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Fun league last night.BTW, Edwin shot a 69.
The scores thrown by propagators each round are used to calculate the SSA rating for a specific course layout. A propagator is a current member whose rating is over 799 and is based on at least 8 rounds. As long as there are 5 propagators playing a course layout, ratings can be calculated. The average rating of all propagators will equal the average rating they get for the round – always. If the same course layout is used more than one round, the scores from multiple rounds will be used to determine an overall SSA, as long as the individual round SSAs come out close to each other, so everyone gets the same rating for the same score on the same course. If the SSAs are significantly different, likely due to varying wind conditions, the round ratings will be calculated separately. If a propagator shoots more than 60 points below their rating, their score will not be used in the SSA calculations.
Why is the SSA calculated for each round rather than using a fixed course rating like ball golf?There's no way to determine what an official SSA value would be for a course simply by taking measurements, looking at foliage, fairway widths and accounting for hazards. Not only that, it's common for TDs to add temp holes, change tee or pin positions, or use new courses such that no SSA would be on file for that layout anyway. Using the scores of players with established ratings to produce an SSA has proven to be an accurate way to indicate how the course played that round. The only weakness of this system is that we require only 5 propagators to generate an SSA. Statisticians would prefer we use at least 30 propagators minimum for better accuracy. However, the PDGA has chosen 5 so that more players would get ratings. Some smaller divisions who play shorter layouts may not have very many propagators on a layout that round and would not get ratings in several events. The slightly higher inaccuracies produced with this system for individual rounds tend to even out over time. Plus, no round rating remains in an active player's rating more than 12 months before it disappears.


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'The Americans' review: Spies are people too
The Americans: Dramatic series. 10 p.m. Wednesday on FX.
Do you miss the Cold War as much as Hollywood does? Probably not, but you have to admit, Soviets always made great villains in American films and TV shows. Even beyond the ruthless world-domination thing, those accents were ready-made for Hollywood. Nowadays, it's much more difficult to write a Russian villain, unless you make him a member of the Russian mob.
The Cold War may have ended, but just recalling films like "The Hunt for Red October," "Red Dawn" and "WarGames" brings a certain nostalgia for the cold old days. Even "Rocky IV" scored points by putting Rocky Balboa in the ring with a Soviet boxer.
FX milks that nostalgia effectively with "The Americans," a new period drama premiering Wednesday about an attractive, young family who are anything but typical. To all appearances, they're almost boringly average: Mom Elizabeth (Keri Russell, "Felicity") and dad Philip (Matthew Rhys, "Brothers & Sisters") run a small travel agency and tend to their two kids, teenager Paige (Holly Taylor) and her younger brother, Henry (Keidrich Sellati). Dad plays iceless hockey with Henry in the driveway of their suburban Washington home, and Mom struggles with the reality that Paige is now a teenager.
But behind the facade, Elizabeth and Philip Jennings are Soviet spies, sleeper agents carefully groomed in American ways and customs back in the U.S.S.R. to ferret out classified information and get it back to Moscow. Their marriage is the centerpiece of a carefully constructed arrangement of normalcy. The kids don't have a clue about their parents' real identities, but now that they are growing up, keeping the truth from them is becoming more difficult.
Set in Reagan era
The show, created by Joe Weisberg ("Falling Skies"), is set at the dawn of the Reagan era, when relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were especially tense. Who knew, back then, that by the end of the decade, the Cold War would wind down so dramatically?
Of course, modern-day audiences know that the Berlin Wall fell, that Gorbachev spearheaded glasnost and perestroika, and that the passionate anticommunist Ronald Reagan would go from calling the pre-Gorbachev U.S.S.R. an "evil empire" to working with Gorbachev to end the Cold War. Far from being any kind of spoiler, that information only adds to our enjoyment of "The Americans" as we consider how the Jenningses' personal and professional lives might be affected by the evolution of U.S.-Soviet relations.
The Jenningses are brilliant spies - efficient, fearless, willing to do whatever is asked of them by their Soviet masters, including sleeping with contacts who can help them obtain top secret information. But then their perfect-suburban-world construct is threatened with the arrival of a new resident in their quiet suburban neighborhood, Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), an FBI agent specifically assigned by his boss (Richard Thomas) to work with fellow agent Chris Amador (Maximiliano Hernandez) to find foreign spies in the U.S.
Despite the perfection of the Jenningses' front, Beeman is suspicious, which only adds to the pressure Philip and Elizabeth are already feeling about living their double life.
And that's where the show finds real dramatic depth: After years of posing as an American, Philip is beginning to find himself attracted by Western values and lifestyles. Elizabeth may not share her husband's doubts about Soviet life, but her years of playing wife and mother are beginning to take a different kind of toll on her. As a mom, she's dismayed in the second episode when Paige comes home from the mall with a new red bra. Paige just rolls her eyes and informs her mom that teenage girls are more free now than when Elizabeth was younger. Elizabeth privately gets the irony of that observation and, of course, so do we.
No intimacy
Then there's the marriage itself. Philip and Elizabeth procreated on command but otherwise share no intimacy once the bedroom door closes on their duplicitous daily lives. Is that facade beginning to crack as well?
In the second episode, the couple engineers an elaborate scheme to install a listening device in the home office of Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, with Philip sleeping with a sexy Washington trophy wife in the process. Elizabeth sees a photograph of the contact and tells Philip she never realized the woman was that attractive. It's said matter of factly, yet we can't help wondering if the pretense of marital intimacy may be giving way to real feelings on Elizabeth's part.
"The Americans" benefits from convincing performances by the cast, but Weisberg's concept and writing in the first two episodes make the show much more than "just" a spy thriller. While the series is already being compared to "Homeland," it also has something in common with USA's hit "Covert Affairs," whose central character, played by Piper Perabo, has to balance her manufactured identity as a Smithsonian Institution employee and her real job as a CIA agent.
Although we think of the Cold War era as much more white-hat/black-hat - or "red-hat" - Weisberg employs a post-Cold War view of how the Jenningses live and work in 1981. We don't think of them as bad guys or good guys - they are just people, trying to balance complicated demands in a morally complex world.
That makes "The Americans" a very contemporary series.
The Americans: Dramatic series. 10 p.m. Wednesday on FX.
David Wiegand is The San Francisco Chronicle's executive features editor and TV critic. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Twitter: @WaitWhat_TV


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The Global Perspective on HIV/AIDS and Mental Health
As AIDS 2012 (the XIX International AIDS Conference) continues in Washington, DC, we are reminded of the numerous, multiple, and far-reaching impacts this epidemic has had in the past 30-plus years. The burden of being HIV positive, or caring for loved ones living with the disease, is not restricted to the physical toll. For many people, there are equally important mental health needs (PDF). We at HHS understand that addressing HIV means addressing the whole person.
Those affected by HIV/AIDS may experience anxiety, depression, or mania. Mental health issues can arise from HIV medications (some can make depression worse, for example) and from the virus itself (some infections can lead to changes in behavior and functioning). Furthermore, mental health challenges may come from the stress of dealing with the death of a loved one or from the reality of having a serious disease.
HHS is working at the global level to make sure that when addressing health needs, both physical and mental issues are taken into consideration. At the Sixty-Fifth World Health Assembly this past May, the United States supported an historic resolution, The Global Burden of Mental Disorders and the Need for Comprehensive, Coordinated Response from Health and Social Sectors at the Country Level (PDF). This resolution urges member states to develop comprehensive policies and strategies to address, "the promotion of mental health, the prevention of mental disorders and early identification and care, support, treatment and recovery of persons with mental disorders." It also calls upon the World Health Organization to develop a comprehensive mental health action plan.
Passed by the Assembly, the resolution noted that mental health problems do not occur in a vacuum, but rather often are associated with disease, including HIV.
HHS is also supporting numerous programs and activities that address HIV and global mental health issues. In April, Secretary Sebelius traveled to Haiti to visit with people affected by the 2010 earthquake. During a visit to St. Damien Hospital , the Secretary participated in a discussion with mental health practitioners and patients about the importance of psychosocial support for children living with HIV and their caregivers.
So, we're making strides and are headed in the right direction. But there is much work in this area still to be done. We at HHS will continue to highlight the importance of mental health in dealing with HIV/AIDS as well as with a host of other global health issues.
During this important time when we recognize the achievements made in global AIDS work and we look forward to "turning the tide," let's all consider the impacts of mental health.
Editor's note: SAMHSA and OGA have collaborated on several sessions at AIDS 2012. Visit the links below to learn more about the sessions and view any slides or videos shared by the conference:
- Addressing Mental Disorders: The Missing Link to Effective HIV Prevention, Care, Treatment and Support
- Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: The HIV Crisis Among Street Youth
- Developing Policy and Programs to Address Alcohol Use as Part of a National HIV Prevention Strategy
- Exploring Alcohol Use, Gender-Based Violence and HIV/AIDS
Nils Daulaire, M.D., M.P.H., is director of the Office of Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.


