text
stringlengths 198
630k
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| metadata
dict |
|---|---|---|
You may recall that inventions like the microwave and Play-Doh were mere happy accidents. And of course you've heard of Alexander Fleming's penicillin jackpot. But there are so many more scientific breakthroughs that came about through sheer dumb luck that you may not have heard of.
Here are nine of our favorites, including a few that you use every single day.
Phonograph: It was the summer of 1877, and Thomas Edison was tinkering with a tinfoil and paper cylinder that would record telegraph signals. Somehow he managed to record his voice—the first time a human voice had been recorded. A principle that, in turn, led to the phonograph.
Post-It Notes: Where would we be without Post-Its? Constantly forgetting things at the grocery store, probably. The basis for these little squares of paper was a reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive invented by 3M chemist Dr. Spencer Silver. He was shopping it around the company, but no one was really interested. That is until Silver's colleague Art Fry decided to use the sticky stuff it to anchor a bookmark to his hymnal. And thus, the Post-It note was born.
Vulcanized Rubber: Charles Goodyear worked for years to make a rubber that was durable and easy to work with, yet unaffected by heat and cold to no avail. His big discovery happened one day when he spilled a mix of rubber, lead, and sulfur on the stove. Rather than spoil the solution, it charred it like leather. And now it's the stuff we see in tires, shoes, tracks, and so much more.
Radiation: You know that the discovery of radiation ended badly for Marie Curie, but did you know that the source of her demise was just a bad break? In 1896, physicist Henri Becquerel was curious as to whether naturally fluorescent materials would create x-rays when left in the sun. The only problem was it happened to be winter, so the skies were overcast. So he left all his tools, including a uranium rock, wrapped up in a drawer. When he pulled them out, the rock had left an imprint on a photographic plate without any exposure to light. With the help of Pierre and Marie Curie, he found that it was due to radiation. And, well, you know the rest.
Ink Jet Printer: A Canon engineer discovered this one when he set a hot soldering iron next to his pen (because why not?). The pen reacted by spitting out ink just moments later, and the principle behind a boring—albeit necessary—piece of tech was born.
Synthetic Dye: Chemist William Perkin was no Karl Lagerfeld. The accidental fashionista was hunting for a cure for malaria when he stumbled across the color mauve. In 1856 he was trying to make an artificial form of quinine, but he got dark colored sludge instead. The guy must have had an eye for color, however, because he recognized the purpley hue as something that was popular with fashionistas of the era. So he isolated the compound responsible, patented it, and started making and selling synthetic dye.
Dynamite: Alfred Nobel—a.k.a. Mr. Nobel Prize—owned a nitroglycerin factory. Which sounds like a totally fake thing but actually was totally a real thing. He was working on a formula that would make the stuff safer to work with, because it was unstable and known to blow up randomly. At one point he dropped a vial of it onto the ground, and because it had seeped into some sawdust, thus becoming more stable, it did not explode. He refined this recipe, later mixing nitroglycerin with a form of silica, and then boom (and also zing!), dynamite.
Vaseline: Robert Chesebrough was trying to be an oilman in Pennsylvania in 1859. He didn't exactly strike black gold—it was more like viscous snot yellow gold. Men working in the fields complained about gunk called rod wax that was clogging up their drilling equipment. The enterprising Chesebrough took the substance back to his lab in New York, isolated it from petroleum, and found it to be very good at healing cuts and scrapes, among other uses. In fact, Chesebrough was such a firm believer in the stuff that he ate a spoonful every day until he died.
Viagra: Boner pills: where would men over 60 and their hot 22-year-old second wives be without them? Viagra was originally developed as a treatment for angina by two Pfizer researchers in the 80s. But when they looked at the side effects, they found that taking the pills weren't treating high blood pressure. Rather, they were causing hard-ons. That ended that trial. But then another one was started, to use the drug as something to treat erectile disfunction. And in 1998, it was FDA approved, and then we all started making jokes about how if you have an erection that lasts longer than eight hours you should call your doctor... to brag. But seriously, call your doctor if that happens. | <urn:uuid:c36f7ff7-f6a9-4117-a76d-ed289dca5a9f> | {
"date": "2015-08-31T09:57:57",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-35",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-35/segments/1440644065910.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20150827025425-00289-ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.982029139995575,
"score": 3.1875,
"token_count": 1071,
"url": "http://gizmodo.com/5936349/9-scientific-breakthroughs-that-happened-by-accident?tag=Inventions"
} |
Playfulness is important; it creates an alternative space where emotional, cognitive and social dimensions can be explored and tested. This highly practical book explores the endless possibilities of using playful, creative and interactive activities to meaningfully engage with children with multiple learning difficulties or autistic spectrum disorders. The author presents playfulness as ‘an experimental frame of mind’, and encourages practitioners to play with roles, ideas, words, concepts and objects in order to enhance relationships and interventions. By providing accessible steps to playfulness, this text explores some of the contemporary issues surrounding the education of children with severe learning needs, in particular the use of ‘intensive interaction’. This text considers different areas of creative interactive work for practitioners to draw inspiration from, including: Music Interactive Musical Movement Finger Dance Story and Drama Artwork Reflective Circle. The varied array of tried and tested original activities have been devised to encourage the development of social interaction, cognition, play, experimentation and creativity, in particular but not exclusively, for children whose learning needs are more complex. The author also invites teachers working in mainstream, particularly early years and primary education, to investigate the creative possibilities inherent in playfulness and to use the activities in this book to enhance the learning environment. This text offers an abundance of advice, practical strategies and tips for teachers working in special and mainstream early years and primary education. Practitioners such as therapists, care workers, community musicians and creative arts specialists will also find this book useful.
Completely revised and updated in light of the new 2014 SEND Code of Practice, this second edition of Supporting Children with Dyslexia provides valuable advice and resources for teachers, TAs and SENCOs supporting pupils on the dyslexic spectrum. This practical resource will help those who are looking for expert guidance and strategies, as well as providing a professional development tool which will encourage outstanding practice at all levels. Spanning pre-school, primary and secondary teaching, this book covers the key areas to be considered when supporting pupils with dyslexia, including: how to identify a young person with dyslexia practical strategies for pre-school, primary and secondary settings useful advice to give to parents and carers of children and young people with dyslexia useful materials for continual professional development. Featuring helpful checklists, templates and photocopiable resources, this book provides guidance and practical strategies for identifying and supporting young people with dyslexia that will be of use to teachers, TAs, SENCOs and other educational professionals.
Are you overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork that SEN generates in your school? Would you like to spend more time actually improving the quality of teaching and learning for pupils with SEN or disabilities? If so, this is an essential book for you. Fully revised and updated for the 2014 SEN Code of Practice, this new edition contains strategies for reducing the number of individual education plans and review meetings. Beating Bureaucracy in Special Educational Needs will help you to use existing systems for target setting, recording and planning – personalised systems that are used for all children as part of everyday teaching practices. It lists the intervention programmes that really work and showcases the work of four schools that have successfully developed ways of planning provision, working with parents, and supporting staff development. Ready-to-use proforma in the book are also available online, and include a model policy for Ofsted; strategy sheets for all main types of SEN; provision maps and proformas to help you plan, monitor and evaluate your provision Beating Bureaucracy in Special Educational Needs will provide support for school leaders, SENCOs and anyone undertaking the national SENCO award. A practical and engaging guide, this new and updated edition shows how to put responsibility for supporting children with most types of additional need firmly back where it belongs – with class and subject teachers. It will help you – in the words of one SENCO – ‘get your life back’.
In the busy world that schools inhabit, this book provides clear guidance on how to implement a simple and user-friendly system that will ensure all pupil progress is forensically examined and any inadequacies swiftly addressed. Provision Mapping and the SEND Code of Practice describes a tried and tested system that helps schools to successfully identify, implement and track provision for all pupils, irrespective of whether they have a special educational need or not. This new edition: demonstrates how schools can implement the requirements of the new SEND Code of Practice provides achievable solutions to the problems that schools face in trying to evidence the impact of the additional support they provide provides photocopiable templates of tables that can be used to track progress of all pupils contains easy to use tools that will allow a school to clearly evidence that additional funding is used efficiently. This second edition has been fully updated to reflect the recent changes to SEN legislation, the new SEND Code of Practice (2015), the new National Curriculum and new assessment requirements and the new Common Inspection Framework. Additional material has been added to provide a resource for secondary and special schools. Headteachers, senior managers, leadership teams, SENCOs and other educational professionals will find the guidance and support provided by this book invaluable.
Language for Learning in the Primary School is the long awaited second edition of Language for Learning, first published in 2004 and winner of the NASEN/TES Book Award for Teaching and Learning in 2005. This handbook has become an indispensable resource, packed full of practical suggestions on how to support 5-11 year old children with speech, language and communication difficulties. Colour coded throughout for easy referencing, this unique book supports inclusive practice by helping teachers to: Identify children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) Understand speech, language and communication skills Consider roles and responsibilities at primary school Plan a differentiated and adapted curriculum Consider the language demands across subjects Adopt a whole school approach Make use of a wide range of positive strategies Empower children to access the curriculum Language for Learning in the Primary School comes complete with a wealth of photocopiable resources, giving teachers and teaching assistants the confidence to help children with SLCN more effectively in mainstream settings. It will also be an extremely useful resource for speech and language therapists, specialist teachers and educational psychologists.
Professionals in early years settings can use this book to focus on ways in which they can work collaboratively with colleagues, in order to help children with communication difficulties to understand and express themselves more fully. It brings together the most useful examples of good practice and draws on the work of reflective practitioners. There are many illustrative case studies provided and it discusses how to observe children's daily interactions, ways in which such observations can be used to improve communication skills; how play can be an important part of improvement; behavior management and support; and literacy development. The practical applications are highlighted throughout the book and the advice given comes directly from those working in early years settings. It should be of great interest to all nursery teachers, teaching assistants, speech and language therapists and parents wishing to play an active part in their children's development of language and communication skills.
The Routledge International Companion to Gifted Education is a ground-breaking collection of fully-referenced chapters written by many of the most highly-respected authorities on the subject from around the world. These fifty contributors include distinguished scholars who have produced many of the most significant advances to the field over the past few decades, like Joseph Renzulli and Robert Sternberg, alongside authorities who ask questions about the very concepts and terminology embodied in the field – scholars such as Carol Dweck and Guy Claxton. This multi-faceted volume: highlights strategies to support giftedness in children, providing ideas that work and weeding out those that don’t; is written in jargon-free language in an easy-to use themed format; is the most authoritative collection of future-focused views, ideas and reflections, practices and evaluations yet produced; includes chapters dealing with the major controversies and concerns in the field today, from the problems of identification to changing understandings of giftedness and creativity. The international aspect of the Companion, and its juxtaposition of points of view – whereby chapters are deliberately positioned and accompanied by editorial commentary to highlight the contrasts with each other – ensures that different views are addressed, allowing the reader to absorb and reflect upon the many perspectives on each issue. The Companion is a guide to the new ideas and controversies that are informing gifted education discussion and policy-making around the world. It is a first class resource to students and researchers alike.
"This volume is a welcome and excellent resource for all clinicians working with severely traumatized children." Francine Shapiro, PhD Founder, EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs "Over the past 15 years, Ms. Gomez has developed highly original and brilliant interventions for working with these very difficult to treat children. This book will be an enormous great gift to our field." Dr. Susan Coates Clinical Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University This is the first book to provide a wide range of leading-edge, step-by-step strategies for clinicians using EMDR therapy and adjunct approaches with children with severe dysregulation of the affective system. Written by an author internationally known for her innovative work with children, the book offers developmentally appropriate and advanced tools for using EMDR therapy in treating children with complex trauma, attachment wounds, dissociative tendencies, and compromised social engagement. The book also presents the theoretical framework for case conceptualization in EMDR therapy and in the use of the Adaptive Information Processing model with children. Principles and concepts derived from the Polyvagal Theory, affective neuroscience, attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, developmental neuroscience and the neurosequential model of therapeutics, which can greatly support and expand our understanding of the AIP model and complex trauma, are presented. The text also offers an original and pioneering EMDR therapy-based model to working with parents with abdicated caregiving systems. The model is directed at assisting parents in developing the ability for mentalization, insightfulness, and reflective capacities linked to infantís development of attachment security. A unique and innovative feature of this book is the masterful integration of strategies from other therapeutic approaches, such as Play therapy, Sandtray therapy, Sensorimotor psychotherapy, Theraplay and Internal Family Systems (IFS), into a comprehensive EMDR treatment maintaining appropriate adherence to the AIP model and EMDR therapy methodology. Key Features: Provides creative, step-by-step, ìhow-toî information about the use of EMDR therapy with children with complex trauma from an internationally known and innovative leader in the field Explores thoroughly the eight phases of EMDR therapy in helping children with attachment wounds, dissociative tendencies and high dysregulation Incorporates adjunct approaches into a comprehensive EMDR therapy while maintaining fidelity to the AIP model and EMDR therapy methodology Contains an original EMDR therapy-based model for helping parents with abdicated caregiving systems to develop metalizing and reflective capacities
Children Adapt provides a developmental approach to pediatric rehabilitation and a theoretical framework for the evaluation and treatment of children. This extensive revision of the successful first edition now includes stated learning objectives, self-study questions and identification of key points, allowing the book to be used more effectively as a student textbook as well as a practitioner's reference. New material has been added to reflect the most up-to-date trends in the field of pediatric development, creating an innovative, insightful learning tool. Highlights of this revised edition include: An overview of the rudiments of theory building. New material discussing application of theory to pediatric rehabilitation. Explicit discussions of occupational performance skills. A comprehensive glossary of terms.
Very Young Children With Special Needs: A Formative Approach for the Twenty-First Century.
This two book/DVD package presents a parent training approach that is accessible, evidence based, and highly practical. Grounded in developmental and behavioral research, the Practitioner's Guide provides step-by-step guidelines for conducting parent training individually or in groups. It takes proven techniques for promoting the social-communication skills of young children with autism (up to age 6) and breaks them into simple yet effective steps for parents to follow. The DVD, for use in the training sessions, features video clips of parents implementing the techniques with their children, as well as PowerPoint slides. The Practitioners Guide also features 30 reproducible handouts and forms. The companion Manual for Parents helps parents master the techniques and use them at home with their child during daily routines and activities. - Publisher.
Annotation Communicating Partners offers an innovative approach to working with late talking children that focuses on developing relationships through mutual understanding. Providing detailed maps of what children and their life partners need to do to ensure effecti
The essential guide for teaching effectively in the inclusive classroom! The third edition of this handbook offers easy-to-implement ideas, recommendations, and answers to questions to help general education teachers provide top-notch support for all students. In addition to an all-new section that outlines the basics of the RTI model and intervention strategies, this resource covers: 13 categories recognized under IDEA 2004 for which students may be eligible to receive special education services A step-by-step explanation of the special education process Accommodations and modifications to help students access the general education curriculum The transition process for students with special needs
Early Childhood Curriculum for All Learners: Integrating Play and Literacy Activities is designed to teach early childhood professionals about the latest research on play and early literacy and then to show them practical methods for adapting this research to everyday classroom practices that will encourage the development of learning skills. The authors link solid, play-based research to specific developmentally appropriate practices. By combining these two areas, the text demonstrates that academic learning and play activities are highly compatible, and that children can and do develop academic skills through play. In addition, the text focuses on socio-dramatic play, a recently acknowledged, essential aspect of child-initiated play interactions. It provides specific strategies that link these interactive behaviors with the early academic skills needed for the initial primary grades. Implementation of the information presented in this book will enable children to experience a richer transition into primary education classrooms.
Curriculum needs to be based on the strengths and needs of children. This information is gathered through careful observation and documentation and is one of the cornerstones of curriculum development. The purpose of this text is to take curriculum development to another level: to fill the gap between theory and practice. This text will help students to look at curriculum from the perspective of the child and to understand how that perspective is linked to learning and theory. This book is a documentation of individuals and groups of children learning over time. Each curriculum discussion starts with the real experiences that children have had. From these experiences, pertinent theory is woven in, explained and expanded.
Special education is the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help learners with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and community than would be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education. Students with special needs, such as learning differences, mental health issues, specific disabilities (physical or developmental, and giftedness are those whose needs are addressed within the classroom setting. Generally however, the term "special education" refers specifically to students with learning disabilities, mental conditions, and other disabling conditions. This new book presents the latest research in the field. | <urn:uuid:210ada1b-d4e6-4588-83b2-3bd31ee23808> | {
"date": "2019-01-18T04:08:34",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-04",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547583659677.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20190118025529-20190118051529-00056.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9350644946098328,
"score": 2.90625,
"token_count": 3143,
"url": "http://shareheaven.net/file/using-playful-practice-to-communicate-with-special-children/"
} |
Time’s Person of the Year. Who would have thunk it? Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin joins Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Mikhail Gorbachev. Three other Russian leaders who’ve received the honor.
Stalin was named twice, in 1939 and 1942. The first for “dramatically switching the power balance of Europe one August night” when the vozhd’ signed the now infamous Nazi-Soviet Pact. “History may not like him” Time prophesied,”but history cannot forget him.” And how. Ironically, the 1942 honor came when Stalin became an ally of the United States against Hitler. According to Time, everything that happened that war plagued year–Chiang Kai-shek holding his own against the Japanese, Churchill’s victory over the Nazis in Egypt, Roosevelt’s bringing the full weight of the US war machine on the Axis–seemed small next to Stalin. As Time explained, “and, worthy though they may prove, they inevitably pale by comparison with what Joseph Stalin did in 1942.” The Red Army repulsed the Germans at Stalingrad, leading to four Soviet offensives that eventually pushed the Germans back to Berlin.
The garrulous Nikita Khrushchev was named “Man of the Year” in 1957. Nothing other than a little satellite that went “beep, beep, beep” gained him the accolade. Russia won the space race by launching Sputnik I and Sputnik II into the Earth’s orbit. But that wasn’t all the peasant’s son did in 1957. A year before he shocked the Communist world with his “Secret Speech” which denounced his mentor, Stalin. It also allowed him to politically outwit his rivals on the Politburo. He reached out to the Middle East by giving $563 million to aid Arab nationalism in Syria and Egypt. He achieved much more in that year even though he did “not yet have absolute power, [was] still best described as chairman of the gang.” Still, he proved politically wily toward his opponents, using a combination of guile and good old Russian muzhestvo to beat them. Said Time, “In 1957, Nikita Khrushchev outran, outfoxed, outbragged, outworked and outdrank them all.”
Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded “Man of the Year” in 1987 and “Man of the Decade” in 1989. So far Gorbachev has been the only person praised with the latter title. Not bad for a peasant born in the village Privolnoye during the nightmare of collectivization. But Time didn’t recognize Gorbachev for his background, or as a symbol of Soviet upward mobility (Khrushchev was probably a better symbol of the particular Stalinist kind). He was honored because he did the unthinkable. Although a Stalinist in his youth, Gorbachev instituted reforms that would eventually unlock many of the secrets of that ideology. Perestroika, which he argued was “to revive the spirit of Leninism,” was a kind of neo-NEP that sought to institute controlled market forces and decentralization into the stagnant Soviet economy. Glasnost turned much of the Soviet profane into the sacred. As a result, the “black spots” of Soviet history rapidly began to lighten. In the eyes of Time, all of this made Gorbachev “a new unfamiliar kind of leader” who recognized that “the old rules of dealing with that long-suffering land [were] suddenly outdated.”
But that was only the beginning of Time’s recognition of Gorbachev. In 1989, they saw him as the “Man of the Decade.” Why? “Because,” Time explained, “he is the force behind the most momentous events of the ’80s and because what he has already done will almost certainly shape the future.” And though Gorbachev didn’t “mean to abolish communism,” he learned that history is a real bitch to control. Right when you think you have it by the reigns, it violently bucks from your grip. Don’t think so? Just ask George Bush. The future Gorbachev was ushering, however, wouldn’t fully emerge until 1991, when the Soviet Union imploded. That historical act, which this year’s “Person of the Year” has called “the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century,” has certainly shaped our present. More than people seem to be willing to acknowledge.
In 1989, Gorbachev was still considered a positive revolutionary. Time compared him with all sorts of world historical figures. He was the “Copernicus, Darwin and Freud of communism all wrapped in one.” He was “Prospero in a realm ruled by Caliban.” He was “simultaneously the communist Pope and the Soviet Martin Luther, the apparatchik as Magellan and McLuhan.” Indeed, Gorbachev was in a sense a “global navigator” but one similar to how Viktor Chernov described Lenin in April 1917,
“He seems to be made of one chunk of granite. And he is all round and polished like a billiard ball. There is nothing you can get hold of him by. He rolls with irrepressible speed. But he could repeat to himself the well-known phrase “I don’t know where I am going, but I am going there resolutely.”
If Gorbachev didn’t have a clue where he was going and where he was dragging Russia behind him, this year’s “Person of the Year” has no doubts. Vladimir Putin is not so much dragging Russia as he is pushing it. True, he is not the first Russian Sisyphus, all those listed above were sisyphi in their own right. And if Time began their “Man of the Year” award three centuries earlier, it would have certainly recognized Peter the Great, Catherine II, Nicholas I, Alexander I, and Lenin among their honored. Some say Putin is a Tsar. The more idiotic call him a neo-Stalin. Putin, however, would be better seen as a manager, a CEO, and a sort of mafia don. Putin sees himself as a Russian Franklin Roosevelt. He has the insurmountable task of prosecuting Russia’s revival at the same time he has to keep his rival boyars’ corruption within acceptable boundaries. Putin is a pragmatist more than anything. And this requires him to pick his battles. Sometimes he does so with exactness. Other times hubris gets the better of him.
Putin is mostly demonized in the West. Nothing says this more than the fact that Time’s Adi Ignatius spent three and a half hours with the man, yet in the article we hear as many quotes from Garry Kasparov than from Putin. The response from the American political class on Putin’s recognition was predictable. Republican Presidential candidate Mit Romney called Time’s move “disgusting” instead designating the US military viceroy in Iraq General David Petraeus as more worthy. John McCain also thought Petraeus was a better pick. All McCain sees in Putin is “three letters – a K, a G and a B.” Then in his cowboy way McCain stated ““I would have had a much stronger response to Mr. Putin a long time ago.” If elected, it seems that hubris might get the better of McCain too.
But there you have it. Time has spoken and not without sparking controversy. That’s one thing it as its Person of the Year have in common. Putin is controversial the world over. And like Time, we can certainly count on him to continue speaking. | <urn:uuid:2a262850-6b1d-4d7f-ad70-9d4254f2947d> | {
"date": "2016-12-11T09:54:21",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2016-50",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698544672.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170904-00392-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9766470193862915,
"score": 2.6875,
"token_count": 1680,
"url": "http://seansrussiablog.org/2007/12/20/putins-time/"
} |
This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 28, number 1 (2005). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org
The usual attempts to defend the historical reliability of the New Testament are often fairly general in nature. These arguments are typically based on the quantity, quality, and early date of the available New Testament manuscripts; the traditional authorship of the books; extrabiblical confirmation; and a few archaeological discoveries. This evidence for the trustworthiness of the New Testament is often contrasted with ancient classical Greek and Roman writings, which do not exhibit the same wealth of data.
Lesser known among conservative scholars, however, are several, more recent and specific approaches that critical scholars apply to the Gospel texts. One of these approaches involves applying certain critical criteria of authenticity to particular texts, namely, to events and sayings that are reported in the four gospels. These contemporary techniques have mined many gems that indicate the historical richness of the Gospel accounts, while illuminating many aspects of Jesus’ life.
The historical reliability of the New Testament has long been a mainstay in Christian apologetics. For decades, believers have used avenues such as manuscript evidence, authorship, extrabiblical sources, and archaeology to show that the thousands of existing copies of the New Testament accurately preserve the original texts, as well as correctly report what actually occurred. The purpose of these approaches is primarily to argue that we have essentially what the biblical authors wrote and that these works are trustworthy historical accounts.1 This has been especially important in demonstrating that the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ teachings and actions are accurate.
In recent years, however, critical scholars2 have developed other tools that have uncovered additional grounds for recognizing certain Gospel accounts as historical reports. Most of the scholars who utilize these methods are not theologically conservative; nevertheless, often they have provided means by which to ascertain the historicity of separate sayings or incidents in the life of Jesus.
In this article, I will initially provide some brief comments regarding the older, more familiar paths taken by scholars who have sought to show that the Gospel accounts are reliable. I will then explain just one of the more recent avenues that uncovers some exciting new developments, namely, certain criteria that indicate when a specific text most likely includes a historical report.
Older strategies that support the historical reliability of the New Testament often begin by pointing out that the New Testament documents enjoy superior manuscript evidence. Indications are that the New Testament is supported by more than 5,500 copies and partial copies in Greek and other languages, while most ancient classical Greek and Roman texts have fewer than 10 each. There is, moreover, comparatively little significant variation between these New Testament manuscripts, even those that belong to different textual “families” (groups or branches of texts that have “descended” from the originals).
This extraordinary quantity and quality of the available texts does not tell us if the New Testament writings are historically reliable; however, most scholars think that the large number of manuscripts and portions does indicate that we have essentially what the authors originally wrote. This is obviously a crucial starting point.
The New Testament copies also are much earlier—that is, closer to their original writings—than the classical texts. Most of the New Testament is available from copies that date from only 100–150 years after its completion, while a copy of the entire New Testament dates from about another 100 years after that. In contrast, copies of the classical texts generally date from 700–1,400 years after their original compositions. This enormous difference indicates that the copies of the New Testament are likely more reliable than the copies of any of its counterparts.3
Generally speaking, critical scholars readily admit these initial two points of manuscript number and date. JohnA.T.Robinson, for example, agrees that “the wealth of manuscripts, and above all the narrow interval of time between the writing and the earliest extant copies, make it by far the best attested text of any ancient writing in the world.”4 Even the skeptical Helmut Koester attests, “Classical authors are often represented by but one surviving manuscript….But there are nearly five thousand manuscripts of the NT in Greek.…the manuscript tradition of the NT begins as early as the end of IICE [the second century AD]….Thus it seems that NT textual criticism possesses a base which is far more advantageous than that for the textual criticism of classical authors.”5
These are excellent indicators that we have essentially what the various authors originally wrote. New Testament scholar John Wenham thinks that the overall biblical text is 99.99percent pure, without any of the differences affecting doctrine.6
Other areas of research take the next step by showing that the texts also reliably report the historical facts. Arguments that favor the traditionally accepted authors as being either the original writers or the chief sources behind certain New Testament books supply a strong move in this direction. The best example of this reliability that has been uncovered in recent years is the evidence that Paul was the author of at least the major works that bear his name.7
Additionally, approximately one-and-a-half dozen non-Christian, extrabiblical sources confirm many details from Jesus’ life and teachings as found in the Gospels.8 Early Christians such as Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and Polycarp provide even more confirmation, writing just 10 years or less after the completion of the New Testament.9 Archaeological sources do not contribute as much corroboration in New Testament studies as they do in Old Testament studies, but there are a number of indications that, when the details can be checked, the New Testament is often confirmed.10
There are a number of pieces of evidence that, especially when taken together, confirm the traditional picture regarding the life and teachings of Jesus. This is not to say that all the pertinent questions have been answered;11 but the available evidence from a variety of angles confirms the strong foundation on which we can base the general reliability of the New Testament reports of the historical Jesus.
Conservative scholars still gravitate to the traditional paths to show that the New Testament texts are reliable and many worthwhile insights emerge from the findings of these approaches. The quantity and quality of the texts bring us very close to the original wording. Authorship, source, and various kinds of historical confirmation all contribute data that support the accuracy of the New Testament reports.
Recent critical scholars, however, tend to approach the subject from other angles; and although they recognize a number of the traditional insights, they are not as interested in the overall trustworthiness of the New Testament. Their work is largely based on the twin assumptions that the various New Testament writings differ in value, and that, even within each composition, there is a mixture of worthwhile and questionable material; therefore, they avoid arguments for the reliability of the whole and concentrate on individual insights.
Among the strategies that critical scholars prefer, there are, nevertheless, many gems to be explored and mined. These treasures, though different, can strengthen the case for the historical reliability of various portions of the New Testament. Some of these prizes can add a more specific component to the general approach preferred by many Christian apologists. We will only be able to pursue one of the avenues to the reliability of various Gospel reports that might be explored here,12 namely, the criteria of authenticity.
As I noted above, recent critical scholars seldom address the question of New Testament reliability in a wholesale manner; rather, they tend to apply various analytical principles to the text in order to ascertain individual passages that present the highest likelihood of providing legitimate insights, historical or otherwise. This approach tends to isolate portions of the text, providing individual snippets.
It should be noted here that the methods or principles that contemporary biblical scholars use to analyze texts are actually borrowed from the approach that secular historians regularly apply to ancient texts. One seldom finds a complete list of these principles, perhaps due in part to each scholar’s preference for some of them over others. Eight of these rules that are regularly applied to the Gospel material, along with examples of each, are listed below.
Eight Criteria of Authenticity
The first two principles are not usually listed as part of the criteria of authenticity, but they are well recognized by scholars. (1)Early evidence is strongly preferred above later contributions. The difference of even a decade or two can be crucial. Regarding the historical Jesus, any material from between AD30and50 would be exemplary, a time period highly preferred by scholars such as those in the Jesus Seminar.13
Reports from such an early date would actually predate the written gospels. A famous example is the list of Jesus’ resurrection appearances that Paul supplies in 1Corinthians15:3–8. Most critical scholars think that Paul’s reception of at least the material on which this early creedal statement is based is dated to the AD30s.14 Other examples are supplied by the brief creedal statements that many scholars find embedded within the book of Acts, which Gerald O’Collins dates to the AD30s.15 Another instance is the statement of high christology found in Matthew11:27 and Luke10:22, which some scholars date to the AD50s.16 Paul’s earliest epistles also date from the AD50s.
(2)One of the strongest evidences possible for reliability is when early sources are derived from eyewitnesses who actually participated in some of the events. Historian David Hackett Fischer dubs this “the rule of immediacy” and terms it “the best relevant evidence.”17 Ancient sources that are both very early and based on eyewitness testimony are a combination that is very difficult to dismiss.
One reason critical scholars take Paul’s testimony so seriously is that his writings provide a very early date as well as eyewitness testimony to what Paul believed was a resurrection appearance of Jesus. This is conceded even by atheist scholar Michael Martin.18 Other crucial instances would concern any eyewitness testimony that can be located in the Gospel accounts.
(3)Independent attestation or confirmation of a report by more than one source19 is another chief indication that a particular claim may be factual. Historian Paul L. Maier asserts, “Many facts from antiquity rest on just one ancient source, while two or three sources in agreement generally render the fact unimpeachable.”20 The skeptical Jesus Seminar emphasizes items “attested in two or more independent sources.”21
Several important examples might be provided. Jesus’ miracles are reported in all five of the sources often recognized in the Gospel accounts,22 with some specific occurrences reported in more than one.23 Jesus’ crucial “Son of Man” sayings are also attested in all five sources,24 and the empty tomb is reported in at least three, if not four, of them.25 This helps to explain why these items are taken so seriously by recent critical scholars.
(4)A rather skeptical criterion of authenticity is termed dissimilarity or discontinuity. It is frequently criticized, yet it continues to be a very popular tool for determining the historicity of some of Jesus’ teachings. Here it is thought that a particular saying can be attributed to someone only if it cannot be plausibly accounted for as the words or teaching of other contemporary sources. For Jesus, it must be determined if one of the Gospel teachings can be attributed to either Jewish thought or to the exhortations of the early church. Historian Michael Grant calls this the “principal valid method of research.”26
I have already mentioned that Jesus’ “Son of Man” sayings are attested to by multiple sources. It can also be shown that, by the principle of dissimilarity, they are unaccounted for by either Jewish or early Christian teachings. Some Jews did have a “Son of Man” concept (as indicated by texts like 1Enoch46:2; 48:2–5,10; 52:4; 62:5–9; 69:28–29; and 4Ezra13:3ff.), but, of course, they did not apply this to Jesus. Furthermore, even though “Son of Man” is Jesus’ favorite self-designation in the Gospels, none of the New Testament epistles attribute this title to Jesus even a single time. The conclusion is that, in all likelihood, Jesus must have used this designation for Himself.27
(5)Another criterion applied to the study of the Gospels is the presence of Aramaic words, substrata (underlying layers), environment, or other indications of a Palestinian origin. Perhaps when these conditions appear in the Gospels, we are looking through a window into the actual teachings of Jesus.
One major study of an Aramaic term is provided by Joachim Jeremias’s well-known and influential research on whether Jesus utilized the word abba as a reference to God (Mark14:36).28 Jeremias’s positive conclusions have been qualified, yet the case remains that this is an instance where Jesus probably employed an unusual term that Jews very rarely applied to God.29 This word as used by Jesus is therefore best understood as a familiar, personal, and even intimate reference for His Father.
(6)Coherence is a more general criterion. If a purported event or teaching fits well with what is already known concerning other surrounding occurrences and teachings of Jesus, it may be said to have a basis in history.30 Perhaps the proposed event or saying does even more by illuminating other known incidents and rendering them more intelligible.
Meier thinks that coherence is one of the best indicators of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus’ comment in Mark12:18–27 concerning the resurrection of the dead, for example, coheres well with a saying of Jesus on the same subject of the afterlife reported in Matthew8:11–12 and Luke13:28–29, as well as other teachings of Jesus.31 Meier concludes that another instance in the Gospels is the teaching that Jesus’ family had rejected Him, which coheres well with Jesus’ repeated teaching that believers will be called to leave their own families for the sake of Himself and His kingdom (e.g., Mark10:29–31).32
In addition to these major criteria, other details from Jesus’ life are enhanced by additional considerations. (7)The principle of embarrassment, negative report, or surprise is indicated by the presence of disparaging remarks made by the author about him- or herself, another individual, or event, concerning which the author is friendly and has a vested interest.33 The point is that, in normal circumstances, most people need a sufficient reason to report negative things about something that they deem valuable, or someone they love dearly. This would appear to be the case especially where the purpose of the writing was to instruct the readers in holy living.
Many examples of the principle of embarrassment can be found in the Gospels. The strong unbelief of James, Jesus’ own brother, prior to the crucifixion (Mark3:20–25; John7:5), for instance, begs an adequate cause for exposing such a report about this apostle and pious leader in the early church. This is why the majority of recent critical scholars believe that these are authentic reports.34 Another example is Jesus’ saying in Mark13:32, where in the very same context in which He indicates that He is the Son of the Father, He also declares that He does not know the time of His coming. The report does not explain why the Son of God would not know something about the future.35
The fact that all four gospels report that the first ones to discover Jesus’ empty tomb were women is also quite embarrassing. It was not customary for women even to testify in court, especially when it came to crucial matters, which indicates that the early church would not have desired to make them their chief witnesses unless they actually were.36 Lastly, the repeated unbelief and other negative reactions reported about the disciples, both when Jesus told them about His resurrection before it occurred (Mark8:31–33; 9:31–32; 10:32–34; 14:27–31), as well as after Jesus had risen from the dead (Matt.28:17; Luke24:36–38; John20:19,24–25), are further indications, again, that they really did react this way. Why else would the Gospel writers place the disciples, the leaders of the early church, in such a negative light?37
(8)The criterion of enemy attestation is satisfied when an antagonistic source expresses agreement regarding a person or event when it is contrary to their best interests to do so. Maier holds that “such positive evidence within a hostile source is the strongest kind of evidence…If Cicero, who despised Catiline, admitted that the fellow had one good quality—courage—among a host of bad ones then the historian correctly concludes that Catiline was at least courageous.”38
One example of enemy attestation in the Gospels is the repeated testimony that those who opposed Jesus either witnessed His miracles and failed to challenge them (Mark3:1–6) or attributed them to Satan (Mark3:22–27), thus acknowledging these events. Marcus Borg of the Jesus Seminar points out that this is one of the reasons that make it “virtually indisputable that Jesus was a healer and exorcist.”39 In another instance, the Jewish priests are said to have paid the guards at Jesus’ tomb in order to have them report that the disciples stole Jesus’ body (Matt.28:11–15), thereby agreeing that Jesus’ tomb had indeed been discovered to be empty.
Critical criteria such as these are very helpful in establishing especially the historicity of separate Gospel accounts. Viewing the texts from various angles helps indicate that many of Jesus’ stories and sayings are historically grounded.
THE MINIMAL FACTS METHOD
A final consideration concerns the overall methodology employed when arguing for the reliability of the New Testament. One of the strongest indications of historicity occurs when a saying or event can be constructed from data that are admittedly well established, even across a wide range of otherwise diverse historical opinions. Historian Christopher Blake speaks of such scholarly agreement as the “very considerable part of history which is acceptable to the community of professional historians.”40
Along these lines, I have frequently proposed what I have termed the minimal facts historical method, in which I employ only those data that satisfy at least two major standards. Each event or saying must be (1)exceptionally well attested on multiple grounds, which might be indicated, for example, by authenticity criteria such as those listed above. The event or saying must also be (2)recognized as historical by the vast majority of scholars who address this subject, especially when they oppose the conclusion that they think is nonetheless warranted.
The first of these two standards is clearly the most significant. Strong confirmation of events and sayings, each for multiple reasons, places the emphasis directly on the factual claims themselves. The second standard—recognition by a strong majority of critical scholars—is still very helpful, but this can easily change over time, sometimes without reference to the data itself. This approach, as a chief method of investigation, allows the New Testament’s best historical data to be showcased in order to make the strongest case available.41
A FAMILIAR CONCLUSION
Traditional apologetic paths still generate several strong reasons for believing in the overall reliability of the New Testament. The various criteria of authenticity discussed above, however, have more specific applications within the Gospel accounts and presently are often the decisive tests employed in the study of the historical Jesus. Christian apologists would do well to investigate these new paths that support a familiar conclusion.
1. For the purposes of this article, we are not differentiating between the terms reliability and trustworthiness.
2. A “critical” scholar, as used here, is one who applies (or interacts with) contemporary methods of examining the biblical text.
3. See F.F.Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960), 16–18; Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999), esp. chap. 3.
4. JohnA.T.Robinson, Can We Trust the New Testament? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 36.
5. Helmut Koester, History and Literature of Early Christianity, 2 vols. (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982), 2:16–17.
6. John W. Wenham, Christ and the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984), 186–87.
7. Numerous details and perspectives on Paul’s writings are found in Ben Witherington III, The Paul Quest: The Renewed Search for the Jew of Tarsus (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998). See also Paul Barnett, Is the New Testament Reliable? A Look at the Historical Evidence (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986), esp. chaps. 5–8, 11–12.
8. See Gary R. Habermas, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1996), chap. 9; F.F.Bruce, Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974).
9. See J. B. Lightfoot, trans. and ed., The Apostolic Fathers (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1891, 1956); cf. Habermas, chap. 10.
10. See R. T. France, The Evidence for Jesus, The Jesus Library, ed. Michael Green (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986), chap. 4; Bruce, New Testament Documents, chap. 8.
11. For a general consideration of many important issues, see Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1987).
12. For a brief listing of these criteria, plus an outline of several other critical approaches, see Gary R. Habermas, “Why I Believe the New Testament is Historically Reliable,” in Why I am a Christian: Leading Thinkers Explain Why They Believe, NormanL.Geisler and Paul K. Hoffman, eds. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2001), chap. 9.
13. This is the first of “The Rules of Oral Evidence,” as emphasized by Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus (New York: Macmillan, 1993), 25–26.
14. Walter Kasper even argues that this material may have been in use in AD 30! Walter Kasper, Jesus the Christ, trans. V. Green. (Mahweh, NJ: Paulist Press, 1974), 125; cf. Funk and Hoover, 24, 128.
15. Gerald O’Collins, Interpreting Jesus (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1983), 109.
16. The Jesus Seminar dates the so-called “Q” tradition that they believe was the source of these passages to the AD 50s (Funk and Hoover, 18, 128).
17. David Hackett Fischer, Historian’s Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought (New York: Harper and Row, 1970), 62. Fischer includes the archaeological “remains” of an occurrence and treats these as more primary than “direct observations.” For eyewitness reporting in ancient Greek writing, see Ernst Breisach, Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 38–39. For some concerns by one of the few ancient historians to address metahistorical issues, see Lucian of Samosata, How to Write History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959), esp. 7–15.
18. Michael Martin, The Case Against Christianity (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991), 81.
19. Some scholars have also proposed multiple attestation of literary forms or patterns.
20. Paul L. Maier, In the Fullness of Time: A Historian Looks at Christmas, Easter, and the Early Church (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1991), 197.
21. Funk and Hoover, 26.
22. These five sources are (1)Mark; (2)the material found in Matthew (M) alone; (3)the material found in Luke (L) alone; (4)the “Q” sayings, which many scholars think are the source of the common material in Matthew and Luke; and (5)John.
23. Marcus Borg acknowledges that the attestation of Jesus’ miracles in the Gospels is “widespread.” Marcus Borg, Jesus: A New Vision; Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1987), 61. See also the in-depth study on this topic, including the multiple attestation of Jesus’ miracles, in John P.Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, vol. 2, Mentor, Message, and Miracles (New York: Doubleday, 1994), esp. 967–70.
24. Gary Habermas, The Risen Jesus and Future Hope (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), 102.
25. Ibid., 23.
26. Michael Grant, Jesus: An Historian’s Review of the Gospels (1977; New York: Macmillan, Collier Books Edition, 1992), 202.
27. Meier spends considerable time on another example of discontinuity between the distinctives of Jesus’ message and those of the Dead Sea community. See John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, vol. 3, Companions and Competitors (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 489–532, 633–36.
28. Joachim Jeremias, The Central Message of the New Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1965), 9–30; Joachim Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus, 2nd rev. ed., trans. S.H.Hooke (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1972), 100–114.
29. Even Norman Perrin views this term as one a Jewish child might use of his father, and thinks that Jesus used it to refer to God. Perrin also thinks it fulfills the criterion of dissimilarity. Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus (New York: Harper and Row, 1967), 37–41.
30. Cf. W. B. Gallie, “Explanations in History and the Genetic Sciences,” in Patrick Gardiner, ed., Theories of History: Readings from Classical and Contemporary Sources (New York: Macmillan, 1959), 397–98; the idea in critical New Testament research is pursued in Perrin, 43–45.
31. Meier, Companions and Competitors, esp. 437–44.
32. Ibid., 69, 72.
33. Grant, 202–3; cf. Funk and Hoover, 23.
34. See, e.g., the listing of scholars in Habermas, The Risen Jesus and Future Hope, 21–22.
35. Donald Guthrie speaks for many when he states that this comment is simply too embarrassing to have been invented, so its authenticity should not be questioned. New Testament Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1981), 794n14.
36. Habermas, The Risen Jesus and Future Hope, 23–24.
37. For a single example of the many relevant comments here, see Ben F. Meyer, The Aims of Jesus (London: SCM Press, 1979), 60.
38. Maier, 198–99.
39. Borg, 61.
40. Christopher Blake, “Can History be Objective?” in Gardiner, 331.
41. I have utilized this twofold methodology in my publications on Jesus’ death and resurrection. For examples, see The Risen Jesus and Future Hope, chap. 1, esp. 8–10, 26–31, and The Historical Jesus, 158–67. For an application to the deity of Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation, see The Risen Jesus and Future Hope, chaps. 3–6. On how this approach might be applied to the doctrine of inspiration, see Gary R. Habermas, “Jesus and the Inspiration of Scripture,” Areopagus Journal 2 (2002): esp. 14–15. | <urn:uuid:9bb132be-c813-4481-b793-afa89d42697b> | {
"date": "2016-10-22T19:33:22",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2016-44",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719041.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00149-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9334170818328857,
"score": 2.59375,
"token_count": 6026,
"url": "http://www.equip.org/articles/recent-perspectives-on-the-reliability-of-the-gospels/"
} |
Predicting the emergence of highly pathogenic viruses in animals and preventing them from spilling over to humans is the goal of a multimillion-dollar cooperative agreement from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, with collaborating researchers at the University of California, Davis; the University of Idaho; and Plymouth University in England.
The up-to $9.37 million award will be used over 3½ years as part of DARPA’s Preventing Emerging Pathogenic Threats, or PREEMPT, program. PREEMPT seeks to improve medical preparedness, bolster the fight against emerging infectious disease and preserve the health of U.S. troops and communities around the world by containing high-risk zoonotic pathogens at their animal source.
“DARPA challenges the PREEMPT research community to look far earlier on the emerging threat timeline and identify opportunities to contain viruses before they ever endanger humans,” said Brad Ringeisen, the DARPA program manager for PREEMPT. “We require proactive options to keep our troops and the homeland safe from emerging infectious disease threats.”
Led by the One Health Institute in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the Center for Comparative Medicine in the UC Davis schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, the research team will concentrate efforts on Lassa virus and Ebola virus. These two infectious and often fatal zoonotic viruses present significant biological threats to deployed military personnel, local communities in West and Central Africa, and global health security.
From reactive to proactive
Despite a worldwide investment of time and resources, the ability to predict with certainty which viruses will make the zoonotic jump into humans remains elusive. As a result, responses to outbreaks have been reactive, with the focus on containing the spread of virus through behavior change and treating or vaccinating people infected after the initial spillover.
The first phase of the project is underway in Sierra Leone. Field teams will begin collecting and testing samples from Mastomys rats, a widespread local rodent and known reservoir for Lassa virus. The virus causes Lassa fever, an acute viral hemorrhagic illness endemic throughout West Africa.
The team works closely with the Sierra Leone government, University of Makeni, Njala University and community partners, leveraging relationships established over the past five years through the USAID-funded PREDICT project, also headquartered at the UC Davis One Health Institute.
Researchers will integrate data from the field studies, along with viral testing and probability models, to predict the real-time risk for Lassa virus emergence and spillover into people.
“PREEMPT takes a deep dive into Lassa virus and its ecology,” said Brian Bird, co-principal investigator of the PREEMPT project and global lead of PREDICT-Sierra Leone. “We want to understand why one particular variant of the virus spills over into people versus another.”
Potential game changer
In the second phase, researchers will design and test a novel vaccine in collaboration with The Vaccine Group and the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology. Testing will occur exclusively in contained, biosecure facilities.
“A vaccine designed for broad uptake within a specific animal community could be a game changer,” said Peter Barry, co-principal investigator and professor emeritus with UC Davis Center for Comparative Medicine. “If we can disrupt the spread of a virus within an animal community, we will help to eliminate the threat of animal diseases ultimately spilling over into humans.”
A track record of success
The project team reflects broad expertise in field pathogen detection, disease dynamics and cytomegalovirus biology.
At UC Davis, the One Health Institute has been integral in global surveillance of zoonotic disease and capacity building through its leadership of PREDICT, a project that aims to find viruses before they spill over into humans. Last year, the PREDICT team announced the discoveries of a new species of ebolavirus and a closely related cousin, Marburg virus, in bats in Sierra Leone prior to those viruses ever being detected in a sick human or animal.
The Center for Comparative Medicine brings 20 years of research excellence in animal modeling of human diseases to the project. The PREEMPT team’s plan to use cytomegalovirus, a common virus, to vaccinate animals against other viruses, such as Lassa virus and Ebola virus, is a direct result of work initiated by Barry to develop a nonhuman primate model of human cytomegalovirus.
“This type of collaboration across disciplines made possible through this DARPA cooperative agreement is how we’ll get in front of the unpredictable nature of zoonotic diseases,” said Michael Lairmore, dean of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “PREEMPT exemplifies the level of innovation that’s possible using a One Health approach, and it will protect lives on a global scale.”
In addition to Barry and Bird, the other co-principal investigators are Michael Jarvis, associate professor at Plymouth University’s School of Biomedical Sciences, from The Vaccine Group; and Professor Scott Nuismer from the University of Idaho.
Co-investigators include researchers Wolfram Brune of the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology in Germany; Andrew Davison of the University of Glasgow in Scotland; and Alec Redwood of the University of Western Australia. | <urn:uuid:b00313d8-b63d-4c3a-96fc-282345f9f9b4> | {
"date": "2019-08-25T18:32:28",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-35",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-35/segments/1566027330786.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20190825173827-20190825195827-00536.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9127411842346191,
"score": 2.84375,
"token_count": 1125,
"url": "https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/9m-preempt-zoonotic-spillover-threats-protect-military-and-local-communities?utm_source=datelinehtml&utm_medium=datelinenewsletter&utm_campaign=dateline_20190219"
} |
Birmingham Middle Schoolers Help Make Local Impact
Over five weeks this summer, 120 middle-schoolers from inner-city Birmingham, Alabama, did hands-on science, monitoring water quality near the headwaters of Village Creek, which runs through downtown Birmingham. The Sierra Club's Water Sentinels Program donated t-shirts to all participants and provided water testing kits.
Two separate camp sessions were sponsored by the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Summer Science Institute. "The kids thought these were the best camps they'd ever been to," says Taylor Steele, Director of Science Education for Cornerstone Schools of Alabama. "The irony is that the camps essentially took place in their back yards, but because of their day-to-day life they're not exposed to the microhabitats that run right through Birmingham"
Students collected, submitted, and analyzed their data through Alabama Water Watch. The data will be used as part of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife grant to look at the long-term effects of storm water runoff and habitat degradation for the endangered Watercress Darter, found in four local springs.
"Many city kids don't sense that their contribution is valued, but through these camps, their work is acknowledged and celebrated," says Steele. "They saw themselves on local TV, and they were so proud to tell their parents and friends about their work. This kind of experience lays the foundation for kids to be lifelong learners. They value themselves because they value what they know."
Read more about the Sierra Club's work in Alabama. All photos by Taylor Steele. | <urn:uuid:c197b161-cd5f-46dc-bf62-610f32c3015d> | {
"date": "2016-05-25T20:52:34",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2016-22",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-22/segments/1464049275328.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160524002115-00156-ip-10-185-217-139.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9688299894332886,
"score": 3.046875,
"token_count": 320,
"url": "http://sierraclub.typepad.com/scrapbook/2008/10/birmingham-midd.html"
} |
The robot dog is an interactive pet that can execute commands and completely copy the behavior of a real dog. Interactive toys are the most common, as they teach children to treat real pets, care for them, behave appropriately, and manage their friend responsibly. First of all, a robot dog is a device that looks like a four-legged human friend. In this case, the robot has a lot of sensors and sensors that allow the toy to respond to the movements of people, touches, commands, and other actions.
In addition to the usual dog imitation, the robot has additional features:
- Internet connection;
- Speakers to play music;
- Built-in translator, for recognizing commands in different languages;
Software robot dogs for such toys have a unique feature. The primary goal of its development is to imitate the robot behavior of real dogs.
A robot dog can learn and shape its character depending on the environment and how you feel about it. In other words, at the time of first turning on the robot behaves like a real newborn puppy. He studies the world, which makes it possible in the future to make up a pattern of behavior.
In the future, the nature of the toy will depend only on users. If you treat the robot well, play with it, feed it, care for it, then in adulthood, it will be active, playful and fun. But if you do not pay enough attention to the toy, the robot will be closed, timid and passive. Such features allow the toy to completely imitate the behavior of dogs, which makes it more exciting and attractive. Besides, the robot dog is equipped with a variety of sensors that allow the toy to move freely in the room. And in combination with the software, the electronic dog can drive around the house, as real dogs do, and also execute your commands. | <urn:uuid:618c4384-0c03-4e05-a985-ebfe7e42806b> | {
"date": "2019-05-20T00:34:04",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-22",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232255251.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20190520001706-20190520023706-00016.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9572375416755676,
"score": 3.1875,
"token_count": 374,
"url": "http://robottler.com/best-robot-dog-toy/"
} |
Uganda’s Legal System and Legal Sector
By Brenda Mahoro
Brenda Mahoro is a Ugandan lawyer and legal editor working as a Consultant with the High Court of Uganda, Commercial Division as editor for the Court Reporting Office. She is the editor of the Uganda Commercial Law Reports.
Published August 2006
READ THE UPDATE!
Table of Contents
Uganda is a landlocked country located in East Africa. The country is a republic, and achieved this status on October 9, 1962 when the country attained independence from British colonial rule. Uganda had been a protectorate of the United Kingdom from 1894 to 1962. Since 1962, Uganda has had 6 presidents and suffered political instability and turmoil. Currently, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is the President of Uganda. He came into power in 1986 after an armed struggle against the regime of the late Gen. Tito Okello. In 1996, presidential elections were held and Museveni was elected as president. He won the subsequent elections held in 2001, and the recent elections held in February 2006.
The 1995 Constitution established Uganda as a republic with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The three branches operate as follow:
The roles and powers of each of the Government arms are enshrined and spelt out in the Uganda Constitution 1995.
Given that Uganda was a British colony, the English legal system and law are predominant in Uganda. Uganda's legal system is based on English Common Law and African customary law. However, customary law is in effect only when it does not conflict with statutory law. The laws applicable in Uganda are statutory law, common law; doctrines of equity and customary law are applicable in Uganda. These laws are stipulated by the Judicature Act.
The Constitution is the supreme law in Uganda and any law or custom that is in conflict with it is null and void to the extent of the inconsistency. Uganda has adopted 3 constitutions since her independence. The first was the 1962 constitution which was replaced by the 1967 constitution. In 1995 a new constitution was adopted and promulgated on October 8, 1995. The constitution provides for an executive president, to be elected every 5 years. Parliament and the judiciary have significant amounts of independence and wield significant power. Formerly, the constitution limited the president to two terms. However, in August 2005, the constitution was revised to allow an incumbent to hold office for more than two terms.
