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Monday, 2 September, 2002, 10:17 GMT 11:17 UK
Fires of the Amazon comments
Fires of the Amazon: Can the "progress" consuming one of the world's greatest natural resources be halted?
It's easy to say "Don't use the resources" to poor people that live 4000 miles away from Europe. In the middle of the Amazon forest there are cities like Manaus with over 1 million residents without a road to other regions of the country. I always hear that roads are bad because they're destroying the forest...Don't you care about the people from Amazon? Amazon is too big (almost 2/3 of the Brazilian territory), and the population of Brazil is 173 million where 55 million are poor. We don't have another way; we have to use the Amazon resources. Sure, we must not destroy all, but the Amazon cannot be intact, we don't want to be the big zoo of the world, we want the development of the country.
I endorse what Edward Shearer says and suggest that we, the people who believe this get together, and take more action now. Time and time again we destroy what is good in our world - whether it is the land or the people - will we never learn - I fear not, but I live in hope.
I feel truly frustrated as a normal human being living my existence and feeling like the average person who has no real effect on what happens tomorrow. I am appalled by the actions of the leaders in these years World Summit. Can they not see past their own front doors of opulence and wealth to see that it is poverty that drives communities to destroy what remains of this world's untouched beauty? They busy themselves with fighting wars and making money for the big corporations that now seem to run the planet. Do these people sleep at night when they know how many poor they are exploiting throughout the world?
John Park, The WOOD Bureau.
I was shocked and worried to see your program.It is very sad what they did
Good points from Matt Carlton and "anonymous". Capitalism is destined to eat itself. The Earth as we used to know it is no more. Change is a fact. There will come a time when all or most is destroyed, when people will crawl to those remaining native peoples or descendants thereof who still know the ancient ways of living in accordance with our true nature & environment and they will beg for this knowledge but the original people will laugh for all will have been destroyed.
From the Australian Aborigines to the Inuit Americans to the peoples of the rainforest & the Bushmen of Southern Africa they hold the key. We do not need anything but that which Nature provides. The true wisdom is under our noses but who wants to know? All modern living is unsustainable. Large scale ignorance, greed and overpopulation.
Until we fundamentally change our lifestyle - our demand for energy, processed, massed produced food and meat (yes the ranches!!) comfort and false pride in material possessions succumbing to the empty ideals of modern society - nothing will change.
The struggle between nomad and farmer / bushman and cultivator / Caine and Abel is ancient. And it seems the Nomad has lost. Everywhere, where still in existence his lifestyle is under threat. However they will have the last laugh for only when it is too late will we realize that our "way" was not better nor more advanced nor progressive but our undoing.
The change must start at home. How many of us are really prepared to give up everything but the "bare necessities"?
"Chico Mendes Farewell" is an Adagio Grandioso song I have written and composed the music for as a tribute to Chico Mendes and to draw attention to the continuous depletion of the World's Rainforests. I am now seeking a (School) children's choir with an international mix of children to sing and record it. I can be contacted at: 34 Raynes Road, Lee-On-The-Solent, Hampshire PO13 9AL. Tel: 02392 552661.
A superb documentary. What can we do to slow down and ultimately halt these devastating fires as time steadily runs out for us all?
Excellent programme. Very informative. Liked the focus on Cuiaba and the Santarem Rodovia. I'm a Conservation Biologist emigrating to Cuiaba imminently.
Great Programme...BUT, has anyone else had difficulty persuading a builder that they DON'T want to use tropical hardwoods for joinery, or tried to source native grown hardwood? Lets have a programme on the consumer issues here, and challenge the Building Trades Federation, specifiers and developers on this. No-one needs to use mahogany, but we need information on how our choices affect these issues. And how about having a whole series on sustainable building, and low-impact technologies from other cultures?
Perhaps instead of us making judgements about the Brazilian people and how they are trying to build a better future for their families, we should think about the billions of pounds in subsidies that the EU gives to the farmers. If people in the third world are not allowed to compete fairly with Europe and the USA, they will use the resources of their country in the best way they see fit. It is easy for us to say that what is being done to the forest is wrong and devastating to the planet, but it is not so easy when we are told that we may have to pay for it. After all, if the rainforest is the lungs of the world, we all have some responsibility towards it!
I watched the Correspondent programme on Sunday 1st September, and found it very interesting and informative. As I recently returned from six months in Brazil, I was looking forward to the opportunity to hear some Brazilian Portuguese with subtitles as a back-up. I was very disappointed to find most of the programme was dubbed. Please always use subtitles - I'm sure the average Correspondent viewer will not mind. They are an excellent way of learning a language, and there are very few opportunities for this on TV.
Thank you for such an informative and unbiased programme. Brazil is a country in need of education and alternatives. Can the rest of us really stand by on the pretence that they have the right to aspire to western countries level of wealth when it means the destruction of the Amazon? Organisations such as Greenpeace have been fighting this fight for a long time, isn't it about time the UN and foreign governments gave Brazil assistance/alternatives to increasing the country's economic status. It doesn't just affect Brazil if the Amazon is destroyed, therefore shouldn't we all be working towards preventing this. Maybe the mistakes made elsewhere can be looked to as learning experiences to prevent recurring destruction of the forests everywhere that the planet needs to sustain life.
Wonderful programme, I am very disappointed to hear my fears confirmed so drastically. Please can we have more, as fear seems to be the only way to get people to react. It looks to me like the sole reason for the problem is money, as with most other problems where the planet is ignored. Therefore as a suggestion why does the UN (for example) not rent, annually, what we believe to be the minimum amount of rainforest - rent per country would be based on population size - or even use of resources eg power, importation etc. The money provided as rent to Brazil (South America, Asiatic countries etc)could encourage eco education, sustainable tourism, clean natural power, whereby reducing the countries' dependence on sales which destroy the forests. Also we of the 'developed countries' must stop the use of Hardwoods, be more conservative with the resources we guzzle, distribute our stockpiles of food throughout the world - simple as that really.
Brilliant programme!! Greed and the lust for power is what is fuelling the terrible fire of destruction all over the world. We need to educate people including ourselves with the real truth of what is happening.
Has the programme been shown in Brazil on prime time TV or on video in villages? Are people being shown alternatives? Has anyone realised yet that you can't eat money so when all the resources dry up or burn up what will we eat? Long term solutions of living in harmony with each other and nature are the only way forward. Capitalism can't survive, smash the greedy corporations and show them that our survival and the survival of the whole planet depends on harmony not greed!!!
An Operation Raleigh expedition took me to Borneo in 1992 to learn about the rainforest and the indigenous people. I've known for over 10 years why the rainforest has been depleted because I've seen it with my own eyes. We spoke to logging companies and when asked why they destroy the rainforest for economic and export use, the reply was simple: "Until someone provides us with a better alternative to improve our economic and living standards, we have no choice but to deplete the forest to feed the habits of Europe, Japan and USA's demand for luxury goods, this will always carry on". One has to remember most of the logging companies in Borneo are from Indonesia with I'm assuming international money behind them. New thinking needs to take place for the future of the globe.
Thank you for your informative programme on the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. Ultimately, it will be through education and awareness that will change people's behaviours towards the environment and programmes like this play an important role in that development. My heart weeps for what is happening and I hope to play some small part in helping protecting our environment.
Having watched Fires of the Amazon last night I was left feeling appalled and frustrated. The programme was excellent. I am sure that the majority of people assumed that the rate of deforestation was declining, particularly after the 1992 Rio summit. It is essential that we are told what is really happening, and I commend the BBC for disabusing this false belief. The prediction with which the programme concluded is a disaster for the planet and for mankind. The short term economic concerns of the individual country must be subordinate to the long term need of the planet. The Amazon is the lungs of the earth and we simply cannot and must not do without it. But I am left asking myself: what on earth can we do? What can I do?
Your programme on the destuction of the rain forests of Amazonia was very well done. The essential problem is the weak position of Greenpeace and the Environment Police on one side, and the momentum of economic progress on the other. The "progress" is fuelled by government policy - to build roads, build power stations, build growth centres, support new trades financed by big business and exports; do all that and sit back and reap the money. The fact that all the rain forest will have gone by 2100 is their problem. "Right now I want to get rich and get re-elected. A few trees and tribesmen are not gonna stop me."
Great programme on the deforestation of the Amazon. I sat and watched the programme in complete amazement at the sheer scale of destruction and angry that mankind happily destroys the lungs of the earth for short term gain - without consideration to the future of our environment.
I think it is important to bring the truth out in the open as it displays to the world what atrocities we, as mankind, create. Not enough is done to preserve our precious earth and governments should be ashamed that they permit such destruction under their laws.
Keep up the good work. I think these kinds of programmes are great eye-openers and indeed should be shown at schools where it will teach our younger generations the importance of this world we live in.
What is the answer? They are really hurting their spiritual connection to the rainforest. Maybe some form of assistance to help these people get in touch with their inner feelings and their empathy for the trees and the animals of the rainforest - which I am sure is there - an experience of the true freedom away from the decisions made in fear of hunger etc leading towards a desire to maintain and to find a middle way beyond privation and greed.
No mention in Adrian Cowell's programme of Julian Pettifer's programme in Correspondent last year on the mucuna bean which was going to save the clearing of the forest because it provided food and green manure which in turn could make cash crops more profitable than cutting down trees.
Also is the mucuna bean on any agenda at Johannesburg - or was it a nine days wonder after all?
We chopped nearly all our forests down and we all have a car and live like kings, building houses with gardens in the green belt! How can we tell the starving Brazilians that they can't do the same as us and aspire to development?
Your programme was very well done. The main issues were addressed.
My anxiety is the frustration of knowing that a bad situation is getting worse - plus the lack of seeing any way to stop it.
The figure of 3000 fires and only 3 per day can be visited - and then to no effect - illustrates the point.
So long as Brazilian government policy fuels the drive for employment (including slave labour) by means of road building, electric power generation and agricultural expansion financed by big business and export sales income, there is no way the present process can be stopped.
Presumably the government and business are motivated to continue to do what they do; the urgent question is to find an alternative motivation.
The Sahara desert was once a rain forest, as was Easter
Island. By 2100 Brazil will be a desert.
The one year block placed on the export of mahogany by the Brazilian Government may be preserving some mahogany trees in Brazil but it is having a devastating spin-off effect on the Peruvian Amazon. Logging activity has increased greatly in south-eastern Peru leading to riots in the town of Puerto Maldonado in July in which government and NGO offices were destroyed by loggers opposing a government ban on logging in protected areas. These areas were created to protect the interests of over 2,000 voluntary isolated peoples who have no contact with the western world. Loggers are now within their territory. Contact is highly likely. In recent years this has always lead to a very high mortality rate amongst the native peoples.
More information available from: Tambopata Reserve Society (TReeS), P.O. Box 33153, London NW3 4DR
Thank you for the programme. We should be asking if the people responsible for the logging are aware of the possible effects. Do they care? I wonder whether this kind of activity should be viewed as environmental terrorism and the people responsible who are to all intents causing untold damage which could effect the lives of many should be dealt with far more harshly if they wont stop damaging the environment. Why should or why does Brazil, the World, the UN stand idly by and let the damage be done?
Is it possible for the BBC to conduct a programme or series exploring all the issues which are affecting the future of the Earth and ask some really pertinent questions to hopefully mobilise some really fundamental changes which will result in a reversal of the extremely short term views and result in a forum to discuss the issues.
If these issues can be kept at the forefront of people's minds then we have a chance hopefully to reverse the slide.
I am devastated by the excellent programme; all credit to Adrian Cowell. As a field worker I have lived in the Amazon forest, one of the major lungs of the Earth, and had thought that some small progress was being made.
I have long believed that when any government engages in destruction of the kind now going on in Brazil - save for the relatively small section which commemorates Chico Mendes' work - the UN should have power to treat such actions on the same level as crimes of genocide.
If we do not combine to take steps urgently the eventual effect on human life will be truly horrendous. Yet I have read nothing in the proceedings at Johannesburg on this matter. I just wish there was action that I, an 85-year-old pensioner, could take when such folly is being perpetrated, but saving this letter there seems to be none.
First of all, I would like to congratulate the Correspondent team on producing an interesting, and more importantly, unbiased programme.
However, I do feel that there are similar issues within the UK, which never see the light of day. We seem to spend so much time looking into the distance, that we forget what is under our feet. In the UK, approximately 4% of the woodland is "natural" meaning forest unchanged by the influence of man. Considering that there is also approximately 10% of our original amount of forest cover remaining, this means that over the UK as a whole, 99.6% of ancient "natural" woodland has been lost.
Similarly with other habitats and ecosystems in the UK. Upland and Lowland Heathland, Natural Grassland, Moorland, Saltmarsh, Raised Mire, Valley Mire, Blanket Mire, Fen, Marsh and Wetland habitats are all threatened with substantial loss in extent and viability, as well as the numerous flora, fauna and fungi species that are endangered and in some cases on the verge of extinction.
The essential truth of the point I am attempting to make, is that although programmes such as "Fires of the Amazon" may be valid, interesting informative, I feel that too much attention is given to the spectacular and popular subjects, and not enough to the issues that we have in our own country.
Despite this however, I would once again like to congratulate the Correspondent team on producing a thought provoking, interesting and well balanced programme, and I look forward to more of the same.
Whilst I entirely respect the points made, I cannot accept that we have the right to tell poor countries they must not aspire to the same standard of living they we demand here in Europe. I have been in deserts, rainforests and savannahs - all were wonderful, but the plight of the citizens thereof was dour.
We should deny our siblings motor cars, tell our partners they cannot have their "garden water features" and ban all intensive care hospital wards as being too expensive and a drain on renewable energy reserves. As well as confiscate all non-essential computers and destroy all mobile phones as unnecessary. After that, we can go back to the poverty of the third world and say "well we have done our bit".
The Rio Summit, ten years ago, was supposed to have marked a beginning to a change in which we viewed the world in which we live. A great deal was made by politicians about the tangible results that arose from that conference including conventions on climate change and biodiversity.
Tonight's report serves to underline the fact that. in reality, nothing has changed. Governments and large multinational companies continue to pursue policies that will eventually lead to the total degradation of the global environment, with all the problems that that process will impose upon humanity.
The Johannesburg Summit, if one accepts the time scale of destruction outlined in Adrian Cowell's Report, is the last chance to begin to change the climate of opinion that allows the timber and cereal companies to continue to destroy the rain forests of Brazil which are so vital to the continued health of the planet.
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Montce Nu Micro Bikini Bottom - Safari
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International costs: 2008
As inflation cools in western Europe and the US, it's roaring away in eastern Europe. Gardiner & Theobald surveys the world and tells us what it sees
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Al-Qaeda executes Algerian diplomats
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Al-Qaeda has said that it killed two kidnapped Algerian envoys in Iraq because of their Government's support for the US.
The office of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika confirmed the killings.
"The hostage-takers have cowardly assassinated our two representatives in Baghdad, Ali Belaroussi and Azzedine Belkadi, thus carrying out their despicable threats despite all the appeals and exhortations launched everywhere for their liberation," the office said.
Terrorist strikes have driven diplomats from the Iraqi capital, undermining the Government's efforts to gain support among Arab countries. On Monday, Algeria pulled its last diplomatic staff out of its embassy in Baghdad.
An al-Qaeda statement posted on the internet on Wednesday said: "(Algeria) had sent these two apostates as allies to the Jews and Christians in Iraq."
· General George Casey, the US commander in Iraq, on Wednesday signalled plans to cut American forces in the country by the middle of next year, despite the growing insurgency and fears that Iraqi forces are far from ready to take over.
- Reuters
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The Research and Development for M06104 design was initiated after our company director watched the Sean Connery movie "Medicine Man" in the early 1990s. The notion of constructing a series of flying fox runs high in the canopy was ideal for this area, and something Stephen thought attainable for both scientific research and the adventure/Eco-tourism market.
No cranes, helicopters or other heavy machinery were used in the construction process. The design of the cable and platform system allows the structures to be attached around the trees without the need for any bolt, screw or nail to be inserted into the trees. To further ensure conservation of the natural environment, all materials were carried by hand into the forest.
The adventurer starts from ground level and is progressively moved up to heights of over 20 metres whilst seated comfortably and securely in a full body harness. From here the explorer has breathtaking views over the rainforest canopy out to the Great Barrier Reef.
With our expert guides trained in both abseiling and biological sciences, we offer an educational, safe, exciting and unique tour for people of all ages. Soaring through the trees like the birds is the most exhilarating way to view the rainforest and the flight choice is yours – slow, fast or upside down, if you dare!
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Josef the Spy
The strawberry-rhubarb mixture in this cocktail pays homage to mixologist Todd Thrasher's grandmother, Alice Thrasher, who taught him how to pick the best rhubarb for her famous strawberry-rhubarb pie.
Slideshow: More Strawberry Recipes
- Servings: makes 1 drink
- Ice
- 1 ounce tequila
- 1/2 ounce Cointreau or other triple sec
- 3 ounces Strawberry-Rhubarb Syrup
- 3 drops of balsamic vinegar
- 1 ounce chilled Sprite
How to make this recipe
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the Sprite and shake well. Strain the drink into an ice-filled highball glass and stir in the Sprite.
Contributed By Todd Thrasher