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VICKSBURG, Miss., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A pair of Mississippi men said they had close encounters with a Bigfoot-like creature on separate occasions near the same playground.
Vicksburg resident Peyton Lassiter told The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger he discovered a footprint and some mysterious gray hair near a local playground Aug. 12, and David Childers, a paranormal investigator who has been featured on cable network A&E, said he caught a glimpse of a 6-foot-tall "creature" with "grayish-brown" hair at the playground in November of last year.
Lassiter said the footprint is about 9 inches long and about 6 inches wide at the toes. He said the shape of the footprint raised his curiosity.
"There are only two species that have that. Number one, humans and primates. Bears don't have fingerprint-like impressions on the skin of the foot, so that kind of changes the game a little bit," he said. "I have no knowledge of what made it, and I didn't see what made it, but it's very intriguing."
Lassiter said his research has uncovered human-like "wood ape" sightings in the region dating back to 1721.
Childers said Lassiter's discovery has reignited his search for the creature in the woods near the playground.


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Piston rings
In addition to the task of sealing off the combustion chamber, piston rings also have the function of dissipating the heat that arises in the piston to the cylinder surface and that of controlling the oil balance. As temperature, pressures, and rotational speeds continue to rise, piston rings are subjected to ever increasing loads. Concepts for lower wear and friction, better sealing, and greater break resistance are in demand. MAHLE is therefore continuously developing new coatings and ring design variants.The MAHLE piston ring product range offers the optimal piston ring or piston ring pack for every engine. The broad range of products includes compression rings and oil control rings in various designs, profiles, and technologies.


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I have never seen a bride walk up the aisle faster than Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She said afterwards that it was nerves propelling her. But it was more obviously happiness. The memorial chapel at Harvard was the setting for a crowd of us to gather, on September 10, to witness her marriage to Niall Ferguson. With stock markets tumbling and newspapers predicting terrorist attacks, the union of these two equal and unequalled people, united us in joy. And it reminded me, as did the funeral of a friend a few weeks earlier, that even for atheists when it comes to life's major milestones the Church still does it best.
Drinking and dancing followed in Boston. I joined what I thought was the receiving line for the bride and groom and lingered a while before discovering it was a greeting line for Henry Kissinger. The post-dinner dance floor would have been the Guardian's worst nightmare.
Ten years ago, when Ayaan first began to emerge and change the world around her, many people feared a bad ending. But she faced down the death-cult in the best possible way, not with a happy ending, but with a new and happy beginning. No one deserves it more.


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New England is a naturally forested landscape and has been for thousands of years. Though much of the forest land converted to agriculture in the nineteenth century has since reverted back, the character and composition of these forests has changed radically. In a presentation at the Harvard Museum of Natural History on October 27, Peter Del Tredici, botanist and senior research scientist at the Arnold Arboretum, described New England's emergent forests as fundamentally different from those of its past. He argued that it is impossible to turn back the ecological clock on forests so deeply impacted by decades of disturbance. In studying how forests have adapted to change—natural disasters, shifting land-use patterns, introduced pests and pathogens, invasive species, acid rain, and climate change—Peter advocates for a more pragmatic approach in conserving and stewarding our woodlands in the future.
Read the Harvard Gazette article.


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Abuse & Assault
Can I Get Pregnant, or Get or Pass On an STI From That?
Want a quick way to sort out what does and does not pose real risks of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections? We've taken the temperature for you here.
Driver's Ed for the Sexual Superhighway: Navigating Consent
As it is on the road, being attentive to and giving clear signs and signals is a big deal between the sheets. If consenting feels complicated or confusing, here's a guide to clear it up.
Pregnancy Scared?
Worried you might be pregnant? Evaluate your risk, find out what steps you may need to take next, check in with your feelings and by all means, breathe. We're here to walk you through it.
STI Risk Assessment: The Cliff's Notes
Need to check out what your sexually transmitted disease or infection risk might be in a jiffy?
Scarleteen Confidential: Supporting a Teen after Sexual Assault
How do you support a teen as they recover from sexual assault?
What's In A No?
What's so scary about asking when someone else may say no? Rejection. Read on to dial down the fear factor and learn to accept no like a pro.
The Scarleteen Safety Plan
If you're in an abusive relationship, to make abuse stop you've got to get away and stay away. Here's help to do that safely, and to be as safe as you can before leaving.
Self-Care: A La Carte!
Some helps for the care and keeping of you when you're stressed, depressed, riddled with anxiety or fear or going through something wretched and trying to come out the other side.
Finding Elmo: Getting My Kid & Myself Out Of Domestic Violence
I was in an abusive relationship. Here's what finally got me to leave and the story of my journey in getting myself, my child and my heart and head out for good.
Sound Counsel: A Conversation With Lynn Ponton
Considering counseling or think you or a friend might benefit from some therapy? Here's a basic introduction and a shared conversation with adolescent therapist and author Dr. Lynn Ponton to clue you in on what to expect from the couch.
Hello, Sailor! How to Build, Board and Navigate a Healthy Relationship
You probably hear the term "healthy relationship" a lot. But what does that mean, and how do you create -- and keep building -- one of those?
The Pursuit of Hope
It was my personal mission to break the silence, not just for myself but for others who were not yet ready to speak. I wanted to share my story with whoever was willing to listen in hopes of making a difference in someone's life. Look out world; I am on a mission to end sexual violence!
Why I Deeply Dislike Your Older Boyfriend
He may be older but he's not wiser, and he's not acting like a grownup. He doesn't want to grow up, which is part of why he's dating people he perceives as not grownup themselves. He also doesn't have the bad stuff that happens to you because of him happen to him to make him want to change: if he was in your shoes, he'd ditch him in a heartbeat.
10 Questions with Jennifer Baumgardner
Jennifer talks with us about her new project about rape, which we're participating in at Scarleteen, what the project can do to increase awareness about rape and survivors, where she thinks we're at culturally with rape issues, and what young people can do to help transform rape culture and their own lives.
Blinders Off: Getting a Good Look at Abuse and Assault
A basic lowdown on interpersonal abuse and assault: what all the terms mean, why strangers are the least of our worries, what a cycle of abuse looks like, how you can start seeing abuse for what it is, where it is, and how to protect yourself and others and make abuse stop.
How You Guys -- that's right, you GUYS -- Can Prevent Rape
Rape is often framed as about women, but it's not. Something done TO us really isn't about us. It's the things that we choose to do which are about us, which is why it's such an error for rape to be framed as a women's issue or about women: it's almost always a men's issue and really about men. Find out what men need to know about rape and rapists, what you can do to be sure you have consent with sex, other ways to help with rape prevention, and why your help is so important.
Silent, like the mind never could be
How do you feel about and process a date rape and unpleasant sex after it happens? How do you deal with collective ideas about "grey" rape and the value of virginity when it's actual, not just abstract concepts? How will you talk to a new partner about those experiences? A corageous Scarleteen reader tries to work out very raw and painfully honest feelings on the page.
From Victim to Survivor
Sometimes we have no idea how things will affect us, no idea about the million ways in which one event can influence our lives. When I ran out of the driveway that day, across the street and to our house, I had no idea that the hard part was still to come. One volunteer's story of her history with sexual abuse, and her journey to healing.
Three Steps Forward, One Step Back: Hollie's Story
The next morning I got up early and we started talking again. It was too early for me to be awake and I was battling severe cramps, among other things, so I fell back asleep. This is where my so-called friend and ex boyfriend decided he was going to explore the female body: mine. Looking back at this, I can only feel anger: at him for being so "curious", and at myself for letting it happen. I have heard so many "It's not your fault's," that I am honestly ready to puke. It's ironic I guess. I can see how the victim is not at fault in other sexual assault/abuse situations, but I still refuse to see it in my own.
Date Rape Drugs: A Special Report
Saying no to sex when you want to is a given. But what if you CAN'T say no? What if, the next day, you don't even remember being asked, or how you got to where you are, or who you were with? Worse still, what if you DON'T wake up at all? Find out about date rape drugs and what you can do to protect yourself and your friends.
Emergency Contraception
We get a lot of questions from teens who are wondering if they can prevent pregnancy after intercourse, whether the concern is due to a broken condom or from not using any method of contraception in the first place. Regardless of how it happened, there is something that can reduce the risk of pregnancy if used within 120 hours (or with an IUD, eight days) of your risk. That something is Emergency Contraception.
Safer Sex...for Your Heart
We talk a lot about sexual safety and safer sex here at Scarleteen in terms of your physical health. But what about checking in to see if sex is safe for you and yours emotionally? Taking care of your emotions, looking out for risk factors in advance -- not just when they become an existing crisis -- and safeguarding yourself, your partners and those around you from needless hurt and harm is just as important as doing what you can to prevent STIs and unwanted pregnancies.
Dealing With Rape
If you have NOT gladly and freely consented to and participated in sexual activity -- if you have not in some way said a big yes and wanted to keep saying a big yes -- and someone else had sex with you anyway, that is rape. No matter what ANYONE tells you, it is not your fault. There certainly is fault, but it lies with the rapist, not the victim.
Advice from an Abuse Survivor
Never believe: "I love you, it will never happen again." It will happen again. The tears don't matter, the bruises don't matter, the broken bones and ER visits and warnings from friends and relatives don't matter. Those scars that we bury deep inside us, the mental and emotional scars that we try to pretend don't exist -- they don't matter. It will happen, again and again and again, unless someone puts a stop to it.
On other sites
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Sunday, April 6, 2014
Channeling Her Inner Ancient
My oldest is sitting next to me, playing LOTRO on the main computer while I catch up with some work e-mail. She's excited because she discovered a fantastic new pastime on LOTRO.
No, really.
I keep expecting her to turn around and say "Dad, who's this other person fishing and asking me if I know Redbeard. She says she knows you from the blog..."
4 comments:
You know I may have the wrong game but I think it was LOTRO where I had the hardest time trying to figure out how to fish. I have no idea why but I always have to investigate fishing first if it's available.ReplyDelete
I'm glad she discovered the joys of fishing!Replies
I thought you liked the fishing, but had issues trying to sell on their Auction House as a F2P account.Delete
I recently checked back into SWTOR and felt guilty complaining about the AH in LOTRO. I thought I'd hang out in SWTOR a while to see if I wanted to resub. Their F2P is a nightmare. I think left turns were free right turns you had to pay extra, lol.Delete
Hmm, I don't think the kids complained about overly restrictive parts in SWTOR (they've got preferred, because I threw a few cartel coins their way to unlock preferred and 4 toons per server). Of course, there was a big purge of inactive toons/names some months ago, so if you lost your alien toon then you're stuck with either human or cyborg for your toon in SWTOR.Delete
But the big complaint the kids make is the lack of bag space. And really, they complain about that whether it's SWTOR, LOTRO, or anything else.


