal experimental workflow, which models the real whole process of microarray experiment production, has been developed and implemented in MicroGen system (Figure 2). Such workflow follows experimental steps and supports control of their completeness and compliance to experimental procedures. This choice prevents incongruence and errors in the information management process while maintaining good flexibility in experiment production pipeline. thumbnailFigure 2. Experimental workflow, shared information and actors of microarray experiment production formalized in MicroGen system. BIO.: Biologist; S.O.: Spotting Operator ; H.O.: Hybridisation Operator; P.O.: Processing Operator. Finally, use of server-side web technologies, which allow centralization of data archiving and processing operations and easy deployment of suitable graphic user interfaces (GUI), enables MicroGen to easily provide collaborative work support also among different actors located in a distance. This choice makes faster and easier both managing and maintaining the system, and deploying the developed functionalities and GUIs to all its remote clients, besides lowering system maintenance costs. In fact, the employed web technologies allow using MicroGen everywhere an Internet/intranet access is available, requiring only a common web browser without any additional plug-in. The system is also simple to run. It only requires to be installed on a server computer with an Internet Information Server as web server. MicroGen system is freely available for academic and non-profit use at: webcite. MicroGen facilitates workflow management of spotted microarray experiment production, provides an efficient way to gather complete experimental information, and supports collaborative work. In fact, thanks to its well-defined core database architecture, MicroGen facilitates collection and storage of all experimental information according to the MIAME standard. Ordered availability of such information allows subsequent efficient and effective analyses of experimental results. In addition to orderly store all information produced, by easing the process of information sharing, MicroGen represents a valid support for collaborative work even among research centres geographically distant from each other. MicroGen also facilitates experimental data comparison. In fact, it allows saving quantitative results also in a standard text format. This increases portability and compatibility of results. Identification of results from experiment with similar characteristic is also facilitated thanks to the complete experimental information orderly stored within the system. MicroGen graphic user interface is very simple and intuitive, providing an easy method for a biologist or a biotechnology technician to read or collect information about performed microarray experiments. The whole procedure of collecting experimental information is driven by the system, and all the steps to follow are simple and immediate. Forms with multiple choices or dynamic links are presented within web pages in order to quickly access a great number of different data. User's information, present progress status of an experiment, its MIAME data, and experimental results currently uploaded are all viewable at any time to all actors involved in the experiment. Using a relational database developed in MS-Access, we implemented a core data repository specifically structured to collect the whole information about all the actors involved in the production of spotted microarray experiments. The tables of this central database are grouped in three sections: a section containing information about the experiment itself and the additional files (such as quantification results) associated with the experiment; a section with the data about each user who worked on the experiment; and a MIAME section, which contains the whole information, according to the MIAME standard, about the experiment production (Figure 1). MicroGen core engine was developed using Microsoft Active Server Page technology, with Javascript language for scripting, and connections to the core repository were implemented by using Microsoft ActiveX Data Object technology. Hyper Text Markup Language 4.01 was used for formatting the graphic user interface implemented as web pages. Authors' contributions SB and DC developed the whole MicroGen program and its core database engine, and wrote this paper. MM was responsible for project conception and coordination, developed clone's additional databases, and contributed to write this paper. FP provided supervision and funding of the project. 1. Brazma A, Hingamp P, Quackenbush J, Sherlock G, Spellman P, Stoeckert C, Aach J, Ansorge W, Ball CA, Causton HC, Gaasterland T, Glenisson P, Holstege FC, Kim IF, Markowitz V, Matese JC, Parkinson H, Robinson A, Sarkans U, Schulze-Kremer S, Stewart J, Taylor R, Vilo J, Vingron M: Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment (MIAME) – toward standards for microarray data. 2. The Microarray Gene Expression Data (MGED) society. The MIAME checklist [] webcite 3. EMBL-EBI European Bioinformatics Institute. The ArrayExpress Database [] webcite 4. Barrett T, Suzek T, Troup D, Wilhite S, Ngau W, Ledoux P, Rudnev D, Lash A, Fujibuchi W, Edgar R: NCBI GEO: mining millions of expression profiles-database and tools. Nucleic Acids Res 2005, 33(1):D580-D582. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text \| PubMed Central Full Text OpenURL 6. Grant GR, Manduchi E, Pizarro A, Stoeckert CJ Jr: Maintaining data integrity in microarray data management. Biotechnol Bioeng 2003, 84(7):795-800. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 7. Kokocinski F, Wrobel G, Hahn M, Lichter P: QuickLIMS, facilitating the data management for DNA-microarray fabrication. Bioinformatics 2003, 19:283-284. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL Nucleic Acids Res 2004, 32:W465-W470. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text \| PubMed Central Full Text OpenURL Genome Biol 2002, 3(8):1-0003. BioMed Central Full Text OpenURL 10. Killion PJ, Sherlock G, Iyer VR: The Longhorn Array Database (LAD): an open-source, MIAME compliant implementation of the Stanford Microarray Database (SMD). BMC Bioinformatics 2003, 4:32. PubMed Abstract \| BioMed Central Full Text \| PubMed Central Full Text OpenURL 11. Gardiner-Garden M, Littlejohn TG: A comparison of microarray databases. Brief Bioinform 2001, 2(2):143-158. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL
Microsoft settled 3,265 software piracy cases in last fiscal year Microsoft has been making efforts to go after companies that try to use unlicensed versions of its software products. Today, the company announced that during its last fiscal year, which ended on June 30th, 2013, it settled a total of 3,265 copyright infringement cases worldwide. Microsoft's press release states that just 35 of those case were based in the United States. That means the vast majority of their settled software piracy cases happened overseas. One of those cases mentioned in the press release centered on the Ningbo Beyond Group of China. Microsoft previously said that the business had allegedly used unauthorized versions of Windows, Office, Server and Visual Studio software. The press release did not state how Microsoft settled the matter with the Ningbo Beyond Group of China, saying only they were "pleased to have resolved this matter." Microsoft added that since 2005, it has received tips on unauthorized use of its software from 450,000 customers, some of which found that the programs had malware or viruses installed or simply did not work as they were supposed to. Even though most of the software piracy cases are outside the US, Microsoft still has to deal with the occasional domestic copyright infringement case. Recently, the company filed a lawsuit against Atlanta-based PC reseller VertexPC, claiming that it "advertised, marketed, installed and offered and distributed unauthorized copies" of Microsoft's software. Source: Microsoft Piracy image via Shutterstock Previous Story Next Story
People with Last Name of Obleton PeopleFinders > People Directory > O > Obleton You are in the right place if you are trying to locate someone with the last name Obleton. Looking at the results above you will see that there are many people with the last name Obleton. To help advance your people search, you can narrow down the number of results presented by choosing the link that contains the first name of the person you are hoping to identify. After revising your search results you will be find an updated list of people with the last name Obleton that match the first name you selected. You can also find additional types of people data such as date of birth, known locations, and possible relatives that can help you find the particular person you are searching for. If you have further information about the person you are in search of, such as their last known address or phone number, you can note that in the search box above and further confine your results. This is an effective method to find the Obleton you are looking for, if you have additional information about them. Alfred Obleton Alfredo Obleton Alice Obleton Andrea Obleton Anita Obleton Annie Obleton Anthony Obleton Antoinette Obleton Art Obleton Arthur Obleton Ashley Obleton Barbara Obleton Barry Obleton Brenda Obleton Brent Obleton Carl Obleton Carol Obleton Carolyn Obleton Carolynn Obleton Catherine Obleton Charlene Obleton Chris Obleton Christi Obleton Christin Obleton Christine Obleton Cynthia Obleton Daniel Obleton Danielle Obleton Darin Obleton Darrin Obleton David Obleton Dena Obleton Desiree Obleton Diana Obleton Dina Obleton Don Obleton Earline Obleton Eddie Obleton Edith Obleton Edward Obleton Eldridge Obleton Elizabeth Obleton Elna Obleton Erwin Obleton Faith Obleton Francis Obleton Fred Obleton Gary Obleton Gaynell Obleton Georgia Obleton Glenda Obleton Gloria Obleton Hope Obleton Horace Obleton Irma Obleton Ivey Obleton Jackie Obleton Jacqueline Obleton Jacquelyn Obleton James Obleton Jasmin Obleton Jasmine Obleton Jason Obleton Jessica Obleton Joann Obleton Joanne Obleton John Obleton Joseph Obleton Juan Obleton Kendrick Obleton Kenyatta Obleton Keri Obleton Kindra Obleton Linda Obleton Lisa Obleton Loraine Obleton Louie Obleton Louis Obleton Marvin Obleton Mary Obleton Matilda Obleton Michael Obleton Michele Obleton Michelle Obleton Mignon Obleton Monica Obleton Nathanial Obleton Nathaniel Obleton Nettie Obleton Ora Obleton Pat Obleton Patrica Obleton Patricia Obleton Pearl Obleton Perry Obleton Phoebe Obleton Rebecca Obleton Reginald Obleton Richard Obleton Robert Obleton Roy Obleton Royal Obleton Samuel Obleton Sandra Obleton Sara Obleton Sarah Obleton Shannon Obleton Sharlene Obleton Sharonda Obleton Sheena Obleton Sheila Obleton Shelby Obleton Shelia Obleton Sherman Obleton Stephanie Obleton Tanisha Obleton Tara Obleton Theresa Obleton Thomas Obleton Tommy Obleton Tony Obleton Tosha Obleton Ursula Obleton Victoria Obleton Warren Obleton Werner Obleton William Obleton Winfred Obleton Winifred Obleton Popular People Searches Latest People Listings Recent People Searches
Quikker Said Than Dunn Quikker Said Than Dunn DJ Quik My name is Quik, yeah, this is true Keepin' your attention is what I'm gonna do Hardcore yo, I could never be soft Askin' me my defin' they say the boy goes off Fillin' up my memo with the touch of my rhyme Suckaz stayin' with me 'cause they know the time Quiet on the set because I'm about to begin And if you didn't hear me boy I'll tell you again My name is Quik or just call me Q But it doesn't really matter to you 'Cause I'm the same person Whether serious or rehearsin' I just gotta keep cursin' This is for the radio so I better chill They won't play it if I co get ill But I'm like that and that's an actually fact Because the street is where my heart is at Yo, I don't do dope but I'm dope not a dope But I'm doper than anybody who trys to cope If the rhyme I'm dispayin' And the beat that's playin' Yo you could try all day And you still won't match up with the ruthless P.O.W. 'Cause Quik's doin' it Compton style That's the city and you say you could get some yo It's quiker said than dunn Woo, woo They made it easy for me to get my point across So listen up close if ya don't ya might get lost I'm not a role model nor a Dr. Seuss But I'm not a gangsta and I'm about to get stupid I guess it's time for the drama With the Q you I K comma Now that's drama so pay attention By the way I must mention I'm comin' off Hard in the third dimension With the glare but you don't need no glasses to stare It'll probably take you in and it's just like your there With the Q on the Compton tip So if you think I'm a flip or slip don't even trip 'Cause I'm a destroyer My homie Theo is a DJ not a lawyer dope, fly employer On the static, that's my station to get the money, the women While we dippin' round tha nation Boy, Mister Quiks of toys I mean straight while ya suckin' with the girls enjoy You must be sick or ya lonely How ya gone still my name if ya don't even know me Blak Tone, what's up? Get the gat show 'em where it's at And that's just the sound and next time I'm peelin' ya cap to let ya know where I'm comin' from Quik said it and it shall be dunn Woo, woo Creatin' dope jams are the part of the cycle Quiker said than dunn, yeah, that's the title Rubbin' the lady's only the fly once ya know But would if she's ugly, if she come she a ho? Don't ask to battle me home boy What's that you wanna battle me boy Ya better be strapped 'cause where I'm from It ain't all about that playin' Now that's what I'm sayin' Sevy thought that I was born in '73 Now everybody wants to know the A G E Girls on the tip fellaz too it seemed Had everybody thinkin' I was only 15 The fellaz would annoy me the ladyz would adore me And what was I to do I wishin' nothin' ladies do 'Cause the ladiez I luv 'em nice and then soft I hate male groupies so just step the hell off I'm the real Quikster 'cause others be fakin' Tryin' to game fame off, the name I'm makin' Sayin' on your records you could get some Yo home boy, its quiker said than dunn Just a Quik dedication to tha creator of Gangsta Rap music Mr. Erik, Eazy E, Wright, that's how its done Woo, woo Published by Universal Music Publishing Group Lyrics Provided By LyricFind Inc. Chat About This Song
New Contributor Posts: 88 Registered: ‎11-16-2012 Re: collection agency hard inquiry leagal? Not true...permissable purpose is required for soft or hard pull...but FCRA specifically states that in order to do a hard pull (they use different language, they state an iquiry that is viewable by everyone) that you must have PP as well as it must be initiated by the consumer...this is a response I found on another site that clears it up pretty good... The concept of HARD-vs-SOFT has nothing directly to do withe the FCRA. It is a business angle the CRA's created to "add value" to thier existence. They track HARD inquires as a way of showing prospective creditors (the people paying commercial rate $$ for your credit report) what credit you have been applying for lately. This is valuable information for the prospective creditor to know before deciding to loan you money. So this entire catagory of INQUIRIES and what is shown to credit report USERS other than YOU the consumer, is a business product catagory the CRA's have invented for themselves using a hole in the FCRA, where the FCRA doesn't actually dictate anything about WHO ELSE can be shown your inquiry history. All the FCRA does is dictate what PERMISSABLE PURPOSE a particular type of USER has. The good thing for the consumer is, the CRA's have tied the PP to the hard/soft aspect they invented. So The CRA's themselves have EXTENDED the reach of the FCRA into enforcing PP-vs-Inquiry Coding. A collection agency, collection attorney, JDB, etc does NOT have PERMISSABLE PURPOSE under 1681b(a)(2) or 1681b(a)(3)(A). These are the PPs that generate HARD inquiries. They involve YOU and a CREDIT TRANSACTION or an application for credit or insurance... PERIOD. The collector's only have PP under 1681b(a)(3)(F)(ii) which does not generate a HARD inquiry. It is the generic catchall "other" business PP. The tie in is all USERS must file certificates with the CRA as a business stating thier purpose for accessing reports. If they tell the truth on the certificate, they are authorized for 1681b(a)(3)(F)(ii) as a collector. If they lie on the certificate to get access under 1681b(a)(2) or 1681b(a)(3)(A) then you have them by the short hairs. If they have a legit certification BUT pull using a code OTHER THAN the one thier cert covers, you have them by the short hairs. The key is, you must subpeona the CRA to turn over all the communications involving you/cra/collector as well as the certifications filed by the YOU can prove to the court they deliberately obtained your report under FALSE PRETENSES. If they have violated any laws in this regard, the act of you obtaining the subpeona may be all that is required to get the USER (the collector that made the inquires) to contact the CRA and FIX the incorrect catagorization as HARD instead of SOFT. Let them lie to the CRA about why that happened, so long as they fix it. But this battle has only been fought a couple times I've heard of, and resulted in settlements, so no caselaw in court exists yet using this strategy. Starting Score: EQ 575 EX 595 TR 524 Current Score: EQ 643 EX ??? TR 638 Goal Score: EQ 300 EX 300 TR 300 Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
where the writers are Random, Illinois - Almost Like Home My most recent collection - the essential collection, I'm gold. Many words. Amazon.com Amazon.com Powell's Books Powell's Books I grew up in small town Illinois. That was my childhood. There were tractor pulls, pep rallies where they actually piled up wood and had bonfires, as often as not stealing that wood from the barns, outhouses, and sheds of surrounding farms. We lived in the middle of Neil Gaiman's amazing novel "American Gods," playing basketball against the boys from Paris, Illinois. We bailed hay for money in the summer, and helped shovel grain from the bottom of the neighbor's grain elevator. My grandparents lived in an even smaller town; Flora, Illinois. Flora was a dying place alongside a highway that had been re-routed when they widened it. There was a truck stop where my grandfather took me for ice cream in heavy-glass dishes. I drank the real cream they gave him for his coffee out of tiny glass containers that looked like miniature milk bottles. They had Minah birds who could speak, and the collected memorabilia and curios of decades - a time when the highway out front had been busy and the trucks rolled in and out all night long. We used to walk up and down the railroad tracks, trying not to fall on the large cinder block gravel, or to trip on the ties. We brought home glass insulators and railroad spikes, and back along the tracks there was a place my grandfather knew of where persimmons grew. We gathered hickory nuts and walnuts in the park, checked out books from a library so old it had developed it's own scent - a scent I associate with books and wonderful stories to this day. I must have rented Robin Hood a hundred times from that place, and every time it came to the end and he fired the arrow out the window to find his own burial spot, while being bled, I teared up, and I knew I had to learn to write stories like that. One of the places where I tell those stories is the city of Random, Illinois, part Charleston, and part Flora. All the best and the worst of those two places I've combined to create a backdrop against which my own experience rings true. I know the people I write about, or I knew them when they went by other names. I've done the same with San Valencez, California, and Lavender, California - based on places I lived and learned and loved in later life - when I first joined the US Navy and lived the life of a crazy man. You build with the blocks that feel most comfortable in your hands. I create fiction with bits and pieces of myself. I once wrote a poem many years ago that explains how the people of Rome built themselves into the walls of St. Paul's Basilica. You'll find mine in my words, my blood in my stories...and my house on the end of a road near the outskirts of Random. Stop in for a hot mug of Sassafrass tea. I'll loan you my copy of Robin Hood, and we can talk while the basesball game plays on the AM radio, and the Cicadas sing. Maybe I'll tell you a story. St. Paul's Basilica (A Cautionary Statement) By David Niall Wilson They built their lives Into the walls of The Basilica in Rome. Days, years, lifetimes, No difference to the stone, No difference to history. Only the church remains. Men long forgotten carved stone, Painted visions, Worshipped with characters from The world's best selling novel, And died. We never met them, But we know them through the walls, Rising to challenge the skies, The paintings, brilliant and inspired, Ancient and admired. Through colonnades and altars They reach to us through time, Embracing each new face, Filling each mind, heart, and soul With the wonder Of their lives. We cannot reproduce, In our modern, technological world, What they built from desire. We cannot copy what they Accomplished through faith. We have walked upon the moon, The cost the heart of the Earth. They built their lives Into the walls. We fling ours to the stars. 12:21 9/23/94
x dismiss this message Did you know you can edit this page? see page history Description edit see section history JUNIE B. JONES IS NOT A CROOK, #9: A terrible thing happens when someone takes Junie B.'s new black furry mittens! And they keep them! So when Junie B. finds a wonderful pen on the floor, she should be allowed to keep it, too. Right? That's fair. Right? Right? JUNE B. JONES IS A PARTY... read more Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis. Popular Covers Loading covers… Choose your book’s cover Authors & Contributors edit see section history 1. Barbara Park (Author)
PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online. This is a 'mini meditation' which you can use on it's own during the day, or as a way to lead you into a meditation as you start. The BIG SIGH can take you easliy into the 'breathless state', because of the natural pause at the end of the exhalation. Give it a try! :) 1. Close your eyes, and notice how you’re breathing. 2. Take a HUGE breath in through your nose, completely filling your lungs. (4 – 6 seconds) 3. Release the breath through your mouth with no control, allowing any natural sound to be expressed. (1 -2 seconds) 4. Sink into the space of ‘no breath’ at the end of the out-breath, savouring the quietness that is there before the in-breath naturally returns. 5. Notice the difference in your breathing now – it is likely to be slower/deeper/ more relaxed. Is there a shift in how you feel – perhaps calmer/more focused or relaxed? You can use ‘the big sigh’ to shift your emotional/mental state. To do this you need a clear intention, for instance “I let go of my anger/frustration/tension/tiredness now. I refocus.” I have always found it useful to say an affirmation like this out loud, but you could say it silently as well – the key is to consciously use the sigh to achieve the state of mind you wish to return to. The quiet space of ‘no breath’ at the end of the sigh can be a sublimely peaceful experience if you sink into it. It stills your busy mind – and doing that even for a few seconds is hugely worthwhile!
E2 Visa Green Card Document Sample scope of work template E-2 VISA: Significant investment required (e.g., $200,000 plus), extended every 5 years, allows foreign national to remain in the United States on an open-ended basis (without a green Card) subject to the work limitations with the Visa. Although there is no employee hiring requirement, a total lack of employees may be evidence that the business is marginal. If the E-2 employee is a manager (rather than an investor), managing other employees may be expected as part of their job duties. This type of Visa will be particularly valuable for foreign nationals who wish to visit the United States for up to 122 days per year (less than 183 days in any one year), and who do not require a Green Card (in order to avoid U.S. income taxation on their world- wide income). The E-2 Visa is particularly suited for international investors who would like a second home in the U.S. Treaty Investor (E2 Visa) Section 101(a)(15)(E) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act provides for visa status for nationals of countries that maintain an appropriate treaty of commerce and navigation with the United States or that is considered to be a treaty country under US law. The applicant must be coming to the United States to carry on substantial trade or to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which the national has invested, or is actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of capital. Treaty Trader and Investor visas are nonimmigrant categories. They do not confer permanent residency in the US nor do they lead to US citizenship, although they permit the applicant and qualified family members to live in the US for an extended period. For permanent residency in the United States, there is a separate program based on investment. To qualify as Treaty Investor (E-2):  The investor (either a real or corporate person) must be a national of a treaty country.  The investment must be substantial. It must be sufficient to ensure the successful operation of the enterprise. The percentage of investment for a low-cost enterprise must be higher than the percentage of investment in a high-cost enterprise.  The investment must be a real operating enterprise. Speculative or idle investment does not qualify.  The investment must not be marginal. It must generate significantly more income than needed to provide a living to the investor and family, or it must have a significant economic impact in the United States.  The investor must have control of the funds, and the investment must be at risk in the commercial sense. For the purpose of measuring the investment, loans secured with the assets of the investment enterprise are not counted.  The investor must be coming to the US to develop and direct the enterprise. If applicants are not the principal investors, they must be employed as a supervisor, executive, or as the possessor of highly specialized skills. What is a substantial amount of capital? There is no fixed amount which is considered "substantial." A substantial amount of capital constitutes that amount which is ample to ensure the investor's financial commitment to the successful operation of the enterprise as measured by the proportionality test. The proportionality test compares the total amount invested in the enterprise with the cost of establishing a viable enterprise of the nature contemplated or the amount of capital needed to purchase an existing enterprise. Such comparison constitutes the percentage of the treaty applicant's investment in the enterprise. That percentage must compare favorable in the fashion of an inverted sliding scale starting with a high percentage of investment for a lower cost enterprise. The percentage of investment decreases at a gradual rate as the cost of the business increases. An amount of capital invested in an enterprise is merely presumed to be substantial when it meets or exceeds the percentage figures given in the following examples (amounts shown are in US  75% investment in an enterprise costing no more than $500,000 (if the cost of the enterprise is substantially lower than $500,000, 85-90%, or even 100% investment may be required).  50% investment in an enterprise costing more than $500,000 but no more than $3,000,000.  30% investment in any enterprise costing more than A multi-million dollar investment by a large foreign corporation is normally considered substantial, regardless of the examples given The investment must do more than merely yield a return capable of supporting the investor and family. A marginal enterprise is an enterprise which does not have the capacity to generate significantly more than enough income to provide a living for the investor, family and other alien employees. Are joint ventures permitted? Yes, provided that the business or individual investor applying for the visa is in a position to "develop and direct" the enterprise. The applicant is in such a position by controlling the enterprise through ownership of at least 50% of the business, possessing operational control through a marginal position or other corporate device, or by other means showing the applicant controls the enterprise. How long may the Treaty Investor stay in the US? The applicant must have the intention of departing the US upon conclusion of the commercial activities. Nevertheless, holder of E- visas may reside in the US as long as they continue to meet E-visa "Essential employees" may remain only as long as their skills are required to operate the business, and only as long as the owner can show either that US workers cannot be trained to duplicate the skills or that the owner is making reasonable efforts to train US workers as replacements. On initial entry, immigration officials normally authorize a stay of up to one year in the US, with extensions generally available for as long as the E-visa holder and family maintain their E-visa status. The initial visa for an investor in an existing business may be up to 5 years; new U.S. business may be up to 2 years. A new business may require a Business Plan with financial projections. E-2 Visa Application Process The E-2 visa application process may vary from one country to the next. Different formatting rules, different forms and fees, different processing times, should be expected. (For example, Vancouver is currently testing the DS-160 form rather than the DS-156/156E forms; Istanbul says it can review an E-2 in about a week while other Consulates and Embassies may take up to 12 weeks; Some Embassies and Consulates require hand delivering the petition at a pre-review interview while others allow the petition to be mailed in advance of the interview; etc.) Filing within the U.S. as a “change of status” is possible but if the alien leaves the U.S., the alien will need to complete the Embassy or Consulate review of their application and have their visas processed before they are allowed to return to the U.S. on their E-2 status. Consequently, if they are from a country with a long review time, the alien needs to make arrangements to start the review so it concludes in time for their reentry. Is a visa available to the applicant's wife and children? Yes. Spouses and children under age 21 qualify for derivative E- visas based on the principal applicant's qualification. It is not necessary that they hold the nationality of the principal applicant. However, when the surnames of a spouse or children (as appearing on their passports) differ from that of the principal applicant, copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, or other legal documentation must e submitted to establish the relationship. De- facto spouses and fiance(e)s do not qualify for derivative status. Dependent E-visa holders are allowed to work in the United States. Gary S. Wolfe 9100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 530 East Beverly Hills, CA, 90212 Tel: 310-274-8847 Fax: 310-274-3118 email: gsw@gswlaw.com Shared By: Tags: visa, green, card How are you planning on using Docstoc?
Sisters of Battle From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search A set of fully painted Sisters of Battle miniatures. In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Sisters of Battle, also known as the Adepta Sororitas, are an all-female army of warrior-nuns attached to the state church of the Imperium of Man. They focus on hunting and destroying heretics, often working alongside members of the Inquisition. The heraldic symbol of the Adepta Sororitas is the Fleur-de-lis. In the tabletop miniatures wargame, the Sisters of Battle are a playable army. Gameplay mechanics[edit] The latest ruleset for the Sisters of Battle is available in the Codex: Adepta Sororitas, which was published as an e-book. They have unique game mechanics based around faith and martyrdom. These mechanics allow a most units to aquire a buff for one turn of the game. Since this buff is based on faith and not psychic power; counter-measures designed to defeat psykers have no effect on Faith powers. The Sisters possess no psykers among their ranks, but they are allowed to use psyker auxiliaries (most often from the Inquisition). The Sisters of Battle are not superhuman like Space Marines, but they do wear power armor and wield similar weaponry. Their power level is therefor between the Imperial Guards and the Space Marines. They have a fondness for flame weapons, as they see great symbolism in "cleansing fire", which orientates them towards short-range combat. In the later releases a so-called Holy Trinity of bolter, flamer, and melta became a staple of their weaponry.[1] Overview in fiction[edit] The Sisters of Battle were officially founded in 36th Millennium by the Ecclesiarch Alexis XXII as Ordes Militant.[2] They were formed in the aftermath of a coup d'état by the previous head of the church. After the usurper was deposed, the Imperium decreed that the church could no longer maintain any "men at arms". The wording of this decree left a loophole permitting an all-female force. Most Sisters are orphans who were abandoned to the care of the church. The Sisters are led by an Abbess and are organized into Orders. There are Six main Orders and a host of smaller orders. As the militant arm of the church, they are tasked with suppressing witchcraft and heresy, and guarding the Imperium's shrine worlds. They often work with the Inquisition, as their responsibilities overlap. The Sisters bear a resemblance to several knightly orders from Medieval Europe, such as the Templers and have a strong Gothic feel. Many of their heroines have the personae and attitude of Joan of Arc (especially in Martyrdom and Sainthood). Being an elite army of female zealots, they also bear some resemblance to the Fish Speakers from Frank Herbert's Dune universe[citation needed] The design of the models themselves have a strong fire motif. They also take the Gothic appearance of the Imperium to the extreme: the Exorcist tank is shaped like a pipe-organ on treads. Forge World produces alternate versions of their tanks, which have a more "military" and less gothic look. 1. ^ Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Adepta Sororitas (1st ed.). Nottingham: Games Workshop. 2013. ISBN 9781782533603. 2. ^ Thorpe, Gavin (1997). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Sisters of Battle (1st ed.). Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-872372-14-7.