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A test drive tells you more than a thousand pictures. Click here to experience the reality.
Why should a soft top not have all the engineered-in safety of a hard top? Advances in structural engineering, high tensile strength materials and dedicated rollover protection have answered the question. It does.
The Opel Cascada surrounds you with a rigid safety structure reinforced with extra body cross members. To this is attached all of the impact absorbing and load diffusion measures. The graceful windscreen pillars are press hardened and conceal hard rolled steel reinforcement bars that reach down below the doors. These have diagonal protective bars to prevent intrusion.
At the rear the rollover bars are anchored in the strongest part of the rear structure. Normally they stay elegantly out of sight. But if you ever need them they are ready to protect you in less time than it takes to blink, triggered by the airbag sensors.
Full sized front airbags combined with oversized side airbags that add extra head protection are standard on every Opel Cascada. These are state of the art protection features, working in complete unison with all of the other safety measures to deliver maximum protective efficiency.
Other measures include double seatbelt pretensioners, deployed pyrotechnically and specially developed to hold you safely in the optimum protective position. The seat frames and mountings also play a significant safety role, as do Opel's well-proven active headrests. These move upwards and forwards under impact to guard against whiplash and upper body injuries. Meanwhile at the other end of your body the equally well-proven Pedal Release System detaches the pedals under impact to guard against foot and lower leg injuries.
The alarm system for the Opel Cascada has been designed for all-round peace of mind. Any attempt to enter the vehicle will result in the lights flashing and the alarm sounding. The system carries its own back-up power supply and guards the complete vehicle and contents, including components and wheels.
Images may show optional equipment.