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More seed treatments in use
A study released by consulting firm Phillips McDougall shows that the global seed treatment market has grown at an annual rate of 5.8% since 1997. The total market is valued at $930 million. Market share is allocated as follows:
- Western Europe: 41.4%
- North America: 15.6%
- Latin America: 12.4%
- East Asia: 9.4%
- Eastern Europe: 8.6%
- Rest of world: 12.6%
MachineryLink rents tractors
After a small pilot program last season, ag machinery rental specialist MachineryLink has announced that it is making more 180- and 210-hp New Holland tractors available to farmers for the 2004 season. The tractor program offers short- to long-term rental options for the New Holland tractors, as well as the larger Case IH MX 240 and MX 270 tractors. Like the company's combine rental program that started in 2001, the tractor rental program includes maintenance, servicing and transportation.
For more information about tractor or combine rental from MachineryLink, call 888/272-3323 or visit www.machinerylink.com.
eBay financing
EBay is offering a new financing option through Direct Capital Corporation Equipment for farm equipment priced $2,000 or more. As part of its service, Direct Capital provides inspection checks to ensure the quality of the products being sold.
To use the financing option, buyers complete an online application and, once approved, may purchase items up to a specified financing amount. Direct Capital sends the payment to the seller once the transaction is completed. Sellers enroll in the program and include a link to the financing service with their eBay item listings. The equipment financing program can be accessed at www.ebaybusiness.com.


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|courtesy of webinfonews.com
"Your Italian ancestors are just waiting to be discovered! The availability of Italian records has increased exponentially in the past few years, making research much easier than it has been. In this overview, we will discuss how to find the records you need (on film, on site and on line)…"Registration is free of charge and once the webinar is aired the recording is usually made available free of charge for a period of approximately one week.
To register click HERE. The webinar will be live at 6pm GMT +1hr on Wednesday 27th August 2014


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Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews has done it again: lifted my hopes up just to drop them right back down.
In November, you might recall, Mathews called for the elimination of the office of U.S. Secretary of Education. There just isn't evidence that the Ed Sec has done much good, he wrote.
My reaction to that, of course: "Right on!"
Only sentences later, however, Mathews went on to declare that we should keep the U.S. Department of Education.
Today, Mathews is calling for the eradication of something else that has done little demonstrable good – and has likely been a big loss – for American education: the No Child Left Behind Act. Mathews thinks that the law has run its course, and laments that under NCLB state tests – which are crucial to standards-and-accountability-based reforms – "started soft and have gotten softer."
The reason for this ever-squishier trend, of course, is that under NCLB states and schools are judged by test results, leading state politicians and educrats to do all they can to make good results as easy to get as possible. And no, that has not meant educating kids better – it's meant making the tests easier to pass.
Unfortunately, despite again seeing its major failures, Mathews still can't let go of federal education involvement. After calling for NCLB's end, he declares that we instead need a national, federal test to judge how all states and schools are doing.
To his credit, Mathews does not propose that the feds write in-depth standards in multiple subjects, and he explicitly states that Washington should not be in the business of punishing or rewarding schools for test performance.
"Let's let the states decide what do to with struggling schools," he writes.
What's especially important about this is that when there's no money attached to test performance there's little reason for teachers unions, administrators associations, and myriad other education interests to expend political capital gaming the tests, a major problem under NCLB.
But here's the thing: While Mathews' approach would do less harm than NCLB, it wouldn't do much good. Mathews suggests that just having the feds "shame" states with bad national scores would force improvement, but we've seen public schools repeatedly shrug off massive ignominy since at least the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk. As long as they keep getting their money, they couldn't care much less.
So neither tough standards nor shaming have led to much improvement. Why?
As I've laid out before, it's a simple matter of incentives.
With punitive accountability, the special interests that would be held to high standards have strong motivation – and usually the power – to demand dumbed-down tests, lowered minimum scores, or many other accountability dodges. The result: Little or no improvement.
What if there are no serious ramifications?
Then the system gets its money no matter what and again there is little or no improvement.
It's damned if you do, damned if you don't!
So what are reformers to do? One thing: Take government – which will almost always be dominated by the people it employs – out of the accountability equation completely. Give parents control of education funds and make educators earn their pay by having to attract and satisfy customers.
Unfortunately, that still seems to be too great a leap for Jay Mathews. But one of these days, I'm certain, he'll go all the way!