The other written law comprises statutes, Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments. These are published in the national Gazette.
The legal sector in Uganda comprises of various institutions concerned with the provision of legal services, the administration of Justice and the enforcement of legal instruments or orders. The main institutions as established by the Uganda Constitution of 1995 include the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the Judiciary, the Parliament, the Uganda Police Force, the Uganda Law Reform Commission, the Uganda Human Rights Commission. Furthermore, there are the legal education institutions such as faculty of law – Makerere University, the Law Development Center, professional bodies such as the Uganda Law Society, the Judicial Service Commission, and other organizations involved in legal sensitization, and advocacy.
The general the structure of Uganda’s legal sector appears as follows:
· Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
· The Judiciary
· Judicial Service Commission
· The Law Reform Commission
· The Electoral Commission
· The Uganda Land Commission
· Uganda Registration Services Bureau
· Uganda Human Rights Commission
· Kampala City Council
· The Law Council
· The Law Development Centre
The following institutions and departments are key players in the implementation of legal provisions and administration of Justice.
· Uganda Police Force
· Uganda Prison Service
· Inspector General of Government
· Parliamentary Commission
· Ministry of Local Government
· Ministry of Ethics and Integrity
· Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment
· National Environment Management Authority
The mandate of the ministry is:
“To promote and facilitate effective and efficient machinery capable of providing a legal framework for good governance and delivering legal advice and services to the Government, its allied institutions and the general public”.
Some of the roles of the Ministry include initiating and facilitating the revision and reform of Ugandan laws, providing an effective mechanism for their change, Advising the government on all legal matters; Drafting all proposed laws and legal documents; Instituting or defending civil suits in which Government and/or its allied institutions are party and ensuring that court decisions are satisfied; Overseeing the training of Lawyers; Promoting legal advice of the constitution, and Disseminating legal information to the public.
These are carried out through various directorates and departments of the Ministry such as the Directorate of Civil Litigation, the Directorate of Public Prosecution, Office of the First Parliamentary Counsel, the Administrator General’s office, and the Office of Legal Advisory Services.
The Judiciary is an independent legal organ comprised of Courts of Judicature as provided for by the Constitution. The Judiciary is entrusted to administer justice through courts of judicature including the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and other courts or tribunals established by Parliament. The highest court in Uganda is the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal is next in hierarchy and it handles appeals from the High Court but it also sits as the Constitutional Court in determining matters that require Constitutional interpretation. The High Court of Uganda has unlimited original jurisdiction.
Subordinate Courts include Magistrates Courts, and Local Council Courts, Qadhis' courts for marriage, divorce, inheritance of property and guardianship, and tribunals such as those established under the Land Act (Cap 227), Communications Act (Cap 106) and Electricity Act (Cap 145), and Tax Appeals Tribunal Act.
The Supreme Court is the highest Court in Uganda, and is the final court of Appeal. The Supreme Court only decides cases on appeal from lower courts save for presidential election petitions, where the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction, which means that any aggrieved candidate in a presidential election has to petition the Supreme Court directly. The decisions of the Supreme Court form precedents which all lower courts are required to follow.
The Supreme Court bench is constituted by the Chief Justice and not less than six Justices. Five Justices are sufficient to hear most cases, but when hearing appeals from decisions of the Court of Appeal, a full bench of seven justices has to be present. The decisions of the Supreme Court form precedents that all lower courts are required to follow.
The Court Appeal was established by the 1995 Constitution. It is an intermediary between the Supreme Court and the High Court and has appellate jurisdiction over the High Court. It is not a Court of first instance and has no original jurisdiction, except when it sits as a Constitutional Court to hear constitutional cases.
The Court of Appeal consists of: the Deputy Chief Justice and such number of Justices of Appeal not being less than seven as Parliament may by law prescribe.
Cases coming before the Court of Appeal may be decided by a single Justice. Any person dissatisfied with the decision of a single Justice of Appeal is, however, entitled to have the matter determined by a bench of three Justices of Appeal, which may confirm, vary or reverse the decision. Cases decided by the Court of Appeal can be appealed to the Supreme Court, but the Court of Appeal is the final court in election petitions filed after Parliamentary elections or elections provided for by the Local Government Act. When deciding cases as a Constitutional Court it sits with a bench of five judges.
The High Court of Uganda is the third court of record in order of hierarchy and has unlimited original jurisdiction, which means that it can try any case of any value or crime of any magnitude. Appeals from all Magistrates Courts go to the High Court. The High Court is headed by the Principal Judge who is responsible for the administration of the court and has supervisory powers over Magistrate's courts.
The High Court has five Divisions: the Civil Division, the Commercial Division, the Family Division, the Land Division and the Criminal Division.
Subordinate Courts include the Chief Magistrates Court, Industrial Court Magistrates Grade I and II Local Council Courts levels 3-1 (sub county, parish, and village).
Magistrate's Courts handle the bulk of civil and criminal cases in Uganda. There are three levels of Magistrates courts: Chief Magistrates, Magistrates Grade I and Magistrates Grade II. These are subordinate courts whose decisions are subject to review by the High Court. Presently the country is divided into 26 Chief Magisterial areas administered by Chief Magistrates who have general powers of supervision over all magisterial courts within the area of their jurisdiction.
Specialized courts or tribunals form part of the judicial structure e.g. Industrial Court, Tax Appeals Tribunal, NPART Tribunal, Land Tribunals, Tax Appeal Tribunal and the Human Rights Tribunal. A parallel judicial system exists for the military with a hierarchy of courts established under the NRA Act and Regulations. The only link from the military system to the mainstream judicial system arises from an appeal from the Court Martial Appeal Court (the highest appeal court in the military system) to the Supreme Court where a death sentence or life imprisonment has been meted.
Appointment of Judges
The judges are appointed by the President on recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission and approval of Parliament.
More information about the Courts of Judicature of Uganda can be obtained at the official website.
of parliament, statutes, legal amendments and practice directions is first
published in the Uganda Gazette which is published every week. Other
information published in the Gazette includes rules, draft bills, proclamations
and legal notices. The Uganda Gazette is published and printed by the Uganda
Government Printers. Ugandan legislation is available in print in the set of
Uganda Laws Volume. The Uganda Law Reform Commission
in 2003 published a
Revised Edition of the Laws of Uganda, containing 350 revised Acts from 1964 to
2000, with the subsidiary legislation. You may find the statutes, laws
and important cases at Uganda’s Online Law Library http://www.ugandaonlinelawlibrary.com/default.asp
Law reporting in Uganda has been very weak and thus very few law reports have been published in Uganda since 1958. The Law Development Center in Uganda is mandated to prepare and publish law reports and other legal material but so far have published only High Court Bulletins. As a result there has been a void in the availability of published judgments as lawyers and other stake holders are forced to depend on photocopies of judgments which they request from the Courts.
Ugandan judgments are reported in the following law report series:
· East Africa Law Reports – The reports covered decisions of the Court of Appeal for East Africa and the superior courts of the constituent territories, namely, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Aden, Seychelles and Somali-land. The East Africa Law Reports were published from 1957 to 1975 when they collapsed following the dissolution of the East African Community. They have been reintroduced by Law Africa with the launch of EA 2000 and EA 2001.
· Uganda Commercial Law Reports – The reports cover decisions of the Commercial Division of the High Court of Uganda since its establishment in 1996. The first in series of the law reports, 1997 – 1998 UCL was launched in November 2005 by the Chief Justice, Justice Benjamin Odoki.
· Tax Appeals Tribunal Compendium of Judgments and Rulings – Covers decisions of the Tax Appeals Tribunal.
· Kampala Law Reports – Published by a private practicing lawyer
· High Court Bulletin – Published by the Law Development Centre.
· Uganda Law Reports – Last published in 1957
· Law Reports of the Court of Appeal of Eastern Africa – Reporting decisions of the defunct Court of Appeal of Eastern Africa
The following are some of the useful law libraries in Uganda:
Law Africa produces electronic versions the East Africa Law Reports which contain Ugandan precedent.
To pursue a legal career in Uganda, one must first obtain a Bachelors degree in law, followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal in Practice from the Law Development Centre which is in essence the bar course. After passing the bar, one has to apply to be enrolled as an advocate of the bar and can appear in all Courts of Judicature in Uganda.
Since 1968, Makerere University has been the only Government University in Uganda where a degree in law could be obtained. Currently other private universities such as Mukono University, Kampala International University, Grotius University, Nkozi University and Nkumba University have a faculty of law.
The requirements for joining the faculty of law and the Law Development Center are highlighted below.
(a) Entry into Faculty of Law
To be admitted to the Law program at the Faculty of Law Makerere University, on Government Scholarship, a candidate must score at least two (2) Principal Passes at the Advanced Level Examination conducted by the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) leading to the award of a Uganda Advanced Certificate of Examination.
The entry scores for students applying for Private sponsorship and evening programs, are not as high as students applying to the government sponsorship day program. Admission to the Law Program is open to; Advanced Level Certificate Holders, Holders of a Diploma in Law from the Development Centre with or without working experience and other diploma holders with at least a Second Class Diploma, Graduates of other disciplines, and Mature Age entrants following an examination conducted by the Institute of Adult and Continuing Education of the University.
The LL.B. lasts 4 academic sessions or 8 semesters and should in any case be completed within 6 academic sessions or 12 semesters. Completion of the LLB program takes a minimum of 4 years.
The following are some of the major subjects that are studied in the LL B program
· Civil procedure
· Criminal law
· Constitutional law
· Administrative law
· Equity & trusts
· Land law
· International law
· Environmental law
· Human rights
· Business law
· Health law and policy
· Commercial law
· Contract law
· Family law
(b) Entry into the Law Development Centre
By regulations made under the Advocates Act, 1970, to qualify for admission to pursue the Diploma in Legal Practice at the Law Development Centre (a perquisite for practicing Law in Uganda), a candidate must hold the LL.B. Degree of either of the Universities of Dar-es-Salaam, Makerere University, Nairobi or Zambia or be admitted as barrister or solicitor in the United Kingdom.
Legal reform is underway to widen category of graduates who are eligible to pursue the Diploma in Legal Practice. The Diploma in Legal Practice lasts nine months.
Most of the Law Graduates, following completion of the Diploma in Legal Practice, are either absorbed in the public service as State Attorneys, Magistrates, or find outlet in the private sector working with private Law firms, Companies or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Legal professionals may be in private practice or public practice. Private practitioners are advocates employed in private law firms and they represent individuals in litigation and other legal matters. Information about private law firms may be got from the Uganda Law Society.
Advocates in public service are employed by the Government and serve as state attorneys in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
All practicing lawyers can subscribe to the Uganda Law Society which is the main legal professional organization in Uganda. At regional level, one can join the East African Law Society. The main functions of the law society include maintenance and improvement of the standards of conduct and learning of the legal profession, and to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge by the legal profession. More information about the Uganda Law Society can be obtained at the official website.
Other professional bodies which lawyers can subscribe to include; the Uganda Women’s Lawyers Association, Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, and Uganda Christian Lawyers Association.
The list below contains only some of the main legal reference material in Uganda.
Legal Reference books
All the above mentioned legislation and reference books, and many others can be easily obtained at the Law Development Center Publishing House and Book Centre, Uganda Bookshop, Mukono Bookshop and Aristoc Bookshop.
Section 16 Judicature Act 1996
Section 8 Uganda Constitution 1995
The Uganda Law Reform Commission was established in 1990 by the Uganda Law Reform Commission Statute 1990, replacing the Law Reform/Revision of the Ministry of Justice, which had been set up administratively in 1975. The task of the commission is to reform and revise the laws of Uganda
Completion of senior six | <urn:uuid:279a6d07-e251-422f-aa89-92548b4eeae0> | {
"date": "2015-01-25T22:16:36",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-06",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-06/segments/1422115891802.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150124161131-00080-ip-10-180-212-252.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9446396231651306,
"score": 3,
"token_count": 3388,
"url": "http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/uganda.htm"
} |
Each of a pair of stereoisomeric compounds that are not mirror images of one another.
More example sentences
- Because of the presence of two chiral carbon atoms in the dioxolane linker, the chemical synthesis route leads to two distinct diastereoisomers, in which the linkers are respectively SS and RR.
- It has five chiral carbons and only the naturally occurring diastereoisomer is biologically active.
- The precipitated diastereoisomer was pressed out and washed with approx.20 l of ice-cold 2-propanol.
- More example sentences
- Two diastereoisomeric forms, respectively SS and RR, of chemically modified channels in which a dioxolane ring links the formylated N-termini of two gramicidin monomers, were shown to form ion channels.
- Whilst most of the discussion has been about diastereoisomeric salts, it does not have to be so.
- Both 9 and 10 have four stereogenic centers giving rise to diastereoisomeric compounds existing as mixtures of two racemates.
Definition of diastereoisomer in:
- The US English dictionary | <urn:uuid:6b597bcd-5f04-4076-be25-5c4a133de00d> | {
"date": "2014-07-29T10:20:58",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-23",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1406510266894.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20140728011746-00318-ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9035667181015015,
"score": 3.4375,
"token_count": 253,
"url": "http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/diastereoisomer"
} |
Besides tasting great, pomegranate juice provides a number of possible health benefits. Although more research still needs to be done before conclusively claiming the effects as a given, studies suggest that the juice of pomegranate can help reduce the risks of heart disease, fight against certain kinds of cancer and provide needed nutrients for your body.
Does Pomegranate Juice Really Have Heart Health Benefits?
In clinical trials, pomegranate juice has been shown to positively affect a number of factors that keep your heart and blood vessels functioning well. Here’s a quick look at just some of the great benefits of pomegranate juice.
Improved blood flow for those with heart disease
When observing patients who had already been diagnosed with a certain type of heart disease that prevents enough blood from reaching the heart, researchers had some participants drink eight ounces of pomegranate juice everyday for three months to test the effects. At the end of the three months, blood flow had improved for those who had consumed the juice daily while the situations of those who didn’t drink the juice continued to worsen.
Reduced levels of bad cholesterol in the bloodstream
Although the study just mentioned dealt specifically with those already diagnosed with heart disease, research suggests that the juice can help prevent future problems for those who do not have a pre-existing heart condition. Pomegranate juice may help everyone in reversing LDL oxidation, effectively decreasing the amount of LDL cholesterol in your body and reducing the risks of cardiovascular disease. The juice helps prevent the cholesterol from building up and may even be able to decrease the plaque that has already been accumulating on the vessel walls and lower your systolic blood pressure.
What Affect Does Pomegranate Juice Have On Cancer Cells?
Pomegranate juice is not a stand-alone cancer treatment by any means, but the natural liquid may be able to help slow down the growth rate of cancerous tumors and even destroy cancer cells.
Lengthening the doubling time
In the world of tumor growth, having a longer doubling time means a tumor is growing slower. In studies, pomegranate juice has helped mice grow drastically smaller tumors than their untreated counterparts and has helped men with prostate cancer have a significantly lengthened doubling time.
Destroying cancer cells
While slowing the growth of cancer cells, pomegranate juice can actually even promote cellular death in some cases, initiating a self-destruction process for the unwanted disease. Lab studies so far have shown the juice to have a positive influence on cancer cells found in the breast, prostate and colon. Much more research is still needed to understand this process better and what it can mean for cancer patients throughout the world.
What Kinds Of Antioxidants, Vitamins And Minerals Are In Pomegranate Juice?
Pomegranates are high in antioxidants including polyphenols like tannins and anthocyanins and the fruit also contains complex sugars and fatty acids, which work together to produce anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, cell-regenerating and immune-boosting effects. Even among other great drinks, pomegranate juice is an especially rich source of antioxidants, providing more power than notable alternatives such ascranberry juice and green tea. Nature’s healthy fruit also provides a good helping of vitamin C, vitamin B6 and potassium as well as iron, thiamine, riboflavin, folate, vitamin K and zinc for your body’s overall health.
Is Pomegranate Juice Safe For Everyone To Drink?
Although many people can increase their pomegranate juice consumption to a daily occurrence without any trouble, some individuals are actually better off not using the drink as a regular dietary supplement. If you are unsure what’s best given your specific circumstances, don’t hesitate to do your research and consult a medical expert.
The juice can negatively interact with medications
Much like grapefruit juice and some herbal supplements can, pomegranate juice has the ability to negatively interact with some medications and interfere with their efficacy, leaving you exposed to the pain or problem your medication is supposed to be treating. In some cases, the juice and drug interaction can even have dangerous side effects. If you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter products, it’s safest to talk with your doctor about what drinking pomegranate juice everyday may do in your particular circumstances. Even if you have occasionally consumed a glass here or there in the past without any problems, incorporating the juice as a regular dietary supplement can have different effects on your body so consult with a medical professional first.
The juice can mask symptoms for a more difficult health diagnosis
If you are not on any medications but still have a serious health condition, check with your doctor about your situation before self-medicating with pomegranate juice. If you have a disease that requires a more targeted approach for treatment, you may end up masking your symptoms with the juice and making it harder down the road for a medical professional to identify what’s really going on with your body. If you suspect you’ll need a visit with a doctor about your problem, go ahead and set up your appointment first before drinking a daily serving of juice for a month or two.
What Kind Of Pomegranate Juice Is Best?
Not all pomegranate juices are the same. Accordingly, not all juices containing pomegranate will provide the same health benefits so shop wisely and do your research about products and brands.
Pure pomegranate juice and not simply a juice cocktail featuring pomegranate
In clinical trials, participants drink pure pomegranate juice rather than a juice cocktail or blend that simply contains pomegranate as one of many fruits. The concentration of pomegranate juice within the beverage matters to ensure you’re getting enough of the components that make pomegranate have health benefits without any add-ons that can be disruptive. A combination of juices can decrease the power pomegranate itself has and limit the positive effects.
Unsweetened juice with no artificial add-ins
Added ingredients like sugar can pack on the calories and interfere with vascular improvement, reducing the positive effects pomegranate juice has to offer. Artificial mix-ins like sweeteners, colors and dyes can also decrease the juice’s natural ability to provide health benefits so stick to an all-natural juice or concentrate that you mix in with water yourself. | <urn:uuid:17702d3b-7ffb-4a45-8de7-83d675219b63> | {
"date": "2017-02-26T21:34:41",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-09",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501172077.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104612-00200-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9314301609992981,
"score": 2.5625,
"token_count": 1327,
"url": "http://www.thescienceofearth.com/2016/05/what-are-benefits-of-pomegranate-juice.html"
} |
Mter a methane explosion in a coal mine a pre-determined crisis management procedure is instigated. As the process rapidly evolves the inevitable question arises -are personnel trapped underground, are they alive and can they be rescued without putting the lives of the rescue crew at risk? This is a very emotive question with many sub-questions such as; could anybody have survived, is there the potential for a secondary explosion and is there a 'window of opportunity' before that secondary explosion occurs? To detemline if that window of opportunity exists two fundamental elements must be in place; a method of determining the atmosphere at key points in the mine and a method of predicting the course of change of that atmosphere with respect to time. The first element can be achieved if the tube bundle system is intact and drawing samples from known points, alternatively boreholes can be drilled from the surface. The second element can be realised by utilising a sequence of computer generated control charts which have a time axis, a percentage combustibles axis, the upper and lower explosive limits of the cUITent atmosphere and a prediction option which allows the user to look at the potential changes in the atmosphere over a set period of time. These control charts would be part of the mines on-going crisis management system rather than a tool to be used after an explosion had occurred. | <urn:uuid:7f2ef975-5859-43a0-b396-246c48306b7a> | {
"date": "2018-09-22T13:09:57",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-39",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-39/segments/1537267158429.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20180922123228-20180922143628-00296.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9331713318824768,
"score": 2.8125,
"token_count": 269,
"url": "https://ro.uow.edu.au/coal/240/"
} |
Chú ý: Để xem lời giải chi tiết vui lòng chọn "Click vào đề thi"
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer that best completes each sentence or substitutes the underimed words or phrases to each of the following questions.
Câu 6: I declined the offer as I _________ it was time for me to go for a swim in the sea.
Câu 7: When they ____ home from the concert, they found that somebody _____ into it.
Câu 8: Bob was absent; he _____ sick again.
Câu 9: It is great to watch sportsmen in their national costumes ________ into the stadium.
Câu 10: A quick look would reveal that France has twice _______ computers.
Câu 11: Anyone ______ about the environment cannot ignore the facts ________ the speaker was referring.
Câu 12: _______ the government fall, the stock market will crash.
Câu 13: The twentieth century saw a rapid rise in life expectancy due to improvements in public liealth, nutrition and medicine.
Câu 14: The tiny irrigation channels were everywhere and along some of them the water was running.
Câu 15: For a decade, Barzilai has studied centenarians, looking for genes that contribute to longevity.
Câu 16: Of the two new teachers, one is experienced and ________ .
Câu 17: Women have proved repeatedly that they are equal and often superior __________ men in almost every field.
Câu 18: It is common knowledge that sportsmen __________ themselves in good form by regular swimming.
Câu 19: She was unable to warn her mother that she would be late because the telephone was _________ .
Câu 20: During the starvation, we used to keep a _________ of dried food in the factory.
Câu 21: The athletes have to put a lot of effort in this __________ as the SEA Games are Corning.
Câu 22: Mary Smith decided to give up her job for the _________ of her children.
Câu 23: The ______ source of power in 1970 was from natural gas with almost 25%.
Câu 24: I find that my work ______ so much of my time that I don’t have any free time.
Câu 25: Sue hadn't seen her brother for thirty years and _________ they recognized each other instantly.
Câu 26: The bus was so late reaching the station that I _______ missed my train.
Câu 27: The child was told to eat his vegetables, or _________ he would get no ice cream.
Câu 28: _____ the manager, she has to make many important decisions.
Câu 29: People will be able to work from home; _________ , they may still choose to go to work.
Câu 30: “Where’s Amada gone?” “ _________ ”
Câu 31: “How long did the journey take?” " __________ "
Câu 32: “Shall we leave now?” “______ ’
Câu 33: “£500 is too expensive.” " _________ "
Câu 34: “The room costs £55 a night.” " __________ "
Câu 35: “Anything else?” “______ ”
Mark the letterA, B, C or D ơn your answer sheet to show the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.
Câu 36: The students in the dormitories were forbidden for staying out after 11:30 p.m., unless they have special passes.
Câu 37: Of all outdoor activities, Paul likes fishing the best of all, but he doesn't enjoy cleaning the fishing rods afterwards.
Câu 38: Despite the disapnearance of the Mayan Empire, there are still Mayans in the region that they once inhabited.
Câu 39: I have got into the habit to turn on the TV as soon as I get home.
Câu 40: Commercial airliners do not fly in the vicinity of volcanic eruptions because even a small amount of volcanic ash can damage its engine.
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word for each of the blanks.
The search (41) ______ alternative sources of energy has (42) ______ in various directions. Many communities are burning garbage and other biological waste products to produce electricity. Changing waste products into gases or oil is also an efficient way to dispose of wastes.
Experimental work (43) ______ to make (44) ______ fuels from coal, or coal tars. But (45) ______ date, that process (46)_ expensive. Other experiments are (47) ______ to harness power with giant windmills. Geothermal power, heat from the earth, is also being tested.
Some experts are trying to revive hydroelectric power which derived from streams and rivers. Fifty years ago. hydroelectric power provided one third of the electricity (48) ______ in the United States, but today it supplies only 4 percent. The oceans are another potential source of energy. Scientists are studying ways to change the energy of ocean currents, tides, and waves (49) ______ electricity. Experiments are also underway to make (50) ______ of temperature differences in ocean water to produce energy.
Câu 41: __________(41)
Câu 42: __________(42)
Câu 43: __________(43)
Câu 44: __________(44)
Câu 45: __________(45)
Câu 46: __________(46)
Câu 47: __________(47)
Câu 48: __________(48)
Câu 49: __________(49)
Câu 50: __________(50)
Read the following passage and mark the letterA, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
Almon Strowger, an American engineer, constructed the fìrst automatic telephone switching system, which had a horizontal, bladelike contact arm, in 1891. The first commercial switchboard based on his invention opened in La Porte, Indiana, a year later ind was an instant success with business users. To access the system, the caller pressed button to reach the desired number and turned the handle to activate the telephone ringer. During the same year, Strowger’s step-by-step call advancement technology was implemented in the long-distance service between New York and Chicago when it proved to have the capacity of carrying signals through cable-joint extensions.
The first actual dial telephone, patented by Lee De Forest in 1907, was installed in Milwaukee in 1906. In 1912, their sound transmittal apparatus adapted an electronic tube to tunction as an amplifier. Transatlantic radio-telephone service linked New York and London in 1927. However, the long distances coaxial cable, which was hailed as unprecedented, came on the scene in 1936 connecting New York and Philadelphia. The Bell Laboratories research facility came up with the transistor to replace the cumbersome vacuum tube, thus diminishing the size of the electronic switch system to about 10 percent of that of the original. Crossbar switching, installed in tenminals in 1938, operated on the principle of an electromagnetic force, which rotated horizontal and vertical bars within a rectangular frame and brought contacts together in a split second. A technological breakthroưgh in the form of undersea cables between the United States and Havvaii was implemented almost twenty years later.
Câu 51: Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
Câu 52: The word “instant'’ in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _________ .
Câu 53: The word “implemented” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________ .
Câu 54: It can be inferred from the passage that initially telephones __________ .
Câu 55: Why did Strowger’s switchboard find application in long-distance lines?
Câu 56: How did Lee De Forest improve the existing telephone?
Câu 57: The word “hailed” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________.
Câu 58: The word “cumbersome” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _________ .
Câu 59: The phrase “of that” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________ .
Câu 60: The author of the passage implies that telephone networks expanded because of ___________ .
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
The Beatles became the most popular group in rock music history. This quarter of extraordinary talented musicians generated a phenomenal number of pieces that won gold records. They inspired a frenzy that transcended countries and economic strata. While all of them sang, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the majority of their songs. Originally, Lennon and five others formed a group called the Quarrymen in 1956 with Paul McCartney joining them later that year. George Harrison, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney, together with Stuart Sutcliffe, who played the bass guitar, and Pete Best on the drums, performed together in several bands for a few years, until they finally settled on the Sliver Beatles in 1960. American rock musicians, such as Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, influenced Lennoirs and McCartney's music, whose first hits consisted of simple tunes and lyrics about young love. “Love Me Do” and ‘"Please, Please Me”. The Beatles’ us tour propelled them to stardom and led to two movies “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help” filmed in 1964 and 1965. The so-called British invasion of the United States was in full swing when they took the top five spots on the single chart, followed by the release of their first film.
During the 1960s, their music matured and acquired a sense of melody. The lyrics of their songs became deeper and gained in both imagination and meaning. Their popularity conlinued to grow as the Beatles turned their attention to social problems and political issues in “Nowhere Man” and “Eleanor Rigby”. Loneliness and nostalgia come through in their ballads “Michelle” and “Yesterday", which fully displayed the group’s professional development and sophistication. Lennon’s sardonic music with lyric written in the first person, and Paul McCartney’s songs that created scenarios encouraged individuals to contribute to the character of the music produced by the group. In addition to their music, the Beatles social trend that popularized long hair, Indian musie, and mod dress.
For a variety of reasons, the musicians began to drift apart, and their last concert took place in San Francisco in 1966. The newspaper and tabloids publicized their quarrels and lawsuits, and the much idolized group finally disbanded in 1970. However, their albums had outsold those of any other band in history. Although all of the Beatles continued to perform solo or form new rock groups alone, none could achieve the recognition and success that they had been able to win together.
Câu 61: What does the passage mainly discuss?
Câu 62: According to the passage, which of the Beatles had the greatest musical talent?
Câu 63: According to the passage, how many members were in the band formed in 1956?
Câu 64: According to the passaee, the Beatles’ fame grew as a result of __________ .
Câu 65: The author of the passage implies that the Beatles ___________.
Câu 66: The author of the passage impiies that over time, the music and lyrics by the Beatles_____ .
Câu 67: According to the passage, when did the Beatles experience their greatest success?
Câu 68: The word “scenarios'’ in paragrapli 2 is closest in meaning to __________ .
Câu 69: The word “disbanded” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _______ .
Câu 70: According to the passage, how did John Lennon and Paul McCartney enhance the music of the group?
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that is closest in meaning to each of the following questions.
Câu 71: James should have been told the news a long time ago.
Câu 72: “I’ll pay back the money, Gloria,” said Ivan.
Câu 73: Please let me know if you wish to keep the books any longer.
Câu 74: If there had been fewer people in the queue, we would have waited.
Câu 75: Besides painting in oil, he also paints in water color.
Câu 76: As he grows older, he becomes increasing intelligent.
Câu 77: The man in that painting reminds me of my uncle.
Câu 78: It’s my opinion that you should take more exercises.
Câu 79: It is reported that two people were seriously injured in that accident.
Câu 80: There is no doubt that the tickets will be more expensive next month. | <urn:uuid:fb893f45-21c2-44e8-a69c-4fab3cd901da> | {
"date": "2019-04-19T01:00:22",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-18",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578526923.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20190419001419-20190419023419-00136.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9570482969284058,
"score": 2.515625,
"token_count": 2959,
"url": "https://tuyensinh247.com/de-thi-thu-dai-hoc-mon-tieng-anh-truong-thpt-chuyen-dh-sp-ha-noi-de-so-3-ec807.html"
} |
I recently learned about two new cases of groundwater contamination in the Barnett shale area; the victims claim that hydraulic fracturing is a suspected cause.
In the first case, Grace Mitchell, a resident of Johnson County, Texas, recently sued Encana and Chesapeake. According to her lawsuit, soon after drilling and hydraulic fracturing took place near her home earlier this year, her water became contaminated, feeling slick to the touch and giving off an oily, gasoline-like odor. Testing results performed on her well water confirmed it was contaminated with various chemicals, including C-12-C28 hydrocarbons, similar to diesel fuel.
In the second case, the Harris family of Denton County, Texas, is suing Devon Energy. They say that their water became contaminated soon after Devon commenced drilling and hydraulic fracturing near their home in 2008, and that their water became polluted with a gray sediment. Testing results performed on the well water found contamination with high levels of metals: aluminum, arsenic, barium, beryllium, calcium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, lithium, magnesium, manganese, nickel, potassium, sodium, strontium, titanium, vanadium, and zinc.
The attorney for both the Harris family and Ms. Mitchell recently stated: "The full scope of ground water contamination in the Barnett Shale will not be known for some time, however it appears to be extensive. We believe that hundreds and more likely thousands of property owners have already had the water beneath their surface essentially ruined as a result of nearby drilling and fracking in the Barnett Shale."
This is a very alarming statement, to say the least. As I recently posted, EPA has begun investigating groundwater contamination in Texas. This is powerful evidence for the need for federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing. Legislation to establish such regulation continues to gain support, closing out the year with over 70 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives and ten in the Senate. We hope to gain even more support in 2011. | <urn:uuid:6624a3fd-5a47-4cb1-ab07-40a548133386> | {
"date": "2016-12-05T14:40:21",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2016-50",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698541697.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170901-00160-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9703828692436218,
"score": 2.515625,
"token_count": 409,
"url": "https://www.nrdc.org/experts/amy-mall/two-more-cases-drinking-water-contamination-linked-hydraulic-fracturing-texas"
} |
A plan which sets environmental standards for using the Waikato’s natural and physical resources has now been released by Environment Waikato.
The Waikato Regional Plan has been developed over five years of consultation with more than 1000 people and organisations, submissions from more than 250, 44 days of hearings and 46 days of deliberations. The Plan links the management of all activities using the Region’s land, water, air and geothermal resources.
While the Plan sets environmental bottom lines for all these natural resources, it also reduces bureaucracy by allowing a wide range of activities to go ahead without resource consents – as long as standards are met. It reduces costs to resource users where they meet minimum environmental standards. For instance, you won’t have to pay for a consent for a whitebait stand, as long as it meets conditions.
Chairman Neil Clarke says the Plan will give certainty to people using resources, and captures the changes in public perceptions about the environment. It considers environmental effects across local authority boundaries, resources and the roles and responsibilities of other organisations. He says if people use resources, they need to check what the Plan requires.
“The aim has been to let people use resources with minimal bureaucracy as far as possible while maintaining high environmental standards.”
The Plan identifies how each of the water bodies in the Region will be managed. It sets a long term objective that the lower Waikato, Piako, Waitoa and Waihou rivers will meet standards suitable for swimming.
The water section also encourages the protection of existing wetlands and construction of new ones by substantially reducing the complexity of consents required for new small dams, as long as they’re properly designed.
There are rules for managing structures on river and lake beds and any activities that disturb river beds. The Plan allows a range of structures such as small culverts, bridges, maimais and whitebait stands that won’t affect the environment if properly installed and maintained.
The rules allowing animals in water say what effects farmers must manage to avoid having to get a consent. The Plan also makes use of non-regulatory methods, such as environmental education and economic incentives, to encourage farmers to keep stock out of waterbodies.
In the land and soil section there’s a permissive approach except in high risk erosion areas, clearing vegetation in the Coromandel and near caves. There are also more restrictions on sites where cleanfill is dumped.
The air section says how the Council will keep air quality in the Region high. It provides rules for agrichemical spray drift, discharges, smells and dust, indoor farms and backyard fires. The key is that there should be no objectionable effects on neighbours. The chapter also sets out new requirements for people using agrichemicals, including and obligation to notify neighbours of when you are spraying.
The geothermal section provides protection for geothermal surface features and an emphasis that in the future developers of geothermal stations must sustainably manage the resource.
Neil Clarke says the Council has taken a practical approach and looks at the effects of activities rather than industry sectors. While the Resource Management Act restricts many minor activities, the Plan allows these to go ahead as long as they meet environmental standards, reducing costs to resource users.
During its long development the Council has tried to ensure that anyone interested has had an opportunity to be involved. Submitters and others can still appeal the decisions to the Environment Court, and the Council is expecting appeals.
This media item was current at its release date. The facts or figures it contains may have changed since its original publication. | <urn:uuid:7f5397ed-32f2-4242-a43c-7aee95f3b036> | {
"date": "2019-12-13T09:18:49",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-51",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575540551267.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20191213071155-20191213095155-00296.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9462924003601074,
"score": 2.65625,
"token_count": 737,
"url": "http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/community/whats-happening/news/media-releases-archived/plan-sets-environmental-standards-for-region/"
} |
Showing that the ingredients for life in the universe may be distributed far more widely than previously thought, scientists have found traces of a key building block of biology in dust snatched from the tail of a comet.
Scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., have uncovered glycine, the simplest amino acid and a vital compound necessary for life, in a sample from the comet Wild 2. The sample was captured by NASA's Stardust spacecraft, which dropped it into the Utah desert in 2006. Full story:
* The Guardian: Charles Darwin was wrong about the tree of life...
- Fred Hoyle (1983), a world renowned astronomer said, that life appeared on our planet following an interplanetary travel...
- Francis Crick, Nobel prize laureate for discovering the DNA, in his book Life Itself, its Origin and Nature, wrote that "life on Earth was brought here by micro - organisms from another planet, these micro - organisms traveling inside a spaceship sent to Earth by a superior civilization, developed somewhere else, billions of years ago":
* MODERN SCIENCE AND THE ANCIENT WRITINGS ON THE GENESIS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM:
* Earth texts planet Gliese 581-d with Hallo messages... Planet Gliese 581c and Planet X/Eris/Nibiru: | <urn:uuid:fc176c96-c6db-4c68-90f4-18b39efae498> | {
"date": "2017-05-26T16:54:04",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-22",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-22/segments/1495463608669.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20170526163521-20170526183521-00356.warc.gz",
"int_score": 4,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9205482006072998,
"score": 3.5625,
"token_count": 275,
"url": "http://cristiannegureanu.blogspot.com/2009/08/ingredient-for-life-detected-in-comet.html"
} |
What Drunkorexia is Doing to College Students
At first, "drunkorexia" may sound like kind of a funny word, jokingly made up to describe a situation in which college students and others forgo food in order to be able to afford more alcohol and feel higher effects of alcohol on an empty stomach. But what some may brush off as crazy college-kid behavior is actually a serious problem that can have highly damaging consequences both in long- and short-term health. Of course, that hasn't stopped college students from engaging in this unhealthy trend, and a study at the University of Missouri-Columbia indicated that one in six students had practiced drunkorexia within the last year. Typically, drunkorexia is done by women; the study showed that three out of four drunkorexia respondents were female.
Students may not realize that drunkorexia is incredibly damaging to their health, but the fact remains that the practice puts them at risk for problems like sexually transmitted diseases, malnutrition, and even seizures and comas. Specifically, the University of Missouri study indicates that drunkorexia may lead to:
- sexually transmitted diseases
- drunk driving
- alcohol poisoning
- injury risk
- perpetrating or being a victim of sexual assault
- passing out
- heart problems
- cognitive disabilities
- organ failure
So it seems that a practice that may be approached lightheartedly is in fact a very serious problem that doesn't just stop with fun (and possible weight loss) one night. Used as a regular practice, drunkorexia can scar you for life and even end in death. And although the long-term effects are certainly frightening, the short-term possibilities of drunkorexia aren't incredibly easy hurdles to get over, either. Just one night of drunkorexia can have serious consequences, with higher levels of intoxication and starvation putting students at risk for dangerous behavior. At high levels of intoxication, students lose the ability to make good decisions, which can lead to dangerous situations like having unprotected sex, or even being involved in a rape, driving drunk, and becoming injured as a result of stunts, fights, or simply an inability to function properly. In addition to these risks, just one night of intense drinking on an empty stomach can lead to blackouts, hospitalization, and death from alcohol poisoning. Clearly, drunkorexia has serious and lasting consequences, even for students who aren't repeat offenders.
Drunkorexia is a scary situation for any college student, but for women, the problem is compounded. Female students are not only more prone to engage in drunkorexia, but they are also at a higher risk of problems from its effects. Dr. Valerie Taylor, chief of psychiatry at Women's College Hospital in Toronto indicates that female college students are more likely to engage in drunkorexia due to social pressure to stay slim. Even worse, female students are more likely to experience higher effects (meaning: reach alcohol poisoning and organ damage faster) because women metabolize alcohol faster than men. These facts combined with a higher risk of sexual assault mean that girls in college are hit with an even scarier drunkorexia situation.
How did things get so bad? It's one thing to have an eating disorder, and another to have a substance abuse problem, but combined, they're an incredible problem to overcome. Dr. Bunnell, former president of the National Eating Disorders Association, says that college students often suffer from an obsession with being skinny, while at the same time noticing the social acceptance of alcohol and drug abuse. In a world where celebrities checking into rehab is a regular practice and can even be "downright chic," it's not hard to understand why college students, especially female students, might think that drunkorexia is OK. But on top of social pressures, psychologists share that eating disorders may also be rooted in deep emotional pain. Alcohol, binging, and purging can provide an outlet for mental anguish, including childhood traumas like sexual abuse and neglect.
Such deep problems don't often come with an easy cure, and in some cases, require hospitalization and rehab. Judy Van De Veen suffered from eating disorders for years, and also took up drinking in later years. Things got so bad, she had to join a 12-step program and spent two years in and out of rehab, which cost her $25,000 out of her own pocket. None of them helped, but after becoming pregnant and joining support groups to address her daughter's caloric needs, she found an "excuse to eat" and be happy about it. Although Van De Veen's case is an extreme one, it offers a cautionary tale for students who are engaging in drunkorexia. Without help, things can go too far, resulting in a problem that can haunt you for decades, cost thousands of dollars, and even put your future family at risk.
We hope it's clear by now that drunkorexia is not harmless and is actually quite dangerous to the lives and long-term health of college students. So what can you do to avoid it and stop the practice on campus? FastWeb points out that college is a great place to simply ask for help. There are resources on every college campus to deal with not only alcohol abuse, but also eating disorders. College counselors are there to help, and your student fees have already paid for the visits. If you or a friend are suffering from drunkorexia, don't hesitate to speak up and get help while you still can. Be supportive with friends who may have a drunkorexia problem, offering positive reinforcement as well as fun alternatives to drinking, like movies and going out to dinner. It's also a good idea to set a good example by making responsible decisions with alcohol or avoiding it completely.
November 21st, 2011 written by Site Administrator | <urn:uuid:cabee3a5-d740-4d74-b738-c2c3e5f5678f> | {
"date": "2017-11-21T00:53:31",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-47",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934806309.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20171121002016-20171121022016-00456.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9685720801353455,
"score": 2.75,
"token_count": 1180,
"url": "http://coachbeckyhenry.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-is-drunkorexia-all-about.html"
} |
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. The rump bone, especially of cattle.
- n. The cut of beef containing the rump bone.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A cut of beef lying above the rump bone
- n. The rump bone itself
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The bone of the rump; also, the cut of beef surrounding this bone.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The bone of the buttock or rump in cattle; the cut of beef which includes this bone.
- n. Kerve up the flesh ther up to the hach-bone.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. a cut of beef including the H-shaped rump bone
Plate No. 10 is this aitchbone, which is first cut from the round, and then the steaks are taken off.
After the aitchbone and steaks have been taken from the round there remain nice pieces for stewing and braising; and still lower the meat and bones are good for soups and jellies.
It was tried in every fashion, — braised brisket, roasted ribs, broiled steaks, filet sauté, boiled aitchbone, &c., — and in all, gave evidence of the fact, that a new meat of surpassing value had been added to the products of the English park.
Boiled beef, either the aitchbone or the silver side of the round; carrots, turnips, suet dumplings, and potatoes: if there is a marrowbone, serve the marrow on toast at the same time. | <urn:uuid:90cc91de-2c14-4b0e-9688-e87b65362a01> | {
"date": "2015-04-02T10:32:09",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-14",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427132827069.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323174707-00138-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9072847962379456,
"score": 2.828125,
"token_count": 385,
"url": "https://www.wordnik.com/words/aitchbone"
} |
Many of us use computers and the internet to access information and connect with others. Unfortunately, computers and the internet can also allow an abuser to monitor, harass or stalk you. The information below provides some tips and resources to help you use technology in a safe way. If you have any questions or concerns for your safety, please contact an advocate.
- If you are in danger, please try to use a safer computer that someone abusive does not have direct or remote (hacking) access to. It might be safer to use a computer in a public library, at community centers, a trusted friend’s house, or an Internet Café.
- If you think your activities are being monitored, they probably are. Abusive people are often controlling and want to know your every move. You don’t need to be a computer programmer or have special skills to monitor someone’s computer and Internet activities—anyone can do it and there are many ways to monitor with programs like Spyware, keystroke loggers and hacking tools.
- It is not possible to delete or clear all the “footprints" of your computer or online activities. If you are being monitored, it may be dangerous to change your computer behaviors such as suddenly deleting your entire Internet history if that is not your regular habit.
- Be careful how you use your computer or other electronic equipment (cell phones, handheld devices, etc.). An abuser might become suspicious if you change your normal usage. You may want to keep using the monitored computer for innocuous activities, like looking up the weather. Use a safer computer to research an escape plan, look for new jobs or apartments, bus tickets, or ask for help.
- Email and Instant/Text Messaging (IM) are not safe or confidential ways to talk to someone about the danger or abuse in your life. If possible, please call a hotline instead. If you use email or IM, please use a safer computer and an account your abuser does not know about.
- Computers can store a lot of private information about what you look at via the Internet, the emails and instant messages you send, internet-based phone and IP-TTY calls you make, web-based purchases and banking, and many other activities.
Things to Know
“Corded” phones (landlines) are more private and less easy to intercept than cordless phones or analog cell phones.
Be aware you may not be able to reach 911 using an Internet phone or Internet-based phone service. So you may need to be prepared to use another phone to call 911.
Contact your local domestic violence program, shelter, or rape crisis center to learn about free cell phone donation programs.
Remember: If you are in danger, it might be safer to use a computer other than your own.
If you are in immediate danger, please call 911.
To talk to an advocate about your technology concerns or to help you identify shelters, programs and other resources for survivors and victims of sexual and domestic violence, contact your local program.
SafeLink is a 24-hour, free and multi-lingual hotline in Massachusetts. An advocate can talk with you
U.S. National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or
TTY at 1-800-787-3224
U.S. National Sexual Assault Hotline
Hotline automatically connect you to a local U.S. rape crisis program near your phone number’s area code.
U.S. National Teen Dating Violence Helpline
Adapted from Safety Net http://nnedv.org/projects/safetynet.html | <urn:uuid:5713841b-9745-4079-bcbf-cd9426466df2> | {
"date": "2018-07-22T12:42:34",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-30",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676593223.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20180722120017-20180722140017-00296.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.8943851590156555,
"score": 3.140625,
"token_count": 754,
"url": "http://www.janedoe.org/find_help/technology_safety"
} |
Russell B. Aitken Sea Bird Colony and Aquatic Birds
||Xsl file could not be processed: /xsl/flash_media_player.xslt
Honk hello to flamingos, storks, and other birds that inhabit marshes and lagoons. Outside, a sky-high aviary recreates the windswept coast of Patagonia, where seabirds swoop and penguins swim along your trail.
What to See and Do
Daily penguin feeding in aviary: 3:30 p.m.
Watch Magellanic penguins come out of their dens or up from the deep and bob for fish. Ask a keeper your questions about the birds.
Spin the wheel of penguin fortune.
Take your chances at being a penguin. Will you face a perilous encounter with an oil tanker or a bountiful fish dinner?
Discover the power of poop.
In Peru, bird poop is a major commodity! The white droppings of penguins and guanay cormorants make an excellent fertilizer.
Laugh like a kookaburra.
The world’s largest kingfisher is famous for its “ooh ooh ah ah ah” territorial call. Can you imitate its sound?
Compare your beach gear to the birds’.
No need for a lobster fork when you have a chisel-shaped bill! Discover aquatic birds’ built-in adaptations for life on the water.
In the Sea Bird Colony, you’ll discover how WCS scientists working along the Patagonia coastline are helping to establish parks and preserves to protect wildlife colonies from the threat of growing fishing and oil industries.
After your journey through the aviary, you might get a little hungry. Don't worry, the Dancing Crane Café is only a short flight away. | <urn:uuid:55bb71b6-60d7-46be-96ac-3dcc4d99865c> | {
"date": "2014-03-12T06:48:27",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-10",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394021429299/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305121029-00006-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.885498583316803,
"score": 2.71875,
"token_count": 382,
"url": "http://bronxzoo.com/animals-and-exhibits/exhibits/sea-bird-colony.aspx"
} |
This large metal object was discovered in a Siberian forest.
Credit: Russia Today
A metal object the size of a Volkswagen Beetle has been discovered near a remote village in Siberia. Local residents presumed it recently fell to Earth from space, but officials from Russia's space agency examined the object and said it "is not related to space technology."
Locals discovered the roughly 200-kilogram (440 pounds) object, which is cylindrical and capped on one end by a silvery dome, March 18 in the forest near the village of Otradnesnky. They attached the "UFO fragment" (as media outlets have called it) to a trailer and dragged it through the snow to their village. They then alerted Moscow authorities, according to a report in Britain's The Telegraph, and the object was confiscated for inspection.
Following the initial examination, an official for Roscosmos, Russia's official space agency, reportedly said: "The object found is not related to space technology. A final conclusion can be made after a detailed study of the object by experts."
Part of the fragment is made of titanium, according to district officials. Additional tests showed it was not radioactive.
Nick Johnson, head of NASA's orbital debris office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, said there isn't sufficient information about the object for him to make an assessment, but it doesn't appear to be part of a spacecraft.
"The object almost certainly is not related to a spacecraft," Johnson told Life's Little Mysteries."It also does not look like part of a launch vehicle which has fallen from orbit. However, we cannot be definitive in our judgment without better photos and other data. For example, the date the object fell is vitally important, but I did not see reference to it."
It is also unclear whether the object really did fall from space or got lost in the woods by some other route.
This story was provided by Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to SPACE.com. Follow Life's Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries, then join us on Facebook. | <urn:uuid:ea6ca6b4-5de3-4753-a6d6-5d7c89c381ec> | {
"date": "2015-08-04T19:55:43",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-32",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042991951.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002311-00186-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9670630693435669,
"score": 2.53125,
"token_count": 425,
"url": "http://www.space.com/15010-ufo-fragment-siberia-mystery.html"
} |
Years ago, Americans were reluctant to praise their kids’ intelligence.
Like many people around the world, Americans believed that fawning over children would make them arrogant or narcissistic.
But then something happened. American educators were seduced by the Self Esteem movement. They started promoting the idea that kids need flattery to succeed. Want your child to achieve? Tell him he is bright.
Decades later, the idea is still entrenched in the popular culture. Consider Blue’s Clues, the preschool show that ends each episode with a cheerleading session for kids:
“Hey, you know what? You’re really smart!”
It’s very well-intentioned. But it’s also wrong-headed.
Because it turns out that certain kinds of praise can backfire. In particular, telling kids they are smart can make them act dumb. And here is the evidence.
When you praise kids for their ability, it makes them focus on looking good—not on learning
Kids praised for their intelligence want to keep proving themselves by doing well.
This might sound good, but it’s actually counter-productive.
In a landmark series of experiments on American 5th graders, researchers Claudia Mueller and Carol Dweck found that kids behaved very differently depending on the kinds of praise they received.
Kids who were praised for their intelligence tended to avoid challenges. Instead, they preferred easy tasks. They were also more interested in their competitive standing--how they measured up relative to others--than they were in learning how to improve their future performance.
By contrast, kids who were praised for their effort showed the opposite trend. They preferred tasks that were challenging-- tasks they would learn from.
And kids praised for effort were more interested in learning new strategies for success than they were in finding out how other children had performed.
Kids differed in other respects, too. Compared to kids praised for their effort, kids who were accustomed to being praised for their ability were
• More likely to give up after a failure
• More likely to perform poorly after a failure
• More likely to misrepresent how well they did on a task
And that’s not all. Kids praised for their intelligence were more likely to view their failures as evidence of low intelligence.
When you praise kids for their intelligence, they learn to view their failures as evidence of stupidity
In the experiments by Mueller and Dweck, kids were given moderately difficult problems to solve. When each kid was finished, he was told “Wow, you did really well on these problems. You got….a really high score” (Mueller and Dweck 2002).
In addition, each kid received one of three treatments. He was either
• praised for his intelligence (“You must be smart at these problems”)
• praised for his effort (“You must have worked hard at these problems”),
• given no additional feedback (the control condition)
Next, kids were given a second set of problems—this time, very difficult ones—and kids were asked to explain why they performed poorly.
The kids who had been praised for their intelligence on previous tasks attributed more of their failure to a lack of intelligence.
But kids praised for their effort responded the same way as controls did—attributing their failure to a lack of effort (Meuller and Dweck 2002).
In other words, telling kids they are smart can make kids LESS likely to view themselves as intelligent.
By praising kids for being smart, we teach them that their performance is a definitive test of intelligence. Kids might enjoy the initial praise, but when they encounter difficult challenges later—as they must—the praise backfires.
Young children thrive on praise, but even they do better when you emphasize effort over ability
Some research suggests that praising intelligence can enhance the motivation of preschoolers (Henderlong 2000).
However, praising intelligence is NOT as effective as praising a child’s effort and choice of strategies (Henderlong 2000).
In one study, preschoolers were presented with two puzzles to solve and then given one of three types of feedback:
• “Person” praise that emphasized intelligence (“You are a really good problem-solver!”)
• “Process” praise that emphasized effort and strategies (“You’re finding really good ways to do this!”)
• Neutral feedback (“You finished both puzzles.”)
Next, kids were given a much tougher puzzle and they experienced failure.
When the preschoolers were offered a similar puzzle weeks later, those kids who had been praised showed more motivation than kids who had received only neutral feedback.
But the kids who had received “process” praise showed more motivation than the kids who had gotten “person praise” (Henderlong 2000).
Another experiment yielded similar results (Cimpian et al 2007). In this study, preschoolers watched a puppet show in which the protagonist drew a picture and was praised by a teacher.
Some preschoolers saw the protagonist receive generic praise about his ability (“You are a good drawer”).
Other preschoolers saw the protagonist receive praise only for that specific drawing (“You did a good job drawing”).
Then the protagonist made a mistake that the teacher commented on. How did the kids feel about the show?
The kids who’d watched the protagonist receive generic praise (“You are a good drawer”) were more upset about the subsequent mistakes. When asked if they would like to draw themselves, these kids answered no.
By contrast, the kids who had been exposed to the specific praise (“You did a good job drawing”) were more likely to show an interest in drawing.
So what’s the bottom line?
The right way to praise
Telling kids they are smart can be counterproductive, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t praise our kids. As mentioned above, even the “wrong” kind of praise can be more motivating than no praise at all. And it's likely that the right sort of praise -- process praise -- gives kids an advantage.
In a recent study tracking American children from infancy to grade school, Elizabeth Gunderson and colleagues (2013) found that the higher the proportion of process praise kids got during early childhood, the more likely kids were to endorse “can do” attitudes when they were in the second or third grade.
What’s important, then, is to emphasize praise that makes kids feel resilient. The problem with telling kids that they are smart or talented is that kids become frightened of failure. They’ve been labeled and they don’t want to do anything to lose that label.
Moreover, kids praised for intelligence tend to believe that intelligence is something innate and unchangeable (Mueller and Dweck 1998). As a result, these kids are rendered helpless by failure. If you fail, you must not be smart. End of story.
If we keep these principles in mind, it becomes clear what kids of praise are the most helpful. Instead of telling your child she is smart or talented, try these alternatives.