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Alberta's doctors appear to be winning the public-relations war in their dispute with the province over a new contract, a poll shows. Albertans are increasingly turned off by government tactics as doctors ramp up efforts to win patients' support.
A poll, which was conducted on behalf of the Alberta Medical Association and is set for release Thursday, found that the Progressive Conservative government damaged its image after Health Minister Fred Horne attempted to unilaterally impose a $463-million fee regime on physicians last month after 20 months of failed contract talks.
ThinkHQ Public Affairs Inc. found that 55 per cent supported the AMA in the dispute, while just 8 per cent sided with the minister.
That contrasts sharply with responses before Albertans were aware of the government's attempt to force a deal – 45 per cent said they backed the doctors, while 15 per cent said they were on board with the province.
"They seem to share a lot of the same sentiments with the doctors: that the minister has acted arbitrarily and they would prefer to see this thing settled at the negotiating table," pollster Marc Henry of ThinkHQ said.
The province's 7,200 doctors each coughed up $500 – twice – to help amass a war chest of about $7-million to fund advertising campaigns, communications and legal costs for their labour dispute.
For example, in January, brochures and posters that outline the doctors' concerns will be available in every physician's office, and other advertising will continue in media in the new year.
On Wednesday, the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld a lower-court decision to reject the AMA's request to force the dispute into binding arbitration. But AMA president Dr. Michael Giuffre said the setback doesn't prevent the government from entering into a dispute resolution process and taking other legal steps to solve the impasse.
The doctors plan to file a lawsuit based on recent Supreme Court of Canada rulings, which conclude that certain associations, even if they aren't unions, have collective bargaining rights. The group has hired a lawyer who was involved in an Ontario Medical Association case launched after that province threatened to slash fees. Eventually a deal was settled out of court there.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information has reported that Alberta's family physicians and specialists are, on average, Canada's best paid, at nearly 30 per cent above the national average.
The government's deal would have meant an overall raise – cost-of-living adjustments over the next three years, as well as a lump-sum payment of 2.5 per cent of the previous year's billings. It would have run through 2016.
But the doctors said the dispute isn't just about fees, but the role they can play in management of the health-care system.
The online survey of 1,314 people, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 per cent, found that respondents believe overwhelmingly that doctors should be involved in decision-making around quality of care and efficiency, any major changes to the system, ensuring there are enough physicians in the province and bringing in new programs for family care clinics.
"All they [the government] think about is that this is a PR battle about money," Dr. Giuffre said, "And yet the docs really want a seat at the table and they want a voice for health care for Albertans."
Meanwhile, the association and the government are expected to resume formal contract talks with the help of a mediator early in the new year. Dr. Thomas Marrie, the dean of the faculty of medicine at Dalhousie University, has been picked as the facilitator, according Bart Johnson, a spokesman for the Health Minister.
The province remains "optimistic" a deal with be reached by the end of February deadline, Mr. Johnson said.
The AMA has pledged not to take job action.
"We're going to continue to take the high road," Dr. Giuffre said.Report Typo/Error
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Myanmar Home Design Company will introduce mobile houses to the local market made from modified shipping containers.
"We started making mobile houses seven months ago. The idea comes from our European architects. We have seen the market develop very fast in Myanmar," Daw Than Tar Khaing, assistant manager of Myanmar Home Design, told The Myanmar Times.
Myanmar Home Design is targeting expatriates looking to occupy homes and remote offices as their main market. The company said the homes will also be useful as meditation cabins, pool houses, classrooms, shops and even take-away restaurants.
"Building a house is very expensive because the price of materials and land is getting more expensive day after day. That is the purpose of making these mobile houses from modified containers. We're targeting the local market at present but we intend to also export in the future," Daw Than Tar Khaing said.
Mr Yann Lefebvre, a manager at Myanmar Home Design and an architect responsible for the project, said: "I got this idea of making small mobile houses during my visits to many places in Asia and Myanmar. I have learnt about the living style of Myanmar people too and its natural resources. Today, land is expensive everywhere. It is very hard to own a house."
Myanmar Home Design is making the homes from high quality shipping containers that are approved for heat and fire resistance, and will also endure tough weather conditions, Mr Lefebvre said.
"The material is high quality and very compact. Myanmar people won't like it at first, but I believe that people will want to use these lovely, attractive mobile houses in the future."
The designs for the mobile houses are myriad, spanning a classical Myanmar aesthetic to postmodern décor. Throughout the interior, partitions can be arranged to determine the size of the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. Many options are available for designing the roof, covering the exterior, walling and other interior decorations.
The mobile houses are movable, durable, customisable, thermally efficient and safe, Mr Lefebvre said. One mobile house weighs 4.5 tonnes on average and can be set on concrete ground.
Myanmar Home Design is now investing in new designs.
"We are always coming up with new creations," Mr Lefebvre said.
The price of a mobile house depends on the design and the materials used to build it. The estimated expense for a basic house, which stands at eight feet high and 20 feet long, is around K10 million (about US$11,621).
A basic home will take 70 days to finish.


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What Happened With That Anti-Semitic Chrome Extension? [Updated]
Earlier this week, Mic reported that members of the alt-right had created a Google Chrome extension which surrounded the names of people suspected of being Jewish with "echo" parenthesis. For example, Bryan (((Menegus))). The extension, named Coincidence Detector, has now been banned from the Chrome store.