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Every year, researchers in the Hutch's various divisions and programs report a host of breakthroughs related to our core mission: eliminating cancer, HIV/AIDS and related diseases as causes of human suffering and death.
Long-term use of some high blood pressure drugs associated with increased risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women
Older women who take certain types of medication to combat high blood pressure may be putting themselves at greater risk for developing breast cancer, according to a new study by a team of Fred Hutch scientists led by Christopher Li, M.D., Ph.D.
Study confirms link between high blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids and increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer
A second large, prospective study by scientists at Fred Hutch has confirmed the link between high blood concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids and an increased risk of prostate cancer.
How young genes gain a toehold on becoming indispensable
Fred Hutch scientists have, for the first time, mapped a young gene's short, dramatic evolutionary journey to becoming essential, or indispensable.
Cancer diagnosis puts people at greater risk for bankruptcy
People diagnosed with cancer are more than two-and-a-half times more likely to declare bankruptcy than those without cancer, according to a new study from Fred Hutch.
Immune cells that suppress genital herpes infections identified
Fred Hutch and University of Washington scientists have identified a class of immune cells that reside long-term in the genital skin and mucosa and are believed to be responsible for suppressing recurring outbreaks of genital herpes.
Taking cholesterol-lowering drugs may also reduce the risk of dying from prostate cancer, study finds
Men with prostate cancer who take cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins are significantly less likely to die from their cancer than men who don't take such medication, according to study led by researchers at Fred Hutch.
Fred Hutchinson transplant program pioneers treatment options for minority patients struggling to find a donor match
Patients from ethnic minority and mixed-racial backgrounds are less likely to receive a lifesaving bone marrow transplant than Caucasian patients with the same disease due to lack of matching donors, according to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).
Few breast cancer survivors maintain adequate physical activity despite benefits
Breast cancer survivors are among the women who could most benefit from regular physical activity, yet few meet national exercise recommendations during the 10 years after being diagnosed, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutch.
Alcohol consumption has no impact on breast cancer survival, according to new research
Although previous research has linked alcohol consumption to an increased risk of developing breast cancer, a new study has found that drinking before and after diagnosis does not impact survival from the disease.
Esophageal cancer risk may be reduced through a variety of lifestyle factors – from taking aspirin to losing belly fat
An estimated 20 million Americans have chronic heartburn. About 2 million of these people have Barrett's esophagus, a precancerous condition that affects the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach.
Cancer in young adults is focus of new nationwide study to be led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program
The Fred Hutch Survivorship Program and its directors, K. Scott Baker, M.D. and Karen Syrjala, Ph.D., have been selected to lead a nationwide study that aims to improve long-term health outcomes for cancer survivors between the ages of 18 and 39.
'Where you're treated matters' in terms of cancer survival
A study of older patients with advanced head and neck cancers has found that where they were treated significantly influenced their survival.
Twice given, twice used: Infusion of stem cells and specially generated T-cells from same donor improves leukemia survival
In a significant advance for harnessing the immune system to treat leukemias, researchers at Fred Hutch for the first time have successfully infused large numbers of donor T-cells specific for a key anti-leukemic antigen to prolong survival in high-risk and relapsed leukemia patients after stem cell transplantation.
Researchers identify variations in four genes that are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer
An international research team co-led by cancer prevention researcher Ulrike "Riki" Peters, Ph.D., M.P.H., and biostatistician Li Hsu, Ph.D., at Fred Hutch has identified variations in four genes that are linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer.
High-dose Vorinostat effective at treating relapsed lymphomas
Patients whose aggressive lymphomas have relapsed or failed to respond to the current front-line chemotherapy regimen now have an effective second line of attack against their disease.
Study finds eating deep-fried food is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer
Regular consumption of deep-fried foods such as French fries, fried chicken and doughnuts is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, and the effect appears to be slightly stronger with regard to more aggressive forms of the disease, according to a study by investigators at Fred Hutch.
HIV-like viruses in non-human primates have existed much longer than perviously thought
Viruses similar to those that cause AIDS in humans were present in non-human primates in Africa at least 5 million years ago and perhaps up to 12 million years ago, according to study published Jan. 24 in PLoS Pathogens by scientists at Fred Hutch.


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Tennis Takes Two In Ohioby Brent Harris • February 12, 2011 Share:
Wabash picked up two victories Saturday in a pair of tennis matches, including its first win in North Coast Athletic Conference for the 2011 season. The Little Giants scored an 8-1 victory at Ohio Wesleyan before sweeping Capital 9-0.
The Little Giants opened play Saturday morning by winning all three doubles matches against OWU. Daniel Delgado and Wade Miller were 9-8 (7-4) winners in the first flight, while Peter Gunderman and Ricky Ritter scored an 8-5 win at number two doubles. Evan Bayless and Ian Leonard picked up an 8-0 win in the third flight.
Delgado started a swing of straight sets victories in singles play, winning 6-3, 6-2 at number two singles. Zach Lowry earned a 6-4, 6-4 win at number three singles, while Miller picked up a 6-3, 6-3 victory in the fourth flight. Ritter was a 6-1, 6-2 winner at number five singles, while Leonard won 6-4, 6-3 in the sixth flight.
Wabash was nearly perfect against Capital in the nightcap. Gunderman started the singles string of victories with a 7-6 (4), 6-1 win in the first flight. Delgado, Lowry, and Miller all posted 6-0, 6-0 wins at second, third, and fourth singles, respectively. Ritter won 6-2, 6-0 at number five singles. Nate Koelper earned the final singles victory with a perfect score of 6-0, 6-0 in the sixth flight.
Miller and Delgado won 8-3 at number one doubles. Ritter and Gunderman picked up an 8-4 victory in the second flight, while Bayless and Leonard combined for an 8-1 victory in the third flight.
Wabash improves to 3-1 with the victory and 1-0 against NCAC opponents. The Little Giants return to action Wednesday with a 5 p.m. home match against Earlham College at the Collett Tennis Center.


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St. Faustina
The Image
Feast of Mercy
The Chaplet
The Novena
Second Coming
Notwithstanding these facts, the content of private revelation, even
to a saint, may only be accorded human credibility. This means that
an evaluation of the facts suggest to a reasonable person the truth
of its content and its supernatural origin. Catholics reasonably
accept it as coming from God, but are not obligated to accept it as
a matter of theological faith. Reason itself suggests its truth, and
so one could be acting imprudently and unreasonably by not accepting
a private revelation after giving the facts and the Church's
evaluation a fair hearing, but one could not be considered to be
In the case of the Divine Mercy Indulgence, it is dogma of the
Catholic Faith that the Roman Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ and
acts with His authority. Catholics must believe by faith that IF
they fulfill the conditions of the Indulgence that they will
certainly receive what the Pope has promised, full remission of the
temporal punishment due to their forgiven sins. This explains why
the Holy See institutionalized the Promise in the form of an
Indulgence. Like creating the Feast of Mercy itself, it was inspired
by a private revelation, but made effective by the authority of the
So, while the Promise seems easier to fulfill, the
Indulgence is more certain. By seeking to satisfy the stricter
conditions of the Indulgence, we would certainly satisfy the
conditions of the Promise, as well. Keep both intentions in mind, in
other words, while doing what is required to gain the Indulgence.
What is most intrinsic to the Promise is the generosity of the Lord
in forgiving on this day, and so we may reasonably count on Him to
provide the actual graces necessary to do what is required for the
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A special education teacher in New Jersey has been suspended after a video appears to have captured him cursing and yelling at a student.
The video appears to show the teacher at Fair Lawn High School yelling at a male student: "You're my g------ student, you get that? I'm your teacher, don't ever tell me what to do. You get it now? Now sit down."
The video was apparently recorded on a student's cell phone and was passed around the school, winding up in the hands of a parent. That mother, whose own son was once in the teacher's special education class, said she was so outraged she posted the video on YouTube.
"The child is non-responsive, non-combative," said the mother, who wanted to remain anonymous. "There's absolutely no reason for him to have berated him in that manner. Zero."
The teacher said in his tirade: "I am the teacher, you know that? A friend of mine's sister passed away, she died. OK? Shut your mouth. Don't you ever for one second in your life think that you're going to tell me anything. You understand that? Do you understand that? You don't?"
"Go cry to your counselor," he said to the boy, who silently retreats back to his seat.
It's unclear what happened before the video began recording. But one man who recently graduated from the school said he's seen the teacher lose his cool several times.
"He's never cursed, but he's gotten pretty close," said the former student.
The teacher was placed on leave and the school district said in a statement: "The Board of Ed and administration were very disillusioned by the video. The behavior in the video is clearly unacceptable and something clearly we do not condone, now or ever."
The teacher and his union did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.