Take the tour × I'm trying to parse a file that looks sort of hex encoded but mostly not. I contacted support for the vendor who created the file and they said that they it can be parsed using "an 0x116 offset" What is a 0x116 offset? It took me 2 weeks to get an answer from the vendor on my first question, so I wanted to see if someone here could help me make sense of! Thank you! share\|improve this question @evanmortland Do you have any further information or questions about this? Updating your question or accepting an answer would be nice. =) – David Lively May 4 '10 at 14:49 add comment 1 Answer up vote 3 down vote accepted "0x116 offset" means nothing. It could be a value that needs to be added to words or subtracted to remove some naive encoding, or anything else for that matter. Could you post a part of the file? Is it binary or text? Could you define "mostly not"? What vendor/software package/device does this file come from? share\|improve this answer add comment Your Answer
Take the tour × Our applications use lot of custom built and third party libraries and right now each application has a private reference to these assemblies which means that the bin folder of each of these applications has the referenced assemblies copied. For e.g. Application A references log4net.dll, CustomLibA.dll, CustomLibB.dll and Application B also references log4net.dll, CustomLibA.dll, CustomLibB.dll and these assemblies are stored in the following structured. D:\Inetpub\wwwroot\ApplicationA\bin D:\Inetpub\wwwroot\ApplicationB\bin I have the following questions about this arrangement: 1. I think this will create performance issues as the number of applications and the references grows, because, every application will load all these assemblies which will result in virtual address fragmentation. Is my assumption right? 2. Can I organize the applications such that all these applications reference the assemblies from a common folder and doesn't have a private copy in the bin folder? For e.g. the assemblies log4net.dll, CustomLibA.dll, CustomLibB.dll are organized in the following folder and reference by the applications which are organized as follows: D:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Apps\ApplicationA D:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Apps\ApplicationB The bin folder within these applications will not have the common assemblies. Will this work? I tried to do this by setting copy local to false, but I get 'Could not load file or assembly xxxx'. I know that I can use GAC, but I want to avoid GAC for certain custom built libraries due to the nature of our deployment process. Thanks, Hari Krishnan. share\|improve this question A good reference for these things are the first 3 chapters of CLR via C# – Tom Ritter May 28 '09 at 22:11 add comment 3 Answers up vote 0 down vote accepted There may be added benefits to performance and code sharing if you use the GAC. Note that having all apps refer to a common shared path will not alter the fact that each application will be loading its own copy of the assemblies into memory. The only benefit that a shared path will give you is not having to deploy multiple copies of these assemblies. share\|improve this answer Though this doesn't answer both of my questions, jerryjvl does answered the first questions. Thanks. – Tech Matrix May 29 '09 at 17:36 add comment you can always add other paths for the appdomain to look for references in other folders rather than bin or gac. share\|improve this answer depends on what framework you're using as well AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AppendPrivatePath(path) and AppDomainSetup adSetup = new AppDomainSetup(); adSetup.PrivateBinPath = path – Brandon Grossutti May 28 '09 at 22:13 add comment I think the GAC is your best bet for common class libraries. You can still have custom libraries deployed to the local \bin directory. share\|improve this answer As long as the assemblies are strongly named. – Max Schmeling May 28 '09 at 22:32 I agree GAC is the best place for sharing. And we are having the thrid party libraries installed in GAC. But certain custom built libraries undergo couple of releases in a month and deploying it in GAC will be cumbersome due to our deployment process. – Tech Matrix May 29 '09 at 17:34 add comment Your Answer
Beginning of article A somewhat obscure international commission--the Codex Alimentarius Commission--that sets food safety guidelines based on science has recently become another arena for trade disputes. Arguments about scientific uncertainties relating to food safety and efforts to bring non-scientific concerns into the consultations threaten to politicize decision-making and undermine the work of the commission. The Codex Alimentarius Commission is an international organization virtually unknown to the general public. Nevertheless, while Codex works in the shadow of more prominent U.N. organizations, the impact of its work is felt by consumers everyday. The name "Codex Alimentarius" itself explains the general purpose of the Commission's work--a code for food. The origins of the code go back to a collection of food standards assembled during 1897 and 1911 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and used as a legal reference by the courts. Currently the commission deals with a wide range of food issues--from labeling and hygienic standards to such detailed work as defining what constitutes butter. The Codex Alimentarius was established in 1962 as a cooperative program by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and currently has over 160 countries as members. Its mission is to set international food standards that help governments to achieve adequate consumer protection. In addition, the commission helps to raise the governments' awareness on food safety issues and serves as a point of reference for food safety standards and food regulations. Codex also helps facilitate international trade in foods by preventing unscientific restrictions while considering differences in tradition, culture, and legal systems among countries. The commission develops principles of a general nature as well as specific recommendations for certain food products. Currently, countries' delegations to the Codex Alimentarius consist of government officials but can also include industry or consumer representatives, as well as academic experts. The committees currently cover nine general subject areas, such as food labeling, and 13 commodities, such as meat, fish, and milk products. There are also three ad hoc intergovernmental task forces (foods derived from biotechnology, animal feeding, and fruit and vegetable juices). How Food Standards Are Approved. Initially a proposal to develop a new food standard is submitted to the Codex Commission by either a government or a Codex subsidiary. The Commission or the executive committee then decides whether the proposal should proceed. A list of formal criteria helps to guide the Commission in its decision-making process. After the Commission determines that a new standard is needed, a proposed draft standard is prepared and circulated among the members for comments. After consideration of comments, a draft standard is then presented to the Commission, and, if adopted by the Commission, is then sent to the governments. The process may involve sending the draft back and forth between the Commission and members before it may be adopted as a new Codex standard. This process involves eight official steps or, in …
Click photo to enlarge In this film image released by Warner Bros, Zac Efron is shown in a scene from "The Lucky One." (AP Photo/Warner Bros.) Dear Nicholas: I was going to email you, then realized -- d'oh -- you're a man of letters. At least that's what I got out of your last movie, "Dear John." Anyway, I'm sending some thoughts your way about your new one that's getting the Hollywood treatment, "The Lucky One," based on another one of your best-sellers. While I appreciate you making a few tweaks to the Nicholas Sparks formula, the end product still ends up being just another warmed-over casserole -- with garbanzo beans swapped out for pintos, or, in this case, Zac Efron for Channing Tatum, Taylor Schilling for Rachel McAdams (all of them much better-looking than beans, I must add). Don't get me wrong. I love to cry at the movies, and in the past you've done a bang-up job of making me blubber like a fool. You all but destroyed me with "The Notebook," especially that Gena Rowlands-James Garner finale. Even the minor-leaguer "Dear John" made me misty-eyed. But, "The Lucky One" left me stone cold. So rather than stew about it, I decided to overshare my feelings with you about where I thought "Lucky" went wrong as a film. And, to be fair, let you know a few times the filmmakers got it right. So, let's start with the bad. 1. Zac Efron. No matter how buff he gets and how hot he looks in black boxer briefs, he's not ready to be a leading man. Earnestness is one thing, over-earnestness becomes downright annoying. As Logan, a returning Marine who takes a walk to remember from Colorado to Louisiana in search of Beth -- a gorgeous woman in a picture he found in Iraq -- Zac is dull and stoic. In fact, he makes Channing Tatum look like Al Pacino. Director Scott Hicks ("Shine") needed to break down that stiffness, and stop him from doing those Taylor Lautner chest puffs. (Meanwhile, could you forward his workout regimen? Those are some mighty impressive biceps.) 2. The contrivances. It's silly that Logan never reveals to Beth Schilling) why he's come to the dog kennel that she and her kooky but sweet granny (Blythe Danner) run. After a couple of false starts of trying, why doesn't he just blurt out the truth -- that her picture saved his life a couple of times while serving in Iraq? Excuse me, but if you've just walked with your dog over hundreds of miles, and you still can't cough up that you think fate deposited you on that doorstep, you've got issues not even true love can solve. 3. The evil ex: To put a wedge in the romance, enter the evil ex. Boo! Hiss! Vilify! And boy, did screenwriter Will Fetters make Keith (Jay R. Ferguson) despicable -- abusive, manipulative, menacing and saddled with daddy issues. And yet at one point, the noble Logan calls Beth's ex "a good man" when he's drunk and threatening him. Really? I mean, really? 4. The sentimental dialogue: Here's one example. Beth: "You think life has a plan for you?" Logan: "If so, it hasn't shared it with me yet." Oh, brother. OK. OK. The film's not a total wash. Here's what did work. 1. Schilling. The relative newcomer lights up the screen, even when the film requires histrionics. 2. The cinematography: So gorgeous, I couldn't help but wonder if the Louisiana Tourism Board bankrolled the film. 3. The sex scene: No denying this is steamy hot, and pushes the PG-13 back up against the wall. 4. Blythe Danner: She can dodder with the best of them, and the veteran actress classes things up, just as Richard Jenkins did in "Dear John" and Rowlands and Garner did in "Notebook." Yes, she's delightful, Nicholas, and that's the problem: We're becoming too well-versed in your shtick. Next time, mix it up more, futz with your famous formula. Then maybe saps like me will be the lucky ones. 'The Lucky one' * ½ Rating: PG-13 (some sexuality and violence) Director: Scott Hicks Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes
Bits from the NM people Hello world, during this weekend FD/DAM had a meeting in Essen to discuss various things and issues around the New Maintainer process. Good news The queues are (almost) empty: * The DAM queue has only 2 people left. 14 have been approved and will now get an account. * Yes, this really means that we're going to have 14 new DDs as soon as their accounts are created! * The two people currently in the DAM queue are waiting for issues not fully related to the NM process that should be dealt with in the next few days. * The frontdesk queue is empty! * There are only 3 people waiting to get an AM assigned. With a few more AMs we could reach the ideal situation of having the AM queue empty and the AMs not overworking. * There are various people on hold at the DAM or the FD stage. These have all been pinged, and will either move on, or their application will be cancelled. No more rejections! Canceling an application is currently called a "rejection". We are actually very rarely rejecting people from Debian, and the most common case is that an application is canceled because a person is not ready, and is invited to join again after they gain some experience. This wording issue has causes bad feelings in the past. For this reason we have decided to refer to what was previously called "soft rejection" as "cancelling the application". In most cases, applicants can re-apply after a while, and "cancelling the application" more clearly communicates this fact. People who are not knowledgeable or experienced enough are not rejected by Debian: they are instead provided with more appropriate ways of joining, such as finding mentors who help them gain experience and sponsor their packages into the archive. What was known as a "strong rejection" will however still be referred to as a "rejection", because that is what it is. Account name rules A new account name should be at least 3 characters long, and must be reasonable, according to the DAM's judgement. We've rejected account names in the past that were trolling attempts, or things like "root". Website rewrite We started to rewrite our website at nm.debian.org. This cleans up the internal implementation and allows for future improvements in the NM process handling. GPG keysigning coordination FD/DAM would like to to move the GPG keysiging coordination over to someone else. It's not really part of FrontDesk work; and as we are rewriting the webpage anyhow we feel this is a right time to move it over to someone else and not make it part of the new page. Volunteers to pick up this job are welcome. Advocation in the NM process We discussed how advocation of New Maintainers should be done. We agreed that advocation should be done on a public mailing list and more than one advocations are appreciated. This is the same as in the DM process and gives a much better picture about applications. In order for this to be effective immediately, we ask prospective advocates that for now, they explicitly Cc the debian-newmaint@lists.debian.org mailinglist; the rewritten website will make this automatic, once it goes live. More and well-motivated advocacy messages make the whole process faster. Though the current NM website does not allow for more than one advocate, the mailinglist process will, and this is another reason why we think the process should be made public. Note that after a person has been advocated, additional advocates need not go through the website; a simple signed reply on the mailinglist will suffice. This process is certainly suboptimal, but we are working on this for the new website. related work. Please only advocate people who have contributed to Debian already, don't advocate someone that you expect will get involved in everyone involved. More AMs wanted The NM process is always short of application managers. Applicants are waiting to get one assigned. As usual, we invite experienced DDs to join up and help out. Remember that AM work is a fun and interesting way to learn more about Debian and the people involved! It's always better to have AMs waiting rather than NMs. S3cr1ts 4b0ut th3 NM pr0c3ss There are many things many people don't know about the NM process: * AMs can pick an NM from the queue, within reason. If you see a person that you would like to be an AM for, feel free to ask * There are ways to skip tasks&skills. AMs can read http://wiki.debian.org/FrontDesk/Tips for some tips. * Extremely good and very active people in urgent need of an account can be (and have been) fast-tracked. Feel free to contact Front Desk/DAM (with detailed motivations) if you see a case where this is needed. Please keep in mind that this is an exception. * Common sense is more effective than you'd imagine. Joerg Jaspert Christoph Berg Bernd Zeimetz Enrico Zini Michael Koch Wouter Verhelst Attachment: pgpKnzGBzUZ85.pgp Description: PGP signature Reply to:
Take the tour × We have several group members whose names should be on the title slide of a Beamer document. However, when I put something like this: \author{Person A \and Person B \and Person C \and Person D \and Person E} Person C's name will be broken across two lines. How can I prevent this from happening? share\|improve this question add comment 1 Answer up vote 7 down vote accepted Box the person's name using \mbox{Person C} (or \hbox{...}). Here's a little example: enter image description here \author{Dude Azerbaijan \and Dude Bangkok \and Dude Canada \and Dude Denmark \and Dude Ethiopia \and Dude France} If you now use \mbox{Dude Denmark}, the result is: enter image description here share\|improve this answer Is there an advantage of using mbox over a unbreakable space ~? An if yes what is it? – bloodworks Apr 15 '12 at 12:00 @bloodworks: In this case I don't think so. \mbox will keep the entire box together, while an unbreakable space ~ might cause hyphenation in the names (thereby breaking the name yet again, just in a different place). – Werner Apr 15 '12 at 14:24 Great, this works just fine. – xiongtx Apr 15 '12 at 14:51 add comment Your Answer
Sign in with Sign up \| Sign in Your question Why does my screen get black/shadowed Last response: in Laptops & Notebooks My Dell inspiron often shadowes my screen. What i mean is, that i can work on it, or play, or watch a video, and out of nowhere, the screen will turn black, but if i move to the sides, i can see some parts of the screen, like it is being shadowed. Sometimes it lasts a couple of seconds, sometimes it doesn't come back for hours. It is really disturbing and i wonder what causes this. More about : screen black shadowed
Robert Reich: War on public employees is ‘shameful’ An excerpt: The Shameful Attack on Public Employees (Thanks, William!) 1. Liz says: PS what’s with this–AG seems down on state workers yet says he’s taken state tests and has been on lists for state employment. 2. adirondackguy says: @Liz: What are you talking about? I AM a state worker, and I defend state employees on this blog all the TIME. I’m not “down on state workers”. Where did THAT come from? If you’re saying that my disappointment in the way hiring is done means I’m an evil anti-state-worker, you really need to re-evaluate that view. Read a few more of my posts and see for yourself. The hiring process NY uses STINKS, it’s slow and inefficient and discourages people from joining; I think everyone here will admit that. It takes MONTHS to hire a new employee; how is that even remotely a good idea? Designing a better system would be trivial, but it’s nearly impossible to effect any sort of change. Don’t get me wrong — I absolutely support civil service, and I don’t want to eliminate the examination system. But there’s got to be an easier way to do things. For example, why aren’t tests automatically graded by computer and the scores updated within a week and placed online for us to view in our accounts? Why aren’t our scores and placement on lists automatically calculated and updated? Why does this nonsense take SIX WHOLE MONTHS??? It’s ridiculous. In the six months it takes to get on a list after taking a test, I could design a better system from the ground up, implement it, and have it ready to go for the next round of testing! Give me a couple of additional team members and I’d do it in THREE months. Sometimes I wonder if some previous administration didn’t set things up this way on PURPOSE to discourage people from getting promoted, and to make it easier for agencies to justify contracting out. 3. adirondackguy says: @Rich: Maverick already did a pretty good job of tearing apart that post of yours, but I’ll give it a go too, since you were pointing it at me: FORMAT: I’ll quote you then reply, one point at a time. “1. If you can’t do, you work for the State;” Actually the saying goes “Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach gym.” It’s from Woody Allen, and it has nothing to do with us. A more accurate saying for the state (for us technology guys, at least) would be: “You work in the private sector in your twenties to cut your teeth on high tech, but when you turn thirty you join the state for the job security and family-friendly hours”. It’s the same guy who used to work for a tech firm, he’s just older and smarter when he signs up with us. “2. The vast majority of State workers would be unable to either start their own business or meld easily into private sector, largely because the State platforms in all sectors lag;” I don’t think you’re involved with technology, because if you were you’d know this is patently false. The state government often has state of the art systems in place. Even though they don’t let me buy anything (Grr…) we still have a very modern, Java-based Oracle stack. It wouldn’t be out of place at any private company. And some of the mainframe guys I’ve been talking to on this blog work with virtualized mainframe environments — you probably don’t know this, but that’s the “new hotness” in the private sector. Banks LOVE that stuff. Basically you’re talking out your posterior on this one. No credibility. “3. The State holds an unfair monopoly:” Thanks for the laugh! A “monopoly” is a situation in which a COMPANY controls a specific market, excluding competitors. The state government is NOT a company, does NOT participate in a market, and does NOT sell its services. If you’re going to make things up, at least say something interestingly weird. And before you get started with the idea that your taxes are a purchase of services, private-sector style, DON’T GO THERE. Your taxes are a mandatory contribution towards your SOCIETY. It’s not a purchase, it’s a sacrifice for the greater good. “a. The State Unions (Teachers) have repeatedly fough charter schools, even though charter schools out perform public schools;” For a good reason: most people consider education to be a public good, and the concept of charter schools hijacks tax money to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor and working class. This is about social justice, not unions. I’ve messed with people in the past by telling them they should pay tuition for their little snowflakes, but the tone was meant to make a point, not propose the dismantling of the school system. Some people got it, others, not so much. “b. Public education is not efficient, yet attempts to rehab it have been fought repeatedly;” Attempts to rehab it like letting the rich get out of contributing towards public schools and put their little snowflakes into private (pardon me, “charter”) schools? Look, you know what this is REALLY ABOUT? This is George Bush’s fault for his “No Child Left Behind” program which caused all schools to “teach to the test”. But I bet you just love THAT doofus. “c. Voucher systems allowing citizens to send their kids to private schools have been fought repeatedly by the State Unions, to avoid competition.” Once again, this is about social justice. You can’t de-fund the public school system and put all the rich kids in classy schools, leaving the poor out of it. It’s wrong, and if you had a heart instead of a chunk of flint you’d understand that. “d. In NY, private shuttle services run commuter vans better, faster and cheaper than public service unions, and are being fought by unins tooth and nail.” Good heavens. I think you’ve gone right off the rails on this one. Are we talking New York State now? Because there are no private shuttle services as far as I can tell. The bus system seems to be working fairly well. Trains are on time… What are you on about? Airport shuttles? Hotel shuttles? “At the end of the day it comes down to this: Most people have been dummed down so much, someone might actually believe your propaganda.” Uh oh, better look out! Adirondackguy is gonna pervert the minds of the “dummed” down public with his evil logic and sinister collection of facts! Quick, someone call Fox News, the devil man must be STOPPED! “But in reality–as John Stossel challenges–name ONE function government does better than private business.” Who? Am I supposed to recognize this Streudel character? What is he, some conservative pundit from Fox? Ok, hang on, I’ll look him up… (checks Wikipedia). YEP, I nailed it as usual. He’s a Fox News reporter and avowed libertarian. You know what I find funny about libertarians? They’re the party of “ME ME ME”. They want all government control to cease, EXCEPT when it benefits them. They want all market controls to cease, EXCEPT when it benefits them. They’re basically wanna-be robber barons. I have NEVER liked those guys and their Ayn Randian nonsense. “We go to the State when we have given up on all chances of true, meaningful success in our personal lives.” Oh, my, that’s just nutty. I’m quite successful working for the state. I make a good salary, my work is both socially significant and widely used, I’m fairly highly placed in my agency… Wherever do you get these amusing ideas of yours? Heh… I’d rather be what I am than some used car salesman or shop owner! My job is a LOT more dignified! 4. HRH says: If it were not for public servants, the streets would be FULL of dangerous people…and not maintained. You are welcome :) 5. Rich says: 1. You’re SOCIALIST. Your goal is to CONTROL the minions. And the minions have been so dumbed down, they don’t know it. Your goal is to control others, their families, their education. But the joke is, you have largely INCOMPETENTS like the State Board of Ed, dictating to teachers, students, administrators, what to learn and how to learn it. All the while, we’re sliding in world ed rankings ever more. Reason….LOOK WHO’S MANDATING-incompetents! 2. Property Tax Cap–the UNIONS are the only ones fighting the property tax cap now. Reason?????????? Right now, the ONLY group challenging a property tax cap in NY are the public service unions. 3. I am absolutely APPALLED that the employees in this State are as socialist as you. It is disgusting. MOVE TO RUSSIA or Cuba or North Korea. YOU should be ASHAMED of yourselves. 6. Frequent Visitor John says: I don’t believe androndackguy was dowing state workers. He is one. The poster quite correctly pointed out that people go out and take exams for state positions and then have to qualify for That stae job through interview, canvass letters, and hoop jumping. This ag is absolutely correct in what was written. Did you know that even folks that take the exam and pass “never get to work for the state”. Yet paid a fee in most cases to compete for that job opportunity. And many public sector folks take state exams. Ask yourself why? Its for the benefits and retirement, the health insurance and to make a better life for themselves and family. So bash state employees all you want. Many of you doing the bashing wish they could qualify to even join the state workforce. Keep up the accurate postings Androndackguy! 7. sick of albany says: @ Adirondackguy I am a State Employee. a Grade 6 with a Master’s degree working towards my PhD. I have been on many lists for higher grades, that would utilize my education, but cannot get hired. So, I understand that it’s difficult, I’ve been waiting for years for something better. In the meantime I have been making 26k a year and struggling to pay my student loans and pay bills, etc. However, I look around my office, and I see tons of people who get paid more than me who have to ask people like me how to scan something on the copier, how to do this and that, who DONT do any work, but their sister works for HR, etc. This is BS and it’s corrupt, and the system does not work how it should. All I am saying is it needs to be re-vamped. Or done away with. Or, once someone passes that year mark, it shouldnt be impossible to fire them if they don’t perform. I am a hardworker. I have a great work ethic. I dont necessarily like my job at all, but I show up everyday and do it, and I do the job that 3 hire-grades have given me to do for them. I don’t complain until I get home. Etc. The same problem a lot of the “little guys” like me have, I’m sure. And it’s not fair. The system was supposed to prevent political appointees from hiring all of their cronies, etc. But I still see that every day I walk into my job. If I could find a job in the private sector that wasnt equally demeaning as the one I have, I would. But, for now, I’ll tough it out. 8. Robert says: @sick of albany I am humbled by the fact that you have so much education yet such a low-paying job. I have a friend who has two bachelors degrees and is also a Grade 6. Your situation is uncommon but not unheard of. Have you looked into taking the Professional Careers Test? With that, anyone with at least a college degree could land a Grade 14 or Grade 18 position. I got a lot of canvass letters from that exam. I will take that test any time it is offered, even though I am already a Grade 18. I would be curious to know what your Masters is in. If it is in something like music or archaeology, of course there are few state positions for that degree. My masters is in statistics and fortunately it qualifies me for numerous positions, such as Transportation Analyst and Program Research Specialist 2. Thank goodness I have not had the difficulties you have had. I wish you the best of luck and hope things turn around for you. If you would like to chat about this further, my email is Thank you. 9. Chili Palmer says: Big Labor boost free-spending Democrats ( and free spenders like Uncle Joe Bruno). But the real Big Lie is that Democrats oppose those greedy Wal Street types. Just the opposite , my friend. What happens is Democrats give their Big Labor buddies what they want, give us lip service about Wall Street then give the financiers what they want. In the end, it’s for the cash and clout that keeps them in power. 10. Jim says: @sick of albany. Unfortunately education in the civil service system means nothing. Most civil service jobs say you need to have so many years as a grade 7 or above. The only exception was the now defunct PMI program that leads to a grade 18. What happens is that others think you are over qualified for that promotion or you will leave soon for another promotion, thus you do not get the job. Having a good work ethic can hurt you, since they cannot afford to lose you in the current position. Take it from someone who started as a grade 3, get out while you can. It does not get any better with time or with more education. The door remains shut unless you are connected. 11. adirondackguy says: @Sick of Albany: I was replying to your suggestion that all you have to do is pass a test to get a job, which isn’t really true (my post is pretty accurate for jobs in information technology, by the way — getting through an interview is like running a gauntlet sometimes). I didn’t realize you had been through the process; your comments made it seem as though you didn’t understand it. I agree with you that there are too many appointees infesting state agencies. While I don’t want to see anyone get fired or lose their jobs, I WOULD like to see the hiring of appointees banned outright — let all existing employees test in to civil service if they want to stay. Every civil service job should be a classified job, entered through competitive examination, and terminated ONLY when there is just cause. Otherwise, the whole purpose of the civil service system is subverted (which is the point of hiring appointees in the first place). You should re-evaluate your desire to see people get fired for non-performance, by the way. The reason this is never done is that performance is a subjective thing. One manager might think you’re a hotshot high-performer, another might think you’re an idiot, ask a third and they might think you’re only average. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? How can you MEASURE it in an objective way? You cannot. This is why civil servants are only fired for “just cause” — if we could be fired for something as nebulous as “performance” then any appointee could come in and bully us into performing questionable acts. The fact that we can’t be fired easily is the ONLY thing that lets us stand our ground and do what some agencies call “push back” when we believe an order is unlawful. 12. adirondackguy says: @Sick of Albany: By the way, I’ll tell you something that might help you. Let’s say you can’t get promoted at your current agency. Maybe they think you’re too important to let go, maybe they’ve got it in for you, whatever. They’re not going to promote you, and you know it. Maybe you’ve even gotten “the speech”. The speech is given out by Organization Men, people who place all their loyalty with the organization and think sucking up to their bosses is a holy duty. These are the guys who see you leaving at 5:30 and say “Half day, Bob?” with a sarcastic grin on their faces. Maybe you’ve met them. The speech goes like this: “It’s your own fault, you know… Always making waves, ticking off the boss. You want to get promoted, just lay low for a while! Play the game, be a good employee, kiss butt where necessary. Then, one day, the boss will forgive you and you’ll get that promotion.” I got that speech VERBATIM at my old agency, where my support of the union had gotten me blacklisted from promotion opportunities. This wiry old guy gave it to me as if he was helping me. Here’s what I told him: “Well, I suppose I COULD do that, if I didn’t have all this excess human dignity. But you know, I think I’ll probably just take a transfer position at a different agency and live happily ever after. I’m not sticking around HERE very long…” He laughed at me, and said “well, if you think so!” A month or two later I was at a different agency, and I had my promotion. I see him occasionally on Pearl Street. He always asks how I’m doing at my new agency, with a chuckle or laugh in his voice, as though I made some terrible mistake by accepting promotion. I think he really believes it. Do what I did. Get your promotion through transfer. Don’t use your current bosses as references, or they’ll block it by lying about you, saying you’re not a hard worker, etc. Don’t even tell them where you’re going, just give your two weeks’ notice and when you go to H.R. to fill out forms, ask them not to tell anyone where you’re going. 