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In recent months, the humble netbook has been given a significant boost in power courtesy of AMD's APU Fusion technology. As its name implies, AMD Fusion brings together a processor and graphics on a single chip; taking the best of the CPU and GPU worlds and merging them.
While integrated graphics are nothing new, the APU chipset is capable of more than just running basic 3D applications - for the first time, HD video playback and high-end gaming are possible without relying on a dedicated graphics card.
AMD Fusion combines a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphics processor on a single-die processor connected by a high speed bus. By placing both processors side by side on the same piece of silicon, AMD Fusion properly unites both processing types for the first time.
This allows serial and parallel workloads to coexist, which translates to higher energy efficiency and faster processing times.
The Fusion range is designed with HD and 3D video in mind and is particularly suited to netbooks due to its design simplicity. They are for the most part more affordable than the current crop of Intel 'Sandy Bridge' CPUs, which are chiefly reserved for higher-end computing.
For more information on the ins-and-outs of AMD Fusion, check out our APU guide.
There are currently four mobile APU models on the market, which run under the 'Brazos' platform name. Here's a look at the current lineup:
During the past few months, several major notebook manufacturers have come to the AMD Fusion table, offering a range of new products based on the APU architecture. A few models even retail for under $500.
In the following article, we take a look at how some of these AMD Fusion netbooks and notebooks compare in terms of features and price. (For more detailed overview from the manufacturer's website, click on the model name of each product.)
The Toshiba NB550D is an AMD Fusion-based netbook that comes with a C-50 'Brazos' APU. It has two 1GHz cores based on AMD's Bobcat architecture and an integrated RADEON HD 6250 GPU. It runs Windows 7 Starter Edition.
The C-50 processor is a low-power solution that is still capable of delivering snappy performance (you can read our full review here). For a $499 machine, the Toshiba NB550D isn't too shabby in other areas either: you get Harman/Kardon speakers, HDMI-out for watching movies to your big screen TV, and the curiously named Sleep-and-Music function for playing music while the NB550D is turned off.
On the downside, the unit only comes with 1GB of RAM, although this is common for a 10in netbook. With dimensions of 266x192.3x24.2mm, the Toshiba NB550D is a bit bulkier than the other netbooks on this list, but it remains highly portable, nonetheless.
If you're a fan of eye-catching designs, the Toshiba's electric blue scales are also a bonus.
With an RRP of $449, the Acer Aspire One 522 is currently the cheapest AMD Fusion netbook on the market. Boasting a 10.1in widescreen LED-backlit display , an AMD Fusion C-50 dual-core CPU, 1GB of DDR3 memory and 250GB of storage, it is more than capable of holding its own against the similarly-specified Toshiba NB550D.
With dimensions of 259x185x25.7mm, the Acer Aspire One 522 is smaller than its Toshiba rival despite having the same size screen. While this is good for portability, we suspect that the keyboard is probably smaller, which may hamper users with large fingers.
The 522's display has a higher native resolution than the Toshiba NB550D: 1280x720 pixels vs 1024x600 pixels. Otherwise, both netbooks sport similar connectivity and components, including HDMI and VGA display ports, 802.11n (2.4ghz) Wi-Fi and 10/100 Ethernet.
Like the Toshiba NB550D, the Acer Aspire One 522 runs Windows 7 Starter Edition.
If you'd prefer the added functionality of a laptop, but still want a machine that's small and light, the Dell Inspiron M102z is another APU solution that's worth checking out.
The Dell Inspiron M102z crams better-than-netbook graphics performance into an 11in laptop; a mere 0.9 inches wider than the netbooks listed above. The Dell Inspiron M102z comes in several flavours, ranging from $599 to $749.
The $599 base model comes with AMD's C-50 APU, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB hard drive (7200RPM) and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Its main advantage over the Acer Aspire One AO522 and Toshiba NB550D are a fully-featured OS, a faster hard drive and an additional gigabyte of RAM.
If you regularly multitask and like to have lots of browser windows up at the same time, the extra premium is probably worth it.
At $699, the HP Pavilion DM1-3010au is at the steep end of the Brazos AMD Fusion range. Its main claims to fame are an 11.6in LED display and a more powerful 1.6GHz AMD E-350 processor (compared to the 1.0GHz C-50 chip found in the other netbooks on this list).
In addition, the HP Pavilion DM1-3010au comes with 2GB of DDR3 memory, which helps to give it a zippier performance. Those who are willing to stump up an additional $50 might also want to check out the Sony Vaio YB laptop, which also packs in 2GB of RAM and a E-350 APU. You can read our review of the Sony Vaio YB here.
AMD Fusion price/specification comparison table:
Toshiba NB550D
HP Pavilion DM1-3010au
Acer Aspire One AO522
Dell Inspiron M102z
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Emilio Delle Piane
Arizona Colt Returns
Bounty hunter Arizona Colt's (Anthony Steffen) world is turned upside-down when he discovers a wrongful bounty has been put on his head for a stagecoach robbery. When Colt and sidekick Double Whiskey (Roberto Camardiel) try to clear his name, he's thrown in jail. It turns out that Colt's old nemesis (Aldo Sambrell) is behind the accusation -- and now Colt must set things straight before he's hanged in this spaghetti Western sequel.


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Pooling's purpose
The news story "Hilcorp Energy first in Pa. to test law allowing access to gas without property owners' consent" and the editorial "Forced pooling? Change the law" (Oct. 6, Oct. 9 and TribLIVE.com) regarding the 1961 state law that allows forced pooling for Utica shale natural-gas drilling seem to portray a misperception, implying that forced pooling of mineral interests allows drilling companies to "take" a person's property.
Such pooling does not impact surface rights. Landowners cannot be "forced" to allow drilling activity on their land without a lease agreement. Most know that natural gas may flow deep underground across property boundaries. Forced pooling simply attempts to account for this by "forcing" unleased landowners to accept the same payments as leased owners in the same drilling unit.
The true reason for forced pooling is actually the exact opposite — so that a mineral owner with small acreage may not unfairly prevent his or her neighbor from drilling.
A drilling unit must have a majority of property leased before unleased acreage can be included. The news story stated Hilcorp leased all but 35 acres out of 3,267 in its drilling unit (99 percent) — multiple horizontal wells can be drilled from just a few surface pads and a few acres there.
Would it be fair if a few small property owners were able to prevent the majority of their neighbors from accessing mineral rights? Similar laws have existed in many states for many years, for good reason.
Karl Kimmich


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Samsung's partner programs are designed to drive our mutual success in today's increasingly competitive market. Our dedication to the channel begins with robust sales and marketing tools to better enable your business, training and certification to increase your relevancy in the marketplace, and profitability programs to improve your bottom line and reward your loyalty.
Samsung Wireless Enterprise™ brings together enterprise-ready mobile devices, security frameworks, wireless infrastructure and voice over wireless LAN, enabling businesses to make the most of mobility.
If you are already a partner or want to join our network of North American distributors and resellers, you've found the right place. Access Samsung resources, sales information, technical and sales assistance to create value to your customers, accelerate sales, achieve your goals, and solidify your position as an industry innovator!
Build a solid foundation for your business and align yourself with a global IT leader. Partner with Samsung and gain an extensive range of enterprise products, best-in-class solution offerings, proven marketing strategies and the expertise that create a new business experience.


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Clearly Barack Obama and his legion of inauguration planners have registered the gay community's dismay over the selection of the Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation on Jan. 20, as Obama has tapped the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson to lead the prayer session at an event two days prior.
The New York Times:
The move was seen among many gay advocates an antidote to Mr. Obama's decision to give the Rev. Rick Warren, a prominent megachurch pastor from California who opposes gay marriage, the high-profile role of giving the invocation at the inaugural ceremonies on Jan. 20.
Bishop Robinson is the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, and his consecration in 2003 set off a growing rift in that church's parent body, the Anglican Communion. Since then, Bishop Robinson has become an internationally known spokesman for gay rights—a hero to some and an object of scorn to others. He and his long-standing partner had a church wedding last summer.
Bishop Robinson said in a telephone interview on Monday that he believed that his inclusion in inaugural events had been under consideration before the controversy over Mr. Warren, but that Mr. Obama and his team were also seeking to heal the pain that Mr. Warren's selection had caused among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates.
Checkmate?: We'll see your controversial Saddleback Church pastor and raise you one Episcopal bishop.