• Praise your child for her strategies (e.g., “You found a really good way to do it”)
• Praise your child for specific work (e.g., “You did a great job with those math problems”)
• Praise your child for his persistence or effort (e.g., “I can see you’ve been practicing” and “Your hard work has really paid off”)
Praising kids for effort (and not innate ability) may help them develop a better mindset for learning. For more information, see my article "Harmful beliefs: How a theory of intelligence can hamper your child's ability to learn."
And keep in mind other important guidelines
There are other pitfalls to avoid. For instance, even praise for
effort can backfire under certain conditions. For more information, see
this article on the
most effective ways to praise kids.
And what about the flip side of praise -- criticism?
Criticism can be just as tricky as praise to get right. Perhaps it's even trickier, because criticism is intrinsically negative.
But some intriguing experiments suggest a solution to the problem -- one that is surprisingly simple. Check out my article "Correcting behavior: The magic words that help kids cope with mistakes."
References: How to praise kids
Cimpian A, Arce H-M C, Markham EM and Dweck CS. 2007. Subtle linguistic cues affect children’s motivation. Psychological Science: 18(4): 314-316.
Gunderson EA, Gripshover SJ, Romero C, Dweck CS, Goldin-Meadow S, and Levine SC. 2013. Parent praise to 1-3 year-olds predicts children’s motivational frameworks 5 years later. Child Development.
Henderlong J and Lepper MR. 2002. The effects of praise on children’s intrinsic motivation: A review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin 128(5): 774-795.
Mueller CM and Dweck CS. 1998. Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance. Journal for Personality and Social Psychology 75(1): 33-52
Content last modified 2/13
image of girl student ©iStockphoto.com | <urn:uuid:83e7e478-8866-4854-b12a-55724da629bf> | {
"date": "2015-08-28T12:55:39",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-35",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-35/segments/1440644062782.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20150827025422-00232-ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9701882600784302,
"score": 2.828125,
"token_count": 1983,
"url": "http://www.parentingscience.com/praise-and-intelligence.html"
} |
Atrial fibrillation is a heart arrhythmia in which abnormal electrical signals begin in the atria (top chambers) Atrial fibrillation may be treated by ablation surgery if medications alone are not effective. In ablation, areas of tissue in the heart that cause arrhythmias are destroyed.
A catheter is inserted into the heart via a blood vessel in the leg. A small needle is used to make two small holes to allow the passage of the catheters from the right side to the left side of the heart.
Before the ablation, electrical mapping of the heart is performed. An electrically sensitive catheter is used to map the heart muscle and the origins of the electrical activity throughout the heart. The map tells the surgeon which areas of the heart are creating problematic electric signals that interfere with the proper rhythm.
The interventionalist carefully destroys malfunctioning tissue using a catheter to deliver energy (such as radiofrequency or cryotherapy) to scar the problematic areas. The scarred areas will no longer send abnormal signals. Catheter ablation for Atrial Fibrillation often follows a predictable pattern. For example, the areas around the pulmonary veins are a common culprit, and the ablation will target abnormal signals that start around the pulmonary veins.
©2019 Medmovie.com. All rights reserved. Medmovie.com creates and licenses medical illustrations and animations for educational use. Our goal is to increase your understanding of medical terminology and help communication between patients, caregiver and healthcare professionals. The content in the Media Library is for your information and education purposes only. The Media Library is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment for specific medical conditions. | <urn:uuid:4186bc78-8b44-497b-9f77-aa19b75be8c5> | {
"date": "2019-10-17T11:26:58",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-43",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986673538.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20191017095726-20191017123226-00456.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9052775502204895,
"score": 3.09375,
"token_count": 344,
"url": "https://medmovie.com/library_id/20083/topic/cvml_0414a/"
} |
NACo's Green Infrastructure Program helps counties to use management of natural resources to enhance water quality, abate flooding, lower heat in urban centers, lessen the impacts of climate change and build more resilient communities.
Green infrastructure refers to a planned and managed system of green spaces, greenways and natural lands that offer benefits of water conservation, filtration and absorption as well as air particle removal and heat relief. Natural spaces also contribute to the health and quality of life of our communities. On a smaller scale, green infrastructure practices include rain gardens and low impact development tools like porous pavements, green roofs, planters, street trees and rain barrels Regionally, the preservation and restoration of natural landscape features, such as forests, floodplains and wetlands, are critical green infrastructure components. Counties improve water quality, wildlife habitat, and opportunities for outdoor recreation/tourism through the protection of these ecologically-sensitive lands. | <urn:uuid:16fe49c5-99d0-4425-b4ef-d07f5252bc64> | {
"date": "2014-11-27T04:08:21",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-49",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416931007797.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20141125155647-00204-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9139969348907471,
"score": 3.296875,
"token_count": 187,
"url": "http://www.naco.org/programs/csd/Pages/GreenInfrastructureforCounties.aspx?PF=1"
} |
Mrs. Doctor: 6th Grade Math
What's up Doc?
All about Nitzy!
Math Curriculum 2017-2018
Weekly Math Links
6th Grade Raypec Instructional Videos
Integers and Rational Numbers
Compute Multi Digit Rational Numbers
Order of Operations to Evaluate Expressions with Variables
Equations and Inequalities
Independent and Dependent Variables
Ratios, Rates and Unit Rates
Area and Surface Area
Volume of Right Rectangular Prisms with Fractional Edges
Draw Polygons in Coordinate Planes
Summarize and Describe Distributions for a Set of Data
Preparing for homework and tests suggestions
Parent Resources and Links
Things to do when finished!
sign in or chat on any game. Always choose to play as a guest. You should only play the game that is linked and not go to any other game on those pages, except what a teacher has given you you permission to use.
Cool Math 4 Kids
Math Game Time
Math Playground Games
Multiplication Fact Games
Greg Tang Math Games
Create a free website | <urn:uuid:59dba692-909d-45f8-93fe-a4e65caca513> | {
"date": "2018-03-17T22:25:00",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-13",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257645362.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20180317214032-20180317234032-00656.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.7892701625823975,
"score": 3.359375,
"token_count": 232,
"url": "http://tdoctor.weebly.com/games.html"
} |
PPIs, a category of anti-acid reflux drugs than includes such household names as Nexium, Losec, Prilosec, Dexilant, and several others, are among the most common prescription drugs in the world.
In addition, several PPI formulations are available OTC without prescription.
Hence, millions and millions of people use them.
In theory, for the vast majority of patients, PPIs should be prescribed (or self-used) only when lifestyle adjustments and other older, safer drugs have been tried first, and PPIs should only be used for a limited time in the lowest dose possible.
As well, every repeat prescription for a PPI should come with the standard reminder that these drugs should just be used for short-term relief so “Hey, do you really need this new script?”
But as Homer Simpson sagely reminds us, “In theory, communism works” so IRL, PPIs are taken by most users for many, many years, some for life.
And this despite the many studies that have linked PPIs to a higher risk of a slew of some pretty awful complications including among others pneumona, osteoporosis, dementia, C. difficile infections, and chronic kidney disease.
So if you’ve noted the many studies that have warned about PPIs, you will not be surprised, I’m sure, to learn that a new study just published online in the BMJ concluded that compared to people who use older anti-acid drugs and those who don’t use drugs for acid reflux at all, PPI users have a higher risk of dying prematurely.
And the longer they (I should actually write “we” because I’ve been on Nexium for over 2 decades) use a PPI, the greater that comparative risk of death.
This news comes with a couple of key cautions, however.
First, this study is what’s called an observational study, hence the researchers cannot account for why PPI users have a higher risk of death: it may be that despite the researchers’ diligent efforts to rule out important differences between PPI users and users of other reflux drugs, there is still a pretty good chance that PPI users are either sicker (PPIs are often not first-line drrugs but are prescribed only when others have failed) or perhaps PPI users are less likely to adhere to other anti-reflux lifestyle adjustments which would have the added benefit of lowering death from other conditions.
Perhaps, but more likely, PPIs are problematic drugs with potential risks, especially for long-term use.
However, as someone who has tried many many times to get off his PPI, I can attest that the rebound acid reflux I get whenever I do cut out my PPI makes my life so uncomfortable that I rush back on it pretty quickly, although I have managed to change a dose of 40 mg Nexium every day into 20 mg 2 out of 3 days.
As I always remind myself (and you): life is a balance of risk/benefit.
And life has to be enjoyed. | <urn:uuid:da22d6d7-40c3-4eb3-9a55-cb9814eee4c8> | {
"date": "2019-08-17T22:33:21",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-35",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-35/segments/1566027313501.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20190817222907-20190818004907-00256.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9561585783958435,
"score": 2.75,
"token_count": 651,
"url": "http://drart.ca/2017/07/04/how-safe-are-ppis/"
} |
Climate Change Could be Expensive for Canada
Posted on 30 September 2011 by John Hartz
This is a reprint of a news release posted by Canada's National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRT) on Sep 19, 2011.
Unless global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are brought down and Canada invests in adaptation, the economic impacts of climate change on Canada could climb to billions of dollars per year, according to a new report released today by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRT).
Paying the Price: the Economic Impacts of Climate Change for Canada – the fourth report in the NRT’s Climate Prosperity series – is the first national study to show what the economic consequences to Canada could be as a result of climate change, under four separate scenarios involving two factors: global GHG emissions and Canadian economic and population growth.
Although Canada contributes approximately 1.5% of global emissions, the report concludes that climate change impacts brought about by increased world-wide emissions have a real and growing economic cost to Canada. It also shows that adaptation – our capacity to manage the impacts to come – while not cost-free, is a cost-effective way to alleviate some of those impacts.
Based on NRT original economic modelling, the report finds that the economic impact on Canada could reach:
- 2020: $5 billion per year
- 2050: Between $21 and $43 billion per year
The report also estimates a five per cent chance that costs could escalate to $91 billion in 2050 if Canada’s population and economic growth is rapid and global climate change is high.
Because climate change impacts will manifest themselves sectorally and regionally in different ways across the country, the NRT also focused on the economic impacts and cost-effectiveness of adaptation strategies for three representative areas: timber supply, coastal areas and human health.
In the 2050s:
- Timber supply impacts could range from $2 billion to $17 billion per year with high impacts in B.C.
- Flooding damages to coastal dwellings, resulting from climate change-induced sea-level rise and storm surges, could cost between $1 billion to $8 billion per year with higher than average cost impacts in Atlantic Canada
- Poorer air quality resulting from higher temperatures will lead to more hospital visits, resulting in millions of dollars in costs to local health care systems for four of Canada’s major cities – Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver and Calgary
The NRT also assessed if cost savings would occur as a result of proactive climate adaptation measures such as enhanced forest fire management and restricting coastal development in flood-prone areas. The report concludes that adaptation can save money by reducing the physical and economic impacts of climate change. The economic benefits of investing in adaptation outweighed the costs of simply letting rising climate impacts and costs occur in most instances.
“Climate change has a price tag and it could be expensive,” said NRT President and CEO, David McLaughlin. “While our report makes it clear that getting global emissions down is both in our economic and environmental interest, it also shows that adaptation is key in reducing impacts on people, places and prosperity.”
Specific recommendations include further investment by the Government of Canada in increasing our country’s expertise in the economics of climate change impacts and adaptation, and further use of economic analysis to inform allocation of adaptation funding. The report also recommends that all levels of governments continue investing in producing and disseminating research to guide adaptation decision-making by business, communities, and individuals.
“This report sets out to help all of us – governments, business, and communities – to make climate-wise investment choices now, and in the future. The economic information we provide here will further help us understand what is at stake if we fail to respond and GHG emissions continue to rise,” said NRT Vice-Chair Robert Slater.
About the Round Table
Through the development of innovative policy research and considered advice, the NRT’s mission is to help Canada achieve sustainable development solutions that integrate environmental and economic considerations to ensure the lasting prosperity and well-being of our nation. The NRT is the only national organization with a direct mandate from Parliament to engage Canadians in the generation and promotion of sustainable development advice.
The report is available on the Round Table’s website: www.nrtee-trnee.ca
NRT’s Climate Prosperity Reports Series
In the global transition to a low-carbon economy, Canadian competitiveness is at stake. We need to determine where we can succeed and gain in achieving a low-carbon performance that will create jobs and opportunity for Canadians. This study examines how Canada ranks within the G8 nations for low-carbon performance.
Climate prosperity means competing with the world to build and new low-carbon future for Canada and Canadians. The green race is on. Canada needs to be ready.
Report #2: Degrees of Change: Climate Warming and the Stakes for Canada (Dec 16, 2010)
This report is about how Canada will be affected in a climate-changing world. The earth is warming and Canada is already experiencing this change at an even faster rate than other nations. Climate change promises to be both pervasive and pernicious. What will it mean to Canada? How will it impact us? What can we expect?
Forewarned is forearmed. The world is warming and Canada will feel the effects. We need to know what climate impacts are coming so we can adapt and prosper.
Rport#3: Parallel Paths: Canada-U.S. Climate Policy Choices (Jan 25, 2011)
Uncertainty about American climate policy shapes Canada’s own policy choices and direction. By necessity, our integrated economies require serious consideration of harmonizing Canadian climate policy with that of the United States. But different energy economies and greenhouse gas emission profiles in the two countries create different economic and environmental implications for Canada as we pursue such a harmonized policy approach.
Greenhouse gases know no borders. Parallel paths – together but different – allow Canada to harmonize climate policy with the U.S. while meeting our national needs and goals.
Report #4: "Paying the Price: The Economic Impacts of Climate Change for Canada" (Sep 19, 2011)
The following paragraphs from Chapter 7 (page 117) of this report detail its scope.
“Degrees of Change” (NRT Report #2) showed what the physical impacts of climate warming could be for Canada; “Paying the Price” shows what the economic impacts could be for Canada.
Many of these impacts will be negative and many will carry a cost. Together, these two NRTEE reports help Canadians know more about what climate change impacts could be and how much they could cost. Understanding the costs of climate change in economic terms is essential to help us remain prosperous through climate change. This understanding helps all of us — governments, business, communities — make climate-wise investment choices. Economic information helps us understand what is at stake if we fail to respond and global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Here we underline the economic damages associated with global emissions. Canada contributes approximately 1.5 per cent of global emissions158; although high on a per capita basis, it is dwarfed by emissions from everywhere else. Emissions from abroad — not just our own — represent the greatest economic risk to Canada. But equally, our emissions contribute to imposing costs on the rest of the world. This NRTEE analysis shows compelling evidence for Canada to advocate for a strong international arrangement that brings those emissions down, on both environmental and economic grounds.
Throughout this report, we explored the potential economic costs — of impacts as well as adaptation investment — associated with climate change in Canada. We did so to learn more about the economic scale of the problem to our country. And we did so to begin to figure out how to cope with what can only be a growing challenge by considering how adaptation can reduce impacts of climate change and lessen costs to Canadians.
To do so — the first time ever in Canada — we conducted original economic modelling of the costs of inaction to Canada, of letting growing climate change run its course. Next, to fill out our analysis and understanding, we undertook detailed representative studies of what climate change could mean to Canada’s prosperity (timber supply), places (coastal areas), and people (human health). Finally, we explored the economic value of ecosystems to understand how a changing climate could affect how Canadians use and view this aspect of Canada. | <urn:uuid:1e33bf00-e2fd-4b48-9a02-ae24fce2fc34> | {
"date": "2015-11-26T01:15:34",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-48",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398446248.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205406-00058-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9368125200271606,
"score": 2.96875,
"token_count": 1758,
"url": "http://www.skepticalscience.com/Climate-Change-Expensive-Canada-NRT-Report.html"
} |
Ironing or smoothing is the work of using a heated tool to remove wrinkles from washed clothes. The common tools for this purpose are called "irons", though modern designs are no longer made of iron.
Ironing works by loosening the bonds between the long-chain polymer molecules in the fibres of the material. While the molecules are hot, the fibres are straightened by the weight of the iron, and they hold their new shape as they cool. Some fabrics, such as cotton, require the addition of water to loosen the intermolecular bonds. | <urn:uuid:5cdc290a-f65a-4466-aab3-d56716de3f92> | {
"date": "2014-10-24T07:42:16",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-42",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1414119645432.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20141024030045-00178-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9593273401260376,
"score": 3.34375,
"token_count": 116,
"url": "http://www.thesevacuumssuck.com/vacuum-cleaners-605.html"
} |
Smart floors could soon be part of our smart homes. Scientists in Germany have developed a high-resolution pressure-sensitive floor that can accurately keep track of people and furniture in rooms. Dubbed "Gravity Space," the floor can detect poses, movements and collisions and create a mirror-like inverse projection of the goings-on above. The technology could have a wide range of applications ranging from home security and automation to interactive gaming.
Read the full article: Pressure-sensing GravitySpace floor adds new dimension to the smart home | <urn:uuid:8c513be2-7cec-43ab-9593-e577133e4617> | {
"date": "2015-11-29T10:39:46",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-48",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398457697.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205417-00279-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9353431463241577,
"score": 2.5625,
"token_count": 107,
"url": "http://www.gizmag.com/gravityspace-floor-hasso-plattner/25978/pictures"
} |
When we hear about Brittle Bone, we often think of somebody who is slightly more prone to breaking a bone than the average person. - That would be type I OI. Type I is the Brittle Bone most people are vaguely familiar with. People with Type I don't produce sufficient collagen to grow strong bones. However, most will grow to natural height with normal looking bones that are slightly more fragile than yours and mine.
But there are other, more menacing types of OI.
Zoe has Type III, the most severe type of OI you can possibly survive. OI is a form of dwarfism. Arms and legs are often deformed from both the irregular, under-mineralized bone structure and repeat fractures. Many children born with Type III fracture their ribs simply from taking a deep breath. Some infants will pass away from respiratory failure, especially early in life. If a child with Type III does survive those first, formidable months, they will never grow much past 3 feet tall, and will likely spend most of their lives in a wheelchair.
At 3 months, Zoe was breaking so often, Chelsea had resorted to splinting Zoe herself because doctors were so unfamiliar with the condition. Often times doctors handle OI children like regular kids, causing even more breaks.
Zoe also has brittle teeth, eating anything but soft food can cause chipping. Zoe's ear bones are just as fragile as any other bone she has. Loud, piercing noises can shatter her eardrums.
Perhaps one of the most important facts about OI is that it does NOT cause mental delays. At a glance, many people see Zoe's physical deformities and conclude that she's also mentally handicap. Zoe does have difficulty speaking, she often favors sign language instead. During one of Zoe's trips to theCHIVE offices, she accidentally pushed her juice glass to the floor exclaiming, "Oh… poo!"
Zoe has remarkable parents. Curtis Lush just received his degree as a surgical tech from CNI College. Until last week, Curtis would attend classes from 7am - 3pm, then rush to Hoag Hospital where he works as an Operating Room Assistant until Midnight.
Chelsea takes care of Zoe full-time but dreams of returning to school to complete her nursing degree. To assuage Zoe's massive medical bills, the family is living with Zoe's grandparents. Both Curtis and Chelsea are determined to create a better life for themselves and their new family. Chelsea recently found out she's pregnant with her second child.
How we can help:
To strengthen and reinforce her bones, Zoe will need rodding surgeries. Metal rods can be surgically inserted in the long bones to stabilize and strengthen them, Zoe's soft bones will be drilled in 3 sections where expandable, telescoping rods will be inserted. With these rodding surgeries, it's possible that Zoe's legs could support enough weight to walk someday. Zoe needs at least 6 bones rodded, the surgeries aren't cheap.
Zoe's wheelchair is outdated, some parts are held together with duct tape. The old analog chair severely limits Zoe's mobility and, in turn, her ability to discover the world around her. With kids, curiosity is the root of speech. If Zoe cannot wheel over to the object that intrigues her, she'll never learn its name. Zoe needs a tricked-out set of wheels, we're going to get that for her too along with a badly-needed wheelchair ramp at her home. The entire list of Zoe's needs here.
As an infant, Zoe wore a special helmet to help shape and mold her skull.
Zoe is as aware of the world around her as you and I. She feels her bones shatter the same as you and I would, only more often. Throughout her childhood Zoe will travel to strange places and have metal rods wedged into her delicate frame. The collective pain Zoe will endure in her life will make any of our toils seem insignificant. But the space between the hurt is filled with smiles. As you'll see below, Zoe never stops smiling. Together, we can dramatically improve Zoe's quality of life. With the Chivers' help today, we can ease Zoe's pain. | <urn:uuid:d36e8ed3-a79a-4a3d-8be5-9d880bc0bd59> | {
"date": "2019-06-20T03:48:41",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-26",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560627999130.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20190620024754-20190620050754-00496.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9730722308158875,
"score": 2.71875,
"token_count": 860,
"url": "https://chivecharities.org/story/zoe"
} |
Following are the key elements of parallel database processing:
Speed-up is a property in which the time taken for performing a task decreases in proportion to the increase in the number of CPUs and disks in parallel. In other words, speed-up is the property of running a given task in less time by increasing the degree of parallelism (more number of hardware). With additional hardware, speed-up holds the task constant and measures the time saved. Thus, speed-up enables users to improve the system response time for their queries, assuming the size of their databases remain roughly the same. Speed-up due to parallelism can be defined as ... | <urn:uuid:63252846-a03c-4ea8-968b-e0da2d4af3e3> | {
"date": "2018-02-18T05:28:06",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-09",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-09/segments/1518891811655.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20180218042652-20180218062652-00056.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9265116453170776,
"score": 3.109375,
"token_count": 130,
"url": "https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/database-systems-concepts/9788177585674/9788177585674_ch17lev1sec4.html"
} |
Hottest temperature recorded in South Carolina: 113 in Columbia, on June 29.Previous hottest: 111 at Blackville, Sept. 4, 1925; at Calhoun Falls, Sept. 8, 1925; at Camden, June 27, 1954.First recognized temperature record in South Carolina: 1887.Source: S.C. Department of Natural Resources, state climate office
A thermometer in Columbia in June scorched up the highest official temperature ever recorded in South Carolina — a blazing 113 degrees.
Might as well get used to it. That record high likely wasn’t an outlier. And the forecast for this winter is warmer and drier than average — just like last winter.
There are two little bits of relief: It will be cooler along the coast, where temperatures will be about normal, said Jake Crouch, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientist. And the next two weeks or so will be a little wetter and cooler overall, said Ed O’Lenic, the national Climate Prediction Center operations chief.
The culprit isn’t the usual El Nino/La Nina gang. This time it’s the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, essentially a big splotch of cold water in the north Pacific Ocean that “might just be driving these signals in our climate,” O’Lenic said.
The hobgoblin in all this is climate warming, the stubbornly disputed trend that the preponderance of scientific evidence now demonstrates is happening.
The forecasts follow an S.C. Climate Office release that verified the 113 temperature recorded June 29 at the University of South Carolina. Leonard Vaughan, National Weather Service meteorologist in Columbia, called the heat wave that day a rare event pressure-cooked by sinking air that was unusually dry for June.
But heat has been no stranger to the region. The first six months of the year were the warmest ever recorded for South Carolina, according to NOAA. It was so warm that outdoor sports enthusiasts reported animals and plants doing things earlier in the season than had been seen before.
Two weeks after that “rare” record-breaking day, a 124 heat index tallied July 13 at the Mount Pleasant Regional Airport set an unofficial state record.
A relatively cool November is largely what kept the state from setting an average heat record for the year.
The continental United States as a whole wasn’t so lucky.
“We’re now virtually certain that the year will be the warmest on record for the contiguous United States,” Crouch said. Globally, the year is the eighth warmest recorded, he said.
Reach Bo Petersen at 937-5744 or @bopete on Twitter.
Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. | <urn:uuid:e7ff9252-ef06-4e48-9875-aba5c1026e30> | {
"date": "2014-10-31T15:43:29",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-42",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1414637900029.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20141030025820-00233-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9316022396087646,
"score": 2.984375,
"token_count": 622,
"url": "http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20121223/PC16/121229684/1005/warmer-winter-to-follow-scorcher-summer"
} |
Nailing down a rule of thumb: Last Friday, the Washington Post published an important op-ed column by Joel Klein and two other authors whose names shall be lost to history. (Klein is chancellor of New York Citys schools.) The entire column is well worth reading. But the highlighted passage struck us as important:
KLEIN (4/9/10): Consider the latest national math scores of fourth- and eighth-graders, which show startling differences among results for low-income African American students in different cities. In Boston, Charlotte, New York and Houston, these fourth-graders scored 20 to 30 points higher than students in the same socioeconomic group in Detroit, Milwaukee, Los Angeles and the District of Columbia. Boston fourth-graders outscored those in Detroit by 33 points. Ten points approximates one year's worth of learning on these national tests, which means that by fourth grade, poor African American children in Detroit are already three grades behind their peers in Boston.
Klein and the others were discussing the National Assessment of Educational Progress (the NAEP), widely known as the nations report card. In that passage, Klein endorsed the very rough rule of thumb we have discussed many times: Ten points on the NAEP scale approximates one year's worth of learning.
A key word there is approximates. We regard this as a very rough rule of thumbbut it does give us a rough idea of what scores, and score changes, might mean on these federally-managed tests. We were glad to see Kleins statement in the Post because it brings us closer to the day when big newspapers, in their news reporting, may start discussing the large score gains which have been recorded on the NAEP.
What do those score gains actually mean? Its time for big papers to interview (actual) experts and make an attempt to explain.
What is happening in the academic lives of low-income and minority children? Leading liberals rarely dirty their hands with such worthless topics. Our side quit on those kids long ago; we virtually never discuss them. That said, other entities may want to forge an assessment of those kids academic progress, and the NAEP is the most reliable tool we have for that purpose. And as we told you just last week: If we apply that rough rule of thumb, very large scores gains have occurred on the NAEP, just in the past dozen years. Examples: From 2000 through 2009, black fourth-graders gained nineteen points on the NAEP in math; so did Hispanic fourth-graders. (White fourth-graders gained fourteen points.) If we accept that rough rule of thumb, those score gains seem to represent remarkable progress. But wed like to see some actual experts explain what they think those scores mean.
(For more information about NAEP gains, see THE DAILY HOWLER, 4/7/10.)
It was odd to see the Washington Post printing that statement by Klein. Just one week earlier, the same newspaper, on the same op-ed page, had printed a column by Diane Ravitch; she seemed to say that no progress in reading and math has occurred during this periodand she too cited those NAEP scores as her source! In the face of such contradictory claims, our major newspapers should start explaining what those rising NAEP scores mean. In truth, they should have done this long ago. But now that Klein has given them cover, they really should get at it now.
Well hit you again with an observation: Its stunning to see the way the liberal world has taken a pass on these topics. We white liberals are highly skilled at prancing and parading about, assuring the world of our own racial greatness. But whats happening to black and brown kids? Go aheadsearch your favorite liberal journals and sites! See if theyve ever dirtied their hands producing work on this dull topic.
White liberals are full of racial greatnessexcept when the lives of minority kids are at stake. At such moments, we take a pass. Go ahead, check it outgo search your favorite fiery site! Go examine the work of the fiery editors who never fail to assure the world of their own racial grandeur.
Can we talk? As it turns out, we liberals are remarkably small, ratty people. Go aheadjust search those sites! You couldnt make liberal editors publish work about low-income kidsunless an article on the topic could somehow get them on Hardball.
Chris Matthews, of course, hasnt been re-purposed to that extent yet. Final question: Why dont liberal shows on Our Own News Channel discuss the lives of low-income kids? Crackers! Could the answer be more clear? They know we white liberals dont care!
To all appearances, neither do they. It makes for a heavenly marriage.
DEFINING DEVIANCY UP (permalink): Will women in certain traditional cultures ever catch a break? Just consider the women of Saudi Arabia. By tradition, their culture deeply restricts their life choices.
And now, as if things werent bad enough, they have to sit around taking counsel from the likes of Maureen Dowd:
DOWD (4/11/10): When I was in Saudi Arabia, I had tea and sweets with a group of educated and sophisticated young professional women.
I asked why they were not more upset about living in a country where womens rights were strangled, an inbred and autocratic state more like an archaic mens club than a modern nation...
Is there no indignity to which these women wont be exposed? That asked, we thought of Maureen Dowd this morning when we saw that the Washington Posts Kathleen Parkeronce described as southern-fried Dowdhad won this years Pulitzer Prize.
Dowd won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1999. Parker has won it eleven years later. But lets give credit where credit is due: In its long, slow move up to Parker from Dowd, the Pulitzer people have made the long climb from moral squalor all the way up to mediocrity. Lets give credit where credit is due: In its eleven-year climb back from Dowd, the Pulitzer committee has defined deviancy up.
In fairness, Parkers work simply isnt defined by Maureen Dowds moral squalor. In recent years, Parker has largely reinvented herself, moving from a center-right voice in the Clinton/Bush years to a moderate voice in the Age of Obama. (During this same period, she moved from syndication by the Chicago Tribune to syndication by the Washington Post. Her column began appearing in the Post on a regular basis in August 2008.) Presumably, Parker is being rewarded for that shift in tone.
Parkers work isnt defined by late-90s moral squalor. Her work is merely mediocre, the hallmark of the mainstream press in the post-Clinton/Gore, post-Bush/Cheney era. Heres why we call Parkers work mediocre: Can you think of a single thing you know or understand because Parker has had a column for two decades? Because she has appeared on so many weekend talk programs? Theres nothing wrong with mediocrity, and Parker is generally witty and pleasant. But her prize defines the press corps current play-it-pleasant culture: Its stunning to think that such an ordinary performer has been given this cults top prize.
With Dowd, things were different. As happenstance has it, were currently reviewing The Year of Dowd (1999) for the book were posting at our companion site (just click here). As Parker, a general mediocrity, receives her Pulitzer Prize, we thought it might be worth remembering how much worse it was in this inbred cult when their top prize was handed to Dowd.
Gaze on the face of moral squaloron the banality of evil! Dowd was awarded her prize in April 1999, praised for her blood-churning columns about Bill and Monicas sexy-time. (Sorryfor her fresh and insightful columns on the impact of President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.) A few months later, in late July, Dowd returned to her post at the Times after an absence of nearly a month. What was on her award-winning mind? These are the topics the lady engaged in her return to the wars:
July 28, 1999: She described her recent lazer eye surgery.
August 1: She reviewed the movie Runaway Bride.
August 4: She discussed a new Talk magazine piece about the Clintons marriage.
August 8: Bob Dole on the prospect of being first gentleman. (Elizabeth Dole was running for president.)
August 11: She compared and contrasted two blond iconsHillary Clinton and Marilyn Monroe.
August 15: Might Warren Beatty run for the White House?
August 18: Bush and the question of youthful drug use.
August 22: Bush and the question of youthful drug use.
August 25: She reviewed a Showtime film about the sexy-time relationship between Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas.
August 29: She psychoanalyzed John McCains reasons for seeking the White House.
September 1: I ran into Kato Kaelin the other night, she wrote, before discussing Monica Lewinskys plan to launch a lipstick line.
September 5: She offered her reactions to Paris, a new Las Vegas casino hotel.
Dowd was, and is, a moral cipher. On September 8, 1999, she returned to her favorite subjectthe Clintons marriagewriting about their marital pratfalls, their kooky connubial bliss. On September 12, she took things farther. In a column headlined Sure I Would, she ran through the names of the various White House contenders, asking herself, one by one, if she would have sex with these fellers (excerpt below). Needless to say, Dowd had a very serious sub-text for this deeply thoughtful column. So too when she tormented the housewives of Riyadh just a few weeks ago.
Two months after that chain of columns in 1999, the boys and girls of the mainstream press started their month-long trashing of Naomi Wolfand through her, of Candidate Gore. On November 3, 1999, Dowd helped drive this virtual wilding along (Dan Kennedys term), offering a smutty, factually-challenged column in which she repeated a smutty claim she had toyed with two years beforethe claim that Wolf, in one of her books, urged women to release their inner sluts. Two days later, the very same smutty, life-draining claim popped up in the Washington Post.
Darlings! It was divine! And this was the soul of the era.
At present, were reliving November 1999 each day in our work for How he got there. It had been seven months since Dowd won her Pulitzer Prize when her inner slut column appeared. It was a time of moral squalor, of moral depravity, of journalistic promiscuity. Some of your favorites drove this along (Arianna Huffington, Frank Rich). Others simply refused to complain (E. J. Dionne, the newly-divine David Remnick.) But the Pulitzer people have come a long way since the time when they gave Dowd their prize. In their award to Kathleen Parker, theyve given their prize to mediocrity. In that sense, they have defined the press corps deviancy up.
Heroically, the committee has moved up from depravity in the eleven years gone by. But alas! Pleasing the darlings, Dowd savaged Wolfand George Bush got to the White House.
Where things stood: The Pulitzer folk have moved up from deviancy. This was their best they thought we had, back in 1999:
DOWD (9/12/99): Al Gore wears expensive pantsuits, drapey around his legs, hiding the ankles that some women mistakenly call thick, and flat shoes. He still looks like the smartest guy at the dance, the guy not smart enough to escape his vulnerability nor ambitious enough to escape his longing. Would I? Sure I would.
Rudolph Giuliani's hair is bright and fixed. But sometimes a tendril of it will come loose and fall into his face and he will seem open to the intrigue of dishevelment. That radical combover, that comb-hither look, makes me shiver. Most women seem to miss his raw appeal: Only a very sexually confident man would slap handcuffs on Wall Street traders right in the middle of the workday. Would I? Sure I would.
I think it would be easy to get Alan Keyes flustered. One little wink would do it. He's a complete fruitcake, but that's what makes him so irresistibly saucy. Would I? Sure I would.
W.'s eyes, set so close together, squeezed above that long space between the nose and mouth, give him a strange simian magnetism. His rather wide ears sport those macho, mesquite tufts of hair. Cowboys make me weak. Would I? Sure I would.
I don't care that Bill Bradley has a boring voice and a belly and a bald spot and ratty sneakers. His palatial chin packs a lewd wallop. It is enigmatic in its capacity for adjustment. It seems both the origin and repository of his secrets. Would I? Sure I would.
Al Gore wears expensive pantsuits. Wed never even noticed that one before. But the age was drenched with such work.
The Pulitzer people have come a long way. Dowd herself? Not so much. | <urn:uuid:51826050-df10-46e3-856e-12bb71388590> | {
"date": "2014-03-10T17:48:28",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-10",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394010925635/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305091525-00006-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9646472334861755,
"score": 2.921875,
"token_count": 2816,
"url": "http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh041310.html"
} |
Water levels at Lake Mead fell to 1,074 feet last week, down from an average of 1,084 feet in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The lake is currently at 37% of capacity, according to Bureau spokesperson Rose Davis. The region has suffered from a drought that has lasted more than a decade and the snowpacks that feed the lake—created during the Depression era—remain low. Recent images of the lake show just how far water levels have dropped with “bathtub ring” markings indicating the higher height of the reservoir.
The manmade lake—located in Nevada and formed by the Hoover Dam—provides crucial water to parts of Arizona, Nevada and California, including the Los Angeles region. The federal government could implement emergency measures if the water level remains at 1,075 feet or below at the end of the year. Those measures would require reductions in water delivery to Nevada and Arizona, Davis says. California and Mexico would be exempt.
But figures from the Bureau of Reclamation suggest that such measures may be unlikely with only a 10% chance of such a shortage in 2017. The agency expects the lake’s levels to drop to 1,071 feet over the summer during peak demand before rising to 1,078 at the end of the year.
The record low water levels follow a year that brought some relief to drought-stricken California with rain and snow from El Niño. But, even as the state lifted some water restrictions last week, experts say that the U.S. southwest still faces extreme drought conditions. | <urn:uuid:a69cbfbe-97b2-4f3a-8b50-4901e1be402a> | {
"date": "2018-11-21T03:57:11",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-47",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-47/segments/1542039747024.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20181121032129-20181121054129-00096.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.953252911567688,
"score": 3.234375,
"token_count": 326,
"url": "http://time.com/4344983/lake-mead-water-reservoir-drought/"
} |
Eunice Pickstock – Cheshire, c. 1940s
This website provides extensive information on numerous aspects of the lives and experiences of British Land Girls in both World War One and World War Two.
Find out more about the Women’s Land Army in World War One, World War Two and after World War Two, including information on the Veterans Badge.
“A Girl of the Women’s Land Army”
By R Schwabe, 1918
Explore The Archives, containing original documents on the Women’s Land Army.
Browse through original copies of The Landswoman (WW1) and The Land Girl (WW2) magazines.
Support the Women’s Land Army Tribute, who are continuing to raise money for the permanent Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps Memorial which is now at the National Arboretum.
Be a part of the conversation, join us on Facebook and Twitter.
Share your comments, ask questions and contribute to the site by e-mailing Cherish Watton (Web Editor and Historian) at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:68c89b8d-deb9-4c19-8560-d8b6b7f79c6c> | {
"date": "2015-07-01T06:31:36",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-27",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-27/segments/1435375094690.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20150627031814-00096-ip-10-179-60-89.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.8748159408569336,
"score": 2.546875,
"token_count": 233,
"url": "http://www.womenslandarmy.co.uk/"
} |
A lot of things have been said about the pros and cons of what, on the face of it, seem like an out-dated method. One thing is certain though, taught correctly, the Callan Method has, time and time again succeeded in teaching English far quicker than most other methods. The vocabulary taught in the Callan Method appear in the Cambridge First Certificate exam. Many learners gain the Cambridge FCE at the first attempt. Whichever way you look at it, and it may not be perfect, it works…
Here’s what I found on the Callan website:
Teaching with the Callan Method
The Callan Method is a fast and effective system for the study of English by non-native speakers. Thanks to its long record of achievement, it is securely established and internationally respected. Multinational companies like IBM, Fiat, and Olivetti have used the Method to teach English to their staff. Language schools which use the Callan Method can be found all over the world. Whether in Asia, Europe, or Latin America, the number of Callan Method Schools continues to rise. This website has to be constantly updated as new schools are opened.
How the Method works
The Callan Method was invented to make students as involved as possible in the learning process, and at the same time to help them to make the best possible use of their time. The Method is a rigorously structured programme of instruction, divided into twelve stages. The teacher asks students a series of questions which the students must answer. Because the Method aims to get students to speak, classes hold the attention of students and stimulate their memory. The structure of the Method ensures that students increase their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary step by step. Students are never distracted by rare or complicated vocabulary, and must concentrate on picking up the basics of the language.
Why the Method is effective
Most people who learn English are more interested in acquiring a practical skill than in obtaining intellectual satisfaction. They want to learn English for business or professional purposes, and they need to acquire a good working knowledge of the language as quickly as possible. They value the Method’s efficiency. Students at a Callan Method school can make progress up to four times faster than at other types of language school. As many tests have shown, they learn English in a quarter of the time. The Method is like a piece of precision engineering, an intricate design which is simple to use. The key factors behind the success of the Method are its calculated and systematic approach to the teaching of language, and its determination to maximize student involvement. Students learn best by speaking and listening. The pace of classes immerses students in the language. Repetition engages the memory, while frequent revision of the ground already covered encourages accuracy.
Why the Method is trusted
Many systems for learning a language promise more than they deliver. But the claims of the Callan Method can be substantiated. There is a wealth of evidence to prove that students at a Callan Method School learn English faster than students at other types of language school, and further details are available elsewhere on this website. Question, answer, repetition, the basis of the Method, is an approach to learning a language that is often recommended by educational psychologists. Because a Callan Method class is highly scripted, students are provided with a clear structure, an advantage which is especially important in the early stages of learning English. Few teachers of English as a foreign language are professional linguists, and few students could afford to employ a teacher with such high qualifications. The Method helps teachers by relieving them of the task of preparing their own material, and giving them a reliable framework. The Method helps students by sparing them from the confusing or fanciful initiatives of inexperienced teachers. Instead the student can rely on the years of planning and preparation that went into the Method providing, of course, that the teacher understands his obligation to respect the Method’s systematic approach. Meticulous organization and clear ground-rules have made the Method especially attractive to the private sector, and to students whose language study is self-financed.
Why the Method is enjoyable
What makes the Callan Method enjoyable for the student is precisely its highly structured character. In the Method, everything comes in its proper place, which means that students do not waste time tackling complexities for which they are not yet ready. Students like the Method because it makes their work easier. But the Method also stands out from its competitors because it requires students to participate actively in lessons. Many people are familiar with the type of language tuition where the teacher speaks, the class is silent, and the students take down notes written on the blackboard. Students in that type of lesson find it difficult to concentrate, become bored, and so learn very slowly. But because Callan Method classes engage the student, the atmosphere is lively, and more is accomplished.
Why the Method benefits all kinds of people
The Callan Method is focused on teaching students the basic grammar of English and the most essential vocabulary. By the time he has completed all twelve stages of the Method, the student will have mastered the 5621 most common words of the English language. The student will now be thoroughly prepared for the Cambridge First Certificate (F.C.E.) exam. This level of competence is essential for anyone who needs to be able to read English, to live in an English-speaking country, or to work with English speakers. So the Method is suitable for all purposes of study. The Method enhances the performance of students with a flair for languages, but it also works well with students of average ability. It can be used both by young people, and by people in later life. The Method is also good value for money. Because the Callan Method is comprehensive, students who use it do not need to buy any other books.
© 1960-2013 Callan Method Organisation.
The Callan name and logo are a protected trademark and must not be used without permission. No part of this site may be reproduced without prior consent from the Callan Method Organisation. | <urn:uuid:a06b0d3d-1f4a-411f-aef5-db74ff284aaf> | {
"date": "2018-04-24T21:02:36",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-17",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125947328.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20180424202213-20180424222213-00216.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9602816104888916,
"score": 2.640625,
"token_count": 1223,
"url": "https://007english007.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/the-callan-method/"
} |
|Presented by||SciStarter, Science Cheerleader, Franklin Institute, Phila Education Fund|
|Spend the time||indoors|
|Location||Wells Fargo Center PA|
|Appropriate for kids||yes|
Citizen Science at the 76ers
|Bring citizen science to the people!|
|Participate in science right from your seat at the 76ers!|
NBA 76ers game to feature interactive science exhibits on the concourse, halftime performance by the Science Cheerleaders, in-game citizen science project for research on the International Space Station.
Project MERCCURI: Comparing Microbes from Philly to Those in Space
During the game, fans will have the opportunity to participate in Project MERCCURI, a citizen science research project to compare microbes on Earth to those on the International Space Station. Microbe collection kits wrapped in T-shirts will be shot into the stands during a time out. Fans will use the kits at the game to swab their shoes and cell phones to collect microbes. Those samples will be sent to Argonne National Laboratory to be sequenced and added to the Earth Microbiome Project.
Meanwhile, astronauts at the International Space Station will be conducting tests on 48 microbes collected previously from Earth, including EIGHT from Philadelphia: the Liberty Bell, The Franklin Institute, the Chemical Heritage Foundation, WHYY, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, Phillies stadium, 76ers stadium, and the Academy of Natural Sciences where microbes were collected by St. Peter’s School students. Representatives from these organizations are scheduled to participate in the
Science on the Concourse Expo at the 76ers game on 2/18! Learn more about the significance of these Philly microbes here!
Scientists from UC Davis and NASA hope to gain insights into what is living at the ISS, how microbes vary from different places on Earth and in space, and to compare growth of microbes on Earth and in microgravity. | <urn:uuid:365e48f2-db14-4aa3-97c0-e937edf2a77e> | {
"date": "2014-10-23T02:18:04",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-42",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1413507449153.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20141017005729-00169-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.8863052129745483,
"score": 2.609375,
"token_count": 404,
"url": "http://scistarter.com/project/934-Citizen%20Science%20at%20the%2076ers"
} |
16 Dec 2013, BioSpectrum Bureau , BioSpectrum
Singapore: Global efforts to control and eliminate malaria have saved an estimated 3.3 million lives since 2000, reducing malaria mortality rates by 45 percent globally and by 49 percent in Africa, according to the "World malaria report 2013" published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
An expansion of prevention and control measures has been mirrored by a consistent decline in malaria deaths and illness, despite an increase in the global population at risk of malaria between 2000 and 2012. Increased political commitment and expanded funding have helped to reduce incidence of malaria by 29 percent globally, and by 31 percent in Africa.
The large majority of the 3.3 million lives saved between 2000 and 2012 were in the 10 countries with the highest malaria burden, and among children aged less than five years, which is the group most affected by the disease. Over the same period, malaria mortality rates in children in Africa were reduced by an estimated 54 percent.
"This remarkable progress is no cause for complacency. Absolute numbers of malaria cases and deaths are not going down as fast as they could," says Dr Margaret Chan, director general, WHO. "The fact that so many people are infected and dying from mosquito bites is one of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century."
In 2012, there were an estimated 207 million cases of malaria (uncertainty interval: 135-to-287 million), which caused approximately 627 000 malaria deaths (uncertainty interval 473 000-to-789 000). An estimated 3.4 billion people continue to be at risk of malaria, mostly in Africa and South East Asia. Around 80 percent of malaria cases occur in Africa.
Malaria prevention suffered a setback after its strong build-up between 2005 and 2010. The new WHO report notes a slowdown in the expansion of interventions to control mosquitoes for the second successive year, particularly in providing access to insecticide-treated bed nets. This has been primarily due to lack of funds to procure bed nets in countries that have ongoing malaria transmission.
There was no such setback for malaria diagnostic testing, which has continued to expand in recent years. Between 2010 and 2012, the proportion of people with suspected malaria who received a diagnostic test in the public sector increased from 44 percent-to-64 percent globally.
Access to WHO-recommended artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) has also increased, with the number of treatment courses delivered to countries rising from 76 million in 2006-to-331 million in 2012.
Despite this progress, millions of people continue to lack access to diagnosis and quality-assured treatment, particularly in countries with weak health systems. The roll-out of preventive therapies - recommended for infants, children under five and pregnant women - has also been slow in recent years.
"To win the fight against malaria we must get the means to prevent and treat the disease to every family who needs it," said Mr Raymond G Chambers, the United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy for Financing the Health MDGs and for Malaria. "Our collective efforts are not only ending the needless suffering of millions, but are helping families thrive and adding billions of dollars to economies that nations can use in other ways." | <urn:uuid:bdb9aabe-2214-47d9-a373-36513b2a210e> | {
"date": "2016-09-28T07:02:21",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2016-40",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738661326.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173741-00282-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9580031633377075,
"score": 3.15625,
"token_count": 656,
"url": "http://www.biospectrumasia.com/print_article/biospectrum/analysis/204087/malaria-mortality-axed-globally-decade-who"
} |
Li Daiqin has just been appointed as an editor of Behavioral Ecology.
“Behavioral Ecology is the official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. Bringing together significant work on all aspects of the subject, Behavioral Ecology is broad-based and covers both empirical and theoretical approaches. Studies on the whole range of behaving organisms, including plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, and humans, are included.
Behavioral Ecology construes the field in its broadest sense to include 1) the use of ecological and evolutionary processes to explain the occurrence and adaptive significance of behavior patterns; 2) the use of behavioral processes to predict ecological patterns, and 3) empirical, comparative analyses relating behavior to the environment in which it occurs.”
A paper just out co-authored by Rudolf Meier and Sujatha Narayanan Kutty of the Evolutionary Biology Laboratory.
Petersen, F. T., R. Meier, S, N, Kutty & B. M. Wiegmann, 2007. The phylogeny and evolution of host choice in the Hippoboscoidea (Diptera) as reconstructed using four molecular markers. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45: 111–122.
Rudolf Meier has co-authored a chapter in the new book on sexual size dimorphism.
Blanckenhorn, W. U., R. Meier & T. Teder, 2007. Rensch’s rule in insects: patterns among and within species. In: Fairbairn, D. J., W. U. Blanckenhorn & T. Székely (eds.), Sex, Size and Gender Roles: Evolutionary Studies of Sexual Size Dimorphism. Oxford University Press.
Abstract – Rensch’s rule is a common pattern of allometry for sexual size dimorphism among animal species. This chapter evaluates Rensch’s rule in insects, using three levels of analysis. When comparisons are made among species, Rensch’s rule is not more common than that which would be expected by chance: it occurs in Diptera (flies) and Heteroptera (Gerridae; water striders), but not in other insect groups.
Comparisons among populations within species also show little evidence of Rensch’s rule, although when the populations were ordered by latitude, Rensch’s rule was more common than that which would be expected by chance. Within populations, body size tends to be more phenotypically plastic in females than in males, resulting in allometry opposite to Rensch’s rule. Data on scathophagid and sepsid flies show that patterns across the three levels of comparison do not correspond well.
Thus, in insects, neither the allometric patterns nor their causative processes can be generalized among taxa or among levels of analysis.
“Can YouTube save the planet?” By Reuben Clements, David Bickford, and David J. Lohman. The Scientist, 21 (9): 26.
Sodhi’s response to this? “Another crazy idea from my lab people.” | <urn:uuid:8818d621-5ed0-41f2-965e-391ab0e8f020> | {
"date": "2018-06-21T23:20:01",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-26",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267864303.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20180621231116-20180622011116-00416.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9016332030296326,
"score": 2.640625,
"token_count": 662,
"url": "https://nusbiodiversity.wordpress.com/2007/09/"
} |
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Chapter 9 - Dr. Lanyon's Narrative
Mr. Utterson reads Dr. Lanyon's letter. On the ninth of January, Dr. Lanyon receives a letter from his colleague and old school companion, Dr. Jekyll. This desperate sounding letter states that although they have differed on scientific questions, their affection for each other is still intact. Thus, Dr. Jekyll asks Dr. Lanyon to go over to his laboratory and bring back some contents in his cabinet (some powders, a phial, and a book). A man presenting himself in Dr. Jekyll's name would arrive and receive the contents.
Upon reading the letter, Dr. Lanyon, although he thinks his colleague insane, fulfills the request. That night, a small man comes to pick up the materials. Dr. Lanyon describes him as odd, with clothes too big and a deformed way about him. Dr. Lanyon offers the man a seat, but he insists on the contents. As soon as he gets his hands on them, he mixes up a strange brew. Before drinking, he warns Dr. Lanyon of the unbelievable event he is about to behold. When the man takes a drink, he starts to undergo a series of physical changes. Upon witnessing the transformation, Dr. Lanyon writes:
"O God!" I screamed, and "O God!" again and again; for there before my eyes--pale and shaken, and half fainting, and groping before him with his hands, like a man restored from death--there stood Henry Jekyll!" Chapter 9, pg. 102
Dr. Lanyon concludes by stating that he still cannot fully believe what he saw that night. He feels that his days are numbered, that he continues to experience the horror of witnessing Hyde's transformation into Dr. Jekyll. | <urn:uuid:b7a15468-1a13-4779-9d6b-6c6b6d5dabc4> | {
"date": "2014-07-31T23:15:03",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-23",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1406510273676.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20140728011753-00408-ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9723795652389526,
"score": 2.640625,
"token_count": 388,
"url": "http://www.bookrags.com/notes/jek/part9.html"
} |
Climate change scientists have announced that global warming has been reversed due to the brave actions of the world’s motel owners in insisting that guests only leave towels that they want to be cleaned on the floor of the bathroom.
“The amount of carbon needed to generate the power to run the extra amount of washing machines needed to wash towels that didn’t need washing was exactly the amount that would have pushed the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere past the point of no return,” said meteorologist Julia Cirrus. “By putting those little signs in every room asking guests not to put towels on the floor unless they really need washing motel owners have saved the world.”
“We worked out exactly how much extra energy was being used to wash towels that had been used for nothing more than drying people’s hands after using the sink and realised that we were in a unique position to heroically save Earth from destruction,” said Graham Sheet-Trolley from the Motel Owner’s Association. “We immediately ordered the printing of millions of tiny cards requesting that our guests only drop towels on the floor if they really, really needed laundering. The resulting reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide has been staggering.”
It is also believed that the provision of tiny bars of soap for showering has dramatically decreased demand for hot water, reducing atmospheric carbon by an estimated forty billion tonnes.
“Global warming and rising sea levels have been reversed and we can all thank motel owners,” said US President Barack Obama at the Paris Climate Change Summit. “Their use of tiny corn flake packets instead of full sized ones has saved millions of rainforest trees from being cut down.” | <urn:uuid:9f3bca9e-61f2-4e05-8910-8234d85fd54f> | {
"date": "2017-07-22T14:52:21",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-30",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549424079.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20170722142728-20170722162728-00056.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9630918502807617,
"score": 2.875,
"token_count": 349,
"url": "https://theunaustralian.net/2016/01/18/motels-leave-only-dirty-towels-on-floor-policy-saves-planet/"
} |
You cannot in plain vanilla SQL, refer to a PL/SQL package variable. Reason: scope.
You have (for example) package FOO and static constant BAR in package.
You execute the following SQL:
select * from some_table where some_col = FOO.BAR
The parser's scope is SQL. It looks at the SQL scope and do not see any matching object for Foo.Bar. It then tries PL/SQL scope - by looking at any PL/SQL functions that are available. There is no Bar function in package Foo.
Why does it not accept Foo.Bar as a value? The answer is that it needs to be a BIND VARIABLE for that to happen. SQL expects 2 types of external (non-SQL) "things" that supply values inside the SQL code. It expects PL/SQL functions. It expects bind variables.
