text:
Photo by Eddie Adams
"There was a relatively young man with severe mental retardation in the cage. We asked the staff how much time he spent in the cage. The answer was all day, except for half an hour when a staffer works with him. And I asked them, why do you keep this person in the cage?'"
Throughout the world, people with mental disabilities, elders with dementia, and people of all ages who suffer from psychological illnesses, from depression to schizophrenia, are regularly abandoned to a life of discrimination. They are often locked away in insane asylums where degrading conditions include pervasive inactivity, filthy spaces, and the use of physical restraints, including confinement to cages. Denied adequate privacy, medical and dental care, food, water, clothing, blankets, and heat; rehabilitation and reintegration into society are rarely the goals of their treatment, medications are chronically overused and misused, and there is almost a complete failure to provide informed consent for treatment and experimentation. The chronic shortage of resources includes a serious lack of trained staff, and few avenues of complaint for violations against this most vulnerable and marginalized segment of society. Gabor Gombos knows these conditions all too well. Between 1977 and 1990 he was confined four times to psychiatric wards in Hungarian hospitals. He emerged determined to overhaul psychiatric care, first in his country and then across Europe. To this end, Gombos cofounded the first NGO active in Hungarian mental health issues (EGISZ, the National Family Association of the Mentally Ill) in 1993, and the following year, cofounded Voice of Soul, Hungary's first NGO for ex-users and survivors of mental health facilities, where he still serves as chair of the board. Gombos is also a member of the board of directors of the Users, Ex-users, and Survivors of the Psychiatry Movement in Europe, and the European Network on Constraint and Collaboration in Psychiatry, and is on the editorial board of Out Loud. He is cofounder of the Hungarian Mental Health Interest Forum. On December 3, 2009, Mr. Gabor was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in recognition of his work in the field of disabilities.Gabor Gombos has played an important part in the Speak Truth to Power project by sharing his personal testimony about how one voice can make a difference at Speak Truth to Power events in 2004 in Mantua, Italy and at the April 2009 launch of Speak Truth to Power in Romania, where he visited a hospital in Bucharest in conjunction with the Romanian version of the Speak Truth To Power educational project. In September 2010 Gábor Gombos was elected to the UN Disability Rights Committee. MDAC - Mental Disability Advocacy Center
In Hungary, there are fifty-three social care homes for the mentally ill, similar to the old American state mental hospitals (as opposed to psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric wards, basically for acute patients, where patients spend at most two or three months). Most of these fifty-three institutions were started in 1953 by the Communist Party, which maintained that mental illness was a characteristic feature of capitalism, and would disappear under Communism. And after a few years they discovered there were still mentally disabled people in society. How to solve the problem? They set up these institutions very far from bigger cities and towns, to make mentally disabled people invisible for the majority of society. If you don't see them, they don't exist.Depression is a nationwide problem as with everywhere in the civilized world. The Hungarian suicide rate is one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Classic psychiatric disorders (severe depression, manic depression, schizophrenia) are as prevalent everywhere. So we have 100,000 people with schizophrenia, another 100,000 people with severe depression or manic depression. There are a few thousand beds in psychiatric hospitals and wards, and a few thousand more in the homes for the mentally ill. Even the newest post-1994 facilities reflect the attitude of the society, the discrimination, the prejudice, the stigma against people with mental disabilities. The buildings are modern, but the attitudes are old, designed without rooms for occupational therapy, without a common eating facility, and with cages for acute cases.What is missing is a flexible and reachable network of various social services for people with mental disabilities: a sheltered place to live, support in feeding, shopping, and other needs. But there are no outpatient services like that. With as little as half an hour a day, these people could be not only equal members of society but able to earn their own living. But because these services are completely missing, the only choice for the family or for the local authorities is to condemn people to social care homes for the mentally ill. This is really tragic. The lack of resources is not the main reason for the government's failure to do anything (a much-heard complaint) because an unreasonable amount is spent for services that are ineffective and (by the way) violate basic human rights. On a fact-finding trip to an institution, for example, we noticed a relatively young man with severe mental retardation in the cage. We asked the staff how much time he spent in the cage. The answer was all day, except for half an hour when a staffer works with him. And I asked them, why do you keep this person in the cage? And the answer was for his own protection.The average waiting list for admittance to a group home is about three years, and if you consider that the conditions are abhorrent, that they are not rehabilitation institutions but are custodial institutions, it seems surprising that there are people waiting. It doesn't mean that these people want to be there; it means there is no other choice, or that their guardians are forcing them to be there. The Hungarian guardianship system itself is a severe violation of basic human rights. If someone has a psychiatric diagnosis or one of mental retardation and if someone therefore believes that person is incompetent, then they can initiate guardianship procedures, and some local official makes a decision about a temporary guardianship, lasting sometimes for two or three years. It means all your civil rights are controlled by your guardian, including your property, house, and money. Abuse is common.Medically you can be forcibly treated or hospitalized against your will only if you have been admitted voluntarily. The guardians circumvent this by proclaiming the patient incompetent and then condemn them for life to "voluntary" care. In the new social care homes for the mentally ill, more than 90 percent of the residents are under guardianship, and this is shameful.One of the issues we address is occupational therapy. There is very little, and what exists is not very therapeutic. On the other hand, patients do real work for the institution cleaning bathrooms and washing floors—for free. They should be paid the minimum wage for this real custodial work they perform instead of being exploited by the institution. The fact that they perform these services indicates that they can survive perfectly well in society with minimal support.We walked through one facility for three hours with the psychiatrist, the director, the chief nurse, and others, and not one patient seemed to recognize or initiate conversation with any of the staff, as though they had no relationship. Yet this home is very proud that it has a psychiatrist at all since most of these institutions do not have one. The psychiatrist said he only needs to see patients with acute symptoms and only 5 percent are acute so he's there only three afternoons a week. My question was, why should the other patients live in social institutions designed for the mentally disabled? Why not in ordinary social care homes for the elderly, for instance? Or shelters for the homeless? I know the answer: because there are no alternative shelters. But how amazing that the chief psychiatrist said they don't need to see a psychiatrist. It's an insane asylum, after all...A few words about institutions for mentally ill and mentally retarded people. I told you that most of the social care homes for the mentally ill are mixed institutions. And you can find people with mental retardation in every one of these places. I must tell you that, on average, the human rights violations in the institutions for the mentally retarded are much more severe. It's not a question of money and a shortage in financing. It's a question of attitudes. For example, it's very often an everyday practice in many of these institutions for the mentally retarded that the staff beats some of the patients.The last time I was in a mental hospital was in 1991. At that time I was very, very depressed, and I was a voluntary patient. But when I wanted to leave I was not allowed. Since we had no real legislation about this, the doctor simply changed my status in the medical documents to involuntary, because he decided I'd become agitated or confused—I don't know. The courts had nothing to do with this. The court made several visits to the wards. They interviewed some selected patients, most of whom were overdrugged and some of them had just been electroshocked. After the electroshock, your memory is not really clear. So they said, "Yes, yes, it's okay."The main indication for electroshock is severe depression. Twenty years ago, the major indication was schizophrenia. Now they say that it's contraindicated in schizophrenia. My wife was electroshocked twenty-six times for schizophrenia, only to be told that it was a severe mistake. She is suffering long-term side effects from those electroshocks. I was lucky, because my mother protested against my treatment so I have never been shocked, just treated with drugs.My contact with psychiatry began when I was three years old. My uncle committed suicide. A few months later, my mother became very depressed and delusional. She was hospitalized many times when I was a child, and when not in the hospital she worked outside the home to care for me and my grandmother. So I was raised mainly by my grandmother, who was also mentally ill. She died when I was ten. Being afraid that I'd be put in an orphanage, my mother married. But my stepfather drank a lot, which did not help my mother's emotional stability. Her hospitalizations increased and she tried to commit suicide several times. My mother lost her autonomy, her social contacts, her social roles over time and applied for a disability pension. She lost her job, which was devastating for her. So her life was narrowing and narrowing and narrowing. And the only goal which remained for her was for me to grow up successfully. As soon as I became more or less independent, my mother died. Her death was mysterious because she was an outpatient at the mental health hospital where she was an involuntary subject in a double-blind drug experiment.When I discovered the true cause of her death, I went really crazy, completely psychotic, with threatening hallucinations. So psychotic that I didn't go to the psychiatrists. I didn't eat. I didn't leave my home. I couldn't. The reason that I am here is that one of my friends unexpectedly visited me, and discovered that I was visibly psychotic. But he was an old friend and didn't think that the answer to my state was hospitalization. He could understand my situation. I had lost my mother. He knew something about her very doubtful autopsy. So he moved into my apartment for weeks, spent all his time with me, forced me to eat something.For weeks, I couldn't understand what he told me. He recognized this and didn't try to speak to me; he was just together with me. And that was what I really needed. After three weeks, I recognized that I had passed my deepest crisis. Without any help from the psychiatric establishment, with only the very human help from my friend, I had survived this very critical period.That was the beginning of a new life. I began to question many things that I had believed in before. That resulted in another crisis. But now I had the self-confidence that, with the proper support from people who are close to me, I could survive. Before that, starting at age seventeen, when I felt ill, I had gone to the psychiatric institution more or less voluntarily and there I was treated as an object. I received some injections, some pills, was told to try to relax, that it had nothing to do with my disorder; that "we are trying to help you"; that "you cannot help yourself at all because it's the biochemistry of your brain." And I believed it. But when I emerged out of my second psychotic experience with my friend's help, I felt that I did have some control over my illness.I had always tried in the past to find someone to make my decisions for me. I couldn't imagine that I would be the one to control my own life. It is not easy if you start when you are over twenty-five, but not impossible. Then I was lucky. I got a grant from the French Ministry of Culture for studies in metaphysics. So I did some research in France, four months in a completely strange environment, a very good opportunity to start a long, long dialogue with myself, to make certain things clear.And then I understood that physics was not my real profession. It was a kind of medication in my childhood to have a goal, which was not easy at the time in Hungary, one that belonged to the elite professionals in the Communist countries. But when I came back from France, some people contacted me and asked me to help them organize a nongovernmental organization for the families of people with mental disabilities. I joined because of my mother. And after a time, became more and more involved. I met my wife through these activities, and we decided to get married. And this was the moment when I realized that I would be seriously committed to helping people who share my terrible experience of so-called psychosis, and changing the way society reacts to it, and so changing the world.The transition to teaching was hard. I have never suffered from a learning disability, but I suffered from very similar emotional deprivation, a violation of my emotional privacy. Now I am very involved in this movement, called Users, Ex-users and Survivors of the Psychiatry Movement in Europe. We say we are lucky to have survived a very antihuman mechanism which doesn't kill the patients biologically, but the end result is very often a socially dead person living in a social care home for the mentally ill. I had a very simple choice: Did I want to take up this role and have a chance to find myself? Or not take up this mission and lose that chance?For years I believed that it was my mission to do research in physics. There were extremely heavy competitors there, but not supporters. In my private life, my mother was the only person who was a supporter. My real father never supported me; my grandmother maybe wanted to, but what she actually did was something completely different. In the world of human rights advocacy for people with mental disabilities I discovered people who shared my experience, who gave me all their support, all their expertise, all their knowledge. And I tried to return that in kind. Solidarity, you know? This was the first time in my life when I experienced solidarity.I remember that Edmund Hillary wrote in one of his books that when he was an adolescent he dreamed that as an adult he would be a very courageous person who would climb high mountains and discover undiscovered lands. And when he looked back at his life, he wrote that he never felt he succeeded, because every time he climbed onto a mountain, he was very much afraid. But what he learned is that even if you are afraid, even if you are not courageous, you can do things if they are important for you. In spite of the fear, you feel the presence of a peaceful entity. Even when I experience strong panic—which happens quite often—I do have some kind of spiritual peace. So, emotionally, I can be very threatened, very frightened, and even my soul can be confused, but still I feel that peace. It's not an abstract entity. But if I do not feel it, then it is a sign that I might do the wrong things. I remind myself that many of the mistakes in mental health care come from a helping attitude. But they want to help you without asking you, without understanding you, without involving you, "in your best interest."I can understand those who are on the other side of this mental health care. I don't suppose that they are less valuable human beings. And by understanding, we can influence each other, at least on a personal level. And I really believe that change, social change, can happen only if it happens in various levels. If decision makers, as human beings, embrace human relationships with people with mental disabilities, and with other disabilities, this will advance change and understanding like nothing else.
Speak Truth to Power (Umbrage, 2000)
From Speak Truth To Power: Voices from beyond the Dark performance:


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Wind: 0 mph
Theresa F. LaVanway, 68, of Duxbury, passed away at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington in the comfort of her family on Saturday, January 13, 2007. Born in Northfield on November 25, 1938, she was the daughter of the late Edward and Eleanor (Ryan) Blair. On April 27, 1957, she married Kenneth R. LaVanway in Waterbury.
Theresa attended schools in Worcester, Montpelier and Waterbury. As a young woman, she worked in her father's taxi business in Waterbury. She later was employed at the former Pilgrim Plywood in Waterbury, Jewett's General Store in Moretown, and for the past 28 years, she was a telephone operator for the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury. In her leisure time, she enjoyed watching her son's stock car races, lawn sales and jigsaw puzzles.
Theresa is survived by her husband of 50 years, Kenneth R. LaVanway of Duxbury; their two sons, Donald K. LaVanway and his fiancée, Danielle Cubit, of Bolton, and Henry L. LaVanway of Duxbury; two grandchildren, Amber Cleveland of Winooski and Dustin Mable of Montpelier; a brother, Edward Blair and his wife, Joan, of Braintree; as well as extended family and her Yorkshire Terrier, "Holly-Sue."
Services at Theresa's request will be private. For those who wish, memorial gifts would be appreciated to the Waterbury Ambulance Service, P.O. Box 95, Waterbury Center, VT 05677. Arrangements are in the care of the Perkins-Parker Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Waterbury. To send online condolences, please visit www.perkinsparker.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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Dear Experts,
We received this question from a member today, and would like to better understand why a practice might make the decision to do this, and advice to our members on what to do if their provider chooses not to screen them for proteinuria, particularly if they have a past history of preeclampsia. Thanks! Laura
Hi, I'm writing because I found out at my OB checkup today that my maternal fetal group at a large university in NC has decided to no longer screen pregnant women for protein in their urine. I was told they will now only take urine samples of a woman's BP is extremely high. Today mine was 145/88 and I do believe that is high, but they would not screen me, even though I suffered eclampsia in my last pregnancy and am considered high risk this time around.
My concern for this decision is not only about myself. I will deliver my baby by c-section in less than 2 weeks and I do know the signs to watch out for. I am, however, extremely concerned for the other women who may be overlooked by not being screened or who may be diagnosed too late. Having had eclampsia myself and a pretty massive seizure that nearly killed me and my baby, I would hope that even if they only catch one or two women early enough to help them, it would be well worth the effort.
So, that being said, I am looking for ideas and suggestions for what I might be able to do to help reverse this very foolish decision.


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Fish are jumpin and the cotton is fine
Oh your daddys rich and your ma is good lookin
So hush little baby, don't you cry
One of these mornings
Youre goin to rise up singing
Then youll spread your wings
And youll take the sky
But till that morning
Theres a nothin can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin by
Slow and easy, relaxed and cool. Summer is finally upon us, easing into place, wrapping herself around us in her warm embrace. She brushes a loose strand of hair from our face with a still-cool hand and whispers loving promises in our ear, promises of gentle breezes washing over us, promises of lazy days and naps in the green grass under trees and promises of the soothing lullaby of crickets and frogs as she gently rocks us to sleep at night.
Yet beware! Soon she will release her rage and breath her fire all around until we drop to our knees and beg for respite. Our clothing sticks to us, pressing against our burning skin like devils' hands and we tear at the little that we wear as if those hands were trying to choke us. We wander around the house desperately seeking the one cool place, praying for comfort, as in one final despairing attempt we stand in the one cold spot in the house, bathed in the glow of the refrigerator light.
We toss and turn all night, wretched in the heat, the sheets knotted around our ankles, cursing the gods of summer as we count the ticks and the tocks of the night inching along on little sloth feet, praying for morning to finally arrive hoping that with it will come the hint of even the slightest breeze. We drag ourselves out of our bed, step over the poor dog splayed across the parquet floor panting even in his sleep and readjust the fan one more time knowing that anyway we will find no relief.
We wander into the kitchen in our mindless hot-weather roamings and wonder if we even have an appetite. We lean into the fridge and think that maybe the only thing inside worth coming for is the cold air. We should be working but have no strength and we wonder why oh why did we pray so hard for this unforgiving season to arrive. Do we dream of beaches and bike rides with the sun beating down on our backs and the day ending with our face the color of lobster? Or long car drives battling between the icy air conditioning or the open window, the air rushing at us only hotter than burning cement. We stare out the window, peering up into the sky and hoping upon hope for one of summer's flash thunderstorms and the wind and drop of temperature that accompanies it. We slip into last year's swimsuit and trudge down to the beach, loaded down with towels and coolers, children and dogs skipping excitedly alongside us, forgetting that by the end of the afternoon they'll be hot and tired, itchy with sand in hard-to-reach places and thirstier than Moses after 40 years in the desert.
Ah, to sit on a shaded terrace somewhere, a glass of chilled pinot grigio or Prosecco in our hand, the soft breeze rustling the leaves in the nearby trees while the waiter brings us a platter of oysters and cracked crab nestled in ice, the quiet chatter around us lulling us into daydreams, only the gentle droning of the dragonflies and the clatter of glasses breaking through the murmurs. Or sitting lakeside, feet dangling over the pier, toes making lazy circles in the cool water, waiting for the barbecue to heat up and someone to bring us a plate of grilled shrimp and refill our glass with chilled Rosé, only to end the evening strolling back through the cool grass to the chalet where we will slip in between the cool sheets and snuggle up with the one we love.
Well, if it could only be that way. Here we are working and packing, vacation a distant dream, tossing and turning in the heat, trying to deal with the summer weather. We still need to put a meal on the table occasionally and we are loath to light the oven and simply add to the heat. We open the windows and pull closed the shutters and make a list of all the possibilities; the salads and cold soups, leftover Chinese food and thick slices of chilled watermelon. What to make? What to make?
Here is the ideal summer meal, light and cool, healthy and a snap to put together. I am sending this over to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her super SOUPER (SOUP, SALAD and SAMMIE) SUNDAYS. My first time ever with Deb and her gang, but this salad is too delish not to share!
ZUCCHINI CARPACCIO served with a MOZZARELLA TOMATO SALAD
For the Carpaccio you will need:
Zucchini, 1 or 2 for two people depending on what you are eating with it
Sea salt
An excellent quality extra virgin olive oil, I use peppery Carapelli
Freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese
Peel the zucchini, cut off the two ends and discard all. Using a potato peeler, peel the zucchini into long, thin, wide strips all around until you get to the center section with the seeds. This seedy center you discard.
Pile the strips of zucchini onto a plate. Drizzle olive oil over the carpaccio, sprinkle with sea salt and a good grinding of black pepper.
Using the potato peeler, peel curls of cheese off of the block of Parmesan and distribute over the Zucchini Carpaccio.
For the Mozzarella Tomato Salad :
Again, quantities depend on how many people, what you are serving this with and how much people eat.
Juicy, ripe seasonal tomatoes
Balls of fresh mozzarella, preferably the more flavorful buffalo mozzarella, if available
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Very good quality extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
A handful of rocket or basil leaves
Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into medium-thick, even slices. If using rocket, distribute it evenly over serving platter and then lay the tomato and cheese slices all over it in an overlapping pattern. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, sprinkle lightly with salt and a bit more generously with freshly ground black pepper. If using basil, distribute the leaves on top of the tomato and cheese slices.
Serve as is, with a bit of fresh bread if you like and a bottle of chilled white or rosé.


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Happy Hiking! Nantahala Outdoor Center's Founder's Bridge Festival is 4/4 & 4/5
March 31st, 2014
Each year, thousands of hikers make the 2,180 mile trek along the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain to Katahdin. Each of those hikers crosses the Nantahala River along the NOC Founder's Bridge, in Bryson City, NC. Most of these hikers cross on their way north in early April, just before beginning the difficult ascent into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many more hikers enjoy the Appalachian Trail in segments, hiking one section at a time over the course of many years, or maybe just sticking to their favorite sections of trail. Read more…
Active Lifestyle, AT Trail, Events, Hiking, Osprey Culture, Osprey Life


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Verizon Replies to AT&T's Lawsuit Over Attack Ads - "The
By now most of you have seen the infamous Verizon "map for that" attack ads against AT&T. It was only a matter of time before we heard Verizon's response to the lawsuit [Full document PDF link] that AT&T recently slapped them with and respond they did. Verizon's lawyers put their heads together to come up with the following opening line:
blockquote>AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon's "There's A Map For That" advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon's ads are true and the truth hurts.
Ouch, if you continue reading the lengthy document you will find that Verizon does not intend to remove the ads from the air unless it is forced to. They also claim AT&T agrees the map coverage is indeed accurate and before anything progresses both parties need to do some more of their own investigating into the matter.
All of this really isn't necessary, both parties should agree to carry along and spend their time doing something more productive - improving both of their respective networks.
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
Reader comments
Verizon Replies to AT&T's Lawsuit Over Attack Ads - "The
Almost as if Verizon had that response ready - their marketing department deserves a raise this Christmas season
In my experiences AT&T and Verizon both have equally good service. Instead of playing up their own respective strengths negative advertising seems to be the norm now.
Just dropped another very important business call in my own house. AT&T is a joke. What we are forced to pay for an iphone on their network is a travesty. Soco_Jon is right. This has been out for days.
...days, weeks or months, it doesn't really matter how long it's been out. And while it's funny to see the bickering back n' forth like two children on the playground, I'd much rather see the monies used for something to benefit the current customers instead of in boorish adverts against each other.
-inevitably someone always gets their feelings
hurt! In this case, AT&T
Where's Ron Jeremy when you need him?
RON JEREMY SAYS this story is played out like Peter norths carreer. That statement fron verizon does sound cocky (pun intendid) but I guess they figure they're within the legal spectrum when it comes to their claims of att's subpar network. Where I live AT&T works decent enough for me.
I just got to laugh--I talk to my sister for hours, my dad for hours. Heck, I was talking to my friend Jerry ALL the way from Hammond, IN to the north side of Chicago driving almost 50 minute conversation never dropped. RARELY drop calls.
I understand that Verizon and Droid is all that blah blah in mega-awesomesauce blah rave blah, just don't tell me I can't get good service from AT&T or that the iPhone is a bag of 'doesn't' because it works for me--fanTASTICally.
Haters can freakin' bite me.
Being that Verizon cant do voice and data at the same time, is it still considered 3G coverage? By definition does not 3G allows simultaneous use of speech and data services?
@Guido you might want to take those raises back from Verizon marketing department. Sounds like they can't decide which phone to use as the killer.
I envy your good AT&T 3G coverage....sigh.
Are these commercials on TV? I have yet to see them on TV (only youtube), but maybe that's because I only watch on Sundays for football. I agree, they should be using their resources improving the network.
Verizon has a larger high speed coverage area, AT&T has simultaneous voice and data. AT&T forget about a lawsuit and stick that money into being the best. I'm talking about 3G towers with the backbone to support FULL 3G SPEED!! If AT&T rolled out 3G and quickly got out good/widespread 4G coverage noone could touch them.
Hahah its funny how almost all the verizon ads include the iphone and at&ts service(which in mi case i have dropped a few calls on mi iphone. But ive nvr used verizon so i cant say which is better) but anyway the iphone is in the ads. Yet apple doesnt have anything to say they jus like watch ovr them while they fight.
Verizon is the joke. I will never use to them. They ripped me off. And there customer service is a joke, they don't care about there's customers. At&t so far has been fine no dropped calls of anything.
All these ppl that cry about dropped calls and shiy coverage with AT&T why don't you leave? There is verizon, sprint, tmoblie! Beat it. But that would be bad because then you can't piss and moan about st. AT&T has 75 million subs they must be doing something right! It's not cause of the iPhone. It accounts for about maybe what 10-15% of there subs. And I'm sure there are ppl like me who have great coverage and get great service when it is needed. Where do you ppl live in the mountains and lakes. Maybe you should go with verizon according to there maps they have 3g there. I have been on this and many other iPhone and apple blogs since they begun. All ppl do and cry cry cry there's other alternatives out there.
And I wish some off you would stop with the dropped calls stuff to. Verizons no better my gf gets more dropped calls then me. I've had like 2 the whole year. She's had about 30. And just to add. Last week we went camping in the outskirts of town. I had 3 bars of 3g on my iPhone she had 1bar to no service. She had to use my Iphone the whole week. Upstate NY.
Dear Verizon.
Please continue to attack AT&T on this front. It's really the only way they're going to get the pressure to expand.
The current AT&T customer base.
iPhone consumers.
Judge denied AT&T's request to halt the ads today:
Looks like comments software broke the URL, so here it is in tinyurl form:


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The Jeffrey Wolf Green
School of Evolutionary Astrology
Message Board
Pluto, the evolutionary journey of the soul
Why am I here?
What are my life lessons?
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Aug 03, 2015, 04:40 AM
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Topic: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic (Read 127292 times)
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Posts: 27568
Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
Reply #225 on:
Jan 14, 2013, 08:49 AM »
First world atlas on renewable energy launched
By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, January 13, 2013 15:24 EST
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on Sunday launched the world's first atlas on clean energy which will offer open-access information on countries' renewable energy potential.
"The Global Atlas is the largest ever initiative to help countries assess their renewable energy potential, and companies bringing together data and maps from leading technical institutes and private companies worldwide," IRENA said.
"It currently charts solar and wind resources, and will expand to other forms of renewable energy over 2013 and 2014," the agency announced as it began its two-day annual general assembly in Abu Dhabi.
The online atlas is available on
IRENA said the atlas will also help companies looking to invest in new markets.
"Over the next decade, we expect an enormous increase in investment in the field of renewable energy. Global Atlas will help us make the right decisions," said Danish Climate and Energy Minister Martin Lidegaard, who chaired a session at the gathering.
IRENA director Adnan Amin said that by 2014 the atlas will include information on bio-energy, geothermal energy and marine energy.
"The Global Atlas provides a powerful new tool in international efforts to double the world?s share of renewable energy by 2030″ to around 30 percent of the global energy mix, he said.
Thirty-seven countries, including Israel which has no diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, have so far contributed information on their renewable energy potentials to the atlas.
Established in 2011, Abu Dhabi-based IRENA is mandated by 159 countries and the European Union to promote the sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy.
Its meeting comes as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week which includes the Future Energy Summit, the International Water Summit and the International Renewable Energy Conference.
Most Active Member
Posts: 27568
Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
Reply #226 on:
Jan 14, 2013, 04:44 PM »
January 14, 2013 01:00 PM
Protests as Energy Giants Seek to Exploit Australia's Coal Seam Gas
By Diane Sweet
Video via Al Jazeera
Some of the world's largest energy giants are moving into eastern Australia and investing billions of dollars to exploit coal seam gas reserves so vast they could rewrite the world's energy map. Despite generating massive amounts of revenue and creating thousands of new jobs, they are being met by a groundswell of public protest and a rising chorus of concern about the long-term impacts of coal seam gas extraction on the nation's health, environment and land. Coal seam gas has the potential to make Australia an energy superpower, but at what price?
12 protesters were arrested this week during a demonstration of about 150 people at a coal seam gas drilling site. Activists had locked themselves to trees and trucks.
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham criticized police for being forceful:
"It's a sad reflection on the coal seam gas industry that police have to arrest local residents and force their way through a community blockade so that they can drill for gas," he said in a statement.
"There is no future for coal seam gas in NSW if each drill rig needs to have a police guard to force its way into communities."
The protesters have been keeping a blockade of the drilling site going for nearly two months now, but police seem determined to break any protest that interferes with drilling.
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Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
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Jan 15, 2013, 08:15 AM »
Conservationists ask Thailand to stop poachers from trading in elephant tusks
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, January 15, 2013 7:05 EST
Conservationists on Tuesday urged Thailand to end its legal trade in ivory to help curb the slaughter of African elephants by poachers cashing in on their highly-prized tusks.
While it is illegal to sell tusks from African elephants in Thailand, ivory from their Thai cousins can be traded — a loophole allowing criminal networks to launder their wares through the kingdom, according to the WWF.
"The only way to prevent Thailand from contributing to elephant poaching is to ban all ivory sales," said Janpai Ongsiriwittaya, of WWF-Thailand.
"Today the biggest victims are African elephants, but Thailand's elephants could be next," Janpai added, urging Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to ban the ivory trade to protect the "iconic animals".
Demand for ivory is high in Thailand, where some wealthy people hang tusks on their walls as status symbols and the tradition of ivory carving is popular with tourists and collectors.
WWF says black marketeers routinely smuggle ivory from African elephants — considered a "vulnerable" species — into the kingdom and pass it off as coming from the Asian pachyderm, fuelling the poaching crisis.
"Many foreign tourists would be horrified to learn that ivory trinkets on display next to silks in Thai shops may come from elephants massacred in Africa," said Elisabeth McLellan, manager of WWF's Global Species Programme.
"It is illegal to bring ivory back home and it should no longer be on sale in Thailand."
The international trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after elephant populations in Africa dropped from millions in the mid-20th century to some 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.
But poaching is at record levels in Africa, prompting Kenya's prime minister last week to appeal for international help to handle the escalating problem.
The appeal came after a family of 11 elephants were slaughtered in a national park in southeast Kenya — which says it lost at least 360 elephants last year, an increase from the 289 killed in 2011.
A haul of more than a tonne of ivory worth about $1.4 million was found in Hong Kong two weeks ago in a shipment from Kenya.
[Image via Agence France-Presse]
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Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
Reply #228 on:
Jan 15, 2013, 08:16 AM »
EU releases all data used to clear genetically modified corn's link to cancer
By Agence France-Presse
Monday, January 14, 2013 10:50 EST
The EU's food safety agency challenged its doubters on Monday, making available all the scientific information used to clear a genetically modified corn which a French researcher had linked to cancer.
The European Food Safety Authority said that "given the level of public interest … (it would) make all data on genetically modified (GM) maize NK603 publicly available on its website."
While EFSA had previously provided such information on request, "any member of the public or scientific community will now be able to examine and utilise the full data sets used in this risk assessment," it said in a statement.
EFSA, which reviews the use and authorisation of such crops and foodstuffs, in November rejected outright a report by Gilles-Eric Seralini of the University of Caen which had linked NK603 to cancer found in laboratory rats.
It said at the time that Seralini's work failed to meet "acceptable scientific standards" and accordingly it had no reason to review its assessment of NK603, made by US agri-food giant Monsanto.
The EU also demanded that Seralini release more details of his work but he responded in kind, calling on EFSA to open up its data first.
The EFSA said on Monday that the NK603 data was being made available as part of an initiative to make its overall workings more transparent.
"Risk assessment is an evolving science and EFSA is always willing to review its past work should new robust science bring a new perspective to any of the (its) previous findings," EFSA Executive Director Catherine Geslain-Laneelle said in a statement.
Monday's move "aims to make data used in risk assessment publicly available," Geslain-Laneelle said, by promoting research and working with scientists.
"This will make the conclusions of risk assessments even stronger when ensuring public health protection and further build confidence in EFSA?s work."
Environmental groups have been very critical of the EFSA, saying it was not doing enough on its own to test GM foods and gave Monday's announcement a guarded welcome.
"This sounds like a positive initiative to shine some light on the secretive world of EU GM crop authorisations," said Greenpeace EU agriculture policy director Marco Contiero.
"So far, EFSA has only published information on one specific GM product. We expect that the same level of transparency will apply to all GM products that have been and will be submitted for EU approval," Contiero said in a statement.
"Confidential business information will continue to be kept secret, so it will be crucial to see how wide a definition EFSA will choose to use."
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Jan 15, 2013, 08:18 AM »
UK seeks to water down Arctic oil drilling proposals
Leaked documents reveal the government has sought to change proposals that could prevent deepsea drilling operations
Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent
The Guardian, Tuesday 15 January 2013
The government is seeking to water down planned EU regulations on deepsea oil drilling, even while insisting to MPs that it wants "robust environmental protection" for oil drilling in the Arctic.
In leaked EU documents seen by the Guardian, the UK has sought to change proposals that could prevent oil and gas drilling operations that would leave fragile areas vulnerable. The UK is insisting that this clause be removed, because "oil spills may be effectively dispersed by wind and wave action and this is in itself one form of effective response".
This has outraged green campaigners, who are concerned that the "Arctic oil rush" several companies are engaged on could lead to irreparable damage to one of the Earth's last pristine wildernesses.
Ministers have also ruled out any moratorium on oil drilling in the Arctic, despite calls for such a move by an influential committee of MPs, and despite the grounding of Shell's Kulluk drilling rig off Alaska on the last day of 2012. That incident, though it did not result in a dangerous oil spill, heightened safety fears over offshore drilling in far northern seas, where any response to a serious spill would be difficult or even impossible.
That difficulty creates an "oil spill response gap", in which spills could have to be left for weeks or months if adverse weather conditions make it impossible to clean them up using mechanical or chemical means, such as those deployed in BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill. That would increase the potential for damage to vulnerable areas such as Greenland and the Arctic.
Several EU member states wanted this "response gap" to be recognised, so that it would have to be taken into account in any decision on whether to allow a drilling site to go ahead. If the "response gap" was too great, companies could be prevented from drilling. These regulations would also apply to countries such as Norway, which may have large potential for Arctic drilling. But the UK has insisted this language be removed in the Brussels negotiations.
Instead, the government appeared to suggest that leaving oil spills in deep Arctic oceans could be an adequate response.
Answering the call by the environmental audit committee for tighter regulation of Arctic and similarly dangerous oil drilling, the government told MPs: "[We are] acutely aware of the potential environmental impacts of an oil spill in the Arctic and recognises the risks of drilling for hydrocarbons. We therefore fully support the use of the highest environmental and drilling standards in the Arctic."
Ben Stewart of Greenpeace said: "The British government has been caught talking out of both sides of its mouth. It tells parliament it's committed to the highest safety standards for the oil industry, but in Brussels it's working to gut regulations designed to prevent a Deepwater Horizon disaster off our own coast. Our ministers might consider, just for once, not acting as the lobbying arm of Shell."
The UK has also sought to water down EU proposals to force drilling operators to lodge their "emergency response plans" with governments, which would ensure they satisfied government regulations and would allow campaigners to see the plans under freedom of information rules and judge them. If the UK's alternative is accepted, governments will only see "descriptions" of the plans, which campaigners are concerned will be inadequate.
Joan Walley, chair of the environmental audit committee of MPs, which called for a moratorium on Arctic drilling until safety fears were allayed and better response methods in place in case of any accidents, criticised David Cameron over his response on Arctic oil drilling. She said: "A few years ago the prime minister rode with huskies in the Arctic to demonstrate his commitment on environmental issues, but now he is being asked to protect that pristine wilderness for real he has refused to take a lead on the issue."
Shell is to be hauled back in front of the MPs to explain the Kulluk incident. Walley said: "The grounding of the Kulluk rig raises serious questions about the safety of Shell's operations in the Arctic and we will be calling them back to give further evidence."
Shell said, however, that it could not appear before the committee until reviews under way in the US were complete. The company added that its operations were safe, saying in a statement: "Shell understands the uniqueness and importance of the Arctic, but gas and oil production from the Arctic is not new. Our record throughout 50 years' experience of operating in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions demonstrates that we have the technical expertise to explore for and produce oil and gas in challenging locations."
The Department of Energy and Climate Change did not respond to a request for comment.
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Jan 15, 2013, 08:20 AM »
Beijing smog continues as Chinese state media urge more action
Unusually frank discussions of pollution come as Beijing implements new emergency response plan in response to smog
Tania Branigan and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 January 2013 14.45 GMT
China's state media have called for environmental improvements in unusually frank discussions of the country's pollution problem, as thick smog continues to shroud Beijing and other cities.
Stores sold out of masks and the capital implemented its new pollution emergency response plan for the first time after visibility plummeted at the weekend. Several construction sites were ordered to halt work, factories slowed production and authorities ordered a curb on the use of government cars. Schools cancelled outside activities and authorities advised residents to stay inside.
Hospitals reported increases of up to 30% in the number of patients reporting breathing problems as officials warned that the conditions were likely to last until Wednesday – a day longer than previously predicted – when winds should help to disperse the pollution.
Outside the capital there were mass flight delays and highway closures on Sunday. Visibility in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, reportedly dropped to 50m.
Beijing's levels are by far the worst recorded since the government began early last year releasing figures on PM2.5 particles – tiny particulate matter thought particularly damaging to health because it can penetrate deep into the lungs – and the US embassy began issuing its own measurements four years ago.
According to an official monitoring centre in Beijing, levels of PM2.5 were well above 600 micrograms per cubic metre in several places on Saturday, and may even have hit 900. Though Monday's level dropped to around 350, that is still far above the safe level of 25 designated by the World Health Organisation.
Pan Xiaochuan, the deputy director of the department of occupational and environmental health at Peking university, said the problem was caused by weather conditions rather than increased emissions, although some have suggested more people are burning coal due to a particularly cold winter.
He said stricter regulations on emissions were needed in areas around Beijing, but added: "The government responded quickly this time. CCTV [the state broadcaster] news has reported the pollution. It shows the transparency of the government's work has been enhanced. It is a new phenomenon."
State newspapers have run highly critical articles saying more needed to be done to tackle the problem at its source.
"How can we get out of this suffocating siege of pollution?" the People's Daily, the official Communist party newspaper, asked in a front-page editorial.
"Let us clearly view managing environmental pollution with a sense of urgency."
It said around half of more than 70 Chinese cities monitored for air quality showed severe pollution over the weekend.
The populist state-run Global Times newspaper said the problem had triggered public calls to shift development "away from the previous fixation on economic growth", while the China Youth Daily titled a front-page commentary: "More suffocating than the haze is the weakness in response."
Well-known environmentalist Ma Jun said: "Given the public's ability to spread this information, especially on social media, the government itself has to make adjustments."
While Chinese environmental regulations have become far more stringent, environmentalists have complained that officials are often reluctant to enforce standards for fear of holding back economic growth.
But John Cai, the director of the centre for healthcare management and policy at Beijing's China Europe International Business School, warned: "The increased disease burden [due to poor air quality] has caused a serious financial burden on government and individuals.
"The recent serious pollution will send a serious warning to the government and will have an important impact in making the government speed up its regulation and enforcement."
Shops have been unable to keep up with the surge in demand for masks and air purifiers, with many running out.
"[Our] masks were not specially designed to prevent PM 2.5, but they all sold out anyway. We are trying to purchase more," said an assistant at the Fujitang drug store in Beijing.
An employee at the White Pagoda drugstore added: "People didn't come here to buy one or two, but ordered a lot for their friends and family, and companies came here to buy for their staff, too. "
At a Sundan appliances store in central Beijing, sales assistant Ms Jiang said sales of air purifiers had increased roughly tenfold. The Yuanda Group said it had upped production of the machines because sales had risen recently due to poor air quality throughout China.
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Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
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Jan 15, 2013, 08:24 AM »
How the stink of a waterbuck could prevent sleeping sickness in Kenya
A collar worn by livestock containing animal odour repellent to the tsetse fly could transform the lives of farmers in Kenya
Laila Ali in Mombasa
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 January 2013 11.12 GMT
The tsetse fly, found in 37 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, can be a curse for smallholder farmers and their families. The flies carry the trypanosome parasite that can cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in livestock. But a group of scientists in Nairobi is developing a powerful insect repellent using the stench of waterbucks, a type of large antelope.
About two-thirds of Africa's population depend on small-scale agriculture, many of whom are livestock farmers. For these farmers, tsetse flies are a serious threat to economic development and food security. The economic loss in Africa's cattle production as a result of nagana is an estimated $4bn (£2.5bn) each year, according to the Stamp out sleeping sickness campaign.
With funding from the European Commission, ICIPE (International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology), a pan-African research organisation that investigates tropical insect science for development, has produced groundbreaking collars for livestock that contain the waterbuck smell, which tsetse flies do not like.
"Every year we lose three million cows because of the disease; 60 million cows are also affected. The flies are one of the main reasons why 80% of the land in Africa is tilled by hand – simply because we don't have enough animal power," says Dr Rajinder Saini, head of ICIPE's animal health division and principal scientist. "Fewer livestock also leads to less manure that could be used as organic fertiliser, which leads to lower yields of crop and fodder plant.
"Our approach has been to look at the ecology, biology and behaviour of the fly in detail, to look at the interaction between the parasite and the host, trying to develop a simple technology that farmers can use themselves instead of the top-down approach where everybody is dependent on foreign aid."
ICIPE is carrying out a two-year trial with farmers in Mombasa. They are 16 months into the trial, which includes 15,000 cows and 300 pastoralists.
"The first solution we came up with was NGU traps, which attract and trap the flies," says Saini. "But while working with the Masai, we found they needed more of a mobile technology; traps are stuck in the ground, these people move with their animal, so we started thinking of repellents. We looked at repellent from two different sources: synthetic sources and from animals that the fly does not like to feed upon, such as waterbucks."
ICIPE scientists studied why these animals are not attacked and have isolated powerful fly repellents from waterbuck skin, which reduce tsetse bites by up to 90%.
"Waterbucks stink; lions leave them alone because of the smell and flies leave them alone because of the sweat. We identified the pertinent odour of waterbucks and brought it down to a handful of chemical components that are responsible for keeping the flies at bay. We put the chemical into a dispenser tube that can be tied into the neck of a cow," says Professor Christian Borgemeister, director general at ICIPE. "The collar puts a coat of a waterbuck over a cow; as the herd moves along, the flies sense the cow as a waterbuck and stay away."
For the farmers in the trial, just outside of the Shimba Hills game reserve in Mombasa, the collars are a big hit. Farmers can graze their animals early in the morning and late in the evening when flies are most active, and no longer need to light fires to keep away the flies.
"One of my farms is near the national park where there are a lot of flies. A lot of my animals were infected. I might have been forced to sell my farm and move, but these collars have helped me a lot. Right now, they are free. After the trial ends we have been told they could be sold for 400 Kenyan shillings ($3, £1.90), but even if they sell them for 5,000 shillings, I am happy to pay for them because they work," says Joshua Wambua.
Another farmer, Jhapat Mwongela, says the collars have not only increased the productivity of his animals but improved his family's quality of life. "I am now able to plant different things – cassava, corn, sweet potatoes – which require the land to be tilled quite a bit. Because my cows were not sick this year, I have made significant profit. I am able to pay for my children's school and medical fees. Even their diet has been diversified because whatever I am not growing, I can now afford to buy."
Pharmaceutical companies have been slow in developing drugs to tackle diseases carried by tsetse flies because of the perception that it is not a profitable market. According to Saini, most of the drugs in the market are 60-70 years old, and humans and cattle are becoming resistant.
As a not-for-profit organisation, ICIPE hopes that producing collars on a larger scale would makeprices even lower, meaning the technology would be available to a higher number of beneficiaries. However, as this is beyond their scope of work they are seeking public-private partnerships to develop the technology.
Borgemeister is not surprised by farmers' willingness to pay for the collars. He urges pharmaceutical companies to reassess their outlook and recognise a viable market in developing drugs and technology to tackle tsetse flies.
"At the end of the day, farmers buy drugs. If this is your only source of livelihood, you're going to spare [cut back] even from your food [budget] to make this [sick] cow better. Billions of dollars are lost in the African livestock industry due to trypanosomiasis ever year; there is a market for a superior technology if we can provide it at a competitive price."
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Jan 15, 2013, 08:26 AM »
Turkana pastoralists encouraged to innovate to build resilience to drought
Trading their animals instead of holding on to large flocks and using their land in different ways may help herders in northern Kenya survive when drought and hunger strike
Peter Guest in Turkana, Kenya
guardian.co.uk, Monday 22 October 2012 07.00 BST
By 7.30am, the livestock market in Lodwar is packed with goats, traders and men in traditional dress. Lodwar is the economic centre of Kenya's northern county of Turkana, which, despite the apparent health of its animal stocks, is still struggling to recover from a drought in 2011 that left many dead and the majority of the region's people surviving on food aid. This year has been kinder, with just enough rainfall. Next year, though, another drought is forecast.
Turkana's near economic isolation from the rest of Kenya, coupled with conflict between neighbouring tribes of pastoralists and the degradation of pasture, means the region has little resilience to drought, according to Beatrice Teya, who heads the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) disaster risk reduction and recovery team.
"Whenever you have drought it interacts with all these factors and the impact becomes huge," she says. "Last year, when we had one of the severest droughts in about 60 years, we found one of the reasons it was so bad was that people have been unable to recover from previous droughts."
With fears that climate change increases the frequency of droughts, the priority is to find ways of helping the Turkana use their livestock and land to build economically sustainable activities that will enable them to move away from aid dependency.
"If they could get the business component, poverty is not a word you could use in Turkana," says Desterius Mulama, financial officer for Cezam and Associates, a Kenyan firm working with the US African Development Foundation (USADF) to improve food security.
Mulama moved to Turkana a year ago to work on the project. He is amazed at the scale of the herds in the region. "There is one old man who has 3,000 camels and 10,000 goats, but he walks barefoot," Mulama says. "If he sold just half of them, he would be a millionaire."
A government census put the number of goats in the county at around 5 million, with 1.5 million cattle. All across Turkana, herders carrying crooks pick their way through acacia trees, guiding huge flocks.
In many cases pastoralists still view animals as wealth and, even when the pasture dries up and there is no water, they will not sell them. The animals die and people starve. Building sustainable trading structures and introducing pastoralists to the cash economy should, Mulama hopes, ease them out of cycles of drought and food insecurity. "For pastoralists, our biggest challenge is to educate them on holding capacity," Mulama says. "Why should I hold 1,000 goats when I can only feed 100?"
Traders from Nairobi are starting to visit the markets in Turkana. Under Mulama's guidance, and with seed funding from USADF, the district livestock marketing council now has offices and computer equipment, and its staff have been trained in bookkeeping and other management disciplines so they will be able to build better commercial links with the rest of the country. A recent sale of 1,000 head of goats for export has raised hopes that the model may work.
An hour's drive out of Lodwar, a group of 10 men and women stand over two shovels and a hoe, digging into the sucking mud on the bed of the Lodwell River and piling it on to sandbags. Charles Lomari, in his 60s, explains that the water level is very low once again, and the group, from the Napak irrigation scheme, is digging an emergency channel to ensure that they have water for their maize crops.
The scheme, and another, larger one in neighbouring Napeika, are co-ordinated by a local community-based organisation, Apad, which, with USADF support, has successfully formed former pastoralists into co-operatives to manage water resources and build capacity in farming techniques. This has included taking groups of Turkana out of the county to see successful irrigation projects elsewhere in the country – places, Lomari says, they had never thought they would see. In the south, he says, people are so healthy. That is what he wants for his community.
Residents here say the road south goes "to Kenya". Turkana is a world away from Nairobi, and the government is not a visible presence. Privately, this is a concern for those working in development, who echo the views expressed by locals that the central government has never cared about them. That is why the infrastructure is sorely neglected and local institutions under-resourced, which has made durable development incredibly difficult.
There are many NGOs in Turkana, but USADF – and, to an extent, the UNDP – are attempting a new approach, supporting the private sector to build more sustainable production of food, whether through traditional livestock breeding or alternative livelihoods in arable farming. USADF gives small grants to producers, training them to run their concerns as businesses. The projects are owned by the local organisations who run them on a for-profit basis, with additional funding available for expansion, such as vehicles to improve market access, better irrigation systems or modern fishing boats.
Benjamin Kakuta, a Turkana and the USADF's programme assistant in Lodwar, is adamant that this approach is what his people need and want – to take ownership of their programmes and break the dependency on handouts. "You know," he says defiantly, "we could feed the whole of Kenya."
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Jan 15, 2013, 08:27 AM »
Volcano lava flows worry Italian island
By Agence France-Presse
Monday, January 14, 2013 19:49 EST
Spectacular lava flows and smoke from an active volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli on Monday sparked fear among inhabitants but geophysicists said the situation was under control.
Stromboli is part of the seven-island Eolian Archipelago just off Sicily in southern Italy.
The volcano is active but on Monday there was a particularly powerful eruption and sustained lava flows following four days of heightened activity.
Stromboli mayor Marco Giorgianni told the island's 500 inhabitants that they were not at risk and experts from Italy's civil protection agency are due on the island for further controls shortly.
"We are afraid," one resident, Pier Paolo Cincotta, was quoted by the ANSA news agency as saying.
"No-one has really explained to us what the situation is and what we should do," he said.
Italy's National Geophysics Institute is monitoring the situation.
[Stromboli via Shutterstock]
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Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
Reply #234 on:
Jan 16, 2013, 09:00 AM »
Kenyan officials impound 600 pieces of ivory
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, January 15, 2013 15:13 EST
Officials in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa have impounded more than 600 pieces of ivory, weighing two tonnes, officials told AFP Tuesday.
"They were labelled as decorating stones and were headed to Indonesia from Tanzania," a police source based at the port told AFP on condition of anonymity.
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Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
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Jan 16, 2013, 09:01 AM »
Former USGS scientist: Coastal cities are 'sitting ducks' for next big storm
By Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian
Tuesday, January 15, 2013 15:48 EST
Marcia McNutt, who resigned as director of the US Geological Survey, says Hurricane Sandy has left communities exposed.
Cities on the United States east coast are "sitting ducks" for the next big storm because of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy, one of Barack Obama's top scientists warned on Tuesday.
Marcia McNutt, who last week announced her resignation as director of the US Geological Survey, told a conference that Sandy had left coastal communities dangerously exposed to future storms of any size.
"Superstorm Sandy was a threshold for the north-east and we have already crossed it," McNutt told the National Council for Science and the Environment conference in Washington. "For the next storm, not even a super storm, even a run-of-the-mill nor'easter, the amount of breaches and the amount of coastal flooding will be widespread."
McNutt, a professor of marine geophysics, was careful to preface her public remarks by saying she spoke as a scientist and not an Obama Administration official. But the unusually stark warning from a departing Obama official indicates the challenges ahead in protecting American population centres from the extreme storms of a changing climate.
"Before Sandy, someone asked me what my climate change nightmare was. Before Sandy, I said it was that with the extra energy in the atmosphere-ocean system it feeds super storms that intersect mega-cities left rendered defenceless by rising seas," McNutt said in a brief interview following her public remarks. "That is where we now are."
Half of America's population lives within 50 miles of a coast, and those numbers are growing. However, scientists and urban planners have warned repeatedly that those coastal communities – as well as important infrastructure – are increasingly vulnerable. In the coming decades, a combination of extreme weather and storm surges, on top of rising seas, will put a growing share of the population at risk. Natural defences, such as sand dunes and barrier islands along the Atlantic, have been destroyed or weakened through decades of development, McNutt said.
"We have left our coasts sitting ducks, and Sandy destroyed these natural protections," she said.
In the space of a few hours, Sandy blew through the sand dunes that had served as natural protections for communities up and down the Atlantic coast.
"Basically these dunes build up over geologic time, and yet the superstorm wore them down over a couple of days, and it is going to take geologic time again to build them back up," McNutt said. "It is possible with bulldozers and engineering and millions of dollars to do with engineering what Mother Nature used to do for free."
However, McNutt conceded that this was a daunting prospect given existing fiscal constraints. Republicans in the house have already balked at the $50m in immediate relief for Sandy that went to the house on Tuesday.
"There are some cities and towns that actually spent multi-millions of dollars to rebuild eroded dunes, and some of them actually fared better than cities and towns that hadn't rebuilt their dunes. So it is possible by spending millions and millions and millions of dollars to rebuild them, but where are those resources going to be?" McNutt said.
In the case of New Jersey, post-Sandy flight surveys by the USGS showed substantial damage to the dunes, barrier islands and other geographic features that had shielded coastal communities from the full fury of the storm. In some areas, the coastline lost up to six metres in elevation, the USGS said on its website.
USGS scientists monitoring coastal systems had been tracking the loss of wetlands and sand dunes, and were able to accurately predict in advance of Sandy where the storm would do the worst damage.
Those areas were even more vulnerable now, McNutt said.
© Guardian News and Media 2013
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Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
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Jan 17, 2013, 09:11 AM »
Ecuadorian tribe gets reprieve from oil intrusion
Residents of Sani Isla have built up an arsenal of weapons to fend of Petroamazonas, in a confrontation which did not take place as expected
Jonathan Watts, Latin American correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 January 2013 13.23 GMT
An indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon has won a reprieve after building up an arsenal of spears, blowpipes, machetes and guns to fend off an expected intrusion by the army and a state-run oil company.
The residents of Sani Isla expressed relief that a confrontation with Petroamazonas did not take place on Tuesday as anticipated, but said the firm is still trying to secure exploration rights in their area of pristine rainforest.
"We have won a victory in our community. We're united," said the community president, Leonardo Tapuy. "But the government and the oil company won't leave us alone. "
The Kichwa tribe on Sani Isla, had said they were ready to fight to the death to protect their territory, which covers 70,000 hectares. More than a quarter of their land is in Yasuni national park, the most biodiverse place on earth.
Petroamazonas had earlier told them it would begin prospecting on their land on 15 January, backed by public security forces.
Before the expected confrontation,the shaman, Patricio Jipa said people were making blowpipes and spears, trying to borrow guns and preparing to use sticks stones and any other weapons they could lay their hands on.
"Our intention was not to hurt or kill anyone, but to stop them from entering our land," he said.
It is unclear why Petroamazonas hesitated. The company has yet to respond to the Guardian's request for a comment.
Locals speculated that it was due to a reaffirmation of opposition to the oil company at a marathon community meeting on Sunday.
"They've heard that we are united against the exploration so they have backed off," said Fredy Gualinga, manager of the Sani Lodge. "We're happy they haven't come. Life is going on as normal."
The relief may not last for long given the huge fossil fuel resources that are thought to lie below the forest.
"It was a close thing, but we're not out of the water. The oil company has not given up. They will continue to hound us and to try to divide the community. But at least we have a few days respite," said Mari Muench, a British woman who is married to the village shaman.
The elected leaders of Sani Isla have pledged to resist offers from Petroamazonas for the duration of their term.
"This policy will remain in place during our period in office. We're committed to that and we will do what we can to make it more permanent," said Abdon Grefa, the speaker of the community.
The battle has now moved to the judicial system and the court of public opinion. Their appeal for an injunction went before a judge on Wednesday and they are calling on supporters to help them build a long-term economic alternative to fossil fuels.
"We hope people will write protest letters to Petroamazonas, come and visit our lodge, promote Sani, donate money to our school and projects, volunteer as teachers or provide funds to students to travel overseas so they can learn what we need to survive in the future," said the community secretary, Klider Gualinga.
Farming project tackles cloud forest deforestation – in pictures
A new technique known as layer farming is giving thousands of poor farmers in the Chinchipe river basin vital training in sustainable farming that could ensure the long-term survival of the pristine cloud forest
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 January 2013 12.13 GMT
Click to watch:
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Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
Reply #237 on:
Jan 18, 2013, 09:08 AM »
Russia plans national park for joint U.S.-Russia nature reserve
By Agence France-Presse
Thursday, January 17, 2013 15:59 EST
Russia on Thursday decreed a national park in its remote Far Eastern Chukotka region, paving the way for a joint US-Russian nature reserve spanning the Bering Strait, an idea first proposed by the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed the decree to create the new national park called Beringia, Russia's World Wildlife Fund said. The park will eventually be part of the first US-Russian nature reserve spanning the Bering Strait area, it said.
The 86-kilometre-wide strait separates Russia and Alaska but an earlier land bridge is believed to have once served as one of the earliest migration routes between the two continents.
The plan to create a US-Russian national park originally came from Gorbachev, WWF Arctic expert Mikhail Stishov told AFP.
Gorbachev was the Soviet Union's last leader, presiding over the breakup of an empire, abandoned Cold War rhetoric and sought to promote cooperation with the United States.
On the US side, the Bering Land Bridge national reserve in Alaska, one of America's most remote protected areas, has existed since the 1970s.
The bilateral park project has taken this long because Chukotka needed to upgrade an existing nature reserve to national park status.
By the time Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shook hands last September and agreed to "bridge" the parklands on either side of the Bering Strait, relations were at one of their lowest points since the Gorbachev years.
But for the migrating polar bears, huge bird colonies and walruses of the Bering strait, political issues are not a priority, Stishov said.
"We just wanted the national park," he said.
Linking the two parks will facilitate conservation, preserve ties between indigenous peoples and allow tighter cooperation on environmental monitoring, according to the US-Russia agreement signed in September.
Russia's Beringia national park will directly touch the US border, although it does not include some of Russia's marine waters in the strait nor the small Ratmanov island, which is a base for a Russian border control station.
Chukotka, where billionaire Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich served as governor from 2000-2008, is a vast, sparsely inhabited region bordered by the Arctic and the Pacific. The new national park will only be accessible via air or sea.
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Posts: 27568
Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
Reply #238 on:
Jan 18, 2013, 09:31 AM »
Toshiba creating nuclear reactor for mining Canada Tar Sands
By David Edwards
Thursday, January 17, 2013 14:13 EST
Toshiba Corp. has reportedly designed a nuclear reactor and intends to market it to natural resource developers for mining Tar Sands in Canada and other places.
Nikkei reported this week that the company had completed design of a small 10,000kw reactor and had asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for approval to begin construction in the United States, but the process had been delayed in connection with a meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. The company also planned to seek approval from Canadian authorities.
Sources told The Daily Yomiruri that one natural resource developer had hopes of using the reactor in Alberta by 2020.
"To ensure the reactor's safety, Toshiba reportedly plans to construct a nuclear reactor building underground, while the building itself will be equipped with an earthquake-absorbing structure," according to the paper.
The reactor would be used to inject steam about 300 meters underground into the oil sands. A separate pipe would then extract the sand as slurry.
Toshiba's planned reactor would not need to be refueled for up to 30 years. Additional uses could included turning saltwater into freshwater and powering small communities in frontier areas like northern Alaska.
Ploughshares Fund Program Director Paul Carroll told Raw Story that environmental disasters were still a concern with small nuclear reactors – even one that was 1 percent the size of a 1 million kilowatt power plant — but "the individual accident scenarios are probably orders of magnitude less."
"I don't want to say you could have Fukushima in Canada, but I think Fukushima is a really fascinating example because it's not so much that things failed there, but nature bats last," he explained. "Here you had an earthquake and then a tsunami, and while some of those safety features worked initially, it basically was overwhelming."
"What can you imagine might happen up there? When I think Canada, I think, it's cold. Suppose you had a really long winter and it's hard to get at this place. Suppose you did have an earthquake, what might that mean?"
Carroll also questioned the logic of using greener technologies like nuclear power to mine tar sands and produce oil that would eventually result in massive amounts of greenhouse gasses being released into the air.
"It's a little odd," he admitted.
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Posts: 27568
Re: Pluto in Cap, the climate, ecology and environment topic
Reply #239 on:
Jan 18, 2013, 09:33 AM »
Temperature hits all-time record in Sydney
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, January 18, 2013 7:45 EST
Temperatures in Sydney hit their highest level on record on Friday, with the mercury in Australia's biggest city reaching 45.8 degrees Celsius (114.4 Fahrenheit) in the mid-afternoon.
Sydney's previous hottest recorded temperature was 45.3 degrees set in 1939.
"It's a historic day for Sydney today," Weather Channel meteorologist Dick Whitaker said.
"We haven't seen a day like this in Sydney's recorded history."
It is the latest record to fall as Australia swelters under a heatwave that has affected some 70 percent of the vast country and has created what some experts have called a "dome of heat" over the nation's outback centre.
The extreme weather, which has exacerbated bushfires, last week saw the government's weather bureau upgrade its temperature scale by introducing new colours to cover projected forecast highs.
At one point last week, central Australia was shown with a purple area on the bureau's forecast map, a new colour code suggesting temperatures were set to soar above 50 degrees (122 Fahrenheit).
The new scale also features a pink code for even higher temperatures.
Australia's all-time record temperature is 50.7 degrees, set in January 1960 at Oodnadatta in South Australia state.
The record weather comes as firefighters battle blazes in New South Wales and Victoria, and almost two weeks after a dangerous fire in the southern island state of Tasmania razed more than 100 homes.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, at commemorations for bushfires in Canberra that killed four people and destroyed close to 500 homes in the national capital a decade ago, urged people to take precautions.
"Everyone should ensure they take the appropriate precautions to stay safe and monitor information from local emergency services as they work to protect lives and property," she said.
Bushfires are a common feature of the Australian summer, and climate experts have said that they may become more intense due to global warming.
In 2009, the so-called Black Saturday firestorm destroyed more than 2,000 homes and killed 173 people in Australia's deadliest natural disaster of modern times.
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Bor Saen : Department Stores & Malls
Malls and department stores are a convenient one stop place to shop. The larger malls in Phuket include cinemas, supermarkets, restaurants and retail shops. Visiting the malls on the weekend is a favorite pastime in Phuket.
Other department stores such as Index Furniture and Makro are located near the malls.


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Click Here to Watch the Whole Video in HD at Broke Straight Boys
These boys are very hot and very straight but most of all they are broke. Rather then lose their apartment, girlfriend, etc. they do sexual things with other guys for some quick cash.
Anthony is back and he is in this hot scene with Mike. One of these broke straight boys is getting fucked in this scene.
Pixels: 320X240 | Bitrate: 350K
Pixels: 640X480 | Bitrate: 700K
They are very loving and sexy together. Great chemistry. They really enjoy each other which is rare.
Love watching these two in action..... both hot, but Anthony is the sexiest.
love the vid.
i would love to meet mike
Very hot I wish I had a cousin like that.
This video is fucking hot !! I thought Anthony looked really good with his hair like that !!
Very hot vid.
Anthony looks TERRIBLE with that shaggy mop. Plus he looks shaved. He looks bad.


text:
Charlie's Rock Shop is based at Merton Abbey Mills, Wimbledon, London and is a real Aladdins cave, stocking something for everyone. We're open every day of the week, too!
We're passionate about rocks, fossils & minerals, and if you are as well, you've come to the right place. Charlie's Rock Shop offers you a comprehensive range of geological wonders in the form of natural specimens, gifts and jewellery that are sure to inspire.
We've been in the business for 22 years and pride ourselves on providing our customers with the best quality products at reasonable prices and a friendly, personal service.
You can order from us over the phone (020 8544 1207) or by visiting the shop. We'd love to see you! Read more.


text:
hKit Microformats Toolkit for PHP5
hKit is a simple toolkit for extracting common microformats from a page. The page can be presented as a string or a URL, and the result is handed back as a standard PHP array structure. hKit uses SimpleXML for parsing, and therefore requires PHP5.
hKit has a modular structure, with a simple 'profile' for each microformat it supports. As the project is very young (June 2006), the only module currently supported is hCard. You can download the latest version on the right. Let me know if you use it somewhere.
In use
$hKit = new hKit;
$result = $hKit->getByURL('hcard', 'http://microformats.org/');


text:
Registration appointments for new students
Friday, August 7, 2015 - 8:00am to 5:00pm
Community members are invited to HC Coffee Breaks. This month's topic is the chromatography of Kool-Aid with Dr. Fred Mattes. Note: This is the Friday of Kool-Aid Days in Hastings and Dr. Mattes encourages everyone to bring their children/grandchildren to this event.
This event, sponsored by the Communication Studies department, will showcase the public speaking talents of students who are currently enrolled in Principles of Human Communication. Top speakers from each section of the class will be given the opportunity to share their persuasive speeches with a campus community. Awards will be given to the presenters based upon rankings from senior students in the COM discipline.


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It looks like the side plates are riveted and soldered to the trunnion ??
It looks like the side plates are riveted and soldered to the trunnion ??
Did I do that?
what would the two sources be? im really interested in this.
im sorry if i sound kind of stupid here it is just that i dont know much about the vickers. this looks cool enough for me to attempt.
thanks for the location on the belts. i like that the maxim belts work.
is the tripod a 1928 colt one? in the pics.
Illya, yes the trunnion is riveted and soldered
Handym, I can't say who will be making the sideplates, but they wil be available.
Sherman will have kits in stock with the semi parts by the first of the year, he will also be doing the lock frame mods, He hasn't set a price on those yet.
The tripod in the photos is a vickers tripod.
thats exactly what i wanted to hear. cool will be waiting to get my hands on this.
sherman sounds like a interesting guy.
has the design been approved by the atf.
first photo is the lock frame retracted
another with the cover open
Next is the lock frame closed.
The barrel attaches to the bottom links
As you can see there is a lot of parts inside, it is a quite complicated mechanism.
however once the lock frame and other parts are machined it is mostly soldering and riveting up the receiver box.
It is a expensive and challenging buiuld, but worth it I think.
Awesome photos. Hard Core Gun Porn
Did I do that?
Naw, not yet. But I did order one of IMA's Bren 2 barrel assemblies.
Right now all my gun money is going to Harlan and Mike at NDS for receivers. Need to get receivers for the kits I already have. Never know what Nancy and the other Demon-cratic Washington clowns have planned for the next Legislative session.
Maybe after that, if IMA still has Vickers kits............................
Did I do that?


text:
HensonFuerst Attorneys will hold a free public seminar about the N.C. DOT's U.S. 221 widening project and its impact on area landowners.
Attorney Anne Duvoisin will be presenting for Ashe and Watauga county residents and businesses affected by the planned N.C. DOT Project R-2915. The current plans for this project include relocating 70 residences and 33 businesses, as well as taking rights-of-way from others who will not be relocated.
This seminar will take place on Feb. 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the large courtroom at the Ashe County Courthouse located at 150 Government Circle in Jefferson.
If you would like to reach out to Anne Duvoisin directly, you can call her at (828) 295-7469 or email her at email@example.com.


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NLZ10138 In Stock
As if a mystical fruit awaiting to be plucked from a vine, this sterling silver round bezel set cubic zirconias with dangling teardrop shines brilliantly in any light. The chain is adjustable to 16 or 18 inches to make it always a pleasure to wear. The necklace weighs 5.7 grams and carries a total carat weight of 7.9 carats to make it truly sparkle with wonder. With the rhodium finished sterling silver tying it all together, this sterling silver round bezel set CZ's with dangling teardrop is a perfect gift for bridesmaids! Shop with confidence knowing that the quality of our sterling silver cubic zirconia cz necklaces & pendants is backed by our 60 day jewelry return policy to assure complete satisfaction.
Eve's Addiction.com wants you to be a happy customer. We want you to be completely satisfied with the sterling silver jewelry that you receive from us, as we only sell high quality silver and cubic zirconia cz jewelry. We do understand that you may not like your purchase for some reason.
You may return or exchange your jewelry within 60 days of purchase if you are not satisfied with it. The jewelry must be returned in its original condition for a refund or exchange. Engraved, personalized, photo, monogram, name and initial, chocolate and clearance items are not returnable or exchangeable.


text:
Quick Links
Shop All Jewelry
ANK10040 In Stock
What better way to show love than in the word itself? This cursive love sterling silver anklet is a cute and playful ankle bracelet that can bring a smile to anyone's face. The rhodium finished sterling silver gleams with allure as it encircles the ankle easily. Weighing a light 2.7 grams, this cursive love sterling silver anklet is a perfect match for that special personality. Shop with confidence knowing that the quality of our sterling silver ankle bracelets is backed by our 60 day jewelry return policy to assure complete satisfaction.
• "Love" in Cursive Font
• Lightweight 2.7 Grams
• Rhodium Finished Sterling Silver
• Rolo Chain
• Includes Gift Box
Eve's Addiction.com wants you to be a happy customer. We want you to be completely satisfied with the sterling silver jewelry that you receive from us, as we only sell high quality silver and cubic zirconia cz jewelry. We do understand that you may not like your purchase for some reason.
You may return or exchange your jewelry within 60 days of purchase if you are not satisfied with it. The jewelry must be returned in its original condition for a refund or exchange. Engraved, personalized, photo, monogram, name and initial, chocolate and clearance items are not returnable or exchangeable.


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Rutledge, Men's lace up oxford dress shoes add class to men's personality. This five eyelet cap toe balmorals features calfskin leather upper, pinhole perforations and inlaid stitching on it. The Rutledge is lined with supple glove soft leather and features an artisan bi color sole with wheeled edges for added sophistication, making the Rutledge a timeless shoe.
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Google had a powerful feature that allowed you to block all search results from a domain. The feature was quickly removed from the interface, but Google still included it in the search preferences page. Last year, the feature disappeared and it came back after a few weeks, but not everyone could use it.
Now Google officially discontinued Blocked Sites. "To block particular sites from your search results, we recommend the Personal Blocklist Chrome extension from Google. You may also download your existing blocked sites list as a text file."
Blocked Sites isn't Google's first attempt to create a feature that lets you hide results from certain domains, so I'm sure we'll see other similar features in the future.
{ Thanks, Dan. }
March 24, 2013
Google Discontinues Blocked Sites Feature
This blog is not affiliated with Google.


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Determine the real cost of that car you want to buy.
When you finance the purchase of a vehicle, you often end up paying high interest on top of the price. This is why it is very important to get the best finance rate possible. A low interest rate loan can keep your payments low and ensure you only pay a small amount in interest. Please use this loan calculator to help you make your decision.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Wrestlers from across the state found out there is little room for error when it comes to the state individual wrestling championships.
The South Carolina High School League held its 2013 Individual Wrestling Tournament last weekend in Anderson. Only eight wrestlers qualify for the tournament in each weight division so the competition is stiff.
This year a dozen grapplers from the Summerville area advanced to the tournament, but only one won his weight class to claim a state title.
Green Wave grappler Gavin Perkins earned an 11-3 major decision over York's Robert Cunningham in the championship match for the Class AAAA 126-pound class. Cunningham entered the match as the top-ranked wrestler for the division while Perkins was ranked second.
"If anyone deserves to win a state championship it's Gavin," Summerville coach Darryl Tucker said. "He wasn't the most gifted wrestler as far as ability when he first stated but he worked so hard to get to this level. It was not what he did during the season that made him successful; it was the time he put in during the off-season. Whenever there was a tournament he went to it. He probably wrestled 200 matches out of season. That is what is takes to get to this level. I hope some of his other teammates see that and emulate his work ethic."
Perkins advanced to the title bout with wins over White Knoll's Emil Colin and Riverside's Gabriel Fehrenbach. Just like in the championship match, his wins in both matches were decisive.
Summerville has now claimed more individual state wrestling titles than any other school. Summerville and Rock Hill reportedly had 90 individual champions entering this year's tournament.
It was a fitting end to a Green Wave career. Perkins, a senior, was a two-time captain for Summerville who is now being recruited by Limestone, Newberry, The Citadel and Coker College.
"He is a great leader," Tucker said. "The team will definitely miss his leadership."
Some other local wrestlers came close, but couldn't secure a title.
Summerville's James Sass placed second at 106 while teammate Chad Wood placed second at 152. Ashley Ridge's Zach Armstong placed third at 170 after defeating Fort Dorchester's Jacob Hutchinson in the third-place match. Fort Dorchester's Tyre Wright placed fourth at 113. Cane Bay's Matt Rudy placed third at 182.
Summerville's Tyler Fachko (120) and Anthony Collins (160), Fort Dorchester's AJ Alford (145), Ashley Ridge's Tyler Moore (195), and Cane Bay's Albert Ednilao (106) also qualified for the tournament, but didn't place among the top four wrestlers for their division.
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Free concert to feature Christian youth bandsWritten by Kathryn Milstein | | email@example.com
Maumee Bay State Park Amphitheater will play host June 17 to four Christian youth bands.
The bands will play the free concert, Hooked on Jesus, with the first band, Revolution, from Mainstreet Church, performing at 5 p.m.
Rew!nd, from St. Mark Lutheran, will perform at 6:15 p.m. Face Like Flint, from McCord Road Christian, and Altars of Athens, also from McCord, will perform afterward at 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively.
"People will come out and hear the message they have to say through their music," said Keith Klewer, manager for Rew!nd and father of two of the band members.
Last year, the concert had three bands, including both Rew!nd and Revolution. The name was changed this year to Hooked on Jesus.
Revolution, which has been practicing for a month for the concert, plays a lot of Hillsong United music as a cover band, said Matt Schermbeck, bass player and a singer for Revolution.
Klewer said Rew!nd wrote its own music in preparation for the concert.
He said he has been putting the concert together since January in an effort to expand the concert.
"Hopefully, it'll grow every year and we can turn it into a yearly event," he said.
He said it was important that the bands would all put in the same amount of effort so no band is headlining or opening for another.
The sacrifices the band members make for that level of commitment makes him proud, he said. Rew!nd band members sometimes have to wake up early or haul equipment in the rain to provide worship, and they do it willingly, he said.
"I think when you see kids this age playing this music, it's kind of refreshing," Klewer said, "because there are so many avenues to go through."
He said he is inspired to see the youth "on fire for Jesus" and willing to make the necessary commitments.
The bands will probably be at the amphitheater from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., he said, with a disc jockey from YesFM radio introducing the bands.
YesFM radio interviewed Revolution and Rew!nd June 10 on-air and the radio station will interview Face Like Flint and Altars of Athens June 15 said Klewer.
With the press from the radio station, he is hoping to see a lot of blankets at the event and picnic baskets at the event.
"We're looking to have a really good time," he said.
18-year-old Schermbeck said he hopes for a bigger crowd this year after a lot of media attention.
"We had a lot of fun last year," he said. "It was just a great concert. It was great to play for people, too. We're hoping this year is about the same."
He said he didn't want to give a number for the crowd size he was hoping for.
"We play Christian worship music. The reason we come is not for other people to see us play. It's because we want to glorify Jesus. It's just what we believe."
Tags: Altars of Athens, Face Like Flint, Hooked on Jesus, In Concert, Revolution, Rew!ind


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David Akers: This is a popular date due to its low mintage of less than 500,000 pieces which makes it one of the lowest mintages in the entire series. Mint state examples, when available, are generally at the lower end of the quality scale, and Gems...are rare.
Queller - Stack's 10/2002:816 - John C. Hugon - Heritage 1/2005:4256, $14,375 - Heritage 7/2008:1707, $10,350
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