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Liszt's Rhapsody
Liszt's Rhapsody
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Rich and successful, a dashing young musical superstar so adored that women faint when they meet him in the street, Franz Liszt is restless. He knows that something is missing in his glamorous life as the world's greatest concert pianists. He meets Josy, a naturally gifted young Gypsy street musician, and subsequently wagers that he can turn Josy into a world-class musician. The bet turns into a mighty struggle of wills - the worldly sophisticate against the resourceful Gypsy boy and a conflict of freedom vs. discipline, heart vs. brain, passion vs. technique. Set in 1846, Liszt's Rhapsody celebrates the miracle of talent and the triumph of dreams fulfilled.
Title: Liszt's Rhapsody, Published by Hal Leonard
Title: Liszt's Rhapsody, Published by Hal Leonard
Hal Leonard
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They Shoot Babies, Don't They? The Canadian Seal Hunt Part 2
They Shoot Babies, Don't They? The Canadian Seal Hunt
Part 2
Part 1
Script 1
Part 2
Script 2
The images in the following program are highly sensitive and may be as disturbing to viewers as they were to us. However, we have to show the truth about cruelty to animals, praying that you will help to stop it.
The sealers go out onto the ice-floes. And at the time the seal pups are born and they're helpless; they can't swim, they can't get away. And they simply club them over the head and skin them. And sometimes they've skinned them alive. We've seen that.
This is the Stop Animal Cruelty series on Supreme Master Television where today we present part one of a two-part series about the merciless brutality of the Canadian seal hunt. Two experts will share with us their personal experiences of witnessing the mass murder of baby seals in their nurseries.
Ian Robichaud, the founder of Harpseals.org, is dedicated to putting a permanent end to seal hunts. Using mass media and grassroots activism, Harpseals.org seeks to raise awareness about the atrocities committed by the seal industry. Since 2006, Supreme Master Ching Hai has provided the courageous group with donations totaling US$30,000 to further its mission.
Captain Paul Watson, a co-founder of Greenpeace International, and the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as well as the recipient of the prestigious Shining World Hero Award from Supreme Master Ching Hai has devoted the past 30 years to protecting and defending marine life, including seals.
Over 90% of the seal hunt occurs off the coastline of Newfoundland in Canada. And then there is another small area called the Magdalen Islands, and they're in Quebec (Canada). So this is all around the Gulf of St. Lawrence in eastern Canada. But the majority of it happens on the outer coast of Newfoundland every year in the springtime.
So where are the harp seals born?
The harp seals are actually born on the ice. They're one of the few species of animals that literally needs sea ice to be born on for their nursery. So they literally give birth on the ice. And the ice can be, depending on the weather conditions, either sometimes very close to the shorelines of, say, Prince Edward Island or some of these islands that are in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence or the shorelines of Newfoundland, or it can be literally a hundred miles offshore. So the seals go to wherever the ice is, and the sealers follow them.
The seals are only tiny babies, as young as two to three weeks old when the sealers head out in their boats to begin the massacre. When the time is right, when the white fur of these baby seals starts to molt off, which occurs after about two weeks, that's when the Coast Guard sends the big Coast Guard cutters and the sealers literally, like little ducks following a big mother duck, they follow him right to the places where they can literally jump off their boats onto the ice, and then they just run up. They have cleated ice boots that give them traction, and they run up and club them. They also shoot the seals as well.
We've heard that one of the tools used is something called a hakapik, is that correct?
It's a really brutal, grisly thing. It's more or less a baseball bat with a hook on one side. And what the hook is for, they whack the seal on the head. They club them, okay, with this, basically again, it's a long wooden stick, and it's got a piece of metal on the end of it. Some of them do they have a little chunk of metal on it, but then on the other side, there is like a pick, so once the seal is whacked on the head and skinned, they're usually skinned pretty much right there.
But then they use that pick part for dragging the seal carcass to the boat. They actually skin the seals pretty much right there where they club them and then they take that hakapik, it's really a dragging tool, so they don't actually club the seals with the pointed part, but it's basically a club. It's a very vicious, horrible instrument, and, and they use it quite pronouncedly.
In what other way are the seals killed?
Well, the other way is by gun. They use rifles. Whether they use a gun or a hakapik depends on the conditions or whether their boats are able to maneuver between the leads in the cracks in the ice. Some years, the ice is so compact that the boats are lucky to get pretty close to the seal herds, and then basically the sealers jump off, and they can literally walk by foot.
They can run around within a quarter mile from their boat in all directions, and they club them with the hakapiks. When they can't get them with the hakapiks, they'll shoot them, and again it depends on how closely those boats can maneuver. Because some years, like I said, that ice chunk, they're literally little chunks of ice floating around, and it would be very dangerous for a sealer to try to jump on a little chunk of ice because he'd have to basically be jumping over open leads of ice.
So what they do in that case is they shoot them. But they prefer to hakapik them, and the reason why is because it keeps the pelt price at a higher value. A bullet hole in the wrong spot of a seal pelt will cause it to have a reduced value. And sometimes they're shooting these seals from a hundred yards, 75 yards.
You can't get a clean shot, so a lot of the seals have holes in their backs and the sides of their heads. The shot itself doesn't even kill the seal, and the seal will actually slither off, and go into an open lead of the ice and literally slip under the ice and die.
Can the baby seals escape?
When they're super young, when they're first born, they don't have enough layer of blubber yet. They'll actually feed profusely on their moms' milk for about the first two weeks. If they do happen to slip into the water, they'll get hyperthermia. Most of the seals killed are literally between two weeks and about three months. Most of these guys are so young, they don't know what's coming at them. There is no natural predator that still exists, (Right.) except for human beings out there.
So what happens is these hunters walk right up to them, and I don't even call them hunters by the way; I would like to retract that word; they're killers. Because they walk, literally walk right up to an innocent baby seal, and the little seal raises up its little head, like he doesn't know what's going to happen, and the guy just whacks him right on the head. It's a brutal thing; I've seen it close-up.
And the sealers show absolutely no mercy; it's vicious and unbelievable. I can't describe it; it's horrible. If you've seen the pictures, you know it's really, really horrific, but no mercy is shown.
Is the mother around during this and what is her reaction?
Yes. The killing of the seals is in the nursery, so the mothers are there present when the babies are killed! It's one of the most heartless hunts if you can call it a 'hunt', anywhere in the world.
Well, the mother is around. All the seals don't give birth exactly at the same time. They give birth over the course of about a month and a half to two months even. Most of them happen all within about a month, So, there's some mother seals that will be nursing their baby "whitecoat," whereas another mother seal might have given birth, say, two weeks earlier, where her baby has now molted and become legally "clubbable."
They actually molt that beautiful white, famous fur into it's called a "beater" stage, but where they literally look like little baby silver leopards; they're really, really beautiful. And that is when the Canadian government legally classifies them as adult seals, even though they're a month old, three weeks old, and that is when they're "clubbable"
They don't actually club the seals for their white fur anymore; they used to. But there's been a ban on the white coats since 1983. But as soon as that fur starts to molt, they kill them. They are in fact being killed in front of mothers that are very, very nearby. So, it might be that the mother doesn't know that her baby is being killed, but another mother 20 feet away, (Is watching.) will be able to see this.
They call it a 'hunt', but really it's just a slaughter, a massacre of these animals. And fortunately, on the Canadian seal hunt side of it, we've gotten the European Parliament to ban seal pelts and that's significantly lowered the number of seals that are being killed. But you know, this is the 21st century, there's no reason for clubbing these animals over their head for their pelts. Whales, seals, fish are more valuable in the oceans than they are, being used by us.
What they do is maintain the integrity of oceanic ecosystems and the message that we're trying to get across is that if the oceans die, then we die. My name's Captain Paul Watson with The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save The Planet.
Many thanks Ian Robichaud and Captain Paul Watson and the members of your respective organizations for passionately working to end the seal slaughter. Bloodshed and violence has absolutely no place in our world and you are both model examples of love and kindness to animals. To halt sealing and other forms of animal exploitation, may we always say "NO" to all animal products.
For more information on these seal protection organizations, please visit the following websites: Harpseals.org - www.Harpseals.org
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - www.SeaShepherd.org
Please join us next Tuesday on Stop Animal Cruelty for the conclusion of our program on the Canadian seal hunt. Thank you for your presence on today's show. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May we forever live in peaceful harmony with all animals.
The images in the following program are highly sensitive and may be as disturbing to viewers as they were to us. However, we have to show the truth about cruelty to animals, praying that you will help to stop it.
This is the Stop Animal Cruelty series on Supreme Master Television presenting the conclusion of a two-part episode about the merciless brutality of the Canadian seal hunt.
If you ever wondered if hell exists, just go into those massacre houses or the boats that kill the whales and go to the seal-massacring areas. Go there to find hell, then you'll believe that hell will exist. It's horrible.