It does not expect PL/SQL variables (or constants), just as it does not expect Java/C/Pascal/etc variables (or constants). If you want to supply a variable value from such a language context, the caller needs to use a bind variable, and bind its variable to that. E.g.
execute immediate 'select * from some_table where some_col = :BIND1' ... using IN Foo.Bar;
So why then is the following PL/SQL SQL statement valid?
select * into myColllectionVar from some_table where some_col = Foo.Bar
The answer is that PL/SQL parses this first. It recognise that you want to make a call to the SQL engine. It sees that Foo.Bar is a PL/SQL variable (or constant). It crafts a SQL statement with a bind variable. It parses that as a cursor. It then binds the Foo.Bar value to the bind variable.
The SQL engine sees a bind variable in the SQL. Not a PL/SQL variable or constant.
Blu already told you that - you need a getter to provide the PL/SQL constant. In PL/SQL that means a function is needed that returns the PL/SQL constant to the SQL engine.
create or replace function PLconstant( name varchar2 ) return varchar2 deterministic is
when name = 'FOO.BAR' then Foo.bar
when name = 'PACKAGE1.MAXROW' then Package1.MaxFow
What "other way" do you want? You've had it explained to you why you can't do it, so are you expecting miracles?
I believe in Oracle 12c there was mention of changes to scope so it would now span SQL and PL/SQL more seamelessly, but I can't find it in the new features (at a glance anyway!)...
Are you sure it wasn't this you heard...
Oracle 12c New Features - 18.104.22.168 - PL/SQL-Specific Data Types Allowed Across the PL/SQL-to-SQL Interface
The table operator can now be used in a PL/SQL program on a collection whose data type is declared in PL/SQL. This also allows the data type to be a PL/SQL associative array. (In prior releases, the collection's data type had to be declared at the schema level.)
That sounds like the one padders. I first heard about it before 12c was released, so the actual detail wasn't clear, but that certainly reads along the right lines. If only I had a version of 12c to play with. Maybe soon. | <urn:uuid:63ff9a8b-5e59-4c91-979e-00894d1a251f> | {
"date": "2015-09-04T22:39:22",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-35",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-35/segments/1440645366585.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150827031606-00286-ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.8992956876754761,
"score": 2.640625,
"token_count": 742,
"url": "https://community.oracle.com/message/11153502"
} |
1. The LORD took note of Sarah as he had said he would; he did for her as he had promised.
2. Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that God had stated.
3. Abraham gave the name Isaac to this son of his whom Sarah bore him.
4. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded.
5. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6. Sarah then said, "God has given me cause to laugh, and all who hear of it will laugh with me.
7. Who would have told Abraham," she added, "that Sarah would nurse children! Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
8. Isaac grew, and on the day of the child's weaning, Abraham held a great feast.
9. Sarah noticed the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing with her son Isaac;
10. so she demanded of Abraham: "Drive out that slave and her son! No son of that slave is going to share the inheritance with my son Isaac!"
11. Abraham was greatly distressed, especially on account of his son Ishmael.
12. But God said to Abraham: "Do not be distressed about the boy or about your slave woman. Heed the demands of Sarah, no matter what she is asking of you; for it is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name.
13. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a great nation of him also, since he too is your offspring."
14. Early the next morning Abraham got some bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. Then, placing the child on her back, he sent her away. As she roamed aimlessly in the wilderness of Beer-sheba,
15. the water in the skin was used up. So she put the child down under a shrub,
16. and then went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away; for she said to herself, "Let me not watch to see the child die." As she sat opposite him, he began to cry.
17. God heard the boy's cry, and God's messenger called to Hagar from heaven: "What is the matter, Hagar? Don't be afraid; God has heard the boy's cry in this plight of his.
18. Arise, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand; for I will make of him a great nation."
19. Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and then let the boy drink.
20. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert bowman,
21. with his home in the wilderness of Paran. His mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
22. About that time Abimelech, accompanied by Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham: "God is with you in everything you do.
23. Therefore, swear to me by God at this place that you will not deal falsely with me or with my progeny and posterity, but will act as loyally toward me and the land in which you stay as I have acted toward you."
24. To this Abraham replied, "I so swear."
25. Abraham, however, reproached Abimelech about a well that Abimelech's men had seized by force.
26. "I have no idea who did that," Abimelech replied. "In fact, you never told me about it, nor did I ever hear of it until now."
27. Then Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech and the two made a pact.
28. Abraham also set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock,
29. and Abimelech asked him, "What is the purpose of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?"
30. Abraham answered, "The seven ewe lambs you shall accept from me that thus I may have your acknowledgment that the well was dug by me."
31. This is why the place is called Beer-sheba; the two took an oath there.
32. When they had thus made the pact in Beer-sheba, Abimelech, along with Phicol, the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.
33. Abraham planted a tamarisk at Beer-sheba, and there he invoked by name the LORD, God the Eternal.
34. Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for many years. | <urn:uuid:bf684d1c-68dc-4e1e-a2ce-16baabf553e2> | {
"date": "2016-10-23T01:29:22",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2016-44",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719136.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00448-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9892855286598206,
"score": 2.59375,
"token_count": 1002,
"url": "http://www.bibliacatolica.com.br/the-new-american-bible/genesis/21/"
} |
Which Joe gave his name to ‘sloppy joes’? We look at five interesting sandwiches and their lexical origins.
Any of several deep-sea fishes of the family Berycidae, widely fished for food; especially Beryx decadactylus and (more fully splendid alfonsino) B. splendens, which have deep, reddish bodies and large eyes.
Early 20th century; earliest use found in David S. Jordan (1851–1931). From Spanish regional (Tenerife) alfonsino, specific use of Spanish (Canary Islands) alfonsino (also alfonsiño), denoting various kinds of fish, apparently from Alfonso, the name of several Spanish monarchs + Spanish -ino, suffix forming diminutives, probably so called on account of its colour resembling royal robes.
We take a look at several popular, though confusing, punctuation marks.
From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, discover surprising and intriguing language facts from around the globe.
The definitions of ‘buddy’ and ‘bro’ in the OED have recently been revised. We explore their history and increase in popularity. | <urn:uuid:d5477388-f4ea-48e0-ae16-d56f2cdf8a7c> | {
"date": "2017-01-23T18:57:53",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-04",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282937.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00504-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9342848658561707,
"score": 2.890625,
"token_count": 248,
"url": "https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/alfonsino"
} |
When using the “come” command, the owner should first call the dog by name followed by “come”. This will help get the dog’s attention so that they will be more attentive to the next command. It will also let the dog know that the owner is speaking directly to them and not to someone else.
Always encourage your puppy to “come” with enthusiastic praise and lots of encouragement. Keep in mind that no two dogs or puppies are alike so you will have to adjust your training methods according to the individual. Try to avoid calling him in a threatening tone as he may associate this with being scolded.
If he begins to ignore you and act as if he does not hear you, attach a long leash to him so you can reel him into you after you give him one command to “come.” This way you are not repeating the command and your dog will learn to come when he is called.
One of the most important things to keep in mind with this command is to make yourself more interesting than anything else around you during your walks. Give your dog a reason to stay with you, talk to him, give him a “sit” command, stop, make him lie down for one second, make it an interesting walk.
Begin your walk by telling your dog to “heel”; use his name first to get his attention and be very enthusiastic as you give the command. Do not forget to talk to him so he pays attention to you, praise him when he is in the correct heel position, which is dog on your left, his right shoulder should be in line with your left hip.
Training Tips for “Heeling”:
- If your dog insists on pulling ahead, work with him in small counter-clockwise circles. This will encourage him to pay attention to you as you are walking.
- Play with him in your backyard and allow him to burn off some excess energy before you try to take him out for a controlled walk.
- Do not let your dog eliminate anywhere he chooses. This type of behavior is also known as a “leader” behavior, which allows him a feeling being in charge and could also lead to “territorial” behavior.
Using “Off” to Prevent Jumping
Dogs will jump up on people for one reason: to get attention from you. Teach your puppy or dog to “sit” for attention or praise of any kind. When he jumps on you, use your lowered tone of voice and lean towards the dog saying “off.” He will have no choice but to back away from you and when he does, teach him to “sit” by firmly planting his bottom on the ground. Offer him calm praise for obeying you. Soon all you will have to say to your dog is “sit” and he will comply readily because he knows he will be rewarded.
Training Tips for Preventing Jumping:
- Attach your leash to his collar so he can’t jump on you and run away. Tell him “off,” then “sit” and praise him calmly when he obeys.
- Offering too much excited praise may cause him to jump up again, so be calm in your praise.
Trick for Treats
Here are some ways you can treat your dog to better training:
- Treat and train your pet after a play session. After a rousing game of fetch, let your dog know who’s in command and reward him with a treat.
- End every grooming session with a treat. Teach your dog the reward of good grooming by giving him a treat after brushing.
- Never give a treat without a trick. Always make your dog obey some kind of command before rewarding her with a treat. | <urn:uuid:30a5afce-6b27-41f4-a299-f0fcf613086a> | {
"date": "2019-02-22T00:07:57",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-09",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247511573.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20190221233437-20190222015437-00336.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9773238301277161,
"score": 2.65625,
"token_count": 797,
"url": "https://www.adoptapet.com/blog/basic-commands/"
} |
Chapter 1 hydrology basic concepts hydrology which deals with estimation and analysis of water resources and environmental impacts of development. Environmental engineering is the application of science were met with a revitalized effort by environmental (analysis of environmental impact. Participate in continuing education or professional development understanding of core concepts environmental engineering is a newer. Engineers' obligations towards sustainable environment sustainable development engineering plays a v development : the concept and practical. Draft lecture notes in: structural concepts and systems victor e saouma dept of civil environmental and architectural engineering 17 structural analysis.
Key concepts of industrial ecology the development of industrial ecology is an attempt to efforts to use systems analysis to solve environmental. Pollution prevention concepts and principles pollution prevention and sustainable development during the first few decades of environmental protec. In the development of a technique that allows a complete environmental analysis of the whole product in handbook of life cycle engineering: concepts. Engineering concepts is second course in the history and development of engineering (c) and graphical vector analysis to the analysis of engineering.
Abstract— in this paper we have discussed the concept of value engineering keywords— functional analysis, lcc, job plan, value engineering an effort (in. Value engineering is a conscious and explicit value and economy are improved through the study of alternate design concepts (analysis) phase development. Life-cycle engineering and design asm international materials life-cycle analysis committee environmental considerations play this is an important concept.
The purpose of the stakeholder needs and requirements definition decrease the effort which typically include stages such as concept, development. The concept from the engineering standpoint is view of the development effort, systems engineering helps mold all and analysis of environmental systems also. Capital project delivery : concept development: preliminary engineering: the pe phase involves performing engineering tasks and technical environmental studies. Problem identification and decomposition within the requirements generation analysis concept definition magnitude of the software development effort.
Concept development and deficient engineering and analysis to mitigate the concept using early systems engineering dp effort. A similar breakdown is employed in environmental analysis of the concept of cba dates back to an 1848 article application for water resource development. Systems analysis – what, why and how concept in systems philosophy namely the hierarchy in systems analysis substantial effort should be made to look at. But the report also made it clear that engineering concepts and model development and use, investigation, analysis and analysis of costs, environmental.
Engineering course descriptions synthesis of concepts, analysis and evaluation e138 introduction to environmental engineering.
Responsible for performing entry level engineering analysis engineering concepts collaborates in the development of. Systems analysis and test and evaluation at apl engineering systems engineering environmental in the new system concept development laboratory. 5 sustainable community examples the aia environmental design charrette projects focused on a rural county with a sustainable economic development effort. Series concept the development engineer performs and engineering systems analysis, engineering development, and construction of engineering systems.
While the modern concept of sustainable development is derived concepts of sustainable development and environmental including engineering. Problem analysis : concepts and techniques 4 not for every software engineering effort will absorb most of the changes that occur during development. Construction services uc the environmental requirements a range of alternative design concepts are explored to define the character of the. A key process in the concept development phase is analysis to the operational requirements development and effort both early in the concept development. Environmental health impact assessment project analysis development of a generic ehia concept that would be broadly acceptable. Function analysis system technique concept development should involve and a minimum level of effort trade studies and technical analysis will be. | <urn:uuid:0441fcb0-4dbc-4e1f-b2fb-f5d88f5bafc3> | {
"date": "2018-06-18T03:30:19",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-26",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267860041.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20180618031628-20180618051628-00496.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9252631664276123,
"score": 2.75,
"token_count": 710,
"url": "http://prcourseworkjhog.newsglobal.us/an-analysis-of-the-concept-of-engineering-and-the-effort-of-environmental-development.html"
} |
Translations of the questions in the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) can be done with modifications that incorporate the activities that enable an Alaska Native older adult to engage in subsistence living. Traditional cultural activities such as berry picking, fishing, nature walks, gathering edible and medicinal plants, steam baths, and arts and crafts could be included in a modified assessment instrument. The assessment tool that has been translated into a culturally relevant instrument can be used by tribal doctors, family members, and community health workers. The tool can be administered orally or in writing depending on the patient’s literacy level. Graphics and culturally appropriate symbols may also be used. | <urn:uuid:70fe648a-5c86-41c3-bb75-4a6b2a519e3f> | {
"date": "2017-04-27T22:32:52",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-17",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917122629.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031202-00530-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9229229688644409,
"score": 2.65625,
"token_count": 141,
"url": "https://geriatrics.stanford.edu/ethnomed/alaskan/assesment/clinical/functional.html"
} |
What is adenoid hypertrophy?
The adenoids are a rectangular mass of lymphatic tissue in the posterior nasopharynx. They are largest in children age 2 to 6 year. Enlargement may be physiologic or secondary to viral or bacterial infection, allergy, irritants, and, possibly, gastroesophageal reflux.
How common is adenoid hypertrophy?
Hypertrophy or inflammation of the adenoids is common among children. Please discuss with your doctor for further information.
What are the symptoms of adenoid hypertrophy?
The common symptoms of adenoid hypertrophy are:
- Difficulty breathing through the nose
- Breathing through the mouth
- Talking as if the nostrils are pinched
- Noisy breathing
- Stopped breathing for a few seconds during sleep (obstructive sleep apnea)
- Frequent “Sinus” Symptoms
- Ongoing middle ear infections or middle ear fluid in a school-aged child
There may be some symptoms not listed above. If you have any concerns about a symptom, please consult your doctor.
When should I see my doctor?
If you have any signs or symptoms listed above or have any questions, please consult with your doctor. Everyone’s body acts differently. It is always best to discuss with your doctor what is best for your situation.
What causes adenoid hypertrophy?
Because adenoids trap germs that enter the body, adenoid tissue sometimes temporarily swells (becomes enlarged) as it tries to fight off an infection. The swelling sometimes gets better, but sometimes adenoids can get infected.
What increases my risk for adenoid hypertrophy?
Please discuss with your doctor for further information.
Diagnosis & treatment
The information provided is not a substitute for any medical advice. ALWAYS consult with your doctor for more information.
How is adenoid hypertrophy diagnosed?
Adenoid hypertrophy is suspected in children and adolescents with characteristic symptoms, persistent middle ear effusions, or recurrent acute otitis media or rhinosinusitis. Similar symptoms and signs in a male adolescent may result from an angiofibroma.
Children with velopharyngeal insufficiency, eg, due to velocardiofacial syndrome, may produce a hypernasal speech that must be differentiated from the hyponasal speech of adenoid hypertrophy.
The standard for office assessment of the nasopharynx is flexible nasopharyngoscopy. Sleep tape recording, often used to document snoring, is not as accurate or specific. A sleep study may help define the severity of any sleep disturbance due to chronic obstruction.
X-ray imaging is contraindicated in children except when there is a high index of suspicion for angiofibroma or cancer.
How is adenoid hypertrophy treated?
- Treatment of cause
- Sometimes adenoidectomy
Underlying allergy is treated with intranasal corticosteroids, and underlying bacterial infection is treated with antibiotics.
In children with persistent middle ear effusions or frequent otitis media, adenoidectomy often limits recurrence. Children > 4 year who require tympanostomy tubes often undergo adenoidectomy when tubes are placed. Surgery is also recommended for younger children with recurrent epistaxis or significant nasal obstruction (eg, sleep disturbance, voice change). Although it requires general anesthesia, adenoidectomy usually can be done on an outpatient basis with recovery in 48 to 72 h. Adenoidectomy is contraindicated in velopharyngeal insufficiency because it can precipitate or worsen hypernasal speech.
Lifestyle changes & home remedies
What are some lifestyle changes or home remedies that can help me manage adenoid hypertrophy?
Adenoid enlargement is caused due to infection and allergies. You can prevent development of such condition in your child by giving them a healthy lifestyle that helps fight infections and allergies.
If you have any questions, please consult with your doctor to better understand the best solution for you.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Adenoid Hypertrophy. http://www.medanta.org/adenoid-hypertrophy/. Accessed October 4, 2017.
Adenoiditis and Adenoid Hypertrophy. http://pediatric-ent.com/adenoiditis-and-adenoid-hypertrophy/. Accessed October 4, 2017.
Adenoid Disorders. http://www.msdmanuals.com/professional/ear,-nose,-and-throat-disorders/oral-and-pharyngeal-disorders/adenoid-disorders. Accessed October 4, 2017.
Review Date: October 5, 2017 | Last Modified: October 5, 2017 | <urn:uuid:51a0cbdf-b2df-4d69-866f-8e22f3a8dfd5> | {
"date": "2018-12-09T20:30:28",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-51",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376823009.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20181209185547-20181209211547-00056.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.8870542645454407,
"score": 3.484375,
"token_count": 1023,
"url": "https://hellodoktor.com/disease/adenoid-hypertrophy/"
} |
SeaVolution is a range of liquids and granules manufactured from unique, cold process seaweed extract from fresh, hand picked Ascophyllum nodosum.
The seaweed is a sustainable resource and is collected from the sheltered bays and unpolluted waters of the Atlantic Ocean, around the north west coast of Ireland. Due to the unique cold extraction process SeaVolution is high in micronutrients, plant hormones and alginates, all of which are found naturally in Ascophyllum nodosum.
Seaweed is an ideal tonic for grass that suffers from stress and poor root development, it also helps to alleviate the symptoms of nematode damage. Seaweed acts as a soil conditioner, strengthening the plant, thus allowing it to fight disease and fungal infections. This in turn relieves the grass of environmental stress, allowing it to develop stronger, healthier roots.
SeaVoution contains plant hormones that stimulate the biological defences of the grass, whilst its rich amino acid content aids plant recovery and stimulates growth in grass under stress.
- Cold extracted seaweed range
- Helps to reduce plant stress and strengthens the plant
- Helps develop strong and healthy roots
- Hardens turf against disease
- Rich amino acid content and high in micronutrients
- Organic and sustainable | <urn:uuid:dc0bb0ba-ae1a-4d65-9429-98f5fee7b6bb> | {
"date": "2017-04-28T02:26:15",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-17",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917122726.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031202-00236-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9269335269927979,
"score": 2.625,
"token_count": 272,
"url": "http://www.sherriffamenity.com/index.asp?upid=198"
} |
Invention of Printing_
The books as the mass pastime have been ousted from our lives for several decades already. Modern electronic mass media (radio, television) are ousting books more and more; the bookshelves in people's homes are getting sparse. However, several hundreds years ago the invention of printing was the initial factor that at once changed all conditions of the intellectual life of Europe.
In Europe the books became cheaper and more widespread when the use of paper became more frequent, especially as a strong rise of intellectual life of society went together with the development of universities. Already in the 15th century almost everywhere there were booksellers and corporations of book-copiers who tried to satisfy the needs not only of rich people, but of people with medium income as well. These were the books of prayers, didactic and entertaining books. But still, if a man started reading or even copying books at the time, he did it basically neither for his own pleasure, nor for education. He was most probably interested in the matter of saving his soul.
In the 17th century the book becomes both interesting and instructive and the production of them makes progress in quality, cheapness and beauty.
One of the most important epochs in the development of printing was the 19th century. At this time a good book started to bring good money to its author. Then people began to give the word "writer" the same meaning as we do now.
Finally, in the 19th century the book becomes a powerful political weapon.
There is a well-known saying "An invention is the child of necessity" and it was probably an unusual passion for classical writers at that time. Copying books by hands could not satisfy the risen needs. Undoubtedly, having received such great amount of information, human thought started working faster than ever before. At least, the mental outlook of the mass that directly or indirectly participated in intellectual movements broadened.
The church as the main guard of mediaeval traditions received the first strike from printing. Luther King helped in the spread of books of small format and small volume. It may be said that Luther did a revolution in printing, this even disregarding the publishing of the Bible.
In the end of the 16th century there is already censorship in all Western European countries where there were printing houses. In France in the reign of Francois I an attempt was made to prohibit printing houses at all. Anyway the books were obtained and printed beyond the law. Nevertheless, measures of this kind slowered the development of printing considerably.
In European countries, and not only there, there appears a stable form of their own literary language, and the most essential works of literary authors were brought in correspondence with them.
Speaking about the political treatises of the Antiquity and the Middle Ages, it can be noted that after the works of Plato, Aristotle (Politica), Augustine Aurelius ("On the City Divine"), a new splash of development of political thought happened right in the time of the spread of printing. Niccolo Macchiavelli may have become the founder of the theory of the state with free morals, the theory, which penetrated the humans' hearts with the help of books.
It was not surprising that under the influence of the growth of education of the people the population started to understand politic better.
Before the 15th century the level of the development of the scientific knowledge was extremely low. People judged the world only on the basis of religious dogmas or, at best, on the basis of superficial observation of the surrounding reality.
But the social practice faced man with the problems which were impossible to solve on the basis of old conceptions. Now the scientifically based knowledge, which summed up the experience and created the theory, had the decisive importance.
New ways of research, based on observation, experience, and experiment were worked out. New knowledge in the spheres of mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, natural sciences, and geography was accumulating. New sciences also appeared - such as hydrodynamics, trigonometry. At the same time people were doing a large number of inventions and discoveries: the microscope, the telescope, the thermometer, the barometer; it was proved that the Earth is spherical, and that, together with other planets, it spins around the sun. Europeans get to know about all the continents of the Earth.
Before that, in the 15th century a way of production of the cheap writing material (paper) and book printing were invented, which became a true revolution in the development of science and education. The exchange of knowledge and the spread of new ideas would have been impossible without that.
However, the development of scientific thought did not come to Europe without blood. In the middle of the 16th century all-European Catholic reaction began, and Italy became its first victim. In the reign of cardinal Caraffa the struggle with the educated thought and books reached its acme. He issued "index of forbidden books" and it was periodically reprinted and added to with the greatest works of human thought. A punishment threatened one for reading these books, the books themselves were burnt down.
So, printing was the greatest achievement of the epoch of the Renaissance, this invention virtually turned over the whole European life in the 16th century. Books served as a weapon for fighting between the Catholic and the Reformist churches. The institute of censorship appeared and took its final shape in Europe.
Together with the publication of works of literary authors the official print also appeared and became a weapon in the hands of state apparatus.
But probably the most important thing is that printing led to lowering prices on books and, therefore, the increase of their availability for the population. This, in its own turn, led to the increase of education.
Scientific and creative thought is being stimulated, new sciences appear. Printing creates an additional possibility for the spread of scientific knowledge. Literary languages of European peoples' are formed, which, in their turn, leads to the growth of national self-consciousness.
First significant treatises on political philosophy since the times of Antiquity appear. Europe approaches the epoch of the Enlightenment.
Публикация статьи и отдельных фрагментов возможна только при наличии ссылки на | <urn:uuid:88d9fdad-265f-429e-bcb9-0bf19324d818> | {
"date": "2018-04-22T19:58:45",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-17",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125945648.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20180422193501-20180422213501-00216.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9762606620788574,
"score": 3.140625,
"token_count": 1330,
"url": "http://www.refolit-info.ru/English/text_invention.html"
} |
The Roman Empire had in Paul's time gathered into a great unity the Asiatics of Ephesus, the Greeks of Corinth, the Jews of Palestine, and men of many another race, but grand and imposing as that great unity was, it was to Paul a poor thing compared with the oneness of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Asiatics of Ephesus, Greeks of Corinth, Jews of Palestine and members of many another race could say, 'Our citizenship is in heaven.' The Roman Eagle swept over wide regions in her flight, but the Dove of Peace, sent forth from Christ's hand, travelled further than she. As Paul says in the context, the Ephesians had been strangers, 'aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,' wandering like the remnants of some 'broken clans,' but now they are gathered in. That narrow community of the Jewish nation has expanded its bounds and become the mother-country of believing souls, the true 'island of saints.' It was not Rome which really made all peoples one, but it was the weakest and most despised of her subject races. 'Of Zion it shall be said,' 'Lo! this and that man was born in her.'
To emphasise the thought of the great unity of the Church, the Apostle uses here his often-repeated metaphor of a temple, of which the Ephesian Christians are the stones, apostles and prophets the builders, and Christ Himself the chief corner-stone. Of course the representation of the foundation, as being laid by apostles and prophets, refers to them as proclaiming the Gospel. The real laying of the foundation is the work of the divine power and love which gave us Christ, and it is the Divine Voice which proclaims, 'Behold I lay in Zion a foundation!' But that divine work has to be made known among men, and it is by the making of it known that the building rises course by course. There is no contradiction between the two statements, 'I have laid the foundation' and Paul's 'As a wise master-builder I have laid the foundation.'
A question may here rise as to the meaning of 'prophets.' Unquestionably the expression in other places of the Epistle does mean New Testament prophets, but seeing that here Jesus is designated as the foundation stone which, standing beneath two walls, has a face into each, and binds them strongly together, it is more natural to see in the prophets the representatives of the great teachers of the old dispensation as the apostles were of the new. The remarkable order in which these two classes are named, the apostles being first, and the prophets who were first in time being last in order of mention, confirms this explanation, for the two co-operating classes are named in the order in which they lie in the foundation. Digging down you come to the more recent first, to the earlier second, and deep and massive, beneath all, to the corner-stone on whom all rests, in whom all are united together. Following the Apostle's order we may note the process of building; beneath that, the foundation on which the building rests; and beneath it, the corner-stone which underlies and unites the whole.
I. The process of building.
In the previous clauses the Apostle has represented the condition of the Ephesian Christians before their Christianity as being that of strangers and foreigners, lacking the rights of citizenship anywhere, a mob rather than in any sense a society. They had been like a confused heap of stones flung fortuitously together; they had become fellow-citizens with the saints. The stones had been piled up into an orderly building. He is not ignoring the facts of national, political, or civic relationships which existed independent of the new unity realised in a common faith. These relationships could not be ignored by one who had had Paul's experience of their formidable character as antagonists of him and of his message, but they seemed to him, in contrast with the still deeper and far more perfect union, which was being brought about in Christ, of men of all nationalities and belonging to mutually hostile races, to be little better than the fortuitous union of a pile of stones huddled together on the roadside. Measured against the architecture of the Church, as Paul saw it in his lofty idealism, the aggregations of men in the world do not deserve the name of buildings. His point of view is the exact opposite of that which is common around us, and which, alas! finds but too much support in the present aspects of the so-called churches of this day.
It is to be observed that in our text these stones are, in accordance with the propriety of the metaphor, regarded as being built, that is, as in some sense the subjects of a force brought to bear upon them, which results in their being laid together in orderly fashion and according to a plan, but it is not to be forgotten that, according to the teaching, not of this epistle alone, but of all Paul's letters, the living stones are active in the work of building, as well as beings subject to an influence. In another place of the New Testament we read the exhortation to 'build up yourselves on your most holy faith,' and the means of discharging that duty are set forth in the words which follow it; as being 'Praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping yourselves in the love of God, and looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.'
Throughout the Pauline letters we have frequent references to edifying, a phrase which has been so vulgarised by much handling that its great meaning has been all but lost, but which still, rightly understood, presents the Christian life as one continuous effort after developing Christian character. Taking into view the whole of the apostolic references to this continuous process of building, we cannot but recognise that it all begins with the act of faith which brings men into immediate contact and vital union with Jesus Christ, and which is, if anything that a man does is, the act of his very inmost self passing out of its own isolation and resting itself on Jesus. It is by the vital and individual act of faith that any soul escapes from the dreary isolation of being a stranger and a foreigner, wandering, homeless and solitary, and finds through Jesus fellowship, an elder Brother, a Father, and a home populous with many brethren. But whilst faith is the condition of beginning the Christian life, which is the only real life, that life has to be continued and developed towards perfection by continuous effort. 'Tis a life-long toil till the lump be leavened.'
One of the passages already referred to varies the metaphor of building, in so far as it seems to represent 'your most holy faith' as the foundation, and may be an instance of the doubtful New Testament usage of 'faith,' as meaning the believed Gospel, rather than the personal act of believing. But however that may be, context of the words clearly suggests the practical duties by which the Christian life is preserved and strengthened. They who build up themselves do so, mainly, by keeping themselves in the love of God with watchful oversight and continual preparedness for struggle against all foes who would drag them from that safe fortress, and subsidiarily, by like continuity in prayer, and in fixing their meek hope on the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. If Christian character is ever to be made more Christian, it must be by a firmer grasp and a more vivid realisation of Christ and His truth. The more we feel ourselves to be lapped in the love of God, the more shall we be builded up on our most holy faith. There is no mystery about the means of Christian progress. That which, at the beginning, made a man a Christian shapes his whole future course; the measure of our faith is the measure of our advance.
But the Apostle, in the immediately following words, goes on to pass beyond the bounds of his metaphor, and with complete indifference to the charge of mixing figures, speaks of the building as growing. That thought leads us into a higher region than that of effort. The process by which a great forest tree thickens its boles, expands the sweep of its branches and lifts them nearer the heavens, is very different from that by which a building rises slowly and toilsomely and with manifest incompleteness all the time, until the flag flies on the roof-tree. And if we had not this nobler thought of a possible advance by the increasing circulation within us of a mysterious life, there would be little gospel in a word which only enjoined effort as the condition of moral progress, and there would be little to choose between Paul and Plato. He goes on immediately to bring out more fully what he means by the growth of the building, when he says that if Christians are in Christ, they are 'built up for an habitation of God in the Spirit.' Union with Christ, and a consequent life in the Spirit, are sure to result in the growth of the individual soul and of the collective community. That divine Spirit dwells in and works through every believing soul, and while it is possible to grieve and to quench It, to resist and even to neutralise Its workings, these are the true sources of all our growth in grace and knowledge. The process of building may be and will be slow. Sometimes lurking enemies will pull down in a night what we have laboured at for many days. Often our hands will be slack and our hearts will droop. We shall often be tempted to think that our progress is so slow that it is doubtful if we have ever been on the foundation at all or have been building at all. But 'the Spirit helpeth our infirmities,' and the task is not ours alone but His in us. We have to recognise that effort is inseparable from building, but we have also to remember that growth depends on the free circulation of life, and that if we are, and abide in, Jesus, we cannot but be built 'for an habitation of God in the Spirit.' We may be sure that whatever may be the gaps and shortcomings in the structures that we rear here, none will be able to say of us at the last, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'
II. The foundation on which the building rests.
In the Greek, as in our version, there is no definite article before 'prophets,' and its absence indicates that both sets of persons here mentioned come under the common vinculum of the one definite article preceding the first named. So that apostles and prophets belong to one class. It may be a question whether the foundation is theirs in the sense that they constitute it, an explanation in favour of which can be quoted the vision in the Apocalypse of the new Jerusalem, in the twelve foundations of which were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, or whether, as is more probable, the foundation is conceived of as laid by them. In like manner the Apostle speaks to the Corinthians of having 'as a wise master-builder laid the foundation,' and to the Romans of making it his aim to preach especially where Christ was not already named, that he might 'not build upon another man's foundation.' Following these indications, it seems best to understand the preaching of the Gospel as being the laying of the foundation.
Further, the question may be raised whether the prophets here mentioned belong to the Old Testament or to the New. The latter alternative has been preferred on the ground that the apostles are named first, but, as we have already noticed, the order here begins at the top and goes downwards, what was last in order of time being first in order of mention. We need only recall Peter's bold words that 'all the prophets, as many as have spoken, have told of the days' of Christ, or Paul's sermon in the synagogue of Antioch in which he passionately insisted on the Jewish crime of condemning Christ as being the fulfilment of the voices of the prophets, and of the Resurrection of Jesus as being God's fulfilment of the promise made unto the fathers to understand how here, as it were, beneath the foundation laid by the present preaching of the apostles, Paul rejoices to discern the ancient stones firmly laid by long dead hands.
The Apostle's strongest conviction was that he himself had become more and not less of a Jew by becoming a Christian, and that the Gospel which he preached was nothing more than the perfecting of that Gospel before the Gospel, which had come from the lips of the prophets. We know a great deal more than he did as to the ways in which the progressive divine revelation was presented to Israel through the ages, and some of us are tempted to think that we know more than we do, but the true bearing of modern criticism, as applied to the Old Testament, is to confirm, even whilst it may to some extent modify, the conviction common to all the New Testament writers, and formulated by the last of the New Testament prophets, that 'the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.' Whatever new light may shine on the questions of the origin and composition of the books of the Old Testament, it will never obscure the radiance of the majestic figure of the Messiah which shines from the prophetic page. The inner relation between the foundation of the apostles and that of the prophets is best set forth in the solemn colloquy on the Mount of Transfiguration between Moses and Elias and Jesus. They 'were with Him' as witnessing to Him to whom law and ritual and prophecy had pointed, and they 'spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem' as being the vital centre of all His work which the lambs slain according to ritual had foreshadowed, and the prophetic figure of the Servant of the Lord 'wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities' had more distinctly foretold.
III. The corner-stone which underlies and unites the whole.
Of course the corner-stone here is the foundation-stone and not 'the head-stone of the corner.' Jesus Christ is both. He is the first and the last; the Alpha and Omega. In accordance with the whole context, in which the prevailing idea is that which always fired Paul's imagination, viz. that of reconciling Jew and Gentile in one new man, it is best to suppose a reference here to the union of Jew and Gentile. The stone laid beneath the two walls which diverge at right angles from each other binds both together and gives strength and cohesion to the whole. In the previous context the same idea is set forth that Christ 'preached peace to them that were afar off (Gentiles) and to them that were nigh (Jews).' By His death He broke down another wall, the middle wall of partition between them, and did so by abolishing 'the law of commandments contained in ordinances.' The old distinction between Jew and Gentile, which was accentuated by the Jew's rigid observance of ordinances and which often led to bitter hatred on both sides, was swept away in that strange new thing, a community of believers drawn together in Jesus Christ. The former antagonistic 'twain' had become one in a third order of man, the Christian man. The Jew Christian and the Gentile Christian became brethren because they had received one new life, and they who had common feelings of faith and love to the same Saviour, a common character drawn from Him, and a common destiny open to them by their common relation to Jesus, could never cherish the old emotions of racial hate.
When we, in this day, try to picture to ourselves that strange new thing, the love which bound the early Christians together and buried as beneath a rushing flood the formidable walls of separation between them, we may well penitently ask ourselves how it comes that Jesus seems to have so much less power to triumph over the divisive forces that part us from those who should be our hearts' brothers. In our modern life there are no such gulfs of separation from one another as were filled up unconsciously in the experience of the first believers, but the narrower chinks seem to remain in their ugliness between those who profess a common faith in one Lord, and who are all ready to assert that they are built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, and that Jesus Christ is from them the chief corner-stone.
If in reality He is so to us, and He is so if we have been builded upon Him through our faith, the metaphor of corner-stone and building will fail to express the reality of our relation to Him, for our corner-stone has in it an infinite vitality which rises up through all the courses of the living stones, and moulds each 'into an immortal feature of loveliness and perfection.' So it shall be for each individual, though here the appropriation of the perfect gift is imperfect. So it shall be in reference to the history of the world. Christ is its centre and foundation-stone, and as His coming makes the date from which the nations reckon, and all before it was in the deepest sense preparatory to His incarnation, all which is after it is in the deepest sense the appropriating of Him and the developing of His work. The multitudes which went before and that followed cried, saying, 'Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.' | <urn:uuid:1362f76d-b83a-4120-9ee9-08b0f1e4383f> | {
"date": "2018-08-19T02:16:31",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-34",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221214538.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20180819012213-20180819032213-00056.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9772645235061646,
"score": 2.6875,
"token_count": 3557,
"url": "https://biblehub.com/library/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_ephesians_peter/the_chief_corner-stone.htm"
} |
Price: 2000 Naira (BSC, MSC)
1.1 Background of the Study
The field of information technology has improved tremendously in the past decade with the invention of all kinds of new technologies for example e-commerce, e-learning, e-business, and e- registration to mention a few.
In this technological era of education and doing business, information is considered to be an important asset for any academic institution. The availability of student’s data and feedback can help an educational institution to align its business processes according to the needs of its students and stakeholders. The effective management of these data can help institutions reach out directly to their students and stakeholders and also streamline its activities.
Commitments towards the success of tertiary education can be achieved through innovations such as updating of information, continuous enrolment, e-payment, and online student registration as well. This innovation approach helps pioneer many of the conveniences of students.
Many events have demonstrated that successful e-business is those that recognize the needs of their target users and match them with relevant contents. We are now in the age of knowledge is power and content is king. This phrase is often used in reference to any business conducted on the internet. People want to access product and services of an individual or corporation on a 24/7 basis. They also expect reliable, functional fast and user friendly services and any corporation that provides such services have higher success rates.
These benefits of e-business are also felt in the academic institutions. It can be applied in the areas of student’s online registration and payment of school fees. This system will offer among other things effective customer service and stream line supply chain management (the strategic management of distribution channels and the processes that support them). This system will have a site and will be accessed using any browser such as Internet explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Chrome etc.
This project work on the design and implementation of e-registration system on tertiary institution is aimed at the modern way of addressing the concerns raised by students, in order to maintain an efficient service delivery system. Such concerns raised are the manual handling of registration and student records, with also the overall view of improving efficiency in the registration process.
E-registration site can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, mostly these sites are portals. Pena-Lopez, (2009) describes a web portal as a site that functions as a point of access to information on the World Wide Web and portals present information from diverse sources. E-registration is a system that could easily manage its student body while also providing added bonuses, with its main goal being to ease the transfer of information. It simplifies the registration process through a web-enabled, user-friendly wizard and digitizes all supporting documents using intuitive process and tools. The education system requires a tremendous amount of data and documentation, and this e-registration solution allows institutions to focus less on processing paperwork and more on what matters most such as meeting the educational needs of their students by having a cost-efficient, secure registration process that allows for easy access to students files. Intranets and portals are supposed to provide an infrastructure through which end-users can gain effective access to information sources needed to assist in daily tasks such as effective decision making, planning and research (Brakel, 2003).
Many institutions in Nigeria have been somewhat quick to recognize the powerful transformational potential of portals and have developed and implemented their own. One of such is the portal of Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria. Broadly one could argue that an institution with increasing student numbers, operating in a society with an increasing desire for instant access to information, needs to carefully consider new ways in which it can interact more efficiently with its students (Brown 2000; Twigg and Obinge 1997).
At Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo, just like the other polytechnics, students are enrolled to pursue a 2-year National Diploma academic program (ND), and a 2-year Higher National Diploma program (HND). Students must pass and obtain the minimum polytechnic admission requirements of the SSSCE/WASSCE examination in order to qualify for admission.
An enrolled student is expected to register and pay their school fees. In most cases, enrolling and having to register a new student involves some manual processes which delay processes for both the polytechnic and more especially the students.
Student’s registration is done by students mostly at a registration center. Students have to move physically to campus to complete the registration process. The following are the problems inherent with the current system.
1. Insufficient utilities in handling student’s registration.
2. Inability of students to remotely register and access their registration number immediately.
3. Students spend too much time in processing their registration and worse, this can only be done with their physical presence on campus.
The current system is outdated and can only be accessed through a clerk in the registration office/center. The new system will enable all students to access the system through a PC connected through the internet. Essentially, the idea of e-registration is to lead students to a convenient way of registering online. Students will be able to save their time, money, plus submit their information with just in few minutes. In additional, it can be done anytime, anywhere according to their preference, provided it is within the stipulated time period.
It is in this regard that this project looks at the student’s registration system at Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo in order to design and develop an e-registration system for the school.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
From the background of the study, one can observe the following problems which prompted this project;
1. Difficulty faced by students in retrieving their lost receipt from bursary.
2. Inconveniences faced by students queuing to pay school fees and collect registration form.
3. Wear and tear that occurs during retrieval and manual handling of files, sometimes data get lost as a result.
4. Increase of paper work in the bursary department and course form registration center.
5. Difficulty experienced in updating of record in a file.
6. Misplacement, loss or damage of student’s record.
7. Inability of students to remotely register and access documents like school fees receipt.
8. Difficulty in locating registration at crucial times.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The major objective of this project will be concentrated towards the development of software that will help in removing the problems encountered with student’s manual method of registration. That is to say, the general objective of the study is to develop e-registration software.
The specific objectives include;
1. To collect the detail record of students.
2. To create a database for the students.
3. To create an online transaction processing system for the payment of fees by students and generation of receipts.
4. To create an easy to use friendly user interface.
1.4 Scope of Study
This study focuses on the development of e-registration system for Imo state polytechnic Umuagwo. It shall include programs which will contain detailed information of the students since first date of enrollment and up to the graduating day including all students’ information and procedures required by the students during registration.
1.5 Significance of the Study
This project work “the design and implementation of an e-registration system will be of great significance to tertiary institutions in the sense that it will help in overcoming the problems of manual operations. Such problems includes; difficulty experienced in updating a record in a file, difficulty faced by students in retrieving their lost receipt from bursary, and inability of students to remotely register and access documents like school fees receipt.
This institution will make use of the software to access their student’s record. The institution will through the knowledge gained in this work discover the need to fully adopt this new system. The students also will greatly benefit from this project as it will enable them to have a new experience of registration when the system is finally adopted.it will also make them to embrace any policy strategy and innovational steps taken by the institution to enhance the quality of education in school.
1.6 Limitations of the Study
The act of carrying out a project work such as this was not an easy task. Several challenges were encountered by the researcher but efforts were made to ensure that they were overcome and that the objectives of the study were realized.
1. Unavailability of data and inadequate resource materials for researcher in this part of the country.
2. Time constraint was another issue the researcher has to battle with as a stipulated time was given for the accomplishment of this task.
3. The problem of financial constraint was also an issue of great concern. The meager income available to me had to be managed to realize this work.
4. The problem of interrupted power supply also affected my fastness in the design of my work.
In spite of these challenges the objectives of this study was realized as the researcher made judicious use of what was available. | <urn:uuid:597e3abc-7783-4354-b710-733020cc10cb> | {
"date": "2019-08-22T09:31:47",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-35",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-35/segments/1566027317037.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20190822084513-20190822110513-00256.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9553300142288208,
"score": 2.640625,
"token_count": 1882,
"url": "http://projectgist.com.ng/2018/10/31/design-and-implementation-of-an-e-registration-system-for-school/"
} |
MOSS LANDING, Calif., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Ocean explorers equipped with genetic tools once reserved for the laboratory petri dish have uncovered never-before-seen light-using marine bacteria, revealing an unexpected diversity that may require oceanographers to reconsider how marine ecosystems function.
Taking genomic techniques to the sea is an important step toward parting the waves of mystery surrounding the identity and, even more importantly, the ecological roles of microbes, whose numbers in the ocean surpass those of stars in the sky by a 100 million-fold -- but which are less understood, the scientists said.
Their report describing new and diverse groups of photosynthetic bacteria found in plankton from Monterey Bay and the central Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii is published in the British journal Nature.
The microbes -- unrelated to any previously known types -- live in the upper ocean where light and oxygen abound. They harvest energy needed for growth and survival from sunlight and, in turn, provide energy and nutrients to the rest of the food chain.
"Microbes in particular represent the organisms that are responsible for maintaining all the major energy and nutrient cycles on Earth," said lead author Edward Delong, a microbiologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, Calif. "Since we know that man is impacting the environment more heavily now than ever in our history, it becomes increasingly important to better understand ecosystem dynamics, ecology and biogeochemical cycles."
The road to such understanding is being paved with new technologies, scientists told United Press International.
"These new analytical approaches are letting us see for the first time some of the basic properties and characteristics of some of the most abundant organisms on the planet -- planktonic microbes," Delong said. "It's a true discovery period, and these discoveries are helping us to better understand the structure and function of the oceanic ecosystem, the living ocean."
Delong and colleagues from The Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Md., analyzed the microbes' genetic blueprints using genomic DNA sequencing techniques, which are yielding complete maps of heredity of a growing number of organisms, from a microscopic worm to man. They found bacterial photosynthetic genes, previously disregarded as insignificant in marine plankton, are actually widely distributed in ocean waters.
Scientists have long considered phytoplankton -- "plant" plankton that contains the green pigment chlorophyll -- to comprise the main ocean-dwelling population that turns sunlight into food. Now, it appears there also are ecologically significant groups of photosynthetic plankton that do not contain the chlorophyll found in green plants. The existence of these new types of so-called phototrophs, organisms that get energy directly from light, is forcing oceanographers to rethink and revise their models of oceanic food webs, scientists said.
"We now recognize fewer than 10 percent of the bacteria in nature so the book on biology and ecology will surely need to be re-evaluated and probably rewritten once we have a full inventory of life forms in the sea," said David Karl of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, who wrote an accompanying News and Views article.
New technologies are enabling scientists to characterize large portions of the genomes of naturally occurring microbial species without having to grow them in laboratory dishes, a previous prerequisite for studying the life forms, scientists said.
"Even in the very first applications of these approaches, we are finding unexpected surprises," Delong told UPI
This and a spade of other recent studies unveiling previously unknown microbes are churning up new ideas on the role of marine ecosystems, especially in relation to ocean nitrogen and carbon cycles.
"The stakes and the level of excitement in the subdiscipline of microbiological oceanography are at all-time highs," Karl said. "The importance and the stakes are knowledge and understanding. If we do not have a full inventory of life forms on the planet, how can we, as scientists, answer questions from the public and from our decision makers about pollution, land-use practices and global environmental change?"
"This research will, I believe, lead to more attention being given to marine microorganisms which though invisible to the naked eye are largely responsible for the air we breathe (they supply the oxygen) and much of the food we eat (they serve as the base of most marine food webs)," Karl told UPI. "Since the oceans cover nearly three-fourths of our planet, these are issues of major proportion."
The finding will likely capture fewer headlines than would the discovery of a new species of mammal, but is nevertheless much more significant, scientists said.
"Most of the earth's biodiversity resides in microbes, especially bacteria," Karl said. "With each discovery of a new group of bacteria comes the possibility of the discovery of a new metabolic pathway, or means of processing carbon and energy. This would probably not be the case for the discovery of a new mammal which likely would be built around a well-known mode of behavior and physiology."
Much work lies ahead for even with the newly discovered microbes, many questions remain.
"We now know that they are present, but we don't know their ecological niche," Karl said. "This is work in progress."
The task ahead is, in part, to look back.
"Microbes have been around on Earth over 3.5 billion years now, and over that period of time they have been evolving and adapting," Delong noted. "They live in almost any conceivable habitat you can think of, from boiling hot springs to Antarctic ice."
The microbes' great variety endows them with scientific appeal.
"The more we learn about the diversity of life on earth, all habitats, the more reliable will be our predictions about life elsewhere in the universe," Karl said. "As it turns out, one need not go to the ends of the earth to discover new and different forms of life ... Novel microbes present themselves to us in the relatively benign sea surface around the globe. But in reality, the sea is a very extreme environment in itself and it has led to a radiation of life forms and now represents perhaps one of the most diverse habitats on earth." | <urn:uuid:4134c5a5-8aae-4d65-bfa9-276d115acc9c> | {
"date": "2015-07-28T20:35:09",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-32",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042982502.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002302-00312-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 4,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9445598721504211,
"score": 3.609375,
"token_count": 1255,
"url": "http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2002/02/06/Marine-microbes-point-to-ocean-diversity/UPI-42341013030170/?st_rec=35011286856412"
} |
The San José Church in Old San Juan has been identified among the 11 most endangered historic places in America, the National Trust for Historic Preservation said Tuesday.
The Trust unveiled its 26th annual list that highlights important examples of the nation’s architectural, cultural and natural heritage that are at risk of destruction or irreparable damage.
More than 240 sites have been on the list over its 26-year history, and only a handful of listed sites have been lost.
“For more than a quarter century, our list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places has called attention to threatened one-of-a-kind treasures throughout the nation and has galvanized local preservationists to help save them,” said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
“As it has over the past 26 years, we hope this year’s list inspires people to speak out for the important places in their own communities that help to define our nation’s past – and enrich its future,” she said.
The San José Church was constructed from 1532 to 1735 by the Dominican Order as part of their Saint Aquinas monastery. It was renamed by the Jesuits who took over the monastery in 1865. The church has been under renovation for several years.
This year’s list includes: Houston’s Astrodome, the world’s first domed indoor, air conditioned stadium that was dubbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World”; the Mountain View Black Officers’ Club in Arizona, one of the few remaining World War II-era military service clubs built specifically for African-American officers; and the distinctive flying-saucer-shaped Worldport Terminal at JFK Airport in New York, a symbol of the Jet Age since it first opened in 1960. | <urn:uuid:5b0c4365-0d4b-42b3-803d-33fb51f631e4> | {
"date": "2019-11-12T21:29:52",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-47",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496665767.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20191112202920-20191112230920-00456.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9634455442428589,
"score": 2.984375,
"token_count": 376,
"url": "https://newsismybusiness.com/osjs-san-jose-church-among-most-endangered-historic-places/"
} |
Developing strong study habits early on is essential if you want your child to succeed. Our Study Skills programs in Missoula can help educate your son or daughter on how to manage increasing workloads from elementary, high school and college to the workforce. Whether your child is starting to fall behind or wants to develop the skills to get ahead, our study tips and techniques can make all the difference.
Tips for Studying Smart
By combining independent activities with personal instruction — and lots of chances to practice new skills — we ensure that good study habits quickly become second nature.
Personalized Tutoring (K-12)
When every child has specific needs, instilling positive attitudes and study habits can’t be a matter of one size fits all. Our Personalized Tutoring programs are designed to take that into account. Special attention will be paid to the following skill sets:
- Active reading: Nurturing strong comprehension skills will be helpful across all subjects.
- Time management: Efficient study skills rely on the ability organize and prioritize work.
- Note taking strategies: Utilizing tools such as flash cards and color coding can make studying more efficient.
- Research: How to evaluate sources, find relevant information and write a bibliography.
- Understanding the writing process: Through practice, your child will become a more engaging writer.
- Online safety: Finding, evaluating and sharing digital information in a responsible way.
Advancement & Test Prep (Grades 9-12)
Teaching your teen digital literacy, smart study habits, goal setting, time management and research and writing skills that he or she will put to good use well into adulthood is what our expert tutors are trained for. With Advancement & Test Prep, your teen will:
- Sharpen the right skills: You determine which skills need more attention — such as time management or research — so we can ensure we're focusing on the right areas for the most noticeable results.
- Feel more confident: The positive behaviors and attitudes we foster are a big step towards building confidence and meeting big expectations.
- Develop vital assets for the future: Sylvan can provide guidance for public speaking, job interview preparation and other important skills for young adults. | <urn:uuid:616183d7-ad71-492a-83b2-a8de011d770b> | {
"date": "2019-06-20T03:41:48",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-26",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560627999130.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20190620024754-20190620050754-00496.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9022701978683472,
"score": 3.015625,
"token_count": 453,
"url": "https://cities.sylvanlearning.com/us/montana/study-skills-in-missoula"
} |
At the end of the day, it comes down to resource distribution – raw materials, be that oil gold, copper, or other commodities. If you have those resources in sufficient supply, then you have a fundamental wealth that can support the economy. Labour as a resource long disappeared as a significant asset because it cost so much. Knowledge as a resource – intellectual property, patents, researchers, education – has not managed to fill the gap that Globalisation has created.
Since the end of the Second World War, financial instruments and derivatives of increasing complexity have evolved to take advantage of an increasingly interconnected economic environment all over the world. Governments have taken advantage of this to maintain growth, and therein prosperity, peace, and most importantly of all – power. Power is its own master. It protects itself, it serves itself. And those who seek it always serve it. When their usefulness to the prosperity of power is expended, they are cast aside.
Governments and societies first cultivated domestic economies through resource balancing in globally competitive environments. They were able to subsidise one industry where labour rates were uncompetitive with another where oversupply was commonplace – like mineral production or farming. Ultimately, however, this was unlikely to persist. Growing populations meant that farming was unlikely in the long run to provide oversupply and that food derivatives could continue to be exported profitably and competitively. Minerals and other natural resources ultimately run out. The knowledge economy, a phrase coined by Peter Drucker in 1992, became the panacea to cure those ills.
Wealth, and resource, is a zero sum game. There is only so much of it to go around. We cannot manufacture wealth from thin air. This, however, was what economists and economic engineers were able to do. They did this in a number of ways. First, they mortgaged the future, borrowing against future income, predicating their maths on future growth, and accepting effective slower increases in general wealth in return for a less volatile path. The basic presumption was that growth would inevitably continue in the long run, and if that was somehow compromised by events such as war, severe depression, or some other globally impacting event, then the “long run” would simply become longer. For the last 100 years, equities and all other financial instruments have performed positively – so long as you take a long enough view.
Armed with these financial instruments, successive governments increasingly leveraged their states. Some time in the early 2000’s, western liberal democracies reached their peak. They could be leveraged no more. The “long run” became finite. They were dependent on perpetual uninterrupted growth at the risk of significant crisis and default. When the subprime property crash hit the market in the US in 2008, the global financial system shuddered.