13. Jim says: @adirondackguy. A transfer may be the only way out of that Agency and into a promotion, if leaving state service is not an option. You may want to remove some of the degrees from your resume if going for a grade 6 or grade 9 position. The people interviewing you may be jealous. Agreed do not tell the boss or give them as a reference. Problem with going to personnel is that by the time you turn around the personnel administrator has already called your current boss and informed them of when and where you will be going. It sounds like sickofalbany may have been marginalized. Good luck. 14. sick of albany says: @ Jim – I have been trying to get out, but as most people know it’s difficult at the moment, unfortunately. What I thought would be a good opportunity for me (working for the State) has been anything but. It’s really sad, to be honest. @ adirondackguy – I guess by “work performance” I simply mean those people who, from the time they sit down at 8am, talk on the phone until they leave at the end of the day. Mainly, not working at all. However, I see all of your points, and I appreciate them. I am beginning to think that Civil Service just isn’t for me after all. :) At least not at my current Agency. 15. thinlizzy says: one little correction for adirondackguy….your post earlier talking about the hiring process, is a little askew. they already know who they want to promote. but they HAVE to interview you if your above their golden child on the list. it’s about favoritism, not how smart you are or how good of job your capable of. they don’t even want to know. i’ve even been lucky enough to get an interview for a job AFTER the golden child was appointed. so where does that fit into the plan? it’s all bs and i’m really dreading getting back up in 3 hours, only to be passed over and sh*t on again. 16. Jim says: @sick of albany. For the most part, the New York’s Civil Service System is based on testing of abstract concepts often unrelated to the job. They test for the obsolete and exception and focus on grammar. Over the years, I have found that there is an inverse relationship between educational attainment and performance on a civil service test, where the greater the amount of education the lower the score on most of them (except the programming ones). I think that is because one becomes more analytical and does not see things as simply right and wrong with more education and more perspectives, whereas the test has a right answer, a wrong answer and a state answer. Last test in my unit our PhD with 20 years experience got a 75%, but our newly hired 5 year employee with a bachelor’s degree got a 95%. I say get out now if you can and start a career where your education and experience will be valued. Do not waste your career waiting for something that may never happen. 17. Jim says: @sick of albany. Education is valued very lowly in some agencies, even some that one would think would be in opposition to their agencies overall goals and objectives. Several years ago, I was on an interview team and we interviewed a highly qualified candidate, but that person did not get the job my bosses boss said they were too qualified. I was the only person who fought for that person, but I lost that battle. 18. adirondackguy says: @Thinlizzy: I’m lucky enough to be in technology; when an agency is hiring for a tech job, usually they DON’T have someone specific in mind. They’re bringing in someone new to fill a position. So I haven’t directly experienced what you’re talking about, but I don’t doubt that sort of thing happens… Add that to my list of barriers to entry! 19. gilhags says: So, I guess 1.3 million “public employees” is accurate. Not bad, I guess? Out of 19,378,102 citizens (2010 Census), 1,296,000 work for the “state”. That’s a 1:15 ratio Average cost per- $60,000 (modest estimate) X 1,296,000 Any thoughts? 20. adirondackguy says: @Gilhags: You missed by a mile. Approximately 200,000 work for the state in total, 137,000 of which are employees of the executive branch. The average cost per executive branch worker is around $53K, counting everything (pension, health care, etc). As I have already informed you in the past at great length. Your estimate is completely ridiculous, because the entire state budget is $134 billion, within which the payroll comes out to a total of $15 billion (the executive workforce, which most people consider “state workers” is only 137,000 workers and costs around $5 billion of that, or less than 4% of the total budget) and you’re trying to claim the payroll is 77 billion. Why not just make up a number next time: Eleventy Bajillion Zillion bucks. It’d be just as credible. I don’t think you should do any more math. Your attempt at estimating the state workforce was so mind-bogglingly bad you nearly ruptured the space-time continuum. Humanity may not survive another attempt. I’m disappointed… I thought you were making progress. 21. maverick100 says: @ Gilhags: Yep I’ve got a thought. You and others routinely like to blast the state for being at the top of the heap for state and local employees per capita. Per the latest figures from the Census bureau, you’re wrong. For state and local employees combined, the rankings are as follows: Wyoming ranks first with 963 state and local employees per 10000 residents. #2: Alaska: 859 per 10000 #3: Delaware: 776 per 10000 #4 North Dakota: 764 per 10000 #5: New Mexico: 740 per 10000 #6: Kansas: 715 per 10000 #7: Nebraska: 712 per 10000 #8: Iowa: 687 per 10000 #9 Vermont: 669 per 10000 and finally we hit #10 – New York: 663 per 10000 The average for all states is 585 per 10000. So while you like to harp about the total number, in terms of what the average is per 10000 residents, even though we may rank 10th, we aren’t far off. State employees per capita tells another story. New York ranks 39th with 179 per 10000. Delaware leads the pack with 586 per 10000, and the average is 244 per 10000. Local employees completes the picture. New Hampshire ranks 1st with 546 per 10000, and New York ranks second with 483 per 10000. The average is 338 per 10000. Interpret the results as you will. 22. Andrew says: adirondackguy in his numbers he includes ALL public workers, local and state and teachers. That 1.3MM number is correct! 23. maverick100 says: Second thought: Your average cost per employee is misleading. New York City leads the pack for local employees at over $100k per year. The suburbs (Long Island and Downstate counties) of NYC aren’t far off. You and I have already covered upstate previously however, where the average cost per employee is closer to $40k. City and county jobs upstate are generally not that lucrative. Employees in the City of Albany, for example, averages a salary of about $30k – and that includes police, fire, teachers who raise the average substantially. Remove them, and the average is closer to $26k. What I really wonder is why for all of your complaining aren’t you doing any analysis yourself? The tools are there. All you need is a copy of Microsoft office and access to, where you can simply export the data as a spreadsheet and analyze it for yourself. You love to talk about how you are impartial and just want to know where the problems are, but you never actually bother looking at readily available data yourself. To me, this means you are either A: lazy or B: pushing the Tea Partys agenda. I’m guessing B. 24. gilhags says: Hold on, hold on, hold on, there Adk I agree, that the “state workforce” as identified by you as being those employees under the control of the Governor is around 200,000 but I’m trying (and have been trying ) to arrive at the total number of “public employees”. I asked earlier a few times, and did hear back a few times that the 1.3 million figure is approximately correct. This would include ALL PUBLIC EMPLOYEES. Just add up all the active membership of the union represented employees of this state. I’m not trying to dump on “state workers” but the conversation keeps getting circled because we’re dealing with two sets of figures. I agree with “state workers” anger at the constant bickering by the private sector because the “state workers, actually do represent a small portion of the annual budget when compared to Medicaid, welfare or “public employees” as a whole. BUT The “public employees” AS A WHOLE” represent a COLLASSAL amount of money, also Adk Guy. Be honest. The average cost of a “state worker” is approx. $90,000 judging by every resource from the NY Post, NY Times, Huffington Post etc… 25. maverick100 says: He’s trying to make an educated guesstimate at the entire cost of the public workforce across the entire state. This is what always frustrates me about him. He mixes issues in a way to attempt to confuse the casual reader, and when challenged on doing so, his response is generally “What do I care? Why should I separate anything out? They’re all government workers, right?” Well, I dunno about anyone else, but as far as I’m concerned, the problems in Nassau, Suffolk, and other downstate counties with their costs for their local workforces aren’t my problem. They are the problem of the taxpayers in that particular county. More specifically, the problems of any county or locality other than the county and locality I live in aren’t my problem – again, they are the problems of the taxpayers of that locality. Finally, I’m not naive or uneducated enough to think that a statewide average of this figure or that figure that is artificially inflated by downstate has any bearing on what the costs are in my locality. Gilhags on the other hand loves to use wide reaching generalities while avoiding the nitty gritty. Based on his thought process, if there is a problem downstate, there also must be a problem upstate. If Suffolk averages a cost per employee of over $100k, then Albany county must too. It’s a very flawed way of looking at things, and it’s generally how the right handles facts they can’t overcome when pushing their agenda – widen or narrow the scope until the facts “prove” your point, instead of taking the facts for what they are and admitting your point of view might be incorrect. 26. Upstate Harv says: Work hard, test well- get promoted. Kiss a$$ or be related to the boss- get promoted. I belive the second case is more prevalent. 27. rasputin says: You can’t use the unionized membership as a direction for public workforce. Not all people represented by a union are members of the union. There are many, many different unions and different parts of different unions. And you are forgetting the very very large segment of public employees who are not represented at all! On the state level, you can find the figure for most agencies and divisions, but I have no clue how you can find out all the various authorities and special districts that are out there and controlled by either the legislature, attorney general, comptroller, or governor. The real kicker is trying to find out the metro, municipal, town, village, hamlet, fire distict, school district, BOCES district, garbage district, etc. that are payed for with property taxes. If you want to know where the real cost to the taxpayer in NY is, it is in property and sales taxes that go to all these redundant government entities. And why do all these entities exist? So the local yokel can FEEL like he has control. Think how much we could save by combining all these little local groups into a few large ones. Now THAT would be an economy of scale! 28. CarlGottsteinJr. says: Leftist inflammatory rhetoric like “WAR on public” is no longer welcome. 29. adirondackguy says: @Maverick: Well, of course you’re right, but I still think it’s necessary to correct Gilhags whenever he (I thought Gilhags was a girl! he’s a HE?) goes off on one of these bizarre calculations of his. @Gilhags: Here is the problem. The number you are trying to reach, a total cost of all public employees in the entire state, is completely useless. It has absolutely no purpose. That amount of money is not controlled by ANY ENTITY. The state government only controls the amounts I have described to you. The ONLY money in play where the state government is concerned is the money I’ve described to you from the budget. You can find a copy of the budget here: Now, with respect to LOCAL spending, the only USEFUL thing you can do is evaluate an individual county, see how much it’s spending and how much it’s taxing, and address that situation directly. Each county is a completely separate entity, with its own budget and its own spending and taxes. You CANNOT take them all together because the taxing and the spending are on a county by county basis, with each keeping its own books. The situation becomes even more impossible to group when you look at the city level. Like counties, each city is its own entity, with its own taxes and its own budget. They’re all completely independent. So, you see, Gilhags, what you’re trying to do doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. There IS no single entity controlling spending state-wide. There is only the state government and the money it spends, and each city and the money it spends, and each county, and each village and so on ad infinitum. Taking them all together tells you NOTHING because they’re all completely independent entities with their own budget, books, and income. Understand now? 30. StateWorker says: You are a funny, funny man and oh so fired up. A couple of things, the State Education department mandates curricula in schools, in the event that right wing tools like you are elected to your local school board, and decide to force teachers in your school district, to teach your warped views of both American and World History and Science. Also, you say that Socialists want to control people? Hmmmmmm…Wasn’t the USA Patriot Act enacted under a Republican President? I mean talk about fundamentally changing the Constitution. Lets talk about that property tax cap, sounds like a great idea, until your community undergoes some major either infrastructural issues or God forbid, a natural disaster. If that happens, where does the money come from to fix your problem? Finally, about moving somehwere…New York is a progressive state, How about you head south? Ciao Baby…. RSS feed for comments on this post.
You are viewing cris_a James McAvoy - "Three Days of Rain" "Meanwhile, back in the city...two nights of this room, in the dark...listening...soaking up the Stravinsky of end to the sounds in a city...something happens somewhere, makes a noise, the noise travels, charts the distance: The Story of a Moment. God, I need to sleep! Yes. All right. Begin!" Photos by PurpleSheep "I'm always w-watching you...whenever you're here...I can't help it. (...) It's awful. I don't want it...I d-don't expect to have other people, but I'm of you. So beautiful. Lol.. I had a similar reaction! I was like, "THIS is James?!!" At first glance he looked and sounded so different. I will never forget that first moment when he forcefully opened the door and spoke his first lines while keeping his head down and rubbing his eyes. Maybe that's why I couldn't 'recognize' him at first? But then it all became so natural, and I was just entranced by his acting. The "I'm always watching you..." line is so unbearably sad.. It's one of the times I wanted to cry. Oh, how funny, I was just writing a pm warning you about my post about 3DoR when I received this! :-) Yeah, I was fucking nervous for a few moments there, thinking "OMG, this is the understudy's night...this man is not James!", lol! It was so crazy, because I had just arrived from a long trip and I didn't get to sleep on the plane, everything looked and sounded SO surreal. But soon I was just totally mesmerized by him. That line is so sad, and the way he said it, the whole speech...omg! I miss the play and James so much, don't you? :-( Yeah, I miss it... James on stage was magnificent. Cris, fiz uma viagem contigo! Mas que isso, só se eu estivesse lá. Pelas fotos e pelo teu relato, dá pra ter uma idéia do cuidado com a produção da peça. Fora que, James é James! Mal vejo a hora de ver o seu post em português... Bjim da Ly♥ Great testimony !! James and the play “Three days of rain”! After his success in the movies, James turned celebrity world ! His life took a different turn since before his career was limited to shares in TV, theater and film without expressions. But James is not a common celebrity who likes to be in the media or engage in scandalous. He’s just an ordinary person who has a wonderful job of emotions people. After the success of the wanted, James wanted was relax, but to our surprise and joy, he returns to yours origins in a play starring success. Although unable to travel to London at the time of the play, I am eternally grateful and happy that fans like Cristine, had the thrill of being together with James and all the other actors of the play and have contributed to the success of the play. Most than a simple play, "three days of rain" was just the final consecration of the great human that James proves to be both acting as extremely gentle with all the fans that like Cristine traveled to London to meet him and applaud live him ! Thanks Cristine for having given us the opportunity to feel a bit emotion to see James live and say that we all already know: James is an example to be followed and admired !! Cássia Janes - Brazil
[an error occurred while processing this directive] BBC News watch One-Minute World News Last Updated: Thursday, 11 March, 2004, 11:59 GMT South Korean papers deplore Roh crisis South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun The South Korean press laments the fact that the dispute between President Roh Moo-hyun and opposition parties is now consuming so much political energy. Most papers call on the politicians to put their squabbles behind them as quickly as possible and get on with the job of governing the country. The Korea Times points out that the moves to impeach Mr Roh are unprecedented in the country's recent history. "This is the first time that an incumbent head of state has been threatened with being ousted since the foundation of the Republic in 1948," the paper notes. Both the president and the opposition should think seriously before taking their final steps and find a compromise JoongAng Ilbo The paper says that now is a particularly bad time to indulge in political in-fighting, and advises all concerned to turn their attention to more important matters. "We believe that this is not the time for a political feud to grip the nation when the middle part of the country has been hit hard by the recent snow storms, adding to the economic slump. "With little more than one month left till the general elections, the political parties should immediately stop fighting over the fate of President Roh and battle with policies." "War of nerves" Dong-A Ilbo also deplores the refusal of either side in the dispute to back down. "With the economy being clouded by the recession, the do-or-die political standoff over the impeachment against President Roh Moo-hyun is arousing a sense of crisis in which the entire country may slide into an irreversible quagmire." Noting that opinion polls showed the majority of the South Korea people were opposed to the impeachment moves, but felt Mr Roh should still apologise for his breach of election rules, the paper calls on the president and his opponents to reach a compromise. Wildly wielding the sword of impeachment while holding the country and the people hostage is a move too far "The solution is out there, only to be ignored by the presidential office and politicians." The JoongAng Ilbo echoes this view, warning that if the dispute is allowed to smoulder on, it could have an adverse effect on the conduct of next month's general election. "If the governing and opposition parties continue this war of nerves, it is not hard to predict the outcome... If voting does take place, chaos will reign," an editorial headlined "Political stupidity" declares. "Both the president and the opposition should think seriously before taking their final steps and find a compromise." Calls to back down The centre-left daily Hangyore accuses those pushing for impeachment of being motivated mainly by political opportunism. "The judgment of many around the country is that... wildly wielding the sword of impeachment while holding the country and the people hostage is a move that goes too far." The paper calls on the opposition to "withdraw the bill to impeach the president. They must fear history and the people. If they force a vote out of reasons of partisan strategy, the axe is going to fall on their own feet." The nationalistic Chosun Ilbo, on the other hand, calls on Mr Roh to back down and apologise. "While more than half of the people are opposed to impeachment, at the very same time, an overwhelming number of people think he should apologise. He needs to realise that depending on the form and content of an apology, the situation could be turned round completely." Profile: Roh Moo-hyun 13 Oct 03 \| Asia-Pacific S Korea president's aides charged 29 Dec 03 \| Asia-Pacific S Korea slush scandal spreads 22 Oct 03 \| Asia-Pacific Embattled Roh seeks referendum 13 Oct 03 \| Asia-Pacific Country profile: South Korea 24 May 03 \| Country profiles The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Americas Africa Europe Middle East South Asia Asia Pacific
Drinking the Bottom Shelf » Bottom Shelf Beer: Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale Somewhere on this site I've told the story of how I courageously saved a full-grown television from certain destruction after its previous owners had abandoned it on the sidewalk. It wasn't tied to a lamppost, so it was free to run away, but it instinctively knew to just wait patiently until the right savior happened by. I was privileged to be this 120-pound black beauty's knight in shining sweatpants, and I will never regret lugging him the half-block home. We had a good six month run, but then one particularly hazy morning after a Christmas party gone wrong, Emily came into the bedroom to announce that our rescue TV had leaked all over the table. After such a long stretch without any accidents, we'd assumed the TV was housebroken; I wondered if maybe it had leaked on purpose to protest our staying out too late. But it was something much more serious than petulance. It wouldn't turn on no matter how many buttons I mashed. I never learned what that fluid was, but I learned the more important lesson of how hard it is to drag a giant dead friend to the dumpster out back. We weren't sure if we should replace the television. On one hand, we like to watch TV. On the other hand, TVs from the profit-mongering electronics mills aren't free. Plus we feared that if we ran out to buy a new TV, we'd really just be running from the pain, for I had gouged the shit out of my forearm fighting the old TV's corpse into the dumpster. Was I really just suggesting a trip to Best Buy because it was near our favorite new bar, where I would get the medicine I needed to help heal my hangover, my broken heart, and my bloody arm? Couldn't we do that without blowing a couple hundred bucks on a television? After 30 seconds of debate and reflection, we decided to get a new television, because it's important to move on, and it's important to watch sports, and it's important not to kill each other when trapped inside our dark little apartment all winter. This winter has been mild by New England standards, but it's still dark and unwarm all the damn time, so the lack of snow hasn't been enough to quell my self-diagnosed Act Like a Jerk Because Boo-Hoo Poor Baby Misses the Summer Disorder. I'm not a lot of fun to be around in the winter, so our home is better off with a glowing two-dimensional third-party arbitrator who can distract me with a Celtics game or a Law and Order rerun when I start to yell about how slowly the flavors turn over at the frozen yogurt place in the off-season. (If you're listening, Berryline, allow me to respectfully submit that six straight weeks of Oreo is seven weeks too many. Where's the vanilla cardamom?! Is cardamom not in season? It's not like I'm asking for watermelon or freshly mown grass here.) If this barbaric season had one redeeming quality—and it doesn't—it might be winter beers. I'm not into seasonal beers the rest of the year, because I'm not overly fond of wheat, citrus, or nutmeg, but I've found that a nice winter beer can make my hateful words taste better as they leave my mouth. Though Blue Moon is hardly a bottom shelf operation, its Winter Abbey Ale is the least expensive mass-produced nationally available winter beer I could find. Great news, gang: Another thing to complain about from now till spring! This isn't a terrible beer—I don't hate it as much as the Beer Advocate guys do—but it's certainly not worth $10 a six-pack. Emily has terrible taste in beer, which is to say taste dissimilar to my own, so she thought it was pretty good, which means my Valentine's Day shopping is done courtesy of the five leftover bottles that I have no intention of drinking myself. It pours a deep, almost opaque brown, like a glass of Coke with one ice cube melted into it. The predominant smell is what I think of as generic BEER: slightly stale, slightly bitter malt. The flavor isn't awful but neither is it very interesting, with the BEER augmented by bits of brown sugar and spice. Winter Abbey dried out my mouth with a quality that Coors likely calls "earthiness" but which I'm going to label dirtiness. Overall, this tastes like a mediocre red ale, far inferior to the not-terribly-exciting Samuel Adams Brickhouse Red I had a few days ago. I realize that Blue Moon was born and bred in the Coors lab and therefore lacks the true craft beer heritage of a Goose Island, which started off honest before getting Anheuser-Busched last year. But it's still positioned as the premium offering of one of the country's largest brewers, and I find the flagship bottling and the pumpkin ale to be drinkable. If we can set aside our disdain for macrobreweries and boring wheat beers, we can admit that regular Blue Moon doesn't suck. And neither does the Winter Abbey Ale, but it comes close. Add a comment Previewing your comment:
Conversation Between kakashi_sensei and lessaangel 25 Visitor Messages Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast 1. Yes i go out at dark and if i see the light i start to burn!:P 2. You is a vampire!!! how cool eh! so you only go out in the dark? 3. every thing is kinda windy! i wish it has a turn to be dark and i could wonder free in the dark!!!!! 4. NAh it has a sweet taste to it So how's everything dude? 5. Well i believe so but it doesnt feel and taste hahahahhaha 6. well look at it this don't have the responsibilities of a senior nor people look down on you for being a lower classman. everything is gravy lol 7. No and how is junoir the best year ??? its confusing! 8. junior eh! the best year of HS lol made any friends yet? 9. Im in junoir level!!!!!!! i making nothing write! 10. (>")> <("<)How come dude?! What grade are you in?(>")> <("<) Showing Visitor Messages 1 to 10 of 25 Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Earth's Systems Within this book the authors will address the following required North Carolina Standard Course of Study goals and objectives: Competency Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations to build an understanding of the interdependence of plants and animals Objectives • 1.01 Describe and compare several common ecosystems (communities of organisms and their interaction with the environment). • 1.02 Identify and analyze the functions of organisms within the population of the ecosystem: • Producers. • Consumers. • Decomposers. • 1.03 Explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of organisms. • 1.05 Determine the interaction of organisms within an ecosystem. • 1.06 Explain and evaluate some ways that humans affect ecosystems. • Habitat reduction due to development. • Pollutants. • Increased nutrients. • 1.07 Determine how materials are recycled in nature. Competency Goal 2: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding of landforms Objectives • 2.01 Identify and analyze forces that cause change in landforms over time including. • Water and Ice. • Wind. • Gravity. • 2.02 Investigate and discuss the role of the water cycle and how movement of water over and through the landscape helps shape land forms. • 2.03 Discuss and consider the wearing away and movement of rock and soil in erosion and its importance in forming: • Canyons. • Valleys. • Meanders. • Tributaries. • 2.04 Describe the deposition of eroded material and its importance in establishing landforms including: • Deltas. • Flood Plains. • 2.05 Discuss how the flow of water and the slope of the land affect erosion. • 2.06 Identify and use models, maps, and aerial photographs as ways of representing landforms. • 2.07 Discuss and analyze how humans influence erosion and deposition in local communities, including school grounds, as a result of: • Clearing land. • Planting vegetation. • Building dams. The anthroposphere is one of the many "spheres" of the planet Earth. The Anthroposphere is the people on our Earth. The Earth is home for many humans. (Over 6 billion.) The population on Earth increases at a dangerous rate. Imagine the construction workers and the architects all over the world who have to make and sell houses to most of them! That would be very stressful, don't you think? Well, soon we will out grow our Earth, and the world will be too small! Scientists are trying to make an alternative planet for us to live on when we outgrow our big, blue, mid-sized planet. The cryosphere is a very important part in the world. The cryosphere is all of the ice on planet Earth. The hydrosphere has a huge impact on the cryosphere, because without water, you can't have ice! Ice plays a huge role on our environment's health. The ice is home for many animals such as the penguin, the seal, the walrus, yes... and even the polar bear. The cryosphere has such a huge impact on our environment. Why is planet Earth nicknamed “The Blue Planet”? Well, that all has to do with the hydrosphere. The hydrosphere is all the water on planet Earth. Not in the water bottles, but all the water in lakes, rivers, oceans, and all other water sources in the ground. The hydrosphere takes up 71% of Earth. The other 26% is land, or as we call them, continents. Then there is only 3% of fresh water on earth. The water on Earth stays in its liquid state because of sun. We are close to the sun, so we have a good climate for water. Most of our water is not frozen, except near the North and South Poles. On other planets where scientist “claimed” there is water on, is frozen. We are 3rd in line of the sun, so other planets are much colder than us, which makes Earth a perfect place to live at (temperature/climate-wise.) Some people just say that the lithospere is the Earth crust, and it is, but it is more than that! Last modified on 19 August 2010, at 19:57
Tell me more × Hello I have a server at rackspace cloud running Ubuntu Karmic Koala I was trying to do something until I accidently removed the server ip and name from the file /etc/hosts/ and rebooted. After reboot I am not able to connect to the server using putty although I added the missing line back using webmin file manager. In webmin when I go to SSH Login. It says There is no SSH server running on my ip port 22. Can any one help share\|improve this question add comment migrated from Feb 13 '10 at 23:50 This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers. 3 Answers If Webmin is up and running you can issue commands to the server. Run /etc/init.d/sshd start and see if that fixes the issue. Also, you should have access to a package manager through webmin as well so you can re-install ssh if needed. share\|improve this answer add comment I think you have accidently removed something other, too. SSH server is AFAIK not so dependant on /etc/hosts. BTW. from /etc/hosts you have probably deleted the first line (if we don't count the comments). Have you put it back there, or at the end of file? share\|improve this answer add comment start the sshd daemon, either from webmin or have somebody at the hosting company support do it in /etc/hosts should be also the hostname and the external ip address, after - localhost share\|improve this answer add comment Your Answer
For more inspiration, follow us Green trends Green - creative and cultural Greens are becoming both calmer and cooler reflecting our concern for family and the environment. Cool jades and green teas are key, with a serene and sophisticated quality. They add an extra dimension to your home that is both creative and nurturing. The blue based greens like Soft Fauna 3 encourage a peaceful atmosphere that allows us to relax and feel at home. In previous years we saw sharp modern greens which gave a creative and cultural edge to a sustainable and eco influenced palette. Whilst subtle, architectural greens like Gooseberry Fool 4 remind us of the earths natural building materials like clay, timber, stone and thatch - eco friendly colours that are understated but create a contemporary space. Botanical yellow-based greens add a touch of futuristic energy which are reminiscent of both jungle and the laboratory. Whether they are soft and gentle (Forest Lake 3) or bright and advancing (Indian Ivy 5), both shades will add radiance to your room.
ONJava.com -- The Independent Source for Enterprise Java oreilly.comSafari Books Online.Conferences. AddThis Social Bookmark Button Aspect-Oriented Annotations Pages: 1, 2, 3 Dependency Injection First, we must again define our annotation. package org.jboss.aspects; import java.lang.annotation.ElementType; import java.lang.annotation.Target; public @interface Inject {} package org.jboss.aspects; import org.jboss.aop.joinpoint.; import java.lang.reflect.Field; import javax.transaction.TransactionManager; import org.jboss.tm.TxManager; public InjectTMAspect private TransactionManager tm = TxManager.getInstance(); public Object access(FieldReadInvocation invocation) throws Throwable return tm; public Object access(FieldWriteInvocation invocation) throws Throwable throw new RuntimeException( "Setting an @Injected variable is illegal"); <aspect class="org.jboss.aspects.InjectTMAspect"/> <advice name="access" import javax.transaction.TransactionManager; import org.jboss.aspects.Inject; public class MyTransactionalCache @Inject private TransactionManager tm; More Pre-Packaged Examples JBoss AOP is not just about an AOP framework. It also has a rich library of aspects that you can use directly within your applications. Within this library is a set of annotated aspects that are a bit more complex than the examples we've shown in this article. Some of these aspects include asynchronous invocations, transaction demarcation, transactional locking, and role-based security. Let's briefly walk through them to give you an even better idea on how annotations and AOP can work together. Asynchronous Aspect The JBoss AOP asynchronous aspect allows you to define any method as asynchronous so that it can be fired off in the background. It is a bit different from our @Oneway example, in that it uses the Executor facilities in the Oswego concurrent package, as well as providing a way to receive responses back asynchronously for those methods that have a return type. To use this aspect, you just tag a method as @Asynchronous. public Foo @Asynchronous public int someMethod(int someArg) {...} The application of the @Asynchronous tag does a few things. As in the @Oneway example in this article, it applies an aspect that runs the method in the background. Also, with the @Asynchronous tag, you are not limited to void methods and may interact with methods that actually return a value. When the @Asynchronous tag is applied, it forces the Foo class to implement the AsynchronousFacade interface. In AOP-land, this is called an interface introduction. The AsynchronousFacade interface allows you to poll for a response, or wait for a response with a timeout. This is best explained with an example. Foo foo = new Foo(); someMethod(555); // executes in background AsynchronousFacade facade = (AsynchronousFacade)foo; AsynchronousResponse response = facde.waitForResponse(); You can fire off multiple invocations to multiple different methods of multiple different objects, and asynchronously accumulate their responses. Transaction Locking Sometimes it may be useful to synchronize an object or class for the duration of a J2EE transaction rather than for just the duration of a method call, constructor invocation, or synchronized block. For this type of transactional synchronization/locking, JBoss AOP has invented the @TxSynchronized keyword. You can use @TxSynchronized on any member or static method, as well as on a constructor. import org.jboss.aspects.txlock.TxSynchronized; public FooBar @TxSynchronized public FooBar() {} @TxSynchronized static void staticMethod() {} @TxSynchronized public memberMethod() {} If a constructor or static method that is tagged as @TxSynchronized is invoked, the lock monitor for the class will be held for the duration of the transaction. If a member method tagged as @TxSynchronized is called, the lock monitor for the particular object instance will be held until the current transaction commits or rolls back. The aspect that controls this behavior also will do deadlock detection and will throw a RuntimeException if deadlock is encountered. J2EE a la Carte: Transaction Demarcation EJB 3.0 has defined some annotations to do transaction demarcation. JBoss AOP builds on this so that you can apply transaction demarcation to any method (static or member) and any constructor of any Java class by specifying an annotation. import org.jboss.aspects.tx.; public class Foo @Tx(TxType.REQUIRED) public Foo {} @Tx(TxType.REQUIRESNEW) public static createFoo() { return new Foo(); J2EE a la Carte: Role-Based Security EJB 3.0 has also defined some annotations to do role-based security. JBoss AOP builds on this so that you can apply role-based security to any field or method (static or member) as well as any constructor. import org.jboss.aspects.security.*; @SecurityDomain("LDAP Repository") public class Foo @Permissions({"admin"}) public Foo() {} @Permissions({"developer"}) public static int status; @Permissions({"anybody"}) public static void doSomething() {...} EJB Evolution As AOP matures along with the EJB specification, what I really hope happens is that the annotations defined in the EJB specification will be usable in any context as new adjectives to the Java language, rather than their limited constricted use within session beans. Imagine a truly stateless bean being just a set of static methods on a plain Java class. public MySessionBean @Tx(TxType.REQUIRED) public static doSomething() {...} Anyways, this talk of AOP and EJB is probably for EJB 4.0. Instead of limiting J2SE 5.0 annotations for use with code generation, annotations and AOP can be combined to give new power to framework developers. The combination allows developers to define new Java syntax that actually has behavior attached to it. Basically, the ability to extend the Java language in a typesafe way is within our grasp. Return to ONJava.com.
Mechanic's Hall Mechanic's lien A mechanic's lien is a security interest in the title to property for the benefit of those who have supplied labor or materials that improve the property. The lien exists for both real property and personal property. In the realm of real property, it is called by various names, including, generically, construction lien. It is also called a materialman's lien or supplier's lien when referring to those supplying materials, a laborer's lien when referring to those supplying labor, and a design professional's lien when referring to architects or designers who contribute to a work of improvement. In the realm of personal property, it is also called an artisan's lien. The term "lien" comes from a French root (via William the Conqueror), with a meaning similar to link; it is related to "liaison." Mechanics liens on property in the United States date from the 1700s. Reasons for existence With respect to real property, mechanic's liens are purely statutory devices that exist in every state. The reason they exist is a legislative public policy to protect the contractors. More specifically, the state legislatures have determined that, due to the economics of the construction business, contractors and subcontractors need a greater remedy for non-payment for their work than merely the right to sue on their contracts. In particular, without the mechanics' lien, subcontractors providing either labor or materials may have no effective remedy if their general contractor isn't sufficiently financially responsible because their only contractual right is with that general contractor. Without the mechanic's lien, the contractor would have a limited number of options to enforce payment of the amounts owed. Further, there is usually a long list of claimants on any failed project. To avoid the specter of various trades, materialmen and suppliers attempting to remove the improvements they have made, and to maintain a degree of equality between the various lienors on a project, the statutory lien scheme was created. Without it, Tradesperson A may try to "race" Supplier B to the courthouse, the project site or the construction lender to obtain payment. Most lien statutes instead mandate strict compliance with the formalized process they create in return for the timely resolution and balancing of claims between all parties involved - both owners and lien claimants. Vehicular Definition of a lien sale State of California,If the vehicle's value is $4,000 or less, the registered and legal owners of record will be notified by the party conducting the lien. If the vehicle's value is greater than $4,000, DMV notifies all interested parties. You can call (916)-657-7617 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. if you have questions regarding lien sales. Mechanic's liens exist to secure payment for services, labor and material on both personal and real property. However, the creation and enforcement mechanisms differ depending on whether real or personal property is involved. The law of mechanic's liens on real property governs the creation and enforcement of these liens on items of personal property that have been attached to real property in such a way as to be a fixture. Creation and Enforcement - Personal property The English common law recognized mechanic's liens respecting only personal property. The lien was created by the fact of the artisan working on the personal property item or attaching additional material to it. However, to maintain the lien, the artisan had to retain possession of the article until he or she was paid. If the property were returned to the owner before that time, the lien was lost. The lien was enforced by a sale of the property and applying the sale proceeds to payment of the amount owed for the workmanship. The sales were non-judicial, i.e., they were held in the same way as a sale of property pawned for a debt.... Some 34 states now appear to have statutes providing for mechanic's liens on personal property Creation, Perfection, Priority and Enforcement - Real property Mechanic's liens on the title to real property are exclusively the result of legislation. Each state has its own laws regarding the creation and enforcement of these liens, but, overall, there are some similar elements among them. Real property of the government (public property) is ordinarily not subject to the claims of private parties. Therefore, unless the state specifically so provides, mechanic's liens do not attach to the title owned by the state or its administrative subdivisions, such as cities. Similarly, mechanic's liens under state law are invalid on federal construction projects. To protect subcontractors and suppliers federal projects, where the contract price exceeds $100,000.00, the Miller Act requires general contractors to provide a surety bond which guarantees payment for work done in accordance with the terms of the contract. Many state and municipal governments similarly require contractors on public works projects to be bonded. Creation and perfection Under the statutes, the lien is usually created by the performance of labor or the supplying of material that improves the property. Just what type of contribution counts as a valid basis for a mechanics lien varies, depending on the particular state statute that applies. Some common examples are: * Laborers, carpenters, electricians, and plumbers working on the project site; * Lumber yards, plumbing supply houses and electrical suppliers; * Architects and civil engineers who drew up the construction plans and specifications; and * Offsite fabricators of specialty items that are ultimately incorporated into the project. Often, there is no simple dividing line that is useful in every state, or even in every case, for determining this eligibility. Deciding whether a party has a legitimate lien right may depend on examining court cases that have either upheld or rejected lien claims in the same state. Unlike other security interests, in most states, mechanic's liens are given to contractors and material suppliers who may or may not have a direct contractual agreement with the owner of the land. In fact, this is often the norm because in most cases, the owner of the land contracts only with a general contractor (often called a "prime contractor"). The general contractor, in turn, hires subcontractors ("subs") and material suppliers ("suppliers") to perform the work. These subs and suppliers are entitled to liens on the owner's property to secure their payment from the general contractor. However, to have an enforceable lien, it usually must be "perfected." This means that the holder of the lien must comply with the statutory requirements for maintaining and enforcing the lien. These requirements, which contain time limits, are generally as follows: Providing the required preliminary notice to the property owner disclosing the entitlement to the lien (some states). Filing notices of commencement of work (some states). Filing notices in the required public records offices of the intention to file a lien if unpaid (some states). Filing the notice or claim of lien in the required public records offices within a specified period of time after the materials have been supplied or the work completed (all states). The law varies from state-to-state on both the triggering event and the timing of this. Some states require the filing within a period measured from the time when the claimant completes its work, while others specify the event as being after all work on the project has been completed. The filing time periods after the triggering event vary, with 4-6 months being common. *Filing a lawsuit to foreclose the lien within a specified time period. Priority respecting other interests The statutes creating mechanic's liens usually give them a higher priority with respect to other interests in the title than the law gives most real property security interests. Among other things, priority is the attribute that determines which of several competing security claims will have the first claim to the funds of a foreclosure sale. In this context, the priority of a mechanic's lien is determined either by the time the lien attaches to the title to the property or by the point in time to which it "relates back." With some exceptions, the lien attaches or relates back to a time prior to the time that any notice of it appears in the public records. In many states, this is specified as the time when the first visible construction commences on the building site. In others, it is when the contract is executed for the work to be done. In still others, each contractor or supplier's lien attaches at the time when it commences its own work. Therefore, persons dealing with the owner of the title to the property risk having their interests unexpectedly subject to mechanic's liens of which they had no knowledge. Special provisions are made in some states for determining the priority between a mechanic's lien and the lien of a mortgage that is financing the construction on the land. For instance, in the State of New York, the appearance of specified language in the mortgage to the effect that it is a construction loan preserves its priority over mechanic's liens arising out of the construction, as long as subsequently filed lien claims that are legitimate are not ignored. In other states, such as Florida, it is an all or nothing proposition. There, the recording of the construction mortgage before the filing of a statutory notice of commencement of construction provides the mortgage with absolute priority over mechanic's liens arising out of the construction. Still other states, such as California, provide priority for a construction loan mortgage recorded before the visible commencement of construction where the lender is obligated to disburse the funds. In the State of Illinois, there is a statutory funds disbursing scheme that, if followed, provides construction loan mortgage priority. In other states, there are still other arrangements and some states, such as Colorado, provide almost no practical means for a construction loan mortgage to obtain priority at all. Mechanic's liens are enforced exclusively through judicial foreclosure sales, i.e., through court proceedings similar to mortgage foreclosures. The court must determine whether the requirements of the statute have been met and, if so, the priority of the mechanic's lien being foreclosed relative to the other liens or encumbrances on the title. Once that is determined, the court will order the property sold and the proceeds of the sale applied to the liens in the order of their priority. Search another word or see Mechanic's Hallon Dictionary \| Thesaurus \|Spanish Copyright © 2013, LLC. All rights reserved. • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
What's the point of grad committee meetings? Jun 29 2012 Published by under [Education&Careers] I don't even know how many committee meetings I have been to, either as a student or supervisor. Every place does them slightly differently and there is usually substantial freedom in the format and tone. Some include a formal presentation, written report before hand, or both. Others are a casual conversation. As fas as I know, however, the point of having a committee meeting is mainly to get some constructive "outside" guidance on the work you are doing and have planned. Lot's of other things can come out of committee meetings, but making sure you don't have your head stuck up your advisor's ass is a key component. In most cases, a committee comes on board once you have a research plan in place and meets once or twice a year. Based on this, I was surprised to read Algae Girl's post about her first committee meeting happening at the end of her third year. In a follow-up post she mentions she may be defending in December, indicating that her first committee meeting is happening at the 11th hour of her degree. Any input from the committee at this stage would, by necessity, be window dressing. I have to say that I'm a little surprised a degree program would be set up that way, although it could just be how things fell for her. In my department, the committee needs to be established and a research proposal needs to be submitted to the grad school, no later than the end of year one. The committee has to sign off on the proposal and often has a meeting to discuss, including a presentation by the student. A considerable amount of feedback is given to the student at that time, which hopefully improves the overall research plan. What do you see as the point of committee meetings, at least as they are intended (I've been to some useless ones)? How early and often are the done at your institution? 22 responses so far • Zen Faulkes says: Our masters' students are supposed to have a committee meeting in their first semester, and annually after that. The goal is to make sure the student is making good progress. We'd had a bad patch where some students were just adrift, so the annual meeting is a way to make sure the wheels are still turning and not seized up. • Bashir says: It could also be that the program isn't set up in a particular way. At my grad institution the only actual required meeting was the final defense (maybe prelim too). By required I mean a written down university/departmental rule that you could not get out of. Everything else was convention. Most people had frequent meetings and did things the way you describe. Lots of feedback along the way. Some procrastinated, left them to the last minute, or had faculty who were too busy to be involved, etc. Basically the point of grad committee meetings was whatever you wanted to be. • proflikesubstance says: I would argue strongly that it is poor institutional policy to leave this up to the students. • studyzone says: In my PhD program, the committee served two purposes: 1) to provide outside perspectives on the student's project (which I found very helpful), and 2) to serve as a safety net to protect against rogue/unreasonable PIs. There was a codified set of rules that committees and students had to satisfy (annual meetings, semi-annual progress reports, etc.) Unfortunately, purpose (2) backfired on several students who allowed their PIs to more or less pick the students' committee members. One student in my cohort had the worst micromanager of a PI who felt that students should not even be allowed to take the oral exam for candidacy until the student had published a paper. This was NOT a program requirement, and the program head tried to intervene on the student's behalf to get the PI to sign off on the student's oral exam, but couldn't mandate anything without the committee signing off on it. Because the PI had hand-picked the committee members, the committee did not intervene, and the student eventually left the program after 5 years with a Masters. Apparently, there are new rules in place to prevent this type of abuse from happening again, but it did make everyone in my program question the value of committees after that. • anon says: No, she says she's doing a 'oral/proposal defense', i.e., advance to candidacy exam in December, not a final thesis defense. • proflikesubstance says: Ah, I see that now. Nevertheless, three years is a long time. • anon says: We're required to have annual committee meetings, where this first meeting must be within one year of passing the qualifying exam. Each meeting requires a write-up and a presentation. I'm sure the reasons for these meetings are the usual ones (outside perspective, protection from unreasonable advisors, make sure students are making progress, etc.), but it's a shame that the meetings are not really enforced. In theory, if you haven't had a committee meeting in the past year, you are no longer in "good standing" and lose opportunities for department-funded GA positions (and maybe even TA positions), but I've never heard of that occurring, and it's an idle threat if you have a fellowship or your advisor funds you. I think half of the people who skip their meetings are the people who probably could use it most (the other half are the well-supported, making good progress, too busy with science, and don't find the meetings useful type). • Daimia says: I'm having my first 'introductory meeting' in a couple of weeks. In the past the first meeting used to be the actual exam which sounds pretty intimidating if it is the first time you come face to face with the members. Now it's different. I (we) get an introductory meeting to get them all in the room and give a short presentation about the project. I hope that it gives me insight into the personalities of the members. Some PIs get labels from fellow students (eg hardass) and others you're not so sure about. My committee had to have people with expertise in my field and with no expertise in my field so I have a couple potential collaborators and a couple of outsiders I think could add valuable input from the 'outside'. I also get the feeling that committee members with 'clout' are a plus since they will probably be writing you recommendations in the future. If your PI isn't a hot shot, it's probably a good idea to get one on there (within reason) off course. After the exam, meetings should be held at least once a year. I would have loved to go observe one before my own but that's kind of impossible. Everyone has different experiences so I can't exactly rely on someone's account to gauge how mine will go. I just hope it goes well and I'm happy that I don't get graded officially on the first go around. • Daimia says: Committee needs to be in place before the end of the second year (I'm nearing the end of mine) and proposal defense needs to happen before the end of 3rd. The proposal committee remains the same throughout the program and administers the final defense. I know that there are other programs which have different committees for the proposals. • Dr. O says: For all of the programs I've been involved in, the first committee meeting is during year 3. The first year the students are rotating. The second year, they're taking a few more classes and preparing for qualifying exams - format for these varies extensively, but generally does not involve their own research. Beginning of the third year, candidates start to put together a proposal of their doctoral research, then defend the proposal to their committee. Their first committee meeting may be prior to this defense, or the defense may be the first committee meeting. The point of the committee meetings, from my standpoint, is generally what you suggest - to provide an outside perspective of the candidate's project, data, and progress. Given the timeline above, this gives 3-4 years of interaction with the committee, assuming a 5-6 year PhD stint. I prefer formal committee meetings about every 6 months to make sure the student is staying on track. The student is hopefully also presenting their research at departmental seminars, conferences, group meetings, etc, and talking informally to their committee members, to receive additional guidance on their project. • icee says: The schools I've attended all have the requirement of 1st meeting in the 1st year, and annual meeting/forms filed in each subsequent year. Neither of the schools I have been to enforced that rule, until last year. Because the rule wasn't enforced, lots of students delayed meetings or even appointing a committee for several years. It allows students to flounder, sometimes egregiously. I've always had meetings when I was supposed to because they almost always benefit the student - all my meetings have been extremely helpful. New department chair started cracking the whip a year ago on enforcement and there was LOTS of grumbling. The results have been good, though. You may think it's better for you to not be accountable to a committee, but they are there to protect you as much as they are there to hassle you. You might graduate sooner, too, because they will ensure that you're on track. I never understood the logic of students trying to get out of committee meetings. If your committee sucks that bad, change it (if you can). If you suck that bad, change you! • Jim Thomerson says: One of my undergraduate students went into a PhD program in biology at a respectable university. At his first committee meeting, his committee asked him what he wanted to do professionally. He said he wanted to teach. They gave him a really hard time. He dropped out of the program, and got a MS in Junior College Administration. He got a job with the state, and for many years ran the state large mouth bass research program. Eventually, having gone as far up as he could with the state, he got a teaching job at a small Christian university, and was happy to be there. I thought there was a certain amount of irony in his career. • lylebot says: In my field there are usually just two committee meetings: one for the proposal and one for the defense. And it's not rare that they happen with less than 12 months in between. I was on one committee that included a biologist (the student was doing some work related to biology) and that followed that template. The biologist was not too happy about the whole thing, even though she had a major role in the work and had frequent meetings with the student and her advisor. • Hermitage says: Yup, my dept is similar to lyle's. My committee members are big cheeses, so even trying to pin them down for extraneous meetings would be a feat in and of itself. I guess I'll find out who good/bad that is when I go in for meeting #1, lol. • [...] PLS has a post up lamenting the worth of the obligatory committee meetings in graduate school. From my [...] • ponderingfool says: My PhD granting department had a qualifying committee at the start of your second year. Assuming you passed quals, you met your thesis committee (advisor plus at least two other faculty members of your choice & their consent) at the end of your second year. Year three & four met once a year in the spring. Years 5 and beyond, met every semester. Most finished between years 5 and 6. The committee was to help, keep students on track, protect students from absurd/abusive advisors (well the other two members), force students to think about the big picture, and serve as mentors. • proflikesubstance says: Dr. O said: Given the timeline above, this gives 3-4 years of interaction with the committee, assuming a 5-6 year PhD stint Dude, 5-6 years is pushing it. This may be field-specific, but I try and get mine through in a lot less time than that. But we don't seem to have the same early time-line so the students here can dig in quite a bit sooner. • newly minted PhD says: I recently defended my PhD in a physical sciences department that encouraged interdisciplinary work, so that my advisor was in a biological sciences department. In my home department, only one committee meeting is required, and that meeting takes place during the student's 4th year. (6 years is approximately the "normal" time to degree in my field/institution.) The only other meeting of the committee is at the defense. At least at my institution, this seems to be more the norm in the physical sciences departments, whereas in most of the biosciences departments, committee meetings occur on something closer to an annual basis. I totally agree with proflikesubstance that the timing of committee meetings should not be left up to the students, and should occur more frequently and earlier on than happened in my home department. It worked out fine for me in the end, but I have definitely observed cases where students languished a bit and probably would have gotten back on track sooner if they had been required to have more frequent committee meetings. I also think I would have benefited from more frequent interactions with my committee, but since that was not the norm, I felt uncomfortable trying to burden my committee with additional meetings that weren't required. I also felt like it might send some sort of red flag that I thought something was "wrong" if I tried to schedule additional meetings. In fact I had a very good relationship with my advisor, so I didn't need additional meetings from the perspective of shielding me from abuse or anything, but I just think I would have benefited from more frequently getting additional perspectives on my science. My reaction after my defense was pretty much, "that was fun, wish I could've done that more often." • anon says: this is field dependent; it is completely normal to not have a proposal until your 3rd year in my field, as the national average time to degree is 9-10 years...we do field work for at least a year and have to obtain funding ourselves, most of us at least... • Algae Girl says: Wow, so I just found this post....My usual MO is to send a blog post into the ether, and then come back in several days and do it again. Between prepping for field work and holiday and usual shenanigans, it's been longer than usual. In mine, my advisor's, and dept's defense: Yes, at the end of 3 years is a little late in the process. This was actually a meeting I'd been trying to set up since JANUARY, but people's schedules be crazy. And our dept procedure is 1) Prelim meeting 2) Proposal defense 3) Final defense. I'm a little late because it's wasn't until last fall that I even HAD a dissertation (I'm slow) and my dept finally has enough faculty that I can have a committee without driving someone insane. Long story, I know...sorry • proflikesubstance says: AG, the post isn't an attack on you, at all. Different departments do things differently and every student is a unique case. That said, many departments try and have hard deadlines for things like committee meetings to make sure no one falls through the cracks. I am often surprised how long different places will let their students go before they need to touch base with anyone but their advisor. • proflikesubstance says: Anon, 9-10 years isn't a grad degree, it's a fucking career. As a general rule, if your grad program is longer than it takes people to get tenure, there is an issue. Leave a Reply
Thorax 58:528-532 doi:10.1136/thorax.58.6.528 • Airway biology Comparison of airway immunopathology of eosinophilic bronchitis and asthma 1. C E Brightling, 2. F A Symon, 3. S S Birring, 4. P Bradding, 5. A J Wardlaw, 6. I D Pavord 1. Institute for Lung Health, University of Leicester, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Leicester UK. 1. Correspondence to: Dr I D Pavord, Institute for Lung Health, Department of Respiratory Medicine, University Hospitals of Leicester, Groby Road, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK; • Accepted 12 March 2003 Background: Eosinophilic bronchitis is a condition characterised by a corticosteroid responsive cough, sputum eosinophilia, and normal tests of variable airflow obstruction and airway responsiveness. We performed a detailed comparative immunopathological study to test the hypothesis that the different airway function in patients with eosinophilic bronchitis and asthma reflects differences in the nature of the lower airway inflammatory response. Methods: Exhaled nitric oxide was measured and induced sputum, bronchoscopy, bronchial wash (BW), bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and bronchial biopsy were performed in 16 subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis, 15 with asthma, and 14 normal controls. Results: Both eosinophilic bronchitis and asthma were characterised by an induced sputum, BW and BAL eosinophilia, an increased number of epithelial and subepithelial eosinophils, and increased reticular basement membrane thickness. The median concentration of exhaled nitric oxide was higher in those with eosinophilic bronchitis (12 ppb) or asthma (8.5 ppb) than normal controls (2 ppb) (95% CI of the difference 5 to 16, p<0.0001 and 2 to 11.3, p=0.004, respectively). There were no group differences in epithelial integrity or the number of subepithelial T lymphocytes, mast cells or macrophages. Conclusion: With the exception of our previously reported association of smooth muscle mast cell infiltration with asthma, the immunopathology of eosinophilic bronchitis and asthma are similar which suggests that eosinophilic airway inflammation, increased exhaled nitric oxide, and increased basement membrane thickening are regulated independently of airway hyperresponsiveness. The development of sputum induction has provided a safe non-invasive method for assessing airway inflammation.1–4 One of the most interesting early observations made using this method was the identification of a group of patients with a sputum eosinophilia identical to that seen in asthma, but with none of the functional abnormalities associated with asthma.5,6 Patients with this condition, known as eosinophilic bronchitis, typically present in middle age with a corticosteroid responsive dry or minimally productive cough. Wheeze and dyspnoea are not prominent and tests of variable airflow obstruction and airway responsiveness are normal. We7 and others8 have shown that eosinophilic bronchitis is a common cause of cough in patients presenting to a respiratory specialist. Previous studies have suggested that the different association between airway inflammation and dysfunction in asthma and eosinophilic bronchitis is not due to localisation of the inflammatory process in the upper airway in eosinophilic bronchitis,6,9 differences in the state of activation of the inflammatory process as assessed by induced sputum inflammatory mediator concentrations,10 or differences in Th2 type cytokine expression.11,12 We have recently reported that the functional differences between eosinophilic bronchitis and asthma may be due to infiltration of airway smooth muscle by mast cells in asthma.13 In this report no differences were found in the number of EG2+ eosinophils, T cells, or mast cells in the bronchial submucosa. However, no study has compared in detail the immunopathology from different compartments of the lower airway in these conditions. We have undertaken a comparative immunopathological study of induced sputum, bronchial wash, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and bronchial mucosal biopsies from patients with eosinophilic bronchitis, symptomatic asthma, and normal controls. Sixteen subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis, 15 with asthma, and 14 normal controls were recruited from Glenfield Hospital outpatients, staff, and by local advertising. The diagnostic criteria for asthma and eosinophilic bronchitis were as previously described.13 All subjects were non-smokers with a past smoking history of less than 10 pack years. None had taken inhaled or oral corticosteroids for at least 6 weeks before the study. Data on the lavage and biopsy cytokine and cell surface marker expression in this study population has been presented previously,12 as has the number of submucosal T cells and mast cells and the reticular lamina and basement membrane thickness from eight controls, 13 subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis, and eight subjects with asthma.13 The Leicestershire ethics committee approved the study and all patients gave their written informed consent. Protocol and clinical measurements Subjects attended on two occasions. At the first visit the severity of the symptoms cough, breathlessness and wheeze was measured on a 100 mm visual analogue scale from no symptoms to worst ever, as previously described.14 Exhaled nitric oxide, spirometric parameters, allergen skin prick tests, and methacholine airway responsiveness were measured, followed on recovery by a sputum induction test. End exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) was measured by a chemiluminescent technique (Logan, UK). Subjects exhaled at a flow rate of 250 ml/s with a sampling rate of 250 ml/min. Spirometric tests were performed using a dry bellows spirometer (Vitalograph, Buckingham, UK) with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) recorded as the best of successive readings within 100 ml. Allergen skin prick tests were performed to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, cat fur, grass pollen, and Aspergillus fumigatus solutions with normal saline and histamine controls (Bencard, UK). A positive response to an allergen on the skin prick tests was recorded by the presence of a weal of >2 mm more than the negative control. The methacholine challenge was performed using the tidal breathing method15 with doubling concentrations of methacholine from 0.03 to 128 mg/ml nebulised via a Wright nebuliser. After patients had recovered from the methacholine challenge, sputum was induced and processed as previously described.13 At the second visit 1 week later the subjects underwent bronchoscopy using an Olympus fibreoptic bronchoscope (Olympus Company, Tokyo, Japan) in accordance with recent BTS guidelines.16 A 20 ml bronchial wash of prewarmed normal saline into the bronchus intermedius was performed followed by 180 ml BAL fluid into the middle lobe in 60 ml aliquots. Bronchial mucosal biopsy specimens were taken from the right middle and lower lobe carinae. All subjects received nebulised 2.5 mg salbutamol 20 minutes before bronchoscopy and had appropriate sedation as required (midazolam 0–5 mg iv). Lignocaine (1–4%) was used for local anaesthesia and continuous oxygen was given via nasal cannulae throughout the procedure. Mucosal biopsy specimens were immediately transferred into ice cooled acetone containing the protease inhibitors iodoacetamide (20 mM) and PMSF (2 mM) for fixation, stored at −20°C for 24 hours, and then processed into the water soluble resin glycol methacrylate (GMA) (Polysciences, Northampton, UK) for embedding. Two μm sections were cut, floated on 0.2% ammonia solution in water for 1 minute, and dried at room temperature for 1–4 hours. The following mouse IgG1 monoclonal antibodies were used: CD3 (Dako Ltd, High Wycombe, UK), CD4 (Becton Dickinson, Oxford, UK), CD8 (Dako Ltd), AA1 to mast cell tryptase (Dako Ltd), MBP to eosinophil major basic protein (Bradsure Biologicals, Loughborough, UK), NE to neutrophil elastase (Dako Ltd), CD45 panleukocyte marker (Dako Ltd), CD14 to macrophages (Dako Ltd), and CD56 to natural killer cells (Dako Ltd). The technique of immunostaining applied to GMA embedded tissue has been described previously.17 Assessment and quantification of immunohistochemical staining Subepithelial mucosa and epithelium were identified morphologically and the area calculated using a computer analysis system (Scion Image). Nucleated immunostained cells present in coded sections of the submucosa and epithelium were counted and the numbers of cells expressed per mm2. Basement membrane width was measured as the mean of 50 measurements made at 20 μm intervals as previously described.18 In two subjects with asthma and one normal control a biopsy specimen was either not obtained or was insufficient to quantify, and one subject with asthma and two with eosinophilic bronchitis had a basement membrane length of <1 mm. Statistical analysis Subject characteristics were described using descriptive statistics. Exhaled nitric oxide concentration, differential cell counts, and epithelial integrity were expressed as median (range) values. Basement membrane width was described as mean (SE). Comparisons between the three groups were undertaken using the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare between groups with non-parametric data when a difference was identified and by ANOVA and unpaired t tests for parametric data. A p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Characteristics of the study subjects are shown in table 1. The median exhaled nitric oxide concentration was higher in patients with eosinophilic bronchitis (12 ppb, 95% CI of difference 5 to 16, p<0.001) and asthma (8.5 ppb, 95% CI 2 to 11.3, p=0.004) than in normal controls (2 ppb). There were no differences in the nitric oxide concentration between patients with eosinophilic bronchitis and those with asthma (table 1). Table 1 Clinical characteristics of subjects Differential inflammatory cell counts in sputum, bronchial wash (BW), and BAL fluid are shown in table 2. Induced sputum, BW, and BAL fluid eosinophil counts were significantly higher in subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis (sputum: 95% CI of difference 4 to 13.3%, p<0.0001; BW: 95% CI 1.1 to 3.5%, p<0.0001; BAL: 95% CI 0.25 to 2.2%, p=0.006) and asthma (sputum: 95% CI 0.2 to 5%, p=0.01; BW: 95% CI 0 to 4.1%, p=0.01; BAL: 95% CI 0 to 1.7%, p=0.02) than in normal subjects. There were no differences in the eosinophil counts between subjects with asthma and those with eosinophilic bronchitis, and no differences were seen in other differential cell counts between the groups (table 2). Table 2 Median (range) differential cell counts (%) in sputum, bronchial wash, and BAL fluid The median MBP+ cells/mm2 subepithelium were significantly higher than controls in both subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis (95% CI of difference 12 to 40, p=0.0004) and those with asthma (95% CI 4 to 35, p=0.01). There were no differences in the subepithelial eosinophil counts between eosinophilic bronchitis and asthma. The median NE+ cells/mm2 subepithelium in the submucosa was higher in subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis than in those with asthma (95% CI of difference 0.2 to 29, p=0.046) and normal controls (95% CI 1 to 28, p=0.02). No differences were observed in the other submucosal cell counts (table 3); counts in atopic and non-atopic subjects within groups were similar. Table 3 Median (range) subepithelial and intraepithelial cell counts per mm2 The intraepithelial median eosinophil count/mm2 epithelium was significantly different in subjects with asthma (16.7) and with eosinophilic bronchitis (11.6) from those in normal controls (0; 95% CI of difference 0 to 25, p=0.015; 95% CI 1 to 50, p=0.007, respectively), but there were no differences between the two disease groups. There were no between group differences in the median number of epithelial T cells (p=0.77) or mast cells (p=0.33, table 3). The mean (SE) basement membrane width was 7.2 (0.4) μm in normal controls, 10.7 (1.1) μm in subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis (95% CI of difference 1 to 6, p=0.01), and 9 (0.7) μm in subjects with asthma (95% CI of difference 0.2 to 3.4, p=0.03). There was no difference in the basement membrane and reticular lamina thickness between the two disease groups. There were no differences in epithelial integrity between subjects with asthma (median 70% (range 2–96)), eosinophilic bronchitis (79% (0–98)), and normal controls (86% (34–96)). Sputum, bronchial wash, and BAL fluid eosinophilia, epithelial and submucosal evidence of eosinophilic airway inflammation, increased eNO levels, and increased basement membrane thickening were found in subjects with mild asthma. These findings are entirely consistent with previous studies in this patient group.1,13,19,20 Importantly, very similar abnormalities were found in subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis, a condition characterised by the absence of variable airflow obstruction and airway hyperresponsiveness.5,6 The implication of our findings is that none of these features is important in the genesis of the disordered airway function observed in asthma. Airway inflammation was assessed using a variety of complementary techniques that are likely to sample different parts of the bronchial tree.21 There were no significant differences in eosinophil counts in any samples, suggesting that differences in the localisation of the eosinophilic airway inflammation is unlikely to explain the different functional associations seen in asthma and eosinophilic bronchitis. The trend towards an increase in sputum eosinophil count in eosinophilic bronchitis compared with asthma may represent a selection bias since a count of >3% was part of the entry criteria in eosinophilic bronchitis but not asthma. Fujimura et al have described a group of patients with atopic cough who have an eosinophilic tracheobronchitis without BAL fluid eosinophilia.22 Our study confirms a previous report11 that BAL fluid eosinophilia is a feature of eosinophilic bronchitis and provides further evidence that atopic cough and eosinophilic bronchitis are distinct conditions. Our findings add to a growing body of evidence questioning a direct causal association between eosinophilic airway inflammation and airway responsiveness in asthma. Recent large observational studies have found at best a weak correlation between the induced sputum eosinophil count and methacholine airway responsiveness in subjects with atopic asthma.23 Furthermore, early studies with anti-interleukin (IL)-5 antibodies have shown an effective reduction in the peripheral blood and sputum eosinophilia seen following allergen challenge, but no effect on either the early or late response or on the severity of airway hyperresponsiveness.24 These observations suggest either that there is an important component of airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma that is independent of eosinophilic airway inflammation, or that there are other functionally important aspects of the inflammatory response that, although closely linked to eosinophilic airway inflammation, can be dissociated from it. One aspect of the inflammatory response that might be particularly important is the localisation of mast cells since they are present within the airway smooth muscle in asthma but not in eosinophilic bronchitis.13 If eosinophilic airway inflammation is not important in the development of airway hyperresponsiveness, then how does it contribute to the pathophysiology of asthma? Both eosinophilic bronchitis and asthma are associated with cough, and it is possible that eosinophilic airway inflammation is directly responsible for this aspect of the asthmatic process. Our previous finding of a significant correlation between the improvement in cough reflex sensitivity and fall in induced sputum eosinophil count following treatment of subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis with inhaled corticosteroids9 would be consistent with a causal association. We have reported an increased rate of decline in FEV1 and the development of fixed airflow obstruction in a patient with eosinophilic bronchitis,25 and it is possible that this important complication of chronic asthma is also related to eosinophilic airway inflammation. Finally, eosinophilic airway inflammation could be causally associated with the occurrence of asthma exacerbations since corticosteroid withdrawal studies show that the sputum eosinophil count is an independent predictor of the development of an exacerbation,26 and that an increase in the sputum eosinophil count occurs well before the exacerbation.27 Previous immunopathological studies of asthma have reported thickening of the subepithelial collagen layer, increased numbers of epithelial cells in the bronchial wash,28 and a reduction in epithelial integrity in bronchial biopsy specimens.19 Bronchial epithelial cells are also activated, as reflected by increased inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS) expression29 and an increased concentration of nitric oxide in exhaled air.20 We found no differences in the number of epithelial cells in the bronchial wash or BAL fluid, and no difference in epithelial integrity or basement membrane width between subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis and those with asthma. Similarly, and as noted before,30 both conditions were associated with increased concentrations of exhaled nitric oxide. Our findings, together with the recent identification of a subgroup of patients with severe asthma who have a normal basement membrane and lamina reticularis width and no bronchoscopic evidence of eosinophilic airway inflammation,13 suggest that these epithelial abnormalities relate more closely to the presence of eosinophilic airway inflammation than the clinical expression of the disease. We found no differences between the normal control group and either disease group in epithelial integrity, which suggests that this is not a consistent feature of asthma or that previous studies have identified an artefact, perhaps related to the biopsy technique.31 Neutrophil numbers were increased in the bronchial subepithelium in those with eosinophilic bronchitis compared with the other groups. Bronchial submucosal neutrophilic inflammation is a feature of severe asthma32 and the differences we observed may be a reflection of our selection of mild asthmatics. The difference in subepithelial neutrophil numbers was small and could have arisen by chance, although the finding is consistent with our previous observations of a trend towards an increased sputum neutrophil count10 and a raised sputum concentration of the neutrophil chemokine IL-8 in eosinophilic bronchitis.33 Further work is required to investigate whether the difference in neutrophilic airway inflammation is functionally important. In conclusion, with the exception of our previously reported association of mast cell infiltration into the airway smooth muscle with asthma, the immunopathology of eosinophilic bronchitis and asthma is very similar with both conditions being characterised by eosinophilic airway inflammation, increased exhaled nitric oxide, and increased basement membrane thickening. This strongly suggests that these features of airway inflammation, together with structural changes in the airway wall, are regulated independently of airway hyperresponsiveness. The authors thank the subjects who participated in the study, Mr S Barlow and Mrs D Parker for technical assistance in the laboratory, and Mrs S McKenna and Mrs B Hargadon for assistance in the clinical characterisation of some of the patients. • Funded by a grant from The National Asthma Campaign (UK)
Malcolm Begemann, Willem Boute and Marijn Van Gemert (The Netherlands) Rhythm of Life In 1995, a patent was published by Dutch inventors Malcolm Begemann, Willem Boute and Marijn Van Gemert that had a dramatic effect on the quality of life experienced by pacemaker users. It was while working at Netherlands-based Vitatron that the innovators created a pacemaker with dynamic, non-linear rate responsiveness - a product which was able to adapt from patient to patient and adapt to patient history. In the years that followed, countless products utilised this technology, which still features today in key Vitatron pacemakers. Everyone has a pacemaker. It's pacemaker cells that create the vital rhythmic impulses which control the beat of the human heart. But if these cells have been damaged in some way and the natural pacemaker we are born with is not functioning as it should, then these electric impulses must be produced using a different method. Enter the artificial pacemaker. By the 1950s, several research groups were experimenting with early pacemaker technologies, and since those first tests one of the main challenges has been centered around the issue of asking a piece of machinery to work in perfect conjunction with living tissue. This has, of course, been overcome. But Malcolm Begemann, Willem Boute and Marijn Van Gemert felt that there was room to further develop a pacemaker that provides an even better response to the patient's physiological needs. In a patent published in 1995, the Dutch inventors made pacemaker history. It was while working at Netherlands-based Vitatron, a specialist pacemaker company that they made their breakthrough for a pacemaker with improved dynamic rate responsiveness. Begemann and his colleagues felt the relationship between the QT interval (the time between the start of the Q wave and the end of the T wave in the heart's electrical cycle) and the desired pacing rate should be variable and not fixed (that was the case in older models). They felt there should be means for automatic adaptation of the slope as a function of patient history in order to maintain optimal long-term rate response. And that's exactly what they made happen. Double whammy Begemann has since retired, but patent co-author Willem Boute is now Senior Principal Scientist at Medtronic, which wholly owns Vitatron. According to Boute, the real breakthrough this patent represents is two-fold: firstly, it deals with a more complex relationship between parameters that indicate the amount of effort and the optimal heart rate; secondly, the product senses the patient's physiological parameter changes during daily activity and then adapts its setting accordingly. The scientists worked closely with a physician to develop the patent to ensure the final product was som ething which would be no more complex for doctors to work with than previous models. In a groundbreaking moment, they found this non-linear relationship and realised that they had something on the drawing board that could really make a different in patients' lives. From then on out, it was just a case of realising the vision. And while they did have setbacks during the development - low processing power of the technology platform and memory shortage among them - those were eventually overcome. Quality of life To say this product has been successfully commercialised is something of an understatement. It has found its way into numerous Vitatron and Medtronic pacemaker ranges - in the 1990s it featured in their Topaz pacemakers as well as Collections I, II and III - and most impressively it is still being used in the company's very latest products such the C- and T-Series of digital pacemakers. According to Vitatron, sales of their pacemakers have more than doubled since the introduction of this new technology in 1998. When the features were combined with the Medtronic Model 9790 programmer and available in a small-sized pacemaker, sales also surged. This patent has helped to increase the quality of life of people who suffer from heart problems and require pacemakers. It has taken pacemaker development a significant step forward, and it did this by closely emulating the best pacemaker of all - the natural one. The key breakthroughs in this patent were really two separate but related innovations: the first concerned dealing with the complex relationship between the physiological parameter and the optimal heart rate; the second was focused on achieving this without making it more complex (for the physician) by designing a product that was able to sense the patient's physiological parameter changes during daily activity and then adapt its settings accordingly. The pacemaker will, for example, vary the pacing rate between lowest (lower rate limit: when the physiological parameter is at one end of that particular patient's spectrum) and highest (upper rate limit: when the physiological parameter is at the other end of that particular patient's spectrum). In this way, the patient's heart rate (as dictated by the pacemaker, which is the case in many pacemaker patients whose own heart rates are absent or too slow) closely matches the metabolic demand. Although rate responsive pacemakers have been available for many years, this patent provides an improved response to the patient's physiological need. It makes significant improvements in determining the correlation between the sensed patient indicator variable and selected pacing rate. It also features rate control means for dynamically adjusting the control of pacing rate as a function of a monitored patient variable, and provides an improved means and method of adapting pacemaker rate responsiveness to the pacemaker patient. Quick Navigation
Illinois Learning Standards Stage F - Physical Development 19A — Students who meet the standard can demonstrate physical competency in individual and team sports, creative movement, and leisure and work-related activities. 1. Create combinations of locomotor/non-locomotor movement and manipulative skills in selected activities. 2. Demonstrate locomotor/non-locomotor skills while manipulating objects. 3. Practice combinations of sport related skills using correct form. 4. List specific elements of proper form for various sport skills. 5. Use vocabulary specific to activities, games, or sport. 19B — Students who meet the standard can analyze various movement concepts and applications. 1. Develop movement skills that demonstrate mechanically correct form (moving into position, establishing a balanced base, preparatory phase, movement phase, follow through, and return to base). 2. Define additional biomechanical principles (e.g., spin, rebound). 3. Apply concepts of effort, flow, space, and time into establishment of mechanically correct form (moving into position, establishing a balanced base, preparatory phase, movement phase, follow through, and return to base). Students who meet the standard can demonstrate knowledge of rules, safety and strategies during physical activity. 1. Adhere to safety procedures during activity. 2. Create safety rules for specific activities, games, or sports. 3. Discuss the potential consequences of participating in a safe and unsafe environment during activity. 4. Demonstrate cooperative strategies during activity. 5. Apply offensive, defensive, and cooperative strategies in selected activities, games, or sports. 6. Follow rules when participating in a wide variety of activities, games, or sports. 7. Define the components of good sportsmanship. Students who meet the standard know and can apply the principles and components of health-related fitness. 1. Discuss the effects of physical activity on current and future health. 2. Perform physical activity that will benefit cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. 3. Participate in health-enhancing levels of physical activity on a daily basis. 4. Participate in a progression of activities that will maintain or improve personal fitness levels. 20B — Students who meet the standard can assess individual fitness levels. 1. Compare one's rate of perceived exertion to one's heart rate after activity. 2. Participate in a variety of assessments in addition to Fitnessgram. 3. Match health-related fitness components to a valid assessment of each component. 4. Define and evaluate: target heart rate zone, maximum heart rate, resting heart rate, recovering heart rate, and rate of perceived exertion. 5. Explain how to figure out target heart rate zone. 20C — Students who meet the standard can set goals based upon fitness data and develop, implement, and monitor an individual fitness improvement plan. 1. Select an additional health-related fitness goal and based on Fitnessgram results, write a list of activities to accomplish the goal. 2. Monitor progress in reaching the goal. 21A — Students who meet the standard can demonstrate individual responsibility during group physical activities. 1. List what the different roles are that students have in group physical activity. 2. Identify components of the decision-making process (i.e., D.E.C.I.D.E model). 3. Demonstrate the ability to remain on task when participating in physical activity. 4. Explain all the rules of safety and why each rule is important in group physical activity. 5. Engage in safe physical activity when a leader is officiating (e.g., apply safety procedures and rules). 6. Create rules for physical activities. 7. List individual behaviors that can positively and/or negatively affect the success of a group. 21B — Students who meet the standard can demonstrate cooperative skills during structured group physical activity. 1. Identify and define characteristics of an effective leader. 2. Identify a variety of supportive roles within a cooperative group setting. 3. Identify responsible decision-making skills regarding use of time and rules application. 4. Identify the steps in a decision-making model. 5. Respect decisions made by others in activity concerning rules, procedures, and process. 6. Work cooperatively with others. 7. Recognize individual differences in performance within a group. Return to Physical Development & Health Classroom Assessments and Performance Descriptors
Street Style: Eleanor Paints a Pretty Picture in Vintage Name: Eleanor Swordy Occupation: Painter Who is your favorite artist? Thomas Houseago. What would you never be caught wearing? A fedora. What was the last good movie you saw? To Rome With Love. What was the last song you listened to? “Can’t C Me” by Tupac. What are you wearing? Vintage T-shirt, American Apparel pants, Pierre Hardy shoes, Tommy Hilfiger glasses. Photos by Ashley Jahncke
video cover Title: Beat the Devil Year: 1942 Director: John Huston Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida, Jennifer Jones, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre An offbeat tale of adventure and suspense involving passengers on a steamer who attempt to outfox each other for illegal control of a parcel of land believed to be rich with uranium deposits. Call Number: PN1997 .B35
blue like jazz en Special advance screening of 'Blue Like Jazz' at Rave Stonybrook tonight [Movies] <div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> See inside for details on free tickets for this special advance screening! </div> </div> </div> <!--paging_filter--><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Life is funny sometimes, isn't it? An example: I grew up in a very religious household. When I turned eighteen, I went to a small college owned by the afore-mentioned religion. I hated it, and it was there that I began to discover that things aren't necessarily how I was taught they were. Long story short: I eventually rejected my childhood religion. On the other hand, though, we can imagine a very religious person attending a purely secular school.</p><script src="" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script> Louisville - St. Matthews Movies blue like jazz rave stonybrook Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:02:21 +0000 Allan Day 26003 at
Transcript: Kelly Prasser's Breast Cancer Story A patient shares how cancer has affected her family. My name is Kelly Prasser and I'm a breast cancer survivor. Not once, but twice. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of September 2004 after losing both of my parents to different cancers. And I have to tell you it was a really hard time for me. Not only because I just lost my mother and father but I had my 87-year-old grandmother living with me. She had just lost her baby boy and now she had to watch her granddaughter go through cancer. I also had two very young sons at the time, so to try and explain to them how I was going to be going through something their grandpa and grandma had just gone through was really tough. I have to thank the folks at Sharp Grossmont because it was probably the guy who took my mammogram, or looked at my mammogram rather, that saved my life a second time. He saw a little shadow on the mammogram and had me come back in. And it's that kind of quality care and attention to detail that makes a difference to a person like me, who not only survived it once, but now two times. My sons, you know, they helped me a lot. My older one was my cheerleader, Kennedy. And my younger one, Christian, was my drill sergeant. I think the most important thing for me is that I get to wake up every day and every day is a new day, and I'm lucky to be here and I'm lucky to spend it with the people I love. My advice for anybody who is having to go through breast cancer is please stay strong, stay positive and make sure you build that network, build that team — whether it's your doctors, or your family, your friends or coworkers. I think it makes all the difference in the world to have a real strong team behind you. And know that you are not alone, and there are a lot of people who have walked the walk already and who will want to walk the walk with you during this. You will get through it. I did.
1 posts categorized "jamie hince" The Kills Announce Release Date for 4th Studio Album, Blood Pressures What an announcement, and specifically on 1/11/11 around 11:11am to boot. It's like the mega madness mondo radness of wishes coming true! In their words: The Kills are very excited to announce that their 4th album Blood Pressures will be released around the world (excluding the U.S.A.) on April 4th, and in the U.S.A. on April 5th. To let you know a little about the new record, we've included the track listing for you... which is a lot like looking at a list of words. Enjoy. The kills 1. Future Starts Slow 2. Satellite 3. Heart is a Beating Drum 4. Nail in My Coffin 5. Wild Charms 6. DNA 7. Baby Says 8. Last Goodbye 9. Damned if She Do 10. You Don't Own the Road 11. Pots and Pans We recorded Blood Pressures at Key Club in the state of Michigan, with Bill Skibbe and Jessica Ruffins. Jamie HInce produced the record and Bill Skibbe co-produced. Whilst in Michigan, Alison went through 52 blank cassette tapes in her 4-track recorder. Jamie bought 3 guitars and a mellotron. The studio dogs ate 360 pounds of dog food. We drank all the red wine, watched VHS tapes on Vietnam, got blown down thte street by hurricane force winds, watched lightning storms, rode bicycles / crashed bicycles. We started a game of rummy and never finished it. We tried to BBQ and realized we weren't that way inclined.Soup was better. Soup is better. And so it went, the record was completed... but not in Michigan! We finished the last few songs in London with our Michigan friends and Alison found a dog to borrow to have the studio to make things more "normal". Does this sound confusing? Good. We'll be in touch. X The Kills P.S. We've got tour dates for you, we will announce very soon. My Photo My Other Accounts Facebook Tumblr Twitter
Thursday, March 7, 2013 My Prediction on the Price of Gold I made the following prediction about the price of gold to the German financial website Focus-Money: The US monetary base has more than tripled in the past six years;* the large commercial banks can multiply each dollar that the Federal Reserve Bank creates up to tenfold. The banks’ lending often has been ill advised. The collapse of Lehman Brothers** and the survival of other large Wall Street firms through public subsidization evidence misallocation of wealth, which has caused income inequality and slowed the free market system’s creative processes. The resultant income inequality and growth reduction have increased demand for welfare entitlements. Whether, in the short run, there is deflation due to loan defaults or inflation due to monetary expansion, there will be dollar instability. Recently, the dollar’s reserve currency status and China’s trade policies have mitigated inflation, but this lucky (for the U.S.) arrangement can change overnight. Because of public demand for entitlements--caused by injudicious, state-guided economic policies--the US government, like several European governments, is borrowing at an unsustainable rate and lacks the political will to contract its borrowing. Economic and dollar instability coupled with government’s unquenchable thirst for debt to subsidize entitlements will lead to expansion of the recently created bank reserves to monetize government’s debt. The result will be depreciation of the dollar and an end to the dollar’s reserve currency status, much like the end to the pound’s role in the early twentieth century. The ultimate price of gold is unpredictable in dollar terms, and it may go to infinity. As with many economic phenomena, the difficult question is when my predictions will unfold. I will say $2,000 in two years, $4,000 in ten years. * . **Larry McDonald, A Colossal Failure of Common Sense. Anonymous said... You have been talking about inflation for the last 5 years. Your predictions have been wrong. Why should we believe your predictions now? Mitchell Langbert said... I don't recall making a prediction about inflation. Can you point to where I did? I've looked through my blog and can't find any predictions about inflaton. Inflation has been over 4% since 1970, a rate that was considered astronomical in 1970, when I was a teenager, but is for some reason claimed to be low today. Moreover, and worse for the future, the Chinese have absorbed much of the inflation by purchasing dollars to buy treasury bonds. That can continue for years; so the modestly high inflation rate of the past 40 years can continue, say, for another 10 or 20 years--or not. My point is that it is an unstable system, and it will collapse. When it does, and you're an 85-year-old, you will be sucking your thumb while driving to work. Please do show me where I predicted the inflation rate. I chiefly made the gold prediction because the reporter asked for it. I wrote this in 2008, five years ago: The recent increase in commodity prices is not especially long in the tooth. We could see much greater inflation in the coming years if global dollar holders decide to sell. Third, Howard S. Katz has argued, convincingly, that the low commodity prices of the 1990s were attributable to the Greenspan Fed's high rate of monetary inflation. The initial effect of the Greenspan Fed's monetary expansion since the Reagan era was to reduce interest rates. The low interest rates led to an expansion of commodity production because miners and other commodity producers could borrow and so expand their production. The expanded production led to price competition in the 1990s, which in turn led to low commodity prices and low inflation. However, the producers closed their doors because of the lower prices. Mines and farms became less profitable. However, the monetary expansion has led to continued increased demand. It will take time before the mines can reopen, and therefore commodity price inflation will continue for several years. Katz's argument is applicable to the new stock market increase due to massive expansion of the monetary base. Relaxation of credit has stimulated mining production along with stock market increases, except now interest rates are near zero and the stock market won't experience as long a bubble as it did from 1981 to 2000. More likely the current bubble will last a few years. There could be apparent deflation in this period. Within a few years you will see another market crash and rising commodity prices. At that point, the Fed won't be able to reduce rates further. The American economy is garbage, and the Baby Boomers will be going through garbage cans during their retirement years.