It's absolutely horrible how we behave as humans. It's unimaginable. The more we do research into all this animal treatment, the more we cannot imagine how we, as a human race, are behaving in such a way. My God! Oh, my God! We must change, we must change fast. We can't live like this, we can't. We just can't go on like this. It's just killing our heart.
The yearly seal hunt season for Harp and Hooded seals begins November 15 and ends May 15. The majority of the seal murdering occurs between March and April. In March the focus is the Gulf of St. Lawrence around the Magdalen Islands and Prince Edward Island. A month later, the carnage shifts to the waters northeast of the province of Newfoundland.
Today Ian Robichaud, the founder Harpseals.org, will continue to discuss the violent slaughter of baby seals, many of whom are a mere three weeks old when they die.
Harpseals.org seeks to raise awareness about the atrocities committed by the seal industry. Since 2006, Supreme Master Ching Hai has provided the courageous group with donations totaling US$30,000 to further its mission. We asked Mr. Robichaud about the skinning process for pelts.
So once the seal has been murdered, do they move them to where they're skinned? Or do they skin them right there? Or do they move them to the boat? How does it happen?
They ideally want to skin them right there. If they get out of their boat or if they find a little pod, a little nest of seals, they might find a little grouping of 20 or 30 of the baby seals. And these babies have reactions. Some of them run. Some of them will actually come toward a sealer, and they can't do anything. Some of them will just hide there. Well, they don't run, but they crawl away on the ice.
So, what the sealers do is, sometimes, and this is really brutal, they'll go in with that hakapik (club) and because they don't want the seals to go over the edges and maybe into little places where they won't be able to find them, they'll just whack them over the head, as many as they can, to stun them. So they'll whack them over the head, one or two whacks, 20 or 30 seals at one time; it's one of the most horrific things you could possibly see.
Two sealers sometimes come into a pack of 40 seals and they'll just smash them on the head to make sure nothing is moving; and then a lot of these seals, of course, they're not dead after one or two whacks. And then they come back and they'll skin them. But if there's just one seal, they're going to whack them and skin them right there, right then and there.
So the baby might not even be dead when they skin it?
A good portion of the time they're actually not dead. The sealers themselves are required by ridiculous animal welfare laws, humanity laws if you will, they're supposed to make sure that the seals are actually dead. They're supposed to do this ridiculous thing called an "eye blink" test, where they're supposed to be able to put their finger on the eye of the seal, and if it doesn't blink, that means it's dead. But, in fact, more than 40% of these seals are, in fact, alive when they're skinned.
There was a study conducted by IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare). These scientists went into the piles of dead seals after the sealers had been there. In other words, they just leave those seals right on the ice. And what they did was, they looked at the craniums, the skulls of these seals and they looked for fracture marks. And they determined, 43% hadn't even shown any cranial fractures. So therefore, they basically were, in fact, skinned alive.
Not only that, but there have been many, many videos clearly showing seals being skinned while they're still moving around. It's something that the sealers almost seem to enjoy; it's a bizarre spectacle of violence. And it's hard to imagine; it really, really is hard for anybody to imagine. A pet dog your family cat being skinned literally right there, and someone sort of smiling and laughing as they're doing it.
So they no longer feel any compassion for the animal?
They're so desensitized by this stuff; they are so desensitized. There have been a few books written by people about the sealers and about what makes them get into it. A lot of these sealers get into it because their family did it, because their daddy was a sealer, their brother was a sealer before them.
But what I had heard from the book that I read, it was written by a sealer, it was called "Over the Side, Mickey." He was actually describing the very first time that he killed a seal. He found it horrible; it was horrible to do. How do people kill animals in slaughterhouses? It's the same thing. It's a desensitized brain thing. I don't get it. I could never do it; I don't understand it, but they literally do not feel any empathy or sympathy whatsoever for the seals.
How is the baby seal skinned?
With a sharp knife. And they do it with a few cuts and it takes about 30 seconds to skin a harp seal. What's so brutal is that a lot of times, again, they'll stun the seal, then they make some very crucial cuts around the flippers, and they literally tear that skin right off. And a lot of times the body is still twitching. I mean it's brutal.
I'm not trying to gross you (Right.) out by saying (that). But literally the body is twitching. It's just literally had its skin ripped right off before it's dead. Some of them are dead again; (it) depends on how many times they whack them.
Less than three percent of the meat, annually, is taken. And on some years, it's probably even less than that, because literally, yes, once they skin it, they don't care.
With some of the meat, it gets used in the pet food industry.
The male harp seals are killed as well and there's a market for their genitals?
There is a market; it's a black market. While the sealers are out there, if they happen to encounter a pod of males, the males all gather in one spot. They're not usually mixed in with the females and the babies. They're usually hanging out separately.
But if a sealer encounters a male or a pod of males, they're not shy about killing them. There's no one to regulate this stuff. And of course there's no mark. They just take that. A seal penis bone is like a bone, and then that's actually used for an aphrodisiac. It's similar to the tiger bone or rhinoceros. It's used in Asian medicines.
Surely if people could see this massacre happening, the public would react. Is this not being filmed and shown to people? Are there restrictions on filming?
Well absolutely and this is really the biggest obstacle that all anti-seal hunt organizations like ours face. And this is what this whole fight is really all about, because the sealers want to keep it out of sight, out of mind. There are major, major obstacles to filming. There are laws that make it illegal for people to film the seal hunt. You can only shoot a camera within a quarter mile from the seals.
Then a couple of years ago, it was within 30 meters. I've actually been assaulted by sealers who were walking toward me on the ice, coming at me saying, "You're within 30 meters. You're breaking our laws," while I had a camera rolling on them while they were doing their thing. But it's illegal. And I actually have been arrested on the ice for having a camera.
We know that celebrities such as Paul McCartney have been taken to the seal hunt and shown this. What effect has this had on people's awareness?
Celebrities are huge. We absolutely love celebrities. And looking into the camera, I can tell you right now, if you're a celebrity out there, we want you. We need you. Paul McCartney was awesome. The Humane Society of the United States had the opportunity to bring Paul up there, and they went on CNN Larry King that night. That was absolutely huge.
So even if you are not as big of a celebrity as Paul McCartney, we want you to please help us. Let us make you famous for helping the seals. You don't have to even volunteer for Harpseals.org, you could do it for Sea Shepherd, you could do it for HSUS (Humane Society of the United States), I don't care. But get your celebrity name out there for the seals because you will do a lot to actually stop the sealing.
What can the average individual do?
The average person can boycott Canadian seafood. How does that work? Why are we boycotting Canadian seafood? The reason that works is because all the sealers are actually fishermen 95% of the year, and 95% of their income (Right.) is by fishing. (Yes.) A small fraction of the year they go out and they kill these seals.
So what we are doing is we're pressuring the entire Canadian seafood industry to stop the seal hunt. And so we'll tell people, boycott Canadian seafood, that way you are directly affecting the pocketbook of the actual guys who are going out there killing (Right.) the seals and eventually, those people are going to say, "Enough is enough."
Our deep gratitude Ian Robichaud, Harpseals.org, and other similar groups for standing up for the Canadian seals by reporting to the world how they are being sickeningly killed. We call on everyone across the planet to shun all animal products, including those from seals like seal fur garments, seal meat and seal oil, so the vicious seal industry, and other industries that savagely exploit animals, are shut down forever.
Hi there, my name is Ian Robichaud. I'm the founder of HarpSeals.org. You're watching Supreme Master Television.
Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet!
For more details on Harpseals.org, please visit www.Harpseals.org
Thank you for joining us for today's Stop Animal Cruelty program. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May the precious seals and all other animals enjoy long and peaceful lives.
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text:
Search Collections
Georgetown Waterfront
Rowland Lyon
Born: Washington, District of Columbia 1904
Died: Washington, District of Columbia 1966
oil on canvas 26 1/8 x 40 in. (66.3 x 101.5 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Transfer from the General Services Administration
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 38A
Luce Center Label
Rowland Lyon lived in Washington, D.C., his entire life. Even though he traveled abroad often, he always enjoyed painting images of his hometown. In Georgetown Waterfront, the landscape is divided into three horizontal bands: the buildings lining the Georgetown waterfront, their rippling reflections in the Potomac River, and the bare winter landscape in the foreground on the Virginia side of the river. During the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression, Americans saw factories and smokestacks as symbols of the country's economic recovery. Lyon painted a row of silos, buildings, and chimneys in bright, cheerful colors to celebrate industry as an essential part of the American landscape.
Architecture - industry - factory
Cityscape - District of Columbia - Georgetown
Cityscape - District of Columbia - Washington
Cityscape - river - Potomac River
New Deal - Public Works of Art Project - Washington, D.C.
paint - oil
fabric - canvas
About Rowland Lyon
Born: Washington, District of Columbia 1904 Died: Washington, District of Columbia 1966