Quickly, the US began printing money. That effectively began to devalue US wealth in a global context, but allowed the illusion of domestic prosperity. Imported goods began to grow more and more expensive, but a reasonably broad domestic industrial base allowed native foodstuffs and other goods to supply domestic demand. Gas prices have kept on rising, which is the one real element of the US economy that it has less control of. Many would argue that this is at the heart of their middle eastern policy. Lehman brothers imploded as its exposure to the domestic economy – and in particular to the property market – was too great.
In the UK the effects were felt pretty immediately. The Eurozone economies began taking on water also as banks that were exposed to overpriced domestic property began to fail in Iceland (not in the Eurozone, but openly integrated with UK and Eurozone investments), then Ireland, then Greece. Sovereign credit was denied these countries as they scrambled to make some coherent structure of their sovereign accounts. It was an almost impossible task. On the one hand, fundamentally underperforming economies were structured (particularly in the public sector) to support much more prosperous ones, requiring painful readjustment. On the other, these economies were suddenly aware of massive debts that would have been eyewatering in the good times, if anyone had cared to look. With massively reduced growth prospects, and readjusted economy sizes in absolute terms, the debts are simply unsustainable on an individual country level.
All current efforts are geared towards stabilizing the ship. The volatility in the markets is bad for business, bad for growth. Getting back to manageable debt burdens and reasonably balanced national budgets is good, right? Well, no. That, essentially, brings us all back to 2007, still leveraged to the max, and waiting for a single shock to the system that will send us all reeling again. The efforts today will not build into the system any real change, as the political leadership doesn’t have the capacity or the will to effect that change. The cycles are too short; the impacts are too wide ranging and long term to be of consequence.
The debt, of course, is real. The wealth belongs to someone. That’s China, it’s the Middle East, it’s other resource rich countries. They have an interest in seeking adjustment, because business ceases entirely unless a reasonable structure can be found for overburdened sovereigns. But they have no interest in restructuring the entirety of the international credit system. That would – essentially – undermine the basis for their current wealth, and involve some kind of global redistribution of debt. And even then, there is no real answer to what system replaces it.
And so we find ourselves in perpetual crisis. Any need to increase leverage will be met with consternation by the markets. Any failure to deliver on basic growth numbers will be similarly frowned upon. Any “boom” will be characterized by transience and caution; any bust will be dramatic and painful.
Perpetual crisis will be socially unsustainable; but, folks, at least the air is free J | <urn:uuid:832d65a3-7b7f-4e3f-b2fd-588f500552f6> | {
"date": "2017-03-27T20:31:35",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-13",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218189525.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212949-00156-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9711636900901794,
"score": 2.6875,
"token_count": 1204,
"url": "http://thestatewerein.blogspot.com/2011/11/we-have-reached-point-of-perpetual.html"
} |
Not all fats are bad. A group of essential fats from plants is downright important in maintaining and improving the healthy functions of your body. A newly-published Canadian study identified alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) as the omega fatty acids that reduce the risks of obesity and improve your resistance to high levels of glucose.
ALA is an omega-3 fatty acid while LA is an omega-6 fatty acid. These polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are obtained through eating food.
They are considered to be essential to the natural health of the body. Earlier research has shown that omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids protect the brain from harm, regulate the immune system’s inflammatory response, and reduce the chances of heart disease.
The new study showed that alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid can regulate the expression of genes associated with the production of muscle proteins. Its findings were published ahead of print in Physiological Genomics. (Related: Fatty Acid Blood Tests Help Assess Risk for Heart Disease.)
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids can help prevent obesity
Muscle proteins called skeletal muscle secretome are responsible for triggering various metabolic activities. These proteins signal the growth of muscle fibers.
They also tell beta cells in the pancreas to produce insulin that regulates glucose levels. This led to the theory that obesity and the body’s resistance to insulin affect skeletal muscle secretome.
A University of Guelph (Guelph) research team investigated the connection between essential fats and the gene expressions connected with skeletal muscle secretome. They assembled an animal model using lab rats.
Mother Nature’s micronutrient secret: Organic Broccoli Sprout Capsules now available, delivering 280mg of high-density nutrition, including the extraordinary “sulforaphane” and “glucosinolate” nutrients found only in cruciferous healing foods. Every lot laboratory tested. See availability here.
A group of normal rats served as the lean control group. Obesity was induced in the rest of the animals, which were divided into three groups: Obese control, ALA supplement, and LA supplement.
The two control groups were given normal food. The ALA supplement group also got alpha-linolenic acid in addition to the standard diet, while the LA supplement group received linoleic acid.
At the end of the 12-week trial, the researchers measured the glucose levels in all animals. They also took samples of muscle and ribonucleic acid (RNA), a chain of molecules that gets genetic data from the DNA of a cell for protein production.
Increase omega fatty acid levels to improve insulin resistance
The Guelph researchers reported that 12 weeks of supplementation reduced the glucose levels of the ALA and LA-supplemented animals when compared to the obese control group. They also displayed better glucose tolerance due to improvements in the way their bodies responded to insulin.
When compared together, the alpha-linolenic acid supplement group showed better glucose levels and insulin resistance than the linoleic acid supplement group.
The researchers were also able to identify more than 135 different genes in all four groups that appeared to be affected by the presence or lack of essential fats in their diets. These included genes that regulated the secretion of essential proteins, such as skeletal muscle secretome.
Many of these proteins were expressed differently in the lean group and the obese groups. Analysis showed that alpha-linolenic acid differentially regulated the Col3a1 gene associated with insulin resistance in rats while the Col15a1 gene involved in the exercise. ALA also regulated the Pdgfd gene associated with an important ingredient of skeletal muscle secretome.
Meanwhile, linoleic acid regulated the Lyz2 and Angptl4 genes, which were involved in exercise and insulin resistance, respectively.
Based on their findings, the researchers believe that the two omega fatty acids can regulate the secretion of skeletal muscle secretome. This way, they can reverse the adverse effects of obesity and insulin resistance that affect that important protein.
See Omega3.news for more articles about nutrients that can protect you from the onset of obesity and other related health problems.
Source: Natural News
Disclaimer: We at Prepare for Change (PFC) bring you information that is not offered by the mainstream news, and therefore may seem controversial. The opinions, views, statements, and/or information we present are not necessarily promoted, endorsed, espoused, or agreed to by Prepare for Change, its leadership Council, members, those who work with PFC, or those who read its content. However, they are hopefully provocative. Please use discernment! Use logical thinking, your own intuition and your own connection with Source, Spirit and Natural Laws to help you determine what is true and what is not. By sharing information and seeding dialogue, it is our goal to raise consciousness and awareness of higher truths to free us from enslavement of the matrix in this material realm. | <urn:uuid:25178288-8945-485a-bfc3-3dabeade1393> | {
"date": "2019-02-15T18:36:53",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-09",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247479101.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20190215183319-20190215205319-00056.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9406803846359253,
"score": 2.96875,
"token_count": 1035,
"url": "https://prepareforchange.net/2018/09/22/load-up-on-omega-3-and-omega-6-fatty-acids-to-prevent-obesity-and-improve-your-insulin-resistance/"
} |
George Gamow, original Russian Georgy Antonovich Gamov (born March 4, 1904, Odessa, Russian Empire [now in Ukraine]—died Aug. 19, 1968, Boulder, Colo., U.S.) Russian-born American nuclear physicist and cosmologist who was one of the foremost advocates of the big-bang theory, according to which the universe was formed in a colossal explosion that took place billions of years ago. In addition, his work on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) made a basic contribution to modern genetic theory.
Gamow attended Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) University, where he studied briefly with A.A. Friedmann, a mathematician and cosmologist who suggested that the universe should be expanding. At that time Gamow did not pursue Friedmann’s suggestion, preferring instead to delve into quantum theory. After graduating in 1928, he traveled to Göttingen, where he developed his quantum theory of radioactivity, the first successful explanation of the behaviour of radioactive elements, some of which decay in seconds while others decay over thousands of years.
His achievement earned him a fellowship at the Copenhagen Institute of Theoretical Physics (1928–29), where he continued his investigations in theoretical nuclear physics. There he proposed his “liquid drop” model of atomic nuclei, which served as the basis for the modern theories of nuclear fission and fusion. He also collaborated with F. Houtermans and R. Atkinson in developing a theory of the rates of thermonuclear reactions inside stars.
In 1934, after emigrating from the Soviet Union, Gamow was appointed professor of physics at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. There he collaborated with Edward Teller in developing a theory of beta decay (1936), a nuclear decay process in which an electron is emitted.
Soon after, Gamow resumed his study of the relations between small-scale nuclear processes and cosmology. He used his knowledge of nuclear reactions to interpret stellar evolution, collaborating with Teller on a theory of the internal structures of red giant stars (1942). From his work on stellar evolution, Gamow postulated that the Sun’s energy results from thermonuclear processes.
Gamow and Teller were both proponents of the expanding-universe theory that had been advanced by Friedmann, Edwin Hubble, and Georges LeMaître. Gamow, however, modified the theory, and he, Ralph Alpher, and Hans Bethe published this theory in a paper called “The Origin of Chemical Elements” (1948). This paper, attempting to explain the distribution of chemical elements throughout the universe, posits a primeval thermonuclear explosion, the big bang that began the universe. According to the theory, after the big bang, atomic nuclei were built up by the successive capture of neutrons by the initially formed pairs and triplets.
In 1954 Gamow’s scientific interests grew to encompass biochemistry. He proposed the concept of a genetic code and maintained that the code was determined by the order of recurring triplets of nucleotides, the basic components of DNA. His proposal was vindicated during the rapid development of genetic theory that followed.
Gamow held the position of professor of physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, from 1956 until his death. He is perhaps best known for his popular writings, designed to introduce to the nonspecialist such difficult subjects as relativity and cosmology. His first such work, Mr. Tomkins in Wonderland (1936), gave rise to the multivolume “Mr. Tomkins” series (1939–67). Among his other writings are One, Two, Three . . . Infinity (1947), The Creation of the Universe (1952; rev. ed., 1961), A Planet Called Earth (1963), and A Star Called the Sun (1964). | <urn:uuid:be8f3ea1-6aec-4376-beeb-ecfdb5fc5f8f> | {
"date": "2016-07-25T20:14:19",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2016-30",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257824345.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071024-00246-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9596689343452454,
"score": 3.1875,
"token_count": 801,
"url": "https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Gamow"
} |
In our modern era, tap water is the most polluted it’s ever been even though it “looks” clean. Tap water has been tested positive for pesticides, manufacturing chemicals, heavy metals like lead, particulate matter (including toilet paper), prescriptions such as birth control and anti-depressants, as well as steroids from cows.
A growing concern is the amount of prescription medications that are accumulating in the water supply which is currently not subject to testing and monitoring under federal or state laws. After the Chicago Tribune conducted their own testing of Chicago’s water supply they reported, “The tests also found caffeine, nicotine and cotinine, a nicotine byproduct, all of which researchers consider to be indicators of pharmaceuticals from human waste.” Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-water-testing-14-jul14,0,4303601.story. The reason medications are showing up in the water supply is because the body does not metabolize and absorb them 100%. A significant amount passes through the kidneys and is eliminated through urine which enters the sewage system. Water treatment plants are able to reduce the concentrations but not eliminate them.
Faucet filters and pitchers like Britta, help to remove lead and the taste and odor of chlorine but not all contaminates. Low quality filtration will not remove Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) which are chemicals from industrial products such as paint, office printers, building materials and household cleaning products. VOCs can be extremely toxic and affect the body in different ways from increasing asthma symptoms to increased risk of liver disease.
It’s important to have properly filtered water, as it’s been shown to:
* Protect the body from disease and cancer attributed to toxic materials in drinking water
* Increase absorbability
* Impact the development and immune systems in children
As with most products, water filtration systems are not made the same. Many recommend reverse osmosis systems which can be costly and they waste some water in the filtration process. Small filter membrane systems are sufficient units.
Some things to look for when considering such an investment is:
* The type of membrane * Frequency of filter replacement
* Versatility of where the unit can be mounted * Size of the unit
* Difficulty of installation * Overall cost
Dr. Gruby has spent hours of research, looking for a water purification system that was both effective and economical. He recommends the Watts Premier Water Filtration UF-3 System as it’s an efficient, easy-to-install unit that is not unreasonable to maintain. https://www.wattspremier.com/ | <urn:uuid:ef98f863-38df-49f6-8c04-8f685261001e> | {
"date": "2017-10-18T22:00:49",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-43",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187823153.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20171018214541-20171018234541-00556.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9471810460090637,
"score": 3.0625,
"token_count": 559,
"url": "http://www.chiromend.com/2014/are-you-drinking-what-your-neighbors-are-flushing/"
} |
The Great War is known as one of the first mass industrial conflicts, and set the tone for warfare in the twentieth century. Traditional cavalry unites became obsolete and as the conflict settled into a static front in the west it became a war of matériel; one that focused on causing so much loss of life that the enemy would be forced to surrender through sheer exhaustion. The war in became a siege, much like the medieval siege of a city, where gains were counted in yards and men lived in make-shift fortifications along a narrow front.
Image above: “The Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Three Irish Guards wearing German body-armour, examining a captured German machine-gun, at Pilckem, 31st July 1917.” [photograph], © IWM (Q 2636)
With trench warfare came new ways of fighting; both sides maintained that despite the static nature of the war, it was still to be fought aggressively, which meant raids, snipers and artillery barrages. With close hand to hand fighting during raids, particularly with knives, bayonets and even clubs, some of kind of extra protection may have seemed like a good idea.
Other than steel helmets, introduced in 1915 as a way to dimish the large numbers of head injuries occurring on the front, armour of any kind was not officially issued for field use by the British High Command and it was left in the hands of private manufacturers to market many different types of personal protection. These included armoured gloves and face protectors, and even chain mail enforced tunics, all available for purchase.
Most of what was available was probably not very useful, particularly against high speed and expanding bullets. Like many of the commercial products available for soldiers’ families to buy, armour was yet another gadget marketed as providing protection and comfort, but in reality only a gimmick.
Many sets were advertised as lightweight (which they frequently were not) or able to stop a bullet at a particular distance (which they largely failed to do). In the wartime landscape of mud and shell holes, weight and ease of movement became particularly important, as it was easy to fall into the mud and drown. While some soldiers may have bought trench armour (Robert Graves has an amusing story about being presented with it before he left for war in 1914), it appears not to have been used frequently.
By the Second World War, body armour had been completely discounted on all sides, and most soldiers went into battle with little more than a helmet to protect them. Interestingly, body armour has made a come-back in the post-World War II era and with the advent of light-weight, flexible materials like Kevlar, most soldiers serving in professional armies now wear some form of protective body gear. | <urn:uuid:f26c2f12-ce93-47bb-a5fd-7d03fa748c9f> | {
"date": "2017-05-23T05:10:45",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-22",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-22/segments/1495463607369.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170523045144-20170523065144-00583.warc.gz",
"int_score": 4,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.982010543346405,
"score": 3.578125,
"token_count": 560,
"url": "https://greatwarcentre.com/2017/02/10/old-becomes-new-again-trench-armour-and-weapons-in-wwi/"
} |
A 12-mile long lake of liquid water has been detected under the polar ice caps of Mars, raising hopes that life could exist beneath the surface. Among the 29 radar samplings, the scientists spotted a series of unusually strong reflections bearing a distinct electrical hallmark.
Just look out for the big red dot. According to EarthSky.org, it will be appear almost as bright as it did in 2003, when it was closer to Earth than it had been in 60,000 years. This won't happen again until 2287, Nasa has predicted. Rain and thunderstorms will also lead to poor viewing conditions across a swath of the central U.S.
Dr Brown said: "While more common than the solar eclipse , the event is nonetheless fairly unusual, with even partial eclipses rarely happening a couple of times or twice per year and each is only visible from a portion of the Earth". The July 27/28, 2018 total lunar eclipse is part of the Saros series 129, same as the July 16, 2000, total lunar eclipse - the longest eclipse of the 20th century.
When the three celestial bodies are perfectly lined up, however, the Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light from the sun while refracting or bending red light onto the moon , usually giving it a rosy blush. EarthSky .org has a map showing more exact locations, and TimeandDate.com has timings based on your location. North American residents suffering from eclipse FOMO will be able to watch the event online.
The term " blood moon " was popularised by Christian pastor John Hagee in 2013 following the release of the book Four Blood Moons , which highlighted a lunar sequence of four total eclipses that occurred in 2014/15. Whatever your favored explanation, it's happening this month and it'll last for a whopping 1 hour and 43 minutes. Skygazers are set for a rare treat today as the longest "blood moon" eclipse of this century will occur in a shortwhile tonight.
The eclipse is estimated to start in India at 11:44pm IST on Friday night and the total lunar eclipse 2018 is expected to begin at 1am IST. That's about the middle of the afternoon here in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. It will be visible in all parts of India. And finally - the Moon is near apogee (the most distant point in its orbit ) around the July full moon, Edberg said. | <urn:uuid:ba74dbcd-6777-4b78-af68-431cac0dd0b7> | {
"date": "2019-05-27T11:35:00",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-22",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232262369.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20190527105804-20190527131804-00176.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9530577659606934,
"score": 2.671875,
"token_count": 494,
"url": "http://nysepost.com/research/page422/"
} |
Chroniclers of the game have rarely been kind to Andrew Freedman, principal owner of the New York Giants from January 1895 to September 1902. According to one team historian, Freedman was “naturally arrogant (with) a bad temper at the end of a very short fuse.” In much the same vein, Bill James memorably described him as “George Steinbrenner on Quaaludes with a touch of Al Capone” and “just this side of a madman” while another commentator has awarded Freedman the distinction of being “the most loathsome team owner in baseball history.” But Andrew Freedman’s stormy tenure as Giants owner was, in fact, only a chapter in the life of one of New York City’s most prominent turn of the century figures. To Freedman, ownership of the Giants was little more than a pastime, a diversion from the weighty business and political affairs that dominated his life. As a consequence, his stewardship of the team was mercurial, with frequent managerial changes, angry ultimatums to fellow magnates and battles with the sporting press alternating with periods of complete indifference by Freedman to his baseball interests. In short, team ownership did not show Andrew Freedman at his best.
The future Giants boss was born into a Manhattan family of middle-class German-Jewish immigrants on September 1, 1860. Father Joseph Freedman (1829-1903) was a prosperous grocer while his mother, Elizabeth Davies Freedman (1836-1916), tended to the children, of whom Andrew was the second of four. A precocious grammar school graduate, Andrew was enrolled in pre-admission courses at the College of the City of New York at the age of 14 but proved an indifferent scholar, dropping out of CCNY at the end of his freshman year. Freedman began his working life in the employ of a dry-goods house but soon gravitated to real estate, the field where he would make his first fortune.
To enhance his prospects, 21-year-old Andrew Freedman joined Tammany Hall, the corrupt political machine that controlled the Democratic Party in New York City. There he attached himself to Richard Croker, a rising Tammany star. In time, Freedman would become a financial adviser, business associate and lifelong friend of Croker. In 1886 Croker assumed control of the Wigwam and installed his protégé Freedman on the Finance Committee, Tammany’s all-powerful policy-making board. Combined with his native intelligence and a fierce energy, Freedman’s association with Croker all but guaranteed success in the real-estate world. Dealing extensively in tony Fifth Avenue properties and acquiring vast tracts of land in the then sparsely populated Bronx, Freedman quickly amassed a fortune via sale of property at inflated prices to local businessmen, city contractors, and others requiring the favor of his patron, Boss Croker. By the time he reached the age of 30, Freedman had become a very wealthy man.
Freedman’s interest in baseball is usually traced to his appointment as receiver of the bankrupt Manhattan Athletic Club in 1893. His administration of club affairs included management of Manhattan Field, the pre-Polo Grounds home of the Giants and still an important New York sporting venue. Freedman began taking in Giants games (Manhattan Field and the Polo Grounds sat on adjoining sites) and soon developed a liking for the game. With time on his hands following Tammany’s defeat in the city elections of 1894 and awash in money, Freedman quietly began acquiring blocks of Giants stock, at times using circus impresario James A. Bailey as a front. Then in January 1895, Freedman made his move, capturing majority control of the franchise by buying out de facto Giants boss E.B. Talcott and his allies.
Wealthy, politically connected, and a native son, the young (age 34) Freedman’s acquisition of the team was initially well received by the New York sporting press and the Giants faithful. Baseball luminaries joined in the well wishes for the new owner. A.G. Spalding, having only recently divested himself of his own ownership share of the Giants, stated, “…From what I hear, Mr. Freedman is a clever businessman and will prove successful. I hope he makes a lot of money.” Just retired star John Montgomery Ward, a minority Giants owner whose sale of his stock had made Freedman’s control of the team possible, also applauded the new magnate, particularly after Freedman ratified Talcott’s appointment of Ward favorite George Davis as Giants playing manager for the upcoming season. Overlooked in the glow of good feeling was a dubious opening move by the Giants’ novice owner: elimination of the post of managing director of the team. Despite limited prior contact with and understanding of the game, Freedman would exercise the duties of franchise commander personally as Giants president.
With the nucleus of the 1894 Temple Cup champions returning, great things were expected of the Giants, but the team started the new season sluggishly. Impatient New York scribes were quick to assign blame as did Giants fans, and the new team owner was not exempted from their censure. Although he was in many ways an able man, Freedman’s background had not conditioned him to public criticism. Combative and surprisingly thin-skinned, Freedman reacted badly. He began by firing his managers. Davis, Jack Doyle, and Harvey Watkins would all be relieved of duty during the 1895 season. Freedman also had trouble with his players, particularly star hurler Amos Rusie, who chafed under the owner’s disciplinary measures. Nor did Freedman enjoy cordial relations with his fellow magnates, most of whom found Freedman abrasive and impossible to get along with. Unwiser still, Freedman got into fights – at times, literally – with the writers on the Giants beat. In short order, Freedman managed to alienate most of the baseball world. In the meantime, his Giants team staggered home a disappointing ninth-place finisher (out of the 12-team National League).
But if Freedman had gotten off to a rocky start as Giants owner, his troubles in that role paled in comparison to his disastrous turn as a minor-league mogul the following year. Asserting territorial rights under the National Agreement, Freedman muscled his way into the newly formed Class A Atlantic League, gaining control of the Jersey City franchise, which he promptly relocated to Manhattan. In emulation of John T. Brush’s operation in Cincinnati, Freedman envisioned the team, renamed the Metropolitan of New York and installed in the Polo Grounds, as a developmental squad for the Giants. Stocked with the likes of Cy Seymour, Ed Doheny, Shorty Fuller, and other major-league-caliber players, the Mets were expected to dominate the Atlantic League but managed only middling play. The team also proved a financial dud, often drawing no more than 200 paying customers to home games. Frustrated by the franchise’s failings, Freedman turned soon petulant. Team assessments went unpaid, fines imposed on Mets players were ignored, and desired league expansion was blocked by Freedman.
Tensions between Freedman and fellow team owners reached the breaking point in early July. With the Giants on the road, Freedman took a seat on the bench for a Mets home game against the Wilmington Peaches. When Freedman strode onto the diamond to insert himself into a fifth-inning dispute with the umpire, Peaches captain Bob Berryhill yelled, “Go put on a uniform if you want to get into this game.” Finding such insolence from a player intolerable, Freedman thereupon had the police remove Berryhill from the park. The following day, Berryhill was barred from entering the Polo Grounds, resulting in forfeiture of the game to Wilmington. This proved the final straw for the other team owners. At an emergency meeting convened on July 10, the Metropolitan of New York team was expelled from the Atlantic League. Freedman departed the meeting room in a huff, vowing to sue, but soon thereafter he pronounced himself just as glad to be rid of the Mets operation.
Unhappily for Freedman, his fortunes fared little better with the Giants that season. Crippled by the absence of Rusie, who sat out the entire year rather than capitulate to tight-fisted salary terms, the Giants finished the 1896 season a distant seventh, 27 games behind pennant-winning Baltimore. In the offseason, the Freedman/Rusie impasse was finally resolved via the unsolicited intervention of fellow N.L. team owners who – without Freedman’s knowledge or approval – quietly induced Rusie to return to the Giants for the 1897 season by settling $5,000 on him. Indignant when he found out, Freedman refused to contribute to the settlement and fumed at the magnates’ intrusion into his running of the Giants.
Buoyed by Rusie’s return, the Giants surged to third place in 1897. The team also benefited from the inattention of its owner, now largely preoccupied with political matters. With Richard Croker returned from Europe and re-installed as Tammany chief, Freedman threw himself into the successful mayoral campaign of Tammany candidate Robert Van Wyck. After Van Wyck’s inauguration, Freedman declined appointment to office, choosing instead to remain a backroom power-broker in the new administration. At Croker’s urging, however, Freedman did accept the position of treasurer of the National Democratic Party. In 1898, Freedman expanded his business empire by becoming a principal of the Maryland Fidelity and Guarantee Company, a municipal insurance and bonding operation that proved a lucrative new source of income for Freedman. But as Freedman’s commercial interests flourished, his reign as a major-league team owner was about to enter a malevolent period that would beget serious repercussions for the game.
In late July 1898, Freedman paid a now infrequent visit to the Polo Grounds to take in a game against Baltimore. In the fourth inning, Ducky Holmes, a former Giant, struck out. On his way back to the bench, Holmes responded to the gibes of New York fans by referring to Freedman as a Sheeny, an anti-Semitic putdown. When umpire Tom Lynch refused an enraged Freedman’s demand that Holmes be ejected from the grounds, Freedman ordered the Giants off the field. Lynch thereupon forfeited the game to the Orioles. In the aftermath, Freedman insisted upon league action against Holmes, branding his remark not only personally offensive but “an insult to the Jewish people and the Hebrew patrons of the game.” The season-long suspension of Holmes thereafter imposed by the league provoked an ugly reaction. Boston players circulated a petition denouncing Freedman’s “spirit of intolerance, of arrogance and prejudice toward players, a spirit inimical to the best interests of the game,” while Sporting Life decried punishment of Holmes for the “trifling offense” of “insulting the Hebrew race.” Holmes’ lawyer, meanwhile, obtained injunctive relief from a friendly local judge and Holmes ended up spending only a few days on the sidelines.
Needless to say, Freedman bristled over the outcome, playing every Giants game versus Baltimore under protest for the remainder of the season. But what truly incensed Freedman was not so much the resolution of the Ducky Holmes affair but the position taken by his fellow owners. Branding the suspension illegal (because it had been imposed without a hearing), the other National League magnates had sided with Holmes and urged the league board of directors to lift the suspension. To Freedman, a proud man sensitive to slights, this stance and Holmes’s reinstatement represented nothing less than league countenance of a gross personal insult. And Andrew Freedman would not abide it.
Freedman’s revenge would take the form of a punishing financial lesson for the other N.L. owners. Although Freedman adversaries like Cincinnati owner John T. Brush, a clothing store magnate, and Baltimore boss Harry von der Horst, a brewery owner, were genuine sportsmen, their team ownership was essentially another business proposition and could not be conducted at a loss indefinitely. Andrew Freedman was different. While not in the plutocrat class of a Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, or Carnegie, Freedman was truly wealthy with a personal fortune that was likely the equal of those of his fellow magnates put together. In his eyes, owning a baseball team, like opera patronage and collecting French landscape paintings, was a pastime, not a livelihood. Thus, Freedman could well absorb the injury that would accompany his singular plan for retribution – ruination of the league’s most important financial asset, namely, Freedman’s own New York Giants franchise. By whatever methods required, Freedman would ensure that the Giants began fielding noncompetitive teams. Immediately thereafter, Giants fortunes nosedived. The 1899 season would see the Giants plummet to 60-90, a full 42 games behind pennant-winning Brooklyn. Repelled by the situation and with no end in sight, fans began avoiding Giants games in droves. As intended, the attendance falloff delivered a crippling blow to the finances of the league, particularly hurting the smaller market teams that had come to rely on healthy receipts from Giants contests. The league’s distress gave Freedman no end of satisfaction. As the Giants’ dismal season drew to a close, Freedman declared, “Base ball affairs in New York have been going just as I wished and expected them to go. I have given the club little attention and I would not give five cents for the best base ball player in the world to strengthen it.” And as even his detractors knew, Freedman meant it.
With their horizons bleak and certain of Freedman’s ruthlessness, the owners soon entreated for peace. But reconciliation with Freedman would come at a high price. First and foremost was submission to Freedman’s demand for reduction of the league to an eight-club circuit and the elimination of syndicate team ownership – the twin policy prescriptions that fig-leafed the deeply personal nature of Freedman’s bitterness toward the league. The owners also acceded to Freedman’s demand that the Giants receive the pick of the players available from the liquidated teams. In addition, the league agreed to reimburse Freedman the $15,000 that the annual rent of Manhattan Field cost him, lest the grounds be available for use by some future competitor. Last, but an important matter of principle to Freedman, the league refunded the $1,000 fine imposed on the Giants for forfeiting the Ducky Holmes game – with 6 percent interest.
Another ramification of the mollification process was the emergence of a wholly unexpected alliance between Freedman and principal antagonist John T. Brush, the league’s most influential magnate and heretofore leader of the Freedman opposition in National League owners’ ranks. Little immediate benefit from the Freedman/Brush collaboration accrued to their respective franchises, as the Giants and Reds alternated as the league’s cellar-dwellers for the 1900 and 1901 seasons. But both men had larger endeavors on their mind than the immediate pennant races. Freedman, in fact, had taken to almost entirely ignoring the Giants, his energies consumed by the task that would yield his most enduring legacy: construction of the Interborough Rapid Transit line, New York City’s first true underground railway system. Brush, meanwhile, was busy at work on a longtime pet project, a scheme to convert the independent franchises of the National League into a jointly held trust. As Brush envisioned it, the National League’s assets would be pooled into a holding company managed by a board of regents. Players and managers would be licensed by the board and assigned to various teams consistent with establishing competitive parity. Costs would be controlled by means of stringent salary caps and by the manufacture of baseball equipment by a Trust subsidiary. Apportioned profits to Trust shareholders would be meted out at season’s end.
When Brush broached the Trust proposal to him, Freedman, anticipating adverse press and public reaction, was skeptical, but in time agreed to bankroll the scheme. The fine details of the Trust were later hammered out by Brush, Freedman, and fellow owners Arthur Soden (Boston) and Frank de Haas Robison (St. Louis) during private meetings held at Tower Hill, Freedman’s secluded estate in Red Bank, New Jersey. Failure to secure a fifth magnate’s vote, however, proved fatal to the scheme as the Trust forces were stalemated during contentious N.L. owners meetings in December 1901. Legal proceedings pitting Freedman against anti-Trust champion A.G. Spalding ensued, with Freedman taking a battering on the public relations front even as his lawyers prevailed in court.
The rejection of the Trust was not the only setback being suffered by Freedman. Of far graver consequence was the ouster of the scandal-plagued Van Wyck regime in the New York City elections of November 1901. Shortly thereafter, Richard Croker resigned his post as Tammany chief and took up residence in the British Isles, far beyond the subpoena power of the incoming reform administration. As happily noted by most all, Croker’s departure drastically reduced the political power of Andrew Freedman, an insider sans electoral constituency whose influence was derived solely from his close personal ties to the fallen Tammany chief. Taking particular heart from this situation were those in the baseball world anxious to see a team from the new American League installed in New York. The most likely candidate for transplant to Gotham was the reincarnated Baltimore Orioles, then under the direction of player/manager/part-owner John McGraw. At least temporarily, however, American League moving plans were frustrated by an audacious counterstroke masterminded by Brush, now effectively in charge of the National League as chairman of a three-owner governing committee. Taking advantage of McGraw’s restiveness under the disciplinary yoke of American League President Ban Johnson and with the connivance of Freedman, Brush induced McGraw to force his release by the Orioles. Immediately thereafter, McGraw signed a four-year contract to manage the Giants. With major assistance from Maryland politico John “Sonny” Mahon, Brush then covertly maneuvered majority control of the stock in the cash-strapped Baltimore franchise into Freedman’s hands. Under its new ownership, the Orioles immediately set about releasing the team’s best players, all of whom then signed with the Giants (Joe McGinnity, Dan McGann, Roger Bresnahan, Jack Cronin) or the Reds (Joe Kelley, Cy Seymour). Only quick action by Johnson saved the franchise for the American League. Taking advantage of league charter provisions activated by an ensuing Baltimore game forfeiture (for lack of players), Johnson promptly stripped Freedman of title to the franchise and placed the club under direct presidential control for the remainder of the season.
The following spring, the American League, with new team ownership procured by Johnson, would transfer the Orioles to New York. But Andrew Freedman would not be there waiting to join battle. On August 12, 1902, Freedman, his interest in baseball near extinguished and besieged by the myriad demands of the subway project, announced that he had appointed John T. Brush managing director of the Giants and transferred day-to-day control of club operations to him (while Freedman retained the title of team president). A month later, Freedman severed his connection with the club, selling his controlling interest in the New York franchise to Brush for approximately $200,000, a purchase that Brush financed largely through the sale of his own Cincinnati team to local interests. Apart from an occasional day at the Polo Grounds, Andrew Freedman’s contact with baseball had come to an end.
The eight years of Freedman stewardship are generally adjudged the darkest in New York Giants history. The team had been a contender only once (1897) during that span and had reached bottom (a 44-88 last-place finish) by the time Freedman abandoned the game. But perhaps more enervating than the Giants prolonged poor play was the atmosphere created by Freedman. Essentially a dilettante when it came to baseball, Freedman periodically left the Giants directionless. But team fortunes routinely sank even further when Freedman’s attention returned to the club. Chronically impatient with his team’s standings, Freedman inflicted 13 managerial changes on the Giants during his tenure as club owner. Worse yet, Freedman’s peevish battles – with players, umpires, fellow owners, league officials, the sporting press – and his ferocious vindictive streak drained vitality from the National League’s flagship enterprise and hurt the game itself in the process.
Fortunately for baseball, Giants fortunes quickly rebounded under the new Brush/McGraw regime and a pennant winner was produced within two years. But Andrew Freedman also prospered. No longer distracted by baseball team ownership and largely relieved from duty in the political world as well, Freedman concentrated his energies on the complex financing and construction schemes that made the subway system operational by 1904 and Freedman an even richer man. Losses subsequently suffered in the Panic of 1907 were more than recouped by the sale of another Freedman insurance venture, the Casualty Company of America, for a handsome price in 1909. In addition, Freedman served as a director of various construction, rapid transit, waterfront, theater, and railroad companies while holding stock in numerous other going concerns including the Wright Brothers flying machine company. He also continued to reel in hefty fees from conservatorships and other court-appointed positions.
Although scorned by baseball, Freedman was held in high esteem by the business and social elites of the Gilded Age. His circle included 1904 Democratic presidential candidate Alton Parker, banker August Belmont Jr., theater owner Lee Shubert, Tammany powerhouse T.P. Sullivan, helmsman Cornelius Vanderbilt III, prominent political lawyer DeLancey Nicholl, financier Jacob Schiff and retailing giant Nathan Strauss, most of whom served on the board of a charitable foundation established by Freedman. Diversions included the opera, collecting art, yachting, and the ownership of racehorses. Freedman even took to raising purebred Holsteins at Freedmanor Farms, a livestock operation situated on his Red Bank estate. He also spent considerable time on golf courses near his properties in rural New Hampshire.
In late 1914, Freedman served as best man when Richard Croker, his long estranged first wife having finally died, married his mistress. The following year, Freedman’s tautly strung constitution began to unravel. He suffered from bouts of exhaustion before suffering a complete nervous breakdown in November 1915. Confined to his Manhattan apartment suite and attended by 24-hour medical care, Freedman suffered a stroke and died on the morning of December 4, 1915. He was only 55. A glowing New York Times obituary extolled his business and civic accomplishments, describing Freedman as the person “who did more than perhaps any other man to make possible the subway system in this city.” Freedman’s tenure as owner of the New York Giants was noted in passing.
A bachelor, Freedman bequeathed lifetime incomes to his aged mother and spinster sister, both of whom were comfortable in their own right, while personal mementos were left to Croker, Belmont, and other friends. The bulk of the $7 million Freedman estate, however, was designated for the erection and maintenance of a nonsectarian residence for the affluent fallen on hard times. First opened in 1925 and expanded six years thereafter, the Andrew Freedman House, an exquisite four-story limestone palazzo sited on the Bronx’s Grand Concourse, was declared a New York City landmark in 1992 and currently hosts civic and cultural events. Sadly, few entering the premises today are familiar with the mansion’s namesake.
As reflected above, Andrew Freedman was not the one-dimensional ogre portrayed by the game’s writers. He was an astute businessman and political operative but lacked the temperament and baseball expertise required for success as a team owner. In the final analysis, both baseball and Andrew Freedman would have been better off if they had never made acquaintance.
This profile is largely adapted from an article on Freedman and John T. Brush by the writer that was published in Base Ball, A Journal of the Early Game, Vol. III, No.2, Fall 2009, by McFarland & Company, Publishers.
Hardy, J., 1995, The New York Giants Base Ball Club, 1870 to 1900, Jefferson, NC, p.158.
James, B., 2001, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, New York, p.61, and 1994, The Politics of Glory, New York, p.197.
DiSalvatore, B., 1999, A Clever Base-Ballist: The Life and Times of John Montgomery Ward, New York, p.362.
Little is known of an elder brother named Jacob (born 1854). Andrew was followed by Isabella (1862-1927) and Daniel (1864-1944), per the Davies family tree chart provided to the writer by the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Falls Village, Conn.
Per e-mail of CCNY archivist Samuel Sanchez, transmitted to the writer on Nov. 8, 2008. When he left CCNY, Freedman ranked 166th out of a class of 200.
According to the Freedman obituary published in the New York Times, Dec. 5, 1915.
See Hynd, N., 1988, The Giants of the Polo Grounds, New York, p.69; Alvarez, M., “The Abominable Owner,” Sports Heritage/ Nov. 1987, p.44.
See Sporting Life, Jan. 26, 1895, and Hardy, n.1, p.226. A majority stake in the franchise cost Freedman $48,000 (Reach Official Base Ball Guide, 1895) or $54,000 (Hardy).
The Sporting News, Feb. 5, 1895.
See Stevens, D., 1998, Baseball’s Radical for All Seasons: A Biography of John Montgomery Ward, Lanham, Md., p.183.
Late in the 1895 season, Freedman imposed a $200 fine on Rusie for being out of condition. Although the sporting press and Giants fans lined up solidly behind the pitcher’s refusal to pay, allegations made by Rusie’s wife during acrimonious 1900 divorce proceedings suggest that the grounds for the fine may not have been as capricious as originally supposed.
According to A.G. Spalding – a suspect source when it comes to Freedman – the Giants owner was “so obnoxious to most of those concerned with the game that nobody outside his own following could endure his eccentricities of speech or action. He would apply to other members of the league, in ordinary conversation, terms so coarse and offensive as to be unprintable.” Spalding, A., 1991 reprint, America’s National Game, San Francisco, p.192.
On October 12, 1896, Freedman was convicted of assault and given a suspended sentence for punching Edward Hurst, a critical sports columnist for the New York Evening World, per an unidentified newspaper clipping in the Andrew Freedman file at the Giamatti Research Center, Cooperstown, N.Y. Freedman, however, did not confine his aggressions to local sportswriters. He also had physical altercations with political correspondent Paul Theman, retired umpire Watch Burnham, theatrical agent Bert Dasher, fellow team owners John T. Brush and Harry von der Horst, and any number of Tammany adversaries.
In addition to the N.L. Reds, Brush also owned the Indianapolis Hoosiers, the premier team in the Western League and a useful proving ground for major-league prospects.
Affable in the company of political and business peers, Freedman condescended when it came to baseball acquaintances, haughtily insisting upon deference and the use of formal address (Mr. or President Freedman only) from those in the game. Taking its lead from the New York American’s Charles Dryden, the sporting press responded by referring to Freedman as Andy, a familiarity that Freedman detested. A railway club-car brawl was once triggered by former manager/umpire Watch Burnham’s friendly, if thoughtless, invitation to Andy to join the Burnham party for a drink (as recounted in The Sporting News, July 20, 1900).
For a more thorough rendition of Freedman’s travails as an Atlantic League team owner, see Sporting Life, July 18, 1896. Within a week, the Mets’ place in the circuit was assumed by the Philadelphia Athletics of the Pennsylvania State League.
Reportedly $100,000 per year. See Voigt, D.Q., 1998, The League That Failed, Lanham, Md., p.219.
The Sporting News, July 30, 1898.
As subsequently published in The Boston Globe, Aug. 20, 1898.
See Sporting Life editorial, Aug. 20, 1898. In keeping with the times, press criticism of Freedman was frequently expressed in repugnant Jewish stereotypes, with New York Sun sportswriter Joe Vila being the foremost exponent. Freedman responded by filing a blizzard of defamation-based lawsuits against the paper, all of which he lost.See Stevens, p.184-185. See also, Boxerman, Burton & Boxerman, Benita, Jews and Baseball, Vol. I, Jefferson, N.C., p.19-26.
For more detailed accounts of the Ducky Holmes affair, see Solomon, B., 1999, Where They Ain’t, New York, p.227-229, and Hynd, p.129-130.
According to McGraw, Mrs. J., 1953, The Real McGraw, New York, p.171.
Giants home attendance shrank from a league leading 390,340 in 1897 to 121,384 in 1899, per http.//www.baseballchronology.com/Baseball/Teams Background/Attendance.
As reported in Sporting Life, Sept. 30, 1899.
See Seymour, H., 1960, Baseball: The Early Game, New York, p.304-306.
Said Freedman, “I have patched up the differences I had with John T. Brush and acknowledge it with pleasure. We will now work on the most friendly terms and will work in harmony for the best interests of the sport.” Sporting Life, Oct.14, 1899. For more on the Freedman/Brush rapprochement, see Lamb, W., “A Fearsome Collaboration: The Alliance of Andrew Freedman and John T. Brush,” Base Ball, A Journal of the Early Game, Vol. III, No.2, Fall 2009.
Initially, Freedman acted as liaison between John D. McDonald, the subway’s general contractor, and the bankers who financed the project. Thereafter, Freedman was active in virtually every phase – property acquisition, tunnel construction, railway car manufacture, etc. – necessary to make the subway system operational.
Although often ascribed to Freedman, the National Base Ball Trust was almost entirely the brainchild of Brush, who as early as the 1892 season had proposed to Chicago President James Hart that the minor Western League be operated as a trust. See unidentified Jan. 30, 1892, newspaper clipping in the John T. Brush file at the Giamatti Research Center.
As outlined by Brush in a letter to Freedman, later obtained and published in the New York Press, Dec.11, 1901. For a comprehensive exposition of the Trust, see Hardy, p. 171-191.
In March 1902, New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles Truax sustained Freedman’s position on virtually every issue during preliminary proceedings. Shortly thereafter, Spalding resigned his putative position as National League President.
See Durso, J., 1986, Baseball and the American Dream, St. Louis, p.64-67; Solomon, p. 227-231.
From his manor in England, Croker attempted to maintain control of Tammany via trans-Atlantic direction to Freedman and other Finance Committee loyalists. After new Tammany boss Lewis Nixon resigned in protest, his successor, the astute Charles Murphy, cut off this back channel through the simple expedient of abolishing the Finance Committee and redistributing its responsibilities to Tammany organs under Murphy’s control. With Croker’s influence now stifled, Freedman was reduced to ceremonial posts and attending Tammany banquets. See the New York Times, May 22-23, 1902, for more details on the abolition of the Finance Committee.
Notwithstanding the substantial fees charged by Freedman, his administration of the trusts assigned to him was exemplary. The estate of Freedman’s most prominent charge, the mentally disturbed millionairess Ida Flagler, posted substantial revenue increases annually under Freedman’s care, drawing the commendation of both Mrs.Flagler’s legal guardian and the court. See the New York Times, July. 14, 1914.
As per an Andrew Freedman Foundation pamphlet, c.1965, provided to the writer by CCNY archivist Sanchez.
As noted in The New York Times, Feb.15, 1915, and various Freedman obituaries.
Essentially a high-handicap hacker, Freedman once managed to win an 18-hole tourney at White Mountain Golf Club posting a 100-30 = 70 net score, as per the New York Times, Sept.13, 1913.
New York Times, Dec. 5, 1915. Similar sentiments were later expressed by prominent New York lawyer and Freedman friend Samuel Untermeyer, who stated, “It is due more to the courage and enterprise of Andrew Freedman than to anyone else that the first subway was built.” Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1924.
A brief 1905 engagement to Elsie Rothschild fell through. Like Andrew, neither Isabella, a benefactress of various Jewish causes, nor Daniel Freedman, a wealthy realtor and minor Tammany functionary, ever married. Shadowy elder brother Jacob, however, may have been survived by an heir named Adelaide. See Surrogate’s Notice published in the New York Times, Jan. 27, 1916. Jacob predeceased Andrew and no connection of his ever came forward to challenge the will. Thus, nothing more is known of Adelaide Gwendolyn Freedman, aka Adelaide Archer.
For more on the Freedman will, see the New York Times, Dec. 9, 1915.
Once known derisively in the neighborhood as the Home for Poor Millionaires, the Andrew Freedman House is featured periodically in the real-estate section of the New York Times, see e.g., July1, 2008. | <urn:uuid:ae4c4b32-aa36-4c75-bbeb-00891af24a15> | {
"date": "2013-05-24T01:58:19",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2013-20",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9618902802467346,
"score": 2.53125,
"token_count": 7362,
"url": "http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/51545e58"
} |
In today's world, we take animal domestication for granted. But from meat and dairy products to faithful companionship, domesticated animals have provided us innumerable products, services and hours of labor that have had profound effect on the history of humanity.
At first, humans used animals merely for food. But eventually, we began to catch on that animals can be useful for work, clothes, protection and transportation. In the wild, animals are protective of themselves and suspicious of other animals. But humans have been able to change this behavior. Over time, some animals become gentler and submit to human instruction -- what's called domestication. In this process, an entire animal species evolves to become naturally accustomed to living among and interacting with humans.
It's important to keep in mind that not everyone believes animal domestication is a good thing. The cofounder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Ingrid Newkirk, has famously voiced her opposition to human interference in animal lives. This also means that she dislikes the idea of pets in general. And as an "animal abolitionist," she seeks freedom for all captive animals [source: Lowry].
However, others look on the history of animal domestication in a kinder light. The author Stephen Budiansky argues that it is a perfectly natural process that provides advantages to both humans and animals. Budiansky subscribes to the theory that animals actually chose domestication, preferring the reliable comfort of captivity to the harsh wild [source: Budiansky]. He also points out that there are some species that we have, or could have, saved from extinction by domesticating them.
Regardless, no one can deny the enormous contributions that animal domestication has made to the advancement of humankind. Each domesticated species has offered its own spoils and has its own story of domestication, but all domestication happens through roughly the same biological process. Let's take a look at this process. How do humans orchestrate an entire species' transformation from wild to mild? | <urn:uuid:091082eb-7bdb-45ae-89ca-e06be3ce6ca0> | {
"date": "2014-03-09T07:39:10",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-10",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1393999675557/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305060755-00006-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9536769986152649,
"score": 3.4375,
"token_count": 411,
"url": "http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/animal-domestication.htm"
} |
Children's Non Fiction
Children's Non Fiction PDF books available for free download from our online reading library. Quick list of free eBooks in this page are The Stones of Venice Volume I ( of 3 ), The Sounds of Spoken English, The Science of Plant Life, The Rivers of Great Britain: Rivers of the East Coast, The Red Cow and Her Friends, The Prince and the Pauper, etc..
The Stones of Venice is in depth exploration of Venetian art and architecture written by the English writer of Victorian era John Ruskin who..
The Sounds of Spoken English is a guide to understand how well we pronounce the language as it should be. If you think, did I not speak the ..
The Science of Plant Life is an illustrated edition and part of Popular Science Library book contributed by many authors and compiled by Nor..
The Rivers of Great Britain: Rivers of the East Coast is a complete guide to the important rivers of Britain written by various authors. &nb..
The Red Cow and Her Friends is a non-fiction work about farming animals written by the Canadian farmer and writer Peter Gilchrist McArthur w..
The Prince and the Pauper is the Mark twain’s first historic fiction work. The story is set in London, about two boys with identical appeara..
Showing 13 to 18 of 143 (24 Pages) | <urn:uuid:690d1d06-4759-4004-9380-016832e89afe> | {
"date": "2017-01-17T08:48:37",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-04",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279650.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00276-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9319315552711487,
"score": 2.625,
"token_count": 277,
"url": "http://www.pdfbooksworld.com/Juvenile-NonFiction-EBooks?page=3"
} |
The founders of UNAIDS, established in 1994, are ten UN system organizations (co-sponsors), including WHO, UNDP, ILO, UNESCO and others.
The task of UNAIDS is to organize comprehensive and coordinated fight against the global HIV/AIDS and its effects by assisting in the strengthening and supporting of large-scale measures to combat the epidemic and encouraging joint efforts of many sectors and partners from government agencies, civil society and businesses.
The majority of UNAIDS work of is done in countries, implementing projects on monitoring and evaluation of the epidemic, the implementation of measures to combat, mobilize resources, distribute thematic information on best practices, etc. Currently, there are about 80 UNAIDS country offices.
UNAIDS publishes a regularly updated overview of the response of national measures on the spread of HIV/AIDS, and every two years a report on the global AIDS epidemic.
The general management activity is carried out by UNAIDS Coordination Council, which is composed of 22 representatives of countries from all regions of the world. Board members without the right to vote are representatives of ten co-sponsor organizations and five NGOs, including associations of people living with HIV.
In Kazakhstan, UNAIDS programs have been initiated in 1996. Kazakhstan is implementing a policy aimed at more effective realization of UNAIDS' Three Principles initiative: 1. Single, unified action in response to AIDS, which is the basis for coordinating the work of all partners; 2. Single national coordinating body on AIDS, which has a broad-based multisectoral mandate; 3. Unified monitoring and evaluation system at the country level.
In addition, joint actions on epidemic response are on place:
- Improvement of legal policy, the creation of a legal and social environment conducive to the implementation of preventive and curative interventions;
- Implementation of prevention programs;
- Implementation of programs for the treatment of HIV-infected patients and patients with AIDS, care and support in accordance with international standards;
- Implementation of social projects for those affected by HIV;
- Improvement of epidemiological surveillance, monitoring, assessment, planning and forecasting.
One of the most important sections of the program is developing drug policies that ensure accessibility to a wide range of antiretroviral drugs and drugs for the treatment of secondary opportunistic infections. The system for monitoring and evaluation, including the framework of the program activities carried out by the national agencies and international partners such as UNAIDS is being developed and polished.
With the help of UNAIDS additional resources from international donors to support state programs of the Republic of Kazakhstan on counteraction to HIV/AIDS have been mobilized.
Created at : 29.03.2017, 16:30,
Updated at : 29.03.2017, 16:30 | <urn:uuid:88e4cd8d-e06f-4a22-aa2a-8ab2aaa357a8> | {
"date": "2019-03-19T07:41:26",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-13",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-13/segments/1552912201922.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20190319073140-20190319095007-00067.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9349331259727478,
"score": 2.84375,
"token_count": 566,
"url": "http://mfa.gov.kz/en/geneva/content-view/joint-united-nations-programme-on-hivaids"
} |
In the News
October 19, 2006
Fishing for a solution for a destructive aquatic weed
Weed specialists are never off duty — even when they’re fishing.
While trout fishing in the Fall River in Shasta County, weed scientist Joe DiTomaso noticed Eurasian watermilfoil in the water. “In the areas that had this exotic plant, there were few fish, and the guide indicated that fishing was very poor in those areas,” says DiTomaso, a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist in Plant Sciences at UC Davis.
Fall River is a world-renowned trout fishery nestled in the mountains between Mounts Shasta and Lassen. Almost entirely spring fed, the Fall River winds for 16 miles, usually through private agricultural land. In August 2003, Eurasian watermilfoil infestations slowed the river’s water flow and flooded 300 acres of grazing land when a levee collapsed.
Since its introduction into the United States, this submerged aquatic plant has spread throughout many rivers and reservoirs. The plant is native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and also occurs in Greenland. In North America, Eurasian watermilfoil is found from Florida to Quebec in the East, and California to British Columbia in the West.
Milfoil can form thick underwater stands of tangled stems and vast mats of vegetation on the water's surface, especially in shallow, nutrient-rich water. These mats can limit boating, swimming, and fishing. The plant can disrupt the ecology of a water body by crowding out important native aquatic plants needed to provide food for a healthy fishery. It can also potentially reduce property values. Milfoil generally does not produce mats on the surface in water more than 15 feet deep, and doesn't usually grow in water more than 20 feet deep.
This attractive plant has feathery underwater foliage and was once commonly sold as an aquarium plant. Milfoil reproduces rapidly and can infest an entire lake within two years of introduction.
Since Eurasian watermilfoil appears to rely heavily on sediment-based nutrients for growth, DiTomaso, Dave Spencer, a USDA-Agricultural Research Service scientist, and Thaddeus Hunt, a UC Davis agronomy and horticulture graduate student, compared the differences in sediment nutrient levels in infested and uninfested sites in the river to predict the areas that are susceptible to invasion.
By identifying environmental factors contributing to invasiveness of Eurasian watermilfoil, this study will point to ways of predicting what stream conditions are susceptible to invasion, leading to enhanced capabilities for preventing new invasions in wildland aquatic habitats.