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A total eclipse of the Moon occurs during the night of Wednesday, February 20/21, 2008. The entire event is visible from large parts of our globe. On this occasion, we attract the attention of our readers to the historic contribution of the astronomers that worked in the Muslim lands in the study of such spectacular astronomical events. By analysing the eclipse records let by Arab and Muslim scholars of the past, the scientists today have drawn from them ground breaking results that help them in determining secular changes in the Earth's rotation.
|Figure 1: Eclipse diagram for Greenwich Mean Time, February 21, 2008 (source).
A total eclipse of the Moon occurs during the night of Wednesday, February 20/21, 2008. The entire event is visible from South America and most of North America as well as Western Europe, Africa, and Western Asia.
From start to finish, the eclipse lasts about three hours and twenty-six minutes. The partial eclipse begins at the Moon's eastern edge, and slowly moves into the Earth's umbral shadow [1]. The colour and brightness of the totally eclipsed Moon can vary considerably from one eclipse to another. Dark eclipses are caused by volcanic gas and dust which filters and blocks much of the Sun's light from reaching the Moon. But since no major volcanic eruptions have taken place recently, the Moon will probably take on a vivid red or orange colour during the total phase. After the total phase ends, it is once again followed by a partial eclipse as the Moon gradually leaves the umbral shadow.
Major sources for the eclipse observations in Islamic astronomy [2]
Ancient observations of solar eclipses from many different cultures and civilizations date back to at least 2500 BCE in the writings that have survived from ancient China and Babylon. Islamic astronomy became the western world's powerhouse of scientific research during the 9th and 10th centuries CE, and stood on the most advanced scientific tradition of its time. Significant contributions were made by scientists such as Al-Khwarizmi (Baghdad, ca 825 CE), the father of algebra, who developed also the first tables of trigonometric functions which remained the standard reference well into the modern era. Al-Khwarazmi's calculations were good to five places, allowing for unprecedented precision in astronomy and other sciences. To the North East of Iraq, in Syria, Muhammad ibn Jabir al-Harrani al-Battani (Albatenius) (b. before 858; d. 929 CE), a Sabian scholar whose work enjoyed a wide diffusion in Muslim lands, began with Ptolemy's works and recalculated the precession of the equinoxes, producing new, more precise astronomical tables. Al-Battani was undoubtedly one of the greatest Islamic medieval astronomers. He made notable contributions in different fields of astronomy. He made precise predictions of eclipses, and worked on the phenomenon of parallax. His greatest work in astronomy is al-Zij as-Sabi', which, due to the monumental work done by Carlo A. Nallino, is the best edited and commented Arabic astronomica table so far [3]. This important text survived in only one Arabic manuscript copy preserved in the Escorial library in Spain. According to Nallino, it was written about 1100 CE. Al-Battani has recorded in his zij two solar and two lunar eclipse observations. These are probably the ones that helped Halley around the year 1693 to discover the tidal acceleration of the Moon.
In Arabic astronomy, simultaneous celestial events – such as the eclipses of the Moon – were used to deduce the difference between local times in different locations and, hence, to build a system of geographical coordinates. A famous example of this simultaneous observation is given by the collaboration between Al-Biruni and Abu 'l-Wafa al-Buzjani. We know indeed that al-Biruni observed at his native town Kath, in Khwarezm, the eclipse of the moon on 24 May 997 CE. The eclipse was an event that was also visible in Baghdad and al-Biruni had arranged with Abu 'l-Wafa to observe it there. Comparing their timings enabled them to calculate the difference in longitude between the two cities [4].
|Figure 2: An image of an Islamic observatory, showing an astrolabe in use (source).
In the 10th century, Ibn Yunus (who died in 1008 CE) observed more than 10,000 entries for the sun's position for many years using a large astrolabe with a diameter of nearly 1.4 metres. His observations on eclipses were still used centuries later in Simon Newcomb's investigations on the motion of the moon, while his other observations inspired Laplace's Obliquity of the Ecliptic and Inequalities of Jupiter and Saturn's. Working in Cairo and following a steady series of advances in Islamic trigonometry, Ibn Yunus preserved in his al-Zij al-Kabir al-Hakimi precious records of lunar and solar eclipses. Albeit its special status in the history of astronomy, this important text has not yet been edited in a critical edition and a serious commentary. It exists in a fragmentary copy in Leiden University Library (MS 1957, Cod. Or. 143). The observations preserved in it, among them the most important compilation of solar and lunar eclipses of the epoch, were used successfully more than two centuries ago to determine the secular tidal acceleration of the Moon. Caussin de Perçeval published in 1804 the Arabic text of these first chapters together with a French translation [5]. The printed Arabic text represents the-only serious preliminary study, but his French translation is not precise enough and sometimes misleading. Although this publication is by no means a critical edition, it was taken by several modem astronomical and geophysical studies in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Records of Sun and Moon eclipses in some Arabic historical sources
Arabic historical sources are rich with eclipse records of the Sun and Moon that are given in Hijri dates. Besides the accounts that we mentioned in an earlier article [6], we selected hereafter some of them on the basis of the available literature. It is noteworthy to point out the variety of the sources in which astronomical events are narrated in Muslim heritage, from scientific text books to popular chronicles and general histories. This interest in natural phenomena, especially when they occur on a large scale in the heavens is a good indication of the wide spread of scientific culture in the culture of Islamic lands. Nowadays, this provides a good means to date precisely the events of general history linked to these astronomical events [7].
The following sources are taken as a sample:
IK = Ibn al-Kathir, al-Bidaya Wa al-Nihaya [8],
IA = Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil Fi al-Tarikh [9],
Z = Al-Zahabi, Tarikh al-Islam [10],
IJ = Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam [11].
NM = Not mentioned in the four previous Arabic sources.
|Year in CE
|(S)un / (M)oon
|Year AH
|The sun was eclipsed.
|This year was the moon eclipsed, between cock-crowing and dawn, on the fifth day before the calends of April.
|This year was the moon eclipsed, at eight in the evening, on the seventh day before the calends of February.
|This year was the moon eclipsed, at dawn, on the thirteenth day before the calends of January.
|This year the moon was eclipsed on the first of September.
|This year the moon was eclipsed on the first of September.
|This year was the sun eclipsed, precisely at eleven in the morning, on the seventh day before the calends of August.
|In this year in two nights before the end of Dhu al-Hijja the sun was eclipsed so that two thirds of it were covered and its light was dwarfed.
|This year was the moon eclipsed, on mid-winter's mass-night.
|This year in Jumada I, the sun was totally eclipsed and the stars appeared and the world got dark and the birds settled.
|May 867 (S)
14 December 867 (M)
|In this year the moon was eclipsed completely.
|On the night of the fourteenth of Shawwal most of the moon was eclipsed.
|The same year also the sun was eclipsed one hour of the day.
|In Muharram of this year the sun and the moon were eclipsed.
|July 882
|In Shawwal the moon was eclipsed and the people of Dabil woke up and the world was still dark.
|12/893- 01/894
|This year the moon was eclipsed.
|This year the moon was totally eclipsed on Friday the 14 left of Rabi' I. It was eclipsed totally again on 14 left of Shawwal.
|12 February 936
5 September 936
|This year the moon was totally eclipsed.
|In the middle of Rabi' I, the moon was totally eclipsed.
|23 April 962
|This year on Saturday the 14 of Safar the moon was totally eclipsed.
|19 February 965
|The moon was totally eclipsed on Saturday 13 Sha'ban and it set eclipsed.
|24 July 966
|The night of 14 Rajab the moon was totally eclipsed and it set eclipsed.
|2 June 969
|In Jumada I of this year the sun was eclipsed completely and the stars appeared and the world was dark and the bird fell.
|In this year the sun was eclipsed completely.
|On the fourth of Safar the moon was eclipsed completely.
|On Friday the twenty ninth of Ramadan in the middle of the morning, the sun was eclipsed completely and the world became dark like it was night and the stars appeared.
|On the night of the middle of Rabi II… the moon was eclipsed around the middle of the night and it set eclipsed.
|... In this year also on the twenty-ninth the sun was eclipsed at evening time and it set eclipsed.
|The moon was totally eclipsed on the Tuesday 15 Safar.
|15 June 1215
|This year the moon was eclipsed twice. The first of these was on the night of 14 Safar.
|13 February 1226
|... On the morning of Sunday the twenty-eighth of the month, the sun was eclipsed before noon.
A new scientific analysis of Islamic eclipse records
Beyond the traditional work of collecting historical data, a group of scientists examined recently the records of eclipses extracted from Arabic texts of astronomy and drew from them exciting results that shed new light on the secular changes in the Earth's rotation. This trend of work was led by F. Richard Stephenson from Durham University [12]. In order to decipher Arabic texts, Stephenson collaborated with S. S. Said, from the College of Science, King Saud University in Riyadh. A recent significant contribution to this research was made by a German scholar, W. Dalmau from the University of Tubingen (Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics), who collaborated with a professional historian of Islamic science, Mathias Schram.
|Figure 3: Astronomical table for the Sun, the Moon and the planets by Ibn al-Shatir, preserved in Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS Arabe 2522, folio 66vo (Source).
We summarize below the main results of these fascinating researches which personify how the history of science may be a testbed for contemporary science, and in the same time provide a concrete basis to the general slogan of "bringing life to Muslim heritage", by showing that this slogan is adapted not only for the general learned public but also for the scientific community as well.
As expressed by W. Dalmau, the thesis for this new research program is as follows. The use of some Arabic medieval lunar eclipse records [13] for the determination of secular changes in the Earth's rotation opens a critical area of research in which several scientists are engaged. The published results derived from these data suggest a non-uniform decrease in the Earth's rotation rate over the last millennium. There is, however, up to this day no sound physical explanation for the deduced "non-tidal oscillations", with an apparent period of about 1500 years, which overlaid to a constant secular tidal change in the Earth's rotation rate and produce a non-uniform deceleration of the Earth's rotation. Relying on the appropriate analysis of a set of observations which were executed by professional Arabic astronomers, the scientists show the way in which the non-uniform deceleration of the Earth's rotation was constructed. A correct reading of the Arabic medieval observations shows that they do not contradict a secular constant decrease in the Earth's rotation rate of nearly -4.6×10-22 rad s-2. This value is in accordance with other similar ones derived from ancient eclipse records and from satellite tracking data [14].
Relying on the numerous solar and lunar eclipse timings measured by Arab astronomers between about 830 and 1020 CE, Stephenson and his colleagues scrutinized in particular eclipse records exposed by Ibn Yunus in al-Zij al-Kabir al-Hakimi.
Remarking that the times of the various eclipse phases were usually obtained indirectly: by determining the altitude of the Sun, Moon or a selected bright star – usually to the nearest degree – with an astrolabe and afterwards reducing the measurement to local time, they found that these observations were remarkably accurate. As an example attesting the precision of these observations, the following timed observation was recorded by Ibn Yunus at Cairo on a date equivalent to November 6-7 979 CE:
"This lunar eclipse was in the month of Rabi 'al-Akhir in the year 369 [H], on the night when the morning was Friday the 13th of the month… A group of scholars gathered to observe this eclipse… The altitude of the Moon when they perceived the eclipse was 64 1/2 deg in the east. The altitude when its clearance completed was 65 deg in the west."
Analysing these data, Stephenson concluded that it may be calculated that at Cairo the Moon would reach an altitude of 64.5° in the east at a UT of 20.08 h; this was the observed time of first contact. Similarly, fourth contact was observed at a UT of 23.30 h. Comparing these times with the computed values, he inferred that these two results are in adequate accord [15].
The data from solar and lunar eclipse observations obtained by Islamic astronomers during the period 829-1019 CE were compiled in tables and analyzed to estimate non-tidal variations in the earth rotation rate. Describing the data set and computational procedures, the results were presented in graphs. It turns out that the average length of the day in 950 CE is found to be 11.6 + or - 0.6 msec shorter than the present standard value (86,400 sec), consistent with an increase of 1.37 + or - 0.07 msec/century over the intervening period. The latter value is less than that predicted for tidal friction alone or that estimated on the basis of ancient Babylonian records [16]. On the basis of the above, significant long-term non-tidal variations are inferred [17].
|Figure 4: Astronomical calculations in the Arabic translation of Ptolemy's Almagest, translated by Ishâq b. Hunayn (830-910), revised by Thâbit b. Qurra (836-901). Copied in the Maghrib or al-Andalus in 1221. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS Arabe 2482 folio. 36v-37r (Source).
Historical observations of eclipses have been the best tools for determining secular changes in the Earth's rotation rate, until today. Relying on the analysis of eclipse records produced by Arab astronomers, mainly al-Battani, al-Biruni and Ibn Yunus, F. R. Stephenson, L. V. Morrison, S. S. Said, R. R. Newton and W. Dulmau set to study the Earth's rotation rate. These scientists do not agree in their interpretation of the conclusions they infer from the analysis of the data. The line of demarcation between them is the following: while the British group led by Stephenson concludes that the Arabic records of eclipses provides the ground for a decrease in the rotation rate of the Earth, Dalmau rejects this conclusion and states: "In our opinion, the authors listed above have not evaluated the Arabic records with the sufficient care. They have taken the numerical data from the sources without considering the context. The statistical method used by them meets by no means the requirements of the subject. The theoretical models and astronomical tables used by the Arabic astronomers are essential for their work and their observations, but they have been completely neglected. For the present, it can be stated that the Arabic medieval observations do not contradict a constant secular change in the rate of the Earth's rotation, its numerical value being nearly -4.6×10-22 rad s-2 "[18].
Dalmau concludes his article by calling to historians of science to provide the documentary basis to decide in this debate. He considers indeed that the exact determination of the secular change in the Earth's rotation will depend on a critical edition with a serious commentary of the zij of Ibn Yunus, because it yields the best source of information on the relevant observations.
1) Publications on astronomy in www.MuslimHeritage.com
- "Three Times Greater than Venus": Ibn Ridhwan's Observation of Supernova 1006
- Precious Records of Eclipses in Muslim Astronomy and History
- Illustrious Names in the Heavens: Arabic and Islamic Names of the Moon Craters
- The Armillary Sphere: A Concentrate of Knowledge in Islamic Astronomy
- Arabic Star Names: A Treasure of Knowledge Shared by the World
- The Muslim Pioneers of Astronomy
- The "Observation Well"
- Alfraganus and the Elements of Astronomy
- 1000 years of missing Astronomy
- Copernicus and Arabic Astronomy: A Review of Recent Research
- The Scholars of Seville: Mathematics and Astronomy
- A Treasure of World Heritage: Islamic Manuscripts in the Kandilli Observatory
- Aydin Sayili (1913-1993)
- Observatories in Islam
- Latinized Names of Muslim Scholars
- Scientific Contacts and Influences Between the Islamic World and Europe: The Case of Astronomy
- Tracing the impact of Latin translations of Arabic texts on European society
- Seeking Seamless Scientific Wonders: Review of Emilie Savage-Smith's Work
- The Appreciation of Arabic Science and Technology in the Middle Ages
- Professor Sevim Tekeli - A Short Autobiography
- Muslims and the Moon
- Scholars of Samarkand
- Calendars and Almanac in Islamic Civilization
- Transmission of Muslim Astronomy to Europe
- An overview of Muslim Astronomers
- Muslim Observatories
- The impact of Al-Battani on European Astronomy
- The Legacy of Ulugh Beg
- The Scholars of Damascus
- The Scholars of Baghdad
- Curricula in Ottoman Madrasas
- A New Book by George Saliba: Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance
- Astrology for the Ottomans
- Muslim Scholars and Science
- Using an Astrolabe
- Astronomical Instruments of Tycho Brahe and Taqi al-Din
- Al-Urdi's Article on 'The Quality of Observation'
- Al-Zarqali
- Harran
- Al-Biruni
- Khwarizm
2) Sources and References
- Brunier, Serge, and Jean P. Luminet, Glorious eclipses: their past, present, and future. Translated by Storm Dunlop. Paris: Bordas; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Caussin de Perceval, Armand-Pierre, "Kitab az-Zij al-kabir al-hakimi rasad as-saih Abi l-Hassan 'Ali ibn Ãbdarrahman ibn Ahmad ibn Yunis. Le livre de la grande table Hakémite, observée par le Sheikh Abdoulhassan Ali ibn Abderrahman, ebn Ahmad, ebn Iounis", Notices et Extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque nationale et autres bibliothèques (Paris) 7. 12 (1803/1804), pp. 16-240. [Reprinted in Ibn Yunis (d.399): Texts and Studies 1. Collected and reprinted by Fuat Sezgin et al., Frankfurt: Institut für Geschichte der Arabish-Islamischen Wissenschaften, 1997, pp. 54-278].
- Dalmau, W., "Bestimmung des sakularen Verhaltens der Erdrotation", Veroffenthchungen des Institutes fiir Geschichte der Arabisch-lslamischen Wissenschaften, Reihe A: Texte und Studien, Bd. 6, 1993.
- Dalmau, W., "Critical Remarks on the Use of Medieval Eclipse Records for the Determination of Long-Term Changes in the Earth's Rotation", Surveys in Geophysics, vol. 18, N° 2-3 (1997), pp. 213-223.
- Kennedy, E.S., "A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables", Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, N.S., vol. 46, Part 2, 1956, pp. 123-177
- King, David A., The Renaissance of Astronomy in Baghdad in the 9th and the 10th centuries: A List of Publications.
- Nallino, Carlo A. , Al-Battani: Opus Astronomicum. Ad fidem codicis escurialensis arabice editum Latine versum, Pubblicazioni del reale Osservatorio di Brera in Milano, 3 vols. , 1899-1907 (vol. 1: 1903, vol. 2: 1907, vol. 3: 1899).
- Nallino, C.A., "Raccolta di scritti. Editi e inediti", Pubblicazioni dell' Islituto Per l'Oriente (Roma), vol. 5, 1944.
- Stephenson, F. Richard, Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
- Stephenson, F. R.," Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, Astronomy & Geophysics, vol. 44, N° 2, April 2003 , pp. 2.22-2.27.
- Stephenson, F. R. & Said, S. S., Non-tidal changes in the earth's rate of rotation as deduced from medieval eclipse observations, Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 215, no. 1, May 1989, pp. 181-189.
End Notes
[1] For more information on how, what, why, where and when of lunar eclipses, see the special web page lunar eclipses for beginners and click here for times and phases of the total Lunar eclipse of February 20/21, 2008.
[2] For more details on eclipses in Islamic astronomy, see Precious Records of Eclipses in Muslim Astronomy and History.
[3] For a general view of this zij and many others see E. S. Kennedy, "A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables", Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, N.S., vol. 46, Part 2, 1956, pp. 123-177; and C. A. Nallino, C.A., "Raccolta di scritti. Editi e inediti", Pubblicazioni dell' Islituto Per l'Oriente (Roma), vol. 5, 1944.
[4] Mentioned in: M. Abattouy, "Al-Bîrûnî", In: Lexikon bedeutender naturwissenschaftler, Heidelberg-Berlin: Spektrum Academischer Verlag, 2003, vol.1, pp. 178-183. See for more details: E. S. Kennedy, "Al-Biruni" Dictionary of Scientific Biography (vol. 2, New York 1970-80); Id., Studies in the Islamic Exact Sciences (1983 Beirut); G. Saliba, "Al-Biruni and the sciences of his time," Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period, M. Young et al. (Cambridge 1991, pp. 405-23).
[5] A. P. Caussin de Perceval, "Kitab az-Zij al-kabir al-hakimi… /Le livre de la grande table Hakémite…", Notices et Extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque nationale et autres bibliothèques (Paris) 7. 12 (1803/1804), pp. 16-240.
[6] See Precious Records of Eclipses in Muslim Astronomy and History.
[7] The records quoted in the following table are extracted from: Incidents of Sun and Moon Eclipses in Medieval Times: From the Ibn al-Athir, Ibn al-Kathir and The Anglo Saxon Chronicles.
[8] Ibn Kathir (701-774 ) the famous historiographer and compiler of Al-Bidaya wa 'l-nihaya fi al-tarikh (the beginning and the end in history). The book is a universal a history of Muslims from Adam until Ibn Kathir's time, it is considered to be one of the most authoritative sources on Islamic history. Edited in Cairo, 1932-29, 14 vols.
[9] Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad, better known as Ali 'Izz al-Din Ibn al- Athir al-Jazari (1160 – 1233), author of Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh (the complete book of chronicles). Edited by C.J. Tornberg, 13 vols. (Leyden, 1867-74).Click here for the online text.
[10] Muhammed b. Ahmad b. 'Uthman ibn Qaymaz al-Zahabi was born in Damascus in 1274 and died in 1347. He is the author of Tarikh al-islam wa-wafayat al-mashahir wa-'l-a'lam. See the recent publication in Beirut, Dar al-kitab al arabi, 1987, 52 vols.
[11] Abu-Al-Faraj Ibn Al-Jawzi (508-597H) wrote many large books, especially a very important historical source, mainly for the author's own lifetime, but it also has bits of information about earlier times that are otherwise lost: Al Muntazam Fi Tarikh Al Muluk (Dar al-kutub al-'llmiya, Beirut, 1995, 18 vols., 6934 pp.
[12] Professor F. Richard Stephenson (born 1941) is an Emeritus Professor at the Physics department and East Asian Studies department at the University of Durham. His research concentrates on historical aspects of astronomy.
[13] These records amount to sixty observations derived from Arabic sources, whether from the works of professional astronomers such as al-Battani, al-Biruni and Ibn Yunus, or from general works of history, such as those mentioned above.
[14] W. Dalmau, "Critical Remarks on the Use of Medieval Eclipse Records for the Determination of Long-Term Changes in the Earth's Rotation", Surveys in Geophysics, vol. 18, N° 2-3 (1997), pp. 213-223.
[15] F. R. Stephenson, "Historical eclipses and Earth's rotation", Astronomy & Geophysics, vol. 44, N° 2, April 2003 , pp. 2.26.
[16] As shown in F. R. Stephenson and L. V. Morrison, "Long-term changes in the rotation of the Earth: 700 B.C. to A.D. 1980", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A, Series A 313, 1984, pp. 47-70.
[17] See for more details F. R. Stephenson, Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, Cambridge University Press, 1997, chapter 13 "Observations of eclipses by medieval Arab astronomers", pp. 456-486.
[18] W. Dalmau, "Critical Remarks on the Use of Medieval Eclipse Records for the Determination of Long-Term Changes in the Earth's Rotation", op. cit., p. 222-223.