text:
This video portrays the Italian huckster who touts his cancer "cure", baking soda, based on the ludicrous idea that cancer is a fungus, as some kind of persecuted martyr attacked by the money grubbing doctors who *want* us to be sick.
The entire premise that it is doctors *want* us to be sick so they can shove more pills down our throats is ridiculous. Even the idea that all MDs "push pills" is outdated. My Dad's doctor has taken him off of 4 of his five meds so far as he has gotten healthier with Primal eating. If you have a pill pushing doctor, you are free to find another one. They do exist. And people need to take responsibility for their health via lifestyle changes. Many people would rather have a pill than give up the junk food. Blaming that all on teh eeevil doctors is a tinfoil hat cop out.
And that guy who cons gullible people into thinking that cancer is a fungus is not giving his treatment as a public service. He charges tens of thousands of dollars (for baking soda). Who is the one with a financial motive? My oncologist gets the same HMO salary weather I live or die. He actually cares. And he has a real cure. One that works.
Nobody is "suppressing" anything. If there is a real cure for cancer discovered, it will be front page news on the JAMA and there will be Nobel Prizes awarded. The "miracle cure" in the meantime is not on some website peddling conspiracy theories, it is at the oncologist's office. They cure cancer every day.


text:
What about Birth Control?
One University of Minnesota study that began in the 1970s followed 267 children of first-time low-income mothers for nearly four decades. It found that whether a child received supportive parenting in the first few years of life was at least as good a predictor as I.Q. of whether he or she would graduate from high school… Yet the cycle can be broken, and the implication is that the most cost-effective way to address poverty isn't necessarily housing vouchers or welfare initiatives or prison-building. Rather, it may be early childhood education and parenting programs.
Kristof's entire editorial in the NYT.


text:
Wow. What a crazy week. Prior to my departure for Egypt to attempt to film in Gaza for "Shake the Dust," I was a little worried that it would be a challenging trip for me to be "going it alone." Surely at this point I'm accustomed to traveling all by my lonesome… but at times, depending on the place and circumstances, it can be incredibly taxing emotionally, physically, spiritually, etc.
I must say though that given the challenges I've faced in the last 7 days, I have remained mostly centered and optimistic. I am, of course, aching for friends and family (my sisters are currently with my parents in Michigan along with my niece and nephew). But busyness has often been my ally. Sitting in a hotel room rotting away is the worst thing to do… and although I've faced some enormous frustrations here, I've also felt culturally immersed, fully present, centered, and optimistic.
The situation in Gaza is dire. The blockade that has existed since Hamas was voted into power in 2006 has strangled the 1.6 million that live there. And their own government has done little to help. Routine kidnappings (mostly by Islamist extremists), violence, and the constant potential for violent skirmishes with Israel make it a dangerous place to go, and the US does everything in it's power to keep US citizens out. Once there, there are no resources to get back out if something goes awry, and understandably the US government doesn't want an international crisis if an American civilian were to get hurt, stranded, or worse.
That being said, my commitment to creating stories that shed light on even the furthest and darkest parts of the planet is not something I take lightly. I never recommend anyone (photographer, aid work, whatever) to go into a place like Gaza rogue, with no plan, connections, etc. And I don't do that myself. The process of attempting to work and film with Gazan break-dancers has involved every resources possible, and I've had friends in Gaza, across the Middle East, and across the United States working on my behalf to see that I enter safely and remain safe upon my arrival and until my departure.
However, safety is a relative thing. And whenever I travel somewhere (Haiti post-earthquake, Sana'a, Yemen) I do so with wisdom, prayer, and as many resources as I can muster. But one of the deepest convictions in my life is to do what I can to lend a voice to people whose voices are being silenced.
There are obviously groups in Gaza that can be classified as terrorists, and certainly there are extremists that have ill-intent and bad motives for the violence and havoc they wreak. But there are far more children and innocent families that are starving for education, food, and redemption from an ongoing cycle of violence and poverty.
I have been barred for the second time in 2 years from entering Gaza. I head to Uganda this Friday for a week and then return to the US to continue processing paperwork to ensure that I get in this summer. It has been a discouraging week. But my experiences on the border in Rafah are simply a tiny taste of what Palestinians around the region deal with on a regular basis.
I consider my passport to be my most valuable possession. First of all, it is a diary of the last 7 years of my life. Something that I would love to pass on to my children – as a symbolic representation of the scales that have slowly fallen from my eyes with every new stamp. But my passport also represents something profound and humbling – mercy and freedom. I did not choose where I was born, but because I have a US passport, I have tremendous privileges across the globe. My place of birth has offered me the freedom to earn a good living, and the freedom to travel and see things that have and will continue to shape my perception of reality.
In 2010 after 6 crazy days in Port-au-Prince, Haiti after the earthquake, I was ready to be out. I went to the airport and found hundreds of desperate Haitians prying at the gates of the airport – begging for entrance. They had seen hell. And to them, the airport meant freedom from that hell. I raised my passport out of my pocket, and was pulled by a US soldier through a crowd of the most starved, impoverished people I've ever experienced, and was led to the tarmac where a private jet whisked me away to American soil.
I tell this story, because it has haunted me regularly ever since. It has torn at my conscience and clung to me whenever I get on a plane for a far off place.
People ask me if I'm patriotic. I say yes. But not in the same way that many Americans view the term. Am I proud of America? Not of everything she's done over the centuries. But I consider myself to be blessed to be an American. And having now traveled to well over 40 countries outside of her borders, I feel this even more deeply then ever. But with that realization has come a deep conviction that pushes me to fight loneliness, food poisoning, exhaustion, and bureaucracy.
It has been my philosophy that truth and beauty are inseparable. And truth can be found anywhere – however seemingly God-forsaken. And to see beauty is to see light.
Below are some images I've taken during some of the down time I've had here and there. As I said before, when dealing with loneliness, culture shock, and exhausting bureaucracy, it's good to get out of my hotel room for a few hours here and there.


text: I hope someone here is having this Apress book by Mark/LaMarche. I have problem with the example from chapter 9, Online Play: Bonjour and Network Streams. With online play, after I play the game few times, one of the devices would get stuck in some sort of limbo waiting instead of starting a fresh new game. Other device is OK, having the text "Your turn" or "Opponent's Turn" at the top, ready to start a game, while other device has nothing at the top and I can't play on it any more. It seems as if it waits for acknowledgement, but it never comes so it just sits there waiting. Then I made few changes in the code so I can use it with the simulator. Only few minor tweaks related to endianness. When I run the game in the simulator, it is always the real device that gets stuck, never the application in the simulator so I can't use debugger to see what is going on. It happens with both the code I typed from the book as well as with the code from the download. Any ideas?


text:
Notice: On April 23, 2014, Statalist moved from an email list to a forum, based at statalist.org.
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st: Re: gradient and the inverse of the information matrix
st: Re: gradient and the inverse of the information matrix
Sun, 5 May 2013 04:58:54 +0100
The first version of the ado and help files can be downloaded from:
Suggestions and comments are welcome.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Mu
To Listserv STATA
Subject RE: st: gradient and the inverse of the information matrix
Date Fri, 3 May 2013 16:15:47 -0500
Along with suggestions from Maarten, your paper nicely demonstrates how to
tweak Stata codes to conduct the LM test as well as user-written ado files
for the same thing. Although there are a few papers floating around out
there that provide some expository discussions, like the one by Buse (1982)
and others, none of them has the empirical technicalities in your paper. By
the way, are those two commands readily downloadable? Thanks a lot!
-----Original Message-----
From: firstname.lastname@example.com
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2013 1:23 PM
To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Subject: Re: st: gradient and the inverse of the information matrix
I have a manuscript that is exactly related to your question. The article
also briefs some possible reasons why the score test conducted by SAS and
STATA can be different. (See the footnote 6.)
You can download the article from:
Chi-lin Tsai
-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Mu
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 10:01 PM
To: Listserv STATA
Subject: st: gradient and the inverse of the information matrix
Hi Statalisters,
I am trying to check into the (Rao's) score (or commonly known as the
Lagrange Multiplier) test for a model that I am working on. I got results
from SAS already, and I want to see if those from SAS would square with the
one produced from my own Stata codes.
They don't match, and looks like I probably made some mistakes in my Stata
codes. For the generalized formula to get the Chi-Square statistic, I need
to get the gradient and the inverse of the information matrix. For the
inverse of the information matrix, I can grab from e(V) directly without any
further calculation.
So I might've made some mistake in the gradient. I've searched through the
voluminous Stata pdf documentation using gradient as the key word, and I was
not able to find useful information. But I vaguely remember a while back ago
when I was also checking into related issues, I read somewhere that the
e(gradient) matrix is a gradient with respect to xb, not b, so I suspect
that might be the cause. I am wondering if that's the case. If I am right on
this, then a follow-up question is how to recover the gradient with respect
to b since I feel there might not be a linear transformation that I can use
to get it directly. Any input/suggestion would be appreciated.
Jun Xu, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 46037
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
* http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/


text:
USA Map Atlas is a comprehensive atlas which is providing a range of Map on USA. The United States of America is federal constitutional republic which comprising fifty states and a federal district. The United States of America is situated in Central North America. The USA 48 states is lying between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and surrounded by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The Unites States of America is covering around 9,826,675 sq.km and as per the census 2010 population of USA is 308,745,538.
One stop solution of USA Map
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text:
gb Pockit Pushchair - Posh Pink
by gb
SKU 33729-PP / boxed weight 6250 g
qualifies for Sign Up & Save offer
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text:
IT was the place where his two tries created sporting memories that are etched into Saints' folklore.
So it was fitting that the launch of Steve Prescott's autobiography was given the platform of Wembley and Challenge Cup Final day for its unveiling.
And for many who loved and admired Steve, walking up Wembley Way and seeing a huge poster for the book, titled 'One in a Million' emblazoned upon the national stadium for the day brought a lump to the throat.
In 1996, Wembley, then still under the twin towers, was where full back Steve scored two tries in Saints' cup triumph.
Steve's widow, Linzi said: "Walking up Wembley Way and seeing Stephen's face from the front of the book cover at the side of the stadium and it sinking in that the book has finally been published was just amazing.
"I felt really proud of what we had achieved and it had actually come to fruition and that the book was now out.
"Wembley was quite a fitting venue for the launch. Stephen always felt at home and relaxed at Wembley and probably played his best rugby there so for the book launch to be there it was quite appropriate."
The book covers Steve's playing days and includes the story of his battle with cancer since he was diagnosed with Pseudomyxoma Peritonei in 2006, detailing the way he tested himself and inspired others with a series of gruelling challenges.
He began writing it in 2007 and completed the manuscript a few weeks before his death in November last year, with Linzi penning the final two chapters.
It has already been receiving a terrific response from readers.
"Its reception has been amazing and the feedback we've had from people who have read it has been outstanding," says Steve Prescott Foundation general manager, Martin Blondel.
"We've had cancer sufferers who have bought the book and come back to us saying they have drawn great strength from it. That shows exactly why Steve set out to do the challenges and wrote the book – to give as many people as possible the chance to get better. Some of the emails we've had have been really touching."
Including pre-orders, the book has already sold more than 1,000 copies. Orders have come from Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.
A sold out forum will also be held to launch the book this evening at Langtree Park before it goes on general sale on September 6.


text:
Republican Tom Smith Compares Rape To Sex Out Of Wedlock
- Alright, Republicans, you can go home now. Tom Smith of Pennsylvania wins for the most absurdly offensive thing that could be said about rape and ladies who be havin' promiscuous sex. The Tea Party-endorsed Smith, who is challenging Democratic Senator Bob Casey, actually compared rape to having a child out of wedlockin some misguided attempt to appear empathetic. He was asked by an Associated Press reporter, "How would you tell a daughter or a granddaughter who, God forbid, would be the victim of a rape, to keep the child against her own will? Do you have a way to explain that?" And the conversation went on as follows:
Tom Smith: I lived something similar to that with my own family. She chose life, and I commend her for that. She knew my views. But, fortunately for me, I didn't have to.. she chose they way I thought. No don't get me wrong, it wasn't rape.
AP: Similar how?
Smith: Uh, having a baby out of wedlock.
AP: That's similar to rape?
Smith: No, no, no, but … put yourself in a father's situation, yes. It is similar. But, back to the original, I'm pro-life, period.
So, basically, getting pregnant from consensual sex on our wedlock is as bad as rape ... for their fathers. Of course. Who will think of the dads when a woman is raped?! Not only is this gravely offensive to rape victims, but it's the very definition of the word paternalism. [Think Progress]
- A guide to the ladies of the Republican National Convention. [Jezebel]
- A new poll of 1,003 women by Lifetime TV found that economy and jobs are the two biggest issues of concern to women in this election. [Politico]
- Men defining rape: a (depressing) history. [Mother Jones]
- Meet women who are starting their own intellectual "salons" (you know, a la Gertrude Stein?). [Bust Magazine]
- A Maryland gun range is being sued for offering a "Ladies' Day" where women get in free but men have to pay $15. [Inquisitr]
- Afghan women are afraid that advances on their rights are backsliding. [NPR]
- Meet the "Speed Sisters," the Middle East's first female speeding racing team. [New York Daily News]


text:
People assaulted with machete at Saskatoon nightclub
SASKATOON – A man is facing seven charges after an incident involving a machete at a Saskatoon nightclub early Monday morning.
Just before 2 a.m., Saskatoon police were told a male was threatening people with a machete at a nightclub in the 800-block of Central Avenue.
A 20-year-old suspect was quickly located and taken into custody.
He is charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, carrying a concealed weapon, wearing a disguise while committing an indictable offence and four counts of assault with a weapon.
The accused will be seen by a Justice of the Peace Monday.


text:
After the aspic is poured into the pans, sprinkle upon it some fine-cut Spanish pimentos.
A mould of aspic in which there are vegetables; something concealed.
Make a pint of mayonnaise sauce with aspic jelly and coat the well-dried oysters with the sauce.
When firm, cut them out with a border of aspic to each, and serve on chopped aspic.
Then put in a basin and whisk in ½ pint of aspic jelly and a small teacupful of very thick cream.
Decorate it with endive, and put a border of aspic jelly round it.
Stir all into a tablespoonful of mayonnaise and one of aspic, semi-fluid of course.
This receipt is given in the manner in which aspic is made in France.
Wash the shell of an egg before breaking it, beat up white and shell to a strong froth, and stir into the aspic.
For instance, we had quite a large supply of foie gras and larks in aspic.
1789, "savory meat jelly," from French aspic "jelly" (18c.), literally "asp," from Old French aspe (see asp) + ending from basilisc "basilisk" (the two creatures sometimes were confused with one another). The foodstuff said to be so called from its coldness (froid comme un aspic is said by Littré to be a proverbial phrase), or the colors in the gelatin, or the shape of the mold.