Hunt measured the seasonal change carbohydrates in root crowns and shoots of Eurasian watermilfoil populations in Fall River to optimize the success of plant harvest techniques and reduce the need for herbicide treatments. “The low point in root crown carbohydrates can be used to determine the best timing for mechanical control efforts since plants will have less energy reserves to recover from cutting,” says Hunt.
In late summer and fall, the plants become brittle and naturally break apart. These fragments will float to other areas, sink, and start new plants. Milfoil will also grow from fragments created by boaters or other disturbances during any time of year. It appears to be spread primarily through boating activity. Once established in its new home, water currents may carry milfoil fragments and start new colonies within the same body of water.
“Understanding the seasonal pattern in the Fall River milfoil populations is essential to the success of any control strategy to limit its further spread,” says DiTomaso. “Once the carbohydrate reserves reach their low point, mechanical cutting and harvesting can provide some control of the invasive species by limiting successful recovery of the plant. Even if plants do recover, a subsequent cutting can further deplete the energy reserves. Preliminary results indicate that the best time to cut the milfoil is mid-July to mid-August, but more testing is required.”
Spencer and Greg Ksander, biological science laboratory technician, are using a remotely operated, radio-controlled boat to collect digital pictures of the riverbed and plant species, as well as Global Positioning System coordinates that correspond with the digital pictures, to create distribution maps. These maps are used to determine where to collect soil samples for analysis.
“Our long-term goal is to better understand what riverbed conditions are likely to lead to the invasion of Eurasian watermilfoil and to determine the most effective timing for control of the invasive species using mechanical methods,” says DiTomaso.
The UC Exotic/Invasive Pests and Diseases Research Program, a collaboration between the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program and the UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research, funded this project. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service, funds the program.
High-resolution image (132KB) "Eurasian watermilfoi." Photo credit: Courtesy of UC Statewide IPM Program, by Jack Kelly Clark. Photos are for use with this release only. All other uses see Legal Notices.
Stephanie Klunk, Communications Specialist
Joe DiTomaso, Weed Specialist | <urn:uuid:7e47f92b-fa6d-4a7d-a9ec-9627d8441fcf> | {
"date": "2015-11-27T02:47:24",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-48",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398447906.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205407-00346-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9295721650123596,
"score": 2.984375,
"token_count": 1092,
"url": "http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/NEWS/aquaticweed-news.html"
} |
|Dr. Hartnell's Nutty the A.D.D. Squirrel||
Out with the Old; in with the New...
The European voyages of discovery ushered in a new age of history. This was the first truly global age when ships from Europe sailed the earth's oceans and brought together the "Old" and "New" Worlds. The impact: populations in the Americas were wiped out and replaced by newcomers, trade boomed, and people started growing and eating new foods.
In short, stuff got real...
Everybody's doing it...
In the 100 years that came before Christopher Columbus' voyage to America, Europe would not have won the "Most Likely to Conquer the World" award its senior year. In fact, Europe remained unlikely candidates for worldwide exploration for a long time. The Chinese possessed the wealth and the seafaring skills to explore, but they had little interest in the world outside of China. The Arabs and other Islamic nations also had wealth and skills, but they expanded into territories that were next to them and not across uncharted oceans. When the Muslim Ottomans took control in the Middle East and disturbed overland trade routes, both Spain and Portugalsent explorers to look for new ocean routes to the spice-growing lands of Asia.
While Spain stumbled across America, Portugal opened a southern trade route to Asia by sailing around Africa into the Indian Ocean. European nations went from being a collection of medieval states to the world's most dynamic civilization armed with advanced ships and weapons. From this point forward, Western civilization and world history were bound together.
1492 + Columbus + Blue
When Columbus and his 3 small ships arrived in the West Indies on an October day in 1492, they set in motion a chain of events that changed life in the Americas and in the world. The great Aztec and Inca civilizations soon perished, conquered by Spanish conquistador (adventurers) seeking the 3 Gs (gold, glory, and God). The Native Americans had no weapons to match Spanish swords, guns, and cavalry. Between 80-95% of the Americans died and were replaced by immigrants from Europe seeking new opportunities and by immigrants from Africa who arrived in chains. Gold and silver taken from the Americas made Spanish and Portuguese kings rich and powerful.
Because Europe and America developed in isolation from one another for thousands of years, they had different plants and animals. After Columbus connected the two landmasses, an exchange of products began: the Columbian Exchange. Corn and potatoes from the New World had a big impact on Chinese and European diets, leading to large population increases in both places. From Europe, America acquired wheat, oats, barley, grapes, rice, and sugarcane—all of which began to dot the landscape. Domesticated animals like horses and cows from Europe also revolutionized life in America.
Europe's Rise & Fall in New World
From 1400-1763, European imperialism took the form of colonial expansion. Rather than one country trying to unify the known world (as had happened during the days of Rome and Alexander the Great), the competing empires established political control over different territories in South and Southeast Asia and in the "New World" of North and South America. Imperial systems were organized according to the doctrine of mercantilism, an economic system in which colonies were established to supply the mother country ("Mom") with materials and markets in order to reduce its dependency on other nations.
European colonies developed in a distinct way. The Spanish established authoritarian regimes in Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central/South America) and imposed strict controls over the natives. The Dutch and French created fur-trading empires in North America in which natives kept their lands and autonomy. The English operated settler-colonies, which were populated with European migrants and African slaves. The English excluded Native Americans and pushed them further west, establishing a blue print for the future.
Two centuries after 1492, the number of European nations with colonial possessions in America dwindled due to conquests by rival nations. By 1700, England had pushed the Dutch out of North America, and in 1763, England and Spain divided the French Empire in North America. Shortly thereafter, the 13 English colonies on the mainland of North America revolted and became the United States of America. Three decades later, many of the colonies controlled by Portugal and Spain also gained their independence. By 1820, few European colonies remained in the Western Hemisphere.
To increase their income from taxes on trade, European monarchs encouraged the formation of joint-stock companies. Stocks (or shares) were sold to investors who shared the
expense and risk of expensive ocean trading voyages. If a ship went down, no single investor lost everything, but if a voyage was successful, all
stockholders shared in the profits. Most voyages succeeded, and many investors made good money. (Our stock market operates in a similar way today.) The British East India Company was the most successful and traded mostly with India.
Joint stock companies promoted the rise of an economic system called capitalism. Capital is wealth such as ships, factories, or money. Under capitalism, people are free to own capital and make their own decisions about how to use it. Since joint stock companies were chartered by governments, they were a form of state-sponsored capitalism.
A capitalist system can benefit society by producing the best possible products at the lowest possible prices due to competition among
producers. But with companies focused on making the most profit, capitalism can harm people. The African slave trade was an example of that.
After the discovery of America, Europeans began sending people to the New World to establish colonies to produce goods for trade. With native populations dying off, Europe looked for another source of cheap labor. They began importing African slaves to work on plantations and mines in the sugar-producing areas of the Caribbean and Brazil and up into the southern
colonies of North America, where cotton and tobacco
were king. Before this time, most African slaves had been enemies captured in
battle. As the slave trade grew, Africans began kidnapping other Africans and selling them to slave traders.
Virginia imported the first African slaves in 1619. Beginning around 1675, both Virginia and Maryland began bringing over huge numbers of African slaves. In fact, by 1690, black slaves outnumbered white servants in those colonies.
In 1792, Denmark became the first European country to abolish the slave trade. Britain did the same in 1807, and the U.S. followed in 1808. (Slavery itself, however, was not abolished in the U.S. until 1865.)
Known all around the world as Christopher Columbus, his real name was Cristoforo Colombo. Even though he made three return trips west, Columbus never actually stepped foot on the mainland of North America. (Columbus was also an opium addict... soooo... yeaaaa... everything probably seemed real flat - and chill - to him...) | <urn:uuid:0979ec09-0663-4b7f-a7bc-47344299376d> | {
"date": "2018-08-21T23:21:08",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-34",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221219197.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20180821230258-20180822010258-00136.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9681525826454163,
"score": 3.453125,
"token_count": 1419,
"url": "https://www.nuttyhistory.com/euro-colonialism.html"
} |
A sump pit is the below-grade enclosure that houses the sump pump. As water accumulates in the sump pit, the float-activated switch of the pump engages and pumps the water out of the pit and away from the pit site. Water enters the sump pit through a number of controlled systems, depending on the water situation at the site.
Perforated tiles placed horizontally below the ground are sometimes referred to as drain tile. The low end of the tile system leads to the sump pit. The system collects water from the entire area of the drain tile system so it can be pumped away from the site where it will do no damage. The most common drain tile scenario is around the foundation of a house, although it can be used in other situations where subsurface moisture needs to be removed.
The sump pit is commonly made of 16- or 18-inch PVC pipe placed vertically with a cement bottom. If the PVC pipe is perforated, water from the immediate area flows into the sump pit. Fill the area around the PVC pipe with crushed rock or gravel to prevent soil from washing through the perforations into the sump pit. Soil-laden water can damage the sump pump. This configuration extracts water from a limited area compared to the drain tile system.
In some situations, ground water runs over the edge of the sump pit. This configuration works with surface water rather than the subsurface ground water of the drain tile or perforated pit systems. Think of this as a sump pit placed in a basement floor. Water in the basement drains into the sump pit and is pumped out. This system limits damage but doesn't prevent flooding.
It's All About Gravity
Any system of drains and sump pits works by gravity. The pumps do not draw water up from lower levels of the soil but rather remove the water above the drain tile and the sump pit. For this reason, the sump pit must be located below the subsurface level of any materials or structure you need to keep dry.
Why Does a Sump Pump Run All the Time?
A sump pump is a system that prevents water from flooding a basement. Water from rainstorms can build up in the soil...
Why Do I Need a Sump Pit?
Sump pumps are devices that sit in sump pits and are used to remove accumulated water from certain locations in houses and...
How to Make a Sump Pump Pit
When unwanted water gathers in your basement or crawl space, it can cause any number of problems. There are few options better... | <urn:uuid:73acf0cb-43da-43d1-8262-b2477a899bf1> | {
"date": "2017-02-22T06:38:37",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-09",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501170914.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104610-00148-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9326320290565491,
"score": 3.390625,
"token_count": 532,
"url": "http://www.ehow.com/info_8423092_water-enter-sump-pit.html"
} |
Calf Muscle Strain
(Pulled Calf Muscle; Gastrocnemius Strain; Gastrocnemius Tear; Gastrocnemius Muscle Injury)En Español (Spanish Version)
A strained calf muscle is a partial tear of the small fibers of the muscles. The calf muscles are located in the back of your lower leg.
The Calf Muscles
© 2008 Nucleus Medical Art, Inc.
A calf strain can be caused by:
- Stretching the calf muscles beyond the amount of tension that they can withstand
- Suddenly putting stress on the calf muscles when they are not ready for the stress
- Using the calf muscles too much on a certain day
- A direct blow to the calf muscles
These factors increase your chance of a strain. Risk factors for calf muscle strain include:
Sports that require bursts of speed, such as:
- Long jump
- Tight calf muscles
- Cold weather
Symptoms of calf muscle strain include:
- Pain and tenderness in the calf
- Stiffness in the calf muscles
- Weakness of the calf muscles
- Pain when pushing off the foot or standing on tiptoe
- Bruising on the calf (if blood vessels are broken)
- Popping sensation as the muscle tears (possibly)
The doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. They will also ask about your recent physical activity and how the injury occurred. The doctor will also examine your calf for:
- Tenderness and/or bruising directly over the calf muscles
- Pain when contracting the calf muscles, particularly against resistance
Muscle strains are graded according to their severity.
- Stretching with some microtearing of muscle fibers
- Recovery can be complete in about 2 to 3 weeks
- Partial tearing of muscle fibers
- Recovery can take up to 1 to 2 months
- Complete tearing (rupture) of muscle fibers
- Complete recovery can take more than 3 months
For a severe calf strain, athletes may have an MRI scans. The scan will help predict the length of their recovery.
Treatment depends on the severity of the strain.
Treatment usually includes:
Take aspirin , ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), or acetaminophen (Tylenol) to help relieve pain. If you still have tenderness in the calf while taking these drugs, do not return to physical activity. Check with your doctor.
Start within first 24 hours:
- Rest—Do not do activities that cause pain, such as running, jumping, and weightlifting using the lower leg muscles. If normal walking hurts, shorten your stride. Do not play sports until the pain and local tenderness are gone.
- Cold—Apply ice or a cold pack to the calf area for 15–20 minutes, 4 times a day, for several days after the injury. Wrap the ice or cold pack in a towel. Do not apply the ice directly to your skin.
- Compression—Wear an elastic compression bandage (eg, Ace bandage) around your lower leg to prevent additional swelling. Wrap from the toes up the leg so as to not cause swelling below the wrapping. Be careful not to wrap the bandage too tightly.
- Elevation—Keep your leg higher than your heart as much as possible for the first 24 hours to minimize swelling.
- It is best not to take aspirin or ibuprofen during the first 24 hours if you have a lot of swelling. Those meds interfere with the clotting mechanism.
- Heat—Do not use heat at all during the first 3 to 5 days. Use heat only when you are returning to physical activity. Then use it before stretching or getting ready to play sports.
- Stretching—When the acute pain is gone, start gentle stretching as recommended by a health care professional. Stay within pain limits. Hold each stretch for about 10 seconds and repeat 6 times. Repeat stretches 4 to 6 times during the day.
- Strengthening—Begin strengthening exercises for your calf muscles as recommended by a professional. This is very important to guard against further problems.
To reduce the chance that you will strain a calf muscle:
- Keep your calf muscles strong so they can absorb the energy of sudden physical stress
- After a short warm-up period, stretch out your calf muscles before physical activity
- Learn the proper technique for exercise and sporting activities to decrease stress on all your muscles
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
American Council on Exercise
Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology
Healthy Living Unit
American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Available at: http://www.sportsmed.org/.
Armfield DR. Sports-related muscle injury in the lower extremity. Clin Sports Med . 2006;25(4):803-42.
Hamstring strains: expediting return to play. The Physician and Sportsmedicine . 1996;24(8).
Renstrom P, et al. Sports Injuries: Basic Principles of Prevention and Care . Boston, MA: Blackwell Scientific Publications;1993.
Runner's Resource Guide: Basic Stretching Exercises. Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma website. Available at: http://www.nismat.org/traintip/runner/stretch.html . Last accessed: July 7, 2008.
The Foot and Ankle. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Available at: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00144 . Last accessed July 7, 2008.
Last reviewed November 2007 by John C. Keel, MD
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © 2011 EBSCO Publishing All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:1f9b4bfe-75dd-43c0-91b5-a901dd432a28> | {
"date": "2014-07-28T12:55:08",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-23",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1406510259834.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20140728011739-00288-ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.8781790137290955,
"score": 3.25,
"token_count": 1284,
"url": "http://www.beliefnet.com/healthandhealing/getcontent.aspx?cid=%0D%0A%09%09%09%09%09%0911984"
} |
Floral Gigantism in Rafflesiaceae. 2007. C. C. Davis, et al. Science 315: 1812
We present results of phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial, nuclear, and plastid data showing that Rafflesiaceae are derived from within Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family. Most euphorbs produce minute flowers, suggesting that the enormous flowers of Rafflesiaceae evolved from ancestors with tiny flowers.
Given the inferred phylogeny, we estimate that there was a circa 79-fold increase in flower diameter on the stem lineage of Rafflesiaceae, making this one of the most dramatic cases of size evolution reported for eukaryotes.
Return of the Giant Hogweed: | <urn:uuid:5eb9c525-ae49-4113-a5fb-406d5dc0ba25> | {
"date": "2018-08-15T14:33:58",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-34",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221210133.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20180815141842-20180815161842-00016.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.8439358472824097,
"score": 3.34375,
"token_count": 147,
"url": "http://palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/floral-gigantism-strikes-back.html"
} |
China’s three northeastern provinces (Fengtian, Heilongjiang, and Jilin) were transfigured by Japanese imperialism in the opening decades of the 20th century. South Manchuria and the Kwantung Leasehold on the Liaodong Peninsula in particular became the site of a railway imperialism that would, beginning in 1905, allow Japan to claim a sphere of influence in the northeast and profit from the export of soybeans, coal, lumber, and other raw materials from the region. The South Manchuria Railway Company (or “Mantetsu”), which held the dual mantle of joint stock-owning company and governmental national-policy company, was the central organ in Japan’s so-called management of Manchuria. The expansion of Mantetsu’s rail network (originally built by Czarist Russia in the late 1890s) in the post–World War I years allowed for greater extraction of resources and greater wealth for company stockholders, while giving rise to an upswell of protest from a burgeoning nationalist movement in mainland China as well as in the northeast itself. Throughout the preconquest period (pre-September 1931), bureaucrats, Mantetsu employees, doctors, teachers, and economic sojourners of every stripe made a home for themselves in Japanese Manchuria, parts of which were transformed to replicate the modern conveniences and amenities of the metropole’s urban centers.
The Manchurian Incident, which began on September 18, 1931, with a plot by renegade officers from the Kwantung Army (a division of the Japanese Imperial Army) to destroy Mantetsu track and blame it on Chinese brigands, led to the military takeover of the three northeastern provinces by January 1932. The establishment of the army-led state of Manchukuo in March 1932 gave way to a new kind of Japanese power and influence on the continent—one that operated independently from Tokyo and at the pleasure of the Kwantung Army. Despite repeated proclamations of pan-Asian unity and the harmony of the five races by the state’s propaganda agents, Manchukuo existed for the purpose of strengthening Japan’s war machine, as well as for planning a total renovation of the domestic Japanese state in line with army objectives. | <urn:uuid:9df4153e-c561-42ee-b25d-e84444e74d02> | {
"date": "2018-08-19T11:19:31",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-34",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221215077.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20180819110157-20180819130157-00456.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9542261958122253,
"score": 3.296875,
"token_count": 471,
"url": "http://asianhistory.oxfordre.com/browse;jsessionid=45E41C7B6E95DCB79015C469FF358FB9?btog=chap&pageSize=10&sort=titlesort&subSite=oreash&t=ORE_ASH%3AREFASH041&t0=ORE_ASH%3AREFASH067"
} |
What is it that makes us human and where do we come from? Ever since Charles Darwin put forward the idea that we evolved from apes scientists have wondered about those first creatures that left the ape world and crossed into ours.
In the last 50 years fossil finds have filled in some of the many blanks in the story of evolution, but the bones of our ancestors are few and far between allowing only glimpses of how we slowly changed of millions of years, from ape to human.
In this special Nova and the Nation Geographic gain exclusive access to a unique discovery of ancient remains which are located in an almost inaccessible chamber deep in a South African cave. Most fossil discoveries of human relatives consist of just a handful of bones but what makes this discovery so special is the fact that over 1,500 bones were found scattered throughout the cave. The finding has the potential to rewrite the story of our origin. | <urn:uuid:ce970848-995a-4b1d-b2e8-e15d91c2b63e> | {
"date": "2017-05-29T07:41:36",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-22",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-22/segments/1495463612036.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20170529072631-20170529092631-00460.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.963870108127594,
"score": 2.96875,
"token_count": 180,
"url": "http://documentaryheaven.com/dawn-of-humanity/"
} |
Social skills are one of the most important skill sets that develop throughout childhood and adolescence. They are specific behaviours such as smiling, making eye contact, asking and responding to questions, initiating conversation or play as well as giving and acknowledging compliments during a social exchange. These skills influence positive social and developmental outcomes, and also lay the foundation for future academic success, autonomy, interpersonal relationships, emotional awareness, and resilience.
Recent studies have shown that certain social skills; such as self control, cooperation, empathy and assertiveness influence positive classroom behaviour. Researchers argue that because these skills promote a child’s ability to complete tasks and work independently they influence their ability to learn and contribute to better relationships with teachers and peers. The research also suggests that social skills contribute to academic success.
How can I tell whether my child needs help developing their social skills?
- Avoids social activities/school
- Displays inappropriate responses to verbal and nonverbal cues
- Has difficulty initiating/maintaining social interactions
- Has difficulty making and maintaining friendships
- Seems disinterested in social interactions
- Uses little eye contact
How can I help develop my child’s social skills?
One of the most effective ways you can help develop your child’s social skills is by modelling appropriate social behaviours ...
One of the most effective ways you can help develop your child’s social skills is by modelling appropriate social behaviours, providing opportunities for positive socialisations and by offering opportunities for your child to discuss their concerns with you.
- Model positive social behaviour (e.g. greet shop assistants, be attentive during conversation, ask and respond to questions)
- Offer suggestions on how to manage situations with peers
- Provide opportunities for positive social engagement: Arrange playdates for your child. Enrol your child into structured social activities (e.g. drama class, a sport, art class, scouts, etc)
- Promote your child’s autonomy and independence
- Discuss issues such as teasing, bullying and exclusion with your child and brainstorm ideas to manage these situations with them.
- Encourage and help your child develop the two components of learning-related social skills: interpersonal skills - such as positive peer interaction, sharing and respecting other children. Work related skills - such as listening, following directions, appropriate group participation, staying on task and organisation.
Another important issue to remember is that some social deficits, such as significant language and communication delays, atypical or ritualistic play, and persistent worries about attending school and social events may also be a sign that your child suffers from social anxiety or a developmental disorder. If this is the case, it is important to discuss your concerns with a GP or psychologist.
How can schools help with social skills?
Social issues commonly arise in primary and secondary school for different reasons. New students take time to settle; established students often report difficulties within their friendship groups in terms of peer dynamics or resolving conflict with other same-aged peers. Referrals to the school counsellor or local private psychologist typically occur when parents are concerned about their child’s ability to make and maintain friendships.
Schools can help students to develop social skills through activities designed to encourage listening skills, empathy and understanding. Effective activities for teachers to boost social skills include “Tell Me A Story” (6-12 years) and “The Likes of Youth” (9-16 years). Similarly, “Circle Time” is a regular meeting among students in the classroom setting on a daily or weekly basis. Students and teachers commonly experience positive outcomes with specialized program and resources when students have the opportunity to regularly practice pro-social behaviour.
There are useful books for children aged 4-8 years to develop social skills such as the How to be a Friend: A guide to making and keeping friends. For children aged 7 to 12 years consider Learning About Friendship and The Social Skills Menu.
Programs and workshops such as Quirky Kid Clinic’s ‘The Best of Friends’ are a great way to practice and develop social skill in a small group or large school setting.
Information provided by the Quirky Kid child psychology clinic. Find out more about developing social skills at the Quirky Kid website. | <urn:uuid:b64e10e1-ec15-4d40-8f13-22209cbf3f21> | {
"date": "2017-03-24T12:02:23",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-13",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218187945.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212947-00421-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 5,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9354719519615173,
"score": 4.5625,
"token_count": 866,
"url": "http://www.essentialkids.com.au/development-advice/development/friendships-and-social-skills-20120626-20zb8"
} |
When the hamsters reached the age of 2 to 3 months, we should be aware of the female hamster. If there is any significance of pregnancy, we should separate the male and the female. So that the female hamster can have comfortable surroundings and relaxed mental condition to prepare in giving birth to the baby hamster.
When the hamster is pregnant, she will easily become ill natured. So, it・s suitable for her to stay away from the male hamster. Just let her to clam down and prepare for giving birth to a now life. However, it is reminded that we should provide sufficient food and wood crisps before head. It is because if there is insufficient supply of food after the birth of the baby hamster, the mother may likely to eat her children. Due to the unstable mental condition of the mother hamster, it is not advisable to add more food supply after the giving of birth.
During the pregnancy of hamster, we should use a plastic cage instead of an
iron ones. Or else, the baby will easily be falling down through the gasp. A
hamster can give birth to 3 to 8 hamsters each time. The pregnancy period is
about 16 days. Due to the bad-tempered, she may even bite. Therefore, during
these 16 days, avoid interrupting the hamster and it should be separated from
the male hamster.
The baby hamster was born with no hair, and its eyes are not opened yet. They are born in pink. Though it looks funny and cute, we should not use our hands to touch it. Or else out of nervousness, the mother may swallow. After 14 days, the babies・ eyes will open, and after 21 days, it will stop drinking milk from their mother. Wait until their eyes are opened and hair are grown, then it・s the suitable time for us to change the wood crisps.
After the mother had given birth to the babies, please be aware that we should not touch them, Or else, the mother may really eat them all! On the other hand, the baby hamster may run here and there. It・s very normal. We do not need to worry; the mother hamster will control the situation. If it appears that the mother really wanted to throw one of her children out of the cage, it may signifies that it carries illness. The mother will always have her rational behind in doing such things.
When the hamster grew up day by day, we must separate different gender in different cages to bring up. Or they will be pregnant too soon, their babies will very likely to be died. It is also important that they should not incest. It is because the babies born will likely to have serious problems in different circumstances.
The mother and father hamster will continuously have their babies born. So, if you don・t want to see the mother hamster suffer that lot, we should not buy a female and a male hamster to raise at the very beginning.
I have received the latest news. It said that there・s a phenomenon in reclaiming hamster that have stop feeding with milk, at a price of $3 each. However, It can only exchange goods, but neither money nor pets. | <urn:uuid:aa2bbd53-6bfd-4e62-bdcd-088316ef9aa3> | {
"date": "2017-04-25T14:28:02",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-17",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917120461.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031200-00293-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9684606790542603,
"score": 2.53125,
"token_count": 667,
"url": "http://www.oocities.org/hk/cancan_614/pregnant.htm"
} |
Are some charter schools functioning in a parasitic way in relationship to the school systems that host them? This is the provocative analysis offered this week by Bruce Baker at his School Finance 101 blog.
In nature, there is a word for organisms that live together. They are called "symbiotic." When these organisms help one another, as bees that pollinate flowers and receive nectar in return, this is called mutualism. When one is helped and the other is not affected, this is termed commensalism. And when one is helped at the expense of the other, we call this parasitism.
To start with, Mr. Baker warns about the formula for success that charter advocates have succeeded in promoting:
Chartery success (accompanied by headlines, news magazine segments and visits from politicians) is largely defined as A) getting higher test scores or greater test score growth, B) for less money, and C) with the "same" kids.
It is increasingly clear that not one of these three claims is supported by much evidence. Furthermore, pursuing these things has led many charter schools to take some shortcuts. Baker offers some clear ways in which charter schools have been exploiting some advantages to expand at the expense of the public school districts with which they coexist.
Some charters pursue what Mr. Baker terms "demographic advantage." This is the concept recently explored here, whereby charter schools "serve the strivers," using various means to screen out students who are less apt to succeed. A recent report from Reuters substantiates this pattern.
The graphic below was prepared by Bruce Baker, who explains:
This figure on New York City Charter schools draws on data from a forthcoming article (related to a recent report). In this analysis, I use three years of data from 2008-10, and I estimate a regression equation for each demographic measure, comparing schools that serve the same grade level in the same borough of the city. The graph shows how much lower (or higher) the population share is in each charter school chain, relative to NYC district schools.
This skimming has a negative effect on the surrounding district:
In a heterogeneous urban schooling environment, the more individual schools or groups of schools engage in behavior that cream skims off children who are less poor, less likely to face language barriers, far less likely to have a disability to begin with, and unlikely at all to have a severe disability, the higher the concentration of these children left behind in district schools.(see here for an example.)
This concentration of students that are the most challenging to educate causes harm to surrounding schools in several ways. First of all, many of these students left behind require a higher, more costly level of service. Second, they tend to have lower test scores, which subject their host schools to all the sanctions associated with NCLB "failure." And the removal of the more capable students from district schools causes declining enrollment, which makes it even harder to keep schools open.
It is important to note that charters do not NEED to be parasitic. They could coexist harmlessly, or even be beneficial to traditional public schools. In the case of the charter school I visited in Albuquerque, we see a school serving students that were not succeeding in the regular school setting. That school fills a niche, and expands the number of students being served well.
We also have to have some sympathy for parents and students who are frustrated by the increasing rigidity of our public schools. Beset with budget cuts, art and music programs have been eliminated, and test scores have become almost our entire focus. In that context, it is understandable why parents might seek alternatives that offer more flexibility. Some even organize charter schools themselves.
In the past, I wrote that while I did not think charter schools were any sort of solution to systemic problems in education, I was not opposed to them. I attended an "alternative" high school in the 70s myself, and I appreciate the idea that we should offer teachers, parents and students avenues to try out different approaches. But we cannot allow these alternatives to inflict great harm on the schools that accept all students.
In nature, the most successful parasites evolve in such a way that while they may cause some harm to their host, they do not kill it off. After all, the parasite cannot thrive without that support. But there may be no such equilibrium established in our schools, based on current trends. We are seeing districts like Philadelphia where there seems to be a downward spiral of school closures and budget cuts afflicting public schools, at the same time significant numbers of students are enrolled in charter schools. If the system collapses entirely, what will happen to the students who have been left behind in the public schools?
The social engineers who have been promoting charters do not seem concerned about the effects on public schools. They have actively promoted the idea of competition between schools. The trouble is that schools are not like shoe stores. When schools close, neighborhoods suffer and children's lives are disrupted.
We are seeing many communities awakening to the pattern of change that is underway. When it was revealed that the pro-privatization Walton family foundation was funding community hearings on school closures in Chicago, some light bulbs came on. When we learned that hedge fund managers have figured out ways to get some big money out of real estate deals associated with charter schools, some of reason for their enthusiasm for school reform became clear. When connections were uncovered between the biggest virtual charter school chain and ALEC, leading to legislation expanding their market, we began to get the picture. These schools are operating in a much larger marketplace, and are being used as profitable investments for financiers.
In order for our public schools to thrive they need to have the flexibility to meet the needs of the widest range of students possible. They need adequate funding and the support of their community - and that means we pull together and make sure that our district schools do not become the reservoir of last resort, overburdened with students left behind by charter schools seeking competitive advantages.
Update: Noel Hammatt has posted an analysis of some of the financial costs associated with charter school expansion here.
What do you think? Are some charter schools developing a parasitic relationship with their surrounding school districts?
Continue the dialogue with me on Twitter at @AnthonyCody
Graphic by Bruce Baker, used with permission. | <urn:uuid:a0eeddc7-f300-4568-941e-b8720a1bccf8> | {
"date": "2015-03-03T08:56:44",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-11",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-11/segments/1424936463165.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20150226074103-00000-ip-10-28-5-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9767480492591858,
"score": 2.640625,
"token_count": 1292,
"url": "http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2013/02/are_some_charter_schools_becom.html"
} |
The Battle off Samar, fought on October 25, 1944, was not supposed to be a battle. Admiral Bill Halsey, with his mighty task force of giant carriers and supporting cruisers and destroyers, had been lured away from the Philippine Islands, where General Douglas McArthur had promised “I shall return”. The main Imperial Japanese fleet, supposedly in full retreat to the north, took with it the task force under Admiral John S. McCain, and left almost unguarded the strait near the island of Samar.
There were a few token ships: some “jeep” carriers, ships mostly converted from merchant ships and intended primarily to ferry needed aircraft to islands and to larger carriers. Their names: St. Lo, White Plains, Kalin Bay, Fanshaw Bay, Kitkin Bay and Gambia Bay.
The destroyers and destroyer escorts were there, the “small boys”, the fast, lightly armored, all-purpose ships that no commander ever had too many of, but often did not appreciate until after an action. The USS Hoel, a Fletcher class destroyer stood ready, as did the USS Heermann and the USS Johnston. The USS Samuel B. Roberts, a destroyer escort, known then, and forever after, as the “Sammy B”, awaited the call, as did the other destroyer escorts, the USS John C. Butler, the USS Raymond and the USS Dennis.
And through a strait at Luzon came another Japanese fleet; eleven destroyers, eight cruisers, and the world’s largest battleship, the Yamato, accompanied by three other battleships. Rear Admiral Takeo Kurita intended to strike the ships in shelter of the bay and turn and run down Admiral Halsey as he steamed north chasing a decoy fleet.
The small American fleet that was left near Luzon was commanded by Rear Admiral Clifton “Ziggy” Sprague, and had been tagged with the unwarlike call sign “Taffy 3”. Sprague could have turned and run, and saved his ships, but he chose to stand.
The huge Japanese fleet bore down on them, and Sprague sent his “small boys”, his destroyers, and destroyer escorts into action. They closed on the battleships and the cruisers, some firing their guns, others holding their torpedoes in readiness until they reached 3,000 yards. Pumping out smokescreens as they went “all ahead flank,” they zigzagged, fired, and turned into the smoke, and fell back only to turn once more and go back after the battleships and the cruisers.
There were no surprises. Taffy 3 was the underdog, and the captain of the “Sammy B”, as they engaged the enemy the first time, told his crew that there would be a “fight against overwhelming odds from which survival could not be expected.” He was right. His ship went down, with almost all hands perishing.
Admiral Kurita mistook the destroyers for battleships and the destroyer escorts for cruisers, and, after exchanging unequal gunfire, turned his flagship Yamato to the north. The other Japanese ships that were afloat turned with her and retreated.
Sprague’s miniscule fleet was chopped up. The “Sammy B” was sunk, as was the Johnston, and the Hoel, but the tide was turned. As the Hoel slipped beneath the waves of the bay, the commander of one of the Japanese destroyers slowed his engines and saluted the valiant crew. Only eighty six out of three hundred thirty nine survived.
The Imperial Japanese Navy left two heavy cruisers on the bottom. The Yamoto went home, and was sunk in the waning days of the Pacific war.
And the Battle off Samar, a battle that lasted about two hours, an unbalanced battle if ever there was one, gave our nation a long list of heroes, both ships and men. But the war went on, and the fleet was faced with the most dreaded of enemy weapons, the kamikaze, the “divine wind,” that was more deadly than the huge battleships and the cruisers that went up against the Navy.
(Recommended reading about destroyer action, particularly the Battle off Samar, is “The Last of the Tin Can Men”) | <urn:uuid:b626df81-2392-4556-a2a9-17a5093bd74a> | {
"date": "2017-08-18T02:54:04",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-34",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886104560.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20170818024629-20170818044629-00376.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9827963709831238,
"score": 2.765625,
"token_count": 921,
"url": "http://jacksoncountytimes.net/community/item/9147-the-battle-off-samar-when-the-world%E2%80%99s-largest-battleship-ran-from-our-%E2%80%9Csmall-boys%E2%80%9D.html"
} |
David Prepares for the Construction of the *Temple
An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on 1 Chronicles chapters 21 to 29
This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.
Words in boxes are from the Bible.
A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.
Verses 1-3 This account of Davidís life misses a period of years. During that time, there had been the problems with his son Absalom and other crises. These events are in 2 Samuel chapters 13 to 23. They took about 20 years. The writer of Chronicles does not record them. The reason for this is that they did not match his purpose. He wanted to encourage the *exiles as they returned from Babylon. So, he shows how God was in control of their history. The count in this chapter probably happened about 975 *BC.
*Satan hates God and all who trust in God. He was an enemy of *Israel because the *Israelites are Godís special people. He persuaded David to order this count. So, David ordered Joab to count the people from Beersheba to Dan. The phrase ĎBeersheba to Daní means the whole country of *Israel from the south to the north.
We do not know why David wanted to count the people. It may have been because he was proud of himself. He wanted to know the extent of his power. It could have been for practical reasons. Perhaps he wanted to know how large an army he could have in a war. Or perhaps he had a scheme to tax the people in order to get money for the government.
It was not always wrong to count the people (for example, see Numbers chapters 1 and 26). But God had given Moses clear instructions about such counts (Numbers 3:47-48). Foreign kings might count their people for any reason. But the *Israelites were different, because they were the *LORDís people. So when a leader counted the *Israelites, he had to pay a price for their lives. He would do this by means of a tax that he collected from them at the same time. The leader could not keep that tax. He paid the money to the priests. They used it for the *worship of God at the *LORDís tent (or afterwards, at the *temple). God also told Moses that the *Israelites must not count the *tribe of Levi with the soldiers. That was because they belonged to God in a special way.
However, David did not obey Godís instructions about the count. Joab knew that it was wrong to count the people at this time. He was the commander of Israelís army. Joab was a wicked man (1 Kings 2:5-6). But even he realised that David was not trusting God. Joab protested that the *LORD could make *Israelís army strong enough for any battle. He urged David not to begin the count. Joab knew that the result would be punishment on *Israel. The *LORD was already angry against *sin in *Israel (2 Samuel 24:1). But David did what was wrong. He counted the people and he did not pay the price for their lives. So, the *LORD punished him. And also, the people in *Israel suffered as well.
Verses 4-6 David insisted that Joab must obey his order. He told Joab to go and Joab obeyed him. He and his officers went through all *Israel. The task took them almost 10 months. Then they came and they gave to David the results of their count.
The total for all *Israel was 1 100 000 men. This number included 300 000 men who were already in the army. (The number of the soldiers in 27:1-9 is 288 000 but with other officers this would be about 300 000. In the account in 2 Samuel 24:9, the total is 800 000 men. That total does not seem to include the men who were already in the army.)
Davidís orders so disgusted Joab that he did not count all the *tribes. He left out the *tribes of Levi and Benjamin. Later David ordered a count of the *tribe of Levi (23:3). Joab may have left them out because of their tasks in *Israelís religion (Numbers 1:47). If the count were for the purpose of taxes, this would not include the *Levites. Also, they could not be soldiers. But there can be no such reason for him not to count Benjamin.
Verses 7-8 God was angry about the count and David now realised it. His conscience told him how wrong he had been. He confessed that he had *sinned. Now he knew that he had been foolish. He asked God to forgive him. But in order to *repent, it is not enough just to be sorry. A person must also turn away from *sin. David had not paid the tax for the *LORDís tent or the *temple. He had not paid the price for the lives of his men. And he had not given *sacrifices so that Godís punishment would be against the animals instead of the people.
So although David had asked God to forgive him, Davidís wrong action would still have an effect. The result was that God punished *Israel.
Verses 9-13 God spoke to a man whose name was Gad. Gad was a *prophet by means of whom God had spoken to David before. When David was hiding from Saul, Gad had advised him to go to Judah (1 Samuel 22:5). Later he helped David and Nathan to organise the *Levites for the *temple (2 Chronicles 29:25). Also he made a record of all the events that happened during the rule of David (1 Chronicles 29:29).
God chose this *prophet, Gad, to speak to David on his behalf. By this means, God gave David three choices of punishment for his *sin. Davidís choices were three years, three months or three days.
The first choice was three years of hunger in *Israel. During those three years, many of the people would starve to death.
The second choice was three months of defeat for *Israel. During those three months, enemy armies would kill many *Israelites. Much of the land that David had gained in battles he would lose. The nation would suffer shame and it would lose its power in the region.
The third choice was three days of death by disease in *Israel. In these three days, the *angel of the *LORD would move through the nation. He would kill many people.
Each of these punishments would reduce the number of people in *Israel. So Davidís count would not still be accurate. But David could see that it was right for God to punish *Israel.
David was still unwilling to do what God wanted him to do. God did not want to punish the *Israelites, but David had still not paid the price for their lives. The *prophet had told David about Godís judgement. But we do not yet read that David was praying for the people. And David was not offering *sacrifices for them. God forgives when there is a *sacrifice. That is because Godís judgement acts against the *sacrifice instead of the person or people.
David chose the direct punishment of the *LORD. David was wise not to trust people. They could be cruel and they would know no limits. But the *LORD is a God of sympathy. He is a God who pities his people. The *LORD would not punish more than was necessary.
*Israel could not avoid the punishment. 70 000 people died from a sudden, terrible disease.
Verse 15 The *angel began to destroy Jerusalem. People were starting to die in the city. The *angel got as far as the yard where Araunah was preparing his grain. But when the *LORD saw this, he stopped the *angel.
David was right. The *LORD is a God who has sympathy for his people. The *LORD pities his people. So, he reduced the punishment for their *sin.
Verses 16-17 David and the leaders were *repenting of their *sin. They were genuinely humble. They came to the place in rough clothes. They were sorry for what they had done. When they saw the *angel in the air, they fell down with their faces to the ground.
David spoke to God. Again, he confessed his *sin. This time, he accepted the total blame for everything that had happened. The people did only what he told them to do. Therefore, he said that he alone was to blame. He prayed that God would the stop the punishment of the people. He and his family should take all the punishment. He was responsible for everything that had happened to the people.
Verses 18-21 The *angel of the *LORD spoke to the *prophet Gad. He told Gad to tell David to build an *altar. Gad came to David. And he told him to build the *altar at the place where Araunah prepared grain. That is, the place where the punishment stopped. David obeyed and he built the *altar. But before he did, he had to buy the place.
Araunah was preparing his wheat. The count started in the autumn and it took almost 10 months. So, this was at the end of the wheat harvest.
The normal way to prepare grain was to spread it out on the special floor of a flat yard. Then a driver sent two *oxen forward and back over the grain. The *oxen pulled wooden boards on which the driver sat. The boards had three large wooden tubes with sharp points all over them. These tubes turned as the boards moved. Another person drew back the straw to separate it from the grain. They took the straw away. Then they threw what remained up in the air. The bits that were not grain blew away. This left only the grain on the floor. So the grain was now clean. And it was ready for people to store it.
Araunah saw the *angel. His 4 sons hid from the *angel. But Araunah did not hide. Then David arrived and Araunah stopped his work.
Verses 22-26 David asked to buy the property so that he could build the *altar there. Araunah would have given it to his king. But David insisted that he must pay the proper price. He would not give to the *LORD what was not his own. A *sacrifice must cost the person who makes it. If there is no cost, it is not a *sacrifice.
The *sacrifices would be of two animals and grain. Araunah provided the *oxen that he used to prepare the grain. A grain *sacrifice always went with animal *sacrifices. So, he gave his wheat for the grain *sacrifice. And he told David to use his wooden boards to make the fire for the *sacrifice by fire.
David bought the whole property. The price was 600 *shekels weight of gold (about 12.5 pounds or 6 *kilograms in weight). He bought the *oxen and the special floor. For these he paid 50 *shekels of silver (about 1 and a quarter pounds or 0.5 *kilograms in weight) (2 Samuel 24:24).
The property that Araunah owned was on *Mount Moriah. *Mount Moriah is the place where Abraham went to *sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:2). Solomon would later build the *temple there.
Then David built the *altar and he prepared the *sacrifices. Then he prayed to the *LORD. The *LORD sent fire from heaven to burn the *sacrifice on the *altar. This answer showed that God accepted the prayers and *sacrifices of David.
Verses 27- 30 In answer to Davidís prayer, the *LORD told the *angel to put his sword away. The *LORD had stopped the disease. Now the *angel would not destroy Jerusalem. And David continued to make *sacrifices there to the *LORD.
The holy tent at which the priests should make *sacrifices was about 4 or 5 miles from Jerusalem. It was in Gibeon. But David had built an *altar as the *LORD had told him. He did not go to Gibeon then. But he continued to *worship God in this place. He knew that by the *sacrifices on this *altar he had caused the *angel to stop his work.
Verse 1 God had dealt with David at the place where Araunah used to prepare his grain. David had built an *altar at this place. He had burned *sacrifices to the *LORD here. He knew that the *LORD wanted his *temple to be here. This was where the *temple should be. The *altar would be here and here the priests would *sacrifice to God. David was already using this place on *Mount Moriah as if it was the *LORDís *temple. The actual *temple was not yet here. But Solomon his son would build it (2 Chronicles 3:1).
Verses 2-4 David used the foreigners who lived in *Israel to carry out the initial work for the *temple. Some of them had to cut stones and to shape them ready for the builders. They stored these stones until Solomon started to build the *temple. Some of them worked with metals. They made nails and other things for the doors. And there were workers in wood who would prepare the wood for the *temple.
David provided all the materials such as iron, *bronze and wood. The wood came from Lebanon where the *cedar trees were very tall and straight.
Verse 5 We are not sure about the age of Solomon at this time. The date of his birth was probably about 990 *BC. He became king in 970 or 971 *BC. So he was 20 years old when he became king. He had a son, Rehoboam, who was then one year old. This chapter is about Davidís actions near the end of his rule. So, it seems that Solomon was a youth under 20 years of age.
The *temple had to be great, and it was. It had to be famous among the nations, and it was. But Solomon was young. So, David prepared all that he could. The *LORD would not allow him to build the *temple. But he got as much ready as he could.
Verses 6-10 King David was preparing his son to be the next king. David had desired to build the *temple for the *LORD. But the *LORD would not let him do it. This was the most important task for his son to do. So David explained to Solomon what God had said to him.
This *temple must be for the name of the *LORD. This means more than for the *LORDís honour. It means for the person of the *LORD. It must be a place where the people could go to meet with God. It will be the most important place of *worship for *Israel.
The *LORD refused to let David build the *temple. The reason was that David was a man of wars. The problem was not just that he fought wars. But David had killed people other than in war such as Uriah (2 Samuel 11:15). He was guilty of cruelty as he was with the soldiers from Moab (2 Samuel 8:2).
Before he was born, God chose Solomon to be king after David. The *LORD loved Solomon from birth. God promised that Solomon would rule in peace. As far as we know, Solomon fought only one battle. That battle was after he had built the *temple (2 Chronicles 8:3).
In this passage, David repeats the words that Nathan spoke to him from the *LORD (17:12-14). The *LORD promised to be as a father to Solomon but Solomon had to be loyal to the *LORD. Later in life, Solomon was not loyal to the *LORD.
The Ď*throneí of Solomonís *kingdom means the kings from the family of David. God would establish their Ď*throneí for all time. This means that one of Davidís *descendants will be king for all time. That *descendant is the *Lord Jesus. (Both Mary and Joseph were *descendants of David.) The *Lord Jesus is sometimes called King Davidís greater son, because he is Davidís most important *descendant. And, although he is Davidís *descendant, he is more important (greater) than David. There will be no end to the rule of the *Lord Jesus. His *throne will always remain. His *kingdom will never end (Luke 1:32-33).
Verses 11-13 In these verses, David repeats to Solomon much of what God had said. God had said that Solomon would build the *temple. God had said that he would make Solomon the king of *Israel. So, David encourages his son to do as God had said. David is telling Solomon: ĎBuild the *temple and obey God.í
David prays that Solomon will be wise. And David prays that Solomon will obey the law of the *LORD. Solomon will be successful only if he does obey the rules and laws of the *LORD. He will need wisdom from the *LORD to be able to govern the people. And he will need to be brave and to have courage so that he can rule *Israel.
Verses 14-16 We do not know the value of these metals at that time. But it must have been a very large sum.
David had provided a vast quantity of all that the builders would need for the work. But Solomon must add some more. Perhaps David thought that more was necessary. But perhaps David was encouraging Solomon to make the task his own. Solomon would involve himself more in the task if he gave toward it.
David had organised the labour with men skilled in all the trades. This large number of workers was ready to start the work. Therefore, he told Solomon, ĎGet on with it. Build the *temple of the *LORD. It is what the *LORD wants. And he will be with you.í Solomon could not begin yet. But as soon as he became king, this was his first and most important task.
Verses 17-19 Finally, David praises God for all that he has achieved. The *LORD has given peace to his people in *Israel. The *LORD has defeated all their enemies. The *LORD is with his people. The *LORD has given to them the country called *Israel.
Now the people must give themselves to the *LORD. They must work with Solomon to build the *LORDís *temple. That *temple will be the place where the *Israelites will *worship the *LORD their God.
The *ark of God was in the tent that David had prepared for it, in Jerusalem. But the *Israelites must bring the *ark into the *temple. David had already built his *altar in the place where the *Israelites would build the *temple. Many of the holy things were in the tent at Gibeon. They must bring these things into the *temple.
Verse 1 David was about 70 years of age, which in those days was old. This was now near the end of his life. It was probably during the 40th and last year of his rule (26:31; 29:27). He appointed Solomon to be the next king of *Israel.
Verses 2-5 To manage (run) the *temple, there would need to be 2000 *Levites on duty each month. They would not all work at the same time. Each of them would work for a part of the day or night. There were a total of 38 000 *Levite men who were 30 years of age and over. 24 000 of them would do this work. The women would not work in the *temple.
6000 *Levites would be judges and officials. They would work in every part of the country. They would be experts in the law of the *LORD and in the laws of the country.
Verses 6-11 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. All the *Levites were *descendants of these three sons. David divided the *Levites into the *clans and families that came from these three men.
These lists do not give us the complete history of the *clans. In verse 8, these were not the actual sons of Ladan. They were among his *descendants. Shimei in verse 9 is a man who belonged to the *clans of Ladan. He is not the same as Shimei in verses 7 and 10.
The 4 sons of Shimei were not his actual sons. They were his *descendants and they may have lived in the time of David.
Because they had few children, David combined the families of Jeush and Beriah. So there were 9 groups out of the *clan of Gershon. 6 of these groups were from Ladan (three of which were from Shimei in verse 9). The other three groups were from the other man called Shimei in verse 10.
Verses 12-20 The ranks of the *Levites did not include the *descendants of Aaron. They were a special family. They were the priests. And the chief priests always came from this family. They had to make the *sacrifices to the *LORD. They were the agents of the people in relation to the *LORD. And they were the agents of the *LORD to the people. But the count of the *Levites did include the *descendants of Moses.
From the *clans of Kohath there were another 9 groups of *Levites.
Verses 21-23 The *clans of Merari made a further 6 groups. This is not clear from these verses. But the chiefs of the groups of Mahli came from Jaaziah (24:26-27), and Kish. The daughters of Eleazar married their cousins. By this means their families continued. The third group came either from another son of Jaaziah or from the daughters of Eleazar. The chiefs of the groups of Mushi came from his three sons.
There were 9 groups from Gershon, 9 groups from Kohath and 6 groups from Merari. This made a total of 24 groups.
Verses 24-27 The count was actually of those men who were 20 years old and older. Men were old enough to work in the *temple when they were 30 years old (verse 3). The *LORD said this to Moses when he counted the *Levites (Numbers 4:3).
Moses lowered the age for the work of the *LORDís tent to 25. But the *Levites did not work after the age of 50 (Numbers 8:24-25). Originally, David decided that the *Levites would start to work in the *temple at 30 years old. The work in the *temple would not be as heavy as the work for the tent. The *Levites had to carry the tent and all that was in it, including the *altar and the *ark. Both of these would now remain in the *temple at Jerusalem. But for some reason, David now lowered the age for the count to 20.
Verses 28-32 The task of the *Levites was to help the priests. They had to take care of the *temple and of all that was in it. They had to make sure that all things were clean and ready for use.
The *Levites had to bake 12 loaves of bread for each *Sabbath day. The priests placed these loaves in two rows of 6 on the special table in the holy place. The loaves remained there until the next *Sabbath day. Then the priests would eat these loaves in the holy place (Leviticus 24:5-9).
Each morning and each evening, the *Levites praised the *LORD with music and prayers. They did this at the time of the regular *sacrifices (Exodus 29:38-39). Also, they did this at the time of *sacrifices on the special days.
The priests made extra *sacrifices at other times. These were on the *Sabbath days, at the start of the month and other special days (Numbers 28:9 to Numbers 29:39). At each of these events, the *Levites praised the *LORD when the priests made the *sacrifices.
The special days were annual events. Some of them lasted for just one day. But other ones lasted for several days. The main special days each year were:
(1) The day called Passover, and the week afterwards when people ate flat bread. Each year the *Jews remember how God brought them out of Egypt. Passover is the special time when they remember this. (Passover is usually at the same time as Easter.)
(2) The day called Pentecost, which is a special day 50 days after Passover.
(3) The day to sound the *trumpets.
(4) The day when the people remember that God forgives *sin.
(5) The week when the people lived in tents.
Verses 1-3 The *descendants of Aaron were the priests. Aaron had 4 sons. They were called Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Nadab and Abihu died before Aaron. They took unholy fire into the *LORDís tent. This was against the *LORDís rules. At once, the *LORD punished them, and so they died there (Numbers 3:4). Because they had no children, the future priests had to come from the families of Eleazar and Ithamar.
Eleazar became the chief priest when his father died. Afterwards, the chief priest came from his *descendants until Eli who was a *descendant of Ithamar.
In the time of David, Zadok was from the *clans of Eleazar; and Ahimelech was from Ithamar. These two men helped David to divide their *clans into groups for service as priests in the *temple.
Verses 4-5 David divided the priests into 24 groups. 16 of these groups were of men from the *descendants of Eleazar. And 8 of these groups were from the *descendants of Ithamar. The groups would work in turn so that there would always be priests on duty in the *temple.
Eleazar had been the chief priest; Ithamar had not. And there were more of Eleazarís *descendants than there were of Ithamarís *descendants. But to David all the groups were equal. The groups received their order of duties in a way that was fair to them all.
Some men from each family were officers of the holy place. And some men were officers of God. These were leaders of some sort. However, we do not know what the titles mean.
Verses 6 To choose the groups, they took in turn a family from Eleazar and a family from Ithamar. Shemaiah wrote down the results. The king and his officials made sure that it was fair. Zadok and Ahimelech, the two chief priests, were among those who were present.
Verses 7-18 This is the list of the 24 groups in the order of the choice. These names are those of the leaders of the families.
These groups continued to serve in the *temple until the *exile. Some of these groups did continue to serve after the return from *exile. In the Book of Luke, Zechariah was in the group of Abijah (the 8th group). Zechariah was the father of John, who prepared for Jesusí work. John is well-known as ĎJohn the Baptistí (Luke 1:5).
Verse 19 They followed the order and plans that Aaron had given to them.
Verses 20-31 The rest of the *descendants of Levi were all those who were not from Aaron. This list shows the leaders of the families in the time of David. They are from the *clans that came from Kohath and Merari. But this list does not include the *clans that came from Gershon.