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DfE - Department for Education
The Department for Education was formed on 12 May 2010 and is responsible for education and children's services.
Current aims of the Department include 'giving greater autonomy to schools', 'improving parental choice', 'offering more support for the poorest', 'whole system improvement', and 'great quality provision for children'.
The Department aims to fulfil these aims through the Academies programme, allowing parents to set up their own schools, a pupil premium to address deep-rooted disadvantage, expanding Teach First, and bringing Sure Start back to its original purpose.
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Children's Needs - Parenting Capacity - Child Abuse: Parental Mental Illness, Learning Disability, Substance Misuse and Domestic Violence
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This second edition of 'Children's Needs - Parenting Capacity' provides an update on the impact of parental problems, such as substance misuse, domestic violence, learning disability and mental illness, on children's welfare. ...more
- Published: 12 Oct 2011
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School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document 2011 and Guidance on School Teachers' Pay and Conditions
'School Teachers' Pay and Conditions' provides a complete picture of pay and conditions arrangements for teachers in England and Wales, bringing together the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document and the statutory guidance....more
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Letting Children be Children: Report of an Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood
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Chief Executive of Mothers' Union, Reg Bailey expresses the concerns at the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood in this document, 'Letting Children be Children: Report of an Independent Review of the ...more
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A New Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families' Lives
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'A New Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families' Lives (Cm. 8061)' is the Government's first national Child Poverty Strategy, setting out a new approach to tackle poverty up to 2020....more
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Support and Aspiration: a New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability: a Consultation
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'Support and Aspiration: a New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability: a Consultation (Cm. 8027)' unveils proposals for the biggest programme of reform in the education and health support for children with special educational needs ...more
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'Review of the Office the Children's Commissioner (England) (Cm. 7981)' reports John Dunford's review of the office, role and functions of the Children's Commissioner for England. ...more
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'The Importance of Teaching (Cm. 7980)' indicates that England's school system performs below its potential and can improve significantly. ...more
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Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes compared to non-Hispanic white Americans.
While being overweight or obese increases diabetes risk for everyone, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders do not have to be overweight to be at risk for diabetes and have an even greater risk for diabetes with increasing weight compared with other racial and ethnic groups.
True or False?
- I am of Asian descent
- I am of Hawaiian descent
- I am of Pacific Islander descent
- I have family members with diabetes
- I am over 45 years old
- I am overweight/obese
- I do not exercise regularly
If you can answer "true" to one of these boxes, you may be at risk for type 2 diabetes. Ask your doctor if you should be screened for type 2 diabetes.
Download the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Awareness Flyer to share with friends and family members.
Take the American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Risk Test online.
Korean translation of the Diabetes Risk Test now available for download.
Call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383).


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I used to made some newsletters withe my Barca, and i want insert List-Unsubscribe in headers then they can with a click unsubscribe if they wanted to do it.
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The Wolfram Solution for
Electrical Engineering
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On Friday (May 18), CalArts held its 2012 graduation ceremony, dispatching the usual pomp and circumstance of other college graduations, instead bringing creativity, levity—and pyrotechnics.
The afternoon's festivities began with a traditional Gamelan music and dance ensemble to greet guests arriving for the ceremony. Bulgarian-born performer-composer and now one of CalArts' first Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) graduates Milen Kirov led the Balkan brass band Orkestar MÉZÉ in the processional to begin the ceremony and entertain guests in the Main Gallery at the end of the evening.
One of the most touching moments occurred at the end of the ceremony, when the School of Art paid tribute to artist and longtime faculty member Martin Kersels, who is leaving CalArts to begin a new post at Yale University in the fall.
Special guests at graduation included Thomas L. Lee, vice chairman of CalArts' Board of Trustees; student speaker Charles Levin, who earned his MFA in Jazz Studies at the age of 60 after leaving a career in journalism; and theater artist Peter Sellars, who received an honorary degree from CalArts.
In his remarks to the CalArts' graduating class, Sellars applauded the students for bringing their "coolness" factor into the real world and challenged them to come up with creative solutions to solve the world's problems.
"Look around you," Sellars said. "And what is missing from the picture, put it there."
We've posted a photo gallery of candid shots from the day's events. We'll post additional photos tomorrow from Institute photographer Scott Groller and videos later this week.


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Mplus Home
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Ordinal data
Mplus Discussion
Missing Data Modeling
Eric Teman
posted on Friday, June 17, 2011 - 4:20 pm
Is there an article or other reference that explains how Mplus imputes ordinal data?
Tihomir Asparouhov
posted on Friday, June 17, 2011 - 4:42 pm
Mplus use multivariate probit model by default but there are other options. See
Eric Teman
posted on Friday, June 17, 2011 - 8:46 pm
Thanks Tihomir. I read the pdf and have a question. On page 13, it reads, "Note here that the ML estimation method can also
be used for the estimation of this data directly. However the ML estimation
method would heavily rely on the fact that the data is generated from a
one factor analysis model. In general the true model could have many more
factors and residual correlations. So in that respect the ML method would
not be an appropriate substitute for the imputation methods, because the
ML estimation method will be computationally very intensive and does not
support residual correlations."
I am unclear as to why ML is inappropriate. Is it only inappropriate with the H0 model or with all the models?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Saturday, June 18, 2011 - 12:38 pm
The argument is made that H1 imputation is safer than H0 imputation because it does not rely on the H0 model being correct. Also, Table 6 shows that the "H1-Cov Imputed WLSMV" column gives almost as good results as the two H0 columns. ML would have to use an H0 model because with categorical outcomes it cannot do an H1 model due to too many dimensions of integration.
If the H0 model is correct and can be estimated by ML, ML H0 imputations will be excellent.
Eric Teman
posted on Saturday, June 18, 2011 - 4:39 pm
Oh, OK. So this has nothing to do with using full information maximum likelihood in place of MI?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Sunday, June 19, 2011 - 12:11 pm
No, it does have to do with that. FIML = ML and ML is a possible alternative to MI, but not necessarily a practical one for the reasons I gave.
Eric Teman
posted on Monday, June 27, 2011 - 6:10 pm
I read
and do not see where it discusses the multivariate probit model used to impute missing ordinal data. Is there another reference?
Eric Teman
posted on Monday, June 27, 2011 - 6:28 pm
Also, is the multivariate probit model a new approach to imputing ordinal data or is it discussed in the literature?
Tihomir Asparouhov
posted on Monday, June 27, 2011 - 9:25 pm
Equations (1) and (2) and the first 15 rows in Section 2.1 define the multivariate probit model.
This is a new approach unique to Mplus and it is based on a breakthrough for estimating large correlation matrices via MCMC.
Eric Teman
posted on Monday, June 27, 2011 - 11:51 pm
That is great news. Is the technical document the only reference you have to this new approach?
Tihomir Asparouhov
posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 - 9:21 am
The above reference describes the unrestricted model Mplus uses for imputation. The actual estimation is described in
and various simulations are available in
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Hat Tip to Texas Fred
Once again one of the greatest idiots of the House has spoken up and shown her ignorance.
Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee has the conservative blogosphere in a tizzy again today. The target of right-wing wrath is the liberal Democrat's contention that Congress should look "carefully at how we reform entitlements that are not handouts but they are earned."
Video of Jackson Lee's speech quickly ricocheted around the Internet. Comments on a Fox News blog post were almost universally negative: The Houston lawmaker was labeled "a disgrace" and "increasingly appalling."
Some critics immediately assumed that Jackson Lee was talking about "welfare" programs, Food Stamps and other social safety net programs that are frequently deemed "entitlements" in the bureaucratic language of Washington.
But two of the three "entitlements" mentioned in her speech are not means-tested programs but government guarantees to elderly Americans who pay into the trust funds for those programs through their entire on-the-job earnings. The third, Medicaid, is a government health-care program that largely benefits the poor.
Here's what Jackson Lee said on the House floor:
"I believe it should be pronounced here today, that the reform of the entitlements based upon shipshod, reckless, deliberations — or should I say actions — are a non-starter," she said.
Among the non-starters listed by Jackson Lee:
- Raising the eligibility age for Medicare
- Carelessly considered Medicaid changes
- Changes in Social Security, which, she said, "is solvent."
"So, I would say move quickly to pass the middle class tax cuts that would be for all Americans — 100 percent [of Americans] up to $250,000," she said. "And let's think about moving into 2013, how we make this economy better by looking carefully at how we reform entitlements that are not handouts but they are earned."
You can watch the video and see hear her own words:
Click here if the video doesn't load.
For the record Social Security is NOT solvent and if something isn't done to repay the fund it will fail in 15 to 20 years.
For the record raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67 will help slow the insolvency of Social Security by 5 years. It is a start back towards solvency.
Medicaid is forcing states to go broke. More and more funds (usually earmarked for other programs) are being spent on Medicaid. We were promised that Obamacare would correct this problem. I guess that is another lie about Obamacare that has been broken.
I am amazed at the voters of the 18th District in Texas (Houston Area) would keep sending this idiot back to Congress time and time again. Have they no common sense? Do they not see that this woman (I refuse to call her a lady.) is nothing but a joke among her colleagues? Then again, they did go overwhelmingly for Barack Hussein Obama.
I guess this is just a sample of the stupidity we are to be subjected to for the next 2 years. Perhaps in 2 years the people of the 18th District will finally gain some self-respect, some intelligence and vote her out of office. But don't hold your breath.
|Moonbat Alert!!!
Read the latest at Monkey in the Middle


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Genesis 1-11
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Can I trust the Bible? This question fleshes out the simplistic "The Bible is from God" answer. How was scripture written, formed, edited, discovered, critiqued, and inspired?Almost all Christian beliefs and traditions come from the Bible — but where did that come from? What is the Bible? What is the…
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