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The process of THB for labour exploitation has six steps or aspects: recruitment, entry and identity, residence status, housing, work and financial aspects. These are all things a trafficker has to organise before they can start profiting from the exploitation of others.
Recruitment: the trafficker needs to recruit the victims.
Entry and identity: if the victims are third-country nationals, the trafficker has to find a way to move them into the country where he/she intends to exploit them. Victims from third countries may also need (false) identity documents to gain entry to the country, register as an inhabitant and so on.
Residence status: the trafficker may need to find a way to obtain a residence status for victims from third countries.
Housing: the trafficker will need to find a place to house the victims.
Financial aspects: the trafficker will need to launder the money he/she earns from the exploitation to be able to use it.
Each of these aspects provides a point of intervention for governmental organisations: it is possible to receive, recognise and communicate signs of THB for labour exploitation, or to take measures to prevent or fight THB for labour exploitation.
By dividing the process of trafficking into separate steps, it is possible to zoom in on a specific element and consider the possibilities it offers to counteract THB for labour exploitation. For example, recruitment may be prevented by making vulnerable people aware of the risks of THB. Victims may be intercepted when they enter the country if the border guards know what to look for. And the members of a network involved in THB for labour exploitation may be identified when criminal investigators follow the money trail.
The Dutch authorities apply the so-called barrier model to these six aspects of THB for labour exploitation. |
“About 81 percent of our patients had so many hits to the head, they lost count, which, you compare that to athletes, is astronomical,” neurologist Glynnis Zieman told NPR. She helps run the Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
And unlike athletes, who can take a break to recover, domestic violence victims rarely are able to heal before injury reoccurs.
That is why victims of domestic violence should not only seek help from medical staff, family, and law enforcement authorities but seek the services of a legal professional. Your injuries are the result of abuse and should be litigated as such. Hold your abuser liable and contact a Cleveland brain injury lawyer for a free consultation.
A recent scientific finding will likely come as quite a surprise to the clients of our brain injury attorney in Cleveland. It is likely that it is the repetition of hits, not necessarily the severity, that leads to brain injury. Yes, even though you’ve never had a loss of consciousness or other symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, vision problems or confusion, you still may suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a chronic disease that results from brain injury.
Published in January in the neurology journal, Brain, the study found that 20 percent of known cases of CTE had no record or report of a concussion. Conducted over seven years, the study to examined the mild head impact of the brains of humans who died from another cause soon after the injury. Researchers discovered early evidence of brain pathology consistent with what is seen in CTE, including abnormal accumulation of the tau protein.
While concussions are still a strong sign the brain has been injured, it is actually the repetition of the injury that can be the strongest indicator of brain damage.
If you’ve been the victim of injury, regardless of whether or not a concussion occurred, call our brain injury attorney in Cleveland today for a free consultation.
Why does modern brain science owe its very existence to an 1800s era railroad worker? As our brain injury lawyer in Cleveland points out, the case of Phineas Gage led to some fundamental revelations on the nature of the brain, and is often used as a reference point for further discovery.
While blowing up rocks to clear the way for new railway lines, Gage set off a metal spark that in turn drove a tamping iron up and out of the hole, through his left cheek, behind his eye socket, and out of the top of his head. Gage didn’t die, but most of the frontal lobe of his brain was destroyed.
The injury led to dramatic changes in Gage’s personality.
“He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity, which was not previously his custom,” wrote John Martyn Harlow, the physician who treated Gage after the accident.
The good news? The personality change was temporary, lasting likely only two to three years. Gage went onto work as a long-distance stagecoach driver in Chile, which requires a good deal of focus and planning capabilities.
“Even in cases of massive brain damage and massive incapacity, rehabilitation is always possible,” Malcolm Macmillan, an honorary professor at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, told NPR.
That’s inspiring news for the clients of a brain injury attorney in Cleveland. It may take patience, but time and hard work in rehabilitation will ultimately heal the wound and life goes on.
Here’s a study that may solve a mystery many of the clients of our Cleveland brain injury attorney have wondered about. Why is there often widespread inflammation following a brain injury?
Researches in a new study have identified a mechanism in the brain that causes this inflammation and suggest it may play a role in other neurodegenerative diseases. The findings were recently published in Science Daily.
The study’s discoveries may change how brain inflammation is understood, and, ultimately, how it is treated, Science Daily reports.
The research indicates the inflammation can go on for years and cause chronic brain damage.
Hopefully this research leads to better treatment and outcomes for the clients of a Cleveland brain injury attorney.
When supporting the victims of brain injury, we must not forget to also celebrate and support their caregivers, who all too often go overlooked. Here’s an inspiring story of one caregiver, who despite challenges and tests, did not give up. As any brain injury lawyer in Cleveland will tell you, the support of family is key to surmounting the challenges of a brain injury. Family should be the one resource your loved one can depend on.
Kim Summerall Jones, an Arizona mom, has faced numerous challenges. First, she was told she couldn’t conceive children. Then, after her husband and she adopted two children as infants, her husband was diagnosed with a rare cancer and tragically passed away 14 months later. And if that wasn’t enough, she got the call that every parent has nightmares about. Her children had been in a traumatic car accident and her son suffered a brain injury. Her son seemed like a stranger after the accident.
“When someone receives a brain injury, it is time to mourn that person and welcome a new person to the relationship. The person you once knew is gone in most cases. In their place is a new individual with a different personality, different goals, and unique abilities,” Kim stated.
For her inspiration to others, Kim was recently awarded the 2017 Ms. U.S. Woman of Achievement title at the pageant held on November 6th on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA.
Our Cleveland brain injury lawyers wanted to share Kim’s story as inspiration to the families and victims in the struggle to recover from brain injury.
As any brain injury lawyer in Cleveland knows all too well, it’s not only the victims of head injuries who suffer and require professional therapy and rehabilitation. It’s just as important to remember the needs of their family as well.
This was all too evident in the recent tragedy of Randy Budd, husband of Sharon Budd who suffered debilitating head injuries when a five pound rock was heinously dropped from a Stark County overpass into her moving car. Tragically, Mr. Budd died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound this past August at the age of 55.
Shaken by his wife’s new lifetime challenges, Mr. Budd strove to improve highway fencing so other families wouldn’t have to suffer.
“Earlier this year, the Budd family helped push through new rules in Ohio requiring any new or rehabbed bridges over most busy highways to be topped with chain-link fencing to deter vandals,” the Associated Press reported.
In any brain injury case, families suffer. A financial settlement to help the family move forward helps, but as any brain injury lawyer in Cleveland understands, therapy and other rehabilitative services for the entire family are crucial to healing.
Army buddies Kit Parker’s and Chris Moroski’s story would inspire any client of a brain injury lawyer in Cleveland. It has all the best elements of movies that break your heart and reaffirm you belief in friendship and humanity at the same time. Read on.
Parker and Moroski became friends jumping out of airplanes together in the 1990s. After 9/11, the two went their separate directions in the two wars that resulted from that attack, Parker to Afghanistan, Moroski to Iraq.
After their deployments, life continued on as usual, at least on the surface. Parker pursued a new career as a heart research scientist. Moroski, who had a bit of a rougher landing back into civilian life, spent his days at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Ga, healing injuries from an IED that had blown up his vehicle during a patrol near Ramadi. Doctors had been promising a quick recovery, but from frequent phone calls between the two army buddies, Parker realized something was amiss.
“He’d lose his train of thought,” Parker remembered. “He couldn’t remember stuff,” including being awarded the Purple Heart, big stuff that’s tough to lose in the memory of your average soldier.
Parker pledged to help his friend. Beyond the frequent phone calls, Parker turned to his next best resource: science. From his heart research, he knew that sudden forces, similar to an IED blast, could have severe effects on the heart. Could such a blast also affect the brain?
“I had to bring the battlefield into the lab,” Parker remembered.
After much research, Parker published a paper demonstrating how a blast wave could cause integrins to send signals that could disrupt brain cell connections. “When that happens, it affects the networks that allow you to recognize your grandmother’s face or count your change at the fast-food restaurant,” Parker explained.
Parker’s discovery could one day make a difference to all people suffering from brain injury, including civilians. That would be good news to the clients of any brain injury lawyer in Cleveland. |
The 2017-18 school year was the first year of JFY Early College.
Working with Quincy College, we introduced seven college courses into three of our JFYNet schools: West Roxbury Academy, Urban Science Academy and Greater Lowell Tech. JFYNet provided college readiness preparation at some schools and concurrent academic support at others to help students handle the college-level curriculum. A total of 112 students successfully completed Quincy College courses, earning a total of 336 credits. These credits can be transferred to all state and many private colleges. The value of these credits in the state university system is $134,400. JFY plans to expand the early college program in the coming year.
JFYNet helps high school students get a head start on post-secondary education with its Early College program.
Early College brings college courses into the high school where students can take them for dual high school and college credit. The courses are taught during the school day by high school teachers under college supervision. JFYNet prepares students for these courses with its MCAS and College Readiness skill-building programs in early grades, and supports them through the college courses with concurrent academic support. Students develop and demonstrate college-level skills and earn college credits while still in high school. The program builds skills and confidence and reduces the time and cost of a college degree. |
Long multiplication is the quickest way to multiply two large numbers together. It is often referred to as the "traditional" method for multiplication, as this is how multiplication was taught in schools for years.
However, it is easy to get confused or mixed up with what goes where unless you really understand multiplication properly. It is fine to continue to use a method like Napier's Rods if you understand this better, and move on to long multiplication when you are ready. |
The secession of national units from larger states and empires has long been a feature of the international system, and emerged in many different contexts during the twentieth century. Historically, secession has often been associated with war and violence, but it has been argued that in democratic states, and especially within the European Union, peaceful secession is possible. This course will look at the problem of secession in Europe during the current decade, examining the similarities and differences between the movements for independence within the EU in Scotland and Catalonia and the British nationalist movement to exit the EU itself. The course will take Brexit, the only movement to have moved to a formal separation process, as a starting point, then examine the other two cases, and attempt to come to some conclusions on the issues involved in secession today. |
Aerial view of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx (1944), winding southward toward Manhattan in the distance. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
The Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the Bronx that spans more than four miles in the western part of the borough. It was conceived in 1890 by Louis Aloys Risse, a French immigrant and chief topographical engineer of New York City. Since its opening in 1909, it has become “the Bronx’s most famous street,” connecting Manhattan to the North Bronx.
As the automobile boom littered the New York City streets with the new popular form of transportation and the Concourse became accessible via public transit, it became an incubator for development in the first half of the 20th Century. Art Deco apartment buildings became a huge draw for the northward-moving middle-class populations of the Bronx.
The Loew’s Theatre franchise brought even more tourism to the borough by placing the 23rd largest theater in the United States right on the Grand Concourse. The Loew’s Paradise Theatre still stands as one of the many landmarks on the Grand Concourse.
Constance Rosenblum, author of Boulevard of Dreams: Heady Times, Heartbreak, and Hope Along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, recalls “The tragic decline of the Bronx is a deeply familiar tale but no less tragic for the fact that we know the story so well. In the eyes of many, the Bronx will be perpetually burning; the vivid image is difficult to shake. But there is no question that in recent years the borough has rebounded considerably, as have large swaths of the city. Crime is significantly lower here, as it is throughout New York, and drugs have loosened their grip on poor neighborhoods.” The Grand Concourse remains one of the premiere strips of the Bronx, delineating its history through its century-old story, making it at once a relic from its now distant past and evidence of the borough’s growth into the future. |
This week’s resource is a fabulous website that allows students to gain conceptual math understanding using hands-on applets.
Click one of the cells in the grid to enter the desired area / grade level.
Choose from the many applets offered.Note: the screenshot below shows only a small portion of the activities offered for Numbers & Operations for Grades 3 – 5. |
When you read, look for the main idea. Sometimes it will be in italics or bold print. It may come in the form of a heading. You might also recognize it simply by the author's use of repeated words or phrases.
The following paragraph is from a biology textbook called _Biosphere_ by Wallace, King and Sanders. It was reprinted in _From Course to Course_ by Lambert and Peterson.
Read the paragraph carefully and then write a summary statement. Try to do this within five minutes.
control of cancer, and although it is obviously no miracle cure, it may have some useful properties. For example, it reduced tumor size in a number of patients who did not respond to other treatment. In one case, two of three separate cancers discovered in one man completely disappeared after treatment with interferon.
Share your summary statement with another student. Discuss differences and similarities. Rewrite the statement with your partner to form one strong summary. |
While Jackson’s policy paper was written with the ultimate aim of establishing, on the basis of sharīʿah and not just practical grounds, the legitimacy and necessity of Muslim involvement in American legislative politics – a task that Jackson achieves admirably based on an authoritative and critical reading of relevant Islamic history and legal thought – what continues to intrigue me is his exploration of “other possible means of effecting social and political change” toward the beginning of the paper. He is able, indeed compelled, to do this because he sees involvement in legislative politics as a mean – and “neither the only nor in every instance the most effective” mean at that – to the end of influencing American society. To be clear, Muslims seek this influence over American society in order to gain “public recognition and respect for themselves as Muslims and contribute to the creation of a social reality” where human worth and potential is equally recognized and rewarded in all.
According to Jackson, American Muslims confront two basic challenges: the “enterprise of self-definition” and the “problem of self-determination,” and since these two challenges require Muslims to engage politically and socially, both the end of influencing American society and an understanding and availing of all the important means to that end become fatally important to the future of Islam and Muslims in America. On such recognition, he laments that “very little attention has been paid to the functional limitations of legislative politics, or to other possible means of effecting social and political change,” and claims that “[i]f the aim of any would-be Muslim participation in U.S. legislative politics is to promote a dignified existence for Muslims in America… the parallel necessity of effecting cultural change in America… must certainly be accorded at least equal importance. For the effectiveness of the former depends fundamentally on success in the latter.” It is this brief but unequivocal treatment of, what I will call, the “cultural challenge” American Muslims face that I want to highlight below.
[i]n a real sense, the future of Islam in America will depend not on whether Muslims can arrive at an understanding of scripture and tradition that allows for home-mortgages or inheritance between Muslims and non-Muslims, but on whether that understanding will liberate the Muslim cultural imagination and allow it to come into its own, here in America. For the fact is - and every honest Muslim knows it - that one can live with a lot of broken rules of sharīʿah. But what repentance can there be from a broken soul or psyche? And how can the latter be avoided if the world outside the masjid reflect nothing of the Muslim’s thoughts and creative spirit? If Muslims are to establish a real existence here in America, one that will enable them not only to consume but to shape American reality, the Muslim cultural imagination will have to be liberated. Once this is done, Muslims will be able to move… into [the arenas] of literature, poetry, music, fashion design, comedy, interior decorating, etc., just as has existed throughout Islamic history, and just as exists in virtually every Muslim country in the world!
Harsh? Perhaps. On the mark? Definitely.
Clearly the task of such a discriminating appropriation of American culture is neither easy nor risk-free. Nonetheless, it needs to be undertaken, and it needs to be undertaken deliberately, sincerely, courageously, and, most of all, immediately. No amount of pious posturing or political maneuvering will substitute in its place.
Want of an American Muslim Culture – How we got here?
The sad truth, however, is that the American Muslim community, as a whole, has neither embraced the end of indigenizing Islam in America, nor grasped that “penetrating, appropriating and redirecting American culture” is an indispensable mean to that end. The aftermath of 9/11/2001, which could and should have opened the mind and imagination of the American Muslim leaders and community to possibilities and opportunities theretofore unexplored, seems to have only further strengthened the (already present) imperative to engage politically in some, and the (already present) urge to reject political engagement in others. Meanwhile, the cultural challenge and opportunity continue to go unacknowledged.
[o]ne of the major slogans of Muslim youth movements [in America] is the “rejection of culture.”… I am often told that I speak too much about culture in my classes, and that we should be learning about the “true” Islam.
On such an understanding – to the extent that it is correct – it becomes easy to appreciate the inability of Immigrant Islam to face-up to the cultural challenge in America. However, even with this seeming inability, if immigrant Muslims were only willing to recognize cultural engagement as the opportunity that it really is, they may be open to encouraging and benefitting from the contributions of a culturally vibrant, unique and large indigenous Muslim community in America. Enter Blackamerican Muslims.
Production of an American Muslim Culture –What is the way out?
Blackamerican Muslims – given the significance of their historic and contemporary contributions to American culture, arts and society, in general – are perfectly capable of producing an indigenous American Muslim culture. However, (i) to the extent that Immigrant Islam’s reactionariness to the dominant culture in America resonates with Blackamerican Muslims’ “corporate experience as a marginalized racial minority,” and (ii) to the extent that Blackamerican Muslims buy into Immigrant pretensions of ultimate authority over Islam in America, they too are inhibited from facing up to this cultural challenge, as if in denial of their “uniquely rich Afro-American historical and cultural tradition”. If you are having trouble believing this argument, then here is a contemporary and real-life puzzle that may help us all think through this: How many Muslims, immigrant or indigenous, would (dare to) consider Lupe Fiasco to be of the same (or greater) importance, to the future of Islam and Muslims in America, as Barack Obama? Lupe is a Blackamerican Muslim and a music artist who is on his way to becoming an important contributor to the wider American culture, and Barack is a Blackamerican non-Muslim and perhaps one of the most important (and influential) contemporary American politicians. The answer to our puzzle, if we are honest, is that very, very few Muslims would rank Lupe as being (even close to) equally important. This is not to say anything about Barack (or Lupe), but rather to point out where sources of power and influence reside in American Muslim perceptions.
If Islam is to be the vehicle through which Muslims will come to lead a meaningful, relevant and dignified existence in America, then a serious and discriminating attempt to indigenize Islam has to become a top priority for the American Muslim community, and the production of an American Muslim culture has to be the leading edge of any such attempt. How else will our children and grand-children be able to move beyond the extremes of total assimilation or blind rejection, voluntary isolation or reckless consumption, and self-contempt or arrogance toward others? How else can they become healthy, wholesome and contributing members of their society with a sense of agency and purpose? How else will they develop the ability to think, create and, above all, love?
None of this will happen, I believe, unless the (now latent or suppressed) creativity of Blackamerican Muslims is released and their contributions to the broader American culture valued and celebrated (as opposed to being viewed with suspicion, if not shunned outright.) This project will need and should get the blessings and contributions of Immigrant Islam, but it certainly does not need its permission. This project will, however, need Blackamerican Muslims to (i) (re)start trusting their own historical and cultural consciousness, (ii) be concerned about their reality, (iii) cultivate “the sources and authorities of historical Islam… in order to authenticate their views and actions and earn these recognition as Islamic,” and (iv) use this consciousness, concern and authority to start addressing and transforming their own reality. In short, the prospects of Blackamerican Muslims meeting the cultural challenge depend critically on their acquiring a general sense of empowerment as Muslims.
To the degree that organizations such as the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA) – “an organization committed to Muslims issues and concerns that especially impact indigenous Muslims,” which one hopes will include issues of arts and culture, and the Inner-City Muslim Action network (IMAN) – which lists “cultivation of arts in urban communities” as one of its three major areas of focus and is creating some amazing programs in this area – are providing the platform to generate this sense of empowerment amongst indigenous Muslim communities, they can play a critical role in enabling Muslims to meet this “cultural challenge” in America. For it may turn out – if all this talk by Jackson about political “trump-cards,” opening psychological spaces, and cultural indigenization is correct – that Lupe, and not Barack, will, indeed, be much more important to the future of Islam in America.
For a scholarly (and passionate) treatment of this “cultural challenge,” see Umar F. Abd-Allah, "Islam and the Cultural Imperative."
For possible (but in my experience not very often found) differences between Immigrant Islam and immigrant Muslims, see, Sherman A. Jackson, Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking toward the Third Resurrection (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 13.
This is, admittedly, an oversimplified account of a long history of mutual mistrust and antipathy between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim West resulting not only from religious polemics, but having much also to do with geopolitical hegemonies, power differentials, misunderstood constructions of the other and oneself, etc.
Marcia Hermansen, “How To Put the Genie Back In the Bottle? ‘Identity’ Islam and Muslim Youth Cultures in America” in Progressive Muslims Ed. Omid Safi (Oxford: OneWorld, 2003), 306-319.
Ibid., 310. For more on Islam’s history and patterns of acculturation see, again, Umar F. Abd-Allah, "Islam and the Cultural Imperative." For the basis of this acculturation in Islamic jurisprudence and for examples of how “Islamic jurisprudence helped facilitate this creative genius” see, also, Umar F. Abd-Allah, "Living Islam with Purpose," , 32-36.
While I will focus, below, on Black Muslims, using Black and indigenous almost synonymously, it is important to note that the indigenous American Muslim community is a diverse collection of Blacks, Latinos, Whites, Natives, children of immigrants from the Muslim world, and other important groups. Each of these groups, based on its roots, history and memory, is and will be making important contributions toward American Muslim culture(s). I focus on Black Americans because of their unique communal experience in America, and with Islam in America. The purpose is neither to present some essentialized and non-historical Black Muslim community, nor to create any new hegemonies in the process of dismantling old ones.
For an explanation of the term Blackamerican see, Islam and the Blackamerican, 17.
Of course, human beings are always producing culture(s), simply by living their lives, expressing themselves, creating communal boundaries, etc., so “production,” as used here, really stands for being conscious, reflective and purposeful about the culture(s) we generate constantly and reflexively. For example, “[h]uman beings generate culture naturally like spiders spin silk, but unlike spiders’ webs the cultures people construct are not always adequate, especially when generated unconsciously, in confusion, under unfavorable conditions, or without proper direction.” Islam and the Cultural Imperative, 2.
Islam and the Blackamerican, 4.
“Asad Jafri, IMAN's Arts and Culture Director, was recently recognized in The Chronicle of Philanthropy for ‘Leaders of the New School’, a project to help young people in Chicago's South Side use hip-hop music, dance, and the visual arts to create and inspire social change.” . |
The Kalorama area within the Northwest Quadrant of Washington, D.C. includes the residential neighborhoods of Kalorama Triangle and Sheridan-Kalorama. The area is accessible from the Dupont Circle and Woodley Park Metro stations, as well as various bus lines. Kalorama Triangle is bordered by Connecticut Avenue, Columbia Road, Calvert Street, and Rock Creek Park. Sheridan-Kalorama is adjacent, to the southwest, located between Connecticut Avenue, Rock Creek Park, Massachusetts Avenue, and Florida Avenue.
The Kalorama area was primarily rural until the close of the 19th century, lying northwest of the original limits of Washington City from L’Enfant’s original plan. In 1795, Gustavus Scott, a commissioner for the District of Columbia purchased the property, which had been a portion of Anthony Holmead’s “Widows Mite” holdings. He constructed a large, classically styled house at 23rd and S Streets, which he named “Rock Hill”. In 1803 Margaret Scott the wife of Gustavus Scott sold the property to William Augustine Washington. In 1807, the noted poet Joel Barlow bought the property and renamed it “Kalorama,” which translates from Greek as “fine view.” Barlow lived in the home until shortly before his death in 1812. Barlow commissioned Capitol architect Benjamin Latrobe to enlarge the house and elevate its design. Kalorama (the residence) was destroyed by a fire during the American Civil War while it was used as a Union hospital. The residence was rebuilt and returned to a single-family home until 1887, when it was leveled by the District of Columbia government for the extension of S Street NW.
The Kalorama Triangle is a residential enclave of Adams Morgan, located in Northwest Washington bounded by three major thoroughfares: Connecticut Avenue, Calvert Street, NW and Columbia Road. Sheridan-Kalorama, also known as Kalorama Heights, is bounded to the north and west by Rock Creek Park; to the south and west by Massachusetts Avenue N.W.; and to the south and east by Florida Avenue and Connecticut Avenue N.W.
The Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood also includes a number of diplomatic residences, such as the residence of the French Ambassador at 2221 Kalorama Road, as well as several embassies – on its Southern side it also includes much of Embassy Row on Massachusetts Avenue. The William Howard Taft Bridge, carrying Connecticut Avenue over Rock Creek Park, with its imposing concrete lions, is also a notable feature. The Spanish Steps are another landmark of the neighborhood. |
Astrakhan local history museum was founded in 1837 by the former Governor Ivan Timiryazev. Today, it is situated in the administration building of the Astrakhan region. The expositions are devoted to the natural peculiarities and resources of the region, and also to the region’s history and its development. The collection of the “Paleontology” section is of a special interest. |
There are a number of tools which can help you to assess the impact of a journal, or to compare journals.
Note that journal-level metrics such as the impact factor should not be used as a proxy for the quality of individual papers in those journals.
The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) uses citation data to assess and track the impact of a journal in relation to other journals, the impact factor is recalculated each year and is based on the mean citation rate during that year of the papers published in that journal during the previous 2 years.
Journal Impact Factors are listed within Journal Citation Reports (JCR), accessible via InCites\Web of Science. JCR covers science and technology, and the social sciences and is updated annually in two editions. The Science edition covers over 8,000 journals and the Social Sciences edition covers over 2,600 journals.
For the 2017 edition (and onwards), the JCR includes details of the citation distribution of articles, helping to show whether the JIF is driven by a large number of well-cited papers, or by a small number of highly-cited outliers.
JCR offers additional indicators of a journal's impact, including the Eigenfactor and Article Influence scores, although these are less commonly used.
The Scimago Journal Rank (SJR) is available from both Scimago and Scopus. Like the JIF, it is recalulated each year. It is based on the average number of weighted citations received during that year by the papers published in that journal during the previous 3 years. The citations are weighted using an algorithm which gives more weight to citations from more influential journals.
Scimago also provides an h-index for each journal, expressing the journal's number of articles (h) that have received at least h citations.
The Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) is similar to the Journal Impact Factor, but is designed to be normalised by the different levels of citation among fields, avoiding one of the major pitfalls of the JIF. It tends to be high for journals which publish many review articles.
It can be found through Scopus, and on the CWTS Journal Indicators index.
Other factors - such as turnaround time and acceptance rate - may be equally or even more important than the expected number of citations. These are rarely indexed and in some cases may not be easily discoverable. The journal immediacy index shows the average number of citations in the year of publication, which gives a sense of how quickly papers in that journal are picked up.
It is available through the Journal Citation Reports. |
As someone who lived in China for seven years earlier in my career and traveled extensively in the Asia-Pacific region, there was something comforting about seeing familiar and beloved city scenes and hearing the different Chinese dialects spoken on the big screen. Having worked in the philanthropic sector there, it was also striking to see glittering reminders of the enormous wealth among the relatively few. There are now more billionaires in Asia than in the North America1, and the rising economic tides of the last two decades have been both a boon, raising millions out of poverty, and a contributor to pervasive social and economic inequality.
Early math skills are a strong predictor of later achievement for young children, not only in math, but in other domains as well. Exhibiting strong math skills in elementary school is predictive of later high school completion and college attendance. To that end, the Making Pre-K Count and High 5s studies set out to rigorously assess whether providing high-quality math instruction, aligned across prekindergarten (pre-K) and kindergarten, could lead to long-term gains across a variety of domains for students growing up in low-income communities in New York City. Key Findings: Making Pre-K Count: At the end of kindergarten, there was a small, positive, but not consistently statistically significant effect for the Making Pre-K Count program on one of two measures of math skills, a measure that is more sensitive to children’s skill levels than the more global test used in pre-K and kindergarten. Making Pre-K Count led to positive impacts on children’s attitudes toward math at the end of kindergarten and to about two months’ greater growth in kindergartners’ working memory skills. Making Pre-K Count plus High 5s kindergarten supplement: Two years of aligned, enhanced math experiences led to positive impacts on the more sensitive measure of children’s math skills, both above and beyond Making Pre-K Count alone (equivalent to 2.5 months’ growth) and compared with no math enrichment in pre-K and kindergarten (equivalent to 4.2 months’ growth); effects were positive but not statistically significant on the more global measure. The effect of two years of enhanced math translates into closing more than a quarter of the achievement gap between low-income children and their higher-income peers at the end of kindergarten. Children who were offered two years of math enrichment also had more positive attitudes toward math than children with no enrichment.
In the U.S., as in Asia, there is growing awareness of the need to find solutions to pervasive inequality. In 2016, the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), where I work, released a report titled The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective, which found that two-thirds of foundation CEOs interviewed for the study named wealth and inequality as the number one issue that will influence society in the coming decades.
The recent news from China of Alibaba’s founder and CEO Jack Ma departing the company to reportedly focus on his philanthropy will only add to the existing attention to the role that the ultra-wealthy in Asia will play in addressing inequality. I expect that the conversation should not just focus on the where and how of distributing earned wealth, but also address the systemic realities that allow some to disproportionately prosper while others in their communities flounder.
When I go to the movies, I don’t expect my favorite romantic comedies to also encapsulate complex social-political dynamics accurately. But my hope is that the power of the big screen can start a conversation about some difficult realities. And I hope that Asia’s crazy rich will be known globally not just for their lavish lifestyles, but also for their pursuit of justice and radical generosity. |
The District provides special education services and programs to students with disabilities pursuant to applicable federal and state laws. Any parent or person in parental relation who suspects that his/her child has a disability may refer the child for an evaluation by the District’s Committee on Special Education (CSE) for eligibility for special education services and programs. More detailed information on this process is available in A Parent’s Guide to Special Education, which is published on the New York State Education Department’s website in English1 and Spanish2.
Parents or persons in parental relation should contact the District’s Director of Student Services by phone at: 631-821-8114, or by mail at: 250B Route 25A, Shoreham, New York 11786.
All students with disabilities who reside in the school District shall be provided with an appropriate individual educational program (IEP) that meets the student’s unique educational needs as determined and recommended by the Committee on Special Education (CSE) and arranged for by the Board of Education. This IEP shall be designed to enable involvement and foster progress in general education to the extent appropriate to the needs of the student. In designing the IEP, the CSE will consider the present levels of performance and the expected learning outcomes of the student. The student’s academic, social development, physical development, and management needs will be the basis for written annual goals and short-term objectives.
In keeping with this policy, the CSE will consider continuum of special education services at each initial, program or annual review for the student as well as the appropriate support or related services needed for the student to make educational progress within appropriate educational environment. Progress or educational benefit shall be indicated by successful academic progress, including improvement in skills, achievement on State mandated examinations, ability to perform activities of daily living and an increase in adaptive bsehavior. Progress will also be considered in the social areas, including relationships with peers and adults, feelings about one’s self, and the adjustment to school and community environments. Physical development areas such as the student’s improvement in motor or sensory areas, health, vitality and physical skills and the decrease of management needs that require environmental modifications or human resources shall also be considered as progress.
The District will ensure equal access to a diploma for all students with disabilities through its establishment of heterogeneous Regents classes, inclusion classes, and special education classes that provide equivalent instruction. Appropriate academic intervention services shall also be considered and determined by the building principal to assist students with disabilities in meeting their academic goals. These services shall be in addition to the special education services deemed appropriate by the CSE. No student, by virtue of designation as a student with a disability, shall be precluded from receiving equivalent instruction unless the CSE has determined that the student requires Skills and Achievement Commencement Credential for students with severe disabilities program. If the student has the potential to achieve a regular high school diploma but requires a restrictive environment outside of the District, the CSE will seek placement in a program that provides equivalent instruction.
The District will also ensure equal access for students with disabilities to after school activities such as clubs, sports, or evening activities and will provide, as recommended by the CSE, appropriate services to enable this participation. Students who are receiving education in out-of-District facilities, as recommended by the CSE, shall also have an equal opportunity to participate in these activities, as deemed appropriate to meet their individualized needs.
application may be made to the CSE. The CSE will meet with the child’s parent to review the child’s placement needs and, if appropriate, recommend special services.
• appropriate curricular and extracurricular opportunities to benefit from regular education experiences and to achieve those learning standards which are held for all students in New York State.
• At each annual review, the CSE will consider the student’s current level of achievement, learning rate, and the recommendations of the parent and the student.
• At each annual review, the CSE will consider whether the student’s disability is likely to prevent accurate testing of competency required by the Regents. If applicable, the Committee will recommend appropriate testing modifications as a component of the student’s IEP. Testing modifications will be individualized to meet the specific needs of the student’s disability in accordance with standards established by the Regents.
• The District will offer appropriate remedial instruction.
• The CSE will consider and recommend support services and supplementary instruction.
• The CSE will consider whether the student’s special education needs will prevent completion of the requisite number of units of credit within four (4) years of entry into high school. If so, a plan will recommended for completion of the required units before June 30 of the school year in which the student reached his/her twenty-first (21st) birthday.
• Students who are twenty-one years old and who will age-out of the public school system and who have successfully completed the educational goals of their current Individualized Education Program.
• Upon application by the student or the student’s parent, students who have successfully completed the educational goals in their current Individualized Education Program and who have attended at least 12 years of school beyond Kindergarten.
If the district awards a New York State Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS)/ Skills and Achievement Commencement Credentialbefore the student is twenty-one years old, an accompanying statement shall be included assuring the recipient of his/her eligibility to receive a free, appropriate public education until the student has earned a high school diploma or until the end of the school year in which the student’s twenty-first birthday occurs, whichever is earlier.
• The IEP of a student of age thirteen or higher shall indicate the type of diploma, to which achievement of the goals specified therein, will lead.
• The Committee on Special Education shall notify each student entering the twelfth year of schooling exclusive of Kindergarten of his/her eligibility upon written request by the student and/or parents to obtain a New York State Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS)/ Skills and Achievement Commencement Credential at the end of the school year in June.
• Issuance of these credentials shall be based upon successful completion of the annual educational goals as specified in his/her current Individualized Education Program.
• An annual progress review shall be constructed during the last quarter marking period in order for the Committee on Special Education to determine whether the student has met the criteria set forth in the Individualized Education Program.
• It shall be the responsibility of the special education teacher and the guidance counselor to alert the Committee on Special Education in a timely manner when a candidate for a New York State Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS)/ Skills and Achievement Commencement Credential is demonstrating difficulty in meeting his/her Individualized Education Program. The Committee on Special Education then shall schedule a meeting with appropriate building staff, student and parent(s) to ascertain obstacles regarding goal completion and to recommend steps to alleviate the problems.
• The Committee on Special Education shall certify successful completion of the student’s Individualized Education Program and recommend to the principal of the high school that a New York State Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS)/ Skills and Achievement Commencement Credential be issued to the student.
• Prior to the student’s graduation with a New York State Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS)/ Skills and Achievement Commencement Credential a notice will be sent to the parent that indicates that the student continues to be eligible for a free appropriate public education until the end of the school year in which the student turns age 21 or until the receipt of a regular high school diploma.
• Students with disabilities may also receive diplomas through high school equivalency preparation programs. These programs are designed to instruct students who are over the compulsory school age so that they may successfully complete the General Education Development (GED) tests that are required for a high school equivalency diploma.
• A qualified individual who has received a high school equivalency diploma, but not a regular high school diploma, remains entitled to a free, appropriate public education, until the end of the school year in which he/she attains the age of twenty-one (21), or until he/she obtains a high school diploma.
with a local high school or Regents diploma, a notice will be sent to the parent indicating that the student is not eligible to receive a free appropriate public education after graduation with the receipt of the local high school or Regents diploma, because the District does not provide these services to non-disabled students.
The recommendation to declassify students with disabilities is the responsibility of the Committee on Special Education (CSE). As declassification constitutes a significant change of identification and placement, the CSE shall reevaluate the child prior to making this recommendation. The CSE shall also, provide prior notice, in the native language or other mode of communication of the home, to the child’s parent or guardian, that a reevaluation is being sought for the purpose of considering declassification and request written consent for this evaluation. If the initial request for consent for reevaluation is unsuccessful alternate measures will be taken to obtain consent and will be documented. If reasonable attempts have been made to obtain consent and have been documented but no response is received from the parent or guardian, the CSE shall reevaluate the child without consent.
In order to determine the nature of the reevaluation, the school staff including members of the CSE and other qualified professionals may review the existing evaluation data on the student including evaluations provided by the parents or guardians, current class assessments, observations by teachers, reports by related service providers, and other professionals. This review shall not constitute a CSE meeting. On the basis of this review, the District may decide that no further data is needed. In this case, the CSE shall notify the parents or guardians that further assessment has been deemed unnecessary and that they have a right to request further assessment to determine if their child continues to be a student with a disability. If the parent or guardian does not request further assessment, the CSE may meet to review the existing information and to consider declassification. A copy of this informal evaluation report shall be made available to the parent or guardian.
In conducting its review, the CSE will consider the student’s ability to participate in instructional programs in regular education, the student’s benefit from special education, and the student’s continued eligibility to be identified as a child with a disability according to the criteria set forth in IDEA, the Part 200 of the Commissioner’s Regulations and the District’s existing policies and procedures. The CSE must also consider the provision of educational and support services to the student upon declassification. Upon declassification, the CSE shall identify any declassification support services including the projected date of initiation of such services and the duration of these services. Declassification services shall be provided for no more than a year following the declassification date. Recommendations for declassification support services and appropriate evaluation information shall be forwarded to the building administrator who shall determine any additional educationally related support services, academic intervention services, or other services that may be appropriate for the child.
• The parent had expressed concern in writing (unless the parent is not able to write and presents this concern orally) to school personnel that the child is in need of special education and related services.
• The behavior of the child has demonstrated the need for special education.
• The parent had requested an evaluation of the child prior to the event that caused the suspension.
• The teacher or other staff members had expressed concern about the child to the Director of Special Education or other school staff in accordance with the District’s established child find or special education referral system.
When the Superintendent or building principal determines that the student is presumed to have a disability, the 504 team members shall convene to make the manifestation determination and shall formulate an appropriate accommodation plan to address the child’s behavior. Where appropriate, the 504 team shall refer the child to the CSE. In cases where the District has already conducted an individual evaluation and found the student not to have a disability or determined that an evaluation is not necessary and provided notice of this determination to the parents, the child shall not be presumed to have a disability. If the parent requests an expedited evaluation after the misbehavior has occurred, this evaluation will be performed within 15 school days after receipt of the request for evaluation and the CSE will convene within five school days of its completion. The District will determine the placement of the child during the completion of this expedited evaluation.
The District is committed to the development and implementation of an appropriate education for resident students with disabilities and has established the following objectives that are in keeping with its policies and procedures to ensure appropriate participation in all school District programs.
• To provide a free appropriate education in the least restrictive environment for all students residing in the District between the ages three and twenty-one or until the students have achieved a regular high school diploma, whichever shall occur first.
• To have high expectations for all pre-school and school age students with disabilities and ensure that they have the opportunity to participate in school District programs, to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of each student, including access to general education curriculum, extracurricular programs and activities that are available to other pupils enrolled in the public schools of the District.
• To ensure that policies and procedures for establishing and operating special education programs are clearly defined and that the special education program is an integral part of the District’s regular education program.
• To provide the human and material resources necessary for the implementation of a full continuum of programs and services to meet the academic, social, physical and management needs of resident students with disabilities.
• To establish a Committee on Pre-School Special Education (CPSE), a Committee on Special Education (CSE) and appropriate Subcommittees on Special Education for the purpose of evaluating students suspected of having disabilities and for placement of students with disabilities in appropriate programs as well. The CPSE and the CSE will monitor the progress of all students with disabilities and will report annually to the Board of Education regarding the status of the each student.
• To modify, to the appropriate degree, instructional techniques and materials to allow students with disabilities to meet diploma requirements.
• To provide, to the greatest extent appropriate, adaptation, modification of instruction and collaborative models of instruction to enable students with disabilities to benefit from instruction within the general education setting whenever appropriate.
• To support high quality, intensive professional development for all personnel who work with students with disabilities in order to assure that they have the skills and knowledge necessary to enable them to meet developmental goals and, to the maximum extent possible, those challenging expectations that been established for all children.
• To ensure that a discipline code for student behavior is in place which shall govern the conduct of all persons on school premises and which shall assist in the maintenance of public order on school property while protecting the rights to continuity of appropriate education for students with disabilities.
• To build a close working relationship between CPSE, CSE, school staff, school District administrators, parents, and community. To this end, meaningful opportunities for parents to participate in the education of their children will be provided.
• To provide, to the greatest extent appropriate, adaptation, modification of instructional techniques and materials, and collaborative models of instruction to enable students with disabilities, as appropriate, to meet diploma, requirements and to benefit from instruction within the general education setting.
• To ensure that students with disabilities have access to the full range of general education programs and services to the extent appropriate to their individual needs and to provide them appropriate opportunities to earn a high school diploma in accordance with Section 100.5 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.
• To ensure the confidentiality of personally identifiable data, information or records pertaining to students with a disability. Such personally identifiable information will not be disclosed except in accordance with the Regulations.
• To ensure that adequate and appropriate space is made available to meet the needs of preschool and school age students with disabilities.
• To ensure that necessary modifications are made available to meet the needs of preschool and school age students with disabilities.
• To ensure that necessary modifications are made so that students and their parents have access to services provided by the District.
• To ensure that parents are advised of their due process rights and to establish procedures in this regard.
• To ensure that students attending school within the District receive the protection of all other applicable State and Federal regulations.
The referral form to the CSE used by the District staff will enumerate all pre-referral interventions available to the District’s students to enable the CSE to determine which of these interventions have been tried or the reason why no such attempts have been made. The Child Study team as well as the Office of Special Education shall maintain a record of the number of pre-referral interventions implemented for each student. Each referral shall be reviewed to determine its appropriateness and whether pre-referral interventions have been adequately utilized and if further interventions are deemed necessary.
The building administrator may intercede within ten school days of receipt of a parental referral to the CSE and may request a meeting with the parent or guardian, the student, and the referrer, if a staff member, to determine, whether the student would benefit from additional general educational support services as an alternative to special education. These services may include speech and language improvement service, educationally related support services, and academic intervention services. At this meeting, if there is a written agreement that with the provision of additional general education support services the referral is unwarranted, the referral shall be deemed withdrawn and the building administrator shall provide a copy of this agreement to the Chairperson of the CSE, the referrer, the parent or guardian, and the student if appropriate. The copy of the agreement will be in the native language of the parent and will name the additional general education support services that will be provided as well as the length of time of each service. This agreement will be placed in the student’s cumulative education record file. If there is no written agreement reached at this meeting, the required timeline of the CSE will be maintained. |
The cover letter sent by the police department on city letterhead to a snitch ticket recipient, threatening trouble with the Department of Motor Vehicles. ==B Right:== The traffic violation notice ("snitch ticket) used by Menlo Park states recipients must complete the form and identify the driver.
Quiz time: You get a "traffic violation notice" from the Menlo Park police department in the mail saying you must identify the person who ran a red light while driving a car registered to you. Included is a photo of the violation snapped by a red-light camera. What are your options, if any?
That question has faced hundreds of people receiving the notices otherwise known as "snitch tickets."
They get sent whenever one of the city's four red-light cameras snaps a photo that isn't clear enough to identify the driver. According to the police, that's about 25 out of every 100 shots. The snitch tickets go to the vehicle's registered owner in hopes of making an i.d.
However, there's no legal obligation for the registered owner to identify the driver, something the notices gloss over.
A real ticket, officially known as a "notice to appear," does come with a responsibility to either pay the fine or go to court, but can only be generated once the police match a name to the face in the photo.
Sgt. Sharon Kaufman, who currently runs the city's red-light program, said the police go to great lengths to get that name.
A business owner with a fleet of commercial trucks called the Menlo Park police relentless. "They called our office, browbeat our receptionist, and contacted our landlord, looking for someone to spill the beans," the owner said, and requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The owner gave the Almanac a copy of the snitch ticket. A cover letter written on city letterhead accompanying the notice reads, "You should be advised that California Department of Motor Vehicles may choose not to allow registration of this vehicle until the matter is handled by your company. Should we not receive information regarding the identity of the driver, we will forward a copy to the DMV." The letter was signed by former Menlo Park police officer Maria Sandoval.
But it's a false threat, according to both the DMV and Sgt. Kaufman. "(Officer Sandoval) is no longer with the department. I don't know why she would include that in there. Maybe it was her misunderstanding of the law," she said. "I would not have authorized that had I seen that. If there's no notice to appear, no information is transferred to court and DMV."
The traffic violation notice itself reads, "You must complete all the information in the bottom section and return the completed form." In bold red font, the heading at the top of that bottom section states in both English and Spanish, "Identify new driver -- if you were not the driver." It then asks for the driver's name, address, physical description, license number, and date of birth.
The sole hint that this isn't a real citation comes in one sentence, in small (but red) font: "Do not call the court regarding this notice." It doesn't explain why, however; calling the court would be pointless because the court doesn't process snitch tickets, only actual citations.
At a Transportation Commission meeting in October, Commissioner Ray Mueller asked Sgt. Kaufman who created the language used on the tickets. Although she initially referred to the state judicial council, Sgt. Kaufman later clarified that in fact, the Menlo Park police department did, in collaboration with other local agencies that contract with Redflex, the vendor providing the cameras.
"People need to be advised of what their legal rights are. You don't just shortcut to make it quick and easy. You have to hold that line on a policy level," he said.
Changing the wording might be harder than talking your way out of a ticket, however. Sgt. Kaufman said she supports the current language. "The reason why I do is that approximately 15 to 20 percent of the notices we send out are these traffic violation notices. And to a large degree, we don't get any information back as it is," she said.
"The form does not coerce people. It asks people to fill out the form completely. The 16-page reports I get back on traffic violation notices that went out that we've never gotten any information back on clearly show people either don't read it, or don't care."
Mr. Mueller said arguing that "some people know about it" undercuts the department's position. "To me that right away screams social inequity, when you get into the matter of someone being more educated and dialed in not necessarily having to do it, if you're one of the people privileged enough to be aware of your rights -- they're not cheap tickets," he said.
Data the Almanac obtained from the San Mateo Superior Court showed that those who could afford the time to go to court and argue against the ticket usually paid less than the full $437 fine.
The tickets aren't cheap, and neither is the program. But asking how much the red-light camera program costs Menlo Park is apparently not a straight-forward question.
For instance, the city attorney's office has billed the city approximately $68,000 since the program started in 2008. "The legal fees are probably not included in any figures given by the city for net revenue and administrative costs for the program," City Attorney Bill McClure said.
Those fees include contract review, responding to public records act requests -- and going to court. That happens when a driver appeals a case after a judge upholds the citation. "Our best estimate is that we have appeared in five to six cases on appeal with between 10 and 15 total court appearances in the three (plus) years the program has been in place," Mr. McClure said.
City staff estimated that annual revenue from the red-light camera program --> not including those legal fees -- hovers around a modest $200,000.
No one argues against reducing traffic accidents, and red-light cameras can play an important role. State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who recently lost an attempt to get legislation passed to regulate the programs, said he was very clear that running a red light is dangerous. But the methods of enforcement violate due process, the senator said. "When you send out a notice to people under color of law, saying if you don't identify the driver you get in trouble, it's inappropriate. It's an abuse of process."
Mr. Mueller agreed. "I absolutely support the cameras from a public safety standpoint," he said. "But I think there's enough of an issue here and I'd like the City Council to look at it rather than wait for the state to issue a law."
With the danger of injury to others, I think the vehicle owner should bear responsibility of the ticket. If a business owners drivers break traffic laws, the cost of the ticket should come out of their wages. If I let my son use my car and he runs a red light, I would certainly be able to identify him in the photo or by the date and time of the occurrence. The lights were put in to make our intersections safer for all of us.
The cops should just send the tickets to the car owner's insurance company. Insurance is based on the car, not the driver, so it does not matter who was driving. If you hit someone when running a red light, your insurance company is one the hook (in a big way) so they have a right to know about these infractions and adjust your rates accordingly. The DMV should have your insurance information on file.
Police abuse of due process -- is that taught at the academies?
Legal answer is no, there is absolutely no legal obligation to any individual to do so.
People can argue it based on ethics and their own standards of ethics.
Legally, there is absolutely no obligation under this notice. 100% sure.
Police lies and harassment. City treating the normal and safe behavior of residents as prey for revenue. Situation normal in The Land of the Free, 2011 edition, brought to you by public sector unions and their desperate search for other people's money.
Great story! But I wish I knew which local business has a fleet of drivers who are consistently running red lights and endangering lives. I'd boycott them. Red-light running is the height of selfishness and reckless endangerment of the public.
The Menlo Park police department has a sorry history of not just bending the law but breaking it on many issues. Harassing minorities is another one of their favorite past times.
It's a shame that the City's legal counsel seems to be all for finding loop holes for them and providing a veneer of legality to cover up their unpleasant and outrageous behaviors.
Answer is correct. The owner of the vehicle is under no obligation to identify the driver of the vehicle. Write "it's not me" on it and send it back. Red light cameras are an abuse of due process. |
The life story of Saartjie Baartman, the African slave who was gratuitously displayed in Europe during the early 19th century, contains layer upon layer of persecution.
Artist Thola Antamu strives to unravel the enigma of “The Hottentot Venus” in her one-woman performance art instalment, Exhibit S: Ode to Saartjie Baartman – a show in which the Khoi heroine is offered the rare opportunity to voice her distress.
The piece is blessed with the gravitas of an extraordinarily challenging subject matter. Saartjie Baartman’s inability to make her voice known has transformed her epitaph into an illusion. Here was a woman who was objectified in the most literal sense, paraded in front of astonished crowds six days a week, doing suggestive “native” dancing and playing African instruments. She exists in Antamu’s narrative and yet, since Baartman was unable to read or write, almost nothing exists in her own voice. When Antamu ventures into her own personal manifesto, that absence becomes even more notable. But perhaps that is the point of Exhibit S. Treated as a mere object of curiosity, Baartman never possessed any manner of agency in her own life.
Slavery will always be a hot button issue and there is something endlessly horrifying about watching slavery depicted on stage. Exhibit S presents an irresistibly powerful story, in a way that does not shirk the horror. It is uncomfortable to watch at times, as it should be. Antamu’s Baartman starts out in a chained state of disbelief, which gradually gives way to a lingering, almost life-threatening despair. But the silhouette of a defiant woman remains underneath the insistent glare of the spotlight. Antamu’s sedate yet enigmatic monologue transports the audience to that noisy Piccadilly Circus in 1810 where Baartman was absurdly billed and ridiculed. We are forced to engage, and unwittingly take up the place of ‘innocent bystanders’ during Baartman’s agonized subjugation. I was left drained and nauseated, and extremely moved.
As a reprieve Antamu gradually sheds Baartman’s skin and delves into her own personal background. She offers an intriguing autobiographical passage into her life as an orphan, while railing against society’s fetishization of women. At this point Antamu’s crusade becomes slightly diffused. Is it logical to juxtapose the blatant and forceful trafficking of a young, powerless woman with the sexualized gaze of a liberated woman?
Nonetheless, with the current controversy surrounding Brett Bailey’s Exhibit B in London, which similarly examines notions of racial supremacy, Exhibit S becomes all the more intriguing. The novelty of Exhibit S is that it is intended not only as an ode to a particular historical figure but also as a confrontational social commentary about the hyper-sexualization of females in our contemporary world. This has been a rocky year so far for exploitation of female sexuality, with active participation from both men and women. Our world is riddled with the objectification of ethnicity and curves, gross violations of privacy, and ‘twerking’, almost exclusively all featuring women. To that end, the timing for Exhibit S: Ode to Saartjie Baartman to address these controversial social dilemmas is exceedingly apt. If we are lucky enough, this production will soon be revisited. |
Teachers! Are you looking for fresh ideas to use in the classroom? Parents in Touch has a huge range of colourful and stimulating resources for you to use in the classroom. The site was initially set up to help parents, but the interest shown by schools has led us to open up the site to teachers, many of whom are now using our resources in the classroom and as homework activities.
At Parents in Touch we appreciate that both parents and teachers have a role in educating, stimulating and encouraging enjoyment in learning for children of all ages. It is useful to teachers for parents to have an insight into the systems of schooling, subjects covered for their children's age group and the achievements possible for each age group. This page highlights some of the material which teachers use to ensure that every pupil has a good foundation of learning at all stages.
Here are just a few ideas, but please take a look at Spring Term Ideas for Teachers and Spring Activities for plenty more.
We have shown here just a small fraction of our thousands of resources. Please look around the site to see what else we have to offer. The first pages are an illustration of how wide-ranging our resources are.
Here are some ideas to help your pupils to think laterally and to increase concentration.They are also fun so useful for team work and to expand knowledge. There are more ideas like this on the site.
We have plenty of resources to help your parents understanding schooling at all ages. To see all these, please go to the Worksheet Finder and search under All - All - Schooling Explained and select the appropriate age group and also General. Here are just some examples.
To help busy teachers, we have gathered together links to some useful web-based resources.To help you to keep up to date, we regularly check for new Government publications and add them to our resources. Many more can be found through the Worksheet Finder by searching on Teacher's Resources.
We have resources to support teaching across the curriculum.
English resources are divided into key areas - please see the Subject menu on the top bar.
We have an extensive section on book reviews and this includes many early reading books.
Our maths pages cover all the key areas and provide useful ideas for extension work.
Below you will find some sample policies.
We have compiled a selection of popular resources for teachers. |
COPD Loneliness: Could Talking to Someone With COPD Overcome Loneliness?
Getting a COPD diagnosis and learning to live with the realities of a lung condition can leave you feeling isolated. Understanding these emotions and adjusting your life can be a huge hurdle for many people, possibly even more so than the physical symptoms that come with COPD.
It is estimated that more than 30 million people are living with COPD in the USA. With such a big percentage of the population affected by the condition, we’ve taken a look at why many people with the condition find themselves feeling so alone.
Recent research from the social network HealthUnlocked found that before joining their platform, 60 percent of people had never met someone with the same chronic health condition as themselves.
Commonly people rely on support from their doctors, whose focus is usually addressing the physical symptoms of COPD, and then turn to friends or family to deal with issues such as social isolation and loneliness. However, it’s very unlikely that the people they are turning to, know anything at all about what it’s like to live with this chronic lung disease.
People are therefore increasingly looking for support in other places, with peer support in the form of COPD online forums rapidly growing in popularity.
Building on the traditional group support that has existed in buildings and community centres for years, these communities operate on a much larger scale, bringing thousands of people from across the globe together to discuss everything from symptoms and side effects of prescribed drugs, to the feelings that come with COPD and even dealing with family and friends.
We’re beginning to see evidence that these communities are starting to bridge the gap between discussions with your doctor, and the need for emotional support and further information after a COPD diagnosis.
“I wasn’t any good…to anyone my family really didn’t understand … they thought it was a joke I had just lost my granddaughter two months before. I still can not explain [or] express [that] I just want to live. I take one day at a time.” – Teresa G.
“You know what hurts me? People don’t understand why I stay at home and don’t do much. I have COPD and I have congestive heart failure, walls in my heart had became hardened and it cant expand to pump oxygen and fluids, this adds to the COPD because my heart can’t function pumping oxygen. It really bothers me that people I love think I am just lazy or gave up, I have worked my whole life and loved it but now I’m lucky to walk to my car without having trouble, oxygen 24/7 this ain’t no kind of life, I guess that’s all I can say about COPD.” – Ellen M.
“I’m [in] stage 4 GOLD now have been for the last five years. Yes, it is difficult to live with COPD and yes, people don’t understand, but you know, don’t worry about them and don’t let them upset you. It’s not worth it… I take one day at a time and thank God every morning for opening my eyes to a new day. Wishing you all a good breathing day and year. God bless you all.” – Noeline DRC.
“I feel so sorry for anyone who has to live alone with a disabling disease it’s so hard for me at times, I don’t know how I would be able to do these things without help.” – Richard D.
These comments show exactly how people with COPD feel, and the responses posted in reply to them, from peers with COPD, demonstrate why this support is changing lives. They are positive and uplifting, and even more importantly, show some real-world understanding of what the person is going through.
COPD can be a life-changing diagnosis for anyone, but opening up access to support like this has the potential to revolutionize peoples experiences of living with it, simply by bringing people with the health condition together.
These are exciting times, and we expect to see more and more support being offered this way to people with COPD and more people actively seeking it out as part of their own COPD treatment and management of the condition. |
As we began our renovation project, something that was important to me was the selection of our thermostat. I know most people don't put a lot of energy into that selection, but it was something I wanted to get right. The obvious hipster solution would be the Nest Learning Thermostat, and the first part of this post is going to tell you exactly why I didn't make that choice.
The first generation Nest was introduced at the end of 2011, but had some important limitations, like the fact that it couldn't control 2 stage air conditioning systems. The second generation Nest, introduced about a year later, was a more powerful device that could control modern multi-stage systems (2 stages of cooling and 3 stages of heating). The 2nd generation device even got a software feature that my $60 Honeywell thermostat had in 2003: "smart recovery" (Nest calls it "Early-On"), which basically means that instead of just having a schedule of times to change temperature set points, when it's been offset (turned warmer while you're gone in the summer or cooler while you're gone in the winter), it will achieve the desired temp at the requested time.
Basically, with cheap programmable thermostats (and expensive 1st gen Nests), if you know you get home at 6:00 pm every day, you need to set the thermostat program to a lower temperature sometime before 6:00 to be sure it gets to your temperature by 6:00, and if you want to be SURE it will get there on the hottest days, you need to set it pretty early, maybe 4:00 just to be sure. With smart recovery the thermostat control logic determines load vs. capacity for your system dynamically and predicts how early it needs to start running to achieve your temp at 6:00. Some days it might be fine with 5:45, while other days it might have to come on at 4:30. This is a really important feature if you want to confidently offset your temperature significantly while still being comfortable when you're home. Without smart recovery you're less likely to offset significantly, and you're going to reap smaller rewards from offsetting because you're going to program to start recovering too early. It's a basic enough feature for a premium thermostat that it's embarrassing that it wasn't included in the first generation product.
The big selling point of the Nest is that it figures out home usage patterns by using motion sensors to determine when you're gone, allowing it to determine your schedule for you, and addressing the biggest problem with programmable thermostats: people don't actually use them to offset. The nest starts offsetting for you and learns how much it can get away with before you start adjusting it. The more it gets away with, the more little green leaves it rewards you with to let you know how it's saving you money. I'll be honest: this is the point where my eyes glaze over on Nest. I'm not an idiot, and I don't need an idiot's thermostat. My thermostats have always been programmed, and, unlike the first gen Nest, they've always included smart recovery capability. For me, comparing the Nest to a sub-$100 Honeywell thermostat from Lowe's yields: Nest has wifi (that's good), nest is pretty (sure), next costs 4X more (uh, why?).
In addition to not looking as pretty, being a relic from 2009, the wifi support is 802.11g, not 802.11n, which is a bummer for some technical reasons. The Smart's interface is also a resistive touch screen instead of a capacitive touch like the Nest's. In layman's terms, capacitive touch is what has made smartphones so responsive and what made the iPhone so different, as it was the first big product to use capacitive touch. Finally, the Smart wasn't available at the Apple Store.
Smart is more than a name. The Smart's software includes all the basic things you expect a any $250 thermostat to do. Smart recovery, humidity control either using your existing air conditioner or a dehumidifier and humidifier, smartphone integration, home automation integration, consideration of current weather and forecast in scheduling, etc.
Web programming. For whatever reason, maybe the same one so many VCR's used to flash 12:00, many people don't program their thermostats, but the Smart makes it really easy to do. You can basically get as sophisticated as you want and it's really slick and easy to do just by dragging with your mouse.
Reporting. The online reporting with any ecobee is really slick, but if you want you can download all the data from the system into a spreadsheet and analyze it. Basically you can see exactly what your thermostat was doing in 5 minute intervals for as long as you've owned it.
Multiple inputs and outputs. This is what really sold me. With the Smart you have discrete inputs and outputs that can turn things on and off or monitor whether things are on and off, and with the optional Remote Temperature Sensor Module you can hook up extra sensors for different rooms of your house, or OAT, or attic temperature, or whatever. Now things are interesting.
For our house, we added two Honeywell C7189U1005 Temperature Sensors, one in the master bedroom, and one my office. That way, at night I can control the temperature of our house based on our bedroom temperature, and during the day, when I'm working from home, I can control the temperature of our house based on my office temperature. This is the killer feature that every home should have, and for me it was worth not getting rewarded with green leaves and having a less attractive device on my living room wall.
After I made the decision, Honeywell introduced the Lyric WiFi-Enabled Thermostat, which gave me pause. The Lyric looked attractive, modern, and had some functions that didn't exist in the Nest or Smart. I really liked the idea of their "Fine Tune" feature, which adjusts setpoint based on things like "is it particularly cold outside?" or "is the humidity running a bit high in your house right now?" In the end, while the Lyric promised to be better than the Nest, sensors in all the important rooms was the killer feature, and I stuck with my 2009 thermostat, and I'm pleased with the selection. There's really no substitute for controlling the temperature in your actual location.
Finally, a bit of a spoiler for a future post. If I were choosing today, I wouldn't choose the Smart. In September ecobee introduced the ecobee3 Wi-Fi Thermostat with Remote Sensor. Unshockingly, they reached the same conclusion I did with regard to what the killer feature was for a thermostat: controlling the temperature where you're at, not where the thermostat is mounted to the wall. The ecobee3 supports wireless sensors basically wherever you want them, and uses motion sensing to follow you around your house. Their slogan is "For Homes With More Than One Room." I have one sitting on my desk for a customer's home and will write about it soon. The ecobee3 is attractive, modern, oh, and for you hipsters, it's now sold in the Apple Store.
Like many of Amazon's products, they didn't create the product category. Roku launched the category in 2012 but it didn't take off due to issues with MHL (discussed below). Google popularized it with their Google Chromecast last year, and Roku followed up with an improved stick earlier this year, the Roku 3500R Streaming Stick. Similarly Amazon's own Fire TV box was already aimed squarely at the Roku 3 Streaming Media Player and the Apple TV boxes.
First, a little background: Roku and Apple both have both been in the streaming box market for a several years. Apple's device, which has been through several revisions, has been a relatively nice device for people who really are embedded in Apple's iTunes ecosystem, but the current device is pretty long in the tooth. Expect Apple to update it in 2015. Roku has been the "every man's" streaming box for several hardware generations and even my parents, who were both born in the 1930's, have a Roku. Both boxes have the downside of, well, being boxes.
After Roku's first attempt at creating a Roku's stick, Google created the Chromecast, which is also a little dongle that plugs into an HDMI port and hides itself away behind your TV. It has some pretty cool features, but is very dependent upon your using phone or tablet for interface. Roku's "we can fit our Roku box into an HDMI dongle," like the Roku box, gave you a remote control, and the second generation product avoided the problems of the first gen product.
That gets us to Amazon. Earlier in 2014 they announced the Fire TV, a direct competitor to Roku. Running a modified version of Android Open Source (like the Kindle Fire tablets that share the Fire name), the Fire TV was aimed directly at the streaming box market with a bit of a twist. Amazon is trying to sell their own media services, including video, music, and their own Android app store, so they made their box significantly more powerful and included the option to buy a Amazon Fire Game Controller for playing Android games on your TV.
As you can see from the picture, there's quite a lot in the box. There is the stick itself, along with an extension cable in case you are installing in a location that makes it difficult to plug in everything. There is an RF (Radio Frequency) remote that allows you to control the unit. Most remotes use infrared (IR) so they require a sensor on the device to have line of sight to the remote. RF gets around that at some expense.
Finally there is a USB cable/wall adapter to power the device. Amazon recommends (repeatedly) using their wall adapter. As I touched upon a little in the Leviton USB Outlet post and the Better Car Charger post, USB power varies. As you may recall, the base USB spec is 0.5A (2.5W), and 100mA (0.5W) before "digital negotiation." There are USB charging ports that gets us as high as 7.5W (depending on the design) without negotiation, and then there are crazy things like current generation iPad chargers that go all the way up to 2.4A (12W). Amazon is saying "we know our adapter is 5W, but we can't promise anything for any others." That doesn't mean you won't be A-OK plugging it into a USB power port on the back of your TV like the one my newer Samsung TV has, but you should understand that things might not behave correctly and plan accordingly.
Finally, I mentioned MHL and Roku in the opening. You may not know about MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link), and I'll spare you the details, but MHL is a standard that is related to HDMI and includes sourcing power. The first generation Roku stick used MHL and it caused all sorts of issues. Most TV's didn't support it, and there are different versions which have different power levels (sound familiar?) and it was generally an unhappy deal for Roku as an early adopter. The Chromecast, newer Roku and Amazon Fire sticks don't bother with MHL, and instead source power through the aforementioned micro-USB power. Ironically, newer TV's are supporting MHL (my Samsung has MHL support on one of its HDMI ports) just in time for this abandonment. It will be interesting to see if the USB ports become unnecessary in the future.
Setup is super easy. You plug everything in and turn on the TV, selecting the correct HDMI port. The device discovers your wifi network and connects (you have to peck in your security code with the arrows on the remote and an onscreen keyboard), it plays a little intro cartoon and you are quickly to the main screen, where Amazon media sources are prominently displayed. All the usual suspects are there, Amazon video purchases and rentals, Prime Instant Video, etc. Beyond that, everything else, like Netflix, involves downloading apps.
After you set up your home automation (HA) hub, in our case, the SmartThings Hub , one of the first things you're going to want to do is automate things based on your presence. You'll want to have the lights come on when you come home, offset the thermostat when you leave, etc. With a little work, you'll have the house behaving much differently when you're home than when you're not home. The real question of course is, "How does it KNOW?"
The answer is that there are all sorts of ways. If you're familiar with the Google/Nest Labs Nest Learning Thermostat (not a recommended product), you know that it uses motion sensing to know if you're in the room with it. Of course that's a pretty limited way of doing things, which fits right in with the Nest, but we'll get to thermostats in another post and I'll explain why Nest is at least 3rd on my list of recommended thermostats. There are better was, and the SmartThings software offers several solutions.
Open the app and set the status to default "I'm Back!" or "Goodbye!" events and trigger whatever actions you've tied to it. OK, let's face it, you're never, ever, ever going to do that. What good is home automation if it's not automated?
#3 is at least partially a sign of where HA technology and consumer understanding of it is at, and is why every time I talk about a device, I specifically talk about how it connects to your home network of networks. ZigBee is a mesh network. The devices are low power and also short range. Because of this, all the devices on your network talk to each other and pass their various messages along through your house. They connect to your main home network (the one your computers and other WiFi devices are on) through your home automation hub, but if the hub and the device are too far apart, there has to be another device in between to relay the messages. With respect to the SmartSense Presence Sensor , that means that if you don't have many ZigBee devices (and remember, there are actually several different profiles of ZigBee that don't all talk to each other or SmartThings), and your hub is back in your nerd closet, it might not reliably know you're home. Complicating all of the above is that there are actually different ZigBee profiles that don't necessarily talk to each other, so a ZigBee Home Automation device (like this one) won't talk to a ZigBee Smart Energy device, etc. You need to consider things like this when applying the device, and it's annoying.
Beyond the SmartSense Presence Sensor , there are several other options. One of the most interesting is simply using your phone to geofence your house. Modern smartphones have "location services" that track the phone's location as you move around using a variety of methods (GPS, identities of in range WiFi networks, Bluetooth beacons, and cellular tower signals), and one of the applications that has been increasingly applied over the last few years is what's called "geofencing." Basically is creating a "fence" around a location and triggering when the fence is crossed. In this application, we create a fence around our home, and trigger a present/away event when we cross it.
The first option for doing this is the SmartThings app itself. When you set it up, it locates your home and lets you set a radius for sensing presence, and you can always modify this in the main settings for the app. Now, from the main screen, or "Dashboard," we hit the big plus sign to add a device, scroll down to presence sensors, select our phone, and "connect now." Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, right? Now you go to your wife's phone, log in with your email and password, rinse and repeat, right? BZZZZZT.
Apparently SmartThings has decided that this isn't the way it should work. When you take this path the app complains that there is already a device named "Colin's iPhone." Never mind that I'm on Courtney's iPhone, no matter how many times you try, it complains of the same thing. It turns out, you have to log into each device with a separate email address, which is "invited" from from main account. Why? I'm really not certain. It's an irritating enough issue that on the SmartThings online forums, there is a thread titled, "Setting up multiple iPhones (separate linked accounts) as presence sensors for dummies." Yeah, that's what I went and found when it didn't work the way I expected.
Another method of presence sensing is through SmartThings integrating the Life360 app, which integrates with the SmartThings hub via "cloud to cloud" integration. Life360 lets you do all sorts of things to keep up with your family, including sharing to-do lists, grocery lists, and tracking when family members come and go from your home. You can leverage this tracking instead of using the built in tracking functionality. I'll be honest, at this point I'm not sure why I would prefer one over the other, but I've verified that this method works.
OK, this post has gotten pretty long, but presence sensing is one of the core inputs for home automation, so I wanted to get a thorough foundation, plus the SmartThings software didn't work as expected. In the next HA post I'll actually talk about applying the presence sensing to make some things happen.
I went with SmartThings for a number of reasons. It was one of several solid choices that would tie into a variety of the more popular automation standards, its smartphone app is less panned than some of the others in the online reviews, and, important to me but not necessarily everyone, or even most people, it has a strong developer community so that you're not stuck with limited support for various devices, but can install homebrew applications to let you do particularly gee-whiz stuff. That's a technical term. Also, SmartThings is kind of the original product in this category and was started by a "Kickstarter" campaign, which just kind of makes it cool, and they don't take themselves that seriously, as indicated by statements like "time travel is still in beta" in their FAQ.
From here, you can touch the big green circle to turn the switch on and off, and you can go into "SmartApps" to set up behavior. I created custom apps named "Christmas Tree On" and "Christmas Tree Off" only to find an annoying limitation. I could set the switch to come on based on any number of triggers, including the ones that would be useful in this case, like time, sunrise, sunset, etc., but for each of the time related categories you could only select one time. The option was either to create "Christmas Tree On 2" and "Christmas Tree Off 2" or to set both a time and a sunrise/sunset trigger for on an off. I chose the latter, with the tree coming on and off before and after sunrise and on and off at fixed times in the evening, but for other things you may have to set up multiple types of events. If you want something to happen on the hour every hour? Prepare to create 24 "SmartApps." That's a little less "Smart" than I would have liked.
Once it was done, it worked like a champ. You get a log of power usage in Watts every 5 minutes (this logging might be configurable, I haven't played with it) and a recording of every on/off event and why it was triggered.
So, mission accomplished. We've installed our SmartThings Hub, paired a device, and configured that device to do what we want. As my son would say, "easy peasy, lemon squeezy."
I just posted that the biggest problem with your A/C system is probably that it doesn't control humidity well. We will get back to HVAC in some future posts, but a sort of offshoot topic from the last post would be "how can I reduce the amount of humidity that my A/C system needs to remove?"
Many of the sources of humidity aren't going anywhere. You are major source through respiration and perspiration, cooking dinner, washing dishes, etc. are also major sources. Nobody is going to stop doing those things. Finally there is showering. Obviously (I hope) nobody is going to stop showering in the name of reducing indoor humidity levels, and you probably even realize that your bathroom has an exhaust fan in it, as required by building code. One of the two reasons bathroom fans exist is to exhaust moisture, but my experience is that people don't tend to use their fans as much as they should. One reason is that the fans tend to be pretty cheap and are installed "just well enough to meet code", but that's a subject for another day. The second big reason is that there's nobody to come in behind us and shut the fan off.
The switches we selected from Lutron fit into a "decora" style switch plate and allow you to easily select a run time for the fan. Each time you press the panel, the fan will come on for the last selected run time, so for instance, in our master bath, I can walk in in the morning, hit the switch, and the fan will come on for the next 20 minutes, allowing me to shower and allowing time for the fan to run after I shower. In our powder room, where humidity removal isn't the purpose, you can run the fan and then easily select an amount of time for the fan to run after you exit.
Besides the obvious ability to set the timer, the LED's on the side show how much time is remaining as the timer counts down and, when it hits the one minute mark, there is a slight pause to let you know that the fan is about to turn off. It's definitely a nice product that works well for the purpose that we intended, and it would be easy enough to retrofit into any bathroom. We put them in all of ours. |
Located over 2,210 metres above sea level is Riffelalp, an intermediate station of the Gornergrat-Bahn. Many hikers come up here to start their Alpine hikes, and also at Riffelalp are the Riffelalp Resort and the Riffelalp Chapel, a chapel built by Alexander Seiler, founder of Zermatt’s Seiler hotel empire, and his wife Catharine Seiler-Cathrein.
The Riffelalp Chapel is a private chapel, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on 3 July 1887 and to this day it is still owned by the Seiler family. This whitewashed chapel has a small bell tower and small canopy over the entrance. The chapel is only open to the public on certain occasions. If you’re there in summer, mass is held on Saturdays and this is when the public can get to visit the chapel.
Inside the chapel two commemorative plates honour the founders of the chapel. The altar, the arched windows and the choir arch display various new Gothic elements.
The main figure of the altar, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is flanked by statues of the Mother of God and presumably of Saint-Rita. Two coloured glass windows with images of the Mother of God and Joseph allow light to enter the choir. The windows in the nave are made of undecorated clear glass. On the walls of the Chapel are decorations and commemorative plates for various members of the Seiler family.
Today, the chapel is rented out for wedding parties and what a magnificent venue for weddings.
Riffelalp Chapel is also a classical concert venue for the Zermatt Festival. See what’s on and book your concert tickets HERE.
To get to Riffelalp Chapel, take the Gornergrat mountain railway to Riffelalp station and then, for the final leg, the Riffelalp Resort owns a tram which goes directly to the Riffelalp Chapel.
Alternatively, it is also possible to walk to the Chapel from the station. The five-minute walk is on one of the most beautiful trails of the Alps. |
What type of grain farmer are you? The risk-taker looking for an edge, or the ROI-oriented analyst looking for solid returns? Learn how both types of grain marketers need support – and how FarmLead can provide that advantage.
This type of farmer is often asking “why?”. Not just the philosopher, this farmer looks for “more” – and thinks of themselves as having some sort of edge. They are often found challenging the fundamentals of the marketplace. When something happens that goes against their theory, they posit that the market is rigged.
Some will attribute this perma-skepticism to years of hoping for things to get better: hoping for Mother Nature to hear prayers, hoping for policy to help them out when the land couldn’t turn a profit…but it doesn’t happen. One could argue that this skepticism has been programmed generation-after-generation; to be cautious of all the things that cannot be controlled.
To be fair, this is good advice. Don’t know if something is hot? Don’t touch it with a bare hand! Not sure how deep that soft spot goes when seeding? Probably a good idea to turn the wheel and take it a little wider (If you don’t, you’ll become Facebook or Twitter famous perhaps!).
Some may disagree with this assessment of “The Gambler”, but if you are a participant in the market, especially as a farmer in the grains market, you definitely have a bit of “let’s roll the dice” in you.
This type of farmer is constantly evolving, measuring their results as they seek better yields, better returns, and a stronger farm. This is the type of farmer who seeks to understand what is working, what is not working, and if not working – why is it not working. They ask more questions than suggest answers and want to learn, and rely on experts around them to help manage what they can’t do all by themselves: risk.
This type of risk includes agronomic risk, fertility risk, equipment risk, and, yep, you guessed it, market risk. Now these experts aren’t necessarily on the payroll but perhaps it’s the studies they read on soil fertility from the agricultural department of the local university or, market reports as to what’s moving the markets. Over time, the Hedge Fund Manager can clear out noise as to what is sensible to act on versus what is just noise.
For example, let’s use the recent rally that we saw in 2Q2017 where flooding in Argentina caused concerns over the size of the soybean crop there. Over the course of the next 2 months, we saw the grains market hit multi-year highs. While the fundamentals of the marketplace were rumour-driven, there were no other markets generating significant returns and so we started to see a whole bunch of speculative money pile into commodities.
This speculation helped drive up the price artificially, until the rumours rolled over and the Argentinian soybean harvest was better than expected and the weather premiums on the North American markets dripped away. The rally that took 2.5 months to hit its yearly highs took 2 weeks to lose all of the gains and then some.
Overall, the “Hedge Fund Manager” admits that they do not know everything but tries to weigh the upside potential versus the likelihood of downside risks. There is no way the Hedge Fund Manager can exactly know when the market has hit its peak or its bottom, but they do a better job than most understanding when those potential scenarios start to skew to one side or the other. More simply, they don’t risk not touching something that could be hot or think about getting too close to that soft spot with the drill.
Some actual hedge fund managers may disagree with this very general assessment of their job (honestly, it is more complicated than this) but at its core, it comes down to weighing risks and clearing the noise. |
"Laser technology," says Mr. Brownhill, "is the bridge across the 50 to 500 piece lot size gap. Shops can make money on these volumes, using a laser". And, it's toward this segment of the sheet metal fabrication market that Amada has pointed its high speed Pulsar laser machine.
The world of sheet metal fabrication is ruled predominately by two processes--stamping and punching. Boundaries between these two methods are driven by lot size. According to Mark Brownhill, Development Manager for Amada (U.S.) Ltd. (Buena Park, CA), volume breaks for these processes are: 2,000 pieces and above go to stamping and generally 500 to 2,000 piece lots are processed on turret punch presses.
What about volumes below 500 pieces? Many fab shops have ignored or at least avoided the 50 to 500 lot size market, because generally, conventional metal fabricating simply isn't cost effective at these volumes.
However, more available work is falling into this lot size no-mans-land. For example, the 2,000 piece break point, common today, used to be 5,000. Many shops are looking at how to make money on volume sizes they would probably not even quote on five years ago.
Prototyping has been the traditional niche for laser sheet metal processing. Shops making one or a few pieces use lasers because there is no tooling cost associated. Setup is also minimal. Historically though, once a prototype design is proved on a laser, tools are ordered and production then goes to a turret punch or (for high volume) a stamping press because of their processing speed.
This new machine, introduced last fall, is designed to break out of prototype work and move laser cutting into the production machine arena--competing with turret punch presses. But to compete on a production basis the laser had to at least have parity with the processing speed of a turret punch press.
Looking at the whole picture of laser cutting, Amada developed a new machine design. It combines many small enhancements such as a high speed piercing technique, improved material handling and a faster CNC processor to deliver a laser cutting system for high-production of short-runs.
Together these small refinements add up to processing speeds comparable to turret punch presses. Using the high speed piercing technique for example, an impressive 140 holes per minute cut speed can be achieved in cold rolled steel.
A second technique, called dynamic piercing, uses CNC to control the laser shutter. When the beam enters a cut, the CNC adjusts the shutter to allow the right amount of power for piercing and cutting so maximum laser efficiency and speed are realized. In tests on 3/8-inch diameter holes on 1-inch centers, a rate of 100 holes per minute was achieved--over 66 percent better than a conventional laser cutting machine.The newest model in the Pulsar series is the 2415 XL. It compliments the model 1212 introduced at IMTS 94. The 2415 XL is a bigger frame size than the 1212 and accommodates a 5' x 16' sheet versus a 4' x 8' sheet on the 1212.
Power options for the 2415 XL include 1500, 2000 and 3000W lasers to cut a variety of material specifications. Laser beam delivery on Pulsar uses a single moving optic for simpler beam alignment. An additional CNC servo-axis is allocated for control of laser focus. It gives precise positioning accuracy for faster setup. This CNC servo control takes guesswork out of focusing the beam.
Motion system design for Pulsar uses X-axis to move material on the machine bed. Y-axis moves the laser across a fixed bridge. This intersecting axis design reduces the amount of floor space to 18.4' x 9.3' for the 2415 XL model.
Three sheet metal holding clamps retract automatically when the cutting head approaches. This helps eliminate clearance "dead zones" around the clamps. A dual-axis gage block system simplifies sheet alignment. Pulsar can operate as a stand-alone machine or it's capable of integration with any of Amada's material handling systems.
A Fanuc 16L 32-bit CNC provides control for the laser machine. It handles X-,Y- and Z-axis linear motion control of the automatic focus servo and interface with automation and materials handling devices. The CNC is designed specifically for laser applications. A graphic interface makes acquisition of operating parameters from a resident cutting-data library easy for operators. As industry's trend to lower break-even piece volumes continues, more metal fabricating shops are looking for ways to make money on smaller lot sizes. Lasers may be worth considering as a way to profitably process sheet metal in the 50-500 lot size range. |
Nonviolent Communication is an approach to interaction, communication and behaviour which has a profound effect on all relationships – professional, home, social and cultural. It is taught worldwide and is practiced by people it in very diverse contexts. It is an effective way to facilitate rich and meaningful connections with ourselves and others.
Nonviolent Communication is built on the principle of ‘choice’. We may not be able to control what happens to us in life, but we can control how we react to it.
This powerful program helps participants overcome barriers to communication such as judging, blaming, demanding and criticising. While providing practical skills and techniques that help them to remain calm and compassionate in difficult situations.
To learn more about these principles, kindly visit this website. |
Losing weight can be very beneficial for your long-term health if you're overweight. However, it's important to do it at a sensible pace, as very rapid weight loss can lead to serious health complications and "yo-yo" dieting in the future. A healthy and sustainable rate of fat loss is roughly 1 to 2 pounds per week. You can achieve this by creating a caloric deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories per day. Combine a healthy diet with regular exercise to lose weight without experiencing the negative health effects of overly rapid weight loss.
Rapid weight loss often leaves loose skin on the abdomen, arms and legs. This happens because the skin has lost some elasticity and did not have time to shrink with the rest of the body. While this may not have long-term health consequences, it can cause mental distress, as well as uncomfortable chafing. The Columbia University Health Center advises that if the skin has not contoured naturally to the body two years after the weight loss, surgery may be the only option to correct it.
A common side effect of rapid weight loss is the development of gallstones -- hard deposits of cholesterol that form in the gallbladder. They can be harmless, but many people experience nausea and serious abdominal pain from gallstones, to the extent that the gallbladder may need to be removed. According to the Weight-Control Information Network, being overweight or obese makes it more likely that you will develop gallstones, so losing weight is beneficial. However, doing it very quickly actually increases your risk of developing them.
When you lose weight very quickly, it's not necessarily just fat that goes. According to a study published in the journal "Appetite" in June 2012, rapid weight loss can also result in a significant reduction in fat-free mass -- lean muscle tissue and bone. This reduction in fat-free mass can lead to a slowing of the metabolism, which can cause a rebound effect when you stop restricting calories or exercising.
While fatty liver disease is commonly associated with obesity, rapid weight loss is a risk factor for developing liver damage, sometimes following surgery to reduce weight in obese patients. This may be due to the sudden changes in your fatty acid profile after your weight loss, or as a residual effect of being overweight. |
Actress Daryl Hannah is often referred to as the Blonde Goddess of Hollywood, but as far as we’re concerned she’s the Green Goddess of the Rocky Mountains. Hannah lives there, off the grid, and she spoke to us about her setup and why she got into that life. The details were fascinating, from the technology of her farm-tractor to the soft couch in her living room made of moss covered stone.
She was in New York with Charris Ford who has lived off-grid for the past 18 years. They are on a tour to promote use of bio-diesel fuel, one of the issues that most concerns her. She started learning about the environment as a pre-teen, and she found nature to be the thing that has centered her, where she can think about things.
Charris, who runs Grassolean Solutions , got Daryl into bio-diesel as a way of reducing energy consumption on the planet, and now, as is well known she drives a bio-El Camino as well as running a bio-truck, and a bio-tractor on her farm in the Rockies.
There’s a phrase I really love, she said pulling out her pockebook — I actually wrote it on my wallet thou canst not stir a flower without the troubling of a star.
I have been a vegetarian since I was 11, and I eat organic , and my belief is that all these things are tied together, everyone says to me what’s your issue? but its all the same (its about) humanity — all environmental interests are tied together.
My house in the Rockies was an old stagecoach stop. Its pretty small, and I restored and put solar power in, and we have spring water because there’s a spring next to it. It basically all runs on solar, and we have a back up bio-diesel generator.
I took a barn that was being torn down to put up a new post office, all made of old growth hazel (wood), and they said that if I took it before they tore it down then I could have it. So we took it all apart and numbered it and put it back together and that’s now the winterised dwelling.
The stagecoach stop was not insulated really except with newspapers, for about a hundred years every traveller who came through would put up an extra layer of newspapers from wherever they were from, so it was not very warm but there were newspapers from the 1800’s.
I call it the art barn, and I have a big art space for creative endeavours, whatever that may be, music or painting or what movies or whatever.
“We also have an organic garden, and we get worm juice, ” she giggled. ” The bottom portion of it is all greenhoused in , and we let the water come running through there’s a little creek (which) keeps it half humidified as well and waters the plants.
We saved the most amazing detail for last. If there was an Oscar for recyling, Daryl Hannah would be the only nominee. She has actually made a couch out of mossy stone.
All the stone and scrub oak that needed to be moved when we put the barn in, we used it inside the house. The stone that had moss on it we use as a couch, and we water the couch to keep the moss alive.
Now that�s what we call off-grid.
My initiation into the natural world was through summer camp,” she told Off-Grid in her interview. “I grew up on the 47th floor of a building in downtown Chicago, and I was so disassociated and alien to the world and my dad saw that I was having issues at school, basically my teachers were saying that nothing was really sticking, everything was going in one ear and out the other.
�I kind of lived in some fantasy world, and his solution was to send me off to the camps where he went to as a kid, which was in the mountains in the Rockies, in Colorado, and it was a camp where you lived in covered wagons for two months and you horse pack and you backpack. You know, you�d have to dig a fire pit and you�d have to dig a latrine , you have to pitch a tent, you have to feed the horses groom them and bridle and saddle them; pack your tent, pack your food and clothes, for two months, you know and I did that every year from when I was 7 to when I was 17, every summer.
�We�d do technical climbing, and I�d even do solos, you know they�d send you out for 24 hours with no sleeping bag, no water� she said laughing at the memory of it. �And you�d go and think about things, essentially, you know.
�I never did any (foraging), I never did eat anything (out in the wood) but it would give you time to think and appreciate things, you know.
We are hoping Daryl will work more closely with Off-Grid on future projects, and will let readers know when there are any new developments on this front.
Definition: Off-the-grid | How Do I Get Off The Grid?
I have a 423 lot approval for a village ,1hour from the gold coast Australia and ideally would like to develop OFF THE GRID. Sydney university wants to set up a university of sustainability on site and consult on the project, Hope to sell house and land lots for $350,000 . Just need 423 interested people so i can get started. Peter.
We are looking for people, preferably a couple for a small community of 4-6 people (no children) who are looking to retire and live a quiet life on a farm. We are a young couple who are looking to buy some land and live off of it. We are looking in Southwest Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and similar areas which have comfortable climates year round.
We are looking for a riverfront property with 100 acres + and are looking for likeminded individuals who fit and able to help. If you are interested in becoming a part of the community and live a very quiet, high quality life, please respond. You must be easy going and open minded and non-violent. We just want to live a nice quiet life on an organic farm in nature. So if you love nature, scenery and are interested in being a part of this community with your help, please respond to this ad.
Well, I wonder how to achieve celebrity support like Darryl’s for something really deep like the Supreme Court’s ruling to give corporations the status of natural persons. This shocking decision extends basic constitutional rights like free speech (unlimited dollars=speech) to Monsanto, MacDonald’s, Exxon, and foreign corporations. It is the end of democracy and affects simply everything.
What needs to happen is for everyone to take a stand and reverse the decision as soon as possible. For those of us who don’t watch television, we can expect to avoid some of the worst mega-multimillion dollar corporate advertising campaigns; however, newspapers, magazines, radio, and billboards will show the political campaigns they’ll be running, we’ll all get more robo-calls, and worse.
Genetically modified seed drift has already closed down many smaller-than-factory-farm-sized independent organic farming operations. How will voters make their decisions on resolutions and bills in a climate of unlimited direct contributions from corporations to political campaigns?
I like that Darryl recognizes the connectedness of all environmental issues. That is how it really is. What those of us who are awake must do, I believe, is work cooperatively as a collective of people and organizations saying that corporate influence in government and food production has gotten out of hand. We need to take back our nation.
I like Daryl. She’s really a TreeHugger for she has defended the sustainability of the off-grid system. What I would like to stress is that currently the bio-fuel is on debate for its productivity has shortened the area available for food agriculture, which in turn is producing a dramatic situation on developing countries. I think the better source for vehicle fuel is solar, if the economic source for investigation is solved. Furthermore, using water as fuel is debatable too for the scarcity of sweet water. Sustainable planning and compact urbanism, along with massive transport must be enhanced too. Green architecture is important as well.
I have been involved in biomass conversion (wood and agriculture wastes)and am tying to get a unit from Europe (400 portable units built each year for the last 5 years and no units in the US) It can provide electricty, heat, purified water, and other bio by-products such as fuels, fertilizers, herbicides, insectcides, pesticides that can be used within the community from their own waste. This would be an ideal technology to provide rural communities and can be utilized to rebuild their economic development from within the community.
Do you know anyone that can help me?
Love you guys! Keep up the good work – we have a world to save! I would be interested in any synergistic networking and strategic alliances to get this show on the road. I’m a singer/songwriter turned presidential candidate (as a visualization art project) – what else could I do?
Did anyone see the ’04 Pentagon report on global cooling? Since it came out well before the last presidential election I was just curious as to why neither of the two-party-system candidates addressed it. I don’t know about you but I get pretty scarey when the freaking Pentagon issues an environmental warning of that magnitude. When was the last time they gave a hoot about the environment? E-gads.
We’ve definately got some work to do. As for Daryl…I got to see her on one of the late night talk shows. How very refreshing – positive and upbeat and unstopable. That’s how it gets done. (You go girl).
but it works, and still the new houses like mine use over 2000 WATTs!
This is what he should be building right now. In my opinion Ford and GM will go bankrupt before they even begin to catch on.
Fuel cells or Hydrogen will never become a significant power source for automotive power. Anyone who has taken a careful look at it knows this.
If we could find someone in our auto industry with just a tiny bit of imagination, who knows what we could do? In one scale or another everyone of these systems have been proven.
brakes (of course). An added advantage of this would be the ability to recharge from the electrical grid while at home, saving even more on fuel.
Each wheel, depending on the feedback to the controller from wheel speed sensors would drive with just the right power depending on the accelerator position. You would get recharging from deceleration just as you do in today’s hybrids. You would also use this feedback to stop the wheel from skidding.
mechanical advantage. That’s like turning an ordinary electric motor inside out.
is amazing – approaching 90%. I’ve got a couple and doubt that I would ever buy any other type.
recharged by plugging them in. You would top off you batteries overnight by plugging them in. Some cutting edge research by Toshiba – employing nano-technology – indicates that recharging can be done so fast that you could top off while eating lunch.
automotive engineers have even heard of them, much less thought to use them in this manner. Their energy density exceeds that of any other form of rechargeable energy storage.
Feel free to pass this along to anyone you know in the Transportation business. I suffer from no delusion that any of them have the imagination to be able to see how something like this could jump them ahead of the competition.
I bought a Honda Civic Hybrid last summer. I enjoy it more than any vehicle I’ve ever owned. I will Never buy another vehicle that isn’t a Hybrid and doesn’t get at least 50 mpg.
As far as I can tell, Detroit isn’t even thinking the same way I and the vast majority of it’s potential customers are. |
Unionized nurses delivered a formal strike notice to New York City’s three largest hospital systems Monday, a sign that another big organized labor force is prepared to follow the nation’s teachers and walk off the job if their demands are not met.
If hospital management and the New York State Nurses Association cannot reach a deal by April 2, 10,000 nurses will stop showing up for work and start picketing. A near-unanimous 97 percent of members voted to authorize a strike at Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospitals.
In 2018, education and health-care professionals were the two most likely groups of American workers to go on strike, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in a big spike over the previous year.
The union says that nurses are sometimes working with 9 or 10 patients at once, which creates safety issues for both health-care workers and the people who receive care. NYSNA, which has endorsed the Medicare for All policy in New York hospitals, said that its bargaining committee will be available to negotiate “every day and night” until the deadline. Members at the Brooklyn Hospital Center are voting this week on whether to join the strike, according to the union.
“The employers are getting away with understaffing and then blaming us when things go wrong,” Gonzalez said.
She also noted that hospitals are treating more patients who are getting sicker and living with chronic diseases like hypertension and heart disease as the years pass. The number of seniors with four or more chronic diseases will double by 2035, according to a recent study.
The New York Hospital Alliance, which represents hospital managers at the three systems, told VICE News in a statement that nurses were trying to “advance their political agenda” of staffing ratios.
"Our first priority is providing patients with uninterrupted health care,” the statement said. “We respect our NYSNA nurses and will continue to work to reach an agreement that is fair, reasonable, and responsible for all parties.
Workers and supporters held a rally at Mount Sinai Hospital on Monday to “demand safe staffing.” For years, nurses have lobbied for safer working environments. A 2014 survey found that 76 percent of nurses had experienced violence in the workplace.
Insufficient staffing is driving some nurses to leave the profession and causing high levels of turnover and retirement, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The American Nurses Association estimates that there will be more registered nurse jobs available through 2022 than any other American profession.
Hospital workers caused major work stoppages — strikes affecting 1,000 or more workers — at least four times in 2018, according to BLS, but the number of workers participating in the New York City strike outnumbers other recent nurse work stoppages by thousands.
In 2018, health-care and social assistance workers — about 75,000 of them — made up a big chunk of labor strikes, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Health-care and social-assistance workers (75,000) were second only to teachers, 375,000 of whom were the driving force of labor strikes last year, the first year the amount of striking workers went up in more than three decades. Together, the two workforces accounted for 90 percent of all major strikes in the U.S. in 2018.
To put it another way: In 2017, just 25,000 workers were involved in major work stoppages, according to BLS; in 2018, that number jumped to 485,000. |
A true space experience projects computer generate objects and imagery into a cameras view with no trigger required.
Using true space, the camera needs to recognize only a nearby horizontal surface. The camera then can attach virtual content onto that surface - such as a computer-generated chair sitting on the floor or a coffee mug onto a table top.
AR Designer makes use of ARKit on iPhones and other iOS devices, and ARCore on Android devices.
Q: Does the size of my model matter for a true space experience?
Because your content will appear to exist in real space in front of the user, you need to be cognizant of the size and scale of your content. If for example you want to depict a bear standing in a room, you need to be sure the bear is modeled and exported at a real-world scale. (5 to 8 feet, depending on the species).
The true space user will tap on the floor as displayed on the phone's screen and the bear (or whatever) will appear on the floor at that spot.
You also have the option to allow the user of your experience to change the size of it once it appears, by using a pinch action on the phone screen.
Q: Does orientation matter when setting up a true space experience?
You will also want to make sure that the bear is facing in the right direction when the user taps on that spot. The bear won't be nearly as terrifying if it is facing in the other direction!
You do have the option to allow the AR user to spin the model around to face in another direction.
Q: How can I use the 3D workspace to know if I have the scale and orientation correct?
The 3D workspace features a floor grid that is 1m. You can reference this to get an idea of how big your model is once it is important.
Regarding orientation, the default workspace point of view (when you open the experience in AR Designer) is approximately where the user's camera will be when they open the experience on their phone.
In the very near future, we'll provide more help regarding scale and point-of-view. Stay tuned! |
Do statistics scare you to death? A new Rollins course uses athletes as an avenue to understand complicated mathematical concepts.
Funny how most baseball fans might feel out of their league talking about correlation, variance, and multiple regression.
But bring up earned run average, slugging percentage, and wins above replacement—and all of a sudden it’s a different ballgame.
With sports as their vehicle, Rollins students are digging into statistical models that can be used for a variety of purposes, including the measurement of player and team performance. As a bonus, they’re building skills that have direct application in multiple career fields, from scientific research to financial management.
How can we use data to evaluate NBA star Steph Curry’s performance over the past year?
What is WAR and why does it now have such an impact on baseball?
How does loss aversion affect offensive and defensive effort?
Why are psychological and behavioral principles important to study?
Of the course’s 20 students, most of whom are sophomores, there are seven collegiate baseball players, four soccer players, and one swimmer. Everyone else played sports in high school or has an athletic background.
Those things aren’t requirements, of course, but they sure don’t hurt when it comes to the group research project—analyzing the statistics of a winter or spring Rollins sports team. At semester’s end, six groups will present their findings to classmates and coaches.
On March 8, the class held an NBA fantasy draft in which groups selected seven players and tracked their basic stats over a four-game span. The information provided talking points for understanding correlation, regression, and other concepts that underpin statistical analysis.
For Rob Secrist ’18, a double major in psychology and philosophy with a minor in global health, the class blends two of his favorite pursuits.
Davidson, a huge San Antonio Spurs fan, couldn’t help but share the fact that 39-year-old center Tim Duncan still leads the NBA in “defensive real plus-minus.” According to ESPN, the plus-minus metric registers the net change in score while a player is on the court, adjusting for the effects of each teammate and opposing player. |
Some people throw the word ‘love’ around to describe how they feel about everything. Some people will say that they love the new book that they read or that they love the new pair of shoes they bought, but is love really the appropriate word in these situations? Love is not something that describes an interest in something; it is much deeper than that. So, really, what does love stand for?
Love stands for acceptance. When you really love someone you accept them for everything that they are, without trying to change them. When you attempt to make someone different than they are, that is called rejection. Rejection does not provoke feelings of love in your or in them, instead it provokes more negative feelings like anger and hate.
Also, when it comes to acceptance and love, you don’t truly love someone because of one trait or quality that they possess and then stop loving them if they lose it. No, you love them for the traits, personality, qualities, and quirks that make them who they are now and who they will be in the future. And as time goes on, you allow them to change, and you accept the person that they decide to become.
Love stands for sacrifice. Love for others means putting yourself second sometimes. Doing something for someone else that makes them happy or makes their life richer, in spite of your own loss, is an act of sacrifice that stems from love. This is why the romantic movie, in which the man sacrifices his happiness for his true loves happiness, touches us so deeply. It is an act of true love to give up something for someone else.
Of course, there is the all-important self-love as well. This means putting yourself first sometimes and sacrificing others happiness. This kind of love means looking into your inner-self and doing what’s right for you. It involves making some selfish decisions that benefit you and your future by saying the word no sometimes, and instead, doing what you really want to do. It also involves decisions that make you happy and safe in life. As a bonus, this kind of self-love teaches others how you want to be treated.
Love stands for kindness. When we think of someone like Mother Theresa, who loved all of Earth’s creatures, love and kindness go hand in hand. This kindness extends from having the ability to care about other people, and their feelings and happiness, on a daily basis. Looking at life from their perspective allows you to treat them in a way that will uplift their day. After all, everyone wants happiness in their life, and when you truly love someone, you will recognize that need.
Love stands for patience. Seeing past the annoying habits of someone can be hard, but if you love them, then you tend to love them despite their annoying habits. True love makes us more tolerant towards others. We avoid giving them criticism, and instead we find the patience to allow them to be who they are without complaint.
Love stands for passion. This is how so many of us know that we have fallen in love with someone, be it during dating or otherwise. We start to feel passionate about them and their lives, and that enthusiasm about them makes us want to keep them in our lives for good. You often know that you are passionate about someone or something when you start to cheer them on and root for their happiness and success as you would your own.
Love stands for respect. When you love someone, you give them the respect that they deserve and put value on them and their life. You admire their talents, strengths, and individuality. Disrespect such as disregard, scorn, or hatred towards someone else does not show them love in a way that real love stands for.
Love stands for forgiveness. This is a hard one for many people as trespasses against them are hard to let go of. However, if you really love someone (or in some cases love yourself) then you will forgive them for the mistakes that they made against you and move on without hatred in your heart. This doesn’t mean that you have to forget what they have done to you, but it does mean that you can’t truly love someone (or yourself) if you have a wall of anger, hate, or mistrust built up. Where there is love, there has to be forgiveness.
Love stands for encouragement. It means that you are willing to support someone else in their endeavours, even if you don’t agree with their endeavours. For example, many people would not allow their husbands or sons to go off to war if they could help it, but they love them enough to allow them to make the choice that makes them feel good about themselves and their life. They encourage their decision and pray for their success.
Love stands for sharing yourself. It does not entail boasting or bragging about your life to other people, but rather sharing in your successes, accomplishments, and even failures. It’s about opening yourself up to someone and allowing them to see your deepest and darkest secrets. It’s about loving them enough to share your life and your private thoughts with them.
Love stands for faith. It means showing your confidence towards others and helping them feel confident as well. It’s about not putting on a sour face that puts the person you love on a shaky ground, but rather standing behind them and having the conviction that their beliefs are right for them and that their life is going in the exact direction that it should be heading. Faith is the absence of doubt.
So, in the end, what does love stand for? It stands for a deep respect and understanding towards others and yourself. It is about looking at the bright side of life, and seeing the good that it has to offer you. It is about looking past the negativity and the wrong doings of others (and yourself) and moving forward towards a bright future. In the end, love stands for happiness and peace. |
An incredibly rare 17th century alchemist's scroll giving instructions for the elixir of life has sold for a magical £585,000.
The delicate manuscript was an illustrative methodology of 15th century scientist George Ripley's recipe for the philosophers' stone which made a potion that supposedly granted the drinker eternal life.
It also gave instructions for turning base metals into gold.
Although the instructions were impossibly cryptic - there is one reference to using dragon's blood - it didn't stop scholars of the time, including Sir Isaac Newton, giving it a go.
It was only later on that the practice of alchemy was regarded as a myth. In more modern times the philosophers' stone is associated with JK Rowling's first Harry Potter novel published in 1997.
Only 23 copies of the Ripley scroll are known to exist today, with all but one of them held in museums and institutions.
Now the only one in private hands has sold at auction in London for a whopping £584,750 - almost double its pre-sale estimate.
The scroll is made of seven different membranes of velum stitched together to make a 13ft long scroll.
The manuscript features exquisite colourful illustrations of an alchemist demonstrating the processes for producing the philosophers' stone and the elixir of life.
The basic building blocks of fire, earth, air and water, are all involved as are the two 'metallic principles' of sulphur and mercury.
The scroll was purchased for £180,000 by a European-based collector in 2000.
Seventeen years on and they have now sold it at auctioneers Christie's for three times that amount.
Eugenio Donadoni, a specialists in medieval manuscripts at Christie's, said: 'It is such a rare thing to come across.
'To have a secular English manuscript about the magical and chemical processes of creating the elixir of life and the philosophers' stone is a really rare thing.
'There are only 23 examples in existence and this is the only one in private hands.
'This scroll was named after George Ripley and it described the processes of producing the elixir of life and turning base metals in to gold.
'It was named after Ripley but was made in 1624 in Manchester Leonard Smethley, an arms painter. There is no such thing as an original Ripley scroll but these instructions are based on his work.
'All 23 examples contain different illustrations but they all follow the same pattern, method and instructions.
'Some of them are pretty cryptic, one instruction talks about using dragons blood.
'Alchemy in the 15th and 16th centuries was a proper scientific discipline and wasn't just theory. Isaac Newton was known to practice it. |
What does New York City and the town of Colmar in France have in common?
Answer: The Statue of Liberty.
The capital of Alsatian Wine (capitale des Vins D'Alsace), Colmar, is the birthplace of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty in New York.
The statue of Lady Liberty as you may already know is a gift of the people of France to the United States of America.
A replica of the Statue of Liberty can be seen at the roundabout at Colmar's northern entrance to commemorate the 100th death anniversary of its creator, Monsieur Bartholdi.
Colmar is a much bigger town and has a more city-like feel to it as compared to the other towns and villages along the wine route. It is not as quaint or cute as Riquewihr and Eguisheim but its historic city center is picturesque just the same.
An area in the historic city center where the river Lauch runs through is called La Petite Venise (little Venice).
One can even take a boat ride along the waterway. No gondolas here but small flat-bottomed boats, still a relaxing way to see the neighborhood.
Talk about being the nagging wife! Had to constantly remind the big K to close his mouth as he drooled in amazement over the hundreds of cars on display at the Cité de l'Automobile in Mulhouse, a mere 30-minute drive south of Colmar.
First of all I'm not much of a car person, as long as the car runs with cool air conditioning (you have to have one where I come from) plus a good set of speakers for my music (to while away the hours stuck in traffic!) and I'm good to go. But even with my seemingly casual outlook of cars in general, I must say I was pretty much impressed with the museum's car collection.
"Flying cars!" We just knew we were onto something awesome upon seeing the impressive entrance of the museum.
The museum has hundreds of cars starting from the late 1800s. Some of them are even in running condition!
The museum even featured kid-sized replica cars. Lucky! Must be the envy of every kid in the neighborhood.
Cars from the 1920s to the 50s.
More cars from after the 1950s.
The museum has the largest collection of Bugatti cars in the world.
That's one happy dude, my big K!
Our trip to Alsace would not be complete without visiting its capital city, Strasbourg in particular a visit to its historic city center, La Grande Île or big island.
La Grande Île was classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
The Gothic Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg is one of five centuries-old churches at the Grande Île. Standing at 466 feet or 142 meters, it is the 6th tallest church in the world.
The Astronomical Clock inside the cathedral.
The intricate pulpit created in 1485 for the preacher Jean Geiler de Kaysersberg has a carving of a small sleeping dog carved at the foot of it. The story goes that the preacher requested his followers not to bring their animals in church during mass. Wanting to lead by example he never brought his dog with him inside the church, but to ensure the faithful companion remained always by his side, the sculpture of a sleeping puppy was directly carved into the pulpit.
La Petite France is an area in the Grande Île filled with medieval half-timbered houses. |
Lex Frieden (born March 5, 1949) is an American educator, researcher, disability policy expert and disability rights activist. Frieden has been called "a chief architect of the Americans with Disabilities Act." He is also regarded as a founder and leader of the independent living movement by people with disabilities in the U.S.
Lex Frieden was born in Alva, Oklahoma, a rural community in northwestern Oklahoma. He graduated from Alva Senior High School in 1967 and began studying electrical engineering at Oklahoma State University. It was as a freshman that he sustained a spinal cord injury in an automobile accident. As part of his rehabilitation from that injury, he went to TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, where he met Dr. William A. Spencer, the rehabilitation medicine visionary. Dr. Spencer became Lex's mentor.
Frieden's service in the 1970s included membership on a Congressional task force on science, technology and disability empaneled by Olin E. Teague (1910–1981), U.S. Congressman from Texas. The panel's mission was to study what was and was not being done in disability-related research across the entire swath of the U.S. Government. That panel's work led, in 1978, to creation of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a unit of the US Department of Education.
Frieden was one of the major figures behind the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. As Executive Director of the National Council on Disability (NCD) in the mid-1980s, reporting to presidentially appointed Council members notably including Vice Chairman Justin Dart, Jr., Frieden oversaw the work of Robert Burgdorf in writing the first drafts of what was to become the ADA. The Council issued two major reports, Toward Independence and On the Threshold of Independence, to further the effort along. President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990. Other significant legislation inspired by the Council while Frieden was director included the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) and legislation to make national parks and recreation areas accessible to people with disabilities.
After leaving NCD in 1988, Frieden was appointed by Congressman Major R. Owens, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Select Education, to be coordinator of the newly formed, Congressional Task Force on the Rights and Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities. The role of the task force was to gather information on the extent and nature of disability discrimination in America. Justin Dart, Jr. was named chairman of the group, and working together as they had for the past five years at NCD, they produced several reports and papers which congressional committees used in the process of considering and refining the ADA prior to passage.
President George W. Bush appointed Frieden Chairman of the NCD and the Senate confirmed his appointment on July 26, 2002, the anniversary of the signing of the ADA. Frieden’s swearing in ceremony was conducted in the Oval Office by the President and by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. Under Frieden's leadership, the Council produced a report, Righting the ADA, that made recommendations leading to enactment of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and they proposed a UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
Other Council priorities during Frieden's tenure as NCD chair centered on livable communities, adaptive technology and community-based services and supports for long-term care. His personal experience assisting with disaster response and recovery after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita motivated Council recommendations that resulted in passage of legislation to improve emergency preparedness and response for people with disabilities in disasters.
Frieden is Professor of Health Informatics and of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He is also Professor (Adjunct) of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine. Frieden directs the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) program at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research). In 2010, the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for the University of Texas System appointed him Chancellors Health Fellow on Disability.
Frieden is an Alumnus of the University of Tulsa. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University in 1979, and in 2004, the Lex Frieden Presidential Scholarship was established by the University in his honor. He is also a graduate of the University of Houston. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in law (LL.D.) by the National University of Ireland, Galway.
In 1983, Frieden was recognized as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans. He was the 1998 winner of the Henry B. Betts Award for outstanding achievement in disability rights. In 2011, the Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities named its annual employment awards program after Frieden for his advocacy work regarding the employment of people with disabilities around the world. He also won the 2013 Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards. Frieden was awarded the prestigious Fries Prize for Human Improvement by the CDC Foundation in 2017.
Frieden is a member and former chairperson of the Board of United Spinal Association. He serves on the board of the Sam Houston Area Council Boy Scouts of America. In 2016, Frieden was appointed by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to the board of METRO, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas.
Frieden's extensive collection of ADA artifacts and documents is held by the US National Archives and Records Administration at the George Bush Presidential Library at College Station, Texas. The collection chronicles the disability and independent living movements by people with disabilities during the last half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.. |
Here we are on the verge of actually writing some code for our custom control. Now is a good time for us to discuss what the required components for a custom control are. Notice that I said "a" custom control and not "our" custom control. That is because this tutorial covers almost all the required components of any custom control. The reason I say "almost" is because of the particular custom control we will create in this tutorial. It doesn't need a couple of the required components.
It should be obvious, after the amount of time spent talking about message handlers, that we will need our own custom message handler. Message handlers respond to messages. We know, from the previous discussions, that the OS sends a lot of messages and we can pick and choose what messages we will write code for. We will need to handle the @IDPAINT / WM_PAINT message since that is where we will actually draw the control. As we proceed we will also address a couple of other OS messages we will need to use.
We will also need some user defined messages so that the user's application can communicate with our control to configure it and to update the pointers.
We could just use the SENDMESSAGE command to send the messages (with our information) to our control, but instead, we will create commands the user can use.
Since our custom control message handler will have to handle an unlimited number of our controls in any given user application we have to have a way to store the configuration/runtime information that is unique for each instance of our control. The OS gives us several methods of doing this. We will use the method of my choosing and briefly mention the others that I discovered.
The OS won't send any messages to our handler until we register it as a class with the OS. So we will have to address that.
Can't forget that we have to have a way for the user to create an instance of our control. We could structure things so the CONTROLEX command could be used. However, I chose to create a custom command like was done in IWBasic's ControlPak.
When we create the lib that we will share, we will also need to create an include file (*.inc) for the user that contains all the required declarations to support our control.
And finally, we need to create some sort of help discussion to given the user the necessary information in order to properly implement our control.
With that said, we have finally arrived at the point of writing some code. |
Natasha Egan is the executive director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP). She has organised over fifty exhibitions with a focus on contemporary Asian art and artists concerned with societal topics. John Duncan, an editor of Source spoke to her about what she was looking for in work submitted to the Solas Prize.
John Duncan: When somebody shows you a new piece of work, how do you decide if it is interesting?
Natasha Egan: It has to ask a question in some ways. It has to hold me long enough for me to want to look deeper into the picture. That can either be through the content or more formally. If there is too little information I might pass it by but I won’t if it is more complicated, either visually or looking at the world from a different vantage point. I want to understand where the artist is coming from.
When I am doing portfolio reviews I often end up attempting to cross-referencing work against all the other bits of photography that I know. I am curious do you do that as well?
I do. I am not interested in work that I feel like I have seen over and over so I want artists to show me something new. Both of us look at a lot of pictures for a living and it is hard to do something new. Some people want to know, ‘what is on trend?’ and I say ‘if there is a trend, run the other way’. You can create something new but it is very common for me to say, ‘have you seen the work of this person because it reminds me of that’. Sometimes that’s a good thing because it seems that they are joining the conversation. At other times this other artist owns that style.
Do you have a mental map of contemporary photography?
My map is more of a network. There are a few galleries that I work closely with. Not necessarily buying work from them but sharing an understanding of what would be good for their gallery and then they look at what we are showing, and maybe pick that person up. Once a month we look at everything that is being submitted to us, but when one of those galleries writes to me and says, ‘we have started work with these new artists’ I will go the extra step in learning more about them.
Is there anything you like to see in an artist's statement or text introducing the work.
My biggest advice in an artist's statement is to be clear and direct about the project. Many people think that because you are looking at a picture that you understand it. They leave out important information that they think you should be able to see. Be very descriptive, be very clear, do not include a bunch of art theory unless it is super relevant. Just be real about what it is, like you are speaking ‘this work is about this’. When I am teaching, I always say, if we were to throw all the statements up in the air we should be able to match the statements to the work. It is amazing how hard that is. If there is a metaphor, tell us why you use that metaphor. Don’t think, ‘of course they are going to understand the metaphor’, we don’t.
For anybody entering the Solas prize, what is the most important thing you think somebody should consider?
I want to look at work where I can tell that the intent is serious, where I can tell that the artist has spent a lot of time thinking about the subject. Whether it is a personal issue, or a political or social issue. That it is well informed.
I am working with the guest curator Marc Prüst on an exhibition that explores how we see North Korea and how North Korea projects itself though its propaganda imagery. He sent me a proposal of some ideas and I sent him a list of some artists and we grew that show together. The next show after that is Grace of Intention: Photography, Architecture and the Monument which is being curated by my colleague Karen Irvine. Because I am the Director of The Museum I am involved in all the shows so if there is an artist I see – like during this prize – that will fit one of our future shows, collections or education projects then I will suggest them. I look at a lot of work for a lot of different reasons. |
Summer has arrived and with it comes the family fun in the sun and wet and wild water parks, pools and lakes. Summer also means that it is time to re-engage your family in water safety practices. In many states, drowning is a leading cause of accidental deaths among young children. It ranks as the second leading cause nationally, according to the National Safety Council. Each year, an additional 4,200 children are treated for submersion injuries at emergency rooms throughout the country. Most of these children were under the supervision of one or both of their parents and more than 75% had been “missing” for less than 5 minutes.
One of the first lines of protection in pool safety is learning to swim. A child as young as six months can learn the skills to possibly save themselves from a fall into the water, according to Infant Swimming Resource. Children six – to – twelve months old can learn to roll over and float and breathe from a facedown position. Children as young as a year old can be taught to swim, rotate over to rest and breathe, then flip over from a back float and continue swimming.
If your children have already had lessons, there are a few other precautions you may take to ensure a safe day at the community pool, lake or beach. Encourage children of all ages to always swim with a buddy and to stay within designated swimming areas (preferably where a lifeguard is present.) The American Red Cross warns to watch for the “dangerous too’s.” These include children being too tired, water being too cold, swimming too far away from safety, and getting too much sun.
Flotation devices can be a double-edged sword. While they provide new swimmer the ability to wade into deeper water, they can slip from under a child suddenly. “Water wings” or swimmies as they are often referred to, can give parents and children a false sense of security in the water. The one exception is a certified life jackets. Always remember to wear a certified life jacket when boating.
We all recognize that children should never be near water unattended. If you are at a pool with another adult, be sure the person in charge of supervision is aware that this is their responsibility. Assuming someone else is watching can be an easy, yet grave, mistake. Designate the supervisor to be an adult; watching a child in the water is too great a responsibility for an older child or sibling.
The sun can be especially brutal on children’s skin. Using sunscreen with a minimum of SPF 45 will ensure there are no tears after the sun goes down. It is best to put sunscreen on 30 minutes before they head toward the sunshine and often it is easier to do so before the water tempts them! Fair-skinned children (and adults) reapply sunscreen as often as every 30 – 45 minutes. Don’t forget hats and sunglasses, too!
Bring snacks and drinks that will help keep your family hydrated. Remember not to bring liquor or glass to community pools. Water helps the body regulate temperature and keep you cool. Sodas and caffeine are diuretics, which will contribute to dehydration. Healthy snacks can also contribute to a more enjoyable experience. Choose foods that will sustain you throughout the day such as fruit, peanut butter, and salted items. |
From the economy to the environment, it’s full steam ahead for the smart cities movement. Why? Well, according to Cisco Systems, over 60% of the world’s population will live inner city by 2050.
With the number of people living in cities increasing at a staggering pace, these cities are facing accumulative challenges; whether that be congestion on transport or the supply of a sufficient amount of electricity to meet the demands of the ever growing population.
Times are changing, and improving a city’s infrastructure is essential for creating a sustainable environment and improving quality of life. Entire cities are keeping ahead of the trend, adopting innovative IoT solutions to keep up with technological innovation and increase their flexibility across transportation, water supplies, agriculture, healthcare… the list is never-ending.
Philips Lighting have announced their focus on the development of smart lighting solutions to cater for smart city trends, worldwide. This accounts for street lighting, public landscapes, large venues and interior spaces. Already on the LED lighting hype, last week a town in the Netherlands began trialling traffic lights built into the pavement as a means of helping smartphone users cross the road safely.
In addition to this, earlier this year at CES 2017, Ford announced its collaboration with Amazon Alexa, allowing users to check weather, control their Alexa home devices or shop from inside their cars!
The integration of transformation technologies to accommodate the smart city movement is boundless, with innovative concepts occurring all over the world. Check out our top 4 transformation technologies that are making these cities smarter right now. |
Axial tilt and tidal locking also matter in a planet's habitability.
A new study explores potential climates of a planet orbiting two suns.
Hydrogen pouring from volcanic sources on planets throughout the universe could improve the chances of locating life in the cosmos.
Scientists have shown that planets in elliptical orbits are generally colder than previously believed.
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star.
New NASA research suggests some habitable zones might not be able to support life due to frequent stellar eruptions from young red dwarf stars. |
Sikkim is restricted. Tourists are permitted 15 days stay in Sikkim, and must apply for permission at the time of application for an India visa. The permit is issued by imprinting a stamp on the India visa.
Sikkim, and the adjoining mountains of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, together forms a homogenous mountain mass astride the valleys of the Teesta and Rangit Rivers.
Nameri National Park an even greater and more exciting range of birds is accessible to the birder. Kaziranga importance for biodiversity conservation can scarcely be overstated. |
Today, in Moscow a meeting of the Government Marine Board took place. Among its participants were representatives of federal agencies of executive and legislative authorities, governors, top managers of shipbuilding industry, shipowners. The Chairman of the Seafarers' Union of Russia, Yury Sukhorukov, also attended the meeteng.
Numerous issues were discussed during the meeting, they concerned the status and prospects of development of inland waterways of the Russian Federation, the measures to increase the merchant fleet, to boost its competitiveness and increase its share in the total volume of of national foreign trade cargoes.
So, by 2024 there will be demand for more than 100 new vessels, incliding icebreakers, LNG carriers, tankers for the transportation of crude oil and gas condensate, as well as support, rescue and hydrographic vessels. They will be designated to provide 80 million tons cargo traffic through Northern Sea Route, stated Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov. He stressed that Russia needed a new modern drycargo fleet, including containerships, bulkers for the export of coal and passenger ships.
-It is important that as many new vessels as possible be registered under the national flag of Russia, and a special focus is being made on it, - said Yuri Sukhorukov. - Aside from the opportunity to significantly increase the share of national foreign trade vessels in the total traffic volume, it will also create new jobs for Russian seafarers with decent labor and social guarantees.
Reference: Marine Board was established in September, 2001. The scope of it's functions covers such the issues as safety of navigation and shipping, the development of their navigation, hydrographic and search and rescue systems, and the protection of maritime cultural heritage objects. Its main task is to coordinate the actions of the authorities and organizations of the maritime industry for the benefit of implementation of the national maritime policy of Russia. The Board’s activities cover the development of maritime activities in Russia; development of the Russian and international regulatory framework; implementation of national and federal target programs in the sphere of shipbuilding, ship modernization and shiprepairing; dealing with problems concerning the study and exploration of World Ocean, the Arctic and the Antarctic; development of science and technology and shipbuilding clusters; development of sea and river ports. |
This video provides a reminder of the activities and energy of the former North Mymms Amateur Dramatics Society. Shot in 1964, it was directed and edited by John Colville. Originally a cine film, it's was transferred to VHS and now digitised. Photographer and local historian, Mike Allen, loaned his copy to The Brookmans Park Newsletter so that it could be shared with the community.
The North Mymms Dramatic Society (NMDS) was founded in 1949 by Lilian Charkham, known affectionately by the members as 'Lil'.
Some of the first productions - 'Flare Path', 'I Remember Mama', 'The Corn is Green', and many more, were put on in the very decrepit hall that was just near the gates to Hatfield House (opposite the station) - but has since long gone. When the Hatfield Technical College was built, several productions were performed there.
The construction of the Memorial Hall in Welham Green incorporated a stage made according to specifications given by Lilian Charkham. It opened, in November 1957, and the following week the society put on 'Treasure Hunt' as its first show there. Tickets cost five shillings and three shillings. 'Dear Octopus' followed in January 1958.
From then on, almost every year the society put on three shows of wide variety: 'Trelawny of the Wells', 'Diary of Anne Frank' (probably the most ingenious set it ever did, two distinct heights), 'Doctor in the House', 'The Farmer's Wife', 'Quiet Weekend', 'I Capture a Castle', 'The Browning Version', 'Peace in our Time', (John Hallem from Bluebridge Road had a large part in this and then took off to Hollywood to be in films, 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' being one of his biggest), 'Waiting in the Wings' (the only show Lil both directed and took a part in), 'Nine to Five', 'Quiet Wedding', 'Separate Tables', 'Badger's Green', 'The Miracle Worker' (story of Helen Keller - in which there was a working well on stage from which several jugs and containers of water were 'drawn' - (Bill Terry made this from, amongst other bits, an old WWII stirrup pump!).
The society also did several Shakespeare plays: 'Merchant of Venice' and 'Macbeth' are particularly remembered. These were taken to the Duthy Hall at Elephant and Castle for their Festival. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was staged in a natural amphitheatre in North Mymms. Other historical plays followed: 'The Hollow Crown' and 'The Business of Good Government' were performed in St Mary's church. These are only a very small number of the shows - there were many, many more.
The very last social occasion the NMDS had, was held in the Brookmans Park Hotel in 1964, when there was a screening of 'The Pendulum Pushers'. It shows Doris Childs delivering posters in Brookmans Park, and William Childs in many settings, including one sitting out in London in his lunch break, learning lines.
The mother and son walking down the garden path were Margaret Gilbert and son Mark with dad, Alan, watching from the balcony, with either Helen or Caroline (Mark's sisters). lt is Mark putting a poster up on the tree. Sitting on the ground at a children's play area, is Joy Carter with her dog. Anne Graham is waiting for the train on Brookmans Park Station. Brian Coombe's wife, (as she was then), Doreen, is holding their baby son. lvy Nash is delivering posters in Welham Green, riding her bike to get around. Jean Atkinson is driving a minibus and helping people in and out. Richard Papworth is doing the lights backstage. Gordon Simmons (who used to run the Brookmans Park Garage) appears all over the place. Janet Spragge (nee Kean from the Welham Green chemist) running the cubs. Bob Wall, who was something to do with Arsenal, was the chairman of the society and can be seen in committee with Graham Humphrey.
There is a scene in the film, of members selling tickets on the green in Brookmans Park. For around three Saturday mornings leading up to the shows a 'box office' was set up outside what is now, Hollywood hairdressers, manned mostly by Amanda Sherlock, Anne Graham and Judith Terry selling well through rain, snow and sunshine. Amanda's mother Kath Humphrey was the official ticket office. |
Itsmportance in an emerging economy cannot be emphasised enough; but a majority of students in the states government schools are increasingly finding it difficult to learn English with teachers stating that some of them even develop a phobia for the language.
Titled Cornucopia,the book has been prepared with contributions from a team of English Project District Coordinators (EDPCs) and English master trainers from across the state. It has been edited by Ginni Duggal,assistant state Project Director of the Sarav Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),and contains 120 pages of 325 activities related to features of the English language: grammar,parts of speech and punctuation among others.
Jalandhar district coordinator (English) Chander Shekhar said that the activities will ensure that students practice the language on a daily basis. Project Director SSA Ginni Duggal said this method of learning English was different from the traditional methods and added that it would appeal to students of Classes VI-VIII. She says that students in this age group prefer playing games as opposed to reading and hence the book looked to exploit that.
Director General of School Education (DGSE) K S Pannu said teachers will also be trained using the new method,which,he added,aims to make learning English a game rather than a burden. |
Roozbeh Jabbarizadeh, Iran editor, organizes his thoughts about the pressure on Muslims to respond after violent acts.
1) As members of civil societies, they share the same consternation, abhorrence, and grief with other citizens.
2) As Muslim members of those societies, they feel either ashamed or offended for being identified with aggressive ideologies that have brought about these miseries, and feel forced to engage in apologetic or polemic response to this identification.
3) As members of a religious society and at an intellectual level, at least some of them seem to feel the threat, for their religious self-identity, of the ideologies that play up intolerant interpretations or components of shari’a, highlight its internal conflicts, and induce polarization within Muslim society and about Islam globally, so that taking sides becomes unavoidable.
1- In the air of distrust around them, Muslims need to convince the world and each other about the coherence of their anti-violence cause with their Muslimness. What should be their reasoning approach? The answer differs according to different Muslims’ conception of the religion and their relation to it, and this disagreement tends to affect their consensus about their common goal: i) it may be argued, typically by devout –though not necessarily orthodox- Muslims, that genuine Islam renounces violence. But this will need an explanation for several arguably harsh rules of shari’a (particularly in criminal and family law) whose genuineness has been rarely doubted and to which violence extremists appeal ii) one may argue that her anti-violence cause is independent of her religious beliefs and assert that the former will override the latter if a tension arises. Though persuasive on its own terms, this argument cannot directly be used on behalf of Muslims as Muslims since it is premised on potential disobedience and unfaithfulness to shari’a, so further justification is necessary iii) it can finally be argued that the values that Muslims rely on in rejecting violence do not come from religion, but are not in conflict with it either because religion or, more accurately, its temporal content can, and ought to, be reconciled with what believers at any given time deem morally or rationally necessary. But where should the line between the divine, non-contingent essence of the religion and its temporal content be drawn, and how can the former be safeguarded from arbitrary goal-oriented readings that are to serve the latter? The divergence of psychological and theological premises of the three approaches makes it nearly impossible for any of them alone to represent all Muslims who reject violence, much less Islam in abstract. But do Muslims need, for uniting against violence, to unify their reasoning approach?
2- Involving Muslims’ religious identity in their anti-violence activities need not be a matter of their choice. Even if they be satisfied with acting merely as undistinguished members of the anti-violence civil society movements rather than forming an ‘intra-religious battlefront’ with shari’a-based rationale and strategies, they still have to tackle relational problems arising from their Muslimness: those of being accepted as members of civil anti-violence movements without having to conceal their religious identity (though without stressing it either). This may be an issue because when social movements that aim to fight extremist ideologies themselves slip towards extremism or accept being led by their most extremist strata (which history shows to be always a real possibility), it tends to seem both more convenient and more benefitting to use broad, easily definable labels for the parties to the confrontation: Islam (or for that matter Islamism when it is defined as an uncompromising belief in, and a resolution to materialize, what real Islam is; a definition on which extremists on both sides agree) v. Western Civilization can be used as a slogan to derive the silent support of a pacifist (hence presumably passive?) majority belonging to, or is in any manner associated with, Western culture and its fundamental values. But naturally there is no place for Muslims in this schema, even if they have affinity for the West as well, and they have to be asked to stay out at the best-case scenario. The main drawback here is not that the movement will lose the contribution of great population of peaceful Muslims, but that the strategy of action contradicts the values (like peace, diversity, and freedom of religion) which it is trying to defend.
Arguing for the peaceful nature of their religion, Muslims often quote maxims of shari’a underscoring the value of tolerance and freedom of belief. Solidarity among Muslims is also seen as a highly valued purpose of Islam. Western societies generally see pluralism and diversity of thoughts as their fundamental values. The present time seems to be, for both Muslim society and Western civil societies, one of those moments at which these fundamental values have to be weighed against other interests which are assumed essential for survival or ‘purity’ of the society. For Muslim groups, the challenge is to determine how far they are ready to go for uniting with each other in their defense of peaceful Muslimness in the face of their serious disagreement beyond this point about the religion and their relation to it. For Western societies, it is to decide how far they will remain faithful to their fundamental principles despite external and internal extremist forces that increasingly strive to make the departure from those principles the only practical option for them to keep secure and thriving. |
Last summer I read a book titled 'The Obstacle Is the Way' by Ryan Holiday, which talked about the Roman philosophy of Stoicism. Since then, I have been researching more into the teachings of the philosophers of antiquity, and the practical application to every day life. It hit a nerve with me because of my Spartan way of thinking, the work that I do and the numerous books I've read on personal development that appear to have roots in Stoicism. I am realizing that most of the personal development and self-help books out there from the early writers such as the Englishman James Allen and his ‘As a Man Thinketh‘ to today’s Anthony Robbins and Stephen Covey, appear to have origins in the writings of Epictetus, Epicurus, Socrates and the ‘Meditations‘ of Marcus Aurelius as well as other great thinkers of the past.
Philosophy, even in my previously unenlightened view was one of musing and debating the deeper questions about life. Little did I realize how practical the great philosophers were. Not only did they extoll the virtues of their philosophy, both in terms of better thinking for a happier life they were also great practitioners of physical well-being through regular exercise. Many of the philosophers served in the Athenian and Roman armies. Even after rejoining civilian life they continued practising an active exercise filled life.
I am naturally a minimalist and a great believer of self-control and planning. So as I read about the Stoics, the Cynics and Epicureans, the one school of thought that hit home for me is Stoicism. It naturally fits with my approach to life, work and leisure. For me Epictetus – a Stoic – who was born in Hierapolis, which today is in modern day Turkey, espoused a philosophy on resilience that is valid today as it was back in AD55. This philosophy of resilience was centered around what we can or cannot 'Control' in our lives, that causes anxiety, anger, frustration and lack of happiness.
He talked about how we cannot control things like our parents, siblings, co-workers, our boss, weather, our eventual death, the future and the past. Yet, most people’s trials and tribulations in life stemmed from trying to control the uncontrollable. If I look at 2017 the two major upheavals that has many people worried, anxious and tying themselves in knots, is the Brexit vote in the UK and the election of Trump to the US presidency.
and that was it. This area of how we think and from where our beliefs are derived from determine our freedom, self-determination and sovereignty. He said we always have a choice of what to think and what to believe. The Stoics asserted that what we choose to believe is our choice and our choice only, and no one can force us otherwise.
External factors like the economy, weather and who is running the country is outside of our control, but we can choose how to respond or not to them. Epictetus explained people spent too much time and effort trying to control the external elements, which we fail at and then become angry, frustrated and miserable. Yet, we take little responsibility for our thoughts and beliefs, which are within our control.
I am just starting my journey learning the philosophies that graced Athens, Rome and Alexandria of old. My current read is, 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius. He was called one of ‚ '5 Good Emperors of Rome' and I can see why. His writings are mind-blowing, yet simple and true today as they were during his reign of AD161 to AD180. He spent the last ten of years his life fighting the barbarian Germanic tribes in the cold, brutal north of Europe. Yet, it was his Stoic philosophy that allowed him to maintain his resolve and stay at his post. |
I’ve long complained about groupthink and how it helps create sub-standard products in the long run but two trends in the tech world seem to reinforce the concept of building gated communities that “know better” than the user, only mixing up with them when a company decides that it’s the right time for doing so.
As a fierce proponent of New York as a tech center, I’ve always argued that proximity is one of the great advantages we have. Because New Yorkers have to share streets, subway cars, and elevators, the likelihood of making unexpected connections is substantially higher than it would be otherwise. Steven Johnson has long argued that coffeehouse were the crucial information hub that helped create multiple industries and foster new inventions.
Meanwhile, outside of cities, people work in office parks, gated communities centered on the idea of providing a central hub for all employees of a corporation. As the corporation grows, the campuses expand and new features like restaurants or shops may be added to them, all with the idea of increasing convenience for the employees and ensuring they don’t have to leave. In the tech world, the phenomenon probably started with Microsoft and its amazing campus in Redmond, a suburb of Seattle, and was eventually reproduced by most large tech companies, with Google’s efforts receiving the most attention in recent times. This is the type of life that takes employees away from their community and makes them more efficient while they are at work as some of the friction that comes out of getting off a campus and getting things like a meal is removed.
In cities like New York, where you don’t have to drive several miles in order to get to the nearest restaurant, getting out of the building to grab a sandwich is not as big an impediment as it is in office parks in the valley. However, more traditional industries, like finance, try to build vertical campuses inside corporate buildings. Step into a major corporation’s office and it will have a company cafeteria (some, like Bloomberg, will even have food buffets on each floor to ensure employees don’t even have to even leave their floor to get nutrition), a company-provided health office (with nurses available to do first line health checks), a company-provided gym and so on. An extreme example of this in New York is Goldman Sachs’ alley, a set of shops and restaurants that have been curated to serve employees of Goldman Sachs, sitting right outside the entrance to their office building.
This type of island away from the community living explains, in part, some of the disconnect Wall Street has had with the rest of the world. When you commute in a black car to the door of your office or when the subway station is in the basement of your office building, you don’t spend much time outside of the office community. I remember talking to some people on Wall Street last year who had only heard of Occupy Wall Street from the news but had not seen any of the protesters who were camped out only two blocks away.
Unfortunately, some of the larger companies from Silicon Valley are falling prey to the same concept when they are coming to New York and, in the process, are hurting their chances at getting new ideas that could help them create revolutionary new products. While the office building Google bought in New York city is awe-inspiring, a lot of the people who enter Google don’t seem to come back out and mingle with the rest of the community, whether it is the tech community itself (for example, Google is a sponsor of the New York Tech Meetup but its representatives seem noticeably absent from its main event) or the larger city community. Facebook, Twitter, and Ebay have all opened large spaces in the city but, once again, it would be difficult for anyone involved in the New York tech scene to met anyone who works in those offices.
Proximity, in and of itself, does not create community: active participation is required.
So the valley is exporting the business park back into the city and, in the process, the tech industry ends up looking a little more staid, a little more like the finance industry, a little more disconnected from the world around it. Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley, the trend is to more isolation, no more involvement. Yes, it is true that companies like Zynga, Twitter, and others are moving to San Francisco in order to be in the city and recreate some of that magic New York appears to have when it comes to understanding social and mobile behavior but they are doing so by recreating gated communities. Zynga’s building (the Dog House) is a pretty cool place but it sits in an area where cars and warehouses are still more common than pedestrians. Buses and cars come in and out and employees who design games aimed to be social without having to socialize with the people they design game for.
Private shuttles for Googlers ensure they don’t interact with lesser people.
Going one step further is the rise of tech bus shuttles. Over the last decade, large tech companies in Silicon Valley have increasingly relied on private bus shuttles to ferry employees from San Francisco to their office. The shuttles are not only a great status symbol but they also take away riders from existing public transportation systems, effectively privatizing some portion of the public transportation infrastructure and removing some of its best customers from the pool. A study published in September showed that as much as one third of public transportation riders were now using private shuttles instead of public transportation. When a next round of investments is required to improve the public transportation infrastructure, do you think those people will feel like it might impact them? My guess is probably not.
But going beyond the political impact such behavior may have, one has to think about the impact it can have on product design. Any New York startup founder has a more intuitive sense of what is and isn’t selling in the mobile world because of what they see in the New York subway. Give me a ride between 2 or 3 stations on a train and I can safely count the number of Android devices, iOS devices, and others that are emerging. Throw in an extra 4-5 station and I can get a sense of how the Android market is sectioning out. By comparison, people riding on the Apple shuttle will be convinced that everyone uses an iPhone and people riding on a Google bus will guess that the Nexus is the preferred device of most consumers.
Furthermore, being coddled and cared for on a public shuttle makes it more difficult to relate to real world conditions a regular user encounters. WiFi signals are not always strong, and service sometimes is inexistent in the real world but in the magic world of private tech shuttles, bandwidth is abundant and always on, a scenario that may be great for the future but does not represent current realities.
Over the last few years, Silicon Valley as adopted San Francisco as its city, in an attempt to bolster its claim of understanding how cities work and how people who live in cities (on a global basis, the trend that will drive the most consumer internet businesses) deal with mobile devices.
The intersection of social, mobile, and local requires active participation in all three groups: you cannot be social by remaining in your own bubble; you cannot be local by living in gated communities, and you cannot understand mobile if you’re always presented with optimal mobile conditions.
This week, Steve Blank reminded silicon valley it needed to get out of the building in order to develop customers but getting out of the building is not sufficient when you’re trapped in a gated community. The gentlemen in Stepford may have gotten out of their respective buildings but their reality was no better for it. Truman Burbank may have left his house daily but it wasn’t until he broke out that he really saw the world. And unless people in the valley leave the comfortable confines of corporate campuses for the wild and untamed worlds beyond, they will not see the real customers.
The New York tech community is still largely concentrated around a central hub instead of being as dispersed geographically as the Silicon valley one (although some would argue it could extend from Stamford, CT to Princeton, NJ, an area that is still smaller geographically than the stretch from San Jose to San Francisco) but one of its key features is that once people leave the office, they tend to be confronted with a world that looks at tech with not just awe but also suspicion, a world that looks at tech as an emerging phenomenon but is still willing to question whether things can work or not, a world that believes a business exist when it has a model that can generate revenue. In other words, a world radically different from the one people in the valley encounter and THAT is part of the magic formula that makes New York great and will help it continue to grow in influence in the social and mobile space. |
Check out the following places and step into it for your perfect trip.
Nestled at the foot of the Alps, the small village of Fussen is the southern climax of the Romantic Road, with the nearby castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau the highlight of many a southern Germany trip. The town itself is home to the enchanting Hohes Schloss, or “high castle.” This medieval building has a lovely Trompe l’oeil facade on the outside and a stunning clock tower among its most famed features. The village also has a former Benedictine monastery called St Mang. Many lakes and beautiful trails are nearby if you would like to venture out of the village. Though most of the highlights can be seen in a day or two, the charming ambiance here is worth taking time to soak in and explore.
With historic treasures like the medieval Old Bridge, the Heidelberg Castle, the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Knight St. George House, it is no wonder that Heidelberg is one of the top tourist destinations in Germany. The picturesque city suffered little damage during World War II, with its baroque town center remaining intact. Home to Germany’s oldest university, Heidelberg’s long academic history can be retraced along the Philosopher’s Walk, a scenic footpath often walked by many earlier philosophers and professors.
This town along the romantic road is best known for its medieval center dating from the 14th centuries. A history of European wars and world wars have left the number of undisturbed cities of ancient architecture very decimated, and this is one of the best remaining examples of the old Medieval style in Germany. The small town is only around 6,000 but it gets many tourists stopping through on bus trips along the Romantic road. Whether the visit is short or long, don’t miss market square with the Town Hall tower, the Medieval crime and punishment museum, or the triangular plaza of Plonlein. If there is time, a walk around the restored city wall is a great way to get some spectacular views and photos.
This Bavarian capital is the most populous city in Southern Germany. Located at the river Isar in Southern Bavaria, it is best known for its beautiful architecture, fine culture, and the annual Oktoberfest beer festival. Though the modern city has grown quite large, the original walled city, or Alstrading can be seen in the center, with remaining pieces of the walls and is worth a walking tour. Of special note are the 1972 Olympic village, the opera house, English Garden, and the nightlife in Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt.
Bamber is known for its lovely architecture, especially in the old center of town. Two attractions of note are the old sculpture known as Dom, which depicts a young unknown rider. The second is the Altes Rathaus, which is a building that sits in the middle of the river with rooms hanging above the water. Of special note is the six day folk festival known as Sandkerwa. Several hundred thousand visitors descend upon Bamberg each August for the food, wine, beer, and local sports like fish jousting.
Grimm’s fairy tales come to life in this region known for its legends. This small mountain range is known for its timepieces, both watches and cuckoo clocks, and has a number of craftsmen who have built them for generations. The hilly terrain, lovely lakes and wooded trails of the Black Forest are great for hiking and mountain biking in the summer, and for excellent ski slopes during the wintertime. |
Each educational setting and every nursery, school or college has a unique context that influences how they use MyConcern. Furthermore, the range of safeguarding concerns now being handled in schools has grown exponentially to include issues such as child sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, radicalisation, cyber-bullying and e-safety issues. In addition, there has also been a significant increase in the number of young people experiencing complex mental health issues, with self-harm a common problem.
Consequently, the ‘Categories of Concern’ included within MyConcern reflect safeguarding in its widest sense, including all of the statutory requirements and contemporary issues highlighted by the DfE and Ofsted. However, the threshold at which ‘business as usual’ becomes a safeguarding issue that you want staff to record on MyConcern is entirely a matter for you in your local context.
What MyConcern does brilliantly well is to bring together concerns both from the ‘real world’ and the ‘digital world’, putting the child/young person at the centre and looking at their total needs. |
EPA or eicosapentaenoic acid is an essential Omega 3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid found in oily fish, that is recognised by health authorities as having profound health benefits for the mind and body, and yet most of us are not getting enough EPA in our diets. Docosahexaenoic acid or DHA is an equally important essential fatty acid, however, research suggests that it competes with EPA and can reduce its effectiveness. Also, when we receive enough EPA, the body can convert it into DHA as required.
There are a great number of fish oils on the market containing various combinations of EPA and DHA and at different strengths, with no universally accepted agreement as to what represents an optimum dose. Studies indicate that somewhere in the region of 1000 mg of EPA taken on a daily basis is enough to make a significant difference to health. |
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average median salary for graphic designers varies depending on the area of specialization. Graphic designers that work for a newspaper, book, and/or directory publishers make an average of $32,390 a year. Those working in advertising make an average of $40,000 a year, while entry-level designers make an average of $32,000.
Those who freelance or work alone can make up to $65,000 a year, whereas the creative heads of design firms can make up to $90,000 a year.
For most entry-level graphic designer’s positions, a bachelor’s degree is required but an associate’s degree is able to get you a technical position.
Most graphic designers are freelancers and often have another salaried job in another profession.
Graphic designers are expected to be the profession in design that will have the highest job opportunities in the future.
Graphic designers come to a decision to choose the best way to present an idea on print, electronic, or film media. They may use many different techniques to get the message across such as illustrations, animation, color, and type. It is important for graphic designers to train their skills well because it is a competitive field. Most employers now require people to have a bachelor’s degree in art or design before they are considered for a position.
There are many job opportunities in the field of graph design; you can secure these jobs by having the proper level of education. Some of the jobs you can get into include graphic design, multimedia, or visual communication. |
Which is Better – Gas Ovens or Electric Ovens?
Everyone has an oven in their kitchen, but not all ovens are the same. The heating element inside an oven is either powered by natural gas or electricity. Both are fully capable of using air conduction and convection to cook the surface of food and produce the right kind of chemical reactions that result in delicious meals. But there are some differences between a gas convection oven and an electric model. Though there are benefits and drawbacks to both, some might prefer one of the other if they are informed how truly different they are. With this in mind, here’s a side-by-side comparison between gas and electric ovens and which might be better for you.
Gas ovens often result in better cooking quality and are much more energy-efficient (and therefore cheaper) than their electric counterparts. Food gets renders faster in a gas oven and a gas oven provides a more consistent flame that you can adjust. Food gets cooked faster and with greater efficiency than you would with a gas oven. Gas ovens do burn at hotter temperatures, so this might result in moisture getting released that isn’t necessarily great for items such as roasts. You may have to rotate or move a food item around or cover parts of it up to prevent burning it , but these are the types of things a good cook does anyways, so this is no big hardship. Finally, a gas oven in a home with a gas can still operate even if the power goes out. This is extremely useful for preparing hot water when you need it. You may need to light the pilot light manually, but you won’t have to rely on electricity to keep a gas’ oven’s heating element ignited.
This doesn’t however mean there are no benefits of an electric oven, though. An electric oven often is less expensive to purchase and is also much easier to operate. Instead of having to wait for the gas oven to pre-heat slowly to the desired temperature, an electric oven needs significantly less pre-heating time. But even more important is the cooking quality an electric oven provides.
Though a gas oven is easier to adjust the level of heat, overall an electric oven is much easier to operate. Most use push button programming rather than dials and you won’t have to keep an eye on your food as often since many electric ovens come with programmable features that just aren’t available or even possible with a gas model.
Thought they don’t burn as hot as a gas oven, they are much better at distributing heat when baking than a gas oven. Additional, the manner in which they don’t release a lot of moisture when cooking meats makes an electric oven ideal for roasting food. Finally electric ovens tend to be a lot more stylish and modern than gas units and require a lot less installation set-up than a gas oven since you don’t have to worry about hooking up the gas line – you just plug an electric oven in and start cooking.
As to the drawbacks of these ovens, let’s start with a gas oven. First of all, gas models tend to be significantly more expensive than their electric counterparts. You also often have to buy an appropriate enough gas line and worry about leaks and proper installation of a gas unit. This leads to a major drawback to a gas oven: fire or gas poisoning risks. It’s so east to leave the stove gas on or for an improperly installed gas line to leak. This not only can cause explosions, but the leaking gas from a gas oven can cause physical harm when inhaled as well.
As for electric ovens, we’ve already established how useless they tend to be in the event of a power outage. But another major drawback to using an electric oven is the actual cooking quality itself. Though excellent with baking and roast, for the most part an electric oven cooks significantly slower than a gas unit. This means that you might be lulled into a false sense of security and overcook your food thinking there’ still plenty of time left. Since gas units rarely leak and often provide a quicker and more consistent cooking experience, and still work during power outages, the choice is clear. |
Tirschenreuth is the capital city of the district of Tirschenreuth, a Kreis or district in the northeastern part of Bavaria, the southernmost state of today's Germany. Tirschenreuth district’s neighboring districts are, from the south, clockwise, Neustadt, Waldnaab, Bayreuth and Wunsiedel. To the east are the Czech districts of Plzen and Karlovy Vary. Tirschenreuth is located in the northeast of Bavaria, very close to the Czech Bavarian border. |
As a supervisor of Pre-service teachers, I start my first meeting with my students with a list of do’s and Don’ts, High up on the Don’t list is a very important rule for all new teachers: Stay out of the Faculty Lounge. Although it is a gathering place for educators, it is in reality not a place to professionally develop.
The teacher’s lounge or faculty room is one of the most important rooms in a school building for some teachers. It is an oasis from the stress, a place to blow off steam. Back in the day it was a smoke-filled room. (That is a great example of “what the hell were we thinking” items.) It is a social room for faculty. It is the virtual water cooler where those types of conversations take place. It is a place where teachers can voice opinions about education with colleagues. Some schools offer Department offices providing a mini-experience of the same things for department members only, an exclusive lounge.
Then there is the “Dark Side” of the lounge. It is a place for student bashing, teacher bashing, administrator bashing, and finally a place for parent bashing. It is a place where careers can be torpedoed by individuals publicly ridiculing colleagues. It is a place that can be very intimidating to new teachers. It is a bastion of traditional ideas and stories of those who got away with things that could not be done today.
The reality is that, it is not a place for Professional Development. It is not thought of as the place where one goes to discuss the latest methods or research in education. It is not thought of as the place where one would see the latest best practices in a lesson for professional development, or videos of the latest speakers on educational topics. Marzano, Kohn, November, Gardner, Rheingold, and Heidi Hayes Jacobs are not names bandied about in the Lounge. Most people are not listening to podcasts, or viewing webinars, or exchanging links. The discussion of which apps are best for which outcomes is a rare bird indeed. As a matter of fact, many of these terms, or at least the experience of use of these things would be foreign to many, if not most, in the room.
If you did not recognize this description, because your school has no such room, or nothing negative happens in your faculty lounge it can mean only one thing. After four decades of teaching, supervising, and observing in hundreds of schools, I never visited your school. I guess that I should only say that this is a description of a lounge in many schools I have visited. Of course the names will be withheld to protect the innocent.
If the exchange of educational ideas is not taking place in the areas where teachers gather, it must take place somewhere else. Perhaps the district is supplying a time and place for the exchange of ideas to happen. There is always the monthly or bi-weekly Department meeting that occurs at the end of the school day when teachers are always open to new challenging ideas.
If educators are to be relevant and literate in this digital age, these are the types of things that need to be discussed and planned for. If we as educators are not discussing this now, we will soon reach a point where it will not matter.
We are in an environment of people being fed up with status quo. We are in an environment where expenditures of money are demanding higher accountability. We are in an environment where people want more bang for less bucks, more effort from fewer people, more education with less time to do it, more testing for better outcomes with less time to teach, because of more time required for test preparation. No matter how fast that mouse runs there is always more of that spinning wheel.
As I discussed this with my friend, Dr. Joe Pisano, he pointed out that maybe the walls we need to knock down with technology are the walls of the Faculty Room and the Myth of educators exchanging ideas for Professional Development. The box that we need to think outside of is the school building itself. We need to involve educators to engage others on a global network of educators. We cannot count on Districts supplying the time and place for needed discussions to happen. They are not leading us to the needed reform to maintain our relevance and ultimately our jobs.
We need to share our digital collaborative efforts that have educators involved in Twitter, Ning, Delicious, Diigo, Wikis, and any of the web tools out there now or yet to come. We navigate an information-rich environment. We are collaborating daily. We are using Blog posts for reflection and deep discussions. As Educators on the Professional Learning Network we do all of this and benefit by it daily, yet we are a minority of educators. We represent the smallest of fractions of the Millions of teachers who still rely on the Teachers Lounge for relevant Professional Development.
Let me suggest another approach to the teachers’ lounge issue. If the teacher’s lounge is the enemy, then your students need to know the enemy. Discuss the teachers’ lounge stereotype and have then go there to listen and gather data about the culture they find. Think of it as qualitative research. Get them together so they can compare the range of experiences that they observe. It is important that they don’t get sucked into the negativity that can exist, but if they see if for what it is, they can avoid being influenced and may even be able to make a positive difference.
Too often I see new teachers spending their lunch time alone in their class doing whatever it is that they do there. Probably because they have been told in college that the faculty room is an evil place. However the result is a teacher who is not sharing at all with his/her colleagues. No exchange of ideas, no learning from his/her peers. These teachers tend to want to hoard all the good ideas to themselves, not realizing how many good ones they are missing out on.
It is not a stretch to say that I would not still be a teacher if it weren’t for my faculty rooms.
I am lucky enough to have a faculty room at my high school that is a positive place to go. For many years that was not so but I still went there to hear what others had to say, maybe learn something positive, and even for the entertainment value. Of course, it was also by necessity because we did not (and still don’t) have teacher or department offices and I traveled to many different classrooms so did not have one to call my own. Turns out it is a blessing in disguise. I can ask questions, overhear conversations and find out what others are doing. Sure we occasionally have discussions about the unintelligent things that students sometimes do but if you can’t roll with those things you are unrealistic about the profession. It comes with the territory.
One of our veteran math teachers, who is extremely well respected by students, parents, and peers says that our faculty is as strong as it is because we basically must share the faculty room. Without individual offices we have an opportunity to come together each day – if we see it as such and take advantage. Those of us who belong to networks such as this and use Twitter to learn and share have found these avenues to help us continue this process beyond the school day, the school walls, and our school colleagues.
During my undergraduate years, I heard a lot of bad things about the teachers’ lounge. After having to sit in the lounge for two practicums and student teaching, I quickly learned why the teachers’ lounge was often so stereotyped. Your post described a lot of the things I have seen and heard. There was a lot of bashing, moaning, and complaining and for a long time, I wished I was allowed to sit alone in the classroom for lunch just to get away from the negativity.
However, looking back now, I am glad that my supervisor and later my cooperative teacher made me sit through that experience. I learned to listen carefully to important issues, to note student problems and compare/contrast what other teachers did to address/help student problems, and promote healthy collaborative relationships with other teachers. By immersing myself in that environment and choosing to look for the learning opportunities the environment presented, I was more attuned to what was going around in the school than my peers who ate alone.
While I have certainly experienced the traditional lounge as described by Tom, I also believe teacher leadership can flourish there. Cultural shifts can happen if the right conversations are started by the right people in the right way. It is up to us to make the lounge what it ought to be. A lounge can be an excellent place for powerful discourse AND an excellent place to let off steam.
And when the lounge is taking more from a teacher than it is giving back, there is always the Internet-ready PLN here and available for refueling tired leaders for the journey.
Our school doesn’t have a lounge and I constantly talk about the need for one for those moments of connection- those opportunities for integration- those conversations about students that are necessary- I had forgotten that perhaps they could be nests of negativity- I just miss a place where we can all see each other- we only have our elevators.. and the lunchroom!
Your description is consistent with my experience. One thought to put in the stream. I bet the quality of the culture in the teacher’s lounge is precisely the best place to understand the quality of the culture in the school building and thus in the classrooms.
A commenter above suggested what sounded to me like an Action Research to understand precisely what and why are the elements of a broken culture. It might be just the right way to solve the single most powerful driver of the broken sub classroom .
Tom, I would agree with most of your comments. Our faculty lounge is not filled with positive energy. What is particularly difficult is that in an elementary school, each grade level has a different lunch time and so I don’t get to collaborate with colleagues that are interested in the same things I am. I would suggest to your student teachers that they find out which teachers are actively moving forward in their professional development and meet together in a mutual classroom.
I couldn’t agree more. During my observations, I have experienced very uncomfortable situations in the faculty room. The teachers bash the students and to me it is just uncalled for. Aren’t we supposed to be teachers? Isn’t the goal of a teacher to help a student the best they can and to never judge? I know you need a lot of patience while teaching, but getting frustrated with a student so much as to “bash” them to others is not right!
I no longer go in the lounge for my lunch period. I enjoy the rare quiet moment at my desk, usually browsing the web, Twitter (@DoeMiSo) or getting some things done. After that, I usually feel prepared for the remainder of my day. I can chit-chat after buses leave when we are all checking out at the end of the day.
As a first year teacher, I try to rotate through out 2 teacher’s lounges, other classrooms on my floor and my own room during my prep and lunch. I think each one has it’s own use and reflects my mood for the day. The teacher’s lounge is definitely not a place to grade or lesson plan, but it is a place to chat, and if I have my laptop, older teachers tend to ask me questions about technology and I can help them and/or expose them to new resources (like Google apps and even Twitter for a few). I dislike the negativity, and often feel like I’m the only one defending our admin and chancellor, but if we’re not there to rebut it, then misconceptions just keep going. Definitely can’t handle the teacher’s lounge every day though for sure! |
Pushing Hands is a section of the Tai Chi Chuan syllabus. Pushing hands always involved two persons and are either predefined drills or a freestyle practice of technique. Training in understanding jin (勁) – force. This includes 13 tactics (十三勢) which comprises the 8 forces (八勁) and 5 steps (五步), ting jin (聽勁) – listening for jin, hua jin (化勁) – using jin to redirect the opponents jin and fa jin (發勁) – discharging jin. |
In the U.S., roughly one in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during her lifetime.
Breast cancer is the second-deadliest cancer among American women (the first is lung cancer).
In the U.S. in 2018, an estimated 266,120 women and 2,550 men are expected to be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.
Texas ranks third in the U.S. in estimated new cases and expected cancer deaths due to breast cancer.
In Texas in 2018, an estimated 17,566 new cases of breast cancer are expected in men and women, with 3,175 deaths.
Top breast cancer risk factors include age, family history, diet and exercise, breast conditions such as dense tissue, menstrual cycles, radiation, and DES Exposure.
Women with an immediate family member (mother, sister, daughter) who has had breast cancer are twice as likely to develop the disease. Close male relatives with the disease also raises risk. If you have a family history of cancer, genetic testing may help determine risk.
Early detection with regular mammograms remains the single most effective way for combating the disease and has contributed to a steady decline in breast cancer mortality among women since 1989.
According to the American Cancer Society, women diagnosed with breast cancer that has not spread outside the breast have a higher survival rate.
Women should check their breasts monthly, immediately report any changes to a physician, and discuss individual risk factors including age, menopausal status, and family history to determine their screening needs. |
The stockpiles at utilities have dwindled and several power producers that switched to natural gas have switched back in light of price increases. (See Powder River Basin Roundup, p. 24). By mid-year, the coal sector had grown to 40% market share as a power producing fuel.
Coal Age opens this month with two important subjects: black lung and the ongoing dust up between Patriot Coal and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Cases of coal worker pneumoconiosis (CWP or black lung) are on the rise. The coal industry thought that they were on the verge of eradicating this disease, which afflicts underground coal miners. Research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) along with autopsies of the fallen Upper Big Branch miners have shed new light on the situation.
The reversal of the downward trend has spurred different groups to take action including Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), the honorable senator from the great state of West Virginia. Some have applauded and others have questioned (see Legally Speaking, p. 72) his decision to introduce a bill in the U.S. Senate. Readers might recall that this time last year, Rockefeller was lecturing the coal business, telling us we needed to “wake up.” He did this after he refused to support a bill that would have stopped Utility MACT, one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s most onerous standards for power plant emissions. Five other Democratic senators (including W.Va. Sen. Joe Manchin) crossed party lines and supported the effort, which ultimately failed. Rockefeller claims he is for the coal miner. When President Obama opened Rockefeller’s letter, this thought had to cross his mind: The easiest way to end black lung is to stop mining coal by underground means.
As this edition was going to press, leaders from Patriot Coal and the UMWA had announced that they had reached an agreement. Patriot’s union miners will be voting on it. Hopefully, they can resolve this problem and get back to mining coal. This is a moment for the union miner to shine and a chance for both groups to prove wrong those who saw the situation as destined to fail. If they can get the business back on track and markets do begin to recover, they will have a great story to tell.
The coal market remains soft and coal companies have two choices: lower operating costs or suspend operations until prices recover. When executives in the boardroom are talking about extending maintenance intervals on equipment, you know they are getting serious about costs. This month Coal Age has several maintenance- and technology-related articles that will hopefully allow readers to either lower costs directly or think about ways they could use technology to do so. |
Did you know the first battle ever fought occurred in heaven and continues on earth today? Every person ever born has played a role in war, and understanding principles involved is absolutely crucial in determining what side you are fighting on, and fighting for.
The Bible tells us that the war began with an angel named Lucifer, who was described as a “covering cherub” (Ezekiel 28:14-16). A covering cherub, according to Exodus 25:14-20, is an angel that stood in the very presence of God, covering the ark of the testimony, in which lay the law of God. Above the ark was God’s mercy seat. These earthly replicas were designed to teach heavenly realities (see Hebrews 8:1-5).
This image shows us the foundation of God’s throne (the mercy seat) in heaven was His law (ark of the covenant), and Lucifer was once an angel that stood closest to the throne of God, “covering” (meaning “to guard” or “protect”) the law of God. This was his position in heaven.
All was at peace until “iniquity” was found in Lucifer (Ezekiel 28:15). According to 1 John 3:4, iniquity, or sin, is defined as, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Lucifer, the angel that was to guard the law of God, the foundation of God’s government, turned against that very law, which resulted in the introduction of sin into the heavenly atmosphere.
Hence, the first war was over the law of God. Lucifer, like a master politician, argued that heavenly angels had no need for a law because they were already holy. Lucifer said, “I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14), without obeying His laws. In other words, Lucifer, now Satan, had introduced the principle of self-righteousness—righteousness by one’s own standard versus the universal standard of God’s law. The argument was a deceptive one, and one that still deceives the masses today.
Many can be heard repeating the lie that we do not need to obey God in order to be like God. Even in Christian circles, the lesson is taught that God’s law is obsolete, and one need not obey to be like Him in character. Just as a great multitude of heavenly angels fell for Satan’s lie, so now millions of people carry the same philosophy, and therefore place themselves in rank with the forces of Satan.
Adam and Eve were sold the same lie, “You can be like gods,” without obeying God. They fell for it. As a result, humanity became rebels of the kingdom of heaven. “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,” (Romans 8:6-8). But God introduced the plan of salvation, a plan designed to lead mankind back to the throne of God through obedience to His law.
This is the plan of salvation, and all who stand for the government of God place themselves squarely against Satan and his army. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ,” (Revelation 12:17).
This is the dividing line between those who will be loyal subjects of the throne of heaven, and those who refuse to acknowledge and strive to live by God’s law. Hence John wrote, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). It is evidence of being in a covenant relationship with God, a covenant Paul describes in these words, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them,” (Hebrews 10:16).
Even the prophet Daniel recognized this division of forces when he wrote, “And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits,” (Daniel 11:32). Yes, as Lucifer flattered the angels in heaven with the thought they were naturally good, so he seeks to flatter people today. But the people that do “know their God” will not be fooled or deceived, but will do mighty things for God, and for the redemption of many. Whose side are you on? God or Satan? |
On cities, sustainable placemaking, and the careful use of words.
I’ve been clean and sober for 20 months now and still counting. Lest you think that I am about to take you down a path of Too Much Information, please join me in lifting a beverage of choice to celebrate that it has been at least that long since I last used the word "vibrant" in my writing. I won’t speak for everyone, but for me the word had become so overused in expressing what smart growth and urban advocates seek in communities that it had become annoying at best, lazy and hackneyed at worst, stripped of fresh meaning by repetition. Enough already.
While the second of those meanings certainly describes one kind of place (or person, for that matter) that can be very desirable in the right context, I don’t buy that lively places are inherently superior to calm ones as locations to live, work and visit. We should support vibrant cities and neighborhoods, yes, but we should strive to preserve and create serene ones, too.
With today’s article, I’m coming off a three-week break from writing, the first such intermission I have taken in five years. It has felt a little weird, to be honest. I’ve actually discerned a hint of what people may mean when they speak of this phenomenon called "free time." But I have needed the break, because my almost-daily writing was feeling a bit routine, a bit of a chore, and that’s not what I want: quite beyond the lazy overuse of any one word, the last thing I want is for this space to become repetitive or predictable.
I don’t want just to advocate, to promote ideas that are already part of established agendas. Instead, I want to probe and explore, to challenge and stretch my own thinking along with that of my readers. I’ve expressed before my concern that advocacy in the world of placemaking and smart growth has become a bit stale, a bit 20th-century, (more than) a bit too reluctant to admit mistakes or uncertainties, to absorb new knowledge, and to evolve with experience.
Indeed, a reluctance to admit mistakes and uncertainties is built into the job of advocacy if one doesn’t guard against it: conventional approaches, especially in the worlds of law and policy, tend to encourage advocates to act 100 percent certain about things we frequently have reason to be less than 100 percent certain about. That doesn’t mean that being 70 or 80 percent confident about something isn’t ever good enough to justify a definite point of view, but I believe that those of us in the business of trying to make the world a better place should be not just advocates but also thinkers and truth-seekers. It is important to acknowledge and honor that 20 or 30 (or whatever) percent of doubt.
While I am definitely pro-city, my first problem with urbanism is that in some circles it has taken on the air of a cult, providing a verbal badge of identification. The word carries an assumption not just that adherents love and promote cities but also subscribe to a growing code of written and unwritten precepts and rules about how our built environment should be organized – starting but not ending with density, gridded streets, mixed uses, priority to pedestrians rather than drivers, and so on. The details can get pretty elaborate. Although, in any given situation, I probably subscribe to at least 80 percent of those rules, and to a much higher percentage of the most basic ones, I don’t want to be defined by them. I would rather discuss what makes a particular solution appropriate to a particular situation than apply a formula; I would rather articulate and include the 20 percent or so of deviation, if you will, in my thinking and writing. I also believe that, just as the principles of smart growth have gotten stale, so have the overlapping principles of urbanism. Overly familiar vocabulary can lead to overly familiar thinking.
Urbanism about 30 miles from the disinvested city of St. Louis “agrarian" strain, and more. Various versions of the label are used to justify everything from illegally spray-painting public property to development in places that no sensible person would honestly consider “urban” unless they have drunk gallons of metaphorical Kool-Aid. I could define urbanism in my own way and probably be perfectly comfortable with the result. But communication is about using words in ways that are not just personal but understood in common, and this one has now splattered all over the map, including in ways that I find troubling.
I should add that I’m not really thrilled with “environmentalism,” either, for similar reasons. There’s no way I would be in my line of work if I didn’t believe in respecting nature and the bundle of values that we associate with “the environment.” But that doesn’t mean that I think the strongest course of action to protect the environment is easy to define – indeed, sometimes protecting one aspect of the environment means allowing some impact to another – or should always trump other values.
I want this blog – this is post number 1,125 – to be not about advocating any script or preset system of belief but instead about thought, the pursuit of truth and, yes, sometimes about finding a balance among the various competing interests – planetary health, local environmental health, individual aspirations, community, solitude, economy, equity, the whole messy gumbo – that, pretend as we may, cannot always be aligned when it comes to cities, neighborhoods or the environment. "Isms" of any sort can get in the way of those objectives.
When I first joined NRDC 31 years ago, I considered myself lucky just to have a job that allowed me to advocate "the environmental point of view." Now, though, I feel more responsibility, including a duty to consider, shape and, yes, even question what that point of view should be.
And, frankly, sometimes my writing will just be about a whim that interests me and that I hope will interest you. I can’t thank my readers enough for supporting my work and engaging in dialogue on how to keep improving our cities, towns, regions and neighborhoods. Not to mention all the writers and thinkers whose work inspires and teaches me – there are many. On some level, this is about keeping a broad conversation going and helping each other figure out the solutions to the puzzle. Let’s keep at it. |
Trump's proposal would upend the U.S. immigration system, switching its focus from family ties to potential contributions to the U.S. economy.
In a mere three-minute speech at the White House, President Trump proposed Wednesday a sweeping new U.S. immigration system that would overturn the rules for becoming an American citizen and cut in half the number allowed in.
His comments marked a radical break from decades of bipartisan consensus on legal immigration, and the reaction was swift and severe, drawing rebukes from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, who called it a non-starter. Some worried about the impact on their state economies, and others about the nation's tradition as a refuge for immigrants.
The fallout was so great that a White House adviser found himself debating the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty as a beacon of light and welcome for those around the world seeking a better life in the United States, where one in four Americans are first- or second-generation immigrants.
Trump's attacks on illegal immigration have been central to his presidential campaign and his first six months in office, as he mobilized the Department of Homeland Security to ramp up deportations of undocumented immigrants. Wednesday's announcement, however, marked his first attempt to tackle the legal immigration system.
The proposal is part of a bill sponsored by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia. It would switch from a system based on family members in the U.S. to one based on economic value to the country.
Taking cues from immigration systems in Canada and Australia, the plan would end the long-held practice of U.S. citizens sponsoring parents, siblings and adult children for permanent residence and ultimate citizenship. Americans would only be allowed to bring in their spouses and minor children, a restriction immigration opponents have sought for years.
Instead, a "merit-based" system would grade foreign applicants on their potential contributions to the economy, with the highest scores — and entry — going to those with advanced education, English proficiency and a stellar work history.
Moreover, the bill would slash in half the 1.1 million legal permanent residents admitted to the U.S. last year, and end a diversity program that grants 50,000 long-term visas a year to foreigners from countries that are underrepresented in the U.S. Most are reserved for those from Africa, Asia and eastern Europe.
The end result would be a complete reversal of America's immigration priorities. Currently, about 63% of those granted permanent residency, or green cards, have family ties. Trump's proposal would flip that around to resemble Canada, which grants about 63% of its green cards based on its economic points system.
Trump said the new system would help out-of-work Americans who often compete with low-skilled immigrants who will work for low wages.
"This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts America first," Trump said.
Polls conducted in recent years show that Americans are interested in a merit-based immigration system. According to a 2015 poll from the Pew Research Center, respondents favored a merit-based system over a family-based system 56-37%.
Yet critics argued that the workers Trump is trying to help will end up being hurt the most by the proposal.
Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a group that advocates for immigrants, said the American economy has always relied on a steady stream of high-tech, and lower-skilled, foreign workers to fill glaring gaps in the labor force. Both groups, he said, create and improve U.S. businesses, which leads to more jobs for all Americans.
"It's really easy for us to talk about this in these broad, macroeconomic ways. But this has an incredibly harmful effect on the individual American worker and their family," Noorani said. "By keeping talent out of the country, jobs will stay out of the country and Americans lose. There's nothing abstract about that."
Some members of Congress echoed those economic concerns but also lamented what Trump's proposal means for the identity of the U.S.
"This bill would have us turn our back on America's history as a nation of immigrants and the very thing that makes us both a great power and economically resilient," Democratic Reps. John Conyers of Michigan and Zoe Lofgren of California said in a statement.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Trump's push to focus more on high-skilled immigrants would destroy the low-wage tourism and agricultural businesses in his state.
Trump's focus on high-skilled immigration also runs contrary to the actions of his administration so far.
Shortly after taking office, Trump announced a review of the H-1B visa program, which brings in high-skilled foreign workers trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Trump said the program was being abused by technology companies as they imported cheaper foreign workers to replace U.S. tech employees.
Then two weeks ago, Trump's Department of Homeland Security announced it would create 15,000 additional H-2B visas designed for low-skilled workers, such as those in retail, construction, restaurants, hotels and resorts, including those run by the Trump Organization.
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller said Wednesday the Trump Organization would not stop using low-skilled foreign workers until federal law is changed and all businesses are playing by the same rules. Until those changes are made, Miller said, Trump's companies would be at a disadvantage.
Speaking in the White House briefing room, Miller took a question about what Trump's proposal means for the identity of the nation as expressed in Emma Lazarus' poem welcoming the tired, the poor, "your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free."
"The poem you’re referring to was added later, it’s not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty," Miller said. |
Where can I buy cranberry products?
Why can’t I find fresh cranberries year round?
Fresh U.S. cranberries are only harvested in the fall and are available at your local grocery store from September through January. Fortunately, fresh cranberries can be frozen for up to a year, so remember to “buy one for now, two for later.” Additionally, some grocery stores carry frozen cranberries year round, so check your local supermarket’s freezer section as well. You can also purchase frozen cranberries online. Check our Suppliers Page for more information.
What’s the best way to store cranberries?
Fresh cranberries should be stored in the refrigerator in their original plastic bag for up to a month. You can also freeze fresh cranberries in their packaging for up to a year. For storing other packaged cranberry products including juices, dried cranberries or cranberry sauce, please check the label or contact the manufacturer.
Can I freeze fresh cranberries?
Yes! Fresh cranberries freeze for up to a year and can often be substituted in recipes that call for fresh cranberries. When cooking with frozen cranberries, do not thaw before using.
Can I substitute dried cranberries in recipes that call for fresh cranberries?
Yes, dried cranberries work well in baked goods; however there is a ¼ cup difference in measurement. If a recipe calls for one cup of fresh or frozen cranberries, use ¾ cup of sweetened dried cranberries. You can also rehydrate dried cranberries using water or cranberry juice for a more plump texture.
Where can I find cranberry recipes?
We have a variety of cranberry recipes and decorating ideas that can be found here. Many of our member brands also have recipes on their websites, which can be found here. Finally, the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association and the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association have robust cranberry recipe libraries.
Cranberries are grown throughout the United States mainly in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon. They are also grown in several areas of Canada and Chile.
Can I tour a cranberry bog?
Of course! There are many cranberry festivals during the harvest months. The Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association and the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association have more information on their websites regarding specific farms that offer tours in Massachusetts and Wisconsin.
What is a barrel of cranberries?
A barrel is an industry measurement and is equivalent to 100 pounds of cranberries.
How did cranberries get their name?
European settlers first called the plant “crane berry” because the flower and stem resembled a sand hill crane’s neck, head and bill.
When did the commercial cranberry industry begin?
How many acres of cranberries are there in the United States?
41,500 acres of cranberries were harvested in 2016. More U.S. harvested cranberry acreage information can be found here.
Yes. A fresh, ripe cranberry will bounce when you drop it.
Do cranberries grow in water?
No. Cranberries grow on low-running vines in dry, impermeable beds layered with sand, peat, gravel and clay. These beds, commonly known as “bogs,” were originally made by glacial deposits. Bogs are flooded with water during harvest; it is this iconic image that causes many to incorrectly believe that cranberries grow in water year round.
Yes. Cranberries have four air chambers inside them, which cause them to float to the surface during wet harvest operation.
Cranberries are a unique fruit that grow and survive under a very special combination of factors. Cranberries grow on low-running vines in impermeable beds layered with sand, peat, gravel and clay. They require an acidic, peat soil, an adequate fresh water supply, sand and a dormancy period in the winter months that provides an extended chilling period, necessary to mature fruiting buds. Cranberries are grown throughout the United States mainly in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, and in several areas of Canada and Chile.
How are bees used in cranberry growing?
Cranberry flowers are not capable of self fertilization. Honeybees and/or bumble bees are required to move pollen from one flower to another. Several pollination visits are needed to ensure good berry development.
Can I grow cranberries in my garden?
Growing cranberries at home is very different than commercial cranberry production. Contact your local nursery for growing tips. |
Our approach to recreation is outlined in four statements: Enjoying the outdoors, Paths, Rangers, and Parks and reserves.
Outdoor recreation can help to meet the Scottish Government’s national objectives set for health, the economy and the natural environment. Enjoying the outdoors describes how we promote wider participation in outdoor recreation, including through our work with local authorities, land managers and recreation bodies.
Our vision for paths, published in 2010, is that paths are better promoted and used by everyone more regularly – particularly by new users.
The Central Scotland Green Network will include a strategic network of walking and cycling routes. We've worked with local authorities and other partners to develop a map showing current and potential future routes. Local authority planners and others can use this to guide their work to enhance existing routes, address missing links and improve connections.
Our vision for Scotland’s rangers, which we published in 2008, recognises that they’re well placed to deliver a greener and healthier Scotland.
Our 2012 statement sets out a vision and strategic action for Scotland’s parks and reserves.
These places provide a wide variety of settings and opportunities for enjoying the outdoors. As such, they make an important contribution to the Scottish Government’s priorities on health, well-being and tourism. They’re also important for sustainable economic growth in many parts of Scotland.
Land managers must manage land in Scotland responsibly in regard to access. A range of access management guidance and support can help you to do so. |
We have previously discussed the multitude of uses virtual reality has, but one that rarely gets a mention is sports. Yes, despite VR being commonly associated with entertainment or gaming, it can help you break a sweat, remain active and even train without stepping foot on the field.
Often times going to the gym feels like a chore, and not just because of the physical effort, but because running on a treadmill in a small, enclosed space while staring at a gray wall is the definition of boring. Sure, you can listen to music, audio books or podcasts while you exercise, but if you lack motivation they are just a temporary distraction. This is where virtual reality comes in – it can allow you to run in virtual forests, dodge virtual bullets, give you more tangible goals to strive toward and bring out your sense of competitiveness.
You may remember how the Nintendo Wii and its motion controls kicked off a technological fitness craze back in the day, but VR takes it to the next level thanks to more immersive environments and more accurate head and body tracking.
You may also be familiar with a story we covered back in 2017, in which overweight gamer Job Stauffer credited an impressive weight loss of 22 kilograms to playing his favorite VR game, Soundboxing, for 5 months. Now, after trying it for myself, I understand how VR can be that proverbial spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down when it comes to exercise.
I’ve always struggled with having a fitness routine because I find gym environments rather off-putting. Having a lot of social activities and hobbies also means it’s hard to block off regular evening sessions for the gym or organized sports. I prefer to exercise at home on my own time, but even then the repetitive movements in front of the wall or the TV are still a drag.
When I started playing games like Beat Saber and Superhot VR, I was really surprised at just how physically intense they were. The game graphics and progressive difficulty keep things fun and before I knew it, hours had passed by and I had worked up quite a sweat. It doesn’t necessarily work for every part of the body so it’s more of a supplement to ‘normal’ exercise than a replacement, but thanks to VR I’m definitely more active at home than I used to be. And since it’s also playing games at the same time, I’m more likely to go through it with a smile rather than a grimace.
This is backed up by academic research, that shows that the “rating of perceived exertion”, or amount of effort the people thought they put out, was lower than the actual output. This means that thanks to the fun of the game environment, you’re actually exercising more than you notice while playing VR games.
For some people, having the right company can be a big motivational factor when it comes to getting fit. Your favorite tennis partner or other sports buddy move abroad and now you can’t work out together anymore? Many VR sports can be played online with friends and social spaces in VR often integrate some simple sports games like a table tennis equivalent.
Online communities of enthusiasts are sharing knowledge, tips and encouragement to help each other realize fitness goals with the help of VR. For example, a Reddit user created custom routine including multiple games and charted his weight loss.
Hygiene is a factor you should consider – there are covers you can place on your headset to protect it from sweat. But if VR manufacturers want to get more serious about fitness equipment, headsets and controllers should become lighter, more ergonomic and wireless. The industry is already going in this direction, and setups such as the Oculus Quest, which doesn’t need a connected PC or external tracking sensors, will also make VR exercise more accessible and convenient.
For those who balk at the idea of being immersed in a totally virtual world, AR can also offer a solution. While most people are still only used to using AR through their smartphone camera, the development of advanced AR goggles along the lines of the Magic Leap One, or upcoming headsets from Apple and Huawei, could allow the same kind of virtual fun to be added to exercise while still being fully aware of your real surroundings. |
In a sense all history begins in the soil; and we cannot understand the development of our own home county or region unless we know something of the story of its farming. The Farm and the Village (Faber, 1969) is an introduction to farming as it was carried on in East Anglia before the large-scale use of self-propelled machines. Up to roughly the beginning of the twentieth century, the preparation of the land, the sowing of the seed and the harvesting of the corn had not changed to any great extent since the time of the Romans.
George Ewart Evans, in addition to investigating the usual sources, listened to the memories of many men and women who were brought up under the old system of farming, taking them as authentic historical records. From them we learn how farming supported and bound together the people of the village into a community.
Imaginatively illustrated with integrated photographs and black and white line drawings, this is the fourth book in the author's classic series about the farm and the old farming community in East Anglia. The Farm and the Village was written primarily for younger readers, but adult devotees of his earlier works will also find much to enjoy.
In a sense all history begins in the soil; and we cannot understand the development of our own home county or region unless we know something of the story of its farming. The Farm and the Village (Faber, 1969) is an introduction to farming as it was carried on in East Anglia before the large-scale use of self-propelled machines. Up to roughly the beginning of the twentieth century, the preparation of the land, the sowing of the seed and the harvesting of the corn had not changed to any great extent since the time of the Romans.George Ewart Evans, in addition to investigating the usual sources, listened to the memories of many men and women who were brought up under the old system of farming, taking them as authentic historical records. From them we learn how farming supported and bound together the people of the village into a community.Imaginatively illustrated with integrated photographs and black and white line drawings, this is the fourth book in the author's classic series about the farm and the old farming community in East Anglia. The Farm and the Village was written primarily for younger readers, but adult devotees of his earlier works will also find much to enjoy. |
The retina is the light sensing tissue at the back of the eye. It is nourished by tiny blood vessels that bring blood into (arteries) and out (veins) of the eye. A retinal artery occlusion means that an artery in the retina has become clogged. The blockage causes sudden painless decrease in central or peripheral vision.
There are two types of retinal artery occlusions, branch and central. Branch retinal artery occlusion involves a blockage of a smaller artery. In a central retinal artery occlusion, the main artery entering the eye becomes clogged. The retinal tissue that loses blood supply downstream from the blockage almost instantly stops working. The injured retina becomes swollen and white. The damage is usually irreversible within 90 minutes of the occlusion. Whereas branch arterial occlusions cause peripheral and sometimes central vision loss, central arterial occlusions can cause severe and near total vision loss.
The arterial blockage is usually caused by a tiny clot (embolus) that breaks off from the heart or from a larger blood vessel in the neck (carotid artery). The image on the right shows numerous such emboli (black arrows) that caused the occlusion (blue arrow). If another clot subsequently breaks off from the heart or carotid arteries and blocks a blood vessel in the brain, this can cause a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or a stroke. About 10% of patients with central retinal artery occlusions are caused by inflammation of this blood vessel from giant cell arteritis.
If caught within hours of the occlusion, we are sometimes able to lower the eye pressure enough to move the embolus out of the clogged artery. Some patients can recover significant vision, although the vision loss is usually permanent for most.
Many patients with an acute retinal artery occlusion may be at risk for a stroke or have already suffered an asymptomatic stroke. MRI scanning shows asymptomatic acute strokes in up to 33% of patients with branch retinal artery occlusions and 76% with central retinal artery occlusions. For this reason patients with acute occlusions are referred immediately to a stroke center for imaging (brain MRI scanning, carotid Doppler, cardiac echo) and blood-work. Emergent medical and surgical treatments are then coordinated while the patient is in the hospital. |
Professor Simon Colton shares his experience of speaking at the NACE National Conference 2017, and invites NACE members to help develop his new app for schools.
Yesterday, I was very fortunate to attend the NACE National Conference in London and delighted to give the closing keynote address. In my talk, I introduced a few topics and projects from my research in computational creativity, where we study how to share creative responsibilities with software. I presented a few slides and videos about The Painting Fool, The What-If Machine and my latest project, Wevva.
Wevva is a "casual creator" for games, allowing anyone to make simple games in minutes rather than days, weeks or months (which is usual in game design). Wevva has taken many (difficult) months of development. But along the way, we’ve had a lot of encouragement and positive feedback from running game jams – events where people get together and make games – with students and staff at Falmouth University (where I work) and local girl guides.
We’ve also helped with an after-school club for children from the Nexus specialist STEM centre in Camborne, which was a big success. In particular, using earlier prototypes of Wevva, we enabled children to make interesting and engaging games, learning so many things about design, user interaction, art theory and physics along the way. Working with Nexus has been the one of the coolest projects I've done so far, and was a real inspiration for the next stage of the app’s development.
So, as part of my talk at the conference, I was delighted to announce the launch of Wevva for Schools, and grateful to NACE for giving me the platform to do this. Wevva for Schools is a new educational pack, an out-of-the-box game design classroom, enabling students to make videogames easily and straight away, giving them space to learn all about game design and other topics like simulated physics, colour theory and programming, and to experience what working in the creative industries is like.
We received such enthusiastic feedback from teachers at the NACE National Conference yesterday. It was great that many teachers expressed a keen interest in Wevva for Schools, and we can't wait to see Wevva for Schools being used in primary and secondary schools, to empower students to explore the joys of videogame design.
The opening keynote from Lord Robert Winston was really inspiring and reminded me of my time at Imperial College. I also got to sit in on the workshop run by Jo Foster, the director of Nexus, and heard the inside track on how Nexus has been made so successful, which I’ve been able to see first-hand this year. So, all in all, it was a wonderful day at the NACE National Conference. I’d like to thank the NACE team for the invitation to talk, all the people at the conference who gave us great feedback, and the staff at etc.venues for such a great day!
A leading artificial intelligence researcher, Professor Simon Colton specialises in the field of computational creativity. He leads the Computational Creativity Group at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and holds an EC-funded ERA chair at Falmouth University, as well as an EPSRC Leadership Fellowship. He has published around 200 papers, won national and international prizes for his research, and helped create software that can make mathematical discoveries, create art, generate games and produce fictional ideas. One of his best-known projects is The Painting Fool, a computer programme designed to one day be taken seriously as a creative artist in its own right. |
GATE has 65 questions for which total time of 3 hours is provided. Its becomes difficult for students as some questions are lengthy and numerical based. Also the paper is online it is more difficult to complete paper in 3 hours. Sometimes we leave easy questions because we are left with no time, or we were busy in questions we dont know. GATE-Prepladder has shared some tips for time management.
Time Management: This is the most common problem among candidates.Most of the candidates fail in effective time utilization.Never get stuck on a question for too long.As such, the paper is very lengthy.If you do not know a question, advance onto next question.You can return back to the question after completing the rest of the paper.
Attempt General Aptitude Questions First: If you attempt general aptitude with fresh mind , there are more chances to get them right. As you know, questions in GATE exam are technical and conceptual and solving them is a time- consuming process.They are complex and cannot be answered in hurry.General Aptitude questions comprise of numerical and verbal ability questions.Verbal ability comprises of English Grammar and Numberical ability comprises of Data Interpretation,Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude.This section does not involve any technicality.Its a highly scoring section.You should be well prepared in GA to score high.
Attempt Group Questions : As you know group questions are based on some common data and they have high weightage,so its better to attempt them first if you are well-versed with the question.
Remain Calm: Remain cool and calm in examination hall.Never panic otherwise questions would go wrong.Stress would only make things more worse.Attempt questions which you know first and after completing the paper move to unanswered questions.
Use Tricks To Solve Questions: Aspirants often take coaching from renowned institutes.Some candidates prefer self- studies over coaching.In either case,candidates become aware of shortcuts and tricks.You must use all possible shortcuts and tricks to arrive at the solution in least possible time.Gate-Prepladder shares trick to solve questions in less time.
Read Questions Thoroughly: Read questions and instructions thoroughly.Do not jump to conclusions.Do not misinterpret any question.Try to analyze what the examiner is intending to ask.Remember every mark counts.Analysis say that if a problem takes more than eight steps to solve,candidates much re-look at the approach.
Students must maintain a balance between speed and accuracy.Do not mark wrong answers in hurry.If you do rigorous online practice before the exam,you will be able to maintain this balance.Remember in exam both speed and accuracy counts.Always remember that one problem can be solved in numerous number of ways.So,being innovative will help you to arrive at solution quickly.Innovation will come through intense practise before the exam.As you practise, you will come across different ways of solving the same problem.
Make your own exam strategy: This is surely the key to success.You must make your exam strategy before apperaing for exam.Remember without planning,goal cannot be achieved.Some candidates attempt questions in exam order while some pick up questions randomly.In my opinion,go through the entire paper quickly and answer those questions first which you are aware of.Later on,attempt unanswered questions.
Be careful and accurate in answering questions: Mark answers with accuracy.The penalty for wrong anwer is negative marking.Be cautious in answering as this could severly affect your score and hamper your chances of entrance.You can review the options if you are not directly able to arrive at the solution. Review the options and see which option fits the question best.This will greatly help you in arriving at solution quickly.
Do not make Blind Guesses:This is very important aspect.Making blind guesses will result in negative marking.Do not answer questions just for the sake of answering.This way you will lose more marks.Take calculative risk only. |
Sometimes we need help to know how or what to pray. When the disciples asked such help from Jesus, he taught them a pattern to structure their prayers. Here are a variety of patterns you might use.
Traditional Patterns to help you pray in your own words.
Simpler Patterns you can use at any age.
Traditional Patterns with cultural backgrounds to be repeated. |
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA — The largest coal ash pond east of the Mississippi is asking the state for a new pollution discharge permit. Little Blue Run, on the Pennsylvania – West Virginia border, has been closed for the past two years, but needs the permit because it’s still discharging toxic metals into nearby streams.
Fraley said “about 150” of 400 sites tested near Little Blue Run were contaminated “from past waste disposal”. Coal ash contains naturally occurring but potentially toxic materials like mercury, cadmium and arsenic, according to the EPA.
Lisa Graves-Marcucci of the Environmental Integrity Project says the contamination coming off of Little Blue Run needs to be kept out of the area’s waterways.
“Coal ash is known to have a host of toxic metals and in particular arsenic and selenium and thallium. They’re all dangerous to people and the environment and water sources,” she said.
Jennifer Young, a spokeswoman for FirstEnergy, said the company was currently capping the site with a liner and ‘several feet of soil’. She said that project is about a quarter done. She said once the impoundment is filled in, “we wouldn’t expect to see any outfall from the site any longer.” Final closure of Little Blue Run is expected in 2028. |
Human life is trying to adapt itself to the fast work-pace by trying new and different things. Technology and science are at its prime and people tend to use them for their benefit to achieve maximum efficiency. The tools that were meant to help and serve us better are now proving distractions and have forced people to debate about its relative merits.
In such a scenario it becomes highly important to find ways and means to use the best of resources available in the least amount of time. Efficiency increases productivity and helps us in completing our tasks at a faster pace. It is imperative to establish routines for efficient dealings as it helps our brain to use the shortest route in reaching its destination successfully.
A person does not need to work more hours he simply needs to utilize the time to increase his productivity. Hence work in smart conditions by following appropriate means to achieve your goals.
You just cannot get up in the morning and think whether you need to complete any work that is important. This is an indecisive attitude and it is imperative that you think in feasible terms. The night before is the most important time for decisive actions about the next day.
Take a step back and contemplate about the day that you have spent and the work that needs to be done tomorrow. Make a priority list and think about the important ones by defining the goals. Take into consideration the given deadlines and the amount of time you have.
Now set up a do-list and create a schedule for attainable goals if you are looking for ways to be efficient. This will save ample time the next working day as you are already prepared mentally to handle things efficiently.
A team is made of individual members who are proficient in some areas that the others are not. Combined they can prove a powerful force in both personal and professional life. In today’s scenario, it is vital to develop yourself so that you can become a valuable team member.
One who thinks about his team before his own growth is a valuable addition to any team hence be that person. Remember teamwork is the key if you are looking for ways to be efficient. A project in the professional arena can now be divided into several parts with each member doing something worthwhile.
Similarly, teamwork at the personal front should also be encouraged because it helps in completing the household tasks in a better frame when everyone is there to make a contribution. Clarify everyone’s roles and tasks beforehand so as to attain maximum efficiency in life.
Remove the distractions that have the habit of stealing precious time and undermining your attention span. Remember efficiency is the pathway to success and it is imperative to gain personal and professional efficiency if you want to fulfil your dreams and aspirations.
You need to ensure high standards of performance and one way of doing it is by staying away from things that can distract you from your work. Mobile, friends, family and social media platforms can prove a distraction when you are looking for optimal performance.
Switch off your ringer and notification alert, remove it from your vicinity, ask your friends and family members not to disturb you when you are working and do not be tempted to view the social media platforms even once when you are working if you are looking for ways to be efficient.
With time people have realized the importance of physical, emotional and mental well-being in order to attain maximum efficiency in life. One of the most basic human needs is complete shutdown from time to time and rest at regular intervals.
Our body cannot cope with daily stress and workload if you do not give it the necessary time to heal. It is obvious that you cannot take much time out from your work schedule hence opt for smaller breaks at regular intervals. Just five minutes of lying down, a short walk, breathing deeply, a tea/coffee break, a small conversation, listening to a song, five minutes of doing nothing or simply calling your child or spouse for few minutes.
Try to sleep at least 8-hours uninterrupted at night. Proper rest and recuperation is the key to success if you are looking for ways to be efficient.
Individual productivity depends on how a person handles any given situation. Is he one of those smarter employees who believe in giving his full attention to the work in hand or is he one of those who thinks he will look smarter by putting his fingers in all the pies and trying to work in several projects at the same time.
Multi-tasking is no longer approved by top-brass in any organization as it has the ability to sap an employer’s energy and leave him drained. As soon as you start multi-tasking your attention levels go down and you have to put more effort into simply switching from one task to another.
Your efforts should be in completing a task and not in paying attention to moving hither and thither. If you are looking for ways to be efficient you need to encourage uninterrupted work for a definite time period.
You are not living alone nor are you working single-handedly at any workplace. It is imperative to share information in both personal and professional front to attain better results. Hold and attend meetings in the office so that everyone can understand where they are lagging behind and then find the means to obtain optimal efficiency.
Similarly set up a day in your personal space where you can interact with friends and family members to share information and make related decisions. Be clear with your goals and resolutions and invite only those people who are directly involved. Within a few days, you will start seeing the positive effects of such an occurrence and will realise its benefits if you are looking for ways to be efficient.
If you are looking for ways to be efficient you need to encourage effective means of communication in both personal and professional life. Hold meetings to talk about important matters on a personal basis. Insist on open communication so that anyone can approach you anytime if necessary. Technology has proved a blessing in contacting anyone anywhere in the world.
A single click opens social media portals; an email can easily send information, just dialling a few numbers can connect you via mobile device or landline, and sites like Skype can even enable face-to-face communication. Use technology and its tools appropriately if you are looking for ways to be efficient.
Procrastination is simply delaying tactics and idleness and nothing else. Are you the one that sees any work as a huge mountain that needs to be tracked every day? If you are looking for ways to be efficient you seriously need to change your habits and behaviour.
Until and unless you yourself decide that enough is enough and you will work towards attaining your goals no one can do anything for you. Look deep inside and bring out courage and determination from your inner reserve to step away from procrastination. Think positively and make important changes in your lifestyle and behavioural pattern to gain maximum efficiency in your life.
A person who is focused will try different means beforehand to understand the right way to achieve his goals. He will then make necessary adjustments so that he can adopt the tools that will help him in his endeavour to attain the maximum efficiency in his life.
Being focused is a valuable trait that you need to incorporate and enhance if you are looking for ways to be efficient. Once you are able to focus on the work in hand you will be able to avoid distractions and attain efficiency easily.
Travelling is very important in our daily life if we want to reach our destination. Do you realize the amount of time we waste on the route? Yes, you cannot stop travelling but at least you can take advantage of the time that you have been wasting unconsciously till now.
Go through your message section and delete the unimportant ones and reply to the ones you deem necessary. Take out your do-list and make appropriate changes. Use the precious minutes to clear away your workload if you are looking for ways to be efficient.
Organized space is the key to efficient handling so as to attain maximum productivity and success in life. If your personal and professional space is cluttered and disorganized how can you motivate yourself to do things in a capable manner? The first thing you should do is de-clutter and organize.
Now remove unimportant things and throw them away. Want to boost your mental efficiency than simply stay away from a disorganized lifestyle as it increases fatigue and stress. Remember an organized life will help you to concentrate better if you are looking for ways to be efficient.
Do you take a minute to step back and evaluate the work that you have completed? Are your days integrating into one another haphazardly because you simply do not have the necessary time and inclination to step back and think about your performance till date? Have you achieved maximum work efficiency or are you simply going through the day in an auto-pilot? Take a breather when you still have the time otherwise you are working yourself in a rut that will try to gobble you up without any consideration.
The best way to be efficient in such circumstances is by encouraging feedbacks in both personal and professional front. Ask friends, family members, co-workers, peers and your mentor to provide feedback at regular intervals. Make sure that you trust the person you are asking and you believe him to give an unbiased opinion. Meaningful and constructive feedback will help you in understanding your mistakes so that you can now work towards attaining utmost efficiency. |
Though no author is claimed in the book of Nehemiah it is believed that Ezra or Nehemiah wrote the book. The book is a first person account of the events from the perspective of Nehemiah. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally combined into a single book. This is part of the reason some scholars think that Ezra wrote both books.
Many Jews had returned from the Babylonian captivity. They were rebuilding Jerusalem. But Nehemiah was burdened by the fact that the city walls were still in shambles. Though still living away from Jerusalem, he communicated with those who were living there. He fasted, mourned and prayed for the rebuilding of the walls of his beloved city.
In Nehemiah’s prayer to God he confessed that he knew Israel’s sins were the cause of his nation being scattered among the heathen. Nehemiah knew God’s promises to Moses that they would be blessed if they followed God, but punished if they strayed from him. Nehemiah did not deny that God’s punishment was necessary. However, he called upon the mercy of God to help them rebuild the walls of Jerusalem as the people returned to the city of God.
The book of Nehemiah is a great story of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It also serves as an example to us that we need to be constantly reminded of God’s Word.
Nehemiah worked as the cupbearer to the Persian king Artexerxes. After Nehemiah’s great grief could no longer be hidden, the king inquired as to what troubled his servant. Nehemiah responded that his beloved city was destroyed and in ruins. He asked permission to go and help build the city. Not only did the king give him permission, the king gave him the resources he would need to accomplish the task. The king granted military troops, horsemen, letters of passage and even building materials for Nehemiah to use.
Along the way the news of Nehemiah’s return became known to the enemies of Israel. Particularly important in the story were Sanbalat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian. They vowed to stop Nehemiah and the Jews from rebuilding the city.
Up to this point Nehemiah had not divulged his whole intent for going to Jerusalem. Apparently those around him thought he only wished to return for a visit. But one night while everyone was sleeping, Nehemiah stole away to survey the city and determine everything that was necessary to do the work of rebuilding the walls. He then shared his plan with the Jews around him.
Nehemiah set various men and families in charge of different portions of the project. Instead of one large project where Nehemiah tried to control every worker, he broke the building efforts into groups. Men were put in charge of smaller portions of the wall. Each family built the portion of the wall that was closest to their own dwelling. The project seemed less overwhelming to them this way.
The project seemed to go well until it was about half complete. The enemy became more and more worried about the progress. They tried to descend on Jerusalem secretly to fight. Nehemiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem prayed to God for safety. They prepared for battle. When Sanbalat, Tobiah and all their allies saw that the Jews were prepared for war, they backed off their attack.
Nehemiah and the Israelites worked with trowel in one hand and sword in the other. Half were prepared for war while half continued the work of strengthening the walls that were necessary for the protection of Jerusalem. Through the completion of the project the Jews within the walls never even relaxed enough to prepare for bed. They wore their work and fighting clothes constantly except when they had to be laundered.
Those who had become rulers in the dilapidated city of Jerusalem during the captivity had used their power to their own benefit. They required those who had returned to the city after the captivity to buy back the possessions that were previously owned by their families. They were paying undue taxes and interest on things that should have been theirs. Nehemiah put a bold stop to that practice. Seeing the wisdom and kindness he possessed, the people of Jerusalem appointed him Governor of the city for 12 years. He would not even accept the pay that was due a man in his position. His singular focus was on rebuilding the wall and protecting his city.
The enemies of Israel requested an audience with Nehemiah. But he would not leave from the work because the job was too important. He knew that their intentions were to distract Nehemiah from his task. They continued to solicit Nehemiah to come and meet with them. They even accused him of wanting to build the wall for personal advancement.
Nehemiah heard the enemy expected the people to tire of working. He prayed that God would strengthen their hands to complete the task. And complete it they did. Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem only took 52 days.
Though the walls were built, there were few inhabitants in the city. They still needed to build houses and bring in families to care for the city. Though there were walls, the city was still fairly defenseless. Therefore, Nehemiah said to not open the gates until the sun was well up in the sky and when they did that there should be guards posted at all times.
A genealogy was taken of the children of Israel in the land. They numbered 42,360. More than 7,500 servants and singers lived among them.
Ezra the scribe (also sometimes called Ezra the priest) took the Law of Moses and read it to the congregation before the water gate of Jerusalem. He read the Law from morning to midday. The people stood while Ezra read. The people wept upon hearing God’s commands. But Nehemiah stood and commanded the people that the day should be a holy day—a day to celebrate the reading of the Law—and not a day of mourning.
The second day of the reading of the Law they learned about the feast of tabernacles. It was a seven-day feast. While they celebrated Ezra continued to read from God’s Word each day.
They continued to read from the Bible. They began to confess their sins. Half of each day was spent in reading God’s Word and confessing their sins. Their teachers would then stand and plead with the people to bless and praise the Lord.
The leaders in the city taught the history of Israel as told in the Law of Moses. They taught stories from Abraham to the Exodus; from the giving of the Law to conquest of Canaan. Even the unflattering stories of the Israelites hardening their hearts against God were taught to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They were admonished to surrender to Jehovah God and become His servants.
This chapter starts with a very long list of people who sign a covenant to obey the Laws of God. Then it concludes with a list of specific laws that they enacted and promised to obey.
Of the 42,000+ Israelites mentioned in chapter 7, not all of them lived in Jerusalem. Many of the rulers in Israel lived there as well as about 10% of the rest of the population. Those chosen to live in Jerusalem were chosen by casting lots. Or, we could say it was a lottery process. But living in Jerusalem at that time was not as prestigious as it had been previously or would be in the future. This was a city that had sat defenseless for years. Those who lived there risked being attacked by surrounding nations that had become accustomed to taking what they wanted.
People were chosen among the population as singers and musicians for the dedication of the wall. The priests and Levites prepared themselves and purified the people for the dedication ceremony. Those chosen for the dedication were divided into two groups. Half went with Ezra and the other half with Nehemiah as they walked around the city upon the walls giving thanks to God.
The people offered sacrifices and rejoiced within the city of Jerusalem.
They again read the books of Moses. They were reminded of promises, covenants and laws that had long been forgotten. Part of the covenant they signed in chapter 10 concerned not marrying people from other nations. They were reminded of the Ammonites and Moabites that should never dwell among the people of God.
While they worked to purify themselves from other nations there was still corruption in the leadership of Israel and Jerusalem. Nehemiah returned to his post in Persia. When he took vacation from his duties he visited Jerusalem. Each time he returned to his people there was a time of purification. They needed to be constantly reminded of their promises before God. Resources were used improperly. God’s house was forsaken. They ignored the Sabbath. They even began marrying from other nations. All these things they had promised not to do. Nehemiah even resorted to physical persuasion to get them to remember their promises to God.
The book of Nehemiah is a great story of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It also serves as an example to us that we need to be constantly reminded of God’s Word. Getting away from the people of God and the Word of God causes us to drift back into old actions and habits. Thankfully we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us as believers today. Yet, we too can grow cold to the promises we’ve made to God if we do not cultivate our relationship to Him. |
Concussions have been an ongoing problem with pro sports such as the NFL. With Superbowl 50 coming up, this is an ideal time to discuss concussions that occur with kids. For many years there has been more talk, tests, lawsuits, and more regarding concussions in the NFL and there's even a major motion picture called Concussion with Will Smith.
Unfortunately these occur more frequently than we would prefer. This PBS article from 2014 shows the number of concussions per position in the NFL.
For the frequency of concussions and long-term damage caused by concussions, there are surprisingly limited treatments for this kind of brain injury. Treatments typically include pain relievers and medications to help with nausea, vertigo, and depression. Neurofeedback is the only brain rehabilitation that helps to stabilize and regulate brain functions for brain injuries, including TBI and mTBI.
Concussions also occur in children and teens. Recent research suggests that children should not play contact sports until high school due to their significant increase in prolonged post-concussion symptoms in young athletes. Charles Barkley, former NBA player, also encourages parents not to let their children play football. While it may not be realistic to discontinue all childhood contact sports, it may be reasonable to obtain neurofeedback treatments for your child during his sport season. Siegfried Othmer reports this is risk management for childhood sports, just like obtaining insurance for health, auto, and life incidents.
Neurofeedback is brain training and helps the brain to learn how to stabilize and regulate itself in order to function optimally. Concussion treatments are meant to decrease or manage symptoms, but neurofeedback treats the damage caused by the concussion. Siegfried Othmer, PhD explains how neurofeedback is the recommended treatment for concussions. |
Among those who have achieved true recovery from their eating disorders, there are 3 consistent pieces that keep showing up. These components of recovery are absolutely essential to recovery, meaning that without them, recovery will be near impossible.
This is not an exaggeration. I've seen others try to recover without these, and what results from this is a painful, futile cycle of doing really well and then crashing (disturbingly similar to the restrict-binge cycle, in fact). I fell into the same trap in my recovery, as well.
So, without further ado, let's get into what they are. If you'd rather watch the video, you can find that here.
Before beginning, it does bear mentioning that each eating disorder's recovery is going to look different. We tend to talk about ED recovery as if it's a singular thing, but this can sometimes be reductionist. There are elements of recovery from binge eating that differ greatly from anorexia, for instance. However, it can be helpful to group them together when discussing big picture ideas. Otherwise we risk losing some really great descriptions of and how-to guides for recovery, due to them being targeted towards a specific ED.
If you’re interested in learning the nitty-gritty about all the major eating disorders, I’ve written some super comprehensive overviews for each eating disorder, which you can find here!
Okay, with that out of the way, let's get to our #1 essential key (note: these are in no particular order).
Read carefully: This is not the accountability system you're used to.
EDs attack every aspect of your life. With an eating disorder and its intrusive influence implanted in your mind, you don't act the same way around friends, you don't take interest in the things you want to, you don't do your job the same, you don't eat the same, you don't exercise the same, you don't dress the same, you don't talk the same, etc.
And since an ED attacks every aspect of your life, it follows that every aspect of your life must be conducive to recovery. That's not an overstatement; it's a frank reality. So, what does this mean for you in terms of accountability?
This is a non-negotiable, though admittedly carrying through with it is much more difficult than just nodding at this sentence and proceeding to dump your abusive boyfriend (as an example). Fortunately, we do go over this in my upcoming book, 100 Days of Food Freedom, which you can grab your copy of here.
There is no way to get through recovery when there are people in your life actively tearing you down. Whether intentional or not, these people disallow you from loving yourself, from taking care of yourself, and ultimately from feeling safe.
Recovery requires vulnerability and trust in the process. When your mental energy is devoted heavily to negative influences in your life, this is made infinitely harder. These people have no place in your life. That might be an extremely bitter pill to swallow, but it can only go down with one big gulp; keeping it in your mouth and thinking about swallowing it will only intensify the sting.
This is where things get sticky. Surely I can't be saying that every single person in your life has to know about your eating disorder and actively support your recovery?
Well, no, maybe the postman doesn't need to be cut out, or the grocery store clerk. Really, this is speaking to those who have a consistent role in your life, even if minor, for whom the words they use, the way they respond to you, and the potential support they might need to give need to be adequate for you.
Again, an ED does not just target one thing in your life; it is apparent wherever you go. It does not take a break when you're asking your boss for a raise and your boss decides to make an unsolicited comment on how your clothes fit you. It does not take a break when your massage therapist makes inadvertently disparaging comments about your body. This might seem obvious, but how can you expect to recover when all of these "minor figures" in your life continue to perpetuate negative body talk and diet talk?
It could even just be a "Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but I wanted to talk about some comments you made the other day." Or maybe it's a "Can we please find a conversation that doesn't have to do with dieting?" Whatever it takes to drive the message home so that these individuals can cease their unintentional chipping away from your recovery. And if you want an additional reason to do this: It helps promote the anti-diet, body-positive mindset and furthers the conversation. It's amazing how this works. When you're told that a comment you've been making or sentiment you've been repeating is offending someone, it makes you stop and reconsider who else in your life you might be accidentally delivering a negative, offensive message to (hell, it could even go beyond this discussion).
This inevitably begs the question What if my family is not supportive of my recovery?
In most cases, cutting out family is neither desirable nor doable. And indeed, "disowning" family members is a dangerous path to go down, even if they are bordering on toxic. It's just too hard to get through this without a close family network there for you.
The first, and most preferable, solution is to have a serious talk with them (or, at least, the specific family members who are unsupportive of your recovery). How you talk to them about this is another topic for another time (again, this is brought up in the book), but as long as you are openly expressing your feelings without holding back, while simultaneously maintaining respect and encouraging an open dialog, this has the potential to be highly successful.
The second option here is to find a therapist who specializes in family-based therapy. This type of therapy is actually common in the treatment of eating disorders, especially with younger individuals (though it can be, and is, used for all ages). It focuses on bringing in the immediate family and ensuring they are intimately involved with the recovery process. This could be especially helpful in this scenario.
If the recovery process is to be effective, proper goal setting simply must be in place. But what does that actually mean?
There is a tendency to see the goal as "full recovery from my eating disorder." This is tricky. On one hand, the expression "don't aim for partial recovery; go all in" (or some derivative of this) is thrown around often in ED treatment. But at the same time, you have also probably been told on numerous occasions not to set excessively lofty goals (and you've likely even read it from me). So, what's the deal?
Photo credit to Flickr user "Aaron Hawkins"
Example of a well-set big abstract goal: I want to fully recover from my binge eating and never, ever have to feel this way again.
Example of a well-set small actionable goal: I want to use mindful eating tools at one meal per day this week.
Here's why that's so important. When your only goal in recovery is to recover, and you don't set those small actionable goals in a planned, organized manner along the way, you see everything as a failure. Think about it: If your one goal is to recover fully, every single day will be seen as a failure. Every time an urge comes up or you give in and weigh yourself or you fall into a depressive episode, you'll see it as an example of your failure to recover.
And many, many people say they're setting small, realistic goals, but in reality they're only holding onto that big goal of theirs. Maybe your goal this week was to meditate 5 minutes a morning and you accomplished that, but you also acted on an urge recently. This can all too easily be seen as a failure, dismissing the meditation habit as "just something to keep my mind off the binge eating." That's just an example, but you get the point.
But even if you have the biggest, strongest accountability system in the world and are a master goal-setter, you can still easily keep yourself from recovering. How? By not believing in yourself.
Corny? Yes. But if you don't believe deep down that you will recover, meaning there's not a doubt in your mind it's going to happen, you will continue to sabotage yourself and ultimately not express the mental fortitude necessary to overcome something as powerful as an eating disorder.
This was a highlight of where I personally began to move away from my restrict-binge cycles and start eating like I love myself (to see what I normally eat, check out the video I’ve included here): At some point, it hit me that "Yeah, I am going to get over this." That's a powerful feeling that's hard to describe if you haven't experienced it yourself. It turns this seemingly unwinnable battle into a meaningful journey. You stop seeing relapses as failures and start seeing them as road bumps. You no longer dismiss the 5 minute meditation habit as unimportant and start seeing it as the most important thing.
Okay, okay, so to recover, you've got to believe in yourself. Fair enough, but how does that help you if you don't believe in yourself? You can't just force genuine self-determination. Can you?
This is where the last key bleeds nicely into this. You can only believe in yourself once you've been given evidence to do so. Just like you wouldn't believe a friend who always promises to keep secrets and then tells others, why would you believe in yourself if you continue to "fail" at this promise to yourself (i.e. that you'll recover)?
And so this is where small actionable goals come into play. If you can set goals on a consistent basis that you can easily accomplish, you'll start a streak of proving to yourself that you are capable and you do have it in you to achieve whatever goal you set for yourself.
In other words, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid. Similarly, if you judge your recovery process solely by whether or not you recover, you will spend your whole life believing recovery is out of reach. |
This section sketches how to handle the simplification of grammar, define and ref described in sections 4.18 and 4.19 of the RELAX NG specification.
The result of the initial parse of the full syntax is a Pattern object representing the schema; this differs from the simple syntax pattern in that it contains an additional kind of Pattern, namely a RefPattern. A RefPattern is a Pattern containing a reference to another Pattern.
When you see a <grammar> start-tag, create a new Grammar object that becomes the new current Grammar. Initially the map is empty, the start pattern is null, and the parent Grammar is the old current Grammar.
When you see a define element, look up the name in the current Grammar's map. If it doesn't exist, add a new RefPattern referring to the body of the definition. If it does exist, then check with the RefPattern's pattern reference is null; it is is null, then change it to refer to the body of the definition; if it's not null, then we have a duplicate definition.
Handle <start> similarly to <define>.
When you see a <ref> element, lookup the name in the current Grammar's map. If it doesn't exist, add a new RefPattern with a null pattern reference to the map. In either case, return that RefPattern as the result of parsing the <ref> element.
When you see a <parentRef> do the same as <ref> except use the parent Grammar's map.
At the <grammar> end-tag, check that the start of the current grammar is non-null. Also walk the map to check that all RefPatterns have non-null pattern references. Return the start pattern as the result of parsing the <grammar> element.
To check for illegal recursions, call checkRecursion(0) on the pattern for the schema as a whole.
See the following message from Kohsuke Kawaguchi. |
What is right for you?
You can often manage the symptoms of IBS effectively with simple changes to your lifestyle. For example, altering your diet, taking more exercise or using over-the-counter medication to relieve symptoms, such as suffering from stomach cramps or bowel cramps /whats-right-for-me. Even taking steps to reduce any stress and anxiety that can aggravate matters can help bring your IBS symptoms under control.
Changing your diet can help control IBS symptoms. The diet that works best for you is dependant on your symptoms and how you react to certain foods.
Many IBS sufferers find regular aerobic exercise, such as light cycling, helps relieve IBS symptoms.
Bringing those stress levels down, through simple exercise, or if you are particularly stressed, relaxation techniques such as meditation, can ease the symptoms of IBS.
It’s important to remember that there are countless others experiencing similar challenges with the symptoms of IBS. Their shared experiences can be invaluable in helping you make sense of your IBS symptoms, and finding the right ways to tackle them. IBS is common, and there’s no reason to feel isolated or alone.
Why not read about how some of these people manage their IBS, share their advice on IBS relief and how di et changes really helped tackle their IBS symptoms, such as suffering from stomach cramps and bowel cramps . |
Pitekunsaurus was a herbivore. It lived in the Cretaceous period and inhabited South America. Its fossils have been found in places such as Argentina. |
Democrats in Congress, are promoting a Green New Deal that would eliminate all fossil fuels in ten years, create a massive federal public works and jobs program, explicit proposals to replace market freedom and limited government with socialism.
In 1991, just after the Soviet Union collapsed, I attended a conference on environmental economics and policy. Several speakers warned obituaries for socialism were premature, saying that, with socialism discredited on economic grounds, it would now be sold as a panacea for environmental problems.
They were right. The Left is actively campaigning for socialism today, with many arguing socialism offers a cure—the only cure—for climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest report calls for governments around the world to take over finance, restructure entire economies, and undertake massive international wealth transfers to equalize incomes around the world. IPCC’s report also suggests we replace individual rights with collectivism.
Similarly, two European economists with the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Enno Schröder and Servass Storm, claim the only solution to climate change is a radical takeover of economies by governments. They argue climate change is an immediate existential threat and only government can impose the rapid radical restructuring required to prevent it.
In the United States, high-profile Democrats in Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), are promoting a Green New Deal (GND) that would, among other things, eliminate all fossil fuels in ten years, create a massive federal public works and jobs program, and establish universal basic income and health care.
These proposals by the UN and U.S. leftists are unabashed, explicit proposals to replace market freedom and limited government with socialism. Governments and international agencies are promoting climate or green socialism, with the younger, more energetic wing of the Democrat Party seemingly committing to it enthusiastically. Leftist think tanks and policy institutes are working to advance it.
If the United States adopts the climate socialist agenda, it will eliminate freedom and create economic and political catastrophe, without solving any climate problems. Rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels would cause a massive negative shock to the economy. Production and incomes would fall, and unemployment and poverty would rise.
Currently, almost two-thirds of U.S. electricity comes from fossil fuel sources, and another 29 percent is from nuclear, hydroelectric, and geothermal. Wind and solar account for a little over 7 percent. Wind and solar are intermittent—energy generation is not under human control but dependent on when the wind blows and the Sun shines. Energy must be available when people need it, not when sun and wind permit, and extreme fluctuations in electricity can shut down electric grids.
In addition, the scale and pace with which solar and wind would have to be deployed to replace fossil fuels is impossible given existing technology. Mandating rapid decarbonization under climate socialism would greatly reduce available electricity and shrink the economy.
Climate socialism would impact transportation also. Quickly replacing the entire automotive fleet with electric vehicles would require massive increases in electrical power, yet that power would decrease under green socialism. For air transportation, there are no reasonable alternatives to petroleum-derived aviation fuels, and no substitutes for fuel oil, diesel, or natural gas for shipping. Transportation would grind to a halt.
Redistribution programs proposed by GND, such as a universal basic income, would further shrink the economy. Recipients become dependent on government as their incentive to work and be self-responsible is reduced. Similarly, finding themselves treated as beasts of burden, taxpayers’ incentives to work is reduced.
Disincentivizing work for recipients and payers results in less being produced and lower income overall. The nation is poorer.
History consistently shows central planning destroys economies.
In a free market, independent decision makers—households and firms, consumers, workers, and asset owners—make decisions coordinated by market prices.
Central planning replaces this with direction by government “experts.” It does not work. Without market prices, government cannot identify the opportunity costs of its actions, and therefore it cannot minimize waste. It is not sustainable.
This has been repeatedly shown—in the USSR, Venezuela, Cuba, and everywhere else real socialism has been tried. Central planners wreck their economies because they lack market prices to determine whether their actions create greater benefits than costs.
Also, central planning places enormous power—life-or-death power—in the hands of planners. Everyone is beholden to those who direct the economy, and everyone must follow government’s orders, or else. Green socialists presume people who are just and wise will be in charge (i.e., themselves), but history demonstrates no one should be trusted with such power. That’s why the American federal system was designed to put strict limits on government power.
Ironically, if the United States or even the entire developed world imposed climate socialism, it would not prevent climate change.
Most greenhouse gas emissions in the future will come from China and other developing countries that have no intention of restricting their economies with green socialism.
Climate socialism will Venezuela-ize America if we adopt it. It must be utterly, completely rejected and defeated. |
"And what is the use," thought Alice, "of a book without pictures or conversations in it?" -Lewis Carroll This book is written for modem undergraduate students - not the ideal stu dents that mathematics professors wish for (and who occasionally grace our campuses), but the students like many the author has taught: talented but ap preciating review and reinforcement of past course work; willing to work hard, but demanding context and motivation for the mathematics they are learning. To suit this audience, the author eschews density of topics and efficiency of presentation in favor of a gentler tone, a coherent story, digressions on mathe maticians, physicists and their notations, simple examples worked out in detail, and reinforcement of the basics. Dense and efficient texts play a crucial role in the education of budding (and budded) mathematicians and physicists. This book does not presume to improve on the classics in that genre. Rather, it aims to provide those classics with a large new generation of appreciative readers. This text introduces some basic constructs of modern symplectic geometry in the context of an old celestial mechanics problem, the two-body problem. We present the derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion from Newton's laws of gravitation, first in the style of an undergraduate physics course, and x Preface then again in the language of symplectic geometry. No previous exposure to symplectic geometry is required: we introduce and illustrate all necessary con structs.
"Symmetry in Mechanics is directed to students at the undergraduate level and beyond, and offers a lovely presentation of the subject . . . The first chapter presents a standard derivation of the equations for two-body planetary motion. Kepler's laws are then obtained and the rule of conservation laws is emphasized. . . . Singer uses this example from classical physics throughout the book as a vehicle for explaining the concepts of differential geometry and for illustrating their use. These ideas and techniques will allow the reader to understand advanced texts and research literature in which considerably more difficult problems are treated and solved by identical or related methods. The book contains 122 student exercises, many of which are solved in an appendix. The solutions, especially, are valuable for showing how a mathematician approaches and solves specific problems. Using this presentation, the book removes some of the language barriers that divide the worlds of mathematics and physics."
"This is a very interesting book. Those educated in traditional mechanics will acquire [from reading it] knowledge of modern mathematics hidden beyond traditional concepts in the realm of celestial mechanics, [and] . . . pure mathematicians will understand how their discipline enters into practical problems. The author shows how fundamental concepts of symplectic geometry implicitly occur in mechanics . . . the mathematical presentation is ingenious and subtle. There are a lot of exercises for the reader and the solutions of most of them are given in a separate chapter. I can highly recommend this book to undergraduate and PhD students . . . it is ideally suited for teaching a course on the subject." |
Petroleum and coal are Colombia’s chief mineral products. A number of other minerals are extracted, including gold, silver, emeralds, platinum, copper, nickel, and natural gas. The petroleum operations are under control of a national petroleum company and several foreign-owned concessions. Production of crude petroleum is centered in the Magdalena River valley, about 650 km (about 400 mi) from the Caribbean, and in the region between the Cordillera Oriental and Venezuela; it amounted to 302 million barrels in 1999. Much of Colombia’s oil is shipped to Curacao for refining. New oil reserves discovered 200 km (125 mi) east of Bogota are expected to provide Colombia with energy self-sufficiency into the 21st century, with annual extraction from the reserves of 180 million barrels anticipated by the late 1990s. Colombia is one of the world’s leading exporters of coal. Two-thirds of an annual production of 32.8 million metric tons comes from a single open-pit mine, the world’s largest, on the Guajira Peninsula. Some 5.1 billion cu m (180 billion cu ft) of natural gas was produced in 1999.
Gold, mined in Colombia since pre-Columbian times, is found principally in the department of Antioquia and to a lesser extent in the departments of Cauca, Caldas, Narino, Tolima, and Choco. Platinum, discovered in Colombia in 1735, is found in the gold-bearing sands of the San Juan and Atrato river basins. Colombia has the largest platinum deposits in the world, producing about 51,500 troy oz annually. The chief emerald-mining centers are the Muzo and Chiver mines. Still other mineral products are lead, manganese, zinc, mercury, mica, phosphates, and sulfur. |
For three days in the beginning of November we were fortunate to visit Lake Rogen Nature Reserve.
We skated in a landscape formed by the inland ice – a geologist’s dream. The Rogen moraine consists of stones and gravel in a network of ridges with lakes in between. The park ranger Per Roger Wiberg guided us through the magic landscape. He knows his landscape well and has a lot to tell about wild life, human life and nature in this region.
Our starting point was by lake Käringsjön, the childhood home of Per Roger, at the end of the road. The source of the longest river in Sweden is situated here.
Old twisted pine trees and abandoned rowing boats remind us of times gone by. Common Goldeneyes find their nests in holes of pine trees. Nest boxes made of old hollow pine trunks are still there showing us how the grandfather of Per Roger got eggs from birds arriving in spring.
Smooth skating in a foggy environment and walks over low ridges to find new exciting lakes.
The primeval forest, with pine trees that can be many hundred years old, is impressive and and the lichens light up the landscape. The yellow Wolf Lichen” – Letharia Vulpina – is found in very old forests and not common at all in Sweden nowadays.
The last day we were lucky to see the sun. Even if the temperature was a couple of degrees above zero the ice was skatable. The water on the ice gave gorgeous reflections in all different colours.
Nordic Skating is a wonderful way to experience new environments, nature and wildlife. We met some Capercailles, grouses, a frozen frog and found droppings of reindeer on the ice. Eventually – on our way home – we met hundreds of reindeers. What a start of this season!
Our collaboration with partners in Norway led us to Hotel Hurdalsjøen in splendid autumn colours. The hotel is situated on a cape, by the shore of Lake Hurdalsjøen, with high mountains around. The view is very spectacular, especially in autumn colours when the birches and aspen trees are glowing like fire among the conifers. If you want to experience the Scandinavian trend – nature, tranquility, outdoor activities and last but not least the Scandinavian kitchen – this is a perfect location. The atmosphere in the hotel is very welcoming with an open fire and a big lobby with stylish furniture. After a tasty lunch and a guided tour in and around the hotel we were ready to discover the northern part of the lake.
Almost always you wish sunny weather, but it is a very special feeling to paddle in mist lightened by autumn colours. Our goal was the inlet in the northern part of the lake. Finally we found our way in the estuary. There was almost no birdlife this evening, just some gulls and mallards. We saw signs of beavers but unfortunately no real ones.
The water level was very low, and after paddling about 5 km we had to turn around and head back again. The last kilometers we paddled in dark. It would have been nice with an evening sauna and a swim in the lake, but dinner was waiting!
We were treated a wonderful three-course dinner prepared from local ingredients.
After a good night’s sleep and a nice breakfast we explored the area around the lake before heading south. The hotel is situated only 25 minutes drive from airport Gardermoen, and a perfect place to start or end a visit in the borderland of Sweden and Norway. |
In the Fall 2014 issue of ArcUser magazine, I presented best practices for data acquisition and management and project setup. In this issue, I present tips and tricks related to creating a more useful table of contents (TOC). These practices were developed through many years of production mapping in earth sciences, public safety, and other disciplines.
Rather than a tutorial, this article shares shortcuts and insights and does not require a training dataset. Illustrations were made using examples from a wall map developed for the Kent Regional Fire Authority (KRFA), Kent, Washington. The data has been simplified and standardized for public display and future training purposes. Much of this data will be used in the Esri Fire GIS University program, which will be rolled out in Redlands, California, in late January 2015.
After verifying the coordinate system, consider renaming the data frame as its coordinate system. Simply copy the name from the Coordinate System tab, click the General tab, and paste the coordinate system name in the Name text box.
This article focuses on better ways for organizing the TOC in ArcMap. The tips range from ones for starting new projects to ones for improving map output. I hope these tips provide valuable suggestions and insights that will help you standardize workflows, incorporate best practices, and promote the creativity that leads to the making of meaningful maps.
When you open a new ArcMap document, by default the program creates an empty dataframe named Layers.
Immediately rename the data frame to something more meaningful. If you are in production mode, consider renaming the data frame to specify the coordinate system. It will serve as an excellent reminder while you build your map.
The first data loaded in the data frame that has projection information will define the coordinate system for the data frame. When adding the first data layer, verify that it is projected and correctly defined in the coordinate system that you want to use.
Open data frame properties and confirm the coordinate system is correct before continuing.
Data Layers: What’s in a Name?
ArcMap uses the actual name of the source data unless an alias has been defined. It will use that name in the map legend, in the Layer file, and in an exported PDF file that has been created with layers.
Immediately provide a layer name that uses descriptive, friendly terms. You may have noticed that I typically don’t recommend using spaces and other nonalphanumeric characters in file names. However, customized data names in the TOC is an instance in which I bend this rule (even for Layer files).
However, avoid unusual ASCII punctuation characters. Forward and backward slashes, algebraic operators, the “at” (@) symbol, the ampersand (&), and many other characters do not behave well in legend fonts, Layer file names, and other uses. Even though space and character string length is often important, don’t hesitate to spell out or use standard alphanumeric abbreviations. Following proper TOC naming protocols gives users a head start understanding the information the map is conveying.
Once you’ve added data to the TOC and defined the primary areas of interest in the map, consider creating scaled bookmarks to allow quick and consistent access to important map locations.
When I start a new map, I work primarily in Data View, but before long, I start imagining how the map might look as a printed or graphic export or in a layout. Since ArcMap allows only one layout per ArcMap document, I choose the preferred output media and size for each map, and I create an appropriate layout. When I need to create output in multiple formats, I clone a finished map and create new layouts by naming each copy of the map document so I can quickly identify its content and format.
To retain unique layers in a PDF output, consider using colorful patterned fills instead of transparent layers. Here a diagonal hatch pattern fill is being created in the Symbol Property Editor.
Once I have established a specific layout, I define scale-dependent bookmarks that quickly return to important areas. These bookmarks are in Layout View and include the proportional scale in the bookmark’s name. Bookmarks are another area where I bend the naming rules by using spaces, upper- and lowercase text, and even a few odd characters such as colons (e.g., Station 74 Detail 1:10,000).
I’m often surprised by people who organize data in the TOC without considering the effect of data stacking on display. Data layers in the TOC draw from bottom to top, so there is potential to hide point and polylines under polygons and rasters. Watch data organization in the TOC carefully. Keep rasters and imagery near the bottom of the TOC, below all vector data. When arranging vector data, try to keep point layers at the top, above all polyline layers. Position polygon layers at or near the bottom, below points and polylines but above rasters.
If you need to place a polygon boundary at or near the top of the TOC, consider rendering it as an outline without any fill. You can also apply partial transparency to one or more polygon or polyline layers. Experiment carefully with transparency to obtain the desired result. Partially transparent layers in a map are automatically displayed as a lighter color that simulates transparency. A word of caution, however: If you export the map as a layered PDF product, ArcMap will render the transparent layer and layers located below it in the TOC as a single base layer named Image. To retain unique layers in a PDF output, consider using colorful patterned fills instead. Experiment with map output until you obtain desired results.
A pattern fill may be placed over imagery and large polygons without applying transparency. When the map is exported with a pattern fill, a PDF export will show the pattern fill as its own layer instead of merging it with all underlying vectors as it would with a transparent layer.
The tendency to load too much data into a single TOC is a common problem for students and professionals alike. If all the data layers added to a map are not visible in the TOC display, the map can be confusing. There are several ways to avoid overstuffing a TOC.
The first option is to create a second data frame with its own TOC for specific tasks such as editing, image georeferencing, or geoprocessing. It’s much easier to navigate menus and pick lists when the TOC is not overburdened. This is especially important when editing. Include only the data necessary to perform editing tasks. This reduces the possibility of damaging, compromising, or even accidentally selecting data that should not be modified.
One way to streamline a TOC is to selectively organize related data into a Group Layer. By using a Group Layer to organize related data layers, those layers can be quickly accessed, repositioned in the TOC, turned on and off, and even removed as a single entity. The layers in a Group Layer draw in the same order in which they are positioned in the Group Layer, so consider the type of data in each layer and how it will be displayed. Groups containing mixed points, polylines, and polygons can be problematic. I often use Group Layers to organize tiled raster images such as orthophotography.
When All Incidents display, Symbol Levels cause the points to draw from bottom to top with numerous rescue and EMS calls posting below all other calls. All fire responses are drawn at the top.
Be careful when repositioning data in the TOC. It’s quite easy to accidentally drop a data layer into the incorrect Group Layer and then lose track of its location. When repositioning a single layer immediately below an expanded Group Layer, collapse the Group Layer before moving the data. After defining a Group Layer, consider saving the entire Group Layer as a single Layer file so it can be quickly loaded into another map or data frame.
Definition Queries or Symbol Levels or Both?
Sometimes it is important to filter thematic data so information can be displayed in a preferred order within a layer. For example, in a fire service map, incident data is usually coded by response type that includes not only fires but also incidents such as explosions/ruptures, hazardous substances, rescue/emergency medical service (EMS), service calls, and false alarms.
In a year, approximately three-quarters of the calls at many agencies are directly related to rescue/EMS. Many of the remaining response calls are service calls and public assistance calls. Calls to respond to fires, explosions, and HazMat incidents make up a small percentage of the total number of calls.
To create a 4 x 3 aspect ratio Layout for PowerPoint and other reports, save the project with a new name that includes 4 x 3. Resize the data frame to 12 x 9 inches, shrink the map to fit the full frame, and adjust fonts and symbols.
Incidents are often mapped for a 12-month period. During that period, an agency may have responded to 10,000 incidents. When rescue/EMS responses are mapped, they tend to overwhelm all other calls. To show the relationship of fire-related incidents to all calls, it is important to filter and/or stack fire calls so they are displayed on top of medical and service calls. Two methods can be used to separate the fire calls from the larger group, or at least make them more visible.
The traditional approach to refining point data is to create subsets of focus points and display them above other points in the group. In the fire example, all fire, explosion, and HazMat points are filtered using a definition query that employs a standard numeric code to display these points preferentially. Service and other calls are also segregated numerically below fire calls but above rescue/EMS calls. The subsets are typically grouped in this order. Inside the Incidents Group, subsets will draw in order and response types may be displayed and modeled individually.
To show all incidents with fire responses on top, use symbol levels to reorganize the display order in a thematic legend so important points plot on top regardless of their position in the point list. Before symbol levels were available, records were sorted in an x,y table to emphasize primary points, then the points were posted in the sorted order. Symbol levels have simplified this process considerably. For more information on symbol levels, read and work the tutorial “Displaying points: Using symbol levels to optimize point display” in the Summer 2012 issue of ArcUser.
Export the resized map as a JPEG file or PDF. Turn on only layers that you want to see in individual graphics and name the exported file to include 4 x 3.
Many of the best practices concepts presented in this article aid in the creation of high-quality digital output. However, many maps are not designed for immediate paper printing. Instead, they are embedded in or attached to a digital product, such as a Microsoft PowerPoint file, for review, presentation, and digital dissemination.
The ArcGIS PDF export utility provides a high resolution, low cost way to disseminate maps, graphics, and text. Through careful organization of points, lines, polygons, rasters, and text labels, you can produce very powerful, intelligent, portable products using only core Esri ArcGIS software.
Often, clients ask me to prepare a map with a 4 x 3 aspect ratio without margins for use in a report or PowerPoint presentation. Save your project with a new name that includes “4 x 3.” Use Page Setup to resize the data frame to 12 x 9 inches and shrink the map to fit the full frame. Create new guidelines and adjust the font size and position of all text and cartographic objects. Modify the Reference Scale to avoid resizing point symbols and attribute-based labels. Use scale-defined bookmarks to pinpoint areas of interest on the map for multiple exports.
This graphic displays Water Supply features, including fire hydrants, the No Hydrant Area, and surface hydrography. Fire fighters use this map to locate hydrants and static water sources and to plan water transport in areas without hydrants.
I typically export map graphics as JPEGs, although some clients prefer layered PDF files. The names of these graphic files include the subject, extent, and scale. The JPEG files are static, but the layered PDF files allow the end user to carefully adjust labels and layer visibility before capturing a snapshot to export to PowerPoint. The important export concepts include creating the 4 x 3 landscape layout and using predefined Bookmarks that return you to exactly the same map extent and scale for future graphic export.
GIS best practices are a moving target. I continually develop new and better ways to perform mapping and analysis tasks efficiently and accurately and make a better map. Try them out and incorporate them into your workflows as you see fit.
Thanks again to the Kent Fire Department for continually challenging me to develop new and innovative ways to create and deploy maps and spatial data. Thanks to all my other data development, mapping, and modeling friends, associates, and students. Without your continued input, ideas, and critique, I could not develop, document, and teach these concepts. |
Truck attainment has been a key challenge for private fleets, for-hire carriers, and organizations that rely on trucking across many industries, including manufacturing, construction and oil and gas. This challenge has been accentuated by the backlog of orders for Class-8 heavy-duty trucks, largely stemming from an American economy that has been booming ever since the Great Recession ended in 2010, and a decrepit industry philosophy toward truck procurement which is now shifting.
Class-8 truck orders and sales continued at a steady pace through much of 2018, as many companies saw the need to upgrade into newer equipment or add to their equipment to handle the increased demand in shipping goods. According to ACT Research, Class-8 net orders equaled 506,300 units at the end of November 2018 — the second-strongest 12-month order period in history, trailing only the 12-month period ending October.
In November, class-8 monthly orders totaling 28,082 still outpaced the 27,973 trucks that were constructed. While this gap is narrowing, it continues to show extraordinary demand for new trucks.
Particularly for oil, gas and energy brands, organizations will continue to feel the negative effects of an order backlog in 2019 if they continue their asset acquisition strategy based on functional obsolescence as opposed to economic obsolescence. Businesses that shorten their asset management life cycles based on a flexible lease model will be able to plan their replacements better and thus avoid the discomfort associated with the current backlog.
The vibrant economy means that more companies are shipping materials to job sites or goods across the country. More businesses are in need of re-stocking shelves and inventory; meanwhile, more consumers are in need of goods ordered online and thus the transport of those shipments. The result — trucks are working overtime.
Trucks and transportation have been the essence of this economic machine.
Replacement and truck attainment strategies that help the economy stay active need to be carefully considered, especially when companies take a closer look at their bottom line.
The long-standing business philosophy was for companies to make massive purchase orders of trucks and drive them for anywhere between five and ten years of service, or even longer, as a way to squeeze every nickel and dime out of the truck’s usage. However, data and analytics are proving this model to be expensive and ineffective. Instead, private fleets and for-hire carriers are realizing they can achieve more savings on the truck’s overall impact to the bottom line, as well as maintenance & repair (M&R) — the highest variable and volatile cost of a fleet operation, by moving to a shorter lifecycle.
When oil and gas companies drive their trucks as long as possible, they run on functional obsolescence — making decisions based on the truck’s ability to stay on the road. In most cases, when firms let the truck command the timetable for replacement, firms are left clambering to order a new truck based on limited planning cycles. Today’s backlog of truck orders is a result of this, as the multiplier effect of many transportation firms and this philosophy have caught up to them.
Instead, today’s leading companies are taking a new approach. Organizations are now focusing on a truck’s individual TIPPINGPOINT, the point at which it costs more to operate a truck than it does to replace it with a newer model. Features such as the cost of fuel, utilization, finance costs, and M&R, are all factored into arriving at each truck’s unique TIPPINGPOINT, giving fleet operations employees and finance departments a closer look based on data and analytics into determining and predicting the optimum time to replace an aging truck.
As an example, a recent analysis of long-term ownership versus shorter life cycle management illustrates significant cost savings over time. A fleet that opted for a four-year lease model on a truck would save roughly $27,893 per truck in comparison to a seven-year ownership model because of the aforementioned factors such as fuel, utilization, financing and M&R. The shorter lease model is also cost-effective when compared to just a four-year ownership model, showing average savings of $12,710.
This approach offers flexibility to adapt to changing markets, ultimately driving down operational costs while strengthening the corporate image and driver recruitment and retention efforts by continuously upgrading to newer trucks. Companies are leveraging data analytics and wide-ranging fleet studies that produce a fleet modernization and utilization plan, projecting when aging equipment will need to be replaced. This is especially applicable with today’s fluctuating demand and the current booming economy as companies trying to acquire equipment solely based on demand are faced with equipment shortages and long lead times.
Additionally, recent changes to the corporate tax rate, as well as new accounting standards, have made it more appealing to lease equipment. With these changes, at least in the case of truck acquisition, the cost of purchasing of equipment remains higher compared to shorter-term leasing of the equipment. What’s more, leasing remains the preferred method for companies regardless if they have a stronger or weaker balance sheet. In addition, leasing also allows companies to evade the risk of residual value and the expense of remarketing.
By adopting this new outlook of shorter truck lifecycles, industry organizations and transportation companies will become better equipped at swapping out their aging truck fleets in a more cost-efficient manner as we progress in 2019. |
The Clover Systems CDX Compact Disc Analyzer is a high-speed tool to quantitatively measure the quality of a CD. It will analyze CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-I, CD-R, Photo-CD, Enhanced CD and CD-RW discs at 4X, 8X, 24X, 32X or 40X speed. It effectively measures disc quality by examining the quantity and severity of CIRC errors generated during playback. It also provides the capability to measure signal parameters related to pit geometry, such as asymmetry and reflectivity. Together, all these bits of information provide a thorough analysis of disc quality. The Clover Systems Analyzers can also perform various format-checking tests on data discs, and do bit-for-bit data comparison on all types of CDs. All tests are carried out at the maximum speed of 40X.
CIRC error correction uses two principles to detect and correct errors. The first is redundancy (extra information is added, which gives an extra chance to read the disc), and the second is interleaving (data is distributed over a relatively large physical area). The CIRC error correction used in CD players uses two stages of error correction, the well known C1 and C2, with de-interleaving of the data between the stages.
The error type E11 means one bad symbol was corrected in the C1 stage. E21means two bad symbols were corrected in the C1 stage. E31 means that there were three or more bad symbols at the C1 stage. This block is uncorrectable at the C1 stage, and is passed to the C2 stage. Respectively, E12 means one bad symbol was corrected in the C2 stage and E22 means two bad symbols were corrected in the C2 stage. E32 means that there were three or more bad symbols in one block at the C2 stage, and therefore this error is not correctable.
BLER (Block Error Rate) is defined as the number of data blocks per second that contain detectable errors, at the input of the C1 decoder. Since this is the most general measurement of the quality of a disc, you will find BLER graphs for all media tested below. If you click on the images you can see a more detailed table, indicating error levels. The Red Book specification (IEC 908) calls for a maximum BLER of 220 per second averaged over ten seconds. Discs with higher BLER are likely to produce uncorrectable errors. Al low BLER shows that the system as a whole is performing well, and the pit geometry is good. However, BLER only tells us how many errors were generated per second, and it does not tell us anything about the severity of those errors.
The specific test didn't confirm Plextools' results. The Sony drive with the BenQ disc seems to PASS this hard test. |
Worst ship-caused damage to Great Barrier Reef – would nano have made it worse?
The Australian newspaper reports on the worst damage to the Great Barrier reef ever caused by a ship. The 100,000 tonne coal carrier the Shen Neh 1 "pulverised" a 3km section of the reef in the 9 days it was stranded on the coral. Now scientists warn that anti-fouling paint from the ship, left everywhere they have looked so far, could cause considerable long-term damage to the reef. FOEA asks, would the reef’s recovery be further set back if this were anti-bacterial nano-paint, and what action is required to ensure that manufactured nanomaterials are not posing unacceptable risks to our marine environment?
Time to ask the unaskable questions about new technologies?
The emerging policy debate about nanotechnology has tended to focus on the immediate health and environmental risks of nanoparticles. This is understandable – everyone cares about safety. But in the economic and political rush to invest big in nanotechnology and bring products to market quickly, have some of the bigger questions about its social, political and economic dimensions become "unaskable" – and will this come at a cost? Andrew Maynard explores these issues in a new blog for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (copied below).
FOEA and others have long been concerned that the chance of greater sun damage to skin is not the only potential health risk posed by nano-sunscreens. Now a new test tube study has found that nanoparticles of zinc oxide, a common sunscreen ingredient, are significantly more toxic to human colon cells than bulk particles of the zinc oxide, when nanoparticles are in direct contact with the cells. The authors suggest that nano-sunscreens could pose health harm if accidentally eaten, for example by children. The nanoparticle concentration tested in their study is equivalent to eating 2 grams of 10% zinc oxide sunscreen. |
Like all empires that of the Assyrians relied on military support from the subject peoples in times of crisis. Vassal kings would give a commitment to provide troops whenever the king called for them, and they would muster with both the professional Assyrian troops and the peasant levies, ready for the campaign.
The soldiers in this set would seem to be a fair representation of some of the allies Assyrian kings could call upon to fight with them. They wear no armour except the helmet which has a crest, a feature that some Assyrians copied. The spearmen all have a bronze disc in the centre of the chest (called an irtu), but as usual the archers are much more lightly attired. To our eye we felt that the kilts were rather too short for the spearmen, and the same applies to the sword scabbards and archer's quivers, the latter in particular being much too short to accommodate the arrow the man is holding.
Only having seven poses doesn't allow a lot of variety, but given that limitation the poses chosen are as good as any. In a familiar HaT tradition one figure has a cupped hand into which any of the separate weapons can be placed, although as this is not a ring hand gluing would be required. The separate items are a spear, axe, standard and mace (the mace is on the bottom of the axe and standard). This is an officer figure (particularly if the mace or standard is placed in the hand), although with the spear he could also pass as ordinary infantry (if an officer then he would not normally have a shield so remove the peg).
This set should be seen in tandem with the sister set of Assyrian Infantry from HaT, and like that set we have chosen to leave the shields off the figures to demonstrate the different types available. Of course those in the Assyrian infantry set could also be used on these figures. The shields have raised holes which fit onto pegs on the figure's arm. This is a very secure fit but does mean the arm is some way away from the shield - an inevitable compromise. Peg and hole could always be removed to make a more realistic model.
As with the sister set, these figures are very well sculpted with lots of good clear detail. It is made in quite a soft plastic, which tends to mean long thin items like spears are prone to bending. However these are easily straightened and stay that way too, and by being soft they are not as prone to breaking as some sets.
Another common feature of empires is that today's subject peoples and allies were probably once their enemies, so the figures in this set fulfil both roles depending on the date. Seven poses is not a lot, especially when divided between two troop types, but this is a solid enough set and a necessary partner to the indigenous Assyrians themselves. |
The North America Railway Hall of Fame is the main part of the cultural space at the Canada Southern (CASO) Railway Station. Built in 1871-1873, the Station has been a prominent landmark of the City of St. Thomas for over a century. It was an important railway junction between Detroit and Buffalo and Chicago and New York. In the early 1900s, over 100 trains per day passed by the station. St. Thomas became known as the Railway Capital of Canada.
The North America Railway Hall of Fame is committed to preserving and honouring our railway heritage and ensuring the future sustainability of the Canada Southern Railway Station.
They are also part of the Railworks Coalition, a community group of railway heritage properties that have come together for the joint benefit of preserving and protecting St. Thomas and area's rail assets.
Also included in this group is the Canada Southern (CASO) Station, the Elgin County Railway Museum, the Iron Horse Festival and the St.Thomas Elevated Park. |
SOME years ago a man I knew completed the manuscript of a novel based on his experiences in Vietnam. The story was pretty much standard-issue war novel, all about young men losing their innocence, their minds, and their lives, filled with depressing and ultimately purposeless violence. He went to one of the major publishers with it. After four months he got a letter saying they appreciated the opportunity he had given them to read it but that they didn't see it as a publishable work. If he wanted to stop by the office, however, the editor who had read it would be willing to talk to him about what she felt were the book's failings.
Dutifully, and because fledgling authors clutch at straws, he went in. The editor was a young woman who had been in elementary school during the years of the war. She carefully explained that the problem she had with the book was that the main characters didn't seem to act the way she thought soldiers acted. They weren't close to one another. She said she thought that soldiers were extremely close because they ... well, like, you know, faced death and all.
The author, not wanting to argue, agreed that sometimes soldiers became very close because of shared danger. But it was his experience that the army was actually a fundamentally lonely place, and men who were there by reason of the draft tended to regard it as a prison.
Yes, she said, but that didn't really seem like what she thought the army was like.
At this point, my friend realized that whatever had really happened in Vietnam was immaterial. People not involved in a war have a concept derived from movies and television, and they assume it's the real thing. He agreed that she had a point and said he would try a rewrite.
Which brings us to Tim O'Brien's books. In the face of what America has been led to believe about the war, O'Brien has been able to remain true to his memory. His stories never forget the utter hopelessness and loneliness of the fighting. It was hot work, sweaty and stultifying. It was vast periods of boredom punctuated by moments of white terror. American soldiers were lied to and bossed around by the conniving and the stupid.
Making people sit still and read such unpleasant reminders takes a certain cleverness. ``The Things They Carried,'' the first story in this collection of interrelated pieces, is beguiling in its detail.
The reader is trapped by curiosity. The details add up, rounding out a picture of the overburdened American soldier, weighed down by all the equipment the Pentagon has decided he needs - gargantuan radios and grenades and rifles and steel helmets and rockets and machine guns and cans of food - slogging through equatorial heat looking for people he didn't know enough to hate for the purpose of killing them.
But there's more than just materiel. O'Brien's soldiers carry bits of home: memories, letters, mistaken ideas, hints of tunes, and love affairs frozen for the duration of the war.
O'Brien has no flambouyant heroes. Back while Pat Buchannan and Dan Quayle were living their versions of the war, O'Brien and his fellow soldiers were up to their knees in rice paddies, hauling 23-pound M60s and 10-pound belts of linked ammunition and claymore mines counting the hot and endless days until they could go home to a country that thought they were war criminals.
The hatred and sorrow O'Brien feels in retrospect is on every page, and not all of it is for the usual targets - a sizable portion is reserved for himself. I've read nothing in all of the war's literature to compare with his vignette, ``The Man I Killed,'' for gripping self-loathing and regret, the kind that heals very slowly.
The stories are linked in an inexact way. Some take place in Vietnam, some back in the United States, some are during the war, and some years after. But O'Brien, who won the National Book Award in 1979 for ``Going After Cacciato,'' has twisted them together like the rags of an escape line. It's fair to say that he has written of nothing else, and it is hard to imagine him ever writing of anything else. He is a prisoner of war in a way, and it is fortunate for him that he can write well enough about it to get published.
If he deserves credit for anything, it is keeping an unvarnished version of the war alive in spite of the vast wash of nonsense that has spewed out of Hollywood and the networks.
After a few weeks of the freshly scrubbed and coifed yuppie warriors of ``China Beach,'' you could almost regard the war as not such an unpleasant thing. All problems are solved in time for the final credits. And this is hardly overstating the degree to which the popular version of the war, and war in general, has deviated with time.
Layne Heath's ``CW2,'' just published (William and Morrow), takes the Tom Clancy approach, worshipful of ordnance and tough guys. And Danielle Steel's current ``Letter from 'Nam'' (Dell) is the worst thing ever. The further the war recedes, the less one has to worry about the facts.
``The Things They Carried'' is a necessary book in American literature. With O'Brien's other work, it remains possibly the most accurate and most durable narrative of the war.
General criticism has been laudatory. ``The Things They Carried'' has been ranked with ``All Quiet on the Western Front'' and ``The Red Badge of Courage.'' I'd say it's still early for such rankings, but all signs point that way. |
Cardiac catheterization procedures have revolutionized the treatment of adults with congenital heart disease over the past six decades. Patients who previously would have required open heart surgery for various conditions can now undergo percutaneous cardiac catheter-based procedures to close intracardiac shunts, relieve obstructive valvular lesions, stent stenotic vessels, or even replace and repair dysfunctional valves. As the complexity of percutaneous cardiac catheterization procedures has increased, so has the use of echocardiography for interventional guidance in adults with congenital heart disease. Transthoracic, transesophageal, intracardiac, and three-dimensional echocardiography have all become part and parcel of the catheterization laboratory experience. In this review, we aim to describe the different echocardiographic techniques and their role in various cardiac catheterization interventions specific to adults with congenital heart disease. |
With our bilingual Ana Lomba Storybook App: Cinderella (French & English), you and/or your child can listen to the story in either French or English while reading along. Or mute it and read aloud.
Other format: computer-based, see our French eStorybooks Subscription.
One of the fastest ways to build fluency in French (or English) is to read aloud in that language. And there’s nothing like a fun story like our bilingual Ana Lomba Storybook App: Cinderella (French & English) to engage your child’s imagination in language learning.
Once captivated, your child will easily recall even the most complex structures and be able to use them in conversation if he or she listens to the story a few times.
This is the power of learning a language in context, rather than flashcards.
Take a short video tour of our Ana Lomba Storybook App: Thumbelina (French & English), as an example. We are sure you and your children will love our apps!
Give it a try, and you’ll see what we mean!
Story based on the classic tale: Cinderella.
Voice-over by native actresses for captivating effect and to help you model animated speech.
Easy toggle functionality between French and English so you can quickly check the meaning if you get lost—you could also alternate reading in the two languages if you so please.
“Pause” button so you can stop and replay shorter chunks of the text.
Scene divisions, so that you can concentrate on one section at a time, which allows for easier reenactment.
Vibrant comic-style illustrations, providing strong non-verbal cues to reinforce comprehension and make the experience very enjoyable.
Tons of everyday language and dialogue at a kid’s level for easy transfer to daily parent-child interaction.
So after downloading, what should you focus on?
Animate your storytelling sessions. Make pretend voices, act out some parts, wear wigs and other props… make the sessions as animated and lively as possible!
Use your French (or English)! Make the point of using the French that sticks with you (more each time) in your daily conversations with your child. Also, do NOT worry about speaking with perfect grammar and pronunciation. Actual usage is more important at this point.
Play the Ana Lomba Storybook App: Cinderella (French & English) frequently. This is both to train your ear to the flow of real French (or English) in action and also to register French (or English) grammar, intonation, cultural flair, etc., in your brain (a lot of this process will take place unconsciously!).
Set personal learning goals. For example, “This week we will learn at least five new expressions.” Challenge yourself as you become more strategic in your learning. It’s a good idea to keep a language-learning journal and look back at all the progress that you have made—don’t forget to pat yourself on the back.
When should I start reading aloud to my children in French?
Frankly, from the womb. The earlier, the better.
Reading aloud to your children is one of the best things you can do in early childhood, AND the benefits apply to reading in more than one language as well.
So that’s one fun and easy fluency-building activity that you can do right away: reading aloud with/to your children or students.
This app is great for older children and adults who want to learn French or English.
Use our apps standalone, or for better reinforcement, use them together with our curriculum.
Q: Why doesn’t my iPad app have any sound?
Some people have reported sound issues. The problem is with your iPad settings. By Apple’s design, while game apps don’t have sound when your iPad is muted, movies, TV shows, music, and other similar items will have sound.
For iPad models with a side switch (just above your volume controls), make sure your side switch is not locked. Check out Apple’s Side Switch article.
For models without a side switch (like iPad Air 2), you will need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal the Control Center. If your iPad is muted, you will see a diagonal line through the bell icon. Tap the bell icon to unmute your device. Check out Apple’s information on Mute.
If you are still having problems, you can take your iPad to the Apple store for help. |
The technicians at McGuire's Automotive have years of experience working on standard 4-wheel drive (4x4) vehicles as well as all-wheel drive (AWD) vehicles. AWD is a full-time 4-wheel-drive system (all four wheels receive torque from the engine simultaneously) that employs a center differential that allows each tire to rotate at different speeds.
The differential transfers the engine power to the wheels. One important function of the differential is to pass on power to the wheels while allowing them to rotate at different speeds - thus the name differential. When turning, the outer wheels travel a larger distance than the inner wheels do (also the front wheels travel a longer distance than the rear wheels). This means that all four wheels travel at different speeds during a turn and this is where the differential comes in to help. To make sure your vehicle's differentials are working properly, have them checked regularly. Contact McGuire's Automotive today for differentials examination and servicing.
A driveline is a part of your motor vehicle that connects the engine and the transmission to the wheel axles. The driveline consists of the parts of the powertrain less the engine and transmission. Failure of the driveline means that the car would not move since energy cannot be transmitted from the engine to the wheel axles. Therefore, make sure that your car's driveline is regularly inspected and serviced. And, at McGuire's Automotive, you can have the driveline serviced by experts.
A wheel hub motor, also referred to as a wheel motor, is an electric motor incorporated into the wheel hub and drives it directly. You can have a safer and smoother ride today by replacing your warped and worn out wheel hubs. Let McGuire's Automotive replace your worn out hubs today.
Properly working seals provide oil and grease sealing - offering enhanced performance in a wide range of temperatures and environments. Worn out or warped seals allow external contaminants to enter the bearing unit or let lubricant escape from the unit. This ultimately leads to premature failure of the bearing unit. To keep out contamination and retain lubricant in the bearings, have the seals replaced with new ones. To have the seals replaced by experts, contact or visit McGuire's Automotive today.
Studs are the threaded fasteners that hold on the wheels of your truck. The wheel studs are permanently mounted on the wheel hub through the brake disk or brake drum. To secure the wheel, nuts (lug nuts) are fastened over the stud. Stripped wheel studs can be quite dangerous. Damaged wheel studs should be replaced with new ones immediately. To have your truck's wheel studs replaced with high quality ones, call 978-537-5758 or visit McGuire's Automotive today.
A wheel nut or lug nut is a fastener for securing a wheel on the hub. A set of lug nuts are used to secure a wheel to the threaded wheel studs (which are fixed to a wheel hub). Worn out nuts means one thing - the wheel is not fixed securely on the vehicle which puts the vehicle at the risk of rolling over. To have your truck's wheels securely fastened to the hub, contact or visit McGuire's Automotive in Leominster, MA 01453 today.
A transfer case is a part of a four wheel drive system found in four wheel drive and all wheel drive vehicles. The transfer case receives power from the transmission and sends it to both the front and rear axles. This can be done with a set of gears, but the majority of transfer cases manufactured today are chain driven. The transfer case is connected to the transmission and also to the front and rear axles by means of drive shafts. Trust the automotive experts at McGuire's Automotive for all your transmission repairs.
Transmission repair is not something to take lightly. The transmission is connected to key parts of your vehicle and needs to be working properly for your safety. Transmission services include replacing filters and draining fluids to prevent transmission damage. Typical transmission issues that may lead to repair may include shifting issues, slipping, stalling, fluid leaking, and the service light turning on. If you are concerned that you may need transmission repair, don't hesitate to schedule an appointment at McGuire's Automotive today.
Wheel bearings are found inside of wheels, allowing the wheels to spin freely, and are connected to the brake system. They can become worn over time, causing a vibrating suspension and noisy rubbing as the car is driven. If they break completely, the vehicle will become very difficult to control and unsafe to drive. Replacement interval for wheel bearings varies greatly, but they should be checked for leaks and wear periodically. McGuire's Automotive can make sure that your bearings are in good shape and let you know if they need replacement. |
In the royalties department of a record label, music publisher, performing right organization, or other music company, the digital licensing administrator supports the efforts of the larger staff. He or she is primarily concerned with researching and processing license requests for compositions to be reproduced or distributed through the digital medium; this may include permanent digital downloads, limited downloads, interactive streaming, webcasting, online subscription services, and ringtones. Most often, a mechanical license will suffice for digital reproduction, but certain forms of usage may also require a master license or synchronization license.
The administrator may be fielding requests for licenses or submitting requests, depending on the nature of the individual’s employer. It is this person’s responsibility to research pertinent information about the composition, including all copyright holders and artist agreements. He or she will confirm the splits (percentage of royalties owed to each copyright holder), publisher credits, and payee information, and compile that information in the company’s database. The digital licensing administrator is also tasked with calculating royalty rates based on the song and project information. Additional responsibilities include continual tracking of upcoming song releases across the industry, auditing the licensing database for accuracy, and monitoring the usage of licenses issued or obtained.
A college degree in music business, mass communications, or another related field is required. Employers looking to fill this position prefer a candidate who is highly proficient in standard PC or Mac software and a master of spreadsheets. A digital licensing administrator must also be capable of performing diligent research and efficiently assimilating the information. Courses in copyright law and communication law are highly beneficial, and are offered at most universities as a part of undergraduate studies. Strong math, communication, and problem-solving skills are not just desirable but necessary in this career.
As a member of the royalties department, the digital licensing administrator will often work closely with on-staff mechanical licensing administrators, royalty administrators, and clearance administrators. He or she will also act as a liaison to other industry professionals in music publishing and at record labels, PROs, and online music distribution companies. This is an entry-level position for an individual with the appropriate education, but it does require knowledge of the music industry; therefore, an internship in the royalties department or other segment of a music company is highly encouraged before you seek full-time employment. The digital licensing administrator answers to the supervisor and manager of the division, and is supervised by the director of the royalty department. |
Pluto _Designed by PauloAmaral ( ) _Pluto, also called Pluto the Pup, is a cartoon character created in 1930 by Walt Disney Productions. He is a golden-colored, medium-sized, short-haired dog with black ears. Unlike most Disney characters, Pluto is not anthropomorphic beyond some characteristics such as facial expression, though he did speak for a short portion of his history. He is Mickey Mouse's pet. Officially a mixed-breed dog,he made his debut as a bloodhound in the Mickey Mouse cartoon The Chain Gang.Together with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, and Goofy, Pluto is one of the "Sensational Six"—the biggest stars in the Disney universe.Though all six are non-human animals, Pluto alone is not dressed as a human. _Pluto is truly a well-trained dog. Like his master Mickey, he can get into a large amount of trouble but has enough brains to escape the situation. He acts as Mickey's sidekick, best friend, conscience in some occasions and pet. The pet is extremely loyal but on occasion does have the tendency to argue and be fussy with people or even Mickey. |
How to grow green beans are a tasty and useful vegetable crop. It is a shrub of 20 to 50 cm, which are formed edible pods. Beans enriches the soil in which grows the nitrogen, so after it, feeling good in the garden other plants. To grow beans easy, because it is quite unpretentious.
How to grow walnut can be grown far North of their native places of growth, and in recent decades managed to bring him cold-resistant varieties. In winter, the plant bends and additionally snowed in, so for the convenience of the shelter is recommended to grow a walnut in patchy form.
Decorative Jasmine: how to multiply at home , ornamental plant, flowering delicate, beautiful flowers. Grown this species outdoors, and usually at home. The smell that comes from Jasmine, has a beneficial effect on humans. There are several varieties of this ornamental plants, but they reproduce 3 ways, the most common is through cuttings.
How to make a drip irrigation system . When using this method the water is delivered directly to the root zone of plants. This allows to significantly save the consumption of water, and the plants get more moisture. |
The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation’s Women & PD Conference in New Jersey hosted 25 women from all over the country. This is the first national, coordinated effort dedicated to improving the health and well-being of women living with Parkinson’s disease. Women with PD were selected based on their prior involvement with PD initiatives, and their communication and leadership skills. Susan Foster was one of four women on the Leadership committee who worked together for over a year to organize the conference. Ann Boylan and I were the lucky attendees from the Bay Area.
The goal of the conference was to educate this core group of women on the issues facing women with PD. These women, in turn, will organize an event for women in their area.
Dr. Allison Willis, Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania spoke on the topic “Women and PD: What Do We Know?” Dr. Willis, who has spent years creating and conducting studies based on Medicare data, explained that we are very short on clinical studies for PD that focus on women.
She showed us her work on gender differences in PD, supported primarily by the NIH NINDS (National Center for Research Resources and National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research.) With the aid of maps, graphs, and statistics, she explained facts and questions that transcend known studies that the male/female ratio for PD is 3:2, and that women have a survival advantage. That said, a significantly higher percentage of white, Hispanic, and Asian men are more likely to see a neurologist for PD than females. Trailblazer Dr. Willis sets a high bar for PD research. Her work indicates that there’s a lot more to women’s stats—in numbers and outcomes—than what’s been published.
It was the perfect time for Dr. Becky Farley to jump in with some power up exercises to take the heat in the room down a notch! Becky Farley, PF, MS, PhD, Founder, Parkinson’s Wellness Recovery (PWR!) has established her brand for exercise accomplishment not only in the Bay Area, but all over the country. Her PWR! Vision is for people with Parkinson’s to belong to communities where individuals with Parkinson’s disease have access to “Exercise as Medicine.” When she says “power up,” her exercises make a world of difference to the well-being of people with Parkinson’s.
Meaningful involvement was the perfect introduction for Diane Cook, Developer and Facilitator of the Parkinson’s Self-Efficacy Program. Diane’s program should be offered to every newly-diagnosed PD person. Her presentation examined self efficacy, or as Cook phrases it, “Achieve influence over conditions that affect one’s life. Believe in possibility!” She quoted her former employer, author and public speaker Deepak Chopra, who said “pay attention every day to your intention. Nothing is impossible.” Self-efficacy may be one of our most important tools for improving quality of life in Parkinson’s disease patients, so that they can manage the continual challenges of a chronic, progressive disease.
Dr. Rebecca Gilbert, MD, PhD, from the Division of Movement Disorders, NYU Langone is an incredible, brilliant speaker who spoke about “Developing a Comprehensive Care Plan.””Become a force for good, don’t wallow,” she said. Dr. Gilbert, who covered every aspect of medications, symptoms and future developments, also answered a flurry of detailed questions from the educated audience without hesitation. She is like a key to the library of Parkinson’s disease!
After a dinner with some great laughter thanks to the humor of Parkinson’s Disease Foundation Research Advocate and NPR radio celebrity Robin Morgan and some soul lifting by author of Parkinson’s Diva, Maria De Leon, MD, each attendee was given two books: Parkinson’s Diva by Maria De Leon and The Peripatetic Pursuit of Parkinson’s Disease by the Parkinson’s Creative Collective, graciously given to us by Katherine Huseman.
Our group of 25 women had half a day left to come up with the next step – what to do next. After brainstorming, we each formed the beginning of a plan for what we’d do in different locations of the country. Each of us has vowed to do something for women & PD in our area.
The experience for each attendee was like putting together a beautiful puzzle to be able to finally connect people with their stories. The 25 attendees at the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation Women & PD Conference are a remarkable bunch. Robin Morgan said the attendees had amazing energy enough to light a city block! |
garment most commonly of cotton fabrics, the trunk and sleeves of which are of a piece with the trousers. The front has a long slit, reaching from the neck opening to below the line of the waist. Used as workwear, or (if of superior cut and materials) as sports- or leisurewear. |
No matter how you typically decorate Easter eggs, I think you’ll be touched by this beautiful story from Lucy Finney, one of our photo stylists and a model for Classic Sewing magazine. Her mother, Betty Carter, created quite the egg smocking legacy! Thank you, Lucy, for sharing this.
“When my mother, Betty Carter, was young, each year she would sew coordinating outfits for my brother and me before Easter. These handmade items always had a smocking detail, and soon she began using leftover fabric to smock eggs each spring for our Easter baskets.
Some were made from kits that included a Styrofoam egg, pleated fabric, floss, and directions for several different smocking patterns. Her goal was to have enough smocked eggs to decorate a little tabletop tree in our home for the Easter season.
When that goal was achieved, she gathered small branches from our yard, placed them into a tub of Plaster of Paris, then spray-painted the arrangement a soft white.
She hung the eggs on the tree, put Easter grass around the base, scattered small figurines of bunnies in the grass, and then circled all of that with a little white picket fence. Over the years she displayed the little eggs in silver bowls, baskets, or scattered them around a centerpiece.
What are some of your Easter traditions?
How sweet, Lucy. I know you love not only the decorated eggs that you still cherish but also the beautiful dresses that your daughter can now wear. Special memories!!!
Beautiful eggs, and story. I had always wanted to learn to smock, but something always got in the way, kids, life. I made the girls dresses for Easter and my granddaughters, but no smocking, embroidery yes. Maybe 70 isn’t to old to learn, at least a simple basic stitch.
Easter at our house meant a new dress, complete with hat, gloves, socks with lace around the edge, and patent leather shoes, to wear to church Sunday morning. My younger sister and I would find a big basket full of candy, including a big chocolate bunny, and a toy sitting on the kitchen table. I can still remember the year I got a Liddle Kiddle on a trike in my basket.
I love the smocked eggs and thought maybe they were done in the fabric and design of a specific outfit each year. What a memory keeper that would have been. It’s always so nice when mothers go that extra mile to make holidays special, not only for the moment but forever in our hearts and minds.
I have never seen smocked eggs. They are beautiful,indeed. Being a Northern lady, may I ask if this is a Southern tradition!
What a sweet family tradition! The smocking eggs are darling, and I can just imagine the many ways one could decorate with them come Easter time.
Each Easter, when my siblings and I were young, my mother made a strawberry cake shaped like a bunny wearing a bow-tie. Once it had been frosted white, we got to decorate the face and tie with colorful candies like jelly beans and M&Ms. It was such fun and produced many a happy memory.
My late parents loved all holidays. One of my Dad’s favorite traditions was giving us an Easter basket ( always sitting next to the bed) on Easter morning. He always gave us a chocolate bunny too even after we were grown & married. The last one he gave me before he passed away was hidden in the pantry for years where I thought it was secure. One day I came home from work to discover that the ears were missing. Later my husband told me the bunny tasted rather stale. I shared with him the family tradition of the chocolate bunny!
What lovely memories, Phyllis, Lucy & your readership have shared!!
I remember Easter morning as an exciting time, also. Mother & Daddy always prepared a small Easter egg hunt – in the yard or in the house depending on the weather; then there was church and afterwards a bounteous Easter Sunday dinner either at home or with extended family.
The Easter we lived in DC, my husband and I shopped together for my Easter hat. What a treasured memory is that of trying on various chapeaux as my practically newlywed husband looked on. The Ecru confection sits in its Hecht Company hatbox on my closet shelf. I still wear it occasionally for Easter.
My mom only new how to sew by hand. She made us the most beautiful doll clothes. When she was 63 and my dad had passed expectantly, she took a porcelain doll class. All the clothes were hand sewn including everything had a French seam. All the delicate little pleats and some with smocking. As I write this I’m sitting here looking at one dress I had professionally framed to honor her amazing handwork. Oh I miss her and oh how I wish I had her handwork talent.
I once tried to take an egg smocking class around 20 years ago and oh my it was so much work and I just could not get the knack of it. But I’m glad I gave it a try.
Such beautiful easter eggs and what a lovely memory.
After reading this story it really touched my heart and soul.
I love old things that are made with so much love and the memory behind it.
I have also just made a lovely easter egg with old materials,and sitting and watching it next to an old bear,I’am looking with a big smile to it all the time.
Hope someone will love and cherish the egg also,long after when I’m gone.
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My mother was a wonderful seamstress. She would sew my sister and I an entire outfit for Easter. One year a cousin was staying with us while her parents got settled in a new town and job. Three identical Easter outfits were made. Hats, gloves and shoes all matched. Until the day my cousin went to Heaven, we would laugh about those previous clothes.
What a beautiful tradition Lucy’s mother began. The eggs are beautiful. As a child growing up in Europe, one of my favorite traditions was a wonderful breakfast after church with our family. My grandfather selected a luxurious chocolate egg from the chocolatier in our town for each one of us, they were works of art. Often dinner was at one of his favorite restaurants, and the desserts were spectacular! One year the chef wheeled out a miniature cathedral made of chocolate, on another Easter the dessert was ice cream served in a white chocolate box that played music when I opened it. |
A patient's eye is examined with a red laser.
A patient undergoes a virtual colonoscopy.
Black and white period footage of black students applying for college or university in the American South, including shots of admission process, examination and interview.
A dentist and his two assistants perform a periodontal exam on a patient to check for gum disease.
Epochal scenes in U.S. history, as 60,500 Guardsmen from 26 states are called to active duty, the first step in putting an army of one million men in arms by 1941. They're given physicals and weapons training. They eat meals and march in platoons.
A doctor examines x-rays looking for breast cancer.
Servicemen who completed training at the Officers Candidates School of the Army Air Force study for their final exams--some more seriously than others. Master in Apple Pro Res 422 HQ 29.97fps 1080p.
Education minister speaks to press about introducing teacher qualifying exam for new teachers. Teacher in classroom instructing students. George Bush walks across lawn waving at reporters. Examples of exam questions given in Texas listed on screen. Cut to interior of university study room. PLEASE NOTE: VIDEO AND AUDIO OF NEWS ANCHORS AND REPORTERS IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR LICENSING. |
Galvanically isolated interfaces are a common requirement within industrial devices for safety reasons. In this type of application, a digital isolator is used to galvanically isolate an MCU from a communication transceiver or an ADC.
Digital isolators work at two power domains, using an isolated DC power supply in one domain. The low DC voltage for isolated power domain could be achieved with a small and simple push-pull converter. The push-pull converter is a transformer-isolated topology using two transistors switching in complementary mode.
Generate a complementary PWM with dead time using the programmable delay block.
Generate a start-up sequence using a pipe-delay block.
Obtain multiple clock frequencies via an internal oscillator.
This application note describes how to design a high reliability rotary switch or encoder using a Dialog GreenPAK. This switch design is contactless, and therefore ignores contact oxidation and wear. It is ideal for use outdoors where there is long term moisture, dust, temperature extremes, etc.
Dialog GreenPAK SLG46537: The GreenPAK CMIC provides all the circuit functions for this design. It generates a signal (EVAL) for improved signal to noise, receives inputs from each sector pad of the rotary switch, and interprets each sector pad using the Asynchronous State Machine(ASM) to guarantee only one switch selection.
This design uses a single Dialog GreenPAK SLG46110 to realize a low-side sensing over current detection circuit with a latching output used to enable/disable an external high-side PMOS load switch. By configuring one of the onboard comparators (ACMP1) to perform as a Non-Inverting Amplifier with a gain of 22.5, we can use a very small 0.010 ohm low-side sense resistor to, in this case, detect a 4A maximum current.
The TPS54331 is a non-synchronous buck converter that integrates a low RDS(on) high side MOSFET and is designed to provide up to a 3A output from an input voltage source of 3.5 V to 28 V. This application note explains the procedure of converting a simple buck converter into a CC/CV charger with low component count for charging a SMF Lead Acid Battery. This concept can be extended to multiple parts in the same family.
This application report offers a ready-made solution for GPS tracking with CC13xx devices, and includes a Python script that will plot data points onto Google Maps. This application can be used for various device tracking or range testing and evaluation.
Digital Input receivers are used in AC and servo motor control to interface various 24-V signals to the control module of the drive. These signals include inputs from field sensors and switches, position and speed feedback encoded as 24-V signals, clock or PWM inputs for speed control, and emergency stop signals, such as Safe Torque Off (STO). Isolation is used to manage ground potential differences.
This application note includes an object versus range table to list the detection range capabilities of TI’s mmWave radar sensors. The method used for data collection is reported and the data for the maximum range recording for each objects is provided. Intuitions that can be gained from the table regarding radar cross section and maximum range detection are included.
The Thunderbolt Alternate Mode allows the two sides of a USB Type-C PD connection to discover, negotiate, and enter the Intel Thunderbolt 3 mode allowing transfer of high-speed data. The mode is negotiated using USB Power Delivery messaging, as listed in the USB PD specification. This application report explains the standard implementation of the Thunderbolt Alternate Mode and how it can be used with the Texas Instruments TPS6598x family of USB Type-C and USB PD controllers and associated software tools.
This application note discusses the importance of clocking in Ultrasound and also illustrates how some key TI devices achieve very low end to end jitter and phase noise. The application note also demonstrates how various stages have very low additive jitter.
CLASS-D audio amplifiers provide output power with an efficiency of over 90% as compared to CLASS-AB amplifiers that can provide an output efficiency of <50%. CLASS-D amplifiers are implemented in portable personal audio systems that provide quality sound output enabling longer battery life. A widely used CLASS-D amplifier in automotive systems are for E-call systems that provide critical audio feedback to the driver in case of a driver emergency. In E-call systems discrete current sensing is often implemented for continuous diagnostics to ensure speaker is operational at all times.
In 4K serial digital interface (SDI) video designs, flexibility, scalability, and cost savings are essential to maximize design reuse and develop an extensive 12G-SDI portfolio. A bidirectional input/output (I/O) addresses these critical needs. This application note explains how the features and diagnostic tools of the LMH1297 12G-SDI bidirectional I/O enable various SDI design benefits. This application note also provides several application examples where the LMH1297's versatility simplifies 4K video design.
This application report describes the development of Wi-Fi enabled electronic smart locks (e-locks). Specifically, the benefits of adding Wi-Fi to an e-lock design are examined.
Different Wi-Fi use cases are presented along with an estimate of system battery life for two main use cases. This application report demonstrates that SimpleLink Wi-Fi makes it possible to create a battery powered e-lock design that can be securely monitored and controlled from the cloud.
Texas Instruments has developed automotive grade DLP technology that enables highly-efficient, nextgeneration, full-color, true augmented reality (AR) automotive head-up display (HUD) systems. The uniqueness of DLP technology makes it possible to solve common design challenges of head-up display systems including managing environmental extremes and sunlight thermal loading, delivering high brightness and high resolution, and implementing dynamic dimming capabilities. Additionally, DLP projection-based architecture provides flexibility in the optical design needed to create very large field of view virtual displays over the road that augment and assist the driver. This paper includes a brief overview of DLP solid state illumination operation and how the implementation of DLP technology can solve the common HUD design challenges. DLP technology can be used to create advanced solutions for true automotive AR HUD applications.
As a bridge of the link layer device medium access controller (MAC) and physical medium such as copper cable, the Ethernet physical layer device (PHY) integrates all the physical-layer functions needed to transmit and receive data on standard twisted-pair cables. Proper PHY configuration using management data input/output (MDIO) is fundamental during the prototype stage, and also crucial to meeting the requirements of lowest deterministic latency and fastest link detection in industrial Ethernet applications such as EtherCAT. This application report provides guidance on the Ethernet PHY configuration using the MDIO module within the Programmable-Realtime Unit Industrial Communications Sub-System (PRUICSS) in the Sitara device from TI, for industrial applications, by dissecting the PHY DP83822 configuration in EtherCAT on the AMIC110 Industrial Communications Engine (ICE). The goal of this application report is to expedite the development of industrial Ethernet applications on custom boards with migration and troubleshooting guides for the PHYs.
The LM4935 features an advanced headset detection scheme that can sense the insertion or removal of any type of available headset.
This application report describes the implementation of multiple reader antennas with a single TRF7970A NFC transceiver IC. For demonstration purposes, the MSP430F5529 LaunchPad development kit with TRF7970A BoosterPack plug-in module are used. The PE42359 UltraCMOS RF Switch from Peregrine Semiconductors is used for switching due to its simple control methodology and low power loss during switching. The demo supports ISO/IEC 15693, ISO/IEC 14443A, and ISO/IEC 14443B communication protocols.
This application report describes a simple demo of antenna multiplexing that can help when using the TRF7970A in applications with multiple antennas. This application report is an addition to the advanced demo for multiplexing 16 antennas that is described in TRF7960A RFID Multiplexer Example System (SLOA167). This application report uses an alternative switching device and an easier control strategy. The control algorithm can be easily written and added to the existing firmware.
Digital filtering can be easily accomplished on the MSP430 using efficient multiplication. The tool accompanying this document automatically converts FIR filter coefficients to MSP430 assembly code that can be used in any application. Horner’s method and CSD format is used to accomplish the efficient multiply operations. The performance of the filter on the MSP430 is shown by evaluating the gain across all frequencies. Performance in terms of CPU cycles, code size, and frequency response of low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, band-stop, and notch filters on the MSP430 is shown in Appendix A.
This application report describes in detail the usage of DLMS COSEM library developed by Texas Instruments for customers who use TI’s microcontrollers in metering applications. The library is provided as object coded with a configuration file for ease of use. The library can be obtained by contacting the regional sales and marketing offices. The customer will have to sign an SLA before getting access to the library.
One of the key features of the UCC28950 phase-shifted, full-bridge controller is its ability to synchronize its main oscillator to an external clock source. In this way, multiple controllers can be synchronized to improve performance criteria of the end power supply. This application report expands the details of the synchronization capability of the UCC28950, provides examples of simple circuits used to generate the proper clock inputs to the UCC28950, and gives examples of the input and output signaling that can be expected with three- and four-phase applications.
TI SYS/BIOS is a real-time operating system kernel. It is also a component of TI RTOS. TI RTOS is an integration system; it includes TI SYS/BIOS kernel, XDCtools, middleware, MCU driver library, and other kinds of components.
TI-RTOS is a one-stop solution for developing applications for TI embedded processors and is tightly integrated with TI’s Code Composer Studio™ (CCS) development environment.
TI-RTOS also provides many example project packages with which you may start to develop a project with TI SYS/BIOS. |
Situated where the Prairie meets the Rocky Mountains, Augusta provides the closest access, of any of the towns along The Rocky Mountain Front, to the trailheads for the Bob Marshall and Scapegoat Wilderness areas and the Lewis & Clark National Forest.
Guest ranches in the area offer riding, rustic cabins, hunting, fishing and sightseeing trips. The area teems with wildlife, and the real meaning of being in a major bird flyway is understood in the spring and fall.
Hikers, backpackers and horseback riders assemble in Augusta to access the 1,500,000 million acres of unspoiled, rugged beauty in the high country. There are ten beautiful lakes ranging from 6 to 25 miles from town, and many excellent fishing streams are close by.
In addition to the spectacular landscape, true western hospitality awaits visitors to Augusta with it's gift shops, an array of food and drink opportunities, motel/hotel accommodations, campgrounds and an RV park. Spend some time exploring our wonderful area, then shop, have dinner in town, and make some new friends!
Cuddled in the shadow of the Rocky Mountain Front, Augusta serves as the Trailhead to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and a great place for outdoor recreation. Augusta is the "Gateway to the Crown Jewel" of the wilderness system. The Bob is one of the most completely preserved mountain ecosystems in the world. It is the kind of wilderness most people can only imagine: 1.5 million acres of rugged peaks, alpine lakes, cascading waterfalls, shimmering crystal clear streams and large remote river valleys.
The Scapegoat Wilderness was designated in 1972 at 239,936 acres through a "grass roots" community effort and earned a place in history as the first citizen-initiated wilderness area in the nation.
The Scapegoat's acreage contains approximately 320 miles of system trail. The Scapegoat Wilderness is dominated by the massive limestone cliffs of the 9,204-foot Scapegoat Mountain that extends south from the Bob Marshall's Chinese Wall. Elevations range from 5,000 feet on the North Fork of the Blackfoot River to 9,400 feet on Red Mountain, the highest peak in the Complex.
The Lewis and Clark National Forest lies in central and north central Montana within the upper Missouri River system. The Forest's namesakes, Lewis and Clark, led their expedition through these lands and waterways.
The Forest's elevation ranges from 4,500 to 9,362 feet at the top of Rocky Mountain Peak in the Rocky Mountains. Landscapes range from broad prairies to rugged ridges and mountain peaks. Beautiful grassy parks and mountain meadows are surrounded by forests of douglas fir and lodgepole pine. |
In Social Studies, kindergarteners begin learning about themselves and move outward. They develop an understanding of self, one's relationship with others, and one's relationship to the environment. The curriculum is designed to introduce students to concepts related to map skills, past and present, and citizenship.
Identify reasons for classroom and school rules, such as maintaining order and keeping the community safe.
Recognize rules help promote fairness, responsible behavior, and privacy.
Identify, discuss, and demonstrate appropriate social skills, such as listening to the speaker, taking turns, settling disagreements, and reaching compromise at home and in school.
Identify and describe rights and responsibilities in the classroom and family.
Describe the role of members of school such as principal, crossing guide, bus drivers and teachers.
Identify common symbols such as the American Flag and Statue of Liberty.
Recognize that saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing, “The Star Spangled Banner” are practices associated with being a citizen.
Identify the contributions of people, past and present, such as George Washington, Rosa parks and the current President.
Use informational text to identify and discuss the contributions of individuals recognized on national holidays, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Presidents’ Day.
Identify ways that people travel on land, water, and air.
Explain how transportation is used to move goods and people from place to place.
Identify ways that people communicate messages.
Identify ways people adapt to the environment, such as wear clothing that is appropriate to the weather.
Identify and describe events of the day in chronological order.
Describe daily events in terms of yesterday today, and tomorrow.
Compare tools and toys of the past with those of today.
Tell about people in the past using informational text and features.
Identify ways that people change their environment to meet their needs, such as planting crops or cutting forest.
Give examples of qualities, such as customs, interest, skills, and experiences that make individuals and families in their immediate environment unique.
Begin to be aware of technology and how it affects life.
Describe a globe as a model of Earth showing land and water.
Describe daily events in terms of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Give examples of qualities such as customs, interests, skills and experiences that make individuals and families in their immediate environment unique. |
Fuzzy logic is a sort of computer logic that is different from boolean algebra founded by Lotfi A. Zadeh. It is different in the way that it allows values to be more accurate than on or off. While boolean logic only allows true or false, fuzzy logic allows all things in between. An example of this could be a computer game: A person is standing in a doorway while a thing explodes. The character is hit or not hit if boolean logic is used, but the doorway protects him from the explosion. Therefore, he might only be hit 20%, and takes less damage.
To put it in more precise mathematical terms, classical logic has two values. These values are usually called false (0) or true (1). With fuzzy logic, a (calculated) value of 0.8 or 0.971 is possible. It is important to know the difference between fuzzy logic and chance. A coin that is thrown has a chance of 0.5 for landing heads up. If it is thrown 1000 times, it is expected that it will land with heads side up 500 times. With fuzzy logic, a thing with a "truth value" of 0.5 will have a value of 0.5 no matter how many times it is done. It is not a 50% chance of true or untrue, it is 50% true and 50% untrue at the same time. Fuzzy logic is used a lot in expert systems and neural networks.
Humans tend to use a combination of predicate logic and fuzzy logic. If you are an outfielder catching a baseball hit into the air; then your precise logic will calculate trajectory and start you running to the point of intercept (catching). However, once close to the ball the eyes and brain of the outfielder lacks the ability to accurately estimate distance and speed because the ball is coming straight at the outfielder. The human brain switches to fuzzy logic that says "get me closer", "get me closer", and so on. That is why you see outfielders in baseball run to a spot and then move around as the ball gets closer.
Predicate logic says calculate the point to be at to catch the ball. Fuzzy logic says because of wind or other things you might not be in the correct place so just keep getting closer until you catch the ball.
In predicate logic it is the mathematics of calculating the path of the ball that determines your action. In fuzzy logic it is the error of your calculations that determines your action.
In effect, it's like your brain trying to control your finger to pick your nose while traveling down a bumpy road. |
Numerous new technologies have been introduced into the routine pathology laboratory over recent years. The growing number of new specialties in medicine and pathology furthermore re led to the introduction of modern evidence based medicine and major advances in our understanding of disease processes and their diagnosis.
The diagnostic process begins with clinical observations and the need for objective and accurate pathological assessments to arrive at a specific diagnosis. Pathology results, similar to genetic test results, are interpreted within a clinical context as an accurate diagnosis depends on careful clinic-pathological correlation. Advanced technologies are increasingly used to stay abreast of expanding clinical requirements such as sub classification of cardiovascular diseases (e.g dyslipidaemia, venous thrombosis, cardiomyopathy) and prognostication of patients with breast carcinoma to guide the direction of therapeutic intervention. Through clinic-pathological correlation, all laboratory results including those obtained through molecular genetic applications, are finally interpreted and integrated with the patient's clinical findings and data from other special investigations. Identification of genetic subgroups at risk of drug side effects or with different treatment or dietary requirements provides a scientific basis for targeted intervention as opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach.
It is important to develop innovative approaches to risk management of complex multifactorial diseases, which could be applied in a clinical context where the genetic test results are fully integrated with relevant clinical information and other diagnostic pathology data. Provision of clinically-useful genetic information requires careful review of the literature to prevent the use of genetic alterations of unknown functional significance in genetic tests.
Where genetic tests, similar to some non-genetic pathology tests, have not been adequately validated the scarcity of sound scientific evidence rightfully challenges the ethical and scientific justification of routine application of these tests in clinical practice. However, the growing clinical demand for such tests pertaining for example to pharmacogenetics and nutrigenetics - to identify genetic determinants of differential responses to medical treatment or dietary intervention - drives the need to offer such tests in an appropriate clinical context and as part of an integrated pathology-based platform. Such an approach is often a logical addition to and expansion of well-established clinical practice to sub-classify complex diseases into treatable entities. A good example is cardiovascular disease referred to in more detail below, where correlation between the presence of well-established genetic and lifestyle risk factors and relevant biochemical profiles could be used to determine gene expression and monitor response to the intervention strategy applied.
Figure 1: Risk management genetic testing includes evaluation of the current health status of the individual, documentation of the family history and pathology supported gene-based intervention, based on the overall risk profile.
The rapidly expanding global interest in molecular genetic testing for the early detection of disease and the subsequent opportunity for preventative or therapeutic interventions to influence the outcome of a disease, confirms the importance of this new field in healthcare. The need for pathology tests including molecular genetic tests is primarily determined by clinical need as defined by patients expectations and clinicians demand for relevant information to guide the clinical management of patients, including the prevention of disease through appropriate interventions. Other relevant drivers for laboratory tests include current developments in health science, health economy including medical aid policies, and evidence-based guidelines pertaining to the diagnosis and clinical management of patients.
Numerous and major advances characterized the evolution of modern medicine during the past centuries and brought about many changes to the practice of clinical and diagnostic health sciences. The rapidly expanding integration and overlapping of traditionally distinctly separate fields of medicine introduced a new era of interdisciplinary - and team-approaches to clinical practice and patient care. In this regard, clinical human genetics including molecular genetics is indeed no exception. Matching disease diagnosis and therapeutic design with the clinical picture, pathology, environmental risk factors and genetic profile of the patient is a rapidly evolving era that will become increasingly important.
Majority of cardiovascular events happen in individuals considered to be at low or intermediate risk for cardiovascular event. |
Here�s a simple way to cut down on greenhouse gas, make the world smell better, prolong the life of landfills and improve soil for agriculture: Don�t throw away your leftovers.
Food waste makes up the largest percentage of waste going into municipal landfills and incinerators, according to the US. Environmental Protection Agency. More than 34 million tons of food waste was generated in 2010, with only three percent diverted from landfills and incinerators for composting.
Sustainable Aquidneck is working to do something about this at the local level by turning throwaway food into compost for soil to grow local food. Last summer the nonprofit partnered with the ecoRI environmental news website to start a food scrap collection and composting program. Working with sponsors A Market and Newport Restaurant Group, Sustainable Aquidneck collects food scraps at farmers markets and from cafes and restaurants.
�By the year 2025 the landfills which Rhode Islanders use will reach their capacity,� says Sustainable Aquidneck co-founder Kyle Hence.
When food is disposed in a landfill it rots and becomes a major source of the potent greenhouse gas methane, which has 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, according to the EPA. Landfills are said to account for more than 20 percent of all methane emissions.
Food scraps can be stored in a compost bin or even a bag in the freezer. Sustainable Aquidneck�s volunteers transport them to Island Community Farm, the group�s 8.3 acres of organic community farms and gardens off Green End Avenue in Middletown. So far the initiative has diverted over 10,000 pounds of food scraps and coffee grounds from the landfill to revitalize the soil at Island Community Farms.
Participating in the food scrap collection program takes very little at-home adjustment. Ask 25-year-old Newport resident Helena Touhey, who with her two roommates saves kitchen scraps in a paper bag in their freezer and takes them to the Saturday morning Winter Market in Portsmouth.
Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen. Simply dump grounds and filters into a bag or plastic bin and bring them to the farmers� market. But the collection program can�t take some kinds of waste, including meats and cheeses which attract insects and wildlife and can promote the growth of smelly anaerobic bacteria. The program also can�t accept leaves, grass clippings, weeds or diseased plants because of space and while manure is beneficial to compost, they prefer to add it from controlled sources at the farm. They also will only take small amounts of grains and grain products, which tend to ferment or mold in compost. |
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