The *Levites formed 24 groups to do special tasks. The way that they chose the order of the groups was the same as for the priests. All the families were equal for this purpose.
Verse 1 David organised the 288 musicians into 24 groups. These would work with the groups of priests and other *Levites. The leaders of these groups came from the families of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun. About 30 years before, David had appointed these three men to be leaders of the music. That was when they brought the *LORDís *ark to Jerusalem (16:4-7; 16:37; 16:41-42).
These three men would *prophesy with *harps, *lyres, and *cymbals. There are two possible meanings of the word Ď*prophesyí in this passage. They could have spoken words that God gave to them at that time. Or they could praise him with Psalms (songs of *worship) that they (or somebody else) had written.
Verses 2-5 The leaders of the groups were the sons of Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman. Asaph had 4 sons and Jeduthun had 6 sons. Heman had 14 sons. These sons made the 24 leaders for the groups.
Verses 6-8 The Ďfatherí means Heman, who led his sons in music. But of course, Asaph and Jeduthun led their sons as well.
4000 *Levites praised the *LORD with instruments (23:5). It seems that these 288 skilled musicians led them. 12 skilled musicians were in each group and they led their sons and relatives.
The groups chose their order of duties. They used the same fair method that the priests and *Levites had used.
Verses 9-31 This is a list of the groups in the order of their duties.
Verses 1-9 The *Israelites had not built the *temple yet. But the king made these arrangements so that the *Levites would be ready. There were 4000 *temple guards (23:6). They were all from the *clans of Kohath and Merari. (Korah was from the *clan of Kohath.)
There were 24 groups of these *temple guards. They chose the order of their duties by the same fair method that the priests and *Levites had used.
The job of the *temple guards was to be responsible for the gates and doors of the *temple. They would open the gates and doors at the right times. And they would close them at the proper times. They would control the entrances to keep out anyone who should not come in. They would control everyone who went into or out of the *temple. And if necessary, they would control the crowds.
The work of the *temple guards was an important part of the *LORDís work. It was not less important than the work of the other *Levites. They were all part of the *worship of the *temple. They were all doing the work of the *LORD. They were all doing what God wanted them to do. So in his opinion, their rank was equal.
Asaph in verse 1 is not the same as the musician. The musician belonged to the *clan of Gershon. This Asaph belonged to the *clan of Korah. This Asaph is usually called Abiasaph; he was a son of Korah (1 Chronicles 9:19; Exodus 6:24). Kore and Meshelemiah were among his *descendants.
Obed-Edom was another *descendant of Korah. He kept the *LORDís *ark in his home after the death of Uzzah (13:13-14). He was a musician and he played in front of the *LORDís *ark in Jerusalem (15:21). Also, he was a guard for the *LORDís *ark (15:24). Here he is the head of his family as a *temple guard.
The family of Obed-Edom were strong men, as they may need to be as *temple guards. They had to guard the *temple day and night. And the gates of the *temple were large and heavy. It took several strong men to open and to close these gates.
Verses 10-11 Hosah had been a guard at the *LORDís *ark with Obed-Edom (16:38). He had 13 sons among whom Shimri was the chief son. But Shimri was not the oldest son. Perhaps the first son by birth was not a capable person for some reason. However, the father chose Shimri to be the first son.
Verses 12-19 Each group had its leaders. But a few chief men were over them all. These men made sure that the groups did their tasks well.
In each group, they chose the tasks. They did this by the same fair method that they had used for the order of their groups. So, the larger families did not have an advantage over the smaller ones.
Here we have some of those chief men. These men were responsible for the main gates and the stores building.
Shelemiah is the same as Meshelemiah (verse 1). He had control of the east gate. His son Zechariah had control of the north gate. Obed-Edom had control of the south gate. Shuppim and Hosah had control of the west gate.
Also, Shuppim and Hosah had control of the Shalleketh Gate. This was another gate to the west. It was probably the gate through which they took the rubbish from the *temple.
The east gate was the main gate. So, there were 6 guards at this gate but only 4 at the other gates. There were 2 guards at the stores building.
We are not sure what Parbar means. There are two possible meanings. The first is suburb. So, Parbar would be a gate to the west that leads to the suburbs of Jerusalem. There would be two guards at the gate and 4 guards on the road. The other meaning is that it is the name of a place outside the *temple building. There would be two guards at that place and 4 guards on the road to that place.
Verses 20-28 Some of the *temple guards took care of the gifts, money and valuable things that belonged to the *temple (verses 20-22). Other *temple guards took care of the stores of wealth that belonged to the *temple (verses 23-28). Ahijah was the official who was over all of these guards.
The sons of Jehieli, Zetham and Joel had control of the gifts and valuable things. These things were the gifts to the *LORD; and the precious objects that the priests used. These stores were for use in the daily service of the *temple.
Shubael was over the team who took care of all the wealth in the *temple stores. His team included Shelomith. Shelomith was responsible for all the gifts from David and the army officers. Many of these gifts were objects that the king and family leaders had given. Some of this wealth came from the goods that the army had taken from their enemies. Samuel, King Saul and former army officers had given wealth that was now in these stores. This wealth was for major repairs and for future use.
Verses 29-32 There were 6000 *Levites who worked as officials and judges (23:4). They did not work in the *temple. They went out to all parts of the nation called *Israel. Their job was to teach Godís law to the people. And they would be the judges in the law courts. Also, they would collect the taxes and other money that was due to the king and to the *temple.
Most of these *Levites came from the *clans of Kohath and Hebron. Kenaniah and his sons came from the *clan of Izhar, which was one of the *clans from Kohath. Hashabiah and the men at Jazer were from the Hebron *clan.
Hashabiah and his relatives worked to the west of the river Jordan. At Jazer in Gilead, there were men from Hebronís *clan. Gilead was to the east of the river Jordan. So, Jeriah and his men worked to the east of the river Jordan. That was where the *tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the *tribe of Manasseh lived.
Hashabiah had 1700 men and Jeriah had 2700 men. Therefore, as there were 6000 men, 1600 men worked with Kenaniah.
David organised all of this during the 40th year of his rule. That was his last year before he died.
Verse 1 A different group of soldiers served the king each month. There were 24 000 men in each group. To lead the group, there were officers over 1000 men. Then there were officers over 100 men. Also, family leaders and the kingís officials had some control over the army.
The king always had 24 000 men ready for war. There was always a group ready to guard the king. If an enemy attacked, the king could call all 12 groups of soldiers to fight. This would be an army of 288 000 men.
The men served in the army for one month in the year. During the rest of the year, they lived and worked as normal citizens.
Verses 2-15 Jashobeam had been the leader over Davidís 30 special soldiers (11:11). Also, he was one of the three most famous soldiers. He killed 300 men at one time with his *spear. He was the top leader during the first month, that is, the month called Nisan. He was from the *tribe of Judah. Perez was a son of Judah.
Jashobeam was the chief leader for the first month, the month called Nisan. The month called Nisan is during March or April in a modern calendar.
Here is a list of the names of the *Jewish months. The first month was called Nisan and the second month was called Iyar. The third month was called Sivan and the 4th was called Tammuz. The 5th month was called Ab and the 6th was called Elul. The 7th month was called Tishri and the 8th was called Marcheshvan. The 9th month was called Chisleu and the 10th was called Tebeth. The 11th month was called Shebat and the 12th was called Adar. Many of these months do have different names as well. For example, Nisan is often Abib and Iyar is Zif.
Dodai (verse 4) was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the second of the famous three soldiers (11:12). Dodai had Mikloth as his chief officer. Dodai was the leader during the second month.
Benaiah (verse 5) was the leader of King Davidís personal guards. He was as well-known as the famous three soldiers. But he was not one of them. He did many great deeds (11:22-30). He had his son Ammizabad as his chief officer. Benaiah was the leader during the third month.
It seems that such groups already existed well before the end of Davidís rule. In the original group, Asahel (verse 7) may have been a leader. He was one of the 30 special soldiers. But Abner killed Asahel in the battle between David and Ish-Bosheth (2 Samuel 2:18-23). So, Asahel died before David formed these groups. However, the 4th group still had Asahelís name as the leader. Maybe this was to give honour to his name. His son Zebadiah was in fact the leader of this group.
The leaders for each of the other months were among the 30 special soldiers (11:26-47).
Verses 16-22 This is a list of the leaders of the *tribes at the time when David counted the people.
We do not know why the list did not include the *tribes of Gad and Asher. There is a leader over the *tribe of Levi. But the *Levite *clan of Aaron had Zadok the chief priest as their leader. Because half of the *tribe of Manasseh lived east of the river Jordan, they had two leaders. Joel was the leader for the half *tribe on the west of the river. And Iddo was the leader for the half *tribe on the east of the river.
Verses 23-24 The *LORD promised that he would make the *Israelites as many as the stars. ĎAs many as the starsí was a phrase that meant too many to count. The *LORD gave this promise to Abraham about 1000 years before the time of David (Genesis 15:5). Because of that promise, David did not count those who were 20 years of age or less.
However, David did order a count of the men who were old enough to fight in the army.
Joab did not finish the count. He was against the idea. He knew that it was wrong to do it (21:6). So, he did not count the *tribes of Levi and Benjamin.
Because of the count and the *sins of the nation, God was angry. And he punished the people (21:7).
Samuel, Nathan and Gad made records of the events during Davidís life (29:29-30). But they did not record the number of the people.
Verses 25-31 These verses are a list of the kingís officials. They looked after his wealth and they controlled his *vineyards and farms. A *vineyard is a kind of farm where people produce *grapes.
The sycamore trees in verse 28 were also called sycamore-*fig trees. They produce a light wood, which is useful for many purposes. They also yield fruit. That fruit is like the *fig, but its quality is not so good. Poor people in particular would gather the fruit. The people would cut into the fruit about 4 days before they picked them. Then the fruit was ready and people could eat them. There were people whose job was to look after the sycamore-*fig trees (Amos 7:14).
Verses 32-34 Ahithophel joined Davidís son, Absalom, when Absalom tried to organise a revolution against David. But when Absalom did not follow Ahithophelís advice, Ahithophel killed himself (2 Samuel 17:23). Afterwards, Jehoiada and Abiathar took Ahithophelís place, and they advised King David.
Verse 1 All this happened in the last year of Davidís rule. It was in 970 *BC. All the leaders of the people and of the army came to David. All his officials were there.
Verses 2-3 David was now quite old and weak (1 Kings 1:47). But he made the effort to stand up when he spoke to the people there.
The desire of Davidís heart was to build a *temple for the *LORD. The *temple would be a more permanent place for the *ark of Godís special promise. The *ark was at that time in the tent that David had made for it in Jerusalem (16:1). The *temple would be the place where God would rest his feet. This refers to the gold cover over the *ark. Godís seat was between the *cherubim, which were at the two ends of the *ark. This was where the cloud of Godís *glory came. It was here that God met with Moses.
David had made the plans for the *temple. He had provided all the materials for the work to begin. But the *LORD would not let him do it. David was a man of war and this task was for a man of peace. In other words, God wanted a peaceful king (and not a soldier) to build the *temple.
Verses 4-7 God chose the *tribe of Judah. From that *tribe, God chose the family of Jesse. From the family of Jesse, God chose David (1 Samuel 16:10-12). God made David king over *Israel. From the many sons of David, God chose Solomon to be the next king of *Israel. None of this was the result of Davidís skill or choice. It was all Godís plan.
God chose David to be king for all time. Of course, David would not live for all time, but one of his *descendants would always be king. Both Mary and Joseph had David as their *ancestor (Luke 3:23-31 and Matthew 1:6-16). Jesus the Son of God is sometimes called King Davidís greater son. That is because he is both a *descendant of David, and Davidís *Lord (Psalm 110:1; Mark 12:35-37). And Jesusí *kingdom shall never end (Isaiah 9:7). This *kingdom includes all who accept Jesus as king.
Solomon was the *LORDís choice and he would rule over *Israel. Therefore, the *Israelites had to accept him as their king. They had to serve him and they had to obey him. But Solomon had to serve God and he had to obey God.
Solomon started well but later he did not obey the *LORD. God made Solomonís *kingdom strong while he lived. But later it became weak because of his *sin and the peopleís *sin.
God chose Solomon to build the *temple. And God promised to help him as a father helps his son.
Verse 8 David gave a serious appeal to the people who were present. The witnesses to what he said were the *LORD and his people. He told them that they must obey the law of the *LORD. This was essential to the future of the nation. The *LORD gave to them the country called *Israel as long as they obeyed him. If they did not obey the *LORD then he would force them out of that country. But if they did obey the *LORD, the country would pass to their *descendants.
Verses 9-10 David gave good advice to his son. Solomon needed to know God with all his inner person. David told Solomon to serve the *LORD with all his heart and mind. This is good advice for us and for all people. Jesus said, ĎLove God with your whole person Ė all of your heart, all of your inner person and all of your mindí (Matthew 22:37).
The *LORD knows each person. He knows their thoughts and desires. Nobody can hide anything from the *LORD. All people are like open books to him. But the *LORD will let them find him if they look for him. So, David told his son to look for the *LORD. If Solomon looks for the *LORD, he will find him.
David warned his son not to turn away from the *LORD. If a person turns away from the *LORD, the *LORD will turn away from that person.
The *LORD chose Solomon to build the *temple. Therefore, Solomon must be strong and he must do the work.
Verses 11-18 David gave to Solomon the plans for the *temple and its rooms. He had received these plans from the Holy Spirit and now he gave them to his son. Then he described to Solomon the work of the priests and *Levites. Also, David gave to him the details of all the things that Solomon had to make for the *temple. He said how much gold to use to make the gold things. And he told him how much silver to use to make the silver things.
In the *LORDís tent, there had been only one table for the holy bread. In the *temple, there would be 10 such tables. These would be 10 gold tables. There would be other silver tables but these would not be for the holy bread.
The gold *chariot of the *cherubim was probably not the *cherubim at the ends of the *ark. Those two smaller *cherubim were already on the *ark. In Psalm 18:10 the *LORD rode on the *cherubim. Ezekiel saw 4 *cherubim and the *throne of God was above them. The 4 *cherubim and the 4 wheels moved as the *chariot of God (Ezekiel chapter 1).
In the inner *temple, there would be a pair of large *cherubim. The workers would make them out of wood and then they would cover them with gold. The *cherubim would be about 15 feet high. Their wings would reach about 30 feet across the room. They would touch each other in the middle. And each of them would touch the wall at the side. So, with their wings, they would make a shelter over the most holy place. They would cover that room, which contained the *ark of the *LORDís special promise (2 Chronicles 3:10-13). Their purpose was to show that the *LORD was there. The *LORD sits on his *throne between the *cherubim (Psalm 99:1).
Verse 19 The *LORD showed to David the plan of the *temple. David did not design any part of it. God gave him all the details and David wrote them down.
Verses 20-21 Davidís final advice to his son was that he should be strong. He should have courage because the *LORD will not fail. Solomon should have no fear because the *LORD is with him. The *LORD has given to Solomon the task to build the *temple. The *LORD will be with Solomon until he has completed the *temple. And with the help of the *LORD, he will succeed.
David had organised the groups of the priests and *Levites. They were ready to do their work in the *temple. He had arranged already for the workers who would build the *temple. The people and the officials would all do what Solomon told them to do. They were ready to build the *temple for their *LORD.
So, David encouraged his son to do the work. He gave Solomon confidence to trust in the *LORD. He had done all that he could do in order to prepare Solomon for the task. He had provided all the materials that Solomon would need.
Verses 1-5 David was worried because Solomon was young. Solomon did not have the experience that David considered necessary. But David had done all that he could to prepare for the work. Now he was appealing to the people to support Solomon. He said that God had chosen Solomon. God had given to Solomon this great task.
The *temple would not be for the honour of any person. It was for the *LORD God alone. And for that reason it was a most important task to build it. The Ďsplendid buildingí in verse 1 means a palace. A palace is the place where the king lives. This *temple was to be the palace where the *LORD would live. The *LORD was the ruler over the king and the *Israelites.
David makes a list of the sort of things that he had provided for the *temple. He had given gold, silver, *bronze and iron. He had given wood and all kinds of precious stones. These stone were of many colours. And the marble was of the purest white.
Onyx and antimony are precious stones. Marble is a hard white rock. Builders use it because of its white colour.
David had become a very wealthy man. He was eager that the *LORD should have a splendid *temple. So now, he gave his personal wealth to help in the task. He gave 3000 *talents of gold. Gold from Ophir was then the best and most pure gold in the world. We do not know where Ophir was. Also, he gave 7000 *talents of pure silver.
Then David appealed to all those people to do as he had done. He asked them to give themselves to the service of the *LORD. This means that they would give much of their wealth to the *LORD.
Verses 6-9 All the leaders who were there answered the appeal. They all gave their gifts for the work of Godís *temple. Together, they gave a vast quantity of metals. Also, they gave their precious stones.
There were 5000 *talents and 10 000 *darics of gold and 10 000 *talents of silver. There were 18 000 *talents (about 600 tons) of *bronze and 100 000 *talents (about 3400 tons) of iron.
Jehiel received all these gifts. He and his sons had control of the stores of valuable things for the *temple (26:20-22).
The leaders gave these gifts because they wanted to give. It gave them much pleasure to give to the *LORD. That is how the *LORD wants his people to give (2 Corinthians 9:7). The people in Israel were very pleased that their leaders were so willing to give. And David too was glad because the leaders had given with such a good attitude.
Verses 10-13 This prayer of David is one of the most beautiful of all the prayers in the Bible. It turns attention away from David, Solomon and the *temple. It is a prayer of thanks. And David praises God alone.
The *LORD was the God of Jacob, who was also called *Israel. He was the *ancestor of the people in the country called *Israel.
The *LORD deserves all honour for all time. We should always praise him.
The *LORD is greater than all persons and things. He is perfect in every way. Nobody can stand against him. He is the king of kings because he owns everything in heaven and on the earth. David was a great king but the *kingdom belonged to the *LORD. At the end of the prayer that we call the *Lordís Prayer, we say: ĎFor the *kingdom, the power, and the *glory are yours for all time.í
All that we have came from God. He rules over all the affairs of our world. He is wonderful. He deserves our thanks. We praise God for who he is.
Verses 14-19 David and the people had given all these valuable things to the *LORD. But they gave only what they had received from the *LORD. All that we have has come to us from God. All that we own is really his property.
All things belong to God. We are as strangers who enjoy his benefits on earth for a short time. We cannot have a permanent place here. Our lives here are like shadows. They appear for a short time and then they go away.
God knows us. He knows what is in our hearts and minds. He knows our thoughts and actions. He knows why we do things. The reason David gave so much was to give honour to his God. He and the people did not give because it was their duty to give. They wanted to do it. They were happy to give to the *LORD. This attitude of heart pleases the *LORD.
David prays that the people will always have this same attitude toward the *LORD. He prays that they will be loyal to the *LORD.
David ends his prayer as he prays for Solomon. He asks that Solomon will love the *LORD with all his heart. He asks that Solomon will obey all the laws of God. And he asks that Solomon will build the *temple.
Verse 20 David told the people to praise the *LORD. And they did praise the God of their *ancestors. They fell with their faces to the ground in *worship to God. They did this in front of David, the king whom God had chosen.
Verses 21-22a (Ď22aí means the first part of verse 22.) On the next day, the people made many *sacrifices on the *altar. David had built the *altar at the place that he bought from Araunah (21:18). They would later build the *temple at that place.
These *sacrifices were for peace and to give thanks to the *LORD. The priests burned certain parts of the animals on the *altar. Then the priests would have some of the meat. Their part was the breast and the upper right leg of the animal (Leviticus 7:28-36). The people could eat the rest of the meat as the guests of the *LORD.
There were many thousands of *sacrifices on that day. So the people had plenty of meat and drink to enjoy.
Verses 22b-25 (Ď22bí means the last part of verse 22.) One of Davidís sons, Adonijah, had tried to make himself king of *Israel. As soon as David found out, he called for Zadok the priest and Nathan the *prophet. He sent them to Gihon with his son Solomon. There they poured oil on Solomonís head and they made him the king. And they declared to all the people that Solomon was the king of *Israel. Then the people shouted, ĎWe pray that King Solomon will have a long life!í That was the first time that they made Solomon king (1 Kings chapter 1).
This second time they again made Solomon the king of *Israel. They knew that he was the *LORDís choice. So, they poured oil on him as their king. Also, they poured oil on Zadok to make him the chief priest. Zadok and Abiathar had been the chief priests. But now Zadok alone was the chief priest.
The *LORD was the real ruler of *Israel. Therefore, Solomon sat on the *LORDís *throne. He was the king of *Israel but he was under the authority of the *LORD.
The *LORD made Solomon a successful and powerful king. The country had peace during the time that he ruled. God made him wise and he became wealthy. He was famous among the nations. And he received much honour from them. He received more honour than the kings of *Israel who ruled before him.
When Solomon became king, all the leaders promised to obey him. This included the army and all the sons of David.
Verses 26-30 David had a long life, wealth and honour. Also, he had a son who ruled after him. In all David had ruled for 40 years. He ruled over Judah (southern *Israel) in Hebron for 7 years. Then he ruled over all *Israel in Jerusalem for 33 years.
The chief *prophets during the life of David were Samuel, Gad and Nathan. Each of these recorded what they knew of Davidís life. Between them, they recorded all that he had done. We do not now have the books of Gad and Nathan. But we do have a record of Davidís life in the Books of 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles.
altar ~ the special table where the priests burned animals or other gifts to God (or to false gods).
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
angel ~ one of Godís special servants from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
ark ~ the ark of the *LORD or the ark of God; the Bible also calls it Ďthe ark of Godís special promiseí. It was a wooden box with gold all over the outside and inside. It had two models of gold *cherubim on the top (see Exodus 25:10-22). The *Israelites kept the ark in the most holy place; first in the *LORDís tent and then in the *temple.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
bronze ~ a kind of metal. Its colour is brown, but it polishes well. It is very strong.
bulls ~ the male farm animals of which the females are cows.
burnt (sacrifice) ~ a *sacrifice that the priests burned completely on the *altar.
cedar ~ a kind of tree. Its wood is very beautiful.
chariot ~ a kind of cart that soldiers use to fight. Horses pull it.
cherubim ~ special *angels who were in the most holy place of the *temple.
clan ~ part of a *tribe, a group of families.
cymbals ~ a kind of musical instrument. A person hits two cymbals together to make a loud crash.
daric ~ a coin whose weight was about a quarter of an ounce (about 7 grams).
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
disaster ~ when something very bad happens.
donkey ~ an animal that is like a small horse. It can carry people or goods.
exile ~ When people have to live in a foreign country, they are in exile. Such a person is called an exile.
fig ~ a kind of sweet fruit that grows on a tree.
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
grape ~ a fruit which people use to make wine.
Hagrites ~ people from various *tribes in the desert. They were *descendants of Hagar, the mother of Ishmael.
harp ~ a musical instrument that has many strings.
Hebrew ~ the language of *Israel. ĎHebrewsí is another name for the *Israelites.
incense ~ a substance that gives a sweet smell when it burns. The priests burned it when they praised God in the *temple.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His *descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose *ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
Israelites ~ the people whose *ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Jebusites ~ people who lived in the city called Jebus. David defeated them and he changed the name of the city to Jerusalem.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a *Jew or anything that belongs to a *Jew.
kilogram ~ measurement of weight; also called a kilo. It is slightly over 2 pounds.
kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules and the people over whom a king rules.
Levite ~ a person who belongs to the *tribe of Levi.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ĎLORDí is the special name that God gave to himself. The name probably means: ĎHe is always God.í This name has a relationship with Godís special promises to his people.
lots ~ a way to make a decision. People seemed to decide the matter by chance when they used this method. But they believed that, in fact, God guided them to make the right decision.
lyre ~ a kind of musical instrument with strings.
Mount ~ mountain.
olive ~ a fruit from which we get olive oil. It grows on an olive tree.
ox ~ a large and strong animal that farmers used to pull the plough. See also *bull.
oxen ~ plural of *ox.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
prophesy ~ to speak a *prophecy.
prophet ~ a person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future.
repent ~ to change the mind; to turn away from *sin and turn to God.
Sabbath ~ The Sabbath was the 7th day of the week (Saturday) which God told the *Israelites to keep as a special day. They did not work on that day. They used it for rest and for *worship.
sacrifice ~ The priests killed a special animal when people offered it as a gift to God. They burned all or part of it on an *altar. That animal was called a sacrifice. They offered a sacrifice when they asked God to forgive *sins. When Jesus died, he was the perfect sacrifice for our *sins. ĎTo sacrificeí means Ďto give a sacrificeí.
Satan ~ a spirit that God made. Satan was an *angel but he decided to fight against God. Satan tries to persuade Godís people to do wrong things. But Satan can only do this when God permits him to do it. In the New Testament (the second part of the Bible), the writers call him Ďthe devilí.
shekel ~ equal to one ounce in weight.
sin ~ Sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because they are guilty of sin.
sling ~ The sling was a *weapon. It was a bit of leather with two strings. The soldier would put a smooth stone in the leather bit. Then he would swing it round above his head by the strings. Finally, he would let the stone fly out of the sling.
spears ~ long sticks with sharp ends that soldiers used as *weapons during battles.
talent ~ measurement of weight equal to 75 pounds or 34 *kilograms.
temple ~ a special building for the *worship of God. Or, a building for the *worship of false gods. The *Jews had a temple in Jerusalem for the *worship of the real God.
throne ~ the special chair for the king.
tribe ~ The *Israelites originally consisted of the 12 large families of the sons of Jacob. These families became the 12 tribes of *Israel.
trumpet ~ a kind of musical instrument; it makes a loud sound when a person blows into it.
vineyard ~ a farm where *grapes grow.
weapon ~ a tool of war that soldiers use in attack or defence during a battle, for example: swords, *spears and *slings.
worship ~ acts to show honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Albert Barnesí Notes on the Bible
John Gillís Exposition of the Entire Bible
Adam Clarkeís Commentary on the Bible
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary
Martin J Selman, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries
H G M Williamson, The New Century Bible Commentary
J Barton Payne, The Expositorís Bible Commentary
William Wilson, Old Testament Word Studies
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Dr William Smith, Concise Dictionary of the Bible
Bibles: NIV, RSV, NRSV, NASB, NCV, ASV, CEV, GNB, GW, KJV, LITV, MKJV.
© 2009, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).
Visit our website: | <urn:uuid:fae3251d-9bbf-49a8-9c09-5ea96bcf4e67> | {
"date": "2017-02-24T03:35:00",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-09",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501171281.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104611-00108-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9875300526618958,
"score": 2.984375,
"token_count": 14474,
"url": "http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/1chronicles-21-29-lbw.htm"
} |
Will rapamycin work in people with leukemia?
The researchers found that rapamycin was incredibly effective at both restoring normal blood-forming stem cells and eliminating leukemic stem cells. If they treated mice with rapamycin early in the onset of leukemia, the mice remained healthy indefinitely -- long after all the untreated mice were dead.
Dr. Morrison's research indicated rapamycin was most effective at curing mice with leukemia when they were treated early before they had too many leukemic stem cells in their bone marrow. Some people with chronic myeloid leukemia are in a similar situation. CML patients today are often treated with a drug called Gleevec, which reduces the number of leukemic cells, but doesn't cure anyone, because it doesn't kill the leukemic stem cells.
Rapamycin has been used extensively in patients and is known to be well tolerated. It's generally used as an immunosuppressant in people receiving organ transplants. The hope is that using rapamycin, in addition to Gleevec, will cure some of these patients. If it works, this will be a therapy that kills cancer stem cells without harming normal stem cells. | <urn:uuid:0093ac3c-c9a8-46f4-bbc6-da5bc7c7fb71> | {
"date": "2014-07-30T21:16:47",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-23",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1406510271654.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20140728011751-00372-ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9746990203857422,
"score": 2.90625,
"token_count": 242,
"url": "http://www.mcancer.org/research/stem-cells/leukemia/leukemia-and-rapamycin"
} |
An energy audit is fundamental for plants that wish to control energy costs. The audit has two essential parts: 1) the analysis of purchased energy and how it's converted into other usable forms; and 2) an energy use and utilization analysis. The results can help identify areas that waste energy and how best to recover and reuse that energy. An audit also can help continuously monitor a plant's conditions over the years.
The first part of the energy audit is to understand the energy inputs into the plant. Although we typically don't "see" energy, we do see the energy bills. Hence, the first step of an energy audit tries to allocate purchased energy cost as it's used in plant operations.
Plants purchase energy in the form of fuel and electricity and use some of it for several energy commodities that operations depend upon. For example, fuel is used to generate steam to the desired pressure level to heat the contents of a reactor to produce desired product. Electricity is used to pump product from a reactor to a crystallizer and then to separate the crystals. Electricity also is used to compress air to move product. Hence, properly accounting for, and allocating energy costs, to each energy commodity is essential.
It's also necessary to be as detailed as possible when classifying energy commodities. Air is free when it enters an air compressor, but the same air isn't free when it leaks from the pipeline. Steam is nothing but water when it's pumped into a boiler water treatment plant. It's not the same water when it is drained out after a steam trap. Allocating the energy costs to steam and heat in a generalized manner has limited use in the energy audit. Consider these energy costs (where applicable) for a fruitful energy audit:
1. Cost of heat when derived from natural gas and biomass fuel.
2. High-pressure steam cost at the boiler with natural gas and biomass fuel.
3. Medium-pressure steam cost when passed through a pressure relieve valve (PRV).
4. Low-pressure (LP) steam cost when passed through a steam turbine.
5. LP steam cost when condensate is and isn't returned.
6. Cost of condensate when returned at 190°F and 130°F.
7. Cost of compressed air distributed to process plants.
Properly allocating the cost of purchased energy into energy commodities also will help in the next step: analyzing energy conversion and utilization costs.
Generally, preparing an energy balance would help identify the efficiency of energy utilization. Energy balance in a boiler would provide the energy conversion efficiency, while the energy balance in a product dryer would provide the energy utilization efficiency.
An energy audit also evaluates key indicators, such as the specific energy consumption of the product. For example, MMBtu/lb of ammonia, and kWh/lb of chlorine are common indicators in fertilizer and chlor-alkali plants.
Once you evaluate conversion or utilization efficiency, or specific energy consumption, you should compare these key indicators with the best in the process to get the improvement potential. This, when combined with energy costs and marginal energy costs, provides the energy cost reduction potential. For example, adding an economizer and trimming down the blowdown water contributes to higher boiler efficiency. However, an energy audit would recommend lowering the steam cost to a plant that doesn't have these features in its boiler. In the same manner, if the cost of steam used in a process unit is properly allocated, the energy audit would recommend reducing the steam cost in that unit by operating the steam turbine instead of a PRV and returning the condensate back to the boiler.
Finally, convincing plant engineers and managers to move toward measuring, monitoring and improving their energy efficiency is the true success of a fruitful energy audit. Well-received energy audit reports typically include:
1. A prioritized list of energy-savings measures that could reduce the wasted energy based on potential savings and preliminary investment numbers.
2. A breakdown of energy use, costs of energy commodities and key energy indicators.
3. Identification of design, operation and maintenance practices that lower efficiency.
4. An action plan to move forward implementing low-cost or no-cost measures.
VEN V. VENKATESAN is Chemical Processing's Energy Columnist. You can e-mail him at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:a3a210f9-eb97-4634-8436-c669866d03b4> | {
"date": "2016-12-04T22:24:25",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2016-50",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698541426.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170901-00256-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 4,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.929577112197876,
"score": 3.65625,
"token_count": 888,
"url": "http://www.chemicalprocessing.com/articles/2012/conduct-fruitful-energy-audits/"
} |
Recognition of the Signs of Stroke 5 major symptoms
- Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body.
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or difficulty understanding speech.
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or lack of coordination.
- Sudden severe headache with no known cause.
*CALL 9-1-1 if you or someone else has any of these symptoms.
Are you at Risk?
- CONDITIONS: High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Sickle Cell Disease
- BEHAVIORS: Unhealthy Diet, Physical Inactivity, Obesity, Too Much Alcohol, Tobacco Use
- FAMILY HISTORY & OTHER CHARACTERISTICS: Age, Sex, Race or Ethnicity
Take a Step to Prevent Stroke (Prevention)
- Eat a healthy diet
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Exercise regularly
- Avoid tobacco
- Limit alcohol use
- Control blood pressure
- Check cholesterol
- Manage diabetes
- Manage heart disease
American Stroke Association
National Stroke Association
AHA Stroke Statements & Guidelines
National Stroke Association Online Stroke Caregiver Community
Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care | <urn:uuid:ccf33575-eb52-4f7d-bc13-8624d85c2fcd> | {
"date": "2015-09-04T03:52:19",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2015-35",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-35/segments/1440645335509.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150827031535-00110-ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.7282655239105225,
"score": 2.8125,
"token_count": 284,
"url": "http://www.state.in.us/isdh/24950.htm"
} |
Hillcross Primary School
Habits of Mind
Our reward system is based on Habits of Mind. These were developed by Art Costa and are made up of sixteen characteristics of people who behave and think effectively. Our children are encouraged to show independence and a sense of responsibility so that they develop the self-discipline to behave with care, courtesy and good manners. | <urn:uuid:822f7a08-c259-4a04-9b04-49b9350d0c68> | {
"date": "2019-09-22T23:10:36",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-39",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514575751.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20190922221623-20190923003623-00216.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9813868999481201,
"score": 3.046875,
"token_count": 74,
"url": "https://www.hillcross.merton.sch.uk/page/?title=Habits+of+Mind&pid=79"
} |
As parents, we love our kids and we always want them to have the absolute best for them. But it isn’t always easy to make sure that they have the kind of care we know they need. We try to teach them the best healthy habits, feed them food that will help them grow strong and give them the best possible advice we know how to give. We hope for the best while planning for the worst. But keeping them healthy by making sure they eat smart is easier when they are small and still under our wing. As time passes this can change and not always for the best.
When they get old enough to head out to school they will be tempted by chocolate bars and the sugary foods their friends bring to school. They may trade that school lunch money for junk food and start to show the signs of tooth decay that this kind of eating brings. Luckily you will have guidance from sites like www.greatstarthealthysmiles.com to help you along the way. But beyond this, there are ways to keep your kids eating smart. Here are a few we have found seem to do the trick and might be a good fit for you and your family.
Yes, we know that kids love the taste of sweets, it is wired in us to make sure we get enough calories. But it doesn’t have to mean they only eat nasty commercial sugary snacks. We have taken to making our own snacks, often with organically sourced cocoa and local butter, but just as often with great fruit that makes the snack healthy as well. How about carob covered apricots or cherries with nuts and honey?
These are sweet, but in a way that our bodies can process more easily than commercial processed sugar. If you can get your kids to brush their teeth at school after lunch (good luck with that one!) then you can be assured that these sweet treats will not affect their dental health either. But even packing a sugarless gum in with the snack can make a difference.
Lemonade instead of Pop
I know that today many kids love the sweetness of pop and companies like Cocoa Cola have pretty much controlled the landscape when it comes to between meal drinks. But these are filled with either sugar or substitutes that can be just as bad for them. Before the advance of these commercial drinks, people made their own drinks. Of course, lemonade was a staple but so was a drink called a shrub.
This is made by combining apple cider vinegar or other types of vinegar with mashed fruit. The mixture is allowed to sit for several days and the flavor of the fruit is absorbed by the vinegar. The mixture is strained, bottled and added to sparkling water for a cool refreshing drink. By making lemonade and fruit shrubs you can encourage your kids to think outside of the all too sweet junk being pushed on them by the commercial world. Plus, it is so delicious!
As you can see from just these two examples, there are many ways you can encourage your kids to eat healthy, make their own fun food and keep that healthy smile well into their senior years. | <urn:uuid:04216397-bd4e-4d3e-86d9-9ba236dd2043> | {
"date": "2017-11-22T16:27:13",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2017-47",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934806615.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20171122160645-20171122180645-00656.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.979812741279602,
"score": 2.65625,
"token_count": 632,
"url": "http://www.aloeveracreamnow.com/nutritional-ideas-for-a-healthier-smile.html"
} |
A wind tunnel is a research tool developed to assist with studying the effects of air moving over or around solid objects.
Ways that wind-speed and flow are measured in wind tunnels:
Sir George Cayley (1773-1857), the 'father of aerodynamics', also used a whirling arm to measure the drag and lift of various airfoils. His whirling arm was 5 feet long and attained top speeds between 10 and 20 feet per second. Armed with test data from the arm, Cayley built a small glider that is believed to have been the first successful heavier-than-air vehicle to carry a man in history.
However, the whirling arm does not produce a reliable flow of air impacting the test shape at a normal incidence. Centrifugal forces and the fact that the object is moving in its own wake mean that detailed examination of the airflow is difficult. Francis Herbert Wenham (1824-1908), a Council Member of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, addressed these issues by inventing, designing and operating the first enclosed wind tunnel in 1871.
Once this breakthrough had been achieved, detailed technical data was rapidly extracted by the use of this tool. Wenham and his colleague Browning are credited with many fundamental discoveries, including the measurement of l/d ratios, and the revelation of the beneficial effects of a high aspect ratio.
In a classic set of experiments, the Englishman Osborne Reynolds (1842-1912) of the University of Manchester demonstrated that the airflow pattern over a scale model would be the same for the full-scale vehicle if a certain flow parameter were the same in both cases. This factor, now known as the Reynolds Number, is a basic parameter in the description of all fluid-flow situations, including the shapes of flow patterns, the ease of heat transfer, and the onset of turbulence. This comprises the central scientific justification for the use of models in wind tunnels to simulate real-life phenomena.
The Wright brothers' use of a simple wind tunnel in 1901 to study the effects of airflow over various shapes while developing their Wright Flyer was in some ways revolutionary. It can be seen from the above, however, that they were simply using the accepted technology of the day, though this was not yet a common technology in America.
Subsequent use of wind tunnels proliferated as the science of aerodynamics and discipline of aeronautical engineering were established and air travel and power were developed.
Wind tunnels were often limited in the volume and speed of airflow which could be delivered.
The wind tunnel used by German scientists at Peenemünde prior to and during WWII is an interesting example of the difficulties associated with extending the useful range of large wind tunnels. It used some large natural caves which were increased in size by excavation and then sealed to store large volumes of air which could then be routed through the wind tunnels. This innovative approach allowed lab research in high speed regimes and greatly accelerated the rate of advance of Germany's aeronautical engineering efforts.
Later research into airflows near or above the speed of sound used a related approach. Metal pressure chambers were used to store high pressure air which was then accelerated through a nozzle designed to provide supersonic flow. The observation or instrumentation chamber was then placed at the proper location in the throat or nozzle for the desired airspeed.
For limited applications, Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can augment or possibly replace the use of wind tunnels. For example, the experimental rocket plane SpaceShipOne was designed without any use of wind tunnels. However, on one test, flight threads were attached to the surface of the wings, performing a wind tunnel type of test during an actual flight in order to refine the computational model. It should be noted that, for situations where external turbulent flow is present, CFD is not practical due to limitations in present day computing resources. For example, an area that is still much too complex for the use of CFD is determining the effects of flow on and around structures, bridges, terrain, etc.
The most effective way to simulative external turbulent flow is through the use of a boundary layer wind tunnel.
There are many applications for boundary layer wind tunnel modeling. For example, understanding the impact of wind on high-rise buildings, factories, bridges, etc. can help building designers construct a structure that stands up to wind effects in the most efficient manner possible. Another significant application for boundary layer wind tunnel modeling is for understanding exhaust gas dispersion patterns for hospitals, laboratories, and other emitting sources. Other examples of boundary layer wind tunnel applications are assessments of pedestrian comfort and snow drifting. Wind tunnel modeling is accepted as a method for aiding in Green building design. For instance, the use of boundary layer wind tunnel modeling can be used as a credit for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.
Wind tunnel tests in a boundary layer wind tunnel allow for the natural drag of the earth's surface to be simulated. For accuracy, it is important to simulate the mean wind speed profile and turbulence effects within the atmospheric boundary layer. Most codes and standards recognize that wind tunnel testing can produce reliable information for designers, especially when their projects are in complex terrain or on exposed sites.
Air is blown or sucked through a duct equipped with a viewing port and instrumentation where models or geometrical shapes are mounted for study. Typically the air is moved through the tunnel using a series of fans. For very large wind tunnels several meters in diameter, a single large fan is not practical, and so instead an array of multiple fans are used in parallel to provide sufficient airflow. Due to the sheer volume and speed of air movement required, the fans may be powered by stationary turbofan engines rather than electric motors.
The airflow created by the fans that is entering the tunnel is itself highly turbulent due to the fan blade motion, and so is not directly useful for accurate measurements. The air moving through the tunnel needs to be relatively turbulence-free and laminar. To correct this problem, a series of closely-spaced vertical and horizontal air vanes are used to smooth out the turbulent airflow before reaching the subject of the testing.
Due to the effects of viscosity, the cross-section of a wind tunnel is typically circular rather than square, because there will be greater flow constriction in the corners of a square tunnel that can make the flow turbulent. A circular tunnel provides a much smoother flow.
The inside facing of the tunnel is typically very smooth to reduce surface drag and turbulence that could impact the accuracy of the testing. Even smooth walls induce some drag into the airflow, and so the object being tested is usually kept near the center of the tunnel, with an empty buffer zone between the object and the tunnel walls.
Lighting is usually recessed into the circular walls of the tunnel and shines in through windows. If the light were mounted on the inside surface of the tunnel in a conventional manner, the light bulb would generate turbulence as the air blows around it. Simarly, observation is usually done through transparent portholes into the tunnel. Rather than simply being flat discs, these lighting and observation windows may be curved to match the cross-section of the tunnel and further reduce turbulence around the window.
Various techniques are used to study the actual airflow around the geometry and compare it with theoretical results, which must also take into account the Reynolds number and Mach number for the regime of operation.
With the model mounted on a force balance, one can measure lift, drag, lateral forces, yaw, roll, and pitching moments over a range of angle of attack. This allows one to produce common curves such as lift coefficient versus angle of attack (shown).
Note that the force balance itself creates drag and potential turbulence that will affect the model and introduce errors into the measurements. The supporting structures are therefore typically smoothly shaped to minimize turbulence.
If the air movement in the tunnel is sufficiently non-turbulent, a particle stream released into the airflow will not break up as the air moves along, but stays together as a sharp thin line. Multiple particle streams released from a grid of many nozzles can provide a dynamic three-dimensional shape of the airflow around the object being tested. As with the force balance, these injection pipes and nozzles need to be shaped in a manner that minimizes the introduction of turbulent airflow into the airstream.
High-speed turbulence and vortices can be difficult to see directly, but strobe lights and film cameras or high-speed digital cameras can help to capture events that are a blur to the naked eye.
High-speed cameras are also required when the subject of the test is itself moving at high speed, such as an airplane propeller. The camera can capture stop-motion images of how the blade cuts through the particulate streams and how vortices are generated along the trailing edges of the moving blade.
The aerodynamic principles of the wind tunnel work equally on watercraft, except the water is more viscous and so imposes a greater forces on the object being tested. A looping flume is typically used for underwater aquadynamic testing. The interaction between 2 different types of fluids means that pure windtunnel testing is only partly relevant. However, a similar sort of research is done in a towing tank
Air is not always the best test medium to study small-scale aerodynamic principles, due to the speed of the air flow and airfoil movement. A study of fruit fly wings designed to understand how the wings produce lift was performed using a large tank of mineral oil and wings 100 times larger than actual size, in order to slow down the wing beats and make the vortices generated by the insect wings easier to see and understand. Popular Science, Dec 2002
Wind Tunnel Testing are done for measuring the pressure at certain points of structures and thus to design the structures are done. Usually very tall buildings or a building with a usual or complicated shape (like a parabolic or hyperbolic shape tall building) or cable suspension bridges or cable stayed bridges, wind tunnel testing provides the necessary design pressures for using in the dynamic analysis of the structure. | <urn:uuid:f436569a-eb2b-4076-b319-6a236587417f> | {
"date": "2014-04-16T17:33:39",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-15",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609524259.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005204-00355-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 4,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9490817785263062,
"score": 3.515625,
"token_count": 2074,
"url": "http://www.reference.com/browse/simulative"
} |
We have looked at both Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns and learned that we place them either directly before a conjugated verb or attach them to an infinitive, a present participle or a command. But what happens when we have both direct and indirect object pronouns in one sentence? Who goes where?
Let's take a look at an example:
Yo te doy el dinero a ti.
First, we'll identify the different components of this sentence:
Te, a Ti (informal you)
|our conjugated verb
it's what I'm giving. "The money" is receiving the direct action of the verb.
"YOU" are receiving the money! (indirect benefit of my action/verb)
Now, we replace the Direct Object el dinero with the pronoun lo because dinero is masculine and singular. And we already have the Indirect Object Pronoun te.Both object pronouns must come before the active/conjugated verb. But which comes first?
The Indirect object pronoun will ALWAYS come first.
An easy way to remember this is to think of I.D. (Indirect Object, Direct Object). So, our entire sentence above can be converted into this three-word sentence using both an Indirect and a Direct object pronoun:
- Te lo doy.
- IO DO VERB
Let's look at another example:
El policía nos lleva las direcciones a nosotros.
First, we'll identify the different components of the sentence:
|El policía||lleva||las direcciones||nos, a nosostros|
|The subject||the verb||the direct object. We use the pronoun las.||
the indirect object.
The pronoun nos is already in the sentence
If we follow the ID rule, our final sentence is:
El policía nos las lleva.
SUBJECT IO DO VERB.
So far pretty easy!
But (of course!) we have a small exception. Let's look at this sentence:
Juan le escribe una carta a María.
When we examine the elements, we have:
le, a María
We replace the DO with la since una carta is singular and feminine
The singular 3rd pronoun, le, is already there
So our sentence is:
*Juan le la escribe.
Right? I guess you know from the red color & the asterisk that this isn't what happens.
Unfortunately, we cannot leave this sentence as it is. We cannot have two "L" object pronouns together. So our original sentence,
"*Juan le la escribe" must change to----> "Juan se la escribe."
Here is one way to remember the exception:
- 1) Only Eric Clapton sings Layla (le la) or Laylas (le las).
- 2) Only criminals Lay low (le lo).
- 3) Spanish speakers "Say" la/las and "Say" lo/los (se la, se las, se lo, se los)
Let's try another example:
Yo le pido los discos a mi hermano --> Yo se los pido.
-------------------------------------------------le-->se los (IO DO)
We have the option of retaining or removing the Indirect Object "tag" :
- Yo se los pido a mi hermano.
- Yo se los pido. | <urn:uuid:a105082c-40d7-4cb7-9871-726386a8be72> | {
"date": "2014-10-24T17:59:31",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-42",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1414119646352.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20141024030046-00302-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 4,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.7365617156028748,
"score": 3.984375,
"token_count": 736,
"url": "http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar/doubleobject.html"
} |
Sarcasm See irony.
Satire The literary art of ridiculing a folly or vice in order to expose or correct it. The object of satire is usually some human frailty; people, institutions, ideas, and things are all fair game for satirists. Satire evokes attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation toward its faulty subject in the hope of somehow improving it. See also irony, parody.
Scansion The process of measuring the stresses in a line of verse in order to determine the metrical pattern of the line. See also line, meter.
Scene In drama, a scene is a subdivision of an act. In modern plays, scenes usually consist of units of action in which there are no changes in the setting or breaks in the continuity of time. According to traditional conventions, a scene changes when the location of the action shifts or when a new character enters. See also act, convention, drama.
Script The written text of a play, which includes the dialogue between characters, stage directions, and often other expository information. See also drama, exposition, prologue, stage directions.
Sentimentality A pejorative term used to describe the effort by an author to induce emotional responses in the reader that exceed what the situation warrants. Sentimentality especially pertains to such emotions as pathos and sympathy; it cons readers into falling for the mass murderer who is devoted to stray cats, and it requires that readers do not examine such illogical responses. Clichés and stock responses are the key ingredients of sentimentality in literature. See also cliché, stock responses.
Sestet A stanza consisting of exactly six lines. See also stanza.
Sestina A type of fixed form poetry consisting of thirty-six lines of any length divided into six sestets and a three-line concluding stanza called an envoy. The six words at the end of the first sestet's lines must also appear at the ends of the other five sestets, in varying order. These six words must also appear in the envoy, where they often resonate important themes. An example of this highly demanding form of poetry is Elizabeth Bishop's "Sestina." See also sestet.
Setting The physical and social context in which the action of a story occurs. The major elements of setting are the time, the place, and the social environment that frames the characters. Setting can be used to evoke a mood or atmosphere that will prepare the reader for what is to come, as in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown." Sometimes, writers choose a particular setting because of traditional associations with that setting that are closely related to the action of a story. For example, stories filled with adventure or romance often take place in exotic locales. For discussions of setting and an exercise, go to the VirtuaLit Interactive Fiction Tutorial.
Shakespearean sonnet See sonnet.
Showing See character.
Simile A common figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two things by using words such as like, as, than, appears, and seems: "A sip of Mrs. Cook's coffee is like a punch in the stomach." The effectiveness of this simile is created by the differences between the two things compared. There would be no simile if the comparison were stated this way: "Mrs. Cook's coffee is as strong as the cafeteria's coffee." This is a literal translation because Mrs. Cook's coffee is compared with something like it: another kind of coffee. See also figures of speech, metaphor. For discussions of simile and an exercise, go to the VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial.
Situational irony See irony.
Slant rhyme See rhyme.
Sociological criticism An approach to literature that examines social groups, relationships, and values as they are manifested in literature. Sociological approaches emphasize the nature and effect of the social forces that shape power relationships between groups or classes of people. Such readings treat literature as either a document reflecting social conditions or a product of those conditions. The former view brings into focus the social milieu; the latter emphasizes the work. Two important forms of sociological criticism are Marxist and feminist approaches. See also feminist criticism, Marxist criticism.
Soliloquy A dramatic convention by means of which a character, alone onstage, utters his or her thoughts aloud. Playwrights use soliloquies as a convenient way to inform the audience about a character's motivations and state of mind. Shakespeare's Hamlet delivers perhaps the best known of all soliloquies, which begins: "To be or not to be." See also aside, convention.
Sonnet A fixed form of lyric poetry that consists of fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter. There are two basic types of sonnets, the Italian and the English. The Italian sonnet, also known as the Petrarchan sonnet, is divided into an octave, which typically rhymes abbaabba, and a sestet, which may have varying rhyme schemes. Common rhyme patterns in the sestet are cdecde, cdcdcd, and cdccdc. Very often the octave presents a situation, attitude, or problem that the sestet comments upon or resolves, as in John Keats' "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer." The English sonnet, also known as the Shakespearean sonnet, is organized into three quatrains and a couplet, which typically rhyme abab cdcd efef gg. This rhyme scheme is more suited to English poetry because English has fewer rhyming words than Italian. English sonnets, because of their four-part organization, also have more flexibility with respect to where thematic breaks can occur. Frequently, however, the most pronounced break or turn comes with the concluding couplet, as in Shakespeare's "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" See also couplet, iambic pentameter, line, octave, quatrain, sestet.
Speaker The voice used by an author to tell a story or speak a poem. The speaker is often a created identity, and should not automatically be equated with the author's self. See also narrator, persona, point of view.
Spondee See foot.
Stage directions A playwright's written instructions about how the actors are to move and behave in a play. They explain in which direction characters should move, what facial expressions they should assume, and so on. See also drama, script.
Stanza In poetry, stanza refers to a grouping of lines, set off by a space, that usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme. See also line, meter, rhyme.
Static character See character.
Stock character See character.
Stock responses Predictable, conventional reactions to language, characters, symbols, or situations. The flag, motherhood, puppies, God, and peace are common objects used to elicit stock responses from unsophisticated audiences. See also cliché, sentimentality.
Stream-of-consciousness technique The most intense use of a central consciousness in narration. The stream-of-consciousness technique takes a reader inside a character's mind to reveal perceptions, thoughts, and feelings on a conscious or unconscious level. This technique suggests the flow of thought as well as its content; hence, complete sentences may give way to fragments as the character's mind makes rapid associations free of conventional logic or transitions. James Joyce's novel Ulysses makes extensive use of this narrative technique. See also narrator, point of view.
Stress The emphasis, or accent, given a syllable in pronunciation. See also accent.
Style The distinctive and unique manner in which a writer arranges words to achieve particular effects. Style essentially combines the idea to be expressed with the individuality of the author. These arrangements include individual word choices as well as matters such as the length of sentences, their structure, tone, and use of irony. See also diction, irony, tone. For discussions of style and an exercise, go to the VirtuaLit Interactive Fiction Tutorial.
Subplot The secondary action of a story, complete and interesting in its own right, that reinforces or contrasts with the main plot. There may be more than one subplot, and sometimes as many as three, four, or even more, running through a piece of fiction. Subplots are generally either analogous to the main plot, thereby enhancing our understanding of it, or extraneous to the main plot, to provide relief from it. See also plot.
Suspense The anxious anticipation of a reader or an audience as to the outcome of a story, especially concerning the character or characters with whom sympathetic attachments are formed. Suspense helps to secure and sustain the interest of the reader or audience throughout a work.
