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Interview: Paul Auster, Author Of 'Report From The Interior'Writer Paul Auster explores his own intellectual and moral maturation in his new book Report from the Interior. It's his fifth book about his own life, but Auster says it's not himself he's interested in. A Personal 'Report From The Interior' Of Author Paul Auster Fans of the writer Paul Auster know an enormous amount about him. His novels often draw on autobiographical details, and he has written five books that are explicitly about his own life. Last year, he published a memoir called Winter Journal that tells the story of his life through the story of his own body — every scar and blemish. Now Auster has published a companion autobiography of his intellectual self, called Report from the Interior. In it, he explores his education and maturation from within his own mind. The book is narrated in the second person, as if the reader is the author. Paul Auster sat down with NPR's Arun Rath to talk about his new book. On the purpose the book I'm really trying to dredge up what one might call intellectual and moral material. For example, when do you realize that you are an American? What age does that happen to you? When do you realize what religion your parents practice? When does it all become conscious? I was interested in exploring all of that. On remembering childhood It's hard to explain. I think you go into a kind of trance, thrusting yourself back in time and trying to get into your little person's mind and body again. It's not quite like hypnotizing yourself, but a different state of mind than normal thinking or remembering. On revealing personal details Listen, if you don't really do it, do the job of telling and exploring even uncomfortable zones of your life, then I don't see what the point of writing is. We're trying to get into truths that in normal life we gloss over. On the film The Incredible Shrinking Man I was only 10 years old when I saw this film for the first time. I wasn't prepared, I didn't know what to expect. The film had such a deep philosophical impact on me. It really turned my brain inside out. I started thinking about the world in a completely different way after watching the film. On writing autobiographies All through my writing life I've had this impulse to write autobiographical works. This is really the fifth one I've done, and I think I've done it because I'm interested in talking about what it means to be a human being, what it means to be alive. I really have no interest in myself. I find it a very boring topic, but what I'm interested in is trying to remember things from my life that will somehow connect with things that other people have experienced.

WEST LAKE FLOWERS West Lake not only hosts abundant natural and cultural resources, it also possesses various plant resources. Around the year, all kinds of flowers and plants in West Lake and on surrounding mountains blossom alternatively, which enriches the landscape of plantation around the lake and also significantly improves the environmental quality of the city. Peach Blossom: On the lake banks and Su and Bai Causeways a large number of willows and peach trees are planted. It is said one willow is accompanied by one peach tree. Other horticultural plants include magnolia, cherry, Confederate rose, etc. The blooming season of peach tree in Hangzhou usually ranges from end of February to middle of April. Osmanthus: As the city flower, osmanthus is one of representative plants of Hangzhou. Poet Bai Juyi wrote “search osmanthus around the temple on hill in the middle of Autumn”, indicating osmanthus had been cultivated as early as in the Tang dynasty. Osmanthus trees have been massively planted in parks around the lake, and the best-known locations to appreciate are “Sweet Osmanthus Rain at Manjuelong Village”, one of “New Ten Scenes of West Lake”, and Hangzhou Botanical Garden. Osmanthus can be divided into four major species, Thunbergii Group(金桂), Latifolius Group (銀桂), Aurantiacus Group (丹桂) and Fragrans Division (四季桂). Among them, the Thunbergii and Latifolius are the best. Every year around mid-autumn, the sweet-scented osmanthus blossoming is a highlight of tourism in Hangzhou. In addition to its elegant looks, osmanthus is also edible. Thunbergii and Latifolius boast intensive sweet scent, and are natural ingredients for seasoning. Pickled osmanthus blossoms mixed with white sugar became a traditional food of Hangzhou, “Sweet Osmanthus” (糖桂花). West Lake Osmanthus blooming period commences from early September, lasting till early November. Plum blossom: Lin Bu (林逋), a famous recluse in the Song dynasty, lived on Solitary Hill. His poem Little Plum Blossom of Hill Garden (山園小梅) became the best known poem praising the flower and enriched the cultural contributions of the plum blossoms of West Lake. The opening line of the poem says, “When everything has faded they alone shine forth, encroaching on the charms of smaller gardens” (眾芳搖落獨暄妍，占斷風情向小園). Ling Peak, Solitary Hill and West Creek have long been the three finest spots of plum blossom cherishing in Hangzhou. The flowering season is typically around the Spring Festival, from late January to middle February. Lotus: Some sites in Hangzhou were named after lotus, such as lotus pond (荷花池頭) and lotus lane (荷花塘弄). There is traditional food called “lotus cake”. The fossil of lotus seeds was unearthed in Kuahuqiao Relic in Xiaoshan, which indicates at least before the Tang dynasty there was cultivated lotus. Yang Wanli of the Song dynasty wrote poem, “Lotus leaves grow to the sky with endless green, lotus blossoms bathed in the sunlight appear especially red. (接天蓮葉無窮碧，映日荷花别样紅), which brought high reputation to the lotus in West Lake. Nowadays, there are 14 lotus cultivation areas in the lake, totally 130 Chinese acres. Most are in “North Inside Lake” and “Yue Lake”. According to statistics, West Lake lotus starts to bloom in early June, and reaches peak blossom time in late June. It can last till late August or early September. Tulip: The “Prince Bay Park” (太子灣公园) of Hangzhou imported almost all species of tulips from Netherlands in 1992, and held annual tulips exhibition ever since. It has become a new scenic spot on the lake bank. The normal tulips blossom season spans from middle of March to end of April

Macular hole surgery is a surgical procedure, also called vitrectomy, that a surgeon performs on a person with a small break in the macula in order to remove the vitreous gel, according to the National Eye Institute. A bubble that is a mixture of air and gas then replaces the translucent gel.Continue Reading A macular hole makes the eyes blur suddenly and distorts vision, reports All About Vision. The standard treatment is to perform surgery on the eye. Surgery removes the vitreous gel so that it does not damage the retina, reports the National Eye Institute. After surgery, the patient must be in a face-down position for a day or two, but it can be as long as two weeks so that the eye can reabsorb the bubble efficiently. This face-down position allows the macular hole to heal as the bubble mixture presses against the macula. As the eye absorbs the bubble, the cavity fills with natural eye fluid.

Yongding Hakka Tulou is worth seeing, it is dated from the Tang Dynasty and gradually accepted by the local people at the turning of Yuan and Ming Dynasties. According to the introduction of tour guide, the construction of Tulou (earth building) was related to the defending against the invasion of bandits of south Fujian at that time. It was always the solid self-defense fort of Hakka people. Walking in along the gate of Hongkeng Village spot, the first thing that catches our eyeballs is Zhencheng Building. The tour guide told us it is the largest round Tulou in the Hongkeng Village Tulou cluster and known as “Tulou Prince”. Many buildings in the Yongding Hakka Tulou cluster were designed based on eight-trigram diagram and the Zhencheng Building is the most typical representative. Zhencheng Building was built in 1912, covering 5,000 square meters, with overhanging gable roof and post-and-lintel structure. It consists of inner and outer circle-buildings, forming a building-in-building pattern. The outer circle-building comprise of 4 floors, 48 rooms on each floor and 6 rooms for each trigram; each trigram is designed with one stairway, forming one unit; the trigrams are separated by fire division walls. The entire building will not get burnt for the accidental fire of one trigram; the trigram doors are also designed between trigrams. Each trigram becomes an independent space when the door is closed and can be connected with the door is open. When a thief enters the building, the thief will be caught as easy as catching a turtle in a jar after the door is closed. The magnificent “Mansion-style Tulou” Fuyu Building is an outstanding representative of Yongding mansion-style Tulou, which was designed by the Magistrate of Tingzhou Prefecture, Zhang Xingbing, who was a friend of the owner three brothers (Lin Zhongshan, Lin Renshan, Li Deshan). Its structure features are: along the central axes of the main building, the front is lower than the rear. There are two side buildings in front of the main building with orderly height and distinct layout. “Palatial Tulou” Kuiju Building, like the Potala Palace in Tibet, is a square Tulou with palatial structure, embodying the unique ingenuity and wisdom of Hakka people. According to the record, the owners of Kuiju Building have valued education for over hundred years. Men of talent came out in succession. There were 4 persons from this Tulou who passed the provincial-level civil service examination and became seventh-rank officials and above, more than 20 undergraduates and more than 40 overseas Chinese. It was damaged during the “Cultural Revolution”. Chengqi Building is the representative of Gaobei Tulou Village, which is a “round building with most circle-buildings and most residents”, comprising of 4 circles of buildings. With over 300 years of history, it is located beside road, famous for being printed on stamp and stressing geomantic omen. The Wuyun Building near Chengqi Building is famous for its long history. With inclined walls, it looks like to be collapsed sooner or later. It is said that there is an eighty-year-old man lives alone in it. There are many old-fashioned picture posters of the magnificent scenery of China at the entrance, which shows the unfulfilled great aspiration of travelling across the country of the old man. (Circle in circle) Walking out of the Tulou, you can see a great amount of persimmons are being dried in the sun by the river. During the sightseeing, I have found the Yongding Tulou mainly is divided into square Tulou and round Tulou. The round Tulou (also round stockade) is the typical Hakka residence, mostly comprising of two or three circle-buildings. Form inside to outside, circle inside another circle, it is very magnificent. Generally, the outer circle is three-floor to four-floor, about 100~200 rooms. The first floor is kitchen and meal room; the second floor is warehouse for storing army provisions for wartime demands; three or four floor is the bedroom. The second circle is two-floor, about 30~50 rooms, usually used as guest rooms. The center is ancestral hall. There are also common facilities inside the building, including well, bathroom, grinding mill, etc. It can be said as a kind of comfort for us for visiting the Tulou culture with such unique charm. If there is a chance next time, I must come to Tulou again and continue to discover its real charm and connotation.

New Frontiers in Model Order Selection Model order selection, which is a trade-off between model resolution and its statistical reliability, is one of the fundamental questions in machine learning. It was studied in detail in the context of supervised learning with i.i.d. samples, but received relatively little attention beyond this domain. The goal of our workshop is to raise attention to the question of model order selection in other domains, share ideas and approaches between the domains, and identify perspective directions for future research. Our interest covers ways of defining model complexity in different domains, examples of practical problems, where intelligent model order selection yields advantage over simplistic approaches, and new theoretical tools for analysis of model order selection. The domains of interest span over all problems that cannot be directly mapped to supervised learning with i.i.d. samples, including, but not limited to, reinforcement learning, active learning, learning with delayed, partial, or indirect feedback, and learning with submodular functions. An example of first steps in defining complexity of models in reinforcement learning, applying trade-off between model complexity and empirical performance, and analyzing it can be found in [1-4]. An intriguing research direction coming out of these works is simultaneous analysis of exploration-exploitation and model order selection trade-offs. Such an analysis enables to design and analyze models that adapt their complexity as they continue to explore and observe new data. Potential practical applications of such models include contextual bandits (for example, in personalization of recommendations on the web ) and Markov decision processes.

As a leading environmental regulator, EPA strives to improve the environmental performance of its own operations and activities as we believe that ‘Environmental outcomes start with us’. Through our environmental policy we commit to continually improving the environmental management and performance of our office, laboratory and field-based operations. The scope of EPA’s operations includes our 6-star head office at 200 Victoria St, Carlton, the Centre for Applied Sciences at Macleod (incorporating our laboratories) and five metropolitan and regional offices across Victoria. Activities that result in our environmental impacts as an organisation include: - our buildings, including energy and use, materials and waste management EPA’s environmental management system In 2004 EPA introduced an environmental management system (EMS) consistent with the Victorian Government Environmental Management System Framework and the International Standard for Environmental Management Systems (IS014001). The EMS provides a structured and systematic management framework for identifying, monitoring and controlling EPA’s environmental impacts and improving environmental performance. EPA employs a Corporate Sustainability Coordinator whose role is to assist with the development and implementation of environmental management programs (EMPs) – the practical building blocks that make up the EMS – and to monitor and report on EPA’s environmental performance, both internally and externally. Along with reporting our environmental performance externally through our annual report, EPA’s EMS is reviewed every year by the Victorian Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability as part of a strategic and public evaluation of the way the Victorian Government’s departments and agencies address their own environmental outcomes and; the needs of climate change. EPA is also required to have our EMS independently audited every other year. We review and discuss our progress every quarter. Implementation of EMPs has resulted in significantly improved environmental performance. Between 2005-06 and 2012-13, EPA has seen a: - 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and carbon neutral since 2005 - 37% reduction in tenancy electricity use through a range of energy reduction initiatives including sensor lighting, maximising the use of daylight, energy-efficient lighting and appliances, a switch-off policy for computers and appliances and virtualisation of servers - 62% reduction in water consumption through initiatives such as rainwater harvesting at two EPA sites and installation of water efficient tap fittings and appliances - 43% reduction in paper consumption through initiatives such as duplex, multi-page and PIN printing - 44% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with our vehicle fleet through initiatives such as the purchase of fuel efficient and hybrid vehicles. In 1998 EPA established Green Stars, a cross-organisational environment committee, to implement environmental management programs, develop and implement actions to improve EPA’s environmental performance, and monitor and report on EPA’s environmental performance. The Green Stars committee is made up of 30 representatives from across the organisation, including: - the director responsible for the EMS (Chair) - the Corporate Sustainability Coordinator - representatives from each unit. Green Star representatives play an important role within EPA by communicating environmental initiatives and providing assistance to new and existing staff in implementing environmental behaviours. This is supported by training, newsletters, regular meetings, online forums and updates on new initiatives. Most importantly, the role of Green Stars is recognised in committee members’ annual performance plans as five per cent of their total workload – and they are accountable for this, highlighting the value to the organisation. EPA sets and communicates ambitious targets and achieves these using the EMS and through its Green Stars initiatives that focus on: - reduction in water use - reduction of GHG emissions and stationary energy - reduced paper use by EPA staff - generation of less office waste whilst increasing recycling - reduced fuel consumption. See other pages for further details of these initiatives.

A recent study in non-clinically depressed adults with type 2 diabetes compared three interventions to reduce Diabetes Distress and improve self-management. All three interventions utilized varying degrees of computer-assisted self-management. Published in Diabetes Care by UCSF’s Lawrence Fisher, PhD, this study showed that Diabetes Distress is extremely responsive to intervention, with older adults realizing significant reductions in Diabetes Distress early on, and younger adults realizing similar reductions later. Reductions in Diabetes Distress were also accompanied by significant improvements in healthy eating, physical activity, and medication adherence, even though overall A1c was not affected. In the future, Dr. Fisher and his team including the Diabetes Center's Umesh Masharani, MD, of the Justine Kathryn Schreyer Diabetes Care Center at UCSF hope to identify the minimal, most cost-effective interventions to reduce Diabetes Distress and improve self-management. Click here to read the article.

As a child who grew up in the seventies, I’m flabbergasted at the degree of generational differences in health, medicine, food, safety, and general well-being of children. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and all the advancements we’ve made in several areas, but at the same time when you break it down to the simplest ways of managing human lives, we’ve taken one step forward and three steps back. The level of fear we currently exhibit as parents and as a society towards children is at an unprecedented level. When comparing the two time periods, an element of certainty exists where we have now immersed our most precious assets into an toxic, overly hygienic, medicalized, obsessive compulsive, paranoid, anxious and at the very least, a “cowardice culture” where children are being trained and almost indoctrinated into a world where “the norm” is to fear everything and everyone. 1. Our Entertainment Was Each Other We had no internet, cell phones, computers or video games. Not only were our lives free of close proximity electronic devices and their constant electromagnetic radiation, but this allowed us to entertain ourselves through peer interaction and physical activity. You’re talking about a dramatic decrease in the level of physical activity from just 40-50 years ago and it’s manifesting itself in obesity, insulin resistance, and precursors to diabetes in children as young as ten years old. We didn’t have these distractions taking us away from each other’s presence, which allowed us to interact, manage and entertain our emotional states with friends. Texting, instagraming and facebooking has turned our children into a generation of mindless drones who can only interact when they’re behind a keyboard, earpiece, speaker or headset–anything else is just too scary. 2. Playing Outside Was Normal, Not Prohibited Most people who pass by a park today and see 10-year old children playing alone, think “why” as fear strikes a chord. Why are they without their parents? Why are they playing alone without supervision? This was normal and just a way of life in the 70s. We stayed outside until the lights turned off in the summer or heard our parents screaming to come inside. Nobody called the police because a group of kids were playing alone on their street or in the park. When parents had people over, we were expected to go outdoors. We didn’t live in nanny state where unsupervised children were seen as having negligent parents. We should all be ashamed of creating a society where children are prohibited from playing outside with their friends after 6pm or chastising parents for allowing them to. And yes, we had child murderers, molesters, kidnappers back then too. We just didn’t freak out about the “what ifs” at the expense of our children’s freedom and expression of who they are. Now we have them cooped up in front of iPods, iPads, playstation, xbox and any other device that can lock their attention to a screen as long as they’re at home and our perception of security is at ease. Some people call that technological progress, but it’s nothing more than a safety net to ease our conscience and societal expectations gone adrift. 3. Children Were Not Labeled As ADHD, ADD, or Hyperactive. They Were Just Kids Being Kids Children today are being medicated at alarming rates for what appears to be normal childhood behavior. Yes, there are some children with legitimate behavioral issues but they are an extreme minority and none of these issues are solved by medication. The big problem is that we’re diagnosing and labeling common temper outbursts and other disruptive behavior in millions of children as attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). If you took a subset of 3-year old children from 1970 and transported them to our current timeline, you would see that not much has changed , however the way we deal with them has. We are putting kids on long-term stimulants as if it was candy. A nationwide CDC survey found that 11 percent of children ages 4 to 17 have received a diagnosis of ADHD, and about one in five boys. A vast majority are put on medications such as methylphenidate (commonly known as Ritalin) or amphetamines like Adderall which cause growth suppression, insomnia and hallucinations. About half a trillion US dollars is being wasted on unnecessary medication of young children for ADHD, of which almost 100 million is funded by Medicaid. The youngest kindergarten kids are 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than the oldest in the same grade, and also, by the time those groups reached the fifth and eighth grades, the youngest are more than twice as likely to be on prescription stimulants. We’ve taken all “hard to control” kids and lumped them into a couple of diagnostic categories of what we perceive as mental illness. That’s ridiculous. Let’s stop targeting children and start being present with them with new activities, adventure, and change. They need balance with activities that are calming, relaxing, and nurturing. Only then will these children respond to a support system that cares about their development rather than a pill to suppress the symptoms.

In her new book, Draw Your Weapons, Sarah Sentilles offers a unique perspective and provocative meditation on art and war and the intersection of both. Touching on moments in time from the Holocaust to Abu Ghraib and working in what she’s learned during her time spent with former military people, with students, and others, Sentilles dissects the role of art and the visual in the psychology of violence. On the eve of her book’s release, we corresponded with Sentilles to talk about where we go from here and more. SIGNATURE: You touch on the intersection of war and faith often in Draw Your Weapons – “baptism” by waterboarding, Bible verses inscribed on USMC rifle sights, and so on. It’s such a tangled knot in this world today. How does one even begin to understand distinctions among widely held assumptions about other faiths, when so much of what we see is indeed caught up in violence? SARAH SENTILLES: For me, the only way to evaluate faith-claims is by their effects. How do your beliefs shape how you move through the world, how you treat your neighbors, how you treat your enemies? Belief shapes behavior. If we think God killed God’s son to save us, then that will influence how we understand violence. If we think God is all seeing, then that will shape how we understand other all-seeing devices, like drones. If we think God is on the side of the oppressed, then that will shape how we understand resistance and struggles for justice. I had a professor in divinity school who used to say that asking whether or not God exists is the wrong question because it’s not one we can ever answer. But the word “God” does exist, he’d say, so the challenge is to ask what work that word is doing in the world. Whose bodies does it affect and how? What difference does it make? Who does it harm? Who does it help? SIG: There’s something disturbing about the phrase “war tourism,” which you dedicate a chapter to, as it brings the connotation of spectacle to war sites. Certainly, there’s a distinct difference between paying one’s respects and site as spectacle, as you imply by talking about both War Zone Tours and the Minidoka Pilgrimage. And then, of course, the Yolocaust Project comes to mind. Is it up to the gatekeepers to keep these sites from being disrespected? Is there some odd benefit to exploiting these places? Where should gatekeepers of these places draw the line when it comes to what’s permissible? SS: I wrote the “war tourism” chapter after I heard a story on NPR about a travel company that brings tourists to dangerous sites, including warzones, and I became obsessed with it. I told a friend how unethical I thought it was, and she asked, “But what’s the difference between visiting a warzone as a tourist and watching a warzone on television?” Her question blew my mind. What is the difference? Does looking at other people’s pain always bring the accusation of voyeurism? Sometimes looking can be a form of disrespect – but other times looking away can be a form of disrespect. I taught courses on ethics and photography for about a decade, and my students and I spent hours and hours debating who has a right to look at whose images – and what good or what harm our looking does. Recently, I reread a book by Ariella Azoulay called The Civil Contract of Photography, and that book convinced me I was worried about the wrong questions. What matters is not whether you look or even how you look; what matters is what you do after you see. The Yolocaust Project is fascinating in its exposure of people’s inappropriate behavior at sites that memorialize atrocity – but I think part of what’s so disturbing about these photographs of people doing handstands and taking selfies at Holocaust memorials is that so many of us act like that all the time. On my cellphone’s newsfeed is a photograph of the aftermath of a bombing or the video of Philando Castile being killed by the police – and there I am, right next to the images, cooking eggs. That’s the challenge: How do I let images of violence change my life? How do I make myself responsible for and accountable to people in pain? SIG: You talk about the “aestheticization of violence – turning the suffering of others into an image, into something beautiful to look at.” Not only do we gaze upon these photos, but we award them and laud those who set out to capture these images. Certainly there’s incredible merit in photojournalism. Do we take it too far though in that we also judge on the basis of composition, color, and beyond? Or is it all a necessary part of this kind of eyes-on-the-ground package? SS: Susie Linfield’s The Cruel Radiance: Photography and Political Violence changed my thinking around questions about the aestheticization of violence. If it’s somehow wrong or unethical to take a well-composed photograph of suffering, Linfield asks, then is the solution a crappy snapshot? For Linfield, focusing on finding the perfect image of pain – an image that isn’t too beautiful or too exploitative – is a way to let ourselves off the hook as viewers. It’s a kind of narcissism, she argues, that makes looking at pictures of other people in pain all about the viewer. Looking at pictures of violence is an imperfect activity; it will always be fraught, complex, impure, she writes. But that’s not an excuse to look away. SIG: The section about phantom limbs and the use of mirrors to help ease associated pain was fascinating. You quote Oliver Sacks: “If the phantom is extinguished, its pain must also go.” Are there other applications to this idea that come to mind? SS: Your question makes me think about how the idea of a phantom is connected to the postcolonial idea of a phantasm: the invention of the “other,” which is a figment of the imagination. When Algeria was colonized, for example, the colonists brought photographers with them, who wanted to take pictures of Algerian women, pictures they could then send home to confirm their imagined ideas about the “other.” But when the colonial photographers arrived, most of the women were veiled – hidden from the gaze of the camera. So the photographers paid models to pose in their studios in ways that fit the colonial imagination: topless, in harems, oversexualized, etc. We do this to one another all the time. People with power create phantom “others” so they can justify how they treat those “others.” But the phantom reveals more about the oppressors than the group they are oppressing. If the phantasm were revealed to be a projection, an invention, a figment of the imagination, might that help eradicate structural racism, for example? And maybe it works the other way, too – maybe we could have “phantasms for good,” meaning you first have to be able to imagine a better world to help bring it into being. SIG: It’s possible that we are on the brink of war today, with various enemies at the gate. As the fear creeps in about what is to come, what do we do? Do we look to the past? Protest this possible future? Simply stand by and speculate and then reflect? SS: I think we’re well over the brink of war. We’re waging wars in many countries – some conflicts declared and others undeclared, hidden, covert. And there’s a war going on right here at home against anyone labeled “other” – people of color, women, immigrants, LGBTQIA communities, people with disabilities, and the list goes on. Part of the work is refusing the image of the “enemy” that’s being offered and asking critical questions about who you’re being taught to fear and how that fear might obscure both the real danger and possible peaceful solutions. Throughout Draw Your Weapons, I wrestle with how to live in the face of violence that feels as if it can’t be stopped. Before this election, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. The problems of the world felt too big, and I felt too small. I wanted my philosophical disagreement with war and racism and sexism to be enough. But it’s not enough. The challenge is to use my privilege to engage in concrete actions on a daily basis to support those most at risk. No matter for which issue I choose to fight – more just immigration laws, environmental policies that care for the earth, restorative justice policing – there is work to be done, and it is best done in community.

Good news from Ecuador! The Laguna de Cube, a Ramsar site in the southeastern portion of Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve, has received an award from the World Wetland Network. The project was selected for the newly-established “Green Globe” award for best practices in wetlands restoration. The Laguna de Cube is an important wetland in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena biodiversity hotspot. It’s also a popular attraction for national and foreign visitors. Since 2004, CI-Ecuador—along with the Ministry of the Environment, partner nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and local communities—has helped run several projects in the region, including: - Reforestation: using native species to capture carbon and help offset greenhouse gas emissions. Through this project, CI facilitated a strategic collaboration with partners SC Johnson and Pearl Jam to offset their carbon footprints. In addition to habitat restoration, this initiative includes an agroforestry component, which aims to improve the living conditions and food security of local communities, through the production of banana and cacao. So far, 103 hectares (254 acres) have been replanted. - Capacity-building: raising local awareness about the ecological and economic value of the wetlands and the threats posed to them by human activities. - Ecotourism: supporting Fundación El Kaimán, a local organization that represents people from the Laguna de Cube, in the design and implementation of a business plan for ecotourism activities. Community-based tourism provides a powerful economic incentive for local people to protect ecosystems. Each of these activities is playing a critical role in reversing the degradation of this important wetland. Katy Puga is the communications coordinator for CI-Ecuador.

This vegetable, so common today, played a role in the history of Atlantic Canada. In particular, the demise of the Lumper potato was in part in responsible for the immigration of many Irish settlers to Canada. We explore the potato's journey from South America to Europe to Canada. When we eat potatoes today, we owe a sense of gratitude to the Incas. Wild potatoes grow in the mountains of South America, specifically the Andes of Peru and Ecuador. The wild potatoes are small and somewhat toxic. However, after generations of Inca farmers selected the larger and better tasting tubers to plant, they ended up with potatoes similar to those on our tables today. Explorers (and/or invaders) brought potatoes from South America to Europe. At first, potatoes were novelty. Later, people recognized that the crop could produce an incredible amount of food per acre, far more than grain. Some historians suggest that the arrival of potatoes ended the frequent famines that afflicted Europe and, as such, may be partially responsible for the success of European colonization of many other parts of the world. After 1845, however, people would never again see potatoes as a way to end famine... Continue reading to learn about four varieties of potatoes: The Lumper, Garnet Chili (Garnet Chile), Fundy and Shepody. The Lumper Potato Lumper was the potato grown throughout Ireland in the early 1880s, largely because of its ability to produce heavy yields in poor soil. The potato is one of the few foods which can sustain humans as a sole food source. In the early to mid1800s, potatoes provided the bulk of the diet of some of the rural poor in Ireland. The dependence on one crop, and particularly one clonal variety, set the stage for the Irish famine. Unlike most other crops, potatoes are not grown from seed. Instead, tubers are cut and the pieces planted. In this way, the original potato is cloned many times over. Essentially, all potatoes of a certain variety are genetically identical (except for a very small number of mutations which occur over time). As a result, potatoes and other plants that are propagated in the same way tend to be particularly vulnerable to epidemics. In general, the greater the genetic diversity in a crop, the more resilient the crop will be. With diverse crops, every individual plant differs slightly from the others and may have greater resistance to disease or other stress factors (e.g., drought, extreme heat or waterlogged soil). The Mayans also relied heavily on potatoes (although not to the same extents as the Irish peasants). They, however, always planted a number of types of potatoes (a landrace') at a time -- that way a disease that might affect a couple varieties wouldn't lead to a complete crop failure. Lumper was susceptible to potato late blight (Phytophtora infestans), which destroyed about one-third of Ireland’s potato crop in 1845 and almost all of it in 1846. Potatoes rotted in the fields or in storage. The blight had catastrophic consequences, including food riots and mass death from starvation. Did the Lumper potato cause the potato famine? The vulnerability of the potato to blight was only one part of the equation. The poverty that forced so many people to rely on potatoes for sustenance was the underlying factor leading to the famine. More than a million people died as a result of the Irish Potato Famine, and approximately two million people emigrated to the colonies, including what is now Canada. Crop description: Mid-late potato with lumpy white tubers. Growing: Plant as other potatoes; can apparently thrive in wet and/or low-nutrient conditions. Garnet Chili (or Garnet Chile) After the Irish Potato famine, farmers and agricultural scientists recognized the need for more genetic diversity in their crops, particularly potatoes. Plant hunters had been collecting the wild ancestors of potatoes as well as varieties cultivated in Peru. Garnet Chile was one these and many of our current varieties are descendants of this variety. “The Reverend Chauncy E. Goodrich of Utica, New York, introduced this variety [Garnet Chile] in 1853," according to food historian and seedsaver William Woys Weaver. "In response to the blight of 1846, [Goodrich] obtained seed stock from Chile, and from those plants he selected this small, round, pink potato that became the granddaddy of most nineteenth-century varieties we know today." “From a culinary standpoint, Garnet Chile is an excellent boiling potato, perfect for salads, and makes an attractive garnishing potato for restaurant cookery," writes Weaver. "Best of all, unlike many small potatoes, it is an excellent keeper.” The Fundy potato was developed through breeding trials in what is now Fundy National Park. In the 1940s, the Canadian Department of Agriculture built a potato research station west of Herring Cove. Woods were cleared for the potato breeding trial and research continued for several years after the park was established in 1948. Now, Matthews Head Trail passes by the site of the former research station and test plots. The Fundy potato is light brown with white flesh. The potato was once common in Albert County. As one 99-year-old woman from Edgett's Landing told me, “We used to have Fundy Potatoes. They were really good potatoes. I just told my friend, ‘We can’t get good potatoes anymore, not like those good old Fundy potatoes.’” If you eat French fries at a restaurant or fast food outlet, particularly in the spring or early summer, there's a good chance you are eating Shepody potatoes. Like the Fundy potato, Shepody was also developed during variety trials conducted at Matthew's Head in what is now Fundy National Park. Unlike Fundy, Shepody became a commercial success and is now grown across North America. The main use of the potatoes is for early season French fries, but the potatoes are also boiled and baked. According to the Potato Association of North America, Shepody is "a medium-late maturing variety with above average yields and is grown primarily for frozen french fry processing. It is widely grown in eastern Canada and the northern potato areas of the U.S. "Plants are medium sized and spreading with large medium green leaves. Leaflets are broadly ovate and overlapping. Flowers are numerous, light violet with white tips. "Tubers are oblong to long, with a smooth to lightly netted white skin and a white flesh. Eyes are medium deep and are most prevalent on the apical end. It sets tubers late; however, they size quickly. Tubers are uniform in size and percentage over 10 ounces is high."

Carbon dioxide is currently one of the most abundant greenhouse gases contributing to the issues of global warming and climate change. While researchers have been relatively successful at trapping environmentally-harmful carbon emission from the atmosphere, the problem of storing it safely has continued to plague today’s greatest scientific minds. As part of a new study, a team has come up with an innovative, new way of sequestering the carbon absorbed from the air. Recently published in the Environmental Science & Technology Letters journal, the research reveals that injecting CO2 into basalt in turn causes it to transform into solid rock within just two years. Formed several million years ago, as a result of rapid cooling of lava, basalt is a type of volcanic rock found in abundance across the globe. During their research, the scientists discovered that this particular rock is also capable of swiftly converting carbon dioxide into carbonate compounds that are stable. According to the researchers, the stability of these minerals in solid form ensures that none of the stored carbon can escape into the atmosphere. To confirm their findings, the team injected a solution of CO2 and water into a basalt chunk in Iceland, a while back. Regular monitoring over the years has revealed that this process is indeed quite successful in stowing away carbon dioxide for good. Back in 2009, the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) undertook a similar project, whose aim was to inject up to 1,000 tons of liquid carbon dioxide into basalt rocks in the eastern Washington region. Four years later, a group of scientists dug a huge well in the Columbia River Basalt formation, which was later injected with CO2. In 2015, Pete McGrail and his team at PNNL returned to the well, where they collected a number of core samples. Laboratory studies showed that the sequestered carbon had turned into ankerite, a type of carbonate mineral containing iron, magnesium, calcium and manganese.

Google Declares War on the Passwordby Robert McMillan, wired.com MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — Want an easier way to log into your Gmail account? How about a quick tap on your computer with the ring on your finger? This may be closer than you think. Google’s security team outlines this sort of ring-finger authentication in a new research paper, set to be published late this month in the engineering journal IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine. In it, Google Vice President of Security Eric Grosse and Engineer Mayank Upadhyay outline all sorts of ways they think people could wind up logging into websites in the future — and it’s about time. 2012 may have been the year that the password broke. It seemed like everyone on the internet received spam e-mail or desperate pleas for cash — the so-called “Mugged in London” scam — from the e-mail accounts of people who had been hacked. And Wired’s own Mat Honan showed everyone just how damaging a hack can be. The guys who hacked Honan last August deleted his Gmail account. They took over his Twitter handle and posted racist messages. And they remote-wiped his iPhone, iPad, and laptop computer, deleting a year’s worth of e-mails and photographs. In short, they erased his digital life. Passwords are a cheap and easy way to authenticate web surfers, but they’re not secure enough for today’s internet, and they never will be. Google agrees. “Along with many in the industry, we feel passwords and simple bearer tokens such as cookies are no longer sufficient to keep users safe,” Grosse and Upadhyay write in their paper. Thus, they’re experimenting with new ways to replace the password, including a tiny Yubico cryptographic card that — when slid into a USB (Universal Serial Bus) reader — can automatically log a web surfer into Google. They’ve had to modify Google’s web browser to work with these cards, but there’s no software download and once the browser support is there, they’re easy to use. You log into the website, plug in the USB stick and then register it with a single mouse click. They see a future where you authenticate one device — your smartphone or something like a Yubico key — and then use that almost like a car key, to fire up your web mail and online accounts. In the future, they’d like things to get even easier, perhaps connecting to the computer via wireless technology. “We’d like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorize a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity,” the Googlers write. The future may not exactly be password-free, but it will at be least free of those complex, hard-to-remember passwords, says Grosse. “We’ll have to have some form of screen unlock, maybe passwords but maybe something else,” he says, “but the primary authenticator will be a token like this or some equivalent piece of hardware.” That means that if someone steals your card or your smart-ring, you’d better report it stolen pretty quickly. Grosse and Upadhyay believe that once enough websites support this device-centric login technique, people mostly won’t need strong passwords, except in rare occasions — when they’re making significant changes to their account, for example. But for Google’s password-liberation plan to really take off, they’re going to need other websites to play ball. “Others have tried similar approaches but achieved little success in the consumer world,” they write. “Although we recognize that our initiative will likewise remain speculative until we’ve proven large scale acceptance, we’re eager to test it with other websites.” So they’ve developed a (as yet unnamed) protocol for device-based authentication that they say is independent of Google, requires no special software to work — aside from a web browser that supports the login standard — and which prevents web sites from using this technology to track users. The great thing about Google’s approach is that it circumvents the really common attack that even Google’s existing mobile-phone authentication system can’t prevent: phishing. Two years ago, Google introduced a two-step login option, which makes it harder for criminals to break into your account. With this option, Google typically sends users a secret code via text message every time they try to log into their accounts from a new computer. The problem is that if criminals can convince you that you’re visiting Gmail even when you’re not, they can trick you into entering that secret code. In fact, the bad guys can even turn two-step authentication against legitimate users. Sometimes, they add their own phone number to the account “just to slow down account recovery by the true owner,” the paper states. What do you do in the meantime? Well, you use that existing two-step authentication. It’s not perfect. But it’s better than just a password. The good news is that people are actually using it — and we can thank Mat Honan for that. Honan’s story inspired a lot of people to lock down their Gmail accounts by linking them to their mobile phones. “In the two days following Mat’s Wired article, a quarter-million people signed up for two step authentication,” says Grosse. He can’t say exactly how many people sign up on a typical day, but “it’s much less than that,” he says. Honan says that if he’d had two-step authentication on his Gmail account, the whole incident probably would not have amounted to anything. But until the spammers and scammers decide to call it quits, we still need that Google ring.

In Python, break statements are used to exit (or "break) a conditional loop that uses "for" or "while". After the loop ends, the code will pick up from the line immediately following the break statement. Here's an example: even_nums = (2, 4, 6) num_sum = 0 count = 0 for x in even_nums: num_sum = num_sum + x count = count + 1 if count == 4 break In the example above, the code will break when the count variable is equal to 4. The continue statement is used to skip over certain parts of a loop. Unlike break, it doesn't cause a loop to be ended or exited, but rather it allows for certain iterations of the loop to be omitted, like this: for y in range(7) if (y==5): continue print(y) In this example, all iterations of the loop (numbers 0-7) will be printed except for the number 5, because by using the continue statement the loop was instructed to skip over y when it was equal to 5. Practice on your own to see how you can use the break and continue statements. Understanding the difference and the purpose of these two statements will allow you to write code that is more clean and efficient.To Practice: Try this interactive course on the basics of Lists, Functions, Packages and NumPy in Python.

Red Stag Timber maintains ISO14001 Environmental Management System certification to: - Identify and control the environmental impact of its activities and products. - Improve its environmental performance continually. - Implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets, to achieving these and to demonstrating they have been achieved. Specific areas where Red Stag Timber have achieved environmental objectives include: - FSC® Certification: Red Stag Timber has the internationally recognised Forest Stewardship Council® certification that provides timber users with confidence that it was sourced from sustainably managed forests. FSC® is the only forest certification system that is supported by all major environmental groups. A number of certification assessments, such as the US, Australia and New Zealand Green Building Councils, accepts only FSC® as proof of sustainability. See www.fsc.org for more information. Here is our FSC® Certificate. - Bio-Fuel Energy: Red Stag Timber utilises wood-waste as a bio-fuel to generate electricity and provide thermal energy to kiln dried timber. Red Stag Timber also provides electricity to the national grid to help power New Zealand's growing energy needs. - Carbon Foot-Print: Red Stag Timber's carbon foot-print is 97% less than a similar sized sawmill that doesn't use carbon neutral electricity and thermal energy. This reduction is mostly due to utilising wood-waste as the energy source for kiln drying timber as the thermal energy required to kiln dry timber can exceed 85% of the energy usage for a modern sawmill. Utilising it's own wood-waste as an energy source ensures that both CO2 emissions and landfi ll disposal requirements are minimised..

Wife of Lt. Colonel Walter Herron Taylor: Aide to General Robert E. Lee Elizabeth Selden Saunders was the daughter of United States Navy Captain John L. Saunders and Martha Bland Selden Saunders During the Civil War, she lived during the war with the family of Lewis Crenshaw in Richmond, Virginia, where she worked at the Confederate Mint and the Confederate Medical Department. Walter Herron Taylor was born on June 13, 1838, in Norfolk, Virginia. He was the son of Richard and Elizabeth Calvert Taylor, and a descendent of Adam Thoroughgood (1604–1640), an early leader who is widely credited for the naming of Norfolk County and the Lynnhaven River in the earliest days of the 17th century. Taylor attended Norfolk Academy before enrolling in the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, in 1853. In 1857, Taylor returned to Norfolk after his father died during a yellow fever epidemic, and took over his father's business. Like many other young Virginians, Taylor joined a volunteer militia company in Norfolk following John Brown's failed raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. Taylor in the Civil War When Virginia seceded in May 1861, Taylor entered the Confederate Army with his company. On May 2, 1861, he was promoted from his infantry company to the headquarters of the Army of Virginia. At the age of 23, he was assigned as adjutant to General Robert E. Lee after Lee was appointed commander of Virginia's military forces. Taylor dealt with Lee on a daily basis, interacting with him on a personal as well as a professional level. He frequently complained that Lee put too much work on him, but Taylor was also devoted to the man whom he affectionately called The Great Tycoon. Taylor would remain with Lee for the rest of the war, rising from a rank of captain to lieutenant colonel on December 12, 1863. Taylor wrote, "it was my peculiar privilege to occupy the position of a confidential staff-officer with General Lee during the entire period of the War for Southern Independence." When General Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1862, during the Peninsula Campaign, Taylor became assistant adjutant general of that army. He was an exceedingly capable and tireless worker with many responsibilities. And since Lee was noted for his small, over-worked staff, Taylor carried an enormous burden on his young shoulders. He was effectively the Chief Aide-de-Camp to General Lee throughout the war. He wrote dispatches and orders for Lee, performed personal reconnaissance, and often carried messages in person to corps and division commanders. He greeted all persons who came to see Lee, and usually decided whether they would be announced to the General. During the war, Taylor's fiancee, Elizabeth Saunders, lived at the boardinghouse of the Lewis Crenshaw family in Richmond, Virginia, where she worked at the Confederate Mint and for the Surgeon General in the Confederate Medical Department. In the last few days of the Siege of Petersburg, as it became clear to Lee and his staff that Petersburg was lost and Richmond should be evacuated, 26-year-old Walter Taylor received special permission from General Lee to go to Richmond to give Miss Saunders "the protection of his name." Taylor sent a messenger ahead to Richmond to advise his bride-to-be to make arrangements with Reverend Dr. Charles Minnigerode, the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. On the night of April 2, 1865, after the evacuation plans for Petersburg had been laid, Taylor caught the last train to the Confederate capital. During the early hours of April 3, 1865, while the evacuating Confederates fired the city and looters ran wild in its streets, Taylor and Miss Saunders were married in the parlor of the Crenshaw house. Taylor then returned to the Army of Northern Virginia, remaining with the army until the surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9. One week later, Taylor was the only staff officer to accompany General Lee back to Richmond. There, he posed on the back porch of a home on Franklin Street for the famous Brady photograph with Lee and his son Custis. After the War After leaving General Lee, Taylor picked up his bride in Richmond and drove her to Norfolk in a buggy. Taylor resumed the banking business in Norfolk and also worked as an attorney. During the years following the Civil War, Walter and Elizabeth Taylor had four sons and four daughters, and his family came first in every aspect of his life. Their sons were Walter Taylor III, Richard C. Taylor, J. Saunders Taylor and Robert E. Lee Taylor; their daughters were Bland, Thomlin, Steele, and Elizabeth Taylor. He lived the life of a Virginia gentleman and businessman, serving as Senator in the Virginia General Assembly, and attorney for the Norfolk and Western Railway. He engaged in the hardware business for a few years with his partner Andrew S. Martin and the business eventually operated as the W.H. Taylor and Company. On April 30, 1870, General Lee paid his last visit to Norfolk, accompanied by his daughter, Agnes Lee. He arrived in Portsmouth via railroad from North Carolina, and was met by Colonel Taylor. His former aide escorted him through the waiting crowds to ride to Norfolk on the Elizabeth River ferry. He died less than five months later. When General Lee passed away on October 12, 1870, among those who attended his funeral was Colonel Walter Taylor, who said his last goodbye to the man he had come to love and respect. Taylor held municipal offices and was elected to the Virginia General Assembly, where he served as a Senator representing Norfolk from 1869 until 1873. In 1870, he was named an honorary graduate of his class at the Virginia Military Institute, and served his first stint on the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors 1870-1873, and again 1914-1916. In 1877, Taylor became president of the Marine Bank of Norfolk, in which capacity he served for thirty-nine years. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Norfolk and Western Railroad. Taylor devoted a considerable portion of his postwar years to settling controversies related to the Army of Northern Virginia and in defense of General Lee. Taylor was recognized by former generals from both sides of the war as an unofficial court of last resort in settling disputes about the war. In general, the Lost Cause view of the war stressed that the Civil War had not been about slavery, that Northern numbers and industrial might made the South's defeat inevitable, and that Lee had been a nearly infallible general, whose defeats (most notably at Gettysburg in 1863) came because of malingering subordinates, particularly General James Longstreet. Taylor was petitioned by so many generals for so much information, he decided to write a book to set the record straight. He asked for permission from the U.S. government to view the National Archives related to the Army of the Potomac and was the first man ever granted such a privilege. Published in 1877, Taylor's Four Years with General Lee was the source of dozens of anecdotes about Lee. Drawing upon the authority of his position as an adjutant during the war to bolster his claims, Taylor used official reports and his own recollections to create a picture of a small army struggling mightily against an impossible foe. He argued that Lee had been defeated only by superior numbers and that the general had accomplished great feats in spite of limited resources. Taylor's second book, General Lee, His Campaigns in Virginia 1861–1865, with Personal Reminiscences, published in 1906, provided a much richer and more intimate chronicle of the headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia. This book covered every campaign that General Lee was engaged in, from Cheat Summit Fort to the surrender at Appomattox. Taylor never violated Lost Cause dogma, but he also never celebrated it. While most Confederate veterans attacked one another, Taylor rose above petty disputes, writing a relatively objective history of the Army of Northern Virginia that dissects the war without any particular agenda. He outlined the fight and the command decisions that affected the battle's outcome without condemning other officers. In his superb chapter on Gettysburg, Taylor bluntly tells the reader, "It is not my purpose here to undertake to establish the wisdom of an attack on the enemy's position on the third day, which General Longstreet contends was opposed by his judgment." Free of the petty squabbling that Lee so detested among his subordinates, Taylor's books gives the reader an inside look at the operations of Lee's headquarters. Beyond this, Taylor worked on The Southern Historical Society Papers and several Confederate veteran's organizations, including the Association of the Army of Northern Virginia and the United Confederate Veterans. He also wrote numerous articles about the Civil War, and kept in contact with many Confederate officers. Late in the 19th century, Taylor was active in the development of the Ocean View area, located along the south shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Norfolk County. The project had been surveyed and laid out before the American Civil War by William Mahone, another of General Lee's officers. Served by a narrow gauge railroad from Norfolk, which operated a steam locomotive named the Walter H. Taylor, Ocean View blossomed as both a popular resort area and a streetcar suburb of the City of Norfolk, which annexed the area in 1923. In April 1907, while Taylor was the attorney for the new Virginian Railway, then under construction, he met the founder Henry Huttleston Rogers and humorist Mark Twain when they arrived in Hampton Roads. They were in Norfolk to attend the Jamestown Exposition, celebrating the founding of Jamestown. According to newspaper reports, Twain drove off with Taylor in an infernal machine, better known as an automobile. Walter Herron Taylor died of cancer March 1, 1916, in Norfolk at the age of 77, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk. All four of his sons and three of his sons-in-law were the pallbearers.

Growing gourds is both simple and fun. Their seeds are easy to plant and grow with little to no effort. The seeds can be started indoors on your kitchen counter, in a greenhouse, or even sown directly in the ground in some cases. With a little time and patience, the gourd seed will grow into thick, green vines that will eventually be covered with green gourds. By following a few steps, you will be able to plant gourd seeds and start these plants around your own home or garden. Purchase a seed-starter tray from your local plant nursery or garden specialty store. These planting trays are especially designed for seeds. Generally, seed-starter trays included small pods made of peat and netting that will hold the seed and allow it to be easily transplanted when the time comes. Place one or two gourd seeds in each starter pod and place it back into the seed-starter tray. Water the planting pods within the seed-starter tray until they swell with water. The seed-starter tray generally comes with directions on an estimated amount of water it may take to thoroughly wet the seedpods. Place the clear plastic dome that came with the seed starter tray over the seedpods, and place the planting tray in a warm, sunny location. If the area receives full sun, allow the clear plastic dome to set slightly off the side of the planting tray; this will keep the inside of the tray from getting to hot. Transplant the entire seedpod into the garden once the seeds have germinated and are large enough to be moved outside.

Time is running out for nominations for an upcoming exhibit about the historic icons of Orlando. The display will go up later this year at the Orange County Regional History Center in downtown Orlando. Submissions from the public are accepted through July 31. Nominations are taken through the website historiciconsoforlando.com. A round of voting this fall will narrow the list to the top 100. The exhibit is expected to debut Nov. 29. The history center and the Orlando Remembered Committee are focused on documenting the time span between 1960 and 1985. "My experience is that the memories of the '50s are expressed with great passion. I believe there is an equal emotional attachment of the '60s, '70s and '80s," said Mark Line, chairman of Orlando Remembered. "We want people to tell us their stories, and what was exciting in their early years in their neighborhood." An icon is being defined as a person, place, event or object regarded as a representative historic symbol of life in the Orlando metropolitan area from 1960 to 1985. An event can be local or global but should have had significance in the Orlando area.

It’s a truth of life the majority of type two diabetics are classed as obese, & countless struggle to lose the excess pounds required to better control their blood glucose. Following advised diets for diabetics, & certain diet plans laid down by dieticians, doctors, & nutritionalists alike, are what it will take to help a diabetic get control of their weight, along with their blood sugars. So, instead of focusing on the foods which a diabetic ought to eat, the major purpose for writing this really is to highlight much of the food that is not fantastic for a diabetic. The food with carbohydrates incorporates fruits, sugar, vegetables, along with grains like wheat and rice. Caused by the time that the proteins or carbohydrates will take to digest, they will have distinct influences on your blood sugar. I.e., food which contains a further fat content, such as ice cream will raise the sugar level much slower than say potatoes. In essence, a diet which is low in saturated fats, incorporate sugar zero cost merchandise, standard exercise plus the controlling of blood sugar is more often than not suggested. As a way to sustain fantastic blood glucose levels your diet must be well-balanced with the right degree of protein, fats, fruits & carbohydrates. In the beginning, the concern with most diets for diabetics is to be sure you are getting adequate food so your blood sugar will not drop too low. You’ll also want to monitor your blood sugar levels to check out any spikes inside your readings too. A dietician can work with you on this. They’ll ensure you’re getting a excellent nutritious & balanced set of meals that will be comparatively low Glycemic index focused so that it supplies you an even spread of energy throughout the day, without developing those unneeded blood sugar spikes. A newly diagnosed diabetic could feel overwhelmed with the restrictions that they are faced with and not realizing how to plan meals, let alone retail store for the kinds of foods that they need to have on hand, & also knowing what foods to stay away from when shopping at the supermarket. Dependent on your objectives & present weight, a dietician can supply you with a meal plan that will meet the criteria of wholesome diets for diabetics, & this will assist you lose weight, provided you adhere to it. The advised diet for people with diabetic issues is designed to sustain a balance among the fiber, sugars, salt & fats. As you go along, you’ll understand that no food will be totally prohibited, nevertheless some foodstuff, especially salt, sugars & fats have to be eaten in confined quantities. Just about all the factors mention above can help you in decreasing your chances of having much of the serious challenges which are related with diabetes. So, make the effort to remove the bad foodstuff for diabetics from your meal preparations, such as the fats & remain healthy.

“Healing justice … seeks to lift up resiliency and wellness practices as a transformative response to generational violence and trauma in our communities” – Cara Page Healing justice – what a beautiful and essential vision for our communities! It’s a revolutionary concept – but as someone living with trauma, it just seems like common sense. Healing justice embodies both the need to resist oppression – as well as the urgency of fostering healing and liberation from the traumas so many of us carry into (and experience in) those struggles. In fact, the two are not at all separate but intimately entwined. Last summer, I was both terrified and honoured to co-facilitate a workshop on trauma at the International Copwatching Conference in Winnipeg. It was scary on so many counts – and really got to the root of why it’s time for our communities to take healing justice seriously. Why was I so frightened? First: I couldn’t lead such a session without getting really – and uncomfortably – personal. I’ve lived with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for at least five years – since I reported from the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which killed 1,000 people, but also from repeatedly experiencing police violence against demonstrators here in Canada, and a roommate‘s suicide. And no matter how much my friends reassure me of how widespread PTSD is, I still can’t help but feel utterly broken and damaged by the experiences that have scarred me and undermined my trust in others. Second: our workshop was one of the most highly attended at the conference – vastly escalating my anxiety. As the room got fuller and fuller, we kept having to widen the circle and fetch more chairs. Each new chair added to my fear that to speak about my experience would invite being “called out” by holier-than-thou activists who I was terrified might question and minimize the validity of my feelings. Thankfully, none of it happened. Clearly, there was a deep hunger to talk about trauma and healing among front-lines organizers, who journeyed from across the continent to attend this conference on ending police violence. Participants spoke honestly of the trauma of racism, sexism, homophobia and more. Many spoke of police brutality, some of whom had experienced it first hand. People spoke of sexual violence, of colonization, of abuse. Others spoke of ‘vicarious trauma’ – that of witnesses, advocates and supporters exposed to others’ experiences. Even though all the resources out there proclaim that trauma is a normal reaction – and survival tool – to unjust and violent experiences (in fact, author Pattrice Jones re-labels it “aftershock”), I still have internalized the notion that I’m a “bad person” for being overwhelmed by my experiences. In fact, as a cisgendered man with white and class privilege, I am constantly struggling with the shame that I haven’t been “strong enough” or “independent enough” to better cope with violence I’ve experienced (as have many friends) – or worrying that I’ll be an emotional burden on my community. When you think about those assumptions, they are glaringly masculine, aren’t they? Men are taught to be independent, unemotional, invulnerable strongholds. Emotional overwhelm is a weakness. Actually, activist communities tend to reward these masculine values of fearlessness, confidence, cold reasoning and strength – too often at the expense of mutual care, acceptance and compassion. Self-care is seen as somehow selfish; asking for help is seen as a drain. Of course, feeling like a “bad person” – fundamentally “broken” or “damaged” – is precisely a symptom of PTSD. But knowing that, and believing it in one’s heart, are different matters. My trauma has led me to retreat from the front-lines of social change. It brings up shame: for feeling entitled to walk away from activism, and for feeling overwhelmed in the first place. This shame is amplified by being aware of my privilege – what right do I have to back off, when others can’t afford to? What entitles me to the healing others are denied? Thankfully, a lot of dedicated organizers are fighting to change this. Foremost among these are the KINDRED Southern Healing Justice Collective and the Icarus Project. In an article for INCITE Women of Color Against Violence, KINDRED’s Cara Page describes healing justice as “healing inside of liberation” and a “quest for what the role of healing is and how healers move us to and through liberation.” “What keeps us resilient in our hearts, our blood, our bones?” Page asks. “What helps us to rebuild a home? How do we reclaim and re-imagine safety in our homes and movements?” I’ve seen healing justice in action – in the form of regular check-ins and debriefings in organizations; in dedicated healing spaces at events; in the one-on-one support, listening and resource-sharing that happens in healthy communities; in respecting boundaries and celebrating self-care. Finally, if you struggle with trauma, I encourage you to be gentle with yourself, and trust that you are good enough – and are definitely not alone. Healing justice isn’t a side-project: it’s actually revolutionary.

Morey Stanley Mosk (September 4, 1912 – June 19, 2001) was an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court for 37 years (1964–2001), and holds the record for the longest-serving justice on that court. Before sitting on the Supreme Court, he served as Attorney General of California and as a trial court judge, among other governmental positions. Mosk was the last Justice of the California Supreme Court to have served in non-judicial elected office prior to his appointment to the bench. The Los Angeles County Courthouse is named after him. Mosk as Attorney General in 1960 Early life and careerEdit Mosk was born in San Antonio, Texas. His parents moved when he was three years old, and he grew up in Rockford, Illinois. His parents, Paul and Minna, were Reform Jews (of Hungarian and German origin, respectively) who did not believe in strict religious observances. Since Rockford sits next to the Wisconsin border, Mosk's parents followed Wisconsin politics and were strong supporters of Progressive Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Mosk graduated from the University of Chicago in 1933 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. Mosk's life was strongly affected by the Great Depression. Because his father's business in Rockford was floundering, his parents and brother relocated to Los Angeles, and Mosk followed them after graduating from college, as they could not afford to support him in further studies in Chicago. At the time, it was possible to use the last year of a bachelor's degree as the first year of a three-year law degree program, so while living with his parents, Mosk was able to obtain a law degree in two years. He earned a LL.B from Southwestern University School of Law in 1935 and was admitted to the bar that same year. Thanks to the Depression, no major Los Angeles firms were hiring. Mosk opened his solo practice, and shared an office with four other solos, each maintaining separate practices. During those difficult years, Mosk was a general practitioner who took whatever walked in the door. While practicing law, Mosk occasionally assisted the Democratic politician Culbert Olson with campaigning, and in 1939 was given the job of executive secretary to Olson, the first Democrat elected Governor of California in the 20th-century. During Olson's last days in office, after his defeat for re-election by Republican Earl Warren, he appointed Mosk a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge at the age of 31, the youngest in the state. Mosk faced opposition at his first retention election (California is a modified Missouri Plan state), but prevailed. In March 1945, Mosk left the Superior Court to volunteer for service in the U.S. Army during World War II as a private, but spent most of the war in a transportation unit in New Orleans and never went abroad. After honorable discharge in September 1945, he returned to California and resumed his judicial career. On October 18, 1945, actress Ava Gardner married bandleader Artie Shaw at Mosk's house. In 1947, as a Superior Court judge, he declared the enforcement of racial restrictive covenants unconstitutional before the Supreme Court of the United States did so in Shelley v. Kraemer. He also presided over many widely reported cases. Attorney General of CaliforniaEdit In 1958, he was elected Attorney General of California by the largest margin of any contested election in the country that year, and was the first person of Jewish descent to serve as a statewide executive branch officer in California. In 1962, he was re-elected by a large margin. He served as the California National Committeeman to the Democratic National Committee and was an early supporter of John F. Kennedy for President. He remained close to the Kennedy family. As attorney general for nearly six years, he issued approximately two thousand written opinions, handled a series of landmark cases, and on January 8, 1962, appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in Arizona v. California. Mosk established the Attorney General's Civil Rights Division and successfully fought to force the Professional Golfers' Association of America to amend its bylaws denying access to minority golfers. He also established Consumer Rights, Constitutional Rights, and Antitrust divisions. As California's chief law enforcement officer, he sponsored legislation creating the California Commission on Peace Officers' Standards and Training (POST). Mosk also commissioned a study of the resurgence of right-wing extremism in California, which famously characterized the secretive John Birch Society as a "cadre" of "wealthy businessmen, retired military officers and little old ladies in tennis shoes." State Supreme Court JusticeEdit While an early favorite to be elected to the United States Senate after the death of incumbent Clair Engle, Mosk was appointed to the California Supreme Court in September 1964 by Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown to succeed the elevated Roger J. Traynor. Mosk was retained by the electorate in 1964, and to three full twelve-year terms from 1974. Although Mosk was a self-described liberal, he often displayed an independent streak that sometimes surprised his admirers and critics alike. For example, in Bakke v. Regents of the University of California, Mosk ruled that the minority admissions program at the University of California, Davis violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. This decision was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978), which, unlike Mosk's opinion, held that race could be factored in admissions to promote ethnic diversity. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Mosk in rejecting racial quotas. He also voted to uphold the constitutionality of a parental consent for abortion law—a law ultimately struck down by a majority of the court. Although personally opposed to the death penalty, Mosk voted to uphold death penalty convictions on a number of occasions. He believed he was obligated to enforce laws properly enacted by the people of the state of California, even though he personally did not approve of such laws. One example of how he articulated his beliefs is his concurrence in In re Anderson, 69 Cal. 2d 613 (1968): |“||In my years as Attorney General of California (1959-1964), I frequently repeated a personal belief in the social invalidity of the death penalty ... Naturally, therefore, I am tempted by the invitation of petitioners to join in judicially terminating this anachronistic penalty. However, to yield to my predilections would be to act wilfully 'in the sense of enforcing individual views instead of speaking humbly as the voice of law by which society presumably consents to be ruled. ...' [Citation.] As a judge, I am bound to the law as I find it to be and not as I might fervently wish it to be. One of Mosk's contributions to jurisprudence was development of the constitutional doctrine of "independent state grounds." This is the concept that individual rights are not dependent solely on interpretation of the U.S. Constitution by the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts, but also can be found in state constitutions, which often provide greater protection for individuals. Although Mosk was widely viewed as a liberal, he was not always a close ally of Chief Justice Rose Bird. As a result of that and his independence, he won reelection to the court in 1986 with 75% of the vote while Bird and two other justices closely allied with her were defeated for reelection. In November 1998, at age 86, Mosk was retained by the electorate for another twelve-year term. Mosk served on the high court until his death in 2001, having surpassed Justice John W. Shenk to become the longest-serving justice in the history of the Court in 1999. Mosk authored many significant opinions, some of which have been included in law school casebooks. In 1999, Albany Law School Professor Vincent Martin Bonventre described Mosk as, "An institution, an icon, a trailblazer, a legal scholar, a constitutional guardian, a veritable living legend of the American judiciary, . . . one of the most influential members in the history of one of the most influential tribunals in the western world." Courthouses named after Stanley MoskEdit The Stanley Mosk Courthouse, which is the main civil courthouse of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, is located at 111 North Hill Street in Los Angeles. It is part of the Civic Center complex which includes the County of Los Angeles Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration. The courthouse is often seen in the Perry Mason TV series, when Perry parks his car on Hill Street to go inside the building. Mosk married three times. On September 27, 1936, he married Helen Edna Mitchell in Beverly Hills, California, and they had one son, Richard. After her death on May 22, 1981, he remarried on August 27, 1982, to Susan Jane Hines in Reno, Nevada, who was more than 30 years his junior. They divorced and on January 15, 1995, Mosk married Kaygey Kash, a long-time friend. - Mosk Oral History Interview, 9. - Mosk Oral History Interview, 12. - "Brown Urges Support of Democratic Ticket". San Bernardino Sun (45). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 13 October 1938. p. 14. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Mosk Oral History Interview, 13-14. - Dunlop, Jack W. (10 August 1939). "Politically Speaking". Healdsburg Tribune, Enterprise and Scimitar (99). California Digital Newspaper Collection. UPI. p. 4. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "Secretary Force Gets New Member". Madera Tribune (94). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 August 1939. p. 4. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "Olson Has Number of Appointments to Make". San Bernardino Sun (49). California Digital Newspaper Collection. Associated Press. 12 November 1942. p. 5. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "L.A. Judges Named". San Bernardino Sun (49). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 January 1943. p. 12. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "Court Bars Seven Candidates from Using CIO Funds". San Bernardino Sun (51). California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 4 November 1944. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "FDR Triumphs". Corsair (16 (9)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 7 November 1944. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "Judge Mosk Resigns". San Bernardino Sun (51). California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 6 March 1945. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Mosk Oral History Interview, 15-16. - "In the Shadows". San Bernardino Sun (52). California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 16 September 1945. p. 10. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "Bandleader Artie Shaw Marries Ava Gardner". San Bernardino Sun (52). California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 18 October 1945. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "Court Refuses to Bar Negroes from Wilshire". San Bernardino Sun (45 (47)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 24 October 1947. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "Racial Eviction Suits Dismissed". San Bernardino Sun (54 (54)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 1 November 1947. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Arizona v. California, 373 U.S. 546 (1963). Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "PGA opens its doors to Negroes, world golfers". Florence Times. Alabama. Associated Press. November 10, 1961. p. 4, section 2. - "PGA group abolishes 'Caucasian'". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida. Associated Press. November 10, 1961. p. 22. - California Attorney General web page: AG.ca.gov - "The Harmless Ones", Time, August 11, 1961. Paid subscription access. - California Attorney General (1961). "Report on the John Birch Society". Worldcat.org. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "World Wire". Madera Tribune (207). California Digital Newspaper Collection. UPI. 3 March 1964. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "Brown May Tap Mosk For Court". Madera Tribune (64). California Digital Newspaper Collection. UPI. 11 August 1964. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - "Brown Names Mosk Attorney General To Supreme Court; Traynor Is Chief". Desert Sun (9). California Digital Newspaper Collection. UPI. 14 August 1964. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Uelmen, Gerald F. (1999). "Justice Stanley Mosk", 65 Albany Law Review 857, fn. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Chiang, Harriet; Egelko, Bob (June 20, 2001). "Stanley Mosk / 1912-2001 / State Supreme Court justice dies at 88 / Ex-California attorney general, 'a giant in the law,' had longest tenure". San Francisco Gate. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - American Academy of Pediatrics v. Lungren, 16 Cal.4th 307 (1997). Retrieved September 25, 2017. - In re Anderson, 69 Cal. 2d 613 (1968). Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Gerawan Farming, Inc. v. Lyons, 24 Cal.4th 468, 489-496, 510-515 (2000); Sands v. Morongo Unified School District, 53 Cal.3d 863, 905-907 (1991) (Mosk, J., concurring); People v. Pettingill, 21 Cal.3d 231, 247-248 (1978); People v. Brisendine, 13 Cal.3d 528, 545, 548-552 (1975); Stanley Mosk, "Brennan Lecture: States' Rights -- And Wrongs," 72 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 552, 559-565 (1997); Stanley Mosk, State Constitutionalism: Both Liberal and Conservative, 63 Tex. L. Rev. 1081, 1087-1093 (1985). - "Stanley Mosk, 88, Long a California Supreme Court Justice". New York Times. Associated Press. June 21, 2001. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Vincent Martin Bonventre, Editor's Foreword to State Constitutional Commentary, 62 Albany Law Review 1213, 1213 (1999). - Dedication of the Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building. California State Courts. Retrieved July 24, 2017. - Braitman, Jacqueline R.; Uelmen, Gerald F. (2013). Justice Stanley Mosk: a life at the center of California politics and justice. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 26, 236–237. ISBN 1476600716. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Dolan, Maura (April 19, 2016). "Richard M. Mosk dies at 76; California Court of Appeal justice and Warren Commission staffer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Mosk, Stanley (1995). Democracy in America-- Day by Day. New York, NY: Vantage Press. ISBN 0533112044. - Mosk, Stanley (1997). "Brennan Lecture: States' Rights -- And Wrongs" (PDF). N.Y.U. L. Rev. 72 (3): 552–566. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Mosk, Stanley (1993). "Nothing Succeeds Like Excess". Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 26 (4): 981. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Mosk, Stanley (1991). "Gideon Kanner". Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 24 (3): 516. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Uelmen, Gerald F. (June 22, 2002). "Tribute to Justice Stanley Mosk", 65 Albany Law Review 857. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Braitman, Jacqueline R.; Uelmen, Gerald F. (2013). Justice Stanley Mosk: a life at the center of California politics and justice. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 1476600716. Retrieved September 25, 2017. - Oral argument before the California Supreme Court (October 11, 1991), on the constitutionality of proposition 140 which would impose term limits on elected officials. C-Span.org. - Stanley Mosk. California Supreme Court Historical Society. - Stanley Mosk, Oral History interview (PDF). Regional Oral History Office, University of California, Berkeley, 1998.

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is all the sides. I’m already looking forward to sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, and more. But one thing Americans aren’t looking forward to this Thanksgiving is getting their turkey with a side of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Unfortunately, practices in the conventional poultry industry are putting consumers at risk. You may have heard of the recent outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) linked to Foster Farms chicken. As of a November 15th CDC report, 389 people from 21 states and Puerto Rico have become ill since March 2013. The bacteria in this outbreak are particularly dangerous: The CDC reported that nine out of the ten patients tested were infected with bacteria that were resistant to at least one commonly prescribed antibiotic and three were resistant to multiple antibiotics. That means that when people were sickened by this particular Salmonella outbreak, they’ve faced an increased risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure. Of reported infections, nearly 40% of victims have required hospitalization, more than twice as many as would be expected in typical cases of Salmonella infections, according to a CDC spokesperson. The antibiotic resistance seen in the latest Foster Farms outbreak is alarming but not surprising. Multidrug resistance in Salmonella in chicken has increased significantly over the last decade. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sampling of meat and poultry across the United States, shows high rates of antibiotic-resistant pathogens on meat. This year, the independent product testing organization Consumer Reports released theresults of its first-ever testing of ground turkey samples from around the country. As I discussed here, what Consumer Reports found on conventionally produced turkey meat, where antibiotics are permitted to be used routinely, was certainly unappetizing: frequent contamination with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Detecting these “superbugs” on turkey is a sign that turkey producers may be relying on intensive antibiotic use to raise turkeys—a practice that is likely to spread antibiotic resistant bacteria. But there’s good news here. Consumer Reports found that ground turkey labeled “no antibiotics,” “organic,” or “raised without antibiotics” was much less likely to harbor resistant bacteria than conventional turkey. Antibiotics aren’t allowed in raising turkeys carrying these labels. Sick birds may be treated, but they’re then sold to non-organic markets. Just like in human medicine, when antibiotics are misused, we risk breeding antibiotic-resistant bacteria. But when antibiotics are used as they were intended—sparingly, and only to treat disease—we are less likely to foster the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in meat production. Unfortunately, 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the US today are used on farm animals, not humans. The vast majority of these drugs are used on industrial farms to speed up animal growth and compensate for crowded, stressful and unsanitary conditions. This is despite warnings by leading medical and public health organizations that the routine misuse and overuse of antibiotics important to human medicine in the livestock industry spreads antibiotic resistance. Most recently, the CDC stated: “Up to half of antibiotic use in humans and much of antibiotic use in animals is unnecessary and inappropriate and makes everyone less safe.” When antibiotics are used day after day to raise animals, resistant bacteria flourish and spread, making antibiotics less effective for people. These dangerous pathogens travel off of farms and into our communities—not just on the meat itself, but also in our soil, air, and water. Drug-resistant “superbugs” can even pass their resistant genes to other bacteria. The effectiveness of the drugs we need when we get sick shouldn’t be squandered to compensate for better management practices in the conventional poultry industry. This Thanksgiving, you can do your part to support farmers who are keeping antibiotics working for people by shopping smart. By choosing USDA Organic or turkey sold under a “No Antibiotics Administered” label, consumers can reward turkey farmers who are using best practices. Under the organic standard, meat producers are not allowed to use antibiotics, with some exceptions. The “No antibiotics administered” or similar labels, such as “No antibiotics ever” are regulated by USDA but are not verified. These claims are more reliable if they are coupled with a “USDA Process Verified” seal. Also consider other labels, such as “animal welfare approved” and “certified humane,” which mean that antibiotics were only used to treat sick animals. But shoppers beware: “All Natural” has nothing to do with how an animal is raised. Also be sure to handle your turkey and other meat safely. The best place to store meat is at the bottom of your fridge, safely wrapped up, so there’s no risk of it dripping onto other foods. It’s also good practices to keep two or more cutting boards in your kitchen. To avoid food contamination, it’s best to have at least two color-coded cutting boards, and only use one of them for cutting raw meat. Plastic or acrylic cutting boards are safer than wooden ones, because they are easier to clean, and less likely to harbor bacteria. Finally, don’t just rely on a sponge and soapy water to get your cutting boards and knives clean—use either the dishwasher or sanitizing solution. Isolates collected from ill persons were resistant to combinations of the following antibiotics: ampicillin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline. See October 11, 2013, Case Count Update,. Accessed 11/4/2013. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013, p. 31

One thing you can say about the design community is that do produce a good number of instructional videos. I don’t mean instructional in the sense that they were created to teach new skills. Many of the videos are conference presentations or interviews with the experts. I’ve learned a good deal about design topics and user experience ideas just from having watched the videos that are freely available. I wanted to share two I think are worth watching. I’ve actually taken in a few videos featuring Jesse James Garrett, and there’s usually something useful to be learned from his presentations (although some are a bit too techy for me) and his writings. In this video he speaks about the “current state of user experience”, and by that he offers his interpretation of what it means when we speak about user experience and where he sees things headed. It’s a good investment of time for those both new to and familiar with user experience. One of the things I’ve learned about designers is that they use visual communication techniques much more frequently than those of us in the library profession. But I think there is much to be said for strengthening our ability to communicate visually. I got more interested in this after reading Dan Roam’s Back of the Napkin – and it was one of the most popular business books last year so you may have read it as well. Roam does an excellent job of breaking down the basics of visual communication, and provides encouragement – if not practical tips – for using drawings or sketches to communicate ideas. I’ve been trying to do more of this in meetings or for presentations by using Roam’s principles and examples. It can be difficult to practice visual communication when you just don’t feel that you have much drawing ability. But Roam offer the possibility that if you can draw a square, circle and triangle you can communicate visually. The guy in the UPS commercials certainly does make it look easy (Is he really drawing or is it computer graphics? At first I think it was drawing but now it seems they are doing more with computer graphics and on a recent commercial the UPS guy even jokingly said something about the “perfect circles” he draws). But short of taking some kind of drawing class how do you learn to get better at sketching. You can get some books on that, and there are videos that can help you with drawing stick figures, but I recommend you view a video that features Mark Baskinger, associate professor at the School of Design of the Carnegie Mellon University. In this video he explains and shows the differences between the drawing styles of an industrial designer and an interaction designer. The latter uses more of a stick figure approach while the former has a slightly more sophisticated style. By watching Baskinger and then practicing (yes, it takes practice to get better) some of his methods you might be able to improve your own sketching skills. So it’s not easy if you don’t have any art training or drawing talent, but it’s certainly not impossible to become a better, more proficient visual communicator. If you’ve discovered a good resource that’s helped you to improve your visual communication skills, whether its by hand or computer, please share it here.

This study aimed to evaluate the role that executive function plays in reading ability. Twenty-four undergraduate students at Western University performed a Flanker task to measure executive function, followed by a self-paced moving-window paradigm sentence-reading task to measure active-passive sentence-processing ability. Participants were placed in a high or low executive function group depending on their Flanker task scores. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed to determine whether participants with high executive function also performed better on the sentence reading tasks. Contrary to the hypothesis, participants’ sentence processing performance was not related to their Flanker task performance, which indicates that executive function does not influence reading ability.

by Alan Rencher I am often asked which Enterprise Architecture framework I like and which one I recommend. This is usually a very quick discussion where I try and explain that there are great reasons to use a few different ones but I have my own biases and opinions. I try and encourage the serious answer seeker to decide for him or herself and will recite a platitude about there being a few good ones and you should study them and decide for yourself. In the end the person typically just says something like: “Just tell me which one I should use.” This kind of bothers me, but if I am nailed down I usually answer: TOGAF. I want to put some color in the conversation and in this entry I will try and describe the top five frameworks, my take on their strengths and weaknesses and why I like the ones I like. A very brief discussion on the practice of Enterprise Architecture may be in order. In the late 1980’s a guy working for IBM named John Zachman coined the term “Enterprise Architecture”, he did this in a seminal paper entitled “A framework for information system architecture“. In this paper he outlined potential steps and practices for making good architecture decisions with regard to many different and varying factors. Since then many other smart people have implemented similar frameworks and processes. In alphabetical order, here are the top 5 that I have experience with and think are sound. I will attempt to provide some strengths and weaknesses for each as well as some brief experiences I have had with them. DODAF – This is the Department of Defense’s [DOD] framework created initially in the 1990’s as a “more secure” version of some loose standards that different branches of the armed forces had at that time. This framework is rather large and complex. It is suited for extremely large systems that have very challenging integration needs and extreme performance and security needs. This framework is too big for one person, or even a team to become expert on. I was required to use nomenclature and diagrams using it’s standards when I was helping run a defense contracting technology company that was building and integrating supply chain systems for the USAF and later the DOD as a whole. It was actually very different than Zachman and was very challenging to understand. One of the strengths of the DODAF framework was it’s focus on what it calls “Operation Views” and modeling and representing them from different perspectives. I would not recommend this framework to anyone or any organization unless you are working for a DOD related entity or a defense contractor. GARTNER – Gartner offers an Enterprise Architecture process and practice with some elements of a framework. For our discussion today we will refer to their offering loosely as a practice. This practice focuses on what Gartner refers to as “business outcomes”. The Gartner practice is heavily weighted toward defining a “future state” and everything working toward that outcome. In principle, I like this but their practice seems rather lean in giving you tools and emphasis on the “how” you get from your present state to your future state. I had a lively discussion with Betsy Burton and Brian Burke at a Gartner symposium last year on this topic. The Gartner practice is very business friendly and is seeing some real momentum in the industry right now but is still not widely adopted. I am not entirely sure why but suspect that in the coming 18 months this practice will start to really get wider adoption. We’ll see. I really have not used their practice exclusively so my experience with it is all speculative and academic. TEAF – This was the “Treasury Enterprise Architecture Framework”. This is a dead framework that I used when building systems for a major financial services company earlier in my career. It was a derivative of the Zachman framework that specialized in tighter security controls and was initially sponsored by the US Department of Treasury. I used this back when it was a brand new standard and in all candor was terrified of it. It was heavy and scary. It had a rigid list of vocabulary that differed slightly from Zachman and really focused on a series of matrix views that enabled “intrinsic perspective”. Apparently this framework has been consumed by something even scarier, the dreaded “Federal enterprise architecture” or FEA framework. All jokes aside, I am not super familiar with FEA other than the hallway conversations at EA conferences. Some former colleagues in the federal contracting industry have described it as exceptionally heavy and almost as overwhelming as DODAF. Time will tell. Perhaps this framework is responsible for the Obamacare health exchange disaster? Just kidding…. TOGAF – This is “The Open Group Architecture Framework“. This framework is created and maintained by the OpenGroup. This open standards based group is comprised primarily of industry thought leaders and seasoned EA professionals. This group is influenced at least somewhat by their corporate sponsors. These sponsors are very numerous but the big mega-vendors comprise the “platinum” sponsors. My own opinion is that these sponsorships are very healthy and represent an extremely wide diversity of corporate interests. TOGAF splits all architecture activities into four domains or categories: Business Architecture, Data Architecture, Solution / Application Architectureand Technical Architecture. These categories are worked on in various phases that happen inside of what TOGAF describes as an Architecture Development Method. This is a series of steps and or activities which help the architect arrive at a usable architecture to help the business reach it’s goals. Some purists and others dislike TOGAF because you have to pay to become a member of the OpenGroup and you need to buy the materials and pay for the certification tests. I have purchased the materials and I have taken the certification tests. I am not a TOGAF purist but I like the tools in the TOGAF toolbox and I use them when they make sense. I have delivered value with the TOGAF toolbox. I personally get a little overwhelmed even thinking about strictly following the TOGAF ADM to the letter. It is my own personal preference. I do have a mild criticism of TOGAF myself in that it does not provide a super-heavy security emphasis. This can be overcome by discipline and your own focus, or just including security requirements as part of your initial business architecture. Zachman – This is the Stradivarius of Enterprise Architecture frameworks. I have used it extensively early in my career and cut my architecture teeth with it designing home automation and engineering process software. It uses a very extensive matrix of steps of design. I liked it because it was easy for me to understand. It used simple descriptions like: who, what when, why, where and how to describe different layers of maturity in your overall design. John Zachman was a visionary man. He was a game-changer. His framework is still somewhat popular and many organizations still use it. Nearly all EA frameworks trace their origins to Zachman. The challenge with Zachman is that it has not adapted to the levels of complexity in the industry even though it has gone through several revisions. That is my opinion. I have had long discussions with many who I respect who would disagree. In my mind the simplicity of the more recent additions have made the Zachman framework kind of like a nice classic car that is fun to get out and drive once in awhile for fun but not something you want to drive to work on the freeway every day. All of these frameworks add value or have added value. There a few others that I have not mentioned that some practitioners will undoubtedly call for the leaders spot. At the end of the day, in my present practice, I draw on all of my varied technology and leadership experiences that have their roots in all of the frameworks I have been exposed to. I draw most heavily from TOGAF and at this point in my career use TOGAF by far the most. I guess I am a TOGAF guy for the most part. I would love to hear which frameworks have added the most value for others. In closing, I feel that there is actually a pretty big hole in the EA space. I believe that there is ample opportunity to provide a much more simple framework that would probably borrow heavily from a few of these more well-known frameworks to create a simple, programmatized framework. I wish I had a lot of free-time to go do it myself. Who knows…….

Stem-cell research has been a hot-button issue for some time now. To the chagrin of pro-lifers, high-profile Hollywood celebrities have lobbied for an increase in taxpayer-funded destructive embryonic stem-cell research. Even former first lady Nancy Reagan made a pitch for the same. Just a few weeks ago, Congress approved legislation that would have succumbed to such pressure. Nevertheless, President George W. Bush pro-life himself wisely vetoed the legislation, saying the measure "would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others" and "crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect." But what if it were possible to harvest embryonic stem cells from human embryos without harming those embryos wouldn't that solve the moral dilemma? That's what Robert Lanza, vice president of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) of Worchester, Massachusetts, claimed two weeks ago in the journal Nature that their research had succeeded in doing. Unfortunately, ACT's claims turned out to be a disappointment. In an article titled Has Robert Lanza Solved the Dilemma? Dr. Barrett Duke of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission noted: "While we appreciate Dr. Lanza'a effort to find a way around the unacceptable destruction of human embryos to obtain embryonic stem cells, we do not consider his solution to be viable." Indeed, it isn't viable and Duke explains why, arguing that the method Lanza employs could destroy the embryo and in some cases already does. In fact, at least 16 embryos were destroyed in Lanza's research. Duke contends the process also extracts approximately 12 percent of the embryo's original genetic makeup. It's impossible at this point to know exactly what effects this would have on the development of persons who have had that much of their genetic material removed. Moreover, the cells being used are totipotent cells. Just as a single cell can separate naturally at its earliest stages to create a twin, twinning also occurs when a single cell is removed surgically. Totipotent cells start to form an embryo, but that process is disrupted by the researcher, essentially destroying the twin, when an effort is made to manipulate them to form as stem cells. The good news, however, seems to be that the direction of stem-cell research has turned a corner. Obviously, ACT's research, as well as that of many others, indicates a growing interest, even discomfort with destroying human embryos for stem cells. That's the point of an encouraging piece penned by Robert P. George, professor of jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton. In The Real Good News on Stem Cells, George contends new techniques are currently being developed from which embryonic stem cells could be derived without harming embryos. He writes: "One possibility is 'altered nuclear transfer.' This research, being pursued at MIT and elsewhere, seeks to fuse ordinary body cells, obtained harmlessly from donors, with oocyte cytoplasm in such a way as to produce donor-specific pluripotent stem cells without producing or destroying a human embryo. Another possibility is 'dedifferentiation.' Last August, Harvard scientists showed they could 'reprogram' an ordinary human skin cell back to the pluripotent state. No embryo was produced in the process, yet stem cells were generated. Their experiment still has some kinks to clear away, but just a few weeks ago a group of Japanese scientists showed they could eliminate many of those and turn a skin cell into the precise equivalent of an embryonic stem cell. Their work was in mice, and perhaps that is why it did not receive the degree of attention that the ACT study grabbed, but it was if anything more promising and exciting .... Similar techniques are being explored around the world, and it now seems that a new mood is overtaking the field." In the conclusion of his arguments against the Lanza method, Duke sounds both a challenge and a warning: "The promise of stem cells is vast. God has put at our discretion the ability to develop a set of tools to help us fix some of humanity's most devastating maladies. We must remember, however, that we must not sacrifice our humanity in order to achieve these great advances. To sacrifice the most vulnerable of our species for the benefit of the rest is too high a price to pay. Today's scientists must move forward on a sold ethical footing or they risk falling into the same pit that doomed many of Nazi Germany's scientists to a legacy of disgust and moral outrage. We do not need to destroy, or even put at risk, human embryos in order to achieve the wonderful promise of stem-cell therapy. Stem cells derived from non-embryonic sources are already being used to treat and cure more than 70 maladies. We applaud those scientists who are determined to advance our knowledge and our ability to assist our fellow humans in a way that respects all of life ...." Despite the way some characterize President Bush as a buffoon, America should be grateful the president has been so sagacious in holding the nation to a high standard on this issue. His firm leadership has not only protected the sanctity of human life, but motivated some to think out of the box and focus on methods that make real advances in stem-cell research. What is more, pro-lifers ought to take heart that their arguments for life are surely making headway. When it comes to stem-cell research, any scientist, leader, or nation, for that matter, willing to honor life at every stage, can find hope in that blessed promise of Scripture: "Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9).

Forearm Exercise: Reverse Barbell Curl The reverse curl is often used in rehabilitation from injury and as an assistance exercise for contact sports and martial arts that use grabbing movements. Reverse Barbell Curl Technique STARTING POSITION (SETUP): Grasp the bar (straight or E-Z bar) using a closed, pronated (palms are facing down) grip shoulder-width apart. Stand with your knees slightly flexed and the bar in front of your thighs with your elbows fully extended. EXERCISE EXECUTION (MOVEMENT): While keeping your elbows In at your sides and your upper arms stationary, flex your elbows to raise the bar in an arc toward your shoulders. Stop when the bar almost touches your chest. Pause, then lower the weight along the same path (in an arc) to the starting position. Flex your arms again, bringing the barbell from your thighs to your chest. Reverse Barbell Curl Additional Tips & Key Points - Hold the bar using a pronated hand position (palms down with the thumbs facing each other) during the whole set. - Keep your upper arms pressed against your torso during the exercise. Don’t let your elbows move in front of or behind your torso. Try to fix your elbows tight to your body. - Don’t use as much weight for the reverse barbell curl as you do for the standing barbell curl because your forearm muscles are not as strong as your biceps. - Keep your upper and lower body stationary as you lift and lower the bar. - Most people can bring the arms up to only around 85º in the palm-down position (pronation), which means the wrist position may feel uncomfortable or even painful (especially if you are using a heavy weight). - To place more emphasis on the brachioradialis, perform reverse barbell curls with an open grip, keeping your thumb on top of the bar. This will force you to keep the bar closer to your body (as in drag curl), causing more involvement of the brachioradialis. - This is not a power exercise that needs to be done explosively. The muscles in your forearms were made for endurance, so you should do this exercise slowly. - Reverse Grip Preacher Curls. The reverse grip preacher curls require that your grip be the opposite from how you perform preacher curls. You grasp the bar using palm-down grip placement with your hands closer than shoulder width apart to work the brachiais muscle of the upper arm. Otherwise, perform the exercise in the exact same way indicated for the preacher curls. You can select either a straight bar or E-Z curl bar. - Reverse E-Z bar Curl. If you feel that a straight bar places too much stress on your wrists, try using an E-Z bar instead. - Reverse Cable Curl (Reverse Pulley Curl). This exercise is identical to the reverse barbell curl, except that you use a machine with a floor-level pulley. The constant tension provided by the cable challenges the muscles of your forearm in a different way. - Reverse Grip Cable Preacher Curls. - Reverse Curls With Dumbbells. The technique is the same as the basic exercise, but using dumbbells. Muscles Used in Reverse Barbell Curls This isolation exercise specifically targets the brachioradialis, the brachialis, and a little bit of the biceps. Main muscles: brachialis, brachioradialis, extensor carpi radialis longus, extensor carpi radialis brevis, extensor carpi ulnaris, extensor digitorum, extensor pollicis longus, extensor pollicis brevis, extensor indicis Secondary muscles: pronator teres, biceps Antagonists: triceps, anconeus Exercise substitutions are required when you do not have the necessary equipment, when you want a variation or if you cannot safely perform the recommended exercise. Try these other forearm exercises. You have to understand that forearm size, more than almost any other part, depends on genetics. If you have a short forearm muscle belly and therefore have trouble gaining the kind of size you’d like to have, begin thinking about extra forearm work early. Because forearms gain in size slowly, you need time to make the changes you are looking for.

Montgomery Maryland Chapter History Separate drinking fountains for Whites and Blacks. “Colored” balconies in movie theaters. Seats in the back of the bus. Soldiers called out to protect little children trying to go to school. It’s hard to believe these were examples of conditions in America less than 40 years ago. In 1960 when Henrietta Franklin came up with the idea to form a chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. in Montgomery County the area looked a lot different. Back then, Blacks accounted for 5 percent of the county’s population of 341,000 (today African Americans make up 15 percent of the county’s population). The county’s African American Mothers, including Mrs. Franklin, were caught up in events happening across the country. That year, four Black college students began sit-ins at lunch counter of a Greensboro, N.C., restaurant where Black patrons are not served. Congress approved a watered-down voting rights act after a filibuster by Southern senators. The Freedom Rides, from Washington to Southern states, began. Foremost on their minds, however, was the well-being of their children. Times were changing, but in the early 1960s, African Americans in the county were still barred from social and cultural activities that integrated them with whites. It would be another three years before the Maryland legislature passed an open accommodations law. And even then, change was slow to come. But Mrs. Franklin wanted her children to have cultural opportunities, develop leadership skills, and form social networks even in the midst of segregation. In the late winter of 1960, she called Carolyn French, President of the Washington, D. C. chapter, to ask how to make application to start a Montgomery County Chapter of Jack and Jill. In April 1960, Mrs. Franklin wrote to Ruth B. Howard of San Francisco, National President, who answered promptly, stating, “If you can readily get together 15 mothers who are congenial and who have the same aims for their children, you should write at once to Mrs. Osbeth Adams of Chicago, National Vice President in charge of forms and information.” Mrs. Franklin then told the five other wives in a small couples club, which she had started previously, that she was interested in establishing a Montgomery County Chapter of Jack and Jill. She asked whether they would join; they said they probably would, and told her to go ahead with her plans. In May, Mrs. Franklin sent a letter to Osbeth Adams, the National Vice-President, asking for forms. By then, the Washington chapter had agreed to sponsor our chapter, following our organizer's request through Carolyn French, its president. Thirteen mothers met at Mrs. Franklin’s home, with Carolyn French and Juanita Fletcher of D.C., for orientation of the group. In June, with no reply from Mrs. Adams, and with the 1960 National Convention only two weeks away, Mrs. Franklin wrote again to Dr. Howard and again to Mrs. Adams, since no provisional charter from the 1960 convention would mean a wait of another two years! While waiting for answers, she sent out SOS's through other friends in D.C., and suddenly had, through Ruth B. Spencer, the cooperation of Burma Whitted, National Program Director, who agreed to take a petition from Montgomery County, in lieu of forms, to the National Executive Committee which would meet just before the convention. Mrs. Franklin quickly prepared a petition, hand-delivered copies for signatures, gathered bits of necessary information on all families, and delivered the packet to Mrs. Whitted as she headed for the airport. Montgomery County was granted provisional status at that 1960 convention and permanent status in 1962. For the two-year provisional period our group was called “The Children’s Hour.” Mrs. Franklin was a staunch advocate of literacy. Each time the children met, they would start by reading a story. Mrs. Franklin chaired the group during its first two years and was re-elected President for the first two years after chartering - a truly challenging four-year task. Installation took place at Mrs. Franklin’s home in October 1962, with Eastern Regional Director, ViCurtis Hinton as installing officer and Burma Whitted, Carolyn French and Juanita Fletcher standing close by as proud, honored guests. Our thanks for encouragement and assistance went not only to them but also to the Washington chapter, our official sponsors, whose guidance and encouragement continued for many years as we worked with a small and fluctuating membership. Our thanks went also to friends of the organizer from the J&J chapter in Baltimore, her hometown, who also had assisted her. In 1964, the Montgomery County Maryland Chapter initiated six additional families. Tremendous credit for building the flourishing chapter which exists in Montgomery County today must go to numerous charter and post-charter members who worked diligently, and to the many officers who have contributed to its development, especially the Presidents: First Chapter President (1960-1962) Second Chapter President (1962-1964) Dr. Loretta Webb Third Chapter President (1964-1966) Fourth Chapter President (1966-1968) Fifth Chapter President (1968-1970) Eastern Region Regional Director (1973-1974) Sixth Chapter President (1970-1972) Seventh Chapter President (1972-1974) Eighth Chapter President (1974-1976) Ninth Chapter President (1976-1978) Tenth Chapter President (1978-1980) Eleventh Chapter President (1980-1982) Barbara J. Ward Twelfth Chapter President (1982-1986) Dr. Maxine Jenkins Fourteenth Chapter President (1986-1990) Eastern Region Regional Director (1996-1997) Sixteenth Chapter President (1990-1994) Eighteenth Chapter President (1994-1998) Leslye M. Fraser, Esq. Twentieth Chapter President (1998-2000) Twenty-First Chapter President (2000-2002) Dr. Lorraine Bassette Twenty-Second Chapter President (2002-2004) Twenty-Third Chapter President (2004-2006) Patricia Hureston Lee, Esq. Twenty-Fourth Chapter President (2006-2008) Brenda Baldwin White, Esq. Twenty-Fifth Chapter President (2008-2010) Paulette Walker Campbell Twenty-Sixth Chapter President (2010-2012) Twenty-Seventh Chapter President (2012-2014) Doreen C. Hope, Esq. Twenty-Eighth Chapter President (2014-2016) Twenty-Ninth Chapter President (2016-2018)

Stained glass windows Trinity Episcopal Church Atchison, Kansas, 1974 Contrary to what many observers predicted in the 1960s and early 1970s, religion has remained as vibrant and vital a part of American society as in generations past. New issues and interests have emerged, but religion's role in many Americans' lives remains undiminished. Perhaps the one characteristic that distinguishes late-twentieth-century religious life from the rest of America's history, however, is diversity. To trace this development, we must look back to the 1960s. As with many aspects of American society, the 1960s proved a turning point for religious life as well. Up until the 1960s, the "Protestant establishment" (the seven mainline denominations of Baptists, Congregationalists, Disciples, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians) dominated the religious scene, with the occasional Catholic or Jewish voice heard dimly in the background. References to American religion usually meant Protestant Christianity. Traditional Christianity faced some challenges in the first half of the century, especially from the literary elite of the 1920s, but after the second great war, the populace seemed eager to replenish its spiritual wells. At midcentury, Americans streamed back to church in unprecedented numbers. The baby boom (those born between 1946 and 1965) had begun, and parents of the first baby boomers moved into the suburbs and filled the pews, establishing church and family as the twin pillars of security and respectability. Religious membership, church funding, institutional building, and traditional faith and practice all increased in the 1950s. At midcentury, things looked very good for Christian America. Over the next decade and a half, however, this peaceful landscape was besieged from many sides. The Civil Rights movement, the "Sexual Revolution," Vietnam, Women's Liberation, and new "alternative" religions (e.g., yoga, transcendental meditation, Buddhism, Hinduism) all challenged the traditional church and its teachings, its leaders and their actions. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, then, religion itself was not rejected so much as was institutionalized Christianity. The Church, along with government, big business, and the militarythose composing "the Establishment"was denounced by the young adults of the '60s for its materialism, power ploys, self-interest, and smug complacency. The 1960s "revolution" has perhaps been exaggerated over the years. Studies show, for example, that while a large vocal minority of mostly middle- and upper-middle-class college students challenged traditional institutions and mores, many of their peers remained as committed to old-time moral and religious values as ever. Traditional worshippers attend Holy Angel Catholic Church in Chicago, 1973 . . . Courtesy National Archives . . . and at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota, 1974. Courtesy National Archives Nevertheless, the 1960s did swing wide a door that had never been opened before. A new vista of lifestyle options was introduced into mainstream America. In the religious sphere, this meant that mainline Protestantism or even the tripartite division of Protestant-Catholic-Jew no longer represented all of society's spiritual interests. Americans now had to take into account different kinds of spiritualities and practices, new kinds of leaders and devotees. In the post-1960s era, the religious scene has become only more diverse and complex. The list is endless, but let us consider three examples that illustrate the pluralistic nature of American religion at the close of the twentieth century: - the "boomer" generation of spiritual - the growth of non-European, ethnic-religious communities - religious rights in the A Generation of Seekers Even as diversity has increasingly fragmented American religious life in the last thirty years, religious interest remains as lively as ever. Vitality is seen both in the resurgence of more traditional, conservative expressions of Christianity and in the sustained interest in non-Christian alternatives. Two groups that have received much attention in recent years are the Religious Right, on the one hand, and New Age seekers on the other. Here we simply note that alongside a thriving conservative Christian community stands a very different expression of and 1970s and are now in their thirties, forties, and fifties. Composing a third of the total population, this generation, because of its vitality and sheer size, is shaping contemporary culture in a profoundly new fashion. One chief characteristic is that of being spiritual seekers. Some boomers have returned to the churches they grew up in, seeking traditional values as they now raise their own children. A larger number, however, never returned to the tradition of their childhood (predominantly Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish). Sociologists have estimated that 25 percent of the boomer generation have returned to church, but a full 42 percent have "dropped out" for good. These dropouts do not belong to any religious organization and claim no denominational ties. They eschew institutional formality and define themselves as seekers rather than traditionally devout or "religious." They might be open to "trying church" but are just as willing to sample Eastern religions, New Age spiritualism, or quasi-religious self-help groups of the Recovery Movement. For seekers, spirituality is a means of individual expression, self-discovery, inner healing, and personal growth. Religion is valued according to one's subjective experience. Thus seekers feel free to incorporate elements of different traditions according to their own liking. They shop around, compare, and select religious "truths" and experiences with what one historian calls their "à la Books on angels, fascination with reincarnation and the afterlife, New Age music, the selling of crystals, popular Eastern garb, and best-selling recovery titles testify to how widespread and "mainstream" seeker spirituality has become in our society. Seeker self-discovery is far removed from conservative Christianity's traditional piety, but both point to the array of religious options now readily available and thoroughly respectable in late-twentieth-century America. Along with the new "seeker" spirituality, another sign of the dismantling of a monolithic "Protestant America" is the increasing celebration of religious particularity through the championing of ethnic identity, the politics of multiculturalism, and the growing communities of "new immigrants" from Latin America and Asia (those who moved to the United States since immigration restrictions were lifted in the landmark Immigration Act of 1965). In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement provided a context for celebrating non-Anglo ethnicity for the first time. By the mid-1970s an ethnic revival celebrating the roots of African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, American Jews, and Asian Americans spawned. Suddenly non-Anglo, non-Protestant Americans were valorizing their own ethnicity, religions, and histories. In the 1980s, a politicized version of ethnic celebration emerged in the ideals of "multiculturalism," a philosophy of multiethnicity that sees America composed of a wonderfully diverse group of communities ineradicable in their ethnic character. Replacing the already old notion of America as the melting pot nation, or a citizenry bound together by a set of universalistic values (e.g., democracy, equality, justice), multiculturalism argues for the beauty of diversity, the essentialist nature of ethnic identity, and thus the necessity for cultural pluralism. We should encourage ethnic communities to celebrate their own histories, cultural distinctives, and religious traditions (Afrocentrism and bilingual education, for instance, are two key policies of the multicultural agenda). With the number of immigrants from Latin America and Asia only growing in the 1990s, the issue of religious diversity or cultural pluralism looms larger than ever. Spanish speakers, for example, will soon outnumber English speakers in the state of California. Southeast Asians are making their home on both coasts and in the heartland as well (Laotians and the Hmong have established thriving communities in wintry Wisconsin and Minnesota). A wholly new religious space is being carved out in the American landscapea space that has little to do with the traditional ethnic divide between black and white or the religious division of Protestant, Catholic, and Jew. This religious site is different, too, from the New Age seekers and spiritual shoppers of the boomer generation. Americans are going to be exposed to multiple ethnic and "Two-Thirds" world religions as never before. While certain portions of the intellectual elite have been fascinated with the world's "great religions" (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam) since the mid-nineteenth century, these traditions have never penetrated Main Street America. By the end of this century, however, Americans will increasingly encounter Buddhist neighbors, Muslim colleagues, and Hindu businessmen. These "foreign" religions will no longer be simply descriptions in school textbooks or exotic movie subjects. Indeed, advocates of cultural pluralism hope that the new religions will become as much a part of the American Way as historically Protestant orthodoxy. Not only will new ethnic religions dot the landscape, but multiethnic religious traditions will emerge as well. Indeed a broad survey conducted by the Institute for the Study of American Religion reports that some 375 ethnic or multiethnic religious groups have already formed in the United States in the last three decades. Sociologists of religion believe the numbers will only increase in the coming years. Roman Catholic Mexican, Anglo, and Vietnamese Americans, for example, are beginning to celebrate a common Mass together in some parts of the country. Muslims of different sects are sharing mosque space in major cities. African Americans wearing kufi hats are singing Southern Baptist hymns in Chicago churches (with portraits of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela gracing the walls). In sum, these young, thriving, and growing immigrant communities are introducing a whole new kind of religious pluralism into late-twentieth-century America. The real impact of immigrant communities remains to be seen, but religion in America promises to be more complex and diverse in the coming years than ever. Religion in the Public Square Another area in which the diversity of contemporary American religion manifests itself is in the escalating battles fought in the courts over religious practice in the public square. Most legal battles over religion center around interpretations of the First Amendment's religion clause: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The issues commonly raised, thus, concern questions about the "separation of church and state" (especially as violated by traditionally privileged Protestantism) and the free exercise of religion (especially as sought by minority traditions). Litigation and disputes over the First Amendment have increased dramatically since the 1970s and continue unabated today. Historically, the courts have been loathe to rule on disputes within religious groups, questions concerning what constitutes "religion," and the legitimacy of personal religious practices. Concerning the free exercise of religion, however, the courts have intervened when traditional welfare questions or "common good" policies are involved. Under "traditional welfare," for example, Jehovah's Witnesses have been ordered to grant blood transfusions for their children, Christian Science parents have been convicted for refusing medical care for their children, and the marriages of child brides have been prohibited despite being customary practice among certain Hindu sects. The courts, then, will rule against certain religious practices when they believe a child's welfare is in serious jeopardy. "Common good" policies have led the Supreme Court to rule against the sacramental use of peyote by Oregon Indians. Protecting antidrug laws is considered absolutely necessary (i.e., banning certain drugs no matter what their usage) for the larger "common good" of the nation. Aside from welfare and common good policies, however, the post-1960s courts tend to support the broad exercise of religious freedom. Since the 1970s, religious groups that have been traditionally marginalized have especially received a careful hearing. Landmark cases supporting practices within the Amish community (their children do not have to attend high school), the Hare Krishnas (the right to proselytize), and the Santeria religion (animal killings for ritual sacrifice are allowed) testify to the trend towards a liberal reading of the free exercise clause. In 1993 Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to require "strict scrutiny" of any state or federal law that conflicts with the free exercise of religion. The Supreme Court struck down this act in 1997 (in a case involving city zoning laws and a church's renovation plans), asserting that Congress had overstepped its authority and that the act violated the separation of powers in the federal government. Since then several states have passed or introduced bills for state religious freedom restoration laws. The second set of battles in the courts centers around the religious establishment clause. Since the 1960s "no establishment of religion" has been interpreted by many as requiring a strict "separation of church and state." The separation of church and state argument has been levied against traditional Christianity in particular. The focus of the battles has been in the public schools, especially, where the courts have sought to dismantle any practices of conventional religion. Both Bible reading and prayer that are directed by the school have been banned from public schools since the early 1960s. Despite ongoing efforts to appeal these laws (and most recently to replace prayer time with a "moment of silence"), the courts have not changed their stance. Legislation to include creationism alongside teachings on evolution in the schools has been continually struck down. In 1992, clergy prayers were abolished at high school graduations (although student prayers are Some Christians have argued that such rulings do not protect against the establishment of a state religion but actually promote the religion of secular humanism. The Courts maintain, however, that a neutral zone can be created in the schools and do not see secular humanism as a religious belief. Just as the cultural trend towards supporting religious pluralism has led to a broad free exercise of religion for marginalized groups, so the courts have also taken a generally strict stance over the no establishment clause to ensure traditional Christianity does not take a privileged role once again in the public square. Guiding Student Discussion The overall goal of this lesson is to expose students to the increasingly diverse and pluralistic nature of religious life in late-twentieth-century America. Here are some topics to consider for discussion. - Religion remains a very important aspect in American life today, but it has taken on new shapes and different forms. Two popular expressions of religious vitality in postWorld War II America are conservative Christianity (again, see essay on the Christian Right elsewhere on this Web site) and spiritual "seekers." What kinds of factors (historical, personal, familial) draw some towards traditional religious practice and others to different and alternative ones? Is religion a matter primarily of belief (believing certain things about a transcendent being), practice (doing certain activities, following certain rules), or experience (feeling certain emotions, having a spiritual encounter)? What would a conservative Christian say? What would a spiritual seeker say? - With the ongoing expansion of non-European, non-Protestant immigrant communities across the United States, students will increasingly encounter (if they haven't already) those of a different skin color, homeland, history, language, and religion. What different religious traditions have the students encountered so far? How do they think about religious differences? Why do we often scoff at or feel (if we're honest) frightened and isolated by those who believe differently from ourselves? What is the best way to learn about different religious traditions? How does one respect another's religion while believing one's own tradition is the correct one? Students will begin to see how entwined religion is with other essential "identity" traits. Religion often goes hand in hand with one's ethnicity, nationality, and family history. For many, religion is not a matter of choice but one assigned by birth. Being Jewish, for example, involves both ethnic and religious identity. Can a Jew choose to become "not Jewish"? If one does not follow the tenets of Judaism, does one remain a Jew? How can the United States be one, unified nation when so many different ethnic and religious communities live here? What does it mean to be American? Does America need one religion, one language, one political tradition? Who decides what values, beliefs, and practices are truly "American"? - The most common, contemporary interpretation of the First Amendment's prohibition of the establishment of any state religion is that of a "separation of church and state." But this was not the primary concern of those who adopted the initial amendment. The First Congress of the United States (led by James Madison) was not concerned with the separation of church and state so much as the domination of one particular tradition over all others. They did not want a state-established church. Is it possible to separate one's religion from one's public life? If so, how does the government enforce the separation? If religion is an essential part of one's identity (like ethnicity, nationality), then how does one not bring religion into the public arena? The courts have implicitly acknowledged the difficulty of absolute separation of church and state for they have often opted, instead, to grant equal rights and protection to a multiplicity of religions rather than try and separate all religious elements from public life. What are the dangers of separating one's religion from public life? What are the dangers of not separating church and Those teaching and writing religious history are increasingly accounting for the cultural shifts of the past three decades. The declining membership of mainstream denominations, the rise of conservative (fundamentalists, evangelicals, charismatics, Pentecostals) and alternate religions (seekers, New Agers, Eastern religions), and the growing number of "new immigrants" all testify to a profoundly different religious landscape from that of fifty years ago. Because of these changes, historians like Thomas Tweed, Catherine Albanese, Joel Martin, and Peter Williams argue for a new type of narrative for American religious history. The introduction to Thomas Tweed's recently published Narrating U.S. Religious History (1997) provides an especially useful discussion on the changes the study of religious history is undergoing in the The most widely read and popular historical surveys in the past focused overwhelmingly on mainline Protestantism. Sydney Ahlstrom's A Religious History of the American People (1972), considered the masterpiece of religious history, certainly acknowledges religious diversity, but tells the story principally in terms of New England Puritans. Historians who still believe religious history must be taught with Protestants taking center stage agree with George Marsden's argument that the story of American religion, "if it is to hang together . . . must focus on . . . mainstream Protestants who were for a long time the insiders with disproportional influence in shaping American culture." True, the Protestant establishment has influenced much of American culture and dominated religion in public life from the 1600s to the 1960s and beyond, but those who favor telling the stories of the marginalized and minority religious groups argue that the Protestant tale remains nevertheless only one story among many. It is an important story, but it has been told and retold at the expense of other stories. Other voices, motifs, and plots deserve a hearing, and all the more so since pluralism has been gradually replacing Protestant domination since the 1960s. Asian religions, new religious movements, popular religion, cultural religion, and woman's place in religion, all require attention after decades, even centuries, of focus solely on the white, male, European, Protestant (and primarily intellectual) religious tradition. Historians agree that diversity characterizes a great deal of late-twentieth-century American religious life, but how much attention should be given and where to begin speaking of the diversity remain contested issues. Does one write and teach, as has traditionally been the case, about American religious history beginning primarily with the English Reformation and the Puritan migration to New England? (See Winthrop Hudson and John Corrigan's popular survey Religion in America or Edwin Gaustad's A Religious History of America .) After all, much of America's formation as a nation is the story of Protestant pioneering and ascendancy. Or does one follow Catherine Albanese (America: Religions and Religion and Mary Farrell Bednarowski (American Religion: A Cultural Perspective , who look at Catholics, Jews, Native Americans, and other religious groups before turning to the Protestant tradition? Albanese and Bednarowski believe they are making up for lost time on behalf of religious traditions heretofore disregarded and marginalized. As always, the teaching of history involves choices. These choices not only reflect personal values and priorities, but also the power historians have to grant pride of place to whomsoever they will in their rendition of religious life in America.

In Sydney, and perhaps even Australia, there is no pub more steeped in history than the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel. Standing at the tip of Argyle Street in the The Rocks for almost two centuries, it has seen generations of Sydneysiders walk through its doors. It’s Sydney’s oldest continually licensed hotel and Australia’s oldest brewpub, celebrating special anniversaries of both this year. A Piece of History Sydney’s historic Rocks district gets its name from the Sydney sandstone used to construct buildings for the colony’s early settlers. The majority of these were convicts, arriving in Sydney Cove as early as 1788 aboard the First Fleet. Much of the sandstone was quarried from nearby areas by their hand and used for hundreds of buildings, few of which survive today. The building that is now the Lord Nelson was constructed in 1836 as the private residence of ex-convict turned publican William Wells. It was made predominantly using sandstone from the base of nearby Observatory Hill. That same material was also used for other iconic structures including (the never completed) Fort Philip, built primarily in response to the convict rebellion at Castle Hill in 1804. In 1841, Wells bought a liquor license for his residence, converting it in to a public house by adding two more stories and re-christening it with the same name as Britain’s most heroic naval figure. The license has never failed to be renewed since and the pub still stands in its original location. Beginning to Brew Upon acquisition of the pub by Managing Director Blair Hayden in 1986, a brewery was installed and began to produce highly-drinkable, unpasteurised and unfiltered English-style ales, no doubt inspired by the pub’s name. This provided a stark contrast to the light lagers dominating the beer market at the time. The pub was decked out with a distinct British naval feel, complete with nautical flags, rope and painted dates of historic Royal Navy victories (such as Copenhagen 1801 and Trafalgar 1805), a perfect setting for the English ales. To begin with, four beers were produced, including the biscuity Trafalgar Pale Ale, made with English hops and malt, Victory Bitter, in traditional bitter style, Old Admiral, a full-bodied old ale and Nelsons Blood, a smooth porter with notes of chocolate and coffee. In 1989, soon after the brewery’s installation, the Lord Nelson was visited by 44th Vice President of the United States, Dan Quayle. He enjoyed the Lord’s summer wheat ale so much they decided to name it after him, a move that resulted in global publicity. Quayle Ale, as it’s now known, was later joined by the flagship (if you’ll excuse the pun) Three Sheets. That’s not without an interesting story of its own – it was chosen by patrons as part of a naming competition and refers to an analogous phrase for drunkenness, “three sheets to the wind.” Together, these five brews are now part of the core, or mainstay, range, often joined by a number of limited releases. The Modern Lord As the pub and its patronage grew, the space available for brewing shrunk. Nowadays, the operation is not unlike a small ship in both size and efficiency – something Lord Nelson would surely be proud of. Head Brewer Andrew Robson maneuvers beer from the mash tun in the cellar, to 640 L wood-jacketed fermenters on ground level, then back again for maturation, all whilst keeping track of which brew is in one of those four fermenters, six bright tanks and nine maturation tanks (from which the beers pour directly). Due to the limited space, the two bottled releases – Three Sheets and Old Admiral – are brewed and packaged off-site, a fact the Lord Nelson has never shyed from. This has been the case since the bottles were first released in 2006, featuring bright labels adorned with a modified version of the British coat of arms, Lord Nelson himself and a semaphore signal reading “VICTORY”. In 2016, the pub celebrated two historical milestones – 175 years of establishment and 30 years of brewing. Among the many celebrations were the bottling of the 175th Anniversary brew Dead Ahead, as well as the release of two cans – one old, one new. Quayle Ale represented the past, while the future was signified with a brand new beer, Backburner IPA, brewed with wit yeast, Curacao orange and coriander – flavoursome yet staying true to the sessionability and drinkability the Lord Nelson has become famous for. As a ship stays its course, so too shall the Lord Nelson as it navigates the ever swelling waters of the Sydney craft beer scene. Not only shall it forever hold a place in history, but will also undoubtedly continue its masterful reign as Sydney’s finest traditional brewpub. Here’s hoping those sights stay Dead Ahead – and cheers to 175 years more!

Re prayer at public events Thank God for Charles Pinckney, an Episcopalian, and his Christian leadership; a governor of South Carolina four times, United States senator and a strong Republican. Pinckney fully deserves a place among our American heroes of religious liberty; he was the author of the “Pinckney Plan,” presented to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787, insisting on freedom from religious tests for office. Pinckney declared, “How many thousands of the subjects of Great Britain, at this moment labor under civil disabilities, merely on account of their religious persuasions!” He spoke of the great differences of religious convictions in the states, because of such different groups as Quakers, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Jews and “Calvinists; South Carolina stands for religious liberty!” Pinckney’s strong Christian values in support of freedom of religion were an important factor in securing the final ratification of the Constitution by South Carolina by a vote of 149 to 73. This was accomplished May 23, 1788. He called for one nation under God. Fourteen years later on Jan. 1, 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut: “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.” Jefferson united a nation. Americans must be united under God. United we stand under the same God, not by region. Americans must not be divided. In New York at Public School 368 in Hamilton Heights, Arabic is mandated for children in grades 2 to 5 to broaden their perspective. Think about it: E pluribus unum, Latin for “out of many, one” on the Great Seal of the United States has meaning, but it also has a message for those who would divide us regionally or use a letter to the editor to create conflict. Our Judeo-Christian heritage has given us free will and a lamp which guides the feet of all Americans on our journey. Among others, the Baptist community, especially in South Carolina, stood fast in their belief in “free will” and created an environment which champions freedom of religion. That is the reason why most American Jews lived in South Carolina up until the War for Southern Independence, and the oldest continuing functioning synagogue in America is located in Charleston. All of us are created in the image of the same God.

Catapult Learning launches the Common Core-aligned Literacy First, a framework designed to strengthen instruction in the content areas, preparing Tier II and III students for college and the workplace. Research-based and nationally proven, Literacy First builds capacity and creates a lasting culture of literacy. Catapult Learning, LLC announced today the national launch of the Common Core-aligned Literacy First, a framework designed to strengthen instruction in all secondary content areas, preparing Tier II and tier III students to be proficient grade-level readers. The Literacy First Framework® for the Content Areas is designed to create a lasting culture of literacy throughout the school through a combination of leadership development, teacher training, job-embedded coaching, assessment, resource materials and data analysis. According to Dr. Andrew Ordover, Catapult Learning’s Executive Director of Program Development, “The Common Core State Standards require far stronger literacy skills than many of our students have, skills that must be applied across all of the content areas. Students who are struggling readers today face an even greater challenge tomorrow, and may be at a significant risk for becoming frustrated, disengaged and eventually dropping out.” Literacy First, part of Catapult Learning since 2011, has successfully enabled schools and districts to address these issues and improve reading achievement, as evidenced by improved test scores. Literacy First helped teachers and schools in Oklahoma make dramatic changes in the lives of their students. In the 2009-10 school year, the Literacy First Framework and materials led to significant, measurable improvements in literacy for Oklahoma students. Schools that used the three-year Literacy First intervention framework increased their average Academic Performance Index by 89 points (versus a state average of 27 points). That was 57 points higher than the state average in 2009 and 119 points higher than the state average in 2010. Learning and achievement begin with a strong foundation in literacy. In order to successfully build literacy across an entire school or district, a lasting culture of change must develop where teachers and school leaders collaborate to forge a clear, well-mapped path to success. Ordover said, “Literacy First makes change happen, developing strong teachers and exceptional school leaders.” The Literacy First Framework recognizes that student reading achievement is dependent on knowledgeable, skilled teachers. During on-site and embedded professional development, school instructors learn systematic and explicit instructional strategies and how to provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all students. When implemented with fidelity, the Literacy First Framework for the Content Areas ensures that students in grades 6-12 have the reading, writing and comprehension skills to master the rigors of more complex and higher-level content-area material. This research-based program is designed for small-group instruction either in class or in a pullout program and is flexible enough to be used with any student or small group in grades 6-12. For more information call 800-841-8730 or contact us here.

Wealth Vs Spirituality for Nigeria Muslims By Rafiu Oriyomi Wednesday, 18 July 2012 00:00 Wealthy Muslims in Nigeria have started to enroll their children in Islamic classes to help them get their life conformed to religious obligations ABUJA – Seeing that their children are growing up without solid Islamic moral background, wealthy Muslims in Nigeria are changing hearts to install spirituality into their kids to get their lifestyles conformed to religious obligations. “Today they are regretting their utter disregard for the future of their kids in terms of excellent upbringing that Islam offers,” Femi Abass, a prominent Muslim Nigerian columnist, told OnIslam.net. “Whilst Islam forbids us from rejoicing at the ordeals of our brothers and sisters, I think many of them are learning their lessons the harsh way and this interestingly is an eye opener for all of us. “It is heart-warming to see most of them changing their attitude.” Nigeria Muslims Promote Social Responsibility Muslim Group Leads Nigeria Development Several wealthy Muslims have noticed that their children are growing up having no solid Islamic background and are opting for isolated and wayward lifestyles. This has prompted them to enroll their children in Islamic classes to help them get their life conformed to religious obligations. A stark example of this was a one-time ambassador, who regretted at a recent gathering in Lagos that he did not raise his children on Islamic teachings. “For me and my family, there is no compromising the mixture of sound Islamic moral upbringing with whatever western education I am giving to our children,” Alhaji Abdulsemiu Mobolaