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Prayer Circles
Read Prayers. |
MMartin4545u 1/28/2003 11:49 |
Thank you my father for blessing my family, friends each day with your love. Thank you for shining your light upon my brother Gregory heart. Father you inspires, comforts and encourages to be the best person I can be. Thank your for allowing me to meet Roger the one person that had show me what it like to really love another person. I thank you for all the many blessing, keeping my faith growing in time of my troubles. Thank you thank your most gracious one. |
cattay 1/30/2003 10:12 |
Thank you God for hearing my pleas. I know with your guidance and the prayers of others our family and business will not only survive but prosper. |
breeshan 1/30/2003 13:08 |
Lord, I want to thank you for all the amazing people you have placed in my life, along with the roof I have over my head, clothes to cover my body and a job so that I pay live independently and pay my own bills. I have been so truly blessed by you. I love you. Amen |
lampuntomyfeet 1/30/2003 14:57 |
Dear Lord God, Thank you for bringing me to Jesus. Thank you for leading me out of darkness and bringing me into light. Thank you for putting people in my life who would bring this about. Lord, I pray for my father that his cancer will be healed. |
Tameka973 1/30/2003 21:57 |
Heavenly Father, I Thank Thee for all things. You are the Lover of my soul. You are my all and all. |
cmk4 1/31/2003 11:57 |
Thank you, Lord, for giving us our son. We almost lost him, but You answered our prayers and gave us a little boy to love. I am grateful that you have led me to the family that I lost 18 years ago and to find in them a family where I fit in. I am grateful for the help that I have recieved from loving friends and family as my husband, daughter, and I have gone through a hard time. I am most grateful for the gifts that you have given me in my husband and children. |
faith0223 2/1/2003 20:34 |
Im grateful for the food in my stomach and that I still have a home. Help me to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I know its there. |
Hannah3 2/2/2003 00:47 |
Thank you for saving me and renewing my mind so that I now know what is most important--my realtionship with you because of Jesus.Thank you for teaching me your truth so that I can and will praise you no matter what the circumstances may be. I praise you oh Lord. |
WomanChild25 2/2/2003 07:59 |
I am grateful and I thank my Goddess everyday for all the wonderful blessings in my life! There are so many, I couldn't possibly name them all, but I am so thankful for each and every one. I truly appreciate how fortunate I am. I pray that these blessings continue and that I grow in love and spiritual strenth more and more each day! Thank you, Goddess, and thank you, my spirit guides, as well; I love you so much! Blessed be!...L |
rhondashoemaker 2/2/2003 18:43 |
Lord I am grateful to you today for my family, as we all know as of Saturday Feb 1 the astronaunts lost their lives Lord be with those families and help them during their time of loss!! Bless me and my family and help me to be grateful for all the new discoveries that the little ones are showing me amen |
BlissedOne 2/3/2003 10:23 |
Today and every day, I am thankful for each and every event that has become my life. The positive and the not-so positive have all made me the woman I am today. To my Divine Creator: thank you. '-) |
marrusso 2/3/2003 10:33 |
Infinite Light thank you for the love that unites me, my husband and my daughter. Even in those painful and sorrowful times it's good to have love that sustains us. All that is making me a better person and is helping me finding my faith again. I'm still fragile in my faith so please give me the strenght to grow stronger e survive this financial set back. Thank you Lord! |
Angela49 2/3/2003 13:39 |
Soon it will be my 49th Birthday, and every year I give thanks, for the best BIRTHDAY gift I ever got.I don't remember the exact year it was because, I was little. But; every year when my BIRTHDAY rolls around I remember the best gift I ever got!It was a homemade strawberry shortcake.The nice neihbor lady, in the wheel chair, from accross the street, made it for me, And with six kids that must have been a real sacrifice on her part.I felt like someone loved me and that I was special and for that I want to give my thanks to her and to OUR HEAVENLY FATHER!To this day when ever i have a piece of strawberry shortcake my heart remembers with gratitude the kindness shown to me by that dear lady !She taught me a lesson how even the simplest of kindnesses can make all the difference in someones life! |
latebloomer 2/4/2003 10:05 |
God I thank you for my life today and for continued recovery. Thank you for your goodness to me and your support. Thank you for a grateful heart, and the ability to live in the moment. Thank you for the diseases you've allowed to touch my life, because they have drawn me closer to you, and have revealed so much spiritual truth to me. Thank you for allowing me to relalize that they are diseases, not moral failings. Thank you for being my friend and helper. I love you. bloomer |
dejjj04 2/4/2003 19:05 |
Dear God, |
tammystrickland 2/4/2003 21:53 |
Thank you for the peace of mind that I am in Your will and that You are taking care of me and my family. |
marrusso 2/5/2003 10:27 |
today I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for the love that unites us |
pewelittle 2/5/2003 23:33 |
Thank you Lord for being able to wake up and see another day. Thank you for my husband who trys to is best in everyway. Thank you for My health and my ability to walk, talk, and see what wonderful delites you have created. Thank you for the doctor you brought in to our life. Give us the strenght we need to build a stronger marrage and a worshiping family. Lord i pray that next week when i go in for my biopsy that what every the doctor seen in my ultrasound is nothing. Bless me lord and grant me a child.Thank you for the wonderful things you provided for me and the mate i have. |
pewelittle 2/5/2003 23:41 |
Thank you for letting me see another day Lord. Thank you for my mate Lord. Thank you for ability to walk, talk, and see all you have created. Lord i pray and ask that you heal my body, Lord, I pray that next week when i have my biopsy you be there and take care of what ever problem i am having. Lord i pray that you heal me and take away what ever the doctor seen in my unltrasound lord. I pray that you bless my husband and i and grant us the strenght to build a strong foundation and a strong marrage lord. I pray that you grant us the child we are trying for. I ask for all In your name. You are the most powerful and merciful god. Amen |
Tapestry1066 2/6/2003 00:20 |
....my sons. Thave are my inspiration, my joy. |
Godslove4me 2/7/2003 01:21 |
Dear God, |
Thank you for increasing my committment to study the word, so that my relationship is grater with God. |
johnj 2/7/2003 05:06 |
Thank you God for a successful surgery on my wife. Thank you St-Paul of the Cross and St-Ann for your presence during this ordeal. |
mrsd 2/7/2003 15:14 |
Thank you heavenly father helping me through another night. I am so glad you helped me to find this site. Peace be with the whole world. |
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Has problems James J 02/12/2008
My Uncle Dennis Worthington 02/12/2008
My marriage Kat Mounce 02/12/2008
A good friends mother, who has cancer everyone who needs prayer universal 02/12/2008
Pray for Michelle and Carlos N. 07/08/2008
"This prayer is to help us sell our home."
Pray for Donald H. 07/07/2008
"The love of my life has cancer."
Pray for Amanda B. 07/06/2008
"Please pray for my daughter and her unborn child."
Pray for Janice A. 07/05/2008
"One of my most favorite people in the whole world needs your prayers today. Please spread this and include Janice in your daily prayer."
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Reflections on Eye on Earth summit (2): the 3 eras of public access to environmental information
19 December, 2011
As noted in the previous post, which focused on the linkage between GIS and Environmental Information Systems, the Eye on Earth Summit took place in Abu Dhabi on the 12 to 15 December 2011, and focused on 'the crucial importance of environmental and societal information and networking to decision-making'. Throughout the summit, two aspects of public access to environmental information were discussed extensively. On the one hand, Principle 10 of the Rio declaration from 1992 which call for public access to information, participation in decision making and access to justice was frequently mentioned including the need to continue and extend its implementation across the world. On the other, the growing importance of citizen science and crowdsourced environmental information was highlighted as a way to engage the wider public in environmental issues and contribute to the monitoring and understanding of the environment. They were not presented or discussed as mutually exclusive approaches to public involvement in environmental decision making, and yet, they do not fit together without a snag – so it is worth minding the gap.
As I have noted in several talks over the past 3 years (e.g. at the Oxford Transport Research Unit from which the slides above were taken), it is now possible to define 3 eras of public access to environmental information. During the first era, between the first UN environmental conference, held in Stockholm in 1972, were the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) was established, and the Earth conference in Rio in 1992, environmental information was collected by experts, to be analysed by experts, and to be accessed by experts. The public was expected to accept the authoritative conclusions of the experts. The second period, between 1990s and until the mid 2000s and the emergence of Web 2.0, the focus turned to the provision of access to the information that was collected and processed by experts. This is top-down delivery of information that is at the centre of Principle 10:
'Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided'
Notice the two emphasised sections which focus on passive provision of information to the public – there is no expectation that the public will be involved in creating it.
With the growth of the interactive web (or Web 2.0), and the increase awareness to citizen or community science , new modes of data collection started to emerge, in which the information is being produced by the public. Air pollution monitoring, noise samples or traffic surveys – all been carried out independently by communities using available cheap sensors or in collaboration with scientists and experts. This is a third era of access to environmental information: produced by experts and the public, to be used by both.
Thus, we can identify 3 eras of access to environmental information: authoritative (1970s-1990s), top-down (1990s-2005) and collaborative (2005 onward).
The collaborative era presents new challenges. As in previous periods, the information needs to be at the required standards, reliable and valid. This can be challenging for citizen science information. It also need to be analysed, and many communities don't have access to the required expertise (see my presentation from the Open Knowledge Foundation Conference in 2008 that deals with this issue). Merging information from citizen science studies with official information is challenging. These and other issues must be explored, and – as shown above – the language of Principle 10 might need revision to account for this new era of environmental information.
Reflections on Eye on Earth summit: the integration of GIS in Environmental Information Systems
17 December, 2011
The Eye on Earth Summit took place in Abu Dhabi on the 12 to 15 December 2011, and focused on 'the crucial importance of environmental and societal information and networking to decision-making'. The summit was an opportunity to evaluate the development of Principle 10 from Rio declaration in 1992 as well as Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 both of which focus on environmental information and decision making. The summit's many speakers gave inspirational talks – with an impressive list including Jane Goodall highlighting the importance of information for education; Mathis Wackernagel updating on the developments in Ecological Footprint; Rob Swan on the importance of Antarctica; Sylvia Earle on how we should protect the oceans; Mark Plotkin, Rebecca Moore and Chief Almir Surui on indigenous mapping in the Amazon and man others. The white papers that accompany the summit can be found in the Working Groups section of the website, and are very helpful updates on the development of environmental information issues over the past 20 years and emerging issues.
Interestingly, Working Group 2 on Content and User Needs is mentioning the conceptual framework of Environmental Information Systems (EIS) which I started developing in 1999 and after discussing it in the GIS and Environmental Modelling conference in 2000, I have published it as the paper 'Public access to environmental information: past, present and future' in the journal Computers, Environment and Urban Systems in 2003.
Discussing environmental information for a week made me to revisit the framework and review the changes that occurred over the past decade.
First, I'll present the conceptual framework, which is based on 6 assertions. The framework was developed on the basis of a lengthy review in early 1999 of the available information on environmental information systems (the review was published as CASA working paper 7). While synthesising all the information that I have found, some underlying assumptions started to emerge, and by articulating them and putting them together and showing how they were linked, I could make more sense of the information that I found. This helped in answering questions such as 'Why do environmental information systems receive so much attention from policy makers?' and 'Why are GIS appearing in so many environmental information systems ?'. I have used the word 'assertions' as the underlying principles seem to be universally accepted and taken for granted. This is especially true for the 3 core assumptions (assertions 1-3 below).
The framework offers the following assertions:
- Sound knowledge, reliable information and accurate data are vital for good environmental decision making.
- Within the framework of sustainable development, all stakeholders should take part in the decision making processes. A direct result of this is a call for improved public participation in environmental decision making.
- Environmental information is exceptionally well suited to GIS (and vice versa). GIS development is closely related to developments in environmental research, and GIS output is considered to be highly advantageous in understanding and interpreting environmental data.
- (Notice that this is emerging from combining 1 and 2) To achieve public participation in environmental decision making, the public must gain access to environmental information, data and knowledge.
- (Based on 1 and 3) GIS use and output is essential for good environmental decision making.
- (Based on all the others) Public Environmental Information Systems should be based on GIS technologies. Such systems are vital for public participation in environmental decision making.
Intriguingly, the Eye on Earth White Paper notes 'This is a very "Geospatial" centric view; however it does summarise the broader principles of Environmental Information and its use'. Yet, my intention was not to develop a 'Geospatial' centric view – I was synthesising what I have found, and the keywords that I have used in the search did not include GIS. Therefore, the framework should be seen as an attempt to explain the reason that GIS is so prominent.
With this framework in mind, I have noticed a change over the past decade. Throughout the summit, GIS and 'Geospatial' systems were central – and they were mentioned and demonstrated many times. I was somewhat surprised how prominent they were in Sha Zukang speech (He is the Undersecretary General, United Nations, and Secretary General Rio +20 Summit). They are much more central than they were when I carried out the survey, and I left the summit feeling that for many speakers, presenters and delegates, it is now expected that GIS will be at the centre of any EIS. The wide acceptance does mean that initiatives such as the 'Eye on Earth Network' that is based on geographic information sharing is now possible. In the past, because of the very differing data structures and conceptual frameworks, it was more difficult to suggest such integration. The use of GIS as a lingua franca for people who are dealing with environmental information is surely helpful in creating an integrative picture of the situation at a specific place, across multiple domains of knowledge.
However, I see a cause for concern for the equivalence of GIS with EIS. As the literature in GIScience discussed over the years, GIS is good at providing snapshots, but less effective in modelling processes, or interpolating in both time and space, and most importantly, is having a specific way of creating and processing information. For example, while GIS can be coupled with system dynamic modelling (which was used extensively in environmental studies – most notably in 'Limits to Growth') it is also possible to run such models and simulations in packages that don't use geographic information – For example, in the STELLA package for system dynamics or in bespoke models that were created with dedicated data models and algorithms. Importantly, the issue is not about the technical issues of coupling different software packages such as STELLA or agent-based modelling with GIS. Some EIS and environmental challenge might benefit from different people thinking in different ways about various problems and solutions, and not always forced to consider how a GIS play a part in them.
The previous post focused on citizen science as participatory science. This post is discussing the meaning of this differentiation. It is the final part of the chapter that will appear in the book:
Sui, D.Z., Elwood, S. and M.F. Goodchild (eds.), 2013. Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge. Berlin: Springer. Here is a link to the chapter.
The typology of participation can be used across the range of citizen science activities, and one project should not be classified only in one category. For example, in volunteer computing projects most of the participants will be at the bottom level, while participants that become committed to the project might move to the second level and assist other volunteers when they encounter technical problems. Highly committed participants might move to a higher level and communicate with the scientist who coordinates the project to discuss the results of the analysis and suggest new research directions.
This typology exposes how citizen science integrates and challenges the way in which science discovers and produces knowledge. Questions about the way in which knowledge is produced and truths are discovered are part of the epistemology of science. As noted above, throughout the 20th century, as science became more specialised, it also became professionalised. While certain people were employed as scientists in government, industry and research institutes, the rest of the population – even if they graduated from a top university with top marks in a scientific discipline – were not regarded as scientists or as participants in the scientific endeavour unless they were employed professionally to do so. In rare cases, and following the tradition of 'gentlemen/women scientists', wealthy individuals could participate in this work by becoming an 'honorary fellow' or affiliated to a research institute that, inherently, brought them into the fold. This separation of 'scientists' and 'public' was justified by the need to access specialist equipment, knowledge and other privileges such as a well-stocked library. It might be the case that the need to maintain this separation is a third reason that practising scientists shy away from explicitly mentioning the contribution of citizen scientists to their work in addition to those identified by Silvertown (2009).
However, similarly to other knowledge professionals who operate in the public sphere, such as medical experts or journalists, scientists need to adjust to a new environment that is fostered by the Web. Recent changes in communication technologies, combined with the increased availability of open access information and the factors that were noted above, mean that processes of knowledge production and dissemination are opening up in many areas of social and cultural activities (Shirky 2008). Therefore, some of the elitist aspects of scientific practice are being challenged by citizen science, such as the notion that only dedicated, full-time researchers can produce scientific knowledge. For example, surely it should be professional scientists who can solve complex scientific problems such as long-standing protein-structure prediction of viruses. Yet, this exact problem was recently solved through a collaboration of scientists working with amateurs who were playing the computer game Foldit (Khatib et al. 2011). Another aspect of the elitist view of science can be witnessed in interaction between scientists and the public, where the assumption is of unidirectional 'transfer of knowledge' from the expert to lay people. Of course, as in the other areas mentioned above, it is a grave mistake to argue that experts are unnecessary and can be replaced by amateurs, as Keen (2007) eloquently argued. Nor is it suggested that, because of citizen science, the need for professionalised science will diminish, as, in citizen science projects, the participants accept the difference in knowledge and expertise of the scientists who are involved in these projects. At the same time, the scientists need to develop respect towards those who help them beyond the realisation that they provide free labour, which was noted above.
Given this tension, the participation hierarchy can be seen to be moving from a 'business as usual' scientific epistemology at the bottom, to a more egalitarian approach to scientific knowledge production at the top. The bottom level, where the participants are contributing resources without cognitive engagement, keeps the hierarchical division of scientists and the public. The public is volunteering its time or resources to help scientists while the scientists explain the work that is to be done but without expectation that any participant will contribute intellectually to the project. Arguably, even at this level, the scientists will be challenged by questions and suggestions from the participants and, if they do not respond to them in a sensitive manner, they will risk alienating participants. Intermediaries such as the IBM World Community Grid, where a dedicated team is in touch with scientists who want to run projects and a community of volunteered computing providers, are cases of 'outsourcing' the community management and thus allowing, to an extent, the maintenance of the separation of scientists and the public.
As we move up the ladder to a higher level of participation, the need for direct engagement between the scientist and the public increases. At the highest level, the participants are assumed to be on equal footing with the scientists in terms of scientific knowledge production. This requires a different epistemological understanding of the process, in which it is accepted that the production of scientific insights is open to any participant while maintaining scientific standards and practices such as systematic observations or rigorous statistical analysis to verify that the results are significant. The belief that, given suitable tools, many lay people are capable of such endeavours is challenging to some scientists who view their skills as unique. As the case of the computer game that helped in the discovery of new protein formations (Khatib et al. 2011) demonstrated, such collaboration can be fruitful even in cutting-edge areas of science. However, it can be expected that the more mundane and applied areas of science will lend themselves more easily to the fuller sense of collaborative science in which participants and scientists identify problems and develop solutions together. This is because the level of knowledge required in cutting-edge areas of science is so demanding.
Another aspect in which the 'extreme' level challenges scientific culture is that it requires scientists to become citizen scientists in the sense that Irwin (1995), Wilsdon, Wynne and Stilgoe (2005) and Stilgoe (2009) advocated (Notice Stilgoe's title: Citizen Scientists). In this interpretation of the phrase, the emphasis is not on the citizen as a scientist, but on the scientist as a citizen. It requires the scientists to engage with the social and ethical aspects of their work at a very deep level. Stilgoe (2009, p.7) suggested that, in some cases, it will not be possible to draw the line between the professional scientific activities, the responsibilities towards society and a fuller consideration of how a scientific project integrates with wider ethical and societal concerns. However, as all these authors noted, this way of conceptualising and practising science is not widely accepted in the current culture of science.
Therefore, we can conclude that this form of participatory and collaborative science will be challenging in many areas of science. This will not be because of technical or intellectual difficulties, but mostly because of the cultural aspects. This might end up being the most important outcome of citizen science as a whole, as it might eventually catalyse the education of scientists to engage more fully with society.

subset: commoncrawl


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Prayer Circles
Read Prayers. |
cjstel 7/7/2008 09:53 |
May the Lord lay his loving healing hands upon your father. May he send his angels to surround your father and your family during this difficult time. Amen |
Isa.26:3 7/7/2008 09:56 |
Lord Jesus I pray for Terry P to be completely healed of the kidney tumor in Jesus Name. Give the family peace of mind to keep the faith in this time. This too shall pass in Jesus Name. Amen |
Has problems James J 02/12/2008
My Uncle Dennis Worthington 02/12/2008
My marriage Kat Mounce 02/12/2008
A good friends mother, who has cancer everyone who needs prayer universal 02/12/2008
Pray for Michelle and Carlos N. 07/08/2008
"This prayer is to help us sell our home."
Pray for Donald H. 07/07/2008
"The love of my life has cancer."
Pray for Amanda B. 07/06/2008
"Please pray for my daughter and her unborn child."
Pray for Janice A. 07/05/2008
"One of my most favorite people in the whole world needs your prayers today. Please spread this and include Janice in your daily prayer."
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42 Cade Smith
Quickly: Had a great spring after playing very well in 1999 as a backup linebacker... Will be listed as the backup to Tony Newson at middle linebacker. 1999: Saw a lot of action as a reserve as well as on special teams... Recorded 50 tackles on the year, missing two games due to a concussion... Had at least eight tackles in four games, including a season-high 12 at Utah... Returned a fumble recovery 49 yards for a touchdown against North Texas. 1998: Played in 10-of-11 games, mostly on special teams... Was credited with four tackles on the season. Previous College: Spent the 1996 season redshirting at Idaho and then attended Antelope Valley JC in 1997, but did not play football. High School: Lettered three years in football and track in high school... Was a two-time second-team all-league selection in football while playing tight end and linebacker... His 1995 team won the CIF Division II Championship... Was a four-year scholar-athlete... Personal: Son of Neil and Kathy Smith... Born Aug. 29, 1978 in Idaho Falls, Idaho... Wants to major in exercise science.