Symbol A person, object, image, word, or event that evokes a range of additional meaning beyond and usually more abstract than its literal significance. Symbols are educational devices for evoking complex ideas without having to resort to painstaking explanations that would make a story more like an essay than an experience. Conventional symbols have meanings that are widely recognized by a society or culture. Some conventional symbols are the Christian cross, the Star of David, a swastika, or a nation's flag. Writers use conventional symbols to reinforce meanings. Kate Chopin, for example, emphasizes the spring setting in "The Story of an Hour" as a way of suggesting the renewed sense of life that Mrs. Mallard feels when she thinks herself free from her husband. A literary or contextual symbol can be a setting, character, action, object, name, or anything else in a work that maintains its literal significance while suggesting other meanings. Such symbols go beyond conventional symbols; they gain their symbolic meaning within the context of a specific story. For example, the white whale in Melville's Moby-Dick takes on multiple symbolic meanings in the work, but these meanings do not automatically carry over into other stories about whales. The meanings suggested by Melville's whale are specific to that text; therefore, it becomes a contextual symbol. See also allegory. For discussions of symbol and an exercise, go to the VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial and the VirtuaLit Interactive Fiction Tutorial.
Synecdoche See metaphor.
Syntax The ordering of words into meaningful verbal patterns such as phrases, clauses, and sentences. Poets often manipulate syntax, changing conventional word order, to place certain emphasis on particular words. Emily Dickinson, for instance, writes about being surprised by a snake in her poem "A narrow Fellow in the Grass," and includes this line: "His notice sudden is." In addition to the alliterative hissing s-sounds here, Dickinson also effectively manipulates the line's syntax so that the verb is appears unexpectedly at the end, making the snake's hissing presence all the more sudden.
Top of Page | <urn:uuid:37130b45-c63d-45fd-a1f6-3afff8dbf90f> | {
"date": "2014-12-22T07:43:26",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-52",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802774899.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075254-00155-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 4,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.945743203163147,
"score": 3.71875,
"token_count": 2251,
"url": "http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/litgloss/LitGlosscode/litgloss_s.html"
} |
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain (Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, later Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l'État Français), from 1940 to 1944. Pétain, who was 84 in 1940, ranks as France's oldest Head of state ever.
Due to his outstanding military leadership in World War I, particularly during the Battle of Verdun, he was viewed as a hero in France. However, during the 1920s and 1930s, while remaining the highest ranking military authority, he neglected to modernize French military capability with the sole exception of the Maginot Line which later proved to be useless. After the French defeat in June 1940, Petain was legally voted in as Head of State (Chef de l'Etat ) by the French Parliament. However, Petain surrendered France to Germany and, along with his cabinet, including later on Pierre Laval, illegally transformed the French State into a dictatorship headed from the town of Vichy in central France. As the war progressed, the Vichy Government sank deeper into collaboration with the German occupant which finally took control of the totality of metropolitan France. Petain's actions during World War II resulted in a conviction and death sentence for treason, which was commuted to life imprisonment by Charles de Gaulle. In modern France, he is generally considered a traitor, and pétainisme is a derogatory term for certain reactionary policies. Due to his treason conviction, historians refer to him by his name Philippe Pétain, while for example, a resistance leader Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, who was promoted posthumously, is now referred to as Maréchal Leclerc.
Pétain distinguished himself in World War I, and was hailed as a French hero and the "Saviour of Verdun".
At the end of August 1914 he was quickly promoted to Brigadier-General and given command of the 6th Division in time for the First Battle of the Marne; little over a month later, in October 1914, he was promoted again and became XXXIII Corps commander. After leading his corps in the Spring 1915 Artois Offensive, in July 1915 he was given command of the Second Army, which he led in the Champagne Offensive that autumn. He acquired a reputation as one of the more successful commanders on the Western Front.
Pétain commanded the Second Army at the start of the Battle of Verdun in February 1916. During the battle he was promoted to Commander of Army Group Centre, which contained a total of 52 divisions. Rather than holding down the same infantry divisions on the Verdun battlefield for months, akin to the German system, he rotated them out after only two weeks on the front lines. His decision to organize truck transport over the "Voie Sacrée" to bring a continuous stream of artillery, ammunition and fresh troops into besieged Verdun also played a key role in grinding down the German onslaught to a final halt in July 1916. In effect he had applied the basic principle that was a mainstay of his teachings at the "École de Guerre" (War College) before WW-1 : " le feu tue ! " or "firepower kills !" which in this case was French field artillery which delivered well over 15 million shells on the German assailants during the first five months of the battle. Although Pétain did say "On les aura!" (roughly: We'll get them!), the other famous quotation "Ils ne passeront pas!" (They shall not pass!) often attributed to him, is actually from Robert Nivelle, who had succeeded him in command of the Second Army at Verdun, and who at the very end of 1916 was promoted over him to replace Joseph Joffre as French Commander-in-Chief.
Due to high prestige as a soldier's soldier, Pétain served briefly as Army Chief of Staff (from the end of April 1917) then replaced Nivelle in 1917 as Commander-in-Chief of the French army, after the failed Nivelle Offensive and the subsequent mutiny in the French army. Pétain crushed the mutiny by selective punishment of ringleaders, but also by improving soldiers' conditions (eg. better food and shelter, and more leave), and promising that men's lives would not be squandered in fruitless offensives. Pétain conducted some successful limited offensives in the latter part of 1917, but (unlike the British, who conducted a major offensive at Passchendaele that autumn) he held off from major offensives until the Americans arrived in force on the front lines , which would not happen until the early summer of 1918. He was also waiting for the new Renault FT17 tanks to be introduced in large numbers, hence his statement at the time : " I am waiting for the tanks and the Americans".
The year 1918 saw major German offensives on the Western Front. The first of these, "Michael" in March 1918, threatened to split the British and French forces apart, and, after Pétain had threatened to retreat on Paris, led to the appointment of Ferdinand Foch as Allied Generalissimo, initially with powers to co-ordinate and deploy Allied reserves where he saw fit. The third offensive, "Blucher" in May 1918, saw major German advances on the Aisne, as the French Army Commander had ignored Pétain's instructions to defend in depth, and had instead allowed his men to be hit by the initial massive German bombardment. Later in the year Pétain was stripped of his right of appeal to the French Government, and told to take his orders from Foch, who increasingly assumed direction of the Allied offensives. Pétain was made Marshal of France in November 1918.
Unlucky in love early in life, Pétain was a bachelor until his sixties, and famous for his womanising - women were said to find his piercing blue eyes especially attractive. At the opening of the Battle of Verdun he is said to have been fetched from Paris by a staff officer who knew which mistress he could be found with. After the war Pétain married an old lover, Madame Hardon, then widowed; although the couple were too old to have children, they remained married until the end of Pétain's life.
Pétain emerged from the war as a national hero. He was encouraged to go into politics although he protested that he had little interest in running for an elected position. He continued to play a military role, commanding French troops during their alliance with the Spanish in the Rif War after 1925. Pétain is also on record as a strong supporter of the Maginot Line which proved to be exceedingly costly while being geographically limited thus a strategically ineffective border fortification system. Pétain had based his strong support for the Maginot Line on his own experience of the role played by the forts at Verdun in 1916. Although he supported the massive use of tanks he saw them mostly as infantry support, leading to the fragmentation of the French tank force into many types of unequal value spread out between Cavalry and Infantry. Modern infantry rifles and machine guns were not manufactured on Pétain's watch, with the exception of a light machine-rifle in 1929. A modern infantry rifle prototype only came out in 1936 but very few had been issued to the troops by 1940. Thus French infantry had to face the enemy in 1940 with the old weaponry of 1918. Petain was made Minister of War in 1938, thus overseeing French military aviation and the Navy as well. Yet French aviation entered the War in 1939 without even the prototype of a bomber airplane capable of reaching Berlin. French industrial efforts in fighter aircrafts were dispersed among several firms, each with its own model. On the naval front France had purposely overlooked building aircraft carriers and focused instead on four new conventional battleships which later proved to be useless to the war effort. Captain Charles de Gaulle continued to be a protégé of Pétain throughout these years, naming his eldest son after him before finally falling out over the authorship of a book which the younger man had ghost-written for Pétain; in later years, in a reference to the Rif War, de Gaulle was sometimes known to observe "Marshal Pétain was a great man; he died in 1925". Pétain finally retired as Inspector-General of the Army, aged seventy-five, in 1931.
He expressed interest in being named Minister of Education, a role in which he hoped to combat what he saw as the decay in French moral values. In 1934 he was appointed to the French cabinet as Minister of War. The following year, he was promoted to Secretary of State. During this period, he repeatedly called for a lengthening of the term of compulsory military service for draftees entering the military service, from two to three years. Pétain served as French ambassador to Spain following the Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War, arriving in March 1939.
Until the summer of 1940, Pétain was held in high regard by statesmen both at home and abroad. French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud brought Pétain (along with General Maxime Weygand and the newly-promoted Brigadier-General de Gaulle, whose 4th Armoured Division had launched one of the few French counterattacks in May 1940) into his War Cabinet, hoping that the trio, and especially Pétain, would instill a renewed spirit of resistance and patriotism in the French army. The social and political divisions in France were too great, however, and in Pétain, Reynaud did not recognise a man who despised the corruption, inefficiency and political fragmentation of the French Third Republic.
Maxime Weygand was unable to stem the German advance during the second stage of the Battle of France. When defeat for metropolitan France became certain, the Cabinet debated their continuing the war in North Africa, to fight on from the colonial territory alongside the British. Pétain's refusal to leave the country at this juncture created an impasse that divided the Cabinet and which was only broken by Reynaud's resignation and President Albert Lebrun's invitation to Pétain to form a government. Lebrun soon became sidelined, leading to the appointment of the old Marshal as head of state with extraordinary powers. The constitutionality of these actions was later challenged by de Gaulle's government, but at the time Pétain was widely accepted as France's saviour.
On 22 June he signed an armistice with Germany that gave Nazi Germany control over the north and west of the country, including Paris and all of the Atlantic coastline, but left the rest, around two-fifths of France's prewar territory, unoccupied, with its administrative centre in the resort town of Vichy. (Paris remained the de jure capital.)
The Chamber of Deputies and Senate, meeting together as a "Congrès", had an emergency meeting on 10 July to ratify the armistice. At the same time, it voted 569-80 (with 18 abstentions) to grant Pétain the authority to draw up a new constitution, effectively voting the Third Republic out of existence. On the next day, Pétain formally assumed near-absolute powers as "Head of State".
Pétain was reactionary by temperament and education, and quickly began blaming the Third Republic and its liberal democracy for the French defeat. In its place, he set up a more authoritarian regime. The republican motto of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" was swept aside and replaced with "Travail, famille, patrie" (Work, family, fatherland). Conservative factions within his government used the opportunity to launch an ambitious program known as the "National Revolution" in which much of the former Third Republic's secular and liberal traditions were rejected in favor of the promotion of an authoritarian and paternalist Catholic society.
Pétain immediately used his new powers to order harsh measures, including the dismissal of republican civil servants, the installation of exceptional jurisdictions, the proclamation of anti-Semitic laws, and the imprisonment of his opponents and foreign refugees. He organized a "Légion Française des Combattants", in which he included "Friends of the Legion" and "Cadets of the Legion", groups of those who had never fought but who were politically attached to his regime. Pétain championed a rural, Catholic France that spurned internationalism. As a retired Generalissimo, he ran the country on military lines, which might have been better received had he not already surrendered to Hitler and become, especially after 1942, his puppet.
Neither Pétain nor his successive Deputies, Pierre Laval, Pierre-Etienne Flandin or Admiral François Darlan, gave significant resistance to requests by the Germans to indirectly aid the Axis Powers. Yet, when Hitler met Pétain at Montoire in October 1940 to discuss Vichy's role in the new European Order, the Marshal "listened to Hitler in silence. Not once did he offer a sympathetic word for Germany". However, Vichy France remained neutral as a state, albeit opposed to the Free French. After the British attack on Mers el Kébir and Dakar, Pétain took the initiative to collaborate with the occupiers. Pétain accepted the creation of a collaborationist armed militia "Milice" under the command of SS-Major Joseph Darnand, who, along with German forces, led a campaign of repression against the French resistance ("Maquis"). Pétain admitted Darnand into his government as Secretary of the Maintenance of Public Order (Secrétaire d'Etat au Maintien de l'Ordre). In August 1944, Pétain made an attempt to distance himself from the crimes of the Milice by writing Darnand a letter of reprimand for the organization's "excesses." The latter wrote a sarcastic reply, telling Pétain that he should have "thought of this before" he turned the Milice loose on the French population.
Pétain provided the Axis forces with large supplies of manufactured goods and foodstuffs, and also ordered Vichy troops in France's colonial empire to fight against Allied forces everywhere (in Dakar, Syria, Madagascar, Oran and Morocco), in line with his commitments in the 1940 armistice. He also received German forces without any resistance (in Syria, Tunisia and Southern France), the latter due to Laval's urging.
On 11 November 1942, Germany invaded the unoccupied zone in response to the Allied Operation Torch landings in North Africa and Vichy Admiral François Darlan's agreeing to support the Allies. Although Vichy France nominally remained in existence, Pétain became nothing more than a figurehead, as the Nazis abandoned the pretence of an "independent" Vichy government, although he remained popular with the French public, and was cheered by the crowd when he attended Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris at Easter 1944. On 7 September 1944, he and other members of the Vichy cabinet were forcibly moved to Sigmaringen in Germany and soon after he resigned as leader. | <urn:uuid:230c9b7c-d695-4d8a-b25a-0bfd7d041761> | {
"date": "2014-03-12T15:32:12",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-10",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394021900438/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305121820-00006-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9808862209320068,
"score": 2.84375,
"token_count": 3182,
"url": "http://www.reference.com/browse/house+cur-tain"
} |
If you started to compost your waste in your garden, then you are already part of the recycling club. In this article you will learn that you can grow more plants from their residues.
The following 7 plants are the most popular that you can re-grow by their residues.
Both kinds the white and the sweet potatoes can be grown. Grab some sprouted potatoes and keep them on a room temperature easily dehydrated. If you sprouted potato is larger than you can cut it on 2-3 parts in order to enable every part to sprout.
Use a shallow container for planting them, or you can plant them outside in your garden. Once the roots are grown, you can put another layer of soil. The sweet potatoes are requiring to be planted deeper in the soil.
Grab a sprouted onion and plant it in the soil about 1 cm deep. Put it in a sunny area. Water it if needed. Make sure you are not watering it too much because the root will decay. You will notice new shots emerging fast. Once it starts to form cocksfoot the watering should be decreased.
The garlic found in the markets comes from Chine and is exposed to many chemicals. If you want natural and organic garlic you can grown it yourself.
It is safer for you and will save your money.
You can plant your garlic anytime you want, but the best time will be autumn. You can place a nylon or straw cover in order to maintain the moisture of the soil.
The garlic can make easier the growth of many plants, including tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries, raspberries, roses and beets. You shouldn’t plant it near beans or peas.
When it comes to planting you should make whole using your finger around 5 cm deep. Place the clove with the root faced down. Very soon you will have new shoots emerged.
Place the lettuce in container with water, together with its root. Change the water every single day and sprinkle the leaves from time to time. The lettuce requires a sunny area. You will be amazed when you will see that within 2 days you will have new leaves.
Cut out the top and take off everything rest of the fruit. You should leave around 2.5 cm from the leaves around the base. Put it in a warm area with proper and often watering, or you can simply place it in a glass or jar with water.
Once your plant is undertakes you can irrigate it once in a week. You need to be patient with your pineapple and you will have results in 2-3 years.
Like you did with the lettuce, cut the celery around 2-3 cm above its root and place it in a container with water. Expose it on a sun light and you will have new leaves shooting out. Sprinkle it with water in the next 1-2 weeks.
Together with the root, put the cabbage in a bowl filled with water. Make sure the leaves are not touching the water because they will decay. You should change the water every day and sprinkle the cabbage with water 1-2 times weekly. Find a sunny area and keep your cabbage there. | <urn:uuid:bbe80d77-b9ad-4da1-ba0e-cb3e8fdc37e0> | {
"date": "2018-01-21T20:25:07",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-05",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084890874.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20180121195145-20180121215145-00456.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9473150968551636,
"score": 2.765625,
"token_count": 642,
"url": "https://www.healthyfoodteam.com/7-vegetables-and-fruits-you-can-grow-indoors-from-scraps/"
} |
Orientalists have expressed various opinions concerning the origins of Sufism. Some authors argue that it was influenced by Greek philosophy. To support this hypothesis Professor R.A. Nicholson of Cambridge cited similarities between the works of Sufis and Greek philosophers. Other authors have asserted that Sufism derives from Vedanta or Buddhism. In our view, all these theories are mistaken. While some of the movements’ principles are similar, similarities do not prove that one movement comes from another.
Professor Louis Massignon, a leading French scholar of Islamic mysticism, concluded after extensive study that Sufism originated in the Holy Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (saws). It was not transplanted from outside, but rather originated in Islam.
The Indian scholar Shah Waliullah (r.a.) (d. 1762) observed that the methods adopted by various orders conformed to the natural inclinations of people in the areas where these orders arose. Shaykhs may have drawn on certain aspects of other religions or systems, particularly when customs had become so deeply rooted as to unassailable. But we should avoid reading too much into superficial similarities. A Sufi aspirant sitting in meditation looks much like a yogi sitting in meditation, but the two differ significantly in their methods and purposes.
On another level, the question of which mysticism derives from what sources is academic. The mystic impulse exists within each human soul. Certain principles have found expression in every country, every language, every religion – not because societies borrow from one another, but because God created us with an inborn yearning to know the Divine. It is human nature to turn towards spiritual improvement and training.
If concepts and practices found in Sufism are found also in Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other traditions, it does not mean they are un-Islamic, any more than they are un-Christian, un-Judaic, un-Hindu or un-Buddhist. They are legitimately claimed by all faiths, for they reflect the human condition. Those who miss this point – who insist on establishing external sources for Sufism or other spiritual traditions – miss both the uniqueness of each monument of human discovery, and the unity that underlies all creation. | <urn:uuid:cde80011-8c7f-40c5-9a3c-4dac832b9e34> | {
"date": "2014-11-23T10:34:15",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-49",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416400379462.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20141119123259-00044-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9544180631637573,
"score": 3.3125,
"token_count": 470,
"url": "http://www.sufischool.org/sufism/origins.html"
} |
The use of gene therapy for heart failure is currently being investigated. Heart failure is a major public concern which affects an estimated 1% of the Western world, including over 5 million Americans with over half a million new cases each year. The current medical treatment of heart failure includes proven beneficial medicine such as beta-blockers, Ace inhibitors, angiotensin 2 receptor blockers alone or combined with Neprilisyn inhibitors (Entresto), Ivrabadine (Corlenor) and diuretics. However, even after following all these guideline proven therapies, some patients still run out of options and continue to have severe and debilitating heart failure.
Gene therapy for heart failure
Gene therapy provides a novel strategy for targeting abnormalities in the heart cells that adversely affect the heart function. Over the last few years, novel molecular mechanisms associated with heart failure have been discovered creating new targets for therapeutic interventions. Some of these cannot be affected by medicine but could be ideal for a gene therapy approach. Heart failure is a chronic, progressive disease and to be effective, gene therapy must target as much heart muscle as possible and the therapy needs to be sustained over a long period of time.
Gene therapy for heart failure: how does gene therapy work?
Gene therapy introduces a genetic material (DNA) into the cells to make a beneficial protein. In heart disease, gene therapy may be able to place a normal copy of the gene into the human cell to change how the cell works with the end goal of correcting the disease. To insert the gene into a cell, gene therapy uses a vector or carrier to introduce the gene into the human cell.
Non viral vectors are relatively easy to produce and consist of plasmid (DNA that can reproduce). The vector lets the gene take a piggyback ride on it to reach the diseased cells. Once there, it is absorbed into the cells to help stimulate the body to make more beneficial protein. They are delivered by direct administration, as in this example of the patient treated in the STOP-HF JUVENTAS trial.
In this case, stroma cell-derived Factor-1 (SDF-1) was injected at multiple sites inside the left ventricle. By avoiding exposure to blood it prevents some weakening of the vector and does not affect other organs as much. Viral vectors or carriers have become the preferred method of delivery of gene therapy because of their high efficiency and capability. The adeno-associated virus (AAV) has emerged as the preferred factor because it is safe and can have a long term effect. This AAV virus is not known to cause disease in humans. Delivery of genetic material through the circulation can be accomplished either by direct injection through the coronaries as shown in the following images.
It can also be injected through bypass graft to the coronaries or a retrograde infusion through the coronary sinus into the venous system of the heart as demonstrated in the next image.
This is an example of a patient enrolled in the RETRO-HF JUVENTAS trial where a gene plasmid agent (liquid containing pieces of genetic material (DNA)) was infused through the coronary sinus. Administration of these vectors could also be done intravenously but it’s application is limited because of poor cardiac specificity of the current vectors. The dilution into the systemic blood and the uptake by the liver, lung and spleen before it gets to the heart is an important limitation.
Gene therapy for heart failure to enhance cardiac muscle contraction:
Gene therapy targeting the beta adrenergic system.
The adrenergic receptors are targets of catecholamines (Norepinephrine, Epinephrine) produced by the body and many medications like beta-blockers that are used to treat hypertension and heart failure. Heart failure leads to down regulation of these receptors. Several gene based experiments showed that genetic modification of the myocardial beta-adrenergic system can increase heart function.
Adenyllyl-cyclase type-6 (AC6), dominant in the heart muscle cell, is a protein on the heart cell membrane that increases the energy to the heart and improves pump function. AC6 is reduced in heart failure. We can increase this pharmacologically (Dobutamine or Milrinone) and improve heart function, but at the expense of increased mortality in some heart failure patients. Increase in expression of AC6 can restore LV function, improve the way the heart cell works and reduce arrhythmia in experimental models of cardiomyopathy. A recent clinical trial demonstrated that intracoronary infusion of AC6 in patients with heart failure improved ejection fraction at 4 weeks, but not at 12 weeks. There were no increase in arrhythmia and the admission rate for heart failure was reduced compared to placebo.
In the very near future, our group at CardiologyPC plan to enroll patients in a phase 3, multi-center, double-blind, placebo controlled study of AC6. We will test the hypothesis that single intracoronary infusion in patients with advanced heart failure can reduce hospital admissions and reduce cardiovascular and all causes of death.
Gene therapy targeting calcium regulating protein:
Heart failure is characterized by multiple defects in handling the calcium involved in excitation and contraction of the heart cells. Abnormal adjustment of calcium inside the cell can be attributed in part to decreased activity of an enzyme called SERCA2a. In heart failure, there are lower levels of this enzyme in heart muscle cells which makes the heart not contract as much as it should. . Increasing the enzyme in the heart muscle cells of animals with heart failure improves heart function. Preliminary data showed that intracoronary infusion of (AAV1) adeno-associated virus delivering the gene of this enzyme to the heart improved symptoms, functional status and LV function in patients with advanced heart failure.
CUPID phase 2b trial was a multicenter, double-blind, placebo control, randomized study of AAV1/SERCA2a (attenuated virus and the gene) in patients with advanced heart failure. Patients ages 18-80 with stable class 2-4 heart failure with ischemic or nonischemic cardiomyopathy were enrolled. The following images depict the coronary angiogram of one of our patient at CardiologyPC. He is a 59-year-old patient who underwent bypass surgery 12 years prior and a biV-ICD 3 years prior to enrollment. The patients was hospitalized 5 months before his enrollment in CUPID because of heart failure decompensation.
The trial was neutral and failed to show that the administration of AAV1/SERCA2a reduced recurrent heart failure events or terminal events in patients with moderate to severe heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.
The therapy may have failed because it was not getting enough to the heart muscle cell. A Reengineered viral vector may make it more effective in delivering the new gene to the heart. Not only do you have to get the virus to the heart, but you have to have affected enough cells to make a difference.
Gene therapy for heart failure to enhance stem-cell homing (SDF-1):
Stromal cells are connective tissue cells contained in any organ. The stromal cell derived factor-1 (SDF-1) promotes tissue repair through mechanism of cell survival, recruitment of the body own’s stem cells and formation of new blood vessels. The SDF-1 has emerged as a therapeutic target in patients with coronary disease due to its ability to promote the homing of stem-cell to infarcted or damaged heart muscle (figure below).
The STOP-HF JUVENTAS trial was a phase 2, double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a single treatment of JVS-100 (liquid containing DNA to make a protein SDF-1) delivered via intra myocardial injections to patients with heart failure and coronary disease. Ninety three patients were randomized of which 62 received the medication. The primary endpoint of improved exercise and quality of life was not met at 4 months after treatment. Patients with the most severe reduction in ejection fraction tended to improve slightly more.
Following this, RETRO-HF trial was initiated as a clinical phase 1/2 study to test the safety and efficacy of delivering JVS-100 via retrograde coronary sinus infusion to treat heart failure patients with coronary disease. One of the patients enrolled was a 76-year-old man who suffered a myocardial infarction in 1991. He was participating in a hypertension trial at that time and the research physician always reminded him that if he had any problem with chest pain that he should call 911 and go to the emergency room right away. On New year’s Day 1991 he was carrying a TV to the living room to watch the football game and started experiencing severe crushing chest pain. He went to the emergency room and was found to have an anterior STEMI and was treated with t-PA. He was managed medically and in 2013 he had an episode of heart failure exacerbation and was admitted to the hospital. Cardiac catheterization revealed that the LAD was occluded but perfused through collaterals and the remaining of his coronary arteries showed only mild coronary disease as seen below.
His echocardiography showed an apical aneurysm and an ejection fraction at 40%( below).
In 2014 he was enrolled in the RETRO-HF study and underwent retrograde infusion of JVS-100 via the coronary sinus. The study was neutral and failed to show improvement in exercise capacity or quality of life. Our patient is now 80 yo and is doing well on medical therapy. He is responsible for our writing about the research activity at CardiologyPC and in Myheart.Net. We appreciate the involvement and dedication of our patients to help us improve the medical care and treatment of patients with advanced heart failure.
Comments are purely for informational purposes and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Disclaimer | <urn:uuid:1a673ddf-0e81-4b48-880f-58ea2d3e0eef> | {
"date": "2019-02-19T15:32:05",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-09",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247490225.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20190219142524-20190219164524-00256.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9455806016921997,
"score": 3.453125,
"token_count": 2074,
"url": "https://myheart.net/articles/gene-therapy-for-heart-failure/?replytocom=35961"
} |
At a 3700-year-old Canaanite city called Tel Kabri in northern Israel this summer, archaeologists found something shocking—and delicious. Near an apparent banquet area, they broke through to an ancient storage room. Inside were forty ceramic jars. And inside those were the remnants of herbal, sweetened wine. Which means that the room could be the world’s oldest and largest known wine cellar.
The scientists sampled the jugs’ residues—analytically, that is. They found the remnants conformed to the same recipe, containing compounds that suggest honey, mint, cinnamon bark, juniper berries and resins. These beverages were thus similar to ancient Egyptian wines.
Each jug held 50 liters—about 13 gallons, for a total of more than 500 gallons. Just enough to provide lubrication for palace celebrations of goat meat.
The results were discussed at the annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research. [http://www.asor.org/am/2013/documents/2013%20Academic%20Program.pdf, pages 20–21]
The Tel Kabri site was once a thriving city a few miles from the Mediterranean. Researchers have not found written records, so they know little about who lived there. The site was buried, perhaps by a natural disaster, and abandoned. Survivors left the wine entombed, thus choosing discretion over vino.
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.] | <urn:uuid:711c7598-d6c0-4126-8f84-a23305a70c00> | {
"date": "2014-12-27T00:03:32",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-52",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1419447549908.109/warc/CC-MAIN-20141224185909-00099-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9578961730003357,
"score": 3.421875,
"token_count": 298,
"url": "http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/puckish-wine-cellar-found-after-ser-13-12-13/"
} |
Society's tolerance for violence changed drastically during the Victorian era, according to a linguistic analysis of testimonies given in the Old Bailey, London's oldest criminal court.
The insight comes out of a pioneering new scientific approach to history – based on big data.
The digitised archives of the Old Bailey contain transcripts of 200,000 trials that run to 137 million words. It would take humans decades to go through it all and even then they wouldn't get the perspective of a birds-eye view. Historian Tim Hitchcock at the University of Sussex, UK, and physicist Simon DeDeo at the University of Indiana took a different approach.
Using the mathematics of information theory, they analysed the way courtroom language contained in these archives changed over time. A measure known as the Jensen-Shannon divergence let them give a score to words picked at random from trial transcripts – like "blood" or "knife" – based on how useful the word is for predicting whether a trial is for a violent or non-violent crime.
They found that at the end of the 18th century the language used in trials for violent and non-violent crime was almost identical. Talk of blood or knives was as likely in a trial for a stolen pocket-watch as it was in a trial for murder. "The casual everyday violence of the past is remarkable," says DeDeo.
Over the next 150 years, however, the way crimes were spoken about in court changed. By the early 1900s, courtroom language was a far better indicator of the type of trial underway, with "blood" or "knife" far more likely to appear in a trial for a violent crime. In other words, if violence was involved in a trial – it increasingly defined it. For Hitchcock and DeDeo, this reflects a growing intolerance for brutality in 19th-century London.
Read more: "Crime mining: Hidden history emerges from court data"
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to. | <urn:uuid:e2f269e5-c557-45f4-a729-46b631daa75f> | {
"date": "2014-07-23T21:32:02",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-23",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1405997883466.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20140722025803-00152-ip-10-33-131-23.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9545957446098328,
"score": 2.984375,
"token_count": 447,
"url": "http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25728-old-bailey-data-shows-growing-intolerance-for-violence.html?cmpid=RSS%7CNSNS%7C2012-GLOBAL%7Conline-news"
} |
The first coin-operated phonograph made its debut at the Palais Royale in San Francisco in 1889. The brainchild of Louis Glass and William Arnold, it featured a coin slot that activated an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph. There were no speakers (customers held a tube to their ears) but despite this limitation, the contraption earned its entrepreneurs $1,000 in just six months, one nickel at a time.
The Glass/Arnold/Edison machine was not really a jukebox in the way we know them today, but it did lay the groundwork for the Gabel Automatic Entertainer in 1906, which was. The hand-cranked Entertainer played 10-inch discs instead of wax cylinders, offered customers more than one selection (usually a Souza march), was amplified, and could tell slugs from real coins. Though primitive by today’s standards, the Entertainer was the state of the art for more than two decades.
In 1927, the Automatic Music Instrument Corporation (AMI) introduced the first electronic jukebox. Suddenly every place where people gathered — be it a roadhouse, café, or house of ill repute — had to have its own “automatic phonograph,” as the devices were then called. During Prohibition, no self-respecting speakeasy would be without one.
After Prohibition, sales initially soared, but jukebox manufacturers had created a problem for themselves — their machines were too well built and the technology was not changing rapidly enough to justify their replacement. One company, Wurlitzer, tackled this dilemma by offering healthy trade-in credits to customers. Once an old model was turned in, it was destroyed, creating the scarcity that has made some of these early jukeboxes so valuable.
Seeburg was another early manufacturer, launching its jukebox division in 1935. To differentiate its products from AMI and Wurlitzer, Seeberg hired Nils Miller, who incorporated new, tough, moldable phenolic resins into Seeburg’s Art Deco era designs. Not to be outdone, Wurlitzer also created a string of eye-catching models. In 1939, its round-cornered, wood-and-metal trimmed Model 600 was the most popular jukebox in the country. Translucent Italian onyx was used on the Model 700. And the Model 850, known as the Peacock for the birds that adorned its ornate case, used spinning acetate Polaroid discs to create a mesmerizing mini light show for its listening customers.
Another important player in the pre-war era was David Rockola, who purchased the Gabel patents and started Rock-Ola, the only surviving independent manufacturer today. The Rock-Ola machines of the post-war era (particularly the MAGIC GLO boxes with their wooden grilles, molded plastic pilasters, and gleaming chrome) are some of the handsomest ever made, although fans of the iconic Wurlitzer Model 1015 would probably have something to say about that.
By the 1940s, jukeboxes had become elaborate, almost ceremonial public objects, altars to music, if you will. Outside, their wood, glass, and plastic forms frequently echoed the prevailing aesthetic of late Art Deco and Streamline Moderne. Inside, the machines were color blind to the racial inequities that plagued the public airwaves, playing such artists as Bessie Smith and Muddy Waters (or whomever its owner thought customers would like), who were largely excluded from the radio. Thus, jukeboxes were an important part of our social culture, as well as drop-dead gorgeous machines that made people want to get up and dance...
Key terms for Vintage Jukeboxes
Phenolic resin: The principle material in Bakelite and other high-density plastics.
Pilaster: A column built into, and projecting from, a wall. In the case of jukeboxes, the pilasters are the vertical elements, be they wood or plastic, at the corners of the box. | <urn:uuid:25156f17-f6bc-4edd-823f-0b2472cba56e> | {
"date": "2016-09-26T15:45:57",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2016-40",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738660864.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173740-00281-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9680979251861572,
"score": 3.15625,
"token_count": 837,
"url": "http://www.collectorsweekly.com/coin-operated/jukeboxes"
} |
Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, is an ancient school of wellness based on Taoist concepts about the intimate relationship between the individual and the environment.In TCM, masculine (yang) and feminine (yin) energies are thought to flow through the human body via energy pathways called meridians. These meridians, in turn, are associated with various organ systems, including the lungs, liver, large intestine, stomach, spleen, heart, small intestine, bladder, kidneys, sex organs, gallbladder, and triple warmer, an energy system comprised of three energy centers in the human body.
In Chinese herbal medicine, herbs are classified as yang (hot) or yin (cold). Yin herbs treat yang conditions by moving energy to the interior of the body, while yang herbs treat yin conditions by moving energy to the body’s surface.
In addition to using herbal tonics to balance a patient’s health, practitioners of TCM also rely upon complimentary healing modalities, including acupuncture, acupressure and qi gong practices to balance the body’s energy flow. Traditionally, a TCM practitioner created a remedy for a specific person and illness, but many TCM combination herbal remedies are now available as dietary supplements. | <urn:uuid:187930eb-e50b-4020-bd8c-8d0734f549ba> | {
"date": "2018-10-21T12:44:14",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-43",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583514005.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20181021115035-20181021140535-00416.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9009823203086853,
"score": 2.8125,
"token_count": 262,
"url": "https://www.newhope.com/supplements/traditional-chinese-medicine-ancient-remedies-todays-world"
} |
Tokyo – Japanese artist Yusuke Kamata uses the simple device of the frame to construct intriguing installations that puzzle our notions of perspective. Having trained to be a painter, Yokohama-based Kamata confesses that he does tend to think of himself as one. Whereas a painter normally uses picture frames to ‘contain’ art, though, he uses frames to ‘free’ art.
How did you arrive at the idea of making installations with picture frames?
At university, I practised painting and studied its history. While searching for something new in painting, I realized that everything had already been done. So I shifted my focus and tried to understand its nature – what makes a thing a painting? That led me to frames, which can be seen as defining elements of paintings. I then attempted to make a ‘painting’ without actually painting but by making a frame that looked as though it had been foreshortened in a painting.
Why the strange angles?
I was intrigued by the fact that in galleries and museums people view paintings only from the front. They hardly ever look at them from any other angle. Do paintings need to be seen frontally? How would they look if seen from other angles? Questions like these led me to distort the picture frame, which resulted in the destruction of the perspective that is a golden rule in classical painting.
Who or what inspired you?
A particular source is The Ambassadors, a 16th-century painting by Hans Holbein the Younger that hangs in the National Gallery in London. Two ambassadors are portrayed in all their worldly pomp and dignity. But on the floor is an odd object, unrecognisable when you stand right in front of the painting. You have to view the picture at an angle to see the object resolve into a vanitas motif – a skull. I think it’s an incredible painting, and it gave me a new understanding of perspective.
Cubism has also influenced my work. The Cubist painter struggled to show the various profiles of his subject from many different angles in just one painting. It’s like walking around a sculpture, but then in two dimensions. | <urn:uuid:47ad261b-e3d7-48f2-afc8-54814feb86fe> | {
"date": "2019-10-21T14:44:19",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2019-43",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570987779528.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20191021143945-20191021171445-00056.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.977206826210022,
"score": 2.5625,
"token_count": 442,
"url": "http://awangfaroekishak.info/news/yusuke-kamata-artist-picture-frames"
} |
Positive Psychology For Dummies
In Positive Psychology, science tries to answer questions about what makes people happy, what a good life is, and how to increase life satisfaction. This Cheat Sheet gives you some ways in which you can make Positive Psychology work for you.
Using Positive Psychology to AIM for a Positive Life
According to Positive Psychology, you need to take three main steps in order to achieve health and wellbeing. They are covered by the acronym AIM:
Attending: Pay attention to the genuinely good stuff which happens to you. Don’t just filter it out.
Interpreting: Don’t always view experiences in a negative light. See the positive wherever you can.
Memorising: Remember positive events and paint positive mental pictures of your experiences.
How Positive Psychology Can Help at Work
Positive psychology can be used in many different ways within the workplace. Organisations often use the positive workplace practices in this list to increase productivity:
Offering a variety of tasks: Employees need challenge and variety to keep them motivated, fresh and engaged in what they’re doing. For example, moving people around on the production line to allow them to master new tasks and so avoid boredom.
Intrinsic motivation: Organisations are now coming to realise that money isn’t the only thing that matters. Many people say that enjoying job satisfaction is more important than the salary they take home.
Generating employee confidence: Negative thinking breeds lack of motivation, so some organisations offer staff challenges to test their motivation. Positive thinking strategies encourage greater self-reliance and self-confidence in their employees.
Focusing on strengths: Focusing on and developing an employee’s strengths is key to creating a loyal and motivated workforce. Individuals are encouraged to make full use of their own particular strengths, showing they’re good at what they’re doing, as well as enjoying job satisfaction.
Team building: Organisations offer a range of team activities to help improve communication and cooperation, internally and externally. Focusing on Continuous Professional Development is now the name of the game, giving employees the opportunity to update and hone their skills in the workplace.
Flow: Flow is the state of feeling fully engaged in what you’re doing. Enlightened organisations now give employees the type of feedback that is likely to keep staff motivated and, where possible, empower employees helping them to take more control over their day-to-day activities.
Learning Resilience through Positive Psychology
There are seven main skills which can help you bounce back from any adverse experiences you may go through. Keep them handy to stay resilient.
|Learnable Skill of Resilience||Applying the Skill|
|Emotional awareness /Regulation||Identifying what you’re feeling.
Controlling your emotions.
|Impulse control||Tolerating uncertainty.
Taking time to think about decisions/actions.
|Optimism||Having a realistically optimistic explanatory style.|
|Causal analysis||Looking at problems from all angles.
Considering all the factors.
|Empathy||Recognising and understanding the emotions of others.
Building social support through well-maintained relationships.
|Self-efficacy||Knowing your own strengths.
Using those strengths to cope with adversity.
|Reaching out||Taking appropriate risks.
Trying new things.
Using Positive Psychology to Respond Healthily
Remember that harmful repetitive habits are the bane of the well-lived life. Taking the steps in this table can help you to tackle bad habits head-on.
|Stop being angry!||Anger is a primitive emotion geared to the fight or flight stress reaction. Cut down the amount of time you spend feeling hostile.|
|Cheer up, it may never happen!||Start looking on the bright side of life. Find the joy in ordinary things. Don’t waste time on negativity.|
|Get a life!||Engaging in activities with other people is good for you. Having a variety of activities to fall back on can reduce the negative impact of challenging times.|
|Cut back on harmful habits||Habits like drinking too much or smoking, especially where they’re connected to feeling low, are really destructive. Get help to change.|
Identifying Your Signature Strengths with Positive Psychology
Psychologists have identified 24 key strengths under six main headings. You have at least some of these – you really do. Identify them by using this list.
Wisdom and knowledge: Creativity, Judgement, Curiosity, Love of Learning, Perspective
Courage: Bravery, Perseverance, Integrity, Enthusiasm
Love: Intimacy, Kindness, Sociability
Justice: Sense of responsibility, Fairness, Leadership
Temperance: Forgiveness, Humility, Caution, Self-control
Transcendence: Appreciation, Gratitude, Optimism, Humour, Spirituality | <urn:uuid:31fd1e57-f120-4084-9a91-ecb5dfaf2f4c> | {
"date": "2014-08-01T14:14:49",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-23",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1406510274987.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20140728011754-00432-ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9058244228363037,
"score": 3.234375,
"token_count": 1030,
"url": "http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/positive-psychology-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.navId-323315.html"
} |
Important to build resilience in yourselves before you can do so in others. This can decrease stigma in others if you do it openly.
Resilience is the ability to cope with adversity. Not toughness, stiff upper lip. It’s good mental well-being and resourcefulness.
Analogy of a tree in a hurricane is useful, bends not breaks.
Resilience is not a dichotomy, have it or not. Small degrees of improvement, slowly build.
Personal resilience built by respect, care
Suicidal thoughts quite common, but no-one talks about it. Taking about it will not make someone want to do it, but particular methods may be copied.
Identification of suicide risk currently very poor.
Self harm connected to suicide, although not invariably. Often an expression of distress which is temporarily relieved.
Adolescents are vulnerable to taking ‘small things’ as massive issues.
Resilience associated with optimism, self-esteem, gratitude, emotional awareness, flexibility, problem solving ability, self regulation.
One thing better is worth doing. External motivators e.g. pledges, social pressures, can help.
Gadget free time.
Mindfulness application in families needs to include self compassion. Your inner voice needs to be kind as much as possible.
Suicide prevention requires: awareness, compassion, skills, governance.
Professionals need to lose their fear of suicidal people. Need consistent assessment framework applied across professions.For pediatricians, awareness, triage, co- create, effectively refer, common language are key.
Human factor errors important. E.g. good assessment leads to poor documentation.
Suicidal thoughts can be classified into passive, active, dangerous and dangerous and imminent.
Talking through scenario can be beneficial.
Connecting with People is a not-for-profit organisation formed to develop and deliver training packages for a range of sectors, including healthcare, social care, statutory bodies and communities.Our modular training includes bite-size suicide awareness and prevention courses and we have also developed resources and training for young people, professionals and the wider community | <urn:uuid:5c324550-a1f4-4db3-885a-ae9e5da4957b> | {
"date": "2018-01-23T14:01:35",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-05",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084891976.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20180123131643-20180123151643-00656.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.935491144657135,
"score": 3.078125,
"token_count": 433,
"url": "http://pmha-uk.org/author/admin/page/8/"
} |
Religious leaders will soon reveal the location of this sacred place.
“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”
~ King James Bible
There may have been giants upon the Earth, a very long time ago, in our prehistory. This concept connects to the highly controversial quote above from the Bible. This quote has been the subject of much controversy through the ages
The giant foot print, discovered in rough granite, is considered by many religious leaders to be The Footprint of God. It is 4 feet long. The location of this footprint has been a deeply sacred, mystical and spiritual place among African knowledge keepers – and a well-guarded secrete. A footprint that is 4 feet in length means that who or what left it behind must have been approximately 24 feet tall.
Who was this giant?
Many faithful across the world know who the being was — God.
Revealing the site of this amazing discovery has been a real dilemma for religious institutions and leaders for years. And it has been a mystery that has fascinated many believers around the Globe.
Also discovered near the footprint are giant bones, crystal skulls, strange carvings and sculptures in forms that do not fit into the contemporary view of history and possibly offer evidence of other 15 foot tall giants in the prehistory on our planet.
Now, in 2012, religious leaders will announce the location of The Footprint of God. It will soon become the most popular religious site on the planet.
Here’s a video clip of the Footprint of God: | <urn:uuid:ed72b003-cd9e-485d-9f14-ff5ede0e5a23> | {
"date": "2014-03-10T12:08:31",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-10",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394010776308/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305091256-00006-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.9731290936470032,
"score": 2.640625,
"token_count": 357,
"url": "http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/43859/the-footprint-of-god/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=8099f58e7f"
} |
National Security Council (NSC)Article Free Pass
National Security Council (NSC), U.S. agency within the Executive Office of the President, established by the National Security Act in 1947 to advise the president on domestic, foreign, and military policies related to national security. The president of the United States is chairman of the NSC; other members include the vice president and the secretaries of state and defense. Advisers to the NSC are the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and other officials whom the president may appoint with Senate approval. The NSC staff is headed by a special assistant for national security affairs, the national security adviser, who generally acts as a close adviser of the president. The NSC provides the White House with a useful foreign policy-making instrument that is independent of the State Department. In the late 1980s, covert illegal activities by members of the NSC caused the scandal known as the Iran-Contra Affair.
National security advisers are listed in the table.
|name||dates of service|
|Robert Cutler||March 23, 1953–April 2, 1955|
|Dillon Anderson||April 2, 1955–Sept. 1, 1956|
|Robert Cutler||Jan. 7, 1957–June 24, 1958|
|Gordon Gray||June 24, 1958–Jan. 13, 1961|
|McGeorge Bundy||Jan. 20, 1961–Feb. 28, 1966|
|Walt W. Rostow||April 1, 1966–Jan. 20, 1969|
|Henry A. Kissinger||Jan. 20, 1969–Nov. 3, 1975**|
|Brent Scowcroft||Nov. 3, 1975–Jan. 20, 1977|
|Zbigniew Brzezinski||Jan. 20, 1977–Jan. 21, 1981|
|Richard V. Allen||Jan. 21, 1981–Jan. 4, 1982|
|William P. Clark||Jan. 4, 1982–Oct. 17, 1983|
|Robert C. McFarlane||Oct. 17, 1983–Dec. 4, 1985|
|John M. Poindexter||Dec. 4, 1985–Nov. 25, 1986|
|Frank C. Carlucci||Dec. 2, 1986–Nov. 23, 1987|
|Colin L. Powell||Nov. 23, 1987–Jan. 20, 1989|
|Brent Scowcroft||Jan. 20, 1989–Jan. 20, 1993|
|W. Anthony Lake||Jan. 20, 1993–March 14, 1997|
|Samuel R. Berger||March 14, 1997–Jan. 20, 2001|
|Condoleezza Rice||Jan. 22, 2001–Jan. 25, 2005|
|Stephen Hadley||Jan. 26, 2005–Jan. 20, 2009|
|James L. Jones||Jan. 20, 2009–Oct. 8, 2010|
|Thomas E. Donilon||Oct. 8, 2010–July 1, 2013|
|Susan Rice||July 1, 2013–|
|*Officially titled "assistant to the president for national security affairs," the national security adviser serves on the National Security Council.
**Henry A. Kissinger served concurrently as secretary of state from Sept. 21, 1973.
What made you want to look up National Security Council (NSC)? | <urn:uuid:4a22b891-eb70-4a65-a6b7-b05125ff271c> | {
"date": "2014-10-02T15:48:17",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-41",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1412037663754.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20140930004103-00256-ip-10-234-18-248.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.8780692219734192,
"score": 3.234375,
"token_count": 709,
"url": "http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/405396/National-Security-Council-NSC"
} |
SystemC channels connect modules together: serve as wiring (and more).
Predefined channels include buffer, fifo, signal, mutex, semaphore and clock.
RTL-style compute/commit is provided by the SystemC signal channel.
A signal is an abstract (templated) data type that has a current and next value.
Signal reads are of the current value. Writes are to the next value.
int nv; // nv is a simple c variable (POD) sc_out < int > data; // data and mysig are signals (non-POD) sc_signal < int > mysig; // ... nv += 1; data = nv; mysig = nv; printf("Before nv=%i, %i %i\n'', nv, data.read(), mysig.read()); wait(10, SC_NS); printf("After nv=%i, %i %i\n'', nv, data.read(), mysig.read()); ... Before nv=96, 95 95 After nv=96, 96 96
When the scheduler blocks with no more events in the current time step, the pending new values are committed to the visible current values. | <urn:uuid:e96b2f9a-bc99-4dcc-9012-5e6fe308ebf5> | {
"date": "2013-12-08T22:47:30",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2013-48",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386163826391/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204133026-00002-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.7012942433357239,
"score": 2.5625,
"token_count": 273,
"url": "http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/teaching/1011/P35/obj1.2/zhpfba49ea7a.html"
} |
Voet now issued, under the name of Martin Schoock, one of his pupils, a pamphlet with the title of Methodus novae philosophiae Renati Descartes, in which atheism and infidelity were openly declared to be the effect of the new teaching.
The gallinaceous birds are represented by a quail, Coturnix novae zealandiae, now exterminated.
At a printing-press established in Walther's house by Regiomontanus, Purbach's Theoricae planetarum novae was published in 1472 or 1473; a series of popular calendars issued from it, and in 1474 a volume of Ephemerides calculated by Regiomontanus for thirty-two years (1474-1506), in which the method of "lunar distances," for determining the longitude at sea, was recommended and explained.
This was the City of Hadrian (Hadrianapolis) or New Athens (Novae Athenae); a handsome suburb with numerous villas, baths and gardens; some traces remain of its walls, which, like those of Themistocles, were fortified with rectangular towers.
Purbach's Theoricae Novae Planetarum (1542), and probably got it from Maurolycus.
St Petersburg, 1776-1802); Novae species quadrupedum, 1778 - 1779; Pallas's contributions to the dictionary of languages of the Russian empire, 1786-1789; Icones insectorum, praesertim Rossiae Siberiaeque peculiarium, 1781-1806; Zoographia rossoasiatica (3 vols., 1831); besides many special papers in the Transactions of the academies of St Petersburg and Berlin.
The publication of his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae (in 1810), according to the natural method, led the way to the adoption of that method in the -universities and schools of Britain.
- Dibamus novae-Guineae of New Guinea, the Moluccas, Celebes and the Nicobar Islands.
The chief towns of Upper Moesia were: Singidunum (Belgrade), Viminacium (sometimes called municipium Aelium; Kostolatz), Bononia (Widdin), Ratiaria (Artcher): of Lower Moesia; Oescus (colonia Ulpia, Gigen), Novae (near Sistova, the chief seat of Theodoric), Nicopolis ad Istrum (Nikup), really on the Iatrus or Yantra, Odessus (Varna), Tomi (Kustendje), to which the poet Ovid was banished.
Sistova is identified with the Roman colony Novae mentioned by Ptolemy.
M, Medullary layer of the C, Cladonia novae Angliae, B, Portion of a very thin Delise; sterigmata section from the base with spermatia from of the spermogonium.
Novae Angliae, 5 to 6 ft., rosy-violet; A.
De comparatione veteris et novae Romae.
Picavet, De Epicuro novae religionis sectatore (Paris, 1889); H.
8vo), in German and Russian; Tentamen novae theoriae musicae (ibid.
4to); Novae et correctae tabulae ad loca lunae computanda (ibid., 1746, in 4to); Tabulae astronomicae solis et lunae (ibid., 4to); Gedanken, &c., or Thoughts on the Elements of Bodies (ibid.
4to); Theoria motuum lunae nova methodo pertractata (ibid., 1772, in 4to); Novae tabulae lunares (ibid., in 8vo); Theorie complete de la construction et de la manoeuvre des vaisseaux (ibid., 1773, in 8vo); Eclaircissements sur etablissements en faveur tant des veuves que des morts, without a date; Opuscula analytica (St Petersburg, 1783-1785, in 2 vols.
The unsegmented uterine ovum of P. novae zealandiae measures I.
Among the species described may be mentioned P. leuckarti (Saenger), P. insignis (Dendy), P. oviparus (Dendy), P. viridimaculatus (Dendy), P. novae zealandiae (Hutton), but it is by no means certain that future research will maintain these.
One species only known, P. novae britanniae (Willey).
Sheldon, "On the Development of Peripatus novae zealandiae," pts.
The Anatomy and Development of P. novae britanniae," Zoological Results, pt.
Principiorum primorum cognitionis metaphysicae novae dilucidatio. | <urn:uuid:7549c01b-2ea8-4532-8394-0c1a64b35a18> | {
"date": "2018-02-24T16:16:45",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2018-09",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-09/segments/1518891815843.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20180224152306-20180224172306-00256.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.7915303707122803,
"score": 3.15625,
"token_count": 1081,
"url": "http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/novae"
} |
The context path is the prefix of a URL path that is used to select the web application to which an incoming request is routed. Typically a URL in a Java servlet server is of the format http://hostname.com/contextPath/servletPath/pathInfo', where each of the path elements may be zero or more / separated elements. If there is no context path, the context is referred to as the root context.
How you set the context path depends on how you deploy the web application (or ContextHandler):
If you run Jetty from code as an embedded server, setting the context path is a matter of calling the setContextPath method on the ContextHandler instance (or WebAppContext instance).
If you deploy the webapplication/context from the context deployer/provider, you set the contextPath within the context.xml file.
<Configure class="org.eclipse.jetty.webapp.WebAppContext"> <Set name="contextPath">/foo</Set> ... </Configure>
If you deploy the web application from the webapp deployer/provider, by default the name of the WAR file forms the context path. So if the file is called foobar.war, the context path is /foobar. There is a special case for webapps called root.war which are mapped to the root / context.
You can also set the context path for webapps by embedding a WEB-INF/jetty-web.xml file in the WAR. This is not a preferred method. | <urn:uuid:01033545-945a-4e73-b350-dffcdf603d8d> | {
"date": "2014-10-31T22:22:27",
"dump": "CC-MAIN-2014-42",
"file_path": "s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1414637900397.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20141030025820-00019-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz",
"int_score": 3,
"language": "en",
"language_score": 0.7980968952178955,
"score": 3.015625,
"token_count": 324,
"url": "http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php?title=Jetty/Howto/SetContextPath&oldid=284729"
} |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.