The Lonely Island The Lonely Island is a successful comedy group known for their humorous music videos and members who work as cast and crew on Saturday Night Live. Also known as the "I'm On a Boat" guys. Step 7. Get permission to film your next music video: Camel Humpin' Just The Facts 1. Formed by Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer 2. The only one you know is Andy Samberg 3. Responsible for such popular videos as "Dick in a Box", "Jizz In My Pants", and "Motherlover" 4. Their debut album is called Incredibad, which sums it up perfectly Cracked on the Lonely Island The Lonely Island is one of the internet's most consistently funny comedy groups to come out in a long time. We here at Cracked feel bad trying to make fun of the guys because they are genuinely nice, funny guys. However, the comedy business is a dog-eat-dog world, and we're sorry to say that we can't take exception to the Lonley Island. Brace yourselves, Jizz fans, it's gonna get rough. Early on, The Lonely Island was focused on writing and producing fake TV pilots. Among these were The 'Bu, a wildly popular internet series, and Awesometown, an actual TV pilot that FOX rejected. Yes, you read that right. FOX can support stuff like this: But not stuff like this: Seriously FOX what the hell. Glenn Beck over Frazzles? That's some fucked-up logic at play. Anyways, after a while of directing these pretty funny videos and putting them on the internet, they eventually landed a gig writing jokes for the MTV Video Music Awards. Jimmy Fallon, who was hosting, was pretty impressed at how much funnier these guys were than he was. He told his manager Lorne Michaels about them and soon enough, Fallon was off of Saturday Night Live and The Lonely Island was. Really though, Lorne's decision was easy. it's like eating a half-moldy piece of rat carcass for a week and then being introduced to the taste of steak. Juicy, succulent Lonely Island steak. Soon after, The Lonely Island introduced a new segment to SNL called Digital Shorts, pre-shot videos that they could run during airtime. Their first big hit was Lazy Sunday, a rap about going to go see the Chronicles of Narnia. We aren't kidding. They made that funny. After that, success came in the forms of Dick in a Box, Jizz In My Pants, I'm On a Boat, Motherlover, and recently, To the Ground. The Lonely Island directed a music video about throwing stuff on the ground and it was considered the funniest part of the SNL episode. That's saying something. In fact, their songs were so popular that they even got a record deal and put on an album, Incredibad. The cover art depicts the three members of Lonely Island touching Larry King's finger CRACKED NOTE: Hey Lonely Island... if any of you are reading this article, maybe you'd like to join our Comedy Workshop? We mean, you guys are cool right? Maybe make a funny video for Cracked... you know... it'd be cool and stuff... just sayin'
Your post says: " Previous drilling was less than 90 meters deep and to the west of the anomaly by several hundered meters. Apparently there are other targets of interest also, BTW Pueblo Viejo is two seperate, non connected, pits not just one." All this is true, the previous Escandalosa (and Hondo) results came from relatively shallow holes...not deep enough to go through the anomaly to the east, ref. example of the x-section of the area is shown in the link provided by the previous poster (bulrush). In fact, the old drilling stopped short oward the east and also in depth (the drill appeared to have either missed or just touched the top of the anomaly). So, if we believe in the "follow the anomaly theory" then it would appear that there is room for Escandolosa resource to increase quite significantly. Going north toward Hondo and looking west, there is another large pink blob that may be worth sinking some deep drill into. In all, the entire area (including the "underdeveloped" area linking Escandolosa and Hond) seems to be part of a system. It may not be a continuous or connecting to a common mother lode at depth, but who would care, as long as we have a resource in the order Barrick has at PV (approaching 30MozAu, at 2 separate pits). I would even take half of that, i.e. 15Moz for Escandolosa, Hondo and Romero combined. Let's see, 15Moz x $50/oz = $750M/144Ms = $5.20/s, too high for some? How about 10Moz which gives $3.50/s, too low? Just speculating and playing with "what if" game, before flying to some warmer place for some R&R.
Cameroon: Fighting to Save Africa's Richest Rainforest Monde Kingsley Nfor interviews NASAKO BESINGI, director of environmental NGO Struggle to Economize the Future. YAOUNDE - Protests against a controversial palm oil plantation in the Korup National Park, Africa's oldest and richest rainforest in terms of floral and faunal diversity, in Mundemba, southwest Cameroon will continue despite the arrests and intimidation of local environmental campaigners. Nasako Besingi, the director of the local NGO Struggle to Economize the Future, told IPS "we won't stop until environmental justice is done." The New York-based agricultural company, Herakles Farms, has been accused of grabbing a piece of this central African nation's national forest as it goes ahead with a 73,000-hectare palm oil plantation despite a lack of government authorisation - there are claims that the 99-year lease agreement with the government is illegal - and two court injunctions, and in the face of significant community opposition. The contested land is a "biodiversity hotspot", a critical area that connects five protected areas in the park, and the project will disrupt the protection and growth of important wildlife, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) said in an environmental and social impact assessment in August. A report issued in September by two Cameroonian NGOs, the Centre for Environment and Development and Réseau de Lutte contre la Faim, said "there are over 20 villages with ancestral lands inside the concession, and 31 villages within a distance of the periphery, and over 25,000 people will be affected by this. They depend on that land for small-scale food production, hunting, and non-timber forest products." About 46 percent of Cameroon's 20 million people live in rural areas, but according to a USAID country profile on property rights here "only approximately three percent of rural land is registered, mostly in the names of owners of large commercial farms." The country is ranked 131st of 169 countries on the 2010 United Nations Human Development Index, partially due to persistent poverty. Besingi said that he and his colleagues have endured police suppression, arrests and intimidation. His latest arrest was on Nov. 14, when the country's national military police stormed his office. "We were told we were required for questioning at the police post, and were detained for a day without charge. But it was only following international and local pressure that we were released (on bail) under the condition that we must appear before the authorities whenever we are (asked)," he said. Besingi explained that the palm oil plantation project was going ahead despite the lack of a formal government agreement, because Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), a subsidiary of Herakles Farms, had the support of those in power. "SGSOC enjoys support from some elites, the chief of Fabe village (which is on the project site) and some government representatives, including the police. They have been bought over with money and material things. These groups of people, including the government, are misleading the people," he said. Excerpts of the interview with IPS follow: Q: What is your interest in this campaign against SGSOC/Herakles Farms? A: We cannot just sit and allow a few individuals to ruin the lives of thousands. So we have to make our voices and those of the voiceless heard. Giving so much forestland to a company that has no real development plan for the people is injustice against a people who cannot have access to one-third of the forestland. Many locals feel there are already too many protected zones in the (forest). This massive plantation will further restrict their access to land. Q: Bruce Wrobel, CEO of Herakles Farms, said in September that the organisation was already employing more than 500 people, and has committed to hiring among the local villages. He said that once the plantation was fully operational, it would require approximately 8,000 employees. Is this not an opportunity for the people? A: There is little evidence that large-scale plantations will effectively bring economic development to this area. Past experiences in the country show such promises ... to be false. Instead, large plantations have resulted in massive environmental degradation, the destruction of livelihoods, and the transformation of small-scale farmers and indigenous populations into low-paid plantation workers. The company claims that it will create 8,000 jobs. However, the plantation will economically displace approximately 25,000 people who depend on that land for small-scale food production, hunting, and non-timber forest products. Thus, the net impact on employment will actually be negative. Q: What is the problem with land management issues in Cameroon? A: There are two fundamental problems in my opinion. Firstly, communities do not have legally-recognised land rights that secure their access to the vital natural resources that they depend on; and secondly, Cameroon is still to develop a national land-use plan which would, in principal, evaluate the needs of local communities before granting foreign investors access to land. Q: What would you want SGSOC/Herakles Farms to do before operating? A: We demand that SGSOC respect Cameroonian law and the rights of communities. Unfortunately, SGSOC has repeatedly violated Cameroonian law. They have signed an illegal contract with the government, and have shown no respect to local communities who, on the majority, oppose the project. Following the 1976 law governing the allocation of concessions on state lands in Cameroon, subsequent to signing the lease agreement, SGSOC was supposed to be given a presidential approval to start cultivation activities. But this was not given, so the project has been in violation of the law since 2010. Moreover, prior to its operations, an environmental and social impact assessment was not conducted. Q: What is the opportunity cost for the SGSOC/Herakles project? A: The opportunity cost for this project is the loss of forest revenue through the payment of environmental services, ecotourism and REDD+ activities. All these activities can generate more revenue for the state than SGSOC can. For example, the Cameroonian Food Sovereignty Coalition estimates that if the government were to require bread makers to use 20 percent of locally-produced flour, 96,000 farming jobs would be created using just 15,000 hectares of land. This would generate 13 times more employment and significantly larger government revenue than the SGSOC project and would leave land for peasant agriculture, conservation, and the use of non-timber forest products. Q: What next with your campaign against SGSOC/Herakles farms? A: We won't stop until environmental justice is done. We want a new agreement that takes into consideration the sustainable management of that forest and that gives the locals better access to land and alternative livelihoods. We are currently working with more than 20 community groups and international and local NGOs and using every possible channel, like IPS, to reach the international community.
Page:A history of Sanskrit literature (1900), Macdonell, Arthur Anthony.djvu/384 From Wikisource Jump to: navigation, search This page has been validated. With abundant irony and satire the most various human vices are exposed, among others the hypocrisy and avarice of Brahmans, the intriguing character of courtiers, and the faithlessness of women. A vigorous popular spirit of reaction against Brahman pretensions here finds expression, and altogether a sound and healthy view of life prevails, forming a refreshing contrast to the exaggeration found in many branches of Indian literature. The following translation of a short fable from the first book may serve as a specimen of the style of the Panchatantra. "There was in a certain forest region a herd of monkeys. Once in the winter season, when their bodies were shivering from contact with the cold wind, and were buffeted with torrents of rain, they could find no rest. So some of the monkeys, collecting gunja berries, which are like sparks, stood round blowing in order to obtain a fire. Now a bird named Needlebeak, seeing this vain endeavour of theirs, exclaimed, ʽHo, you are all great fools; these are not sparks of fire, they are gunja berries. Why, therefore, this vain endeavour? You will never protect yourselves against the cold in this way. You had better look for a spot in the forest which is sheltered from the wind, or a cave, or a cleft in the mountains. Even now mighty rain clouds are appearing.ʼ Thereupon an old monkey among them said, ʽHo, what business of yours is this? Be off. There is a saying— A man of judgment who desires His own success should not accost One constantly disturbed in work Or gamblers who have lost at play.
Nancy Colmenares is Hugo Chavez’ First Wife (PHOTOS) Nancy Colmenares Hugo Chavez first wife There is little information about Nancy Colmenares, de Chavez besides that she was the first wife the late Venezuela President Hugo Chavez had, and that she is the mother of his three eldest children. Hugo Chavez was just 23 when he got married to Nancy Colmenares a working- class lady that came from a humble family in Barinitas, formerly known as Nueva Trujillo de Barinas located south of Cordillera de Merida in Bolivar. Hugo Chavez met Nancy when he was communications officer at a counterinsurgency unit in Barinas and recently began the revolutionary movement ELPV (Ejército de Liberación del Pueblo de Venezuela) The year was 1977 and Nancy Colmenares and Hugo Chavez said “I DO”, a year later Nancy became a mother for the first time to her beautiful daughter Reina Virginia, in 1980 came her second daughter Maria Gabriela and in 1984 came her third child, a boy named like his father Hugo Rafael Chavez. While Nancy devoted herself to her children, her husband was creating the Bolivarian Movement –200 aka MBR-200, she had to endure the fact that she would be home alone with her three small children, the difficult and painful price she had to pay for being married to a military man, but as painful; But nothing was as painful as knowing she would have to share her husband with another woman. Herma Marksman had an affair with Mrs. Colmenares’ hubby for almost a decade. She unlike Nancy shared the revolutionary ideology that Chavez had, Herma, many say was one of the women he loved most, besides she and her education helped which formed a key part o knowledge were a vital key to his military formation. After Chávez led the coup against President Carlos Andres Perez on February 4, 1992, and he was sent to jail Marksman was the one who visited him, but it was to his wife Nancy that he publicly apologized for leaving her alone with their children and no money after the military coup. That was the end of his marriage to his first wife, he ended his affair with Marksman, and Nancy Colmenares walked from his life. They divorced and nobody said nothing of Nancy Colmenares whereabouts or has a recent picture of her. More Breaking News: 1. [...] 58, his children son Hugo Jr. ad daughters Rosa Virginia, Maria Gabriela from his first marriage to Nancy Colmenares and his youngest daughter Rosines from his marriage to Marisabel Rodríguez de [...] Speak Your Mind
A-to-Z Index Computing Homepage Computing HelpDesk Mon -Thu: 8:00am -9:00 pm Friday: 8:00am - 5:00pm Saturday: Closed Sunday: 3:00pm - 9:00pm (when classes are in session) Exceptions for the year PuTTY is a free Windows 32 Platform Telnet/SSH (Secure Shell) Client. PuTTY allows you to initiate a SSH (a high-security internet protocol that utilizes encryption) session with a host or multi-user system. At JMU, this can include host systems such as educ.jmu.edu.
Malaysian Food Blog, Travel, Diving & More Monthly Archives / May 2005 Got this from suan, so here goes. 1. If you had to power to bring world peace, what and how would you do it? A: Question is a little flawed, if I have the power, then the how would be automatically answered. The what would be world peace, what else? Anyhow, As yet, nobody has the mystical power to bring world peace, the fastest and probably best option is sadly, through war and total domination of the entire world. However, I don’t really believe in starting a fight to end one. Hence the way I would do it is the Martin Luther King Jr’s way. 2. What would you do if you discovered that you are HIV positive? A: Immediately whack Hwa Chai. My last sexual experience was probably him screwing me when I was drunk at the party. (he screwed every guy, just check out this photo!) 3. How would you react if the woman you are making out asks you to go down on her and you whiffed something suspicious? A: Fish has a variety of smell, I try to get used to it. 4. Marvin or Bender? Why? A: Marvin reminds me of Suan, Bender reminds me of Fuckstress.. I can’t choose. Don’t force me! 5. Why 42? A: Because it’s the ultimate answer! Same thing again from Fuckstress 1. if u were an animal what would u be? why? A: a male bunny of course, we all know what bunnies do all day. 2. if u were a woman for a day what would u do? A: I would hope it’s a ladies’ night so I can go party for free for once! Get pick up by a dude, follow him home, and get entertained by the horror of his face at 12 midnight when I turn back to being a man again. 3. if u could go back into your past, would u change anything? what? why? A: I would talk to my dad more. We used to talk all day. 4. wat are u going to be when ur 40 A: I would throw a party on my 40th birthday and all of you are going to come! I hope fuckstress can still dance the way she does now, a bit worried about her knees. 5. Do you believe in a religion? Why/Why not? A: No, I respect them but find no “answers” to life, the universe, and everything that physics, chemistry and biology could not convincingly answer. The Official Interview Game Rules (copied to be passed on) 2. I will respond by asking you five questions – each person’s will be different. This is from one of my chat sessions with fuckstress over instant messenging. Yeah I talk to her, envy? KY: ok lets play one game.. want? fuckstress: lame donkey dick reasoning fuckstress: play lah KY: ok.. i say a word, u say the opposite, using pre-something KY: i mean KY: like if i say complete KY: u say incomplete KY: ok? fuckstress: errrr fuckstress: will try. KY: ok.. KY: competent fuckstress: incompetent KY: action fuckstress: inaction KY: sense fuckstress: unsenseable? KY: nonsense! KY: pun intended KY: game over fuckstress: LOLROF fuckstress: good one and then she gave me her quiz… fuckstress: wat u call a baby pig KY: piglet fuckstress: baby owl? KY: chick fuckstress: ur head KY: no? fuckstress: owlet lah KY: all young birds are chick KY: ok ok owlet KY: continue fuckstress: damnit u spoiled it d fuckstress: sigh. fuckstress: no fuckstress: sian d fuckstress: baby bull KY: calf Alright, let me give you a small warning – SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS Here’s how the story goes, this dude named Anakin, he’s like the pwn in all of Jedi. Other Jedis ain’t got nothing on him. He’s also got a pregnant hot chick gf, Padme. She is hot, trust me. So they have this war, starwars, where the Republic duking it out with the Seperatis. Pwn pwn pwn… And the Chancellor got kidnapped by some dudes from the other side, Count Dooku and this General Grievous. Anakin and his master Obi-Wan went to rescue him. During the rescue, Obi-Wan got pwn pretty bad but Anakin rescued him, then he killed Count Dooku, totally owned him. General Grievous escaped tho, sucks. Anakin saved the Chancellor too. So he’s like the hero, you know. So now cos of the war, the Chancellor got higher power, to bypass the senate and all those crap in making decisions. Jedis didn’t think that was a great idea, cos it’s supposed to be a republic, right? Cos Anakin rescued him, the Chancellor liked him alot. Named him into the Jedi Council, but since he’s young and powerful and dangerous and owning, the other Jedis said he shall not be a Master yet.. He got pretty pissed. Now the dude dreamed of his chick, Padme, dying while giving birth. You know Jedis, their dreams can become true. When he was young he dreamed of his mom dying, and next thing you know, she was 6 feet under. He’s scared of losing her, and want to save her . Back to earlier, this Anakin dude was already pissed, right? Then chancellor want him to spy on the Jedis, and the Jedis want him to spy on the Chancellor. Dude was confused too, and scared, and pissed… So turned out, the Chancellor is the LORD SITH, the OWNING sucker from the dark side whom allt he Jedis want to pwn! However, Chancellor persuaded Anakin that he shall be his apprentice so he can teach him the greater force of dark side to save Padme. Apperantly the Jedis only got half of the force, and if you’ve got all the force, you can save people from death, to create live! The previous Lord Sith could do that, but killed by his own apperentice though (the Chancellor, of course! you noob) Hence that is how Anakin got to become Darth Vader, Lord Sith gave him that name. So, madness follows, lotsa fightings. Chancellor got all the clone soilders to kill most of the Jedis. Anakin killed the young kiddo Jedis too, and then proceeded to kill the members of the Seperatis group who was being controlled by Lord Sith, as instructed by Lord Sith himself, yeah, he is that evil! All these was happening as Obi-Wan went to pwn General Grievous. Light saber didn’t kill him tho, Obi-Wan had to use a gun, and said “how uncivilized!” So now the remaining Jedis, including the all powerful Yoda (yah the little green dude who can’t speak proper English) went to get the Chancellor. However, Yoda lost, and subsequently went into hiding. At the same time, Padme jumped on a space ship to visit Anakin. Problem was, Obi-Wan was hiding in that same ship. Padme met Anakin, and dissapointed cos Anakin changed so much more evil now, so she doesn’t really love him anymore. Anakin is now PISSED, EVIL, and JEALOUS, cos he saw Obi-Wan, and probably thought Obi-Wan wanted to hit on Padme. So they started fighting. Now this place is a volcanic planet. They faught and faught and faught. The whole place was falling apart. Then Obi-Wan jumped to higher ground, and told Anakin, “dude, you losing, I’m on higher ground, give up”, Anakin was pissed, did a somersault, but Obi-Wan sliced off his 3 remaining limbs in one stroke. Boy that was cruel, left Anakin there getting burned by hot lava and suffering, but he didn’t kill him off, figured Anakin would die. Being the true hero, he didn’t die, of course. After a while, Lord Sith the Chancellor, came to find Anakin, discovered he is still alive! He fixed him up with some cool artificial limbs, and put him on the black Darth Vader outfit, so cool. It came with a synthetic voice that we’re all too familiar in later episodes, too. So the next scene was Padme giving birth to Vader’s children (twins). She named them Luke, and Leie Skywalker. However, she didn’t feel like living, so she died, I think. They took the children to seperate places to be raised. Obi-Wan took the boy back to Anakin’s hometown and gave him as adoption to a couple, while the other lesser known Jedi took the girl. I am giving this show a 8/10. Alot better than the previous two. WOOHOO. pro noob May 14, 2005 Leave a comment picture blatantly copied from google image, have fun! pro versus noob the thong guy at ss2 Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Pop2it: Culture. Celebrity. With a Twist Follow Zap2it: Erika Christensen talks Scientology: 'We don't worship rabbits' erika-christensen-talks-scientology-gi.jpgAppearing on a web show, Erika Christensen opened up about Scientology and its role in her life. The show, "Across the Board," is hosted by her "Parenthood" costar Joy Bryant. While director Paul Haggis, a former member of the church. makes no bones about his belief that Scientology is a cult, Chistensen sees things a different way, calling it a huge part of her life and saying, "it's an applied philosophy, but it's also understanding the way life works." She compared the religion to, "learning the rules of the game," and said it helps her to do everything better. When asked about the biggest misconceptions people have about Scientology, the actress says that they're not a mysterious, closed group, nor are they a Hollywood-only religion. She also jokes that Scientologists don't, "worship rabbits." Christensen is a lifelong Scientologist, whose parents joined the church in their 20s. She says while Scientology will work with every religion, some people take a class and it's just not for them. Photo/Video credit: Getty Images Related pics Zap2it Elite Sheet Must Reads from the Web's In-Crowd Zap2it Newsletter Find it fast Featured Partners
On Radio 4 Now (none) - (none) Coming up at: (none) View full schedule Privacy Commission Day 6, Witness 1: Avril Sanders Royle The PM Privacy Commission spoke to Avril Sanders Royle on Thursday June 30, 2011. The commissioners are Sir Michael Lyons, Lord Faulks QC and Baroness Liddell. ML: Good day and welcome back to the BBC PM Privacy Commission. One of the issues which have emerged over our discussion so far is whether concern about privacy and the role of the courts and others extends to ordinary people or is just a debate about the interests of the rich and powerful. Today we're joined by an example of someone whose family life has been turned upside down by events and who has testimony to share with us about the problems of protecting privacy in those circumstances. That's Avril Sanders Royle whose stepson Julian was murdered in May 2000 just shortly before his 21st birthday. Avril thank you very much for joining us - perhaps I should give you a chance to just say a bit about the experiences you had at that time. ASR: The experiences we had changed our lives. What happened was that Julian had been missing for a week before we got a knock on the door and it had been all over the papers before that so I knew about the case and when it happened we had to make sure the other family members knew. We had one person, one close family member over on holiday in Germany. The next day after the news was broken to us my husband went to the coroner's office in Birmingham to identify Julian and it was on the way back on that journey that we realised that the local media had already started announcing the identity of the victim and so we before my husband had even got home we had to book a ferry crossing to Germany so that my husband could drive all the way to Germany to tell the other victim and that was inexcusable - it shouldn't have to be that somebody might find out by listening to the news or reading it in the press and that was the start of countless reports of - my son, step son Julian was murdered by decapitation and all the reports constantly only referred to Julian as a headless corpse, a headless body case, the headless victim trial and that was so hurtful, instead of saying his name he was a headless body and I think that was terrible. The other thing that happened that was very upsetting was that on the radio and on the TV, it was always "our top story tonight is..." and it wasn't a story it was real life. WE feel that the media deal with crime reports as public entertainment and that is unacceptable. ML: Avril, given the...those sounds like terrible circumstances to have gone through and I'm sure all listeners will relate to that and try to put themselves in your position but given that there is such public interest in crimes and this was a crime which as you say immediately grabbed attention, how might the press have dealt with it differently do you think? ASR: I think the press could deal with it differently in several ways. If they didn't talk about a story - a story is something that you read to children at bedtime that is pleasant. If they change the mindset, the subliminal message that news is public entertainment they would be going a long way so instead of saying our top story tonight, they said our prime report tonight is and then go on and state it , that would change the mindset for a start. I think newspapers could be a lot more thoughtful about what they put in their headlines. You know, when you've got a child going to school every day reading about their close family member being referred to as the headless body case, headless corpse case, headless victim trial, it's very difficult. He has a name, you know and that name should be used. And, that happened actually only last week, only last week my local paper used the word axe in the title of a fundraising event, publicity item and I think that was pure thoughtlessness on the persons part. Nevertheless, it's not right more thought should have gone into it. ML: In those early days, after you became aware of Julian was the victim and you were beginning the process of grieving. Did you manage to protect your privacy from the press at that time; did you have problems of intrusion? ASR: In the very early days we had reporters knocking on the door asking for a story and we obviously slammed the door in their face and told them to go away, this was not a story. The police, actually, we had some wonderful family liaison officers, Steve Colly and Sian Turner and they were fantastic in helping us. They were there to help us deal with the media. Because obviously on the one hand you need some publicity in order to appeal for information but on the other hand you don't want the intrusion of the press so yes it was very difficult and we found we had to be careful whatever we said because things were taken out of context. Things were highlighted which weren't the main point of what we were trying to get over and so one had to be brief and precise and to the point in order that only the bit we wanted publicised was publicised. ML: But you readily acknowledge that the press have a role to play in making sure that the search for the perpetrator, further evidence has an important part to play doesn't it. ASR: yes, yes, yes ML: Helen do you want to come in? HL: Avril I know that after this terrible murder of Julian you were upset about the nature of some comments that was made about Julian's life. I understand he was on some mild medication at the time. ASR: Yes. HL: And that you were really concerned about the accuracy about what was written about Julian and the kind of person he was. Can you tell us a little about that? ASR: yes, the way it works is that when one has a trial that the perpetrator has the choice of not standing in the dock and getting cross examined but the victims, the relatives don't have that choice, if they're called to be witnesses they have no choice and it is common practice for the victim, the murdered person to have their character assassinated by the, by the court, by the barrister that's defending the accused because then it doesn't look so bad. She was, you know, she was of loose moral standing so therefore she was asking for it is the common way of trying to lessen the crime that the person has committed and that's not on. It shouldn't matter actually what the person was like at all. And actually you know it's not just the press and the courts that do that. The criminal injuries compensation board refuse compensation to lots of relatives if for instance somebody has been murdered and they have got a history of having been convicted of some kind of drug abuse 20 years before, they're not entitled to any criminal injuries compensation which is outrageous! I mean how can that be, just because somebody did something wrong 20 years before the family of that murdered person isn't entitled to anything. The whole system is skewed in favour of justice for the criminal and not justice for the victims, that's why it's called the Criminal Justice System and not the Victim Justice System. HL: I can understand how passionate you feel about this and I think everyone who saw the aftermath of the Milly Dowler trial just a few days ago must feel very much the same. How - did that bring it all back to you? When you saw it played out with the Dowler family? ASR: Every time there is a crime of murder on television or on the radio or in the newspapers it brings it back, every time and it's the same for every member of SAMM support after murder and manslaughter, the charity for which I am one of the trustees. All our families find that this is too painful to bear and it goes on for years and years and years. HL: You mentioned SAMM which is a charity that works the victims' relatives and helps them cope with this terrible aftermath. You must have come across many families who have been in a similar position to your own. Do people talk often about intrusion of the press and the attack on their privacy? ASR: Yes, yes, yes. We have a very secure online forum for our members which is only accessible to members and obviously I don't want to disclose what is said in an online forum because that's not appropriate - it's there just because it's secure. But our members are very, very wary generally of talking to the press, media because they've had so many bad experiences. HL: Thank you. ML: Avril, just coming back to those that time immediately after you became aware of Julian's murder, did you look for support at that time? We're obviously particularly interested in the protection of privacy but did you look outside for help? ASR: One of the things that happened - and doesn't happen anymore- when something like this happens to someone is that the family liaison officers who are appointed to the family is given a homicide pack and in it are a range of leaflets and documents and information and in there was actually a leaflet for SAMM support after murder and manslaughter and that's how I came across SAMM and it was months later before I actually contacted them because I was, we were all just too devastated and traumatised to really just function at all. It's just....you know you can't even get your head round going out to buy teabags, everything is very, very difficult. You've got your police officers sitting with you every afternoon for 3 or 4 hours for several months trying to process and proceed the investigation and just coping getting up out of bed in the morning is hard enough let alone with thinking about what else you can do to help yourself. You can't, you can hardly function at all. ML: So those liaison officers were a very important, very important support for you. ASR: Very, very - a lifeline. ML: Did you ever at any point have any anxieties about the confidentiality of your discussions with them or with the police watching them? ASR: No they were brilliant. ML: So you have a strong.... ASR: Yeah, they were brilliant, some of our SAMM members don't have as good an experience with the family liaison officers they are appointed. Some police forces around the country don't have as good training for their family liaison officers as our police officers did who were trained at the West Midlands police. In fact there are still cases where family liaison officers go out alone and not in partnerships with another officer, they need to work together because they have to deal with coping with the traumatisation of what has happened to the victims as well and they can't talk to other people, they have their rules of confidentiality so they need to have someone with them so that they can come to terms with what it is they're dealing with and family liaison officers in some parts of the country receive training from our charity SAMM to help them understand what the issues are in dealing with people who've been bereaved through murder and manslaughter. ML: Have you personally or perhaps has SAMM had any engagement with the press complaints commission to talk about the way that the press deals with cases like this both in terms of coverage and in terms of pressures they place upon victims families? ASR: No, I'm not aware of it. I'm sure it's happened but I'm not aware of it. We personally didn't ever make a formal complaint, I know I have rung the BBC several times when something was on that didn't quite feel right and by the time the bulletin was next on it had been removed or changed so they always responded quite promptly to our requests and were quite sympathetic. For example, this business I had only last week of using "axe" in the title of my local paper, they were very apologetic. The person who wrote the article wasn't responsible for writing the title and the story is that the person that wrote the title wasn't aware of what they were doing when they included the word "axe" in the title. I personally think that, that person has more responsibility than when dealing with a murder case to take a little bit more care in what they're saying. ML: Thank you, so what you're saying is that where you have taken matters up with the press you have found them responsive. ASR: Yes, yes but you know when the trials were going on you know everyday there were things in the paper referring to headless body case headless corpse case, headless victim trial. You know Julian had been decapitated but actually his head was not missing, it wasn't a headless body case and it was inaccurate but we were too traumatised in dealing with the trial to even think about suggesting that the press ought to deal with it differently. ML: Entirely, absolutely entirely understandable. Helen any more questions from you? HL: Just one, in terms of the advice that SAMM gives to victims and obviously when victims get in touch with you at first it must be at a particularly difficult time in their lives. ASR: Mmm hmm (positive response) HL: What advice do you give them in how to deal with the press? ASR: Mostly they just want to talk and have someone to listen that knows what they're going through so we...whilst we are there to give support, we don't give people dogmatic advice about this is how it should be done, we say this is an option that is open to you, you may want to do this you may wish to do that but we don't ever force people to do that. We are there as a listening ear and someone that knows what that person is going through. HL: Thank you ML: Avril, we'll include a reference to the support for murder and manslaughter the SAMM website on our website along with the transcript of this evidence today. Are there any - I've given each and every witness an opportunity to speak as it were direct to listeners. Do you want to just take that opportunity to say in you own words your views on these issues? ASR: My views on these issues are that people who write headlines in newspapers should be more thoughtful about what they're doing and think about the impact of what they're saying rather than just trying to write a catchy headline that will sell their newspapers. I think that's one of my main messages and as far as the radio and television goes, I think if they could stop saying....and our top story tonight is because the subliminal message is this is entertainment and this is not entertainment, it's a report on a factual occurrence. ML: Indeed it is, thank you very much for that Avril and for coming and sharing your experience with us and with the listeners of the PM programme. ASR: Thank you. HL: Thank you Avril it was a privilege talking to you. ASR: Thank you. Sign in BBC navigation
The Miami Herald \| EDITORIAL Venezuela’s invisible president The public was not allowed to get so much as a glimpse of the ailing 58-year-old leader to determine whether he is incapacitated, though all signs point in that direction. Access to the hospital’s ninth floor, where Mr. Chávez resides, is tightly restricted and enforced by a phalanx of gun-toting guards. He has not been seen or heard from since he came back, aside from a few Twitter messages that hailed his arrival and then went silent. Despite all this enormous secrecy, the evidence is that Mr. Chávez’s condition is much worse than his underlings want the public to believe and that they are either kidding themselves or the public — or both — in order to play for time. The increasingly insistent assurances from his designated stand-ins, principally Vice President Nicolás Maduro, that Mr. Chávez was in charge and issuing orders from his hospital bed were rendered less than credible by news that his medical condition was getting progressively worse. Post-surgery complications and what Mr. Maduro called a severe lung infection did little to restore confidence in the belief that the president was truly in charge. Meanwhile, despite still more assurances that the president would definitely return for his own inauguration for yet another term on Jan. 10, the president was a no-show. Undaunted, Mr. Chávez’s rubber-stamp parliament and supreme court concocted a ruse. The plain words of Venezuela’s constitution notwithstanding, they decided he could simply take the oath of office later, at his convenience. Since then, Venezuela’s eroding currency has taken a severe hit in the form of a 40 percent devaluation, yet one more measure of the country’s downslide into economic chaos. All of this makes it very clear that members of Mr. Chávez’s inner circle are making it up as they go along. As long as Venezuela’s president remains invisible, the political and economic crisis will worsen. Having Mr. Maduro or some other Chávez substitute take the reins of power would fail to satisfy the requirements of democracy, given that their legitimacy, such as it is, flows from Mr. Chávez himself, not from the voters. Mr. Chávez won a clear mandate for another term back in October, but he assured voters that he was cured, and he wasn’t. The only option is a new election that pits the opposition against the Bolivarian candidate of Mr. Chávez’s party in a fair and open vote. Barring that, what little claim Venezuela might still have to calling itself a democracy would be nothing less than ridiculous. Read more Editorials stories from the Miami Herald • Miami Herald \| EDITORIAL Aiding and abetting • Miami Herald \| EDITORIAL For a better downtown OUR OPINION: City’s ambitious new plan deserves approval • Miami Herald \| EDITORIAL Cuba’s American hostage OUR OPINION: Alan Gross should not be swapped for Cuban spies Miami Herald Join the Hide Comments This affects comments on all stories. Cancel OK • Marketplace • Quick Job Search
questionshow many bottles did you have for your child(s)? I'm sad to hear that you're going the bottle feeding route, but to each his own. On the other hand... Congratulations on your upcoming event! My wife and I had about 4 for each of our 3 kids. We got the Playtex Drop-ins bottles so it would make them easier to clean afterwards. A couple of things to consider despite how many bottles you go with... Be sure to get a sterilyzer for your microwave. You should be sterilyzing the nipples and rings at least once a week. The microwave ones are not very costly but are extremely useful. There are also dishwasher baskets that make it easier to wash them on a regular basis. They're sold at just about every baby aisle I've ever been into. Congratulations on your little one @shrdlu: Not everyone can breastfeed. My wife tried very, very hard, including taking supplements and multiple appointments with a "breastfeeding specialist". She just could not produce enough goods. What we ended up doing was she would pump for about 20 minutes every few hours. By doing that cumulatively, she would produce maybe 4-5 ounces a day, tops. We would then feed that to the baby, supplemented with formula for the remaining feedings (or mixed with as he got older and needed more even for a single feeding). The doctors agreed this was better than nothing and worth the effort. Please don't be so judgmental - not everyone using a bottle is doing it for convenience. @tsfisch - I completely agree. Breastfeeding can be an enormous struggle for many women! I also agree with @capguncowboy. We used the drop-in bottles also. They worked well for keeping out air and were super easy to clean! The dishwasher baskets are extremely convenient for cleaning nipples and rings. We had 5 or 6 bottles on hand with each kid. @tsfisch: Not meaning to be judgmental, and sorry to hear that your wife had a difficult time. I'm always surprised at the number of people who have problems with this in our modern day. I always wonder what changed, since it was an unusual (but not unheard of) problem in earlier times. I applaud the determination of both you and your wife to do this. I often advise new parents (of my acquaintance, in real life) to do it for just the first few days, even if ultimately it is not successful, for the enormous health benefits it brings to the child. We used to save the milk from the cow when she came fresh, and freeze it, to give to bummer lambs, because otherwise, they died. Bummer lambs are those rejected by the mother, usually because they are one of a set of twins. If they don't manage to nurse in that first day, no matter what, they die. Human babies are (thank goodness) not this sensitive, but the benefits are still very good. I'd say your wife did breastfeed but had to use supplements much earlier than most. I have nothing of value to add, but I can sneak in a 'grats'. :) Sometimes I HATE the fracking editor here. (I just lost a nice long post because I hadn't realized that it took so long to add it with an edit.) Anyways... My first daughter took a bottle easily and switched between breast and bottle without problem. My (now ex-)wife did the day feedings and pumped milk into Playtex liners (Drop Ins, I think? They are basically plastic bags), which we refridgerated or froze. I did the night feedings so my exwife could get a decent night's sleep (I tend to cat nap anyway). We had three or so of the liner holders and maybe four regular bottles, mostly used later with juice and/or water. My second daughter would not take a bottle most of the time (we tried many difference types of nipples) so my ex-wife got much less sleep the second time around and I found it very frustrating not being able to help out as much. One last thing: don't buy more than one or two bottles (nipples, really) until you know that your kid will take them. And congrats! @shrdlu: Regarding being judgmental or not, you said: 'I'm sad to hear that you're going the bottle feeding route, but to each his own. ' The OP said nothing about breastfeeding or not. They simply asked about bottles. We used plenty of bottles in our quest to breastfeed to the best of my wife's ability. Hurtful comments like this did nothing for my wife's self esteem at the time... We are actually planning to breastfeed, but we are going to do the breast pump and all and eventually lean off breastfeeding as my wife just isnt sure how long she would be able to do it since she has very sensitive nipples. So we are going to go ahead and get some bottles. Thanks everyone for the congrats! Were super excited.
Take the tour × I am trying to implement something similar to the share feature on Dropbox that allows you to send an invite to Facebook friends. You will need to log in/ create an account and have a shared folder to see it. The feature only ever shows one Facebook dialogue which is to give it's app permissions - I don't know how it even manages to send a private message - from the research I've done this isn't even possible, and secondally, I don't know how it manages to achieve it without using a Facebook dialogue - it uses it's own modal box. So far I have managed to pull a list of Facebook friends into a jquery ui autocomplete but don't know how to now send the private message to the selected friend now that I have their id. The only way I could think of how to do this was to send the user an email at id@facebook.com but don't know how you attach the image, description, link etc like you do to a normal wall/timeline post. I was hoping some of the Facebook experts here could offer their thoughts and opinions? share\|improve this question What permission(s) does it require when you add the app? Where do the messages arrive to? Your chat pops up or to the top messages icon? – Nitzan Tomer Apr 26 '12 at 21:41 Trying to remember the permissions(I apologise, I am on my phone) I can remember that one is offline access. The message goes to the top messages icon, the inbox. – martincarlin87 Apr 26 '12 at 21:44 add comment 2 Answers up vote 4 down vote accepted The only way that I'm aware of that enables an app to send private messages to non app users is via the Chat API. For that you need to ask for the "xmpp_login" which: Provides applications that integrate with Facebook Chat the ability to log in users (Permissions Reference) When you have that you can become a xmpp client of the user, get presence updates from the user friends (and with that you can know which friends of the user are online) and you can send messages to the friends on the user's behalf, but also here facebook asks that the message will come from the user which is probably the modal dialog in dropbox. This api is not a simple one because it requires your app to have an xmpp client. There are some client implementations (flash and even js clients) but I have no experience with that, on the other hand I can tell you from experience that managing xmpp per logged in client can be tricky so try to avoid it unless you really need it. You can remove the app you have for dropbox in facebook and then add it again, then you'll see what the permissions are and see if indeed they ask for the "xmpp_login" permission, if not please let me know what they do ask for. You got me intrigued and so I tried it myself, and you're right they are not asking for the "xmpp_login" permission, only "offline_access" and "publish_stream". I can't explain how they manage to pull that off, they don't do it in the client, I can see the request going to their servers. The best guess I have is that they have special privileges from facebook, I know that they do that with some companies. If I'm right about this, for you there are two options: use the send dialog or use the chat api. share\|improve this answer Thanks for the answer, I will have a look. Not sure if this is what dropbox is doing, it's really got me stumped how they are able to do it – martincarlin87 Apr 26 '12 at 22:01 Edited my answer. – Nitzan Tomer Apr 26 '12 at 22:16 Thanks once again, much appreciated. I think you could be right about special privileges because I don't think it is possible without using the send dialogue and especially when it concerns private messages, it's a shame though, I was really hoping I could create an almost identical sharing app. Well done Dropbox though, never seen anything like it! – martincarlin87 Apr 26 '12 at 22:50 If it's that important for you then just ask for the chat permissions and use that. It can be done, we're doing something very similar using the chat api. – Nitzan Tomer Apr 26 '12 at 22:54 add comment In Dropbox they are sending an email to the particular user with their facebook email address (eg.username@facebook.com) You can see this email address in your facebook General Account Settings. and you can see this note below it which says: "Your Facebook email is based on your public username. Email sent to this address goes to Facebook Messages." You just need to retrive the user's email id and their friend's username.... and you can send attachments along with it as well....!! share\|improve this answer nice one, thanks for the info. – martincarlin87 Jul 26 at 13:26 add comment Your Answer
Kore wa Zombie desu ka? Episode #11 (Mania.com) By:Chris Beveridge Review Date: Monday, March 28, 2011 Release Date: Monday, March 28, 2011 Ayumu's decision is made to get Yuu back and go back to the way things were. What They Say: Episode 11 - Yes, stay with me! The Review: With this episode of the series, the show takes a bit of a quiet turn for a lot of it after recent events that have put a strain on the relationships between all the characters. It does start off in an interesting way as we see Ayumu's body pull itself back together, which is pretty creepy but also a good reminder for those girls still with him that he definitely has his own issues that they sometimes forget since he seems so normal. For Ayumu, it's another element of the way he's so disconnected in a way as he retreats into himself, which leads to a series of interesting discussions with the mental version of the girls as they beat the snot out of him physically and verbally over the way he's become. Ayumu's not an overly strong guy, but he's not a pushover either, but he's been beaten down enough at this point to be more susceptible to things. All of it pushes Ayumu back towards having to deal with the King of the Night as he's intent on causing a whole lot of trouble, though he doesn't seem particularly keen on actually doing it. His threats about destroying the city are more matter of fact than anything else. It's a curious turn of events when they get together at Tokyo Tower where there's a problematic relationship between Yuu and Ayumu, since neither can really say what it is they feel or to be true to themselves because of the pain they feel they'll cause. It all has a very quiet sense of dread about it, but it feels very off at the same time as they spend their time together there with the King of the Night just rambling on about things that feel like they should be making more sense. He's not a compelling character unfortunately, as the show proved to be more enjoyable dealing with the smaller issues rather than the larger ones. Ayumu's fight is for Yuu in the end and the scale of it here simply feels unusual in a couple of ways. The large scale presentation of the fight, with the student-styled whales floating around the tower and the sense of pure dread from it doesn't connect well. What feels even more out of place is the more personal fight as Ayumu takes his fists to his enemy, leading to some very, very bloody moments as he pummels the stuffing out of him while claiming that he's the only one that truly knows Yuu and that should be more than enough. There's some definite ties between the King of Night and Yuu which is displayed very emotionally here, but that character has had so little resonance since his introduction that it all rings very hollow. Ayumu's push feels more honest and natural, but his methodology leaves a lot to be desired and pushes him further down an undesirable avenue, no matter how pure it is in its own way. In Summary: Kore wa Zombie desu ka? is a series that really had me intrigued from the start and had some very emotional scenes that were very well done throughout it, but everything feels too forced and rushed here at the end. The main storyline does come to a decent conclusion that finishes off the main issue at hand, bringing Yuu back into the fold, and the serious side of it is certainly wrapped up if you go by the next episode preview. This episode left me fairly bland on a few different levels, where it felt like it was trying too hard and being something that it shouldn't have been. A lot of the problem comes down to the King of the Night himself as he's been such an uninteresting character since his introduction and the way he operated never really made him a threat, though he had his own plans. It was all just sort of there, hung out to be seen, with little that really resonates or connects. Japanese 2.0 Language, English Subtitles Review Equipment Mania Grade: C+ Audio Rating: NA Video Rating: NA Packaging Rating: NA Menus Rating: NA Extras Rating: NA Age Rating: 16 and Up Region: All Region DVD Released By: Crunchyroll Running time: 24 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen Disc Resolution: 480i/p Disc Encoding: MPEG-2 Series: Kore wa Zombie desu ka?
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (YouTube link) Tom's Clancy's Ghost Recon is a video game released in 2001 with an eerie premise: Ghost Recon begins in April 2008, with civil unrest in Russia. Ultra-nationalists have seized power in Russia, with plans to rebuild the government. Their first step is clandestine support of rebel factions in Georgia and the Baltic States. This is where the Ghosts come in: to silence the invasion. Armed with some of the most advanced weaponry in the world, the soldiers of the Ghost Recon force are covertly inserted into area of operations and given specific missions to curtail the rebel actions and overthrow their benefactors. Precient? Let's hope not: the further games in the series have the game characters fighting in Ethiopia in 2009, Cuba in 2010, Mexico in 2014, and in other grim scenarios. Link -Thanks, eLzo! Newest 5 Newest 5 Comments This is sad. Number One. You and I know very little. So, stop pretending. The BTC Pipeline is at stake. Ownership of S. Ossetia is at stake. It is nearing election time in the U.S.. Military-Industrial Complex has lead national foreign policy for years. Polls show certain activities will sway the majority vote a certain way. That certain way is in the interests of parties who can sway it from their current position of power (party allegience). We have heard the stories of the BBC in England, Fox news in the U.S., and Georgia's leader. We, in these 3 countries have not heard Russia's stance or S. Ossetia's stance (except through the filter of those other viewpoints which reflect the BTC Pipeline and it's resources supplied to Britain and the United States -1/3 of BP oil is suppplied through the BTC). There is a reason for this one sided reporting: CONTROL OVER YOUR MIND, MONEY, AND FREEDOM from such control. Wake up. Patriotism is not congruent with Nationalism. We DON'T KNOW what is going on in the world, and not for lack of due attention. We DO KNOW we haven't heard the whole story. We know something of what the side we are hearing from stands to lose or gain, but fails to mention (misdirection). Think for yourself, not for your party, and not for your country, but for analytical autonomy -for truth, justice, and the once-American way. Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.) South Ossetia is nothing. Its a sparsely populated mountain region with few resources and no value. Its only value is as a defensive barrier to Russian aggression, and as such its a valuable piece of territory, like the Golan Heights in Israel. South Ossetians have been quasi independant, but SO is not totally non-Georgian, and there are dozens of villages with Georgian populations, that the Georgian government wants to protect. Naturally, the Russians and Ossetians want to drive those people out. Towards that end, the Russians have been giving aid and support to South Ossetians in order to keep the area under friendly control. In doing so, it preserves Russian options, and they can steamroll over the Georgians any time they please with few casualties. Without control of South Ossetia, Russian forces would face a stiff fight to even push through the narrow roads and gorges of SO without taking huge casualties. Georgia should retain control of SO, its their land. Russia should have a say in how its people are treated, but this is not the way to go about it. Russia has overplayed its hand here, and it will not be the victory they had hoped for when the US sells Georgia more ATGMs and attack helos. Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.) Hey Mr. Toney Baloney; Should any region/person be allowed to succeed from a country just because they want to? Look at that idea played out in former Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia used to be a strong country that made awesome cars (jokes), but then the international community decided to allow it to break into a million different pieces. Speaking from an American standpoint, the USA would not have become as strong as it did if had just allowed the Southern Confederate States succeed. Should the Pacific NW be allowed to succeed? How about the ethnic minority of Caucasians in the USA, should they all be allowed to succeed from the United States because they do not feel their interests are represented? This is not an issue of right / wrong or self determination. It is simply an issue power. Russia wants more of it. The Georgians rightly realize they can't give up the region w/o loosing some of their own. The west realizes that they need this region to maintain their own power and an oil supply line. My problem is with the United States. There was a time when we wouldn't have dreamed of letting Russia take a hold of this region. Now we are busy fighting an imaginary 'war on terrorism', while we ignore and even support our real enemies; China and Russia. It seems like my country has lost its balls. It has no problem invading a country like Iraq, but we ignore China and Russia, mainly because they can fight back. That is Life. Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.) oh Jonn R.. good conversation and credible sources NEVER start with "if you think 'this' you're just ignorant." and Darragh.. don't fuel the fire. in any rate, i don't really know what's going on over there. honestly, i don't care that much (yes, people are dying and it's terrible. i get it). what i DO care about though, is whether or not our fantastic government is gonna make it our problem too-- THEN i will care. because i don't know about you guys, but condi seems to be fired up about all those people she doesn't know, and i'll be damned if we go into another unwarranted war against people we're not even fighting with. Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.) Commenting is closed. Email This Post to a Friend "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon" Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5. Success! 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What Is a Pocket Saxophone? Article Details • Written By: Amanda Livingstone • Edited By: Jessica Seminara • Last Modified Date: 07 November 2013 • Copyright Protected: Conjecture Corporation • Print this Article Free Widgets for your Site/Blog A pocket saxophone is a small, lightweight and inexpensive woodwind instrument that plays in a two-octave range. Visually, the pocket sized instrument’s shape resembles a small clarinet without all the keys. Musically, the small instrument mimics the rich, deep and vibrant sounds of the much larger tenor saxophone. The small-sized pocket saxophone has the ability to produce subtle musical shadings and vibrant power of a larger instrument. It can play in a two-octave chromatic scale with the same intonation of the much larger tenor sax. Unlike the tenor sax, the pocket saxophone only can play in the key of “C.” Interestingly enough, this instrument plays two octaves lower than flutes of the same size. Compared to a tenor saxophone’s 23 keys, the pocket saxophone only has a total of nine note-producing openings. The keyless appearance of the pocket instrument greatly appeals to beginners who may otherwise become intimidated by the many keys of a clarinet and saxophone. As in a tenor sax, the mouth piece, containing a reed and ligature, is attached to the slim and keyless body of the small woodwind instrument. Experienced and inexperienced musicians alike have found the small instrument to be a portable, easy-to-use and inexpensive saxophone or clarinet alternative. Unlike the much larger saxophones, the small instrument measures less than 13 inches (33 cm) in total length, compared to the tenor saxophone’s 32 inches (81.3 cm). The pocket saxophone is also even smaller than the 26 inch (66 cm) clarinet. Its lighter weight, which allows for increased portability, is another benefit of this diminutive instrument. A pocket saxophone weighs approximately 3 ounces (85 grams) due to the durable lightweight injection-molded-plastic material it is made from. The instrument’s relatively small size and weight easily allow people to carry or store the pocket saxophone in a backpack or large purse. In addition to being easy to use and portable, this instrument is also extremely affordable. Prices will ultimately vary depending on availability, model and market conditions. New pocket instruments can cost between $50 and $100 US Dollars (USD). Pocket saxophones are similar in size, price and appearance to bamboo saxophones. Two most notable differences between the two types are the casing material used and the key. Bamboo saxophones are mostly made from their namesake, but occasionally the instrument can be made from other types of wood. Unlike the pocket sized saxophone, the bamboo sax can play in three keys: C, B flat and D. Pricing for the bamboo saxophone is slightly higher than the pocket saxophone. Discuss this Article Post 4 I was at a concert the other day, and one of the band members was playing one of these. I thought it was really interesting because the sound sounded like a saxophone, but the instrument looked nothing like it. At first I thought it was a recorder, but decided it wasn't. I've been searching around trying to figure out what it was, and this is definitely it. For anyone who has never heard or seen one, it is definitely worth looking at. Post 3 @matthewc23 and @kentuckycat - I played the tenor saxophone for about ten years before I even knew the pocket saxophone existed. It was invented in the 60s or 70s but they didn't start becoming more common until the 2000s. Xaphoon is another name for the instrument, but is also a brand name. As far as playing goes, a pocket sax uses a tenor saxophone reed. The fingering is similar, but not exactly like the saxophone or clarinet. The sound is a mix between the saxophone and clarinet, so it's not really like a recorder. Since the instrument has a reed, it is much harder to play than a recorder, too. The pocket sax is definitely worth checking out for anyone who plays a reed instrument or likes uncommon instruments. Post 2 Post 1 Wow, this was really interesting. I had no idea something like this even existed. I used to play the clarinet in band and was at the music store fairly regularly. I never saw a pocket sax there. How long have they been around? What is the fingering like on the instrument? Could someone who plays the saxophone pick up a pocket saxophone and start playing it? The article talks about it using a reed, too. What kind does it take? Is it just a normal saxophone reed, or does it need a reed of a certain size that's different from other instruments? Post your comments Post Anonymously forgot password?
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how can we configure a 36 port router? 5 pts. Software/Hardware used: cisco 36 port router ASKED: September 28, 2009 1:58 PM UPDATED: November 6, 2009 6:47 PM Answer Wiki Please provide more details about specific model and what connectivity is required. There should also be some type of quickstart documentation with the device. You should also have received a copy of detailed documentation on a CD with the device. If your familiar with cisco routers, almost all of it has the same configuration, it only differs from some features. Of course higher model comes greater features. To make sure of your configuration, please provide more details. Discuss This Question: 1 Reply REGISTER or login: Forgot Password? • Snapper70 Hardware and purpose would be necessary. Are you actually looking at a router with a switching module, maybe, that has 36 ports for switching, plus a couple on the chassis for MPLS connectivity? Those are configured differently than a router that actually has 36 full routed ports. If using a switching module, you have to allocate ports to VLANS, and then configure the VLANS as virtual router ports, with IP addresses - possibly just one per VLAN for a remote office; and possibly less than 5 vlans in total - conceivably even just one or two for, say, clients and servers. int vlan 3 ip address int fast 0/0/1 switchport access vlan 3 int fast 0/0/2 switchport access vlan 3 ... etc. (not sure if you can use the shortcut of int range fast 0/0/1-36 switchport access vlan 3 ^z) 920 pointsBadges: Forgot Password Your password has been sent to:
Driving with a torn Chevrolet Cavalier oil pan gasket isn't something you must ignore for a long while-if you do, you must prepare yourself for car issues. The oil pan gasket of your Chevrolet Cavalier attaches the oil pan to the crankcase, so engine oil can be distributed throughout the engine chamber to absorb heat from friction, help protect against corrosion, and lube up moving parts. With a cracked seal, you may waste a significant drop of oil that helps keep the engine running with no trouble. Without a doubt, a broken Chevrolet Cavalier oil pan gasket may lead to torn engine parts and engine overheating. So you can avoid serious troubles from leaking oil all because of a worn Chevrolet Cavalier oil pan gasket, be sure that it is replaced employing a hard-wearing sealing application that fits snugly. If ever you're changing the leaky oil pan, it's actually best to change the seal though it's still in good condition. Thankfully, getting a high-grade stock replacement for the torn oil pan gasket is quite painless because of the wide array you would see online for your Chevrolet Cavalier. In case you want highest quality Chevrolet Cavalier oil pan gasket from top labels such as Goetze, Eurospare, and THO, check out our parts catalog. Get the lowest rates when you buy from us.
Victoria Soto Victoria Soto Professor Leslie Ricklin noticed it early on. Victoria Soto was different than the other teacher candidates in Ricklin's social-studies methods course at Eastern Connecticut State University. It wasn't Vicki Leigh Soto's boundless energy or even the effortless way that she became a leader in the class. It was what she did with the information. She took it in, and turned, almost palpably, Ricklin recalls, to a point in the future, to a time when she herself would be in front of an elementary school class. And she envisioned, and crafted, how she would teach that lesson to not only a classroom of children, but to a group of kids of different aptitudes and attention spans and home lives. "She just didn't sit in your class,'' Rifkin said of Soto. "She absorbed your class. We are talking about some controversial issues. Christopher Columbus; the definition of a family. ... Vicki would be figuring out how she would make it hers, so she could pass it on. Teaching was not an abstraction to her.'' Does this help explain what Soto would do nearly five years later when gunman Adam Lanza entered her classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School after slaughtering every child and teacher Lauren Rosseau in the next room? She ushered special education teacher Anne Marie Murphy and several children under her desk. She moved other children behind a bookcase or barrier. When Lanza came in, Soto was the only one he saw. She faced him. He killed her, and then he killed the children and Murphy under the desk. Murphy died shielding a child in her arms. Other children escaped the classroom. Soto's actions saved children's lives. Only God knows what guided her. But a construct emerges when the recollections of people who knew her over the 27 years of her life are considered: Vicki Soto had worked consciously for as long as 13 years, since she was a freshman at Stratford High School, to become an impeccably prepared school teacher. She milked every class, every student-teaching opportunity, every internship, every assignment as a substitute teacher, every tutoring session she gave, every week of the three years she taught first grade at Sandy Hook Elementary, to amass the tools that she decided she needed to be a complete teacher for every single kid in her classroom. So it is likely then, coming of age as she did following the Virginia Tech massacre, in an era when the term "active shooter" joined our lexicon, that she also milked every safety drill at Sandy Hook Elementary for everything it was worth, that she envisioned herself responding in a crisis in the same way that she had seen herself explaining to students that a child could have two mommies, or that there were already folks here when Christopher Columbus "discovered" America. It is plausible that she had decided what she would do, and that she acted on that decision when the time came. "She was the last one who wanted hero status,'' said Mary Foreman, Soto's mentor when she was a student teacher in Foreman's class at Brewster School in Durham. "What a selfless act, and what a legacy." "The last lesson she taught,'' said Foreman, "is that a teacher will do anything to protect her children.'' Rock Of Family Soto grew up in a Cape-Cod style home on close-knit, middle-class Knowlton Street in Stratford, with younger sisters Jillian and Carlee, and younger brother Carlos Matthew. Her father, Carlos, has worked for more than 22 years as a heavy-equipment operator for the state Department of Transportation. He works on highway bridges and was a union safety steward. Her mother, Donna, has been a nurse at Bridgeport Hospital for 28 years. In 2004, Donna Soto won a Nightingale award from a regional nursing association for having a marked impact on her patients, "going beyond the call of duty" and "demonstrating excellence." Soto also drew inspiration from her aunt, Debra Lee Cronk, who retired in June after a long career as an elementary school teacher in Stratford. Soto had a close relationship with a cousin, James Wiltsie of Stratford, a ramrod-straight Marine who fought in Somalia in the early 1990s. "I watched her since birth,'' Wiltsie, 39, said. "Vicki took charge. She was the ringleader of the family ... from Secret Santa to family vacations. She was the rock of the family. The driving force." Her work ethic and comitment to school set an example for her sisters and brother, Wiltsie said. At 10 years old, Soto was belting out spiritual songs in the children's choir at Lordship Community Church in Stratford. "She came from a very strong churchgoing family,'' said the Rev. Meg Williams, pastor of the Lordship church at the time. "And she was full of positive energy, and had that bright smile.'' Williams left that posting 12 years ago. She presided over Soto's funeral last week.
5 Gallon Bucket Cart (A.K.A. Excrement Express!) Step 1: Materials & Tools I made the cart almost exclusively from salvaged parts. I only had to buy two carriage bolts. Here is what the cart is made from: * A five gallon bucket * Various pieces of scrap metal. Specifically you'll need: * Two "L" shaped pieces to make the supports which attach to the bucket. * Two pieces of metal that will serve as brackets for the axle. * A metal rod for the axle. (preferably with notches for E-clips) * A "C" shaped piece of metal to serve as the handle. * A flat piece of metal to serve as a foot * 12 carriage bolts with nuts and washers. (Or screws with smooth heads) * 2 large wheels suitable for off-road use (mine were 6" wheels from a gas grill, but lawnmowers, large trash cans and other yard equipment would have usable wheels.) * 2 E-clips to keep the wheels on the axle. You could also thread the ends of the axle and use nuts for wheel retention. Or glue plastic buttons on the ends of the axle. (I used this method on my magnetic shop sweeper.) * 1" diameter dowel rod. (length & number will be discussed later) * Wood screws I used the following tools: * Reciprocating saw with metal cutting blade * Hand drill * Drill press * Various drill bits * Ratchet with various sockets * Bench vise * Level * Ruler * Tape measure * Markers * Ballpean hammer * Metal punch * Dremel with grinding drum * Dust Collection System (optional) Drill press dust collection adapter (optional) * Drill bit sizer * Deburring tool * Screw drivers Remove these adsRemove these ads by Signing Up Get More Out of Instructables Already have an Account? PDF Downloads Upgrade to Pro today!
Date is 2013-01-24, times are UTC+01. 22:55 <+keithp> I'm here too 22:55 <+Bart_Massey> Howdy! 22:55 <agd5f> hi 22:56 <+anholt> hey 22:56 <+Bart_Massey> keithp: So I found those beading containers 30/$10 on 22:56 <+keithp> nice 22:57 <+Bart_Massey> Ordered three sets; will now probably go down and buy the one at Michael's to get the tray as well. 22:59 <+Bart_Massey> OK, there's really only one big agenda item today: elections. We need to get these going by the end of the month, which means that the official process needs to start before the next Board Meeting. 23:00 <+Bart_Massey> anholt: What's the state of the software at this point? 23:00 <stukreit> hya 23:00 <+Bart_Massey> Greetings! 23:00 <+Bart_Massey> Elections! 23:01 <marcoz> hi all 23:02 <+Bart_Massey> OK... I'm looking at the Board list right now and realizing that anholt is up for election this cycle anyway, so... 23:03 <+Bart_Massey> in spite of his generous offer, he probably shouldn't be Election Chair anyhow. 23:03 <+Bart_Massey> I think? 23:03 <+Bart_Massey> Which four have terms up this January? 23:04 <+Bart_Massey> Is it anholt, alanc stukreit and myself? 23:04 <+Bart_Massey> I think? 23:05 <+Bart_Massey> the whole "term ends 2012" thing is a little confusing; I assume that this election is for those people? 23:05 <+alanc> that's what says 23:05 <+alanc> yes, our "term ends" thing got messy when our elections slipped from end of the year to start of the next one 23:05 <+Bart_Massey> so the "term ends 2013" people are the ones up next year? OK. 23:05 <+Bart_Massey> Yeah. 23:05 <+keithp> Bart_Massey: anholt was chatting with tolef this morning about fixing the site 23:06 <+alanc> so the election committee should be marcoz, emmes, agd5f & keithp 23:06 <+Bart_Massey> Right 23:07 <+Bart_Massey> and one of those needs to step up to chair it, which in practice has historically meant doing most of the work :-( :-( 23:07 <+Bart_Massey> keithp: I think it's great for anholt to continue to work on geting members. 23:07 <+Bart_Massey> to work 23:08 <+Bart_Massey> as we've done that in the past 23:08 <+Bart_Massey> but we need somebody not up for election to run the elections 23:08 <+Bart_Massey> marcoz: IMHO you'd be a great choice, if you were willing... 23:08 <+keithp> afaik, anholt volunteered to run them, is he actually up for election? 23:09 <+Bart_Massey> keithp: unless he's choosing not to run again, yes 23:09 <+Bart_Massey> at least according to the wiki, which probably knows more about it than I do :-( 23:10 <marcoz> what all's involved? 23:10 <+Bart_Massey> Issue a call for candidates, gather candidate statements and publish them, issue an election announcement 23:10 <+Bart_Massey> that's about it 23:11 <+Bart_Massey> we have good detailed documentation on the process, with a checklist 23:11 <agd5f> setting up the election on the website and sending a few emails. I did it last time I was on the election committee 23:12 <marcoz> there a task list of something that people used in the past? I don't want to be as disorganized as I was on the booksprint 23:12 <+Bart_Massey> You'll want anholt or somebody to deal with the website for the most part, since it's...not pretty 23:12 <+Bart_Massey> marcoz: Yes, hard as it is to believe for us, we have a checklist and good documentation 23:12 <+alanc> the ElectionCommittee page in the board wiki has the details if you can remember your login to it 23:12 <+alanc> a simple 17-step process 23:12 <marcoz> heh 23:13 <marcoz> Bart_Massey: umm yea, who do I contact for password reset? 23:13 <+Bart_Massey> Probably anholt 23:13 <+Bart_Massey> What's the board wiki URL again? 23:14 <+Bart_Massey> sitewranglers would also probably work 23:14 <+alanc> just mailed the list with the URL, wasn't sure if you wanted the private wiki URL in the meeting log 23:14 <+Bart_Massey> OK thanks 23:15 <+Bart_Massey> So are we set to get the Call for Candidates out next calendar week? 23:16 <+alanc> are we going to overlap it with the call for membership applications? 23:16 <+Bart_Massey> Oh yeah, we need to worry about that too, don't we 23:17 <+Bart_Massey> Yes, all candidates need to be Members, so this is a good time to invite people to be members. 23:17 <+alanc> anholt had also wanted to look into expiring people who haven't voted in years, if he could find the scripts for that from last time, so we don't come as close to missing quorum as we did last year 23:17 <agd5f> anholt wanted to do a renew pass first 23:17 <+Bart_Massey> Somebody want to take the onus of filtering the recent xorg-devel and the like and invitiing those folks to apply/renew? 23:17 <agd5f> since we barely made quorum last time since the code to expire members is commented out 23:18 <+Bart_Massey> And yes, we should extend a general invite to renew if appropriate to the existing members 23:18 <+alanc> also I guess we need to decide if we're proposing bylaw changes for this election soon 23:18 <agd5f> basically expire all the people who haven't renewed in the last year and ask the membership to renew 23:18 <+Bart_Massey> I don't think the Bylaws changes are coupled to the election meeting? 23:18 <+Bart_Massey> I think we actually need a separate meeting for those. 23:18 <+Bart_Massey> Let me check the Bylaws again. 23:18 <+alanc> I thought they had to go through the election process so it was easier to do with the election than separately 23:20 <+anholt> sorry for missing a bit -- had to move rooms. were there elections questions? 23:20 <+Bart_Massey> Lots and lots :-) 23:20 <+Bart_Massey> anholt: Are you running for re-election this year? 23:21 <+anholt> I don't think so -- I thought I was running the election committee this year. 23:21 <+alanc> says your term is up though 23:21 <+Bart_Massey> anholt: You are up this year if you want to run again, in which case you probably shouldn't run the election committee :-) 23:22 <+anholt> whoops. 23:22 <+anholt> sounds like I don't have to run an election! 23:22 <+Bart_Massey> OK, I was wrong: any vote of 2/3 of the membership appears to be sufficient to change the Bylaws 23:23 <+Bart_Massey> So if we want to overlap Bylaws changes with the Board election, we'd have to do it right quick 23:23 <+anholt> elections are hard enough to organize, I'd recommend keeping it separate. 23:24 <+Bart_Massey> I'd agree, but I think politically it will potentially be easier to pass our changes during a Board Election maybe. I'd say we work on the Bylaws changes this year and put them up during next year's election? 23:24 <+anholt> that sounds reasonable 23:25 <agd5f> anholt: can you still finish the renewal stuff before you step aside? 23:25 <+Bart_Massey> I don't think there's any conflict between the renewal stuff and the elections 23:25 <+anholt> absolutely -- I think I've got that figured out, so if the real elections committee wants it to happen, I'll push the button. 23:25 <+Bart_Massey> they are notionally separate activities 23:25 <+Bart_Massey> even if they will help the election process 23:25 <+anholt> the renewal stuff is supposedly automatic if we hadn't misplaced a cronjob. 23:26 <+Bart_Massey> I move that anholt be empowered to do what is necessary in the renewal process. +1s from the Board? 23:26 <marcoz> +1 23:26 <agd5f> +1 23:27 <+alanc> +1 23:27 <+Bart_Massey> Opposed? 23:27 <stukreit> +1 23:27 <+Bart_Massey> Thank you anholt! 23:27 <+anholt> on the topic of elections, I'm feeling out mithrandir for interest in building us a better elections site. I've sent him a rough spec and he's thinking about it. 23:28 <+Bart_Massey> anholt: that's awesome; let us know how we can help 23:28 <agd5f> sweet! 23:28 <+alanc> I'm also good with him continuing to handle incoming member applications as we poke people to join in time for the elections 23:28 <+Bart_Massey> So marcoz, are you willing to step up as Elections Chair? 23:28 <+Bart_Massey> alanc: of course 23:29 <marcoz> yes 23:29 <+Bart_Massey> Thanks! 23:29 <+Bart_Massey> OK, so ideally we get the membership stuff and the call for Candidates out by the end of next week, then proceed from there. Sound good to everyone? 23:30 <marcoz> works for me 23:30 <agd5f> anholt: I'd say go ahead and hit the button on the renewal 23:30 <+anholt> will do 23:31 <+Bart_Massey> OK, I think that's enough for one meeting. Anybody have other urgent business? 23:31 <+Bart_Massey> stukreit: You still need to do a Treasurer's Report, and I need to do a report as well. These should happen before the Call for Candidates, so hopefully this week or early next? 23:32 <+alanc> not urgent, but did we ever get any part of the book sprint output posted so others can see? still get occasional questions about it in various forums 23:32 <+Bart_Massey> It's urgent, and I've mostly failed. 23:33 <+Bart_Massey> It's available, but not in any good place: just in my account on people 23:33 <+alanc> well, not as urgent as the election stuff 23:33 <+Bart_Massey> I think the other book sprint output is available somewhere too, but we need to get them in a well-known place and figure out how to finish at least hte first one into something that is ready for general publication 23:33 <+Bart_Massey> Let's tackle that topic at the next meeting? 23:33 <+anholt> marcoz: I've updated the elections@ list, haven't hit the mysql. you've got the wiki page for the election? 23:34 <+alanc> okay 23:34 <marcoz> no, what is? 23:34 <+anholt> 23:35 <+Bart_Massey> LOL oh well :-) 23:35 <marcoz> thanks! now I just need to remember my pasword 23:35 <+Bart_Massey> Somebody kick stukreit about hte Treasurer's Report and we'll call it good. 23:35 <+Bart_Massey> Move to adjourn 23:36 <marcoz> +1 23:36 <agd5f> +1 23:36 <+anholt> +1 23:36 <+keithp> +1 23:36 <+alanc> +1 23:36 <+Bart_Massey> See you all next week!
Georgia Hunter Safety Course The North American Wildlife Conservation Model Sister #5: Non-Frivolous Use In North America, we can legally kill certain wild animals under strict guidelines for food and fur, self-defense and property protection. 1. Laws restrict us from casually killing wildlife. We cannot kill wildlife merely for antlers, horns or feathers or to use only a small portion of the meat. Laws also help ensure that we show respect for and avoid mistreating wildlife and the land, and when hunting, make maximum use of every animal for food and other purposes. 2. Most hunters make good use of an elk. Besides feasting on the meat, hunters often keep the antlers as a memento of the hunt. Hides also make sturdy buckskin coats, chaps and gloves. Many hunters also enjoy sharing wild meat with family and friends. In this way, hunting's rewards benefit everyone - not just the hunters themselves. Information on the North American Model - 7 Sisters for Wildlife Conservation - is used by permission of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Press the button if you liked the video! Thank you! Suri Cruise Seeks Comfort in Katie Holmes During Girls' Day Out kihcarasApr 25 2012, 963 views Suri Cruise very sweetly reaches for Katie Holmes's arms during a mother-daughter day in New York City on Tuesday. Katie picked up her soon-to-be 6-year-old, who was decked out in pink for a trip to a pottery-making store, and held her close as they exited the store.
The Library of Congress Poem Number 79 My Life after Henri Michaux Joe Wenderoth Somehow it got into my room. I found it, and it was, naturally, trapped. It was nothing more than a frightened animal. Since then I raised it up. I kept it for myself, kept it in my room, kept it for its own good. I named the animal, My Life. I found food for it and fed it with my bare hands. I let it into my bed, let it breathe in my sleep. And the animal, in my love, my constant care, grew up to be strong, and capable of many clever tricks. One day, quite recently, I was running my hand over the animal's side and I came to understand that it could very easily kill me. I realized, further, that it would kill me. This is why it exists, why I raised it. Since then I have not known what to do. I stopped feeding it, only to find that its growth has nothing to do with food. I stopped cleaning it and found that it cleans itself. I stopped singing it to sleep and found that it falls asleep faster without my song. I don't know what to do. I no longer make My Life do tricks. I leave the animal alone and, for now, it leaves me alone, too. I have nothing to say, nothing to do. Between My Life and me, a silence is coming. Together, we will not get through this. from It Is If I Speak, 2000 Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT Copyright 2000 by Joe Wenderoth. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission (click for permissions information).
A Russian Gentleman by S. T. Aksakov A Russian Gentleman_ seems a suitable title for this book, because the whole scene, in which a multitude of characters appear, is entirely dominated and permeated by the tremendous personality of Aksakoff's grandfather, Stepan Mihailovitch. Plain and rough in his appearance and habits, but proud of his long descent; hardly able to read or write, but full of natural intelligence; capable of furious anger and extreme violence in his anger, but equally capable of steadfast and even chivalrous affection; a born leader of men and the very incarnation of truth, honour, and honesty--Stepan Mihailovitch is more like a Homeric hero than a man of modern times. required, not public Allowed HTML tags: Cover image for Russian Gentleman, A
Clinical and Research News DOI: 10.1176/appi.pn.2013.7a20 DSM-5 Self-Exam: Bipolar and Related Disorders Psychiatric News Volume 48 Number 14 page 1-1 Based on new data available since DSM-IV, some changes have been made to the criteria and the text for bipolar disorder; however, the essential elements of the clinical symptoms associated with the depressive and manic-hypomanic components are relatively unchanged. Given the long delay from first symptoms to correct diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the community, criteria now include an emphasis on changes in activity and energy as well as mood in the context of mania and hypomania in the hope that emphasis on this more objective component of mania will lead to earlier detection. The diagnosis of bipolar I disorder, mixed type, requiring that the individual simultaneously meet full criteria for mania and for major depressive episode, is removed. Instead, a new specifier “with mixed features” has been added that can be applied to episodes of mania or hypomania when depressive features are present and to episodes of depression in the context of lifetime diagnoses or either major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder when features of hypomania are present. The questions below are from DSM-5 Self-Exam Questions: Test Questions for the Diagnostic Criteria, which may be preordered at http://www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=62467 from American Psychiatric Publishing. The answers and rationales are posted at http://www.psychnews.org/pdfs/DSM-5_Self_Examination_QandA_8.pdf. The book, available in October, contains 500 questions for all the categories of psychiatric disorders and includes Section III. The questions were developed under the leadership of Philip Muskin, M.D., a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. 1. Which of the following is a change made by DSM-5 from the DSM-IV criteria for bipolar disorders? a) “increased activity” has been added to the A criterion for manic and hypomanic episodes b) bipolar disorder, mixed type, now requires a patient to simultaneously meet full criteria for mania and major depression c) the removal of subsyndromal hypomania from the subtypes for bipolar not elsewhere classified (NEC)/NOS d) the stipulation that manic or hypomanic episodes cannot be associated with recent administration of a drug known to cause similar symptoms e) the clinical symptoms associated with hypomanic episode have been substantively changed from DSM-IV. 2. Which of the following statements correctly describes the primary diagnostic difference between manic and hypomanic episodes? a) manic episodes have a greater variety of symptoms than do hypomanic episodes b) manic episodes last for longer periods than do hypomanic episodes c) manic episodes do not include any psychotic symptoms d) hypomanic episodes do not cause clinically significant distress or impairment e) hypomanic patients generally have less insight into their illness 3. A 25-year-old graduate student presents to a psychiatrist complaining of feeling down and “not enjoying anything.” Her symptoms began about a month ago along with insomnia and poor appetite. She has little interest in activities and is having difficulty attending to her schoolwork. In taking a history, she recalls a similar episode one year prior that lasted about two months before improving without treatment. She also reports several episodes of increased energy in the past two years. These episodes usually last one to two weeks, during which time she is very productive and sees herself as more social and outgoing. She tends to sleep less during those times, but feels energetic during the day. Friends tell her that she speaks more rapidly during those times, but they do not see it as off-putting and in fact tell her she is more outgoing and clever during those periods. She has no medical problems, does not take any medications, or abuse drugs or alcohol. Which of the following is her most likely diagnosis? a) bipolar I disorder, current episode depressed b) bipolar II disorder, current episode depressed c) bipolar I disorder, mixed d) cyclothymic disorder e) major depressive disorder ■ Interactive Graphics
16:26 EDT Rastreador/Informação do aeroporto Rastreio em Tempo RealUS Airways (US) #3425 ✈ 21 de Abr de 2013 ✈ KPHL - KDCA FlightAware couldn't find flight tracking data for AWE3425 just yet.
Email this Recipe My Thai Honey Baked Chicken Honey Baked Chicken [Photographs: Leela Punyaratabandhu] You can bake the chicken according to the instructions laid out below, or you can follow J. Kenji López-Alt's preferred method of butterflying the bird first then baking it. Either way, I recommend adding some water to the pan to keep the bottom of the pan from scorching. Plus, you get delicious pan juice to drizzle over the finished chicken when you serve it. This baked chicken is best served with steamed jasmine (or Thai sticky) rice and some Thai sweet chili sauce. Note: It is best to prepare the marinade paste by pounding the dry ingredients in a granite mortar. But if you don't have one, use a mini-chopper or a small food processor in which case you should use ground white pepper instead of whole white peppercorns as it's difficult to grind up whole peppercorns in a chopper or food processor. Honey Baked Chicken Loading text goes here What's This? OK About This Recipe Yield:serves 4 Active time:5 minutes Total time:1 hours 40 minutes This recipe appears in: My Thai: Honey Baked Chicken • 4 large cloves garlic, peeled • 1/4 cup finely-chopped cilantro stems or 3 cilantro roots, finely chopped • 2 teaspoons whole white peppercorns or freshly-ground white pepper • 2 tablespoons fish sauce • 3 tablespoons honey • One whole chicken (about four pounds) • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil • 2 cups water 1. 1 In a mortar, pound together the garlic, cilantro, and peppercorns until you get a semi-smooth paste; transfer the paste to a large bowl. Alternatively, process in a food process, scraping down sides as necessary, until a paste is formed and transfer the paste to a large bowl. Add the fish sauce and honey to the marinade paste and stir together until well mixed. 2. 2 Place the chicken into the marinade bowl. With your hands, rub the marinade on the chicken thoroughly, both inside and on the skin. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 3. 3 Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 375°F. 4. 4 Place chicken breast side up in a large baking dish and brush the outside thoroughly with the vegetable oil. Add the water to the pan. 5. 5 Bake the chicken for 60 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breast registers at least 150°F and thigh registers 170°F. 6. 6 Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes; carve and serve with pan juice. Add a comment Add a rating with your comment: Previewing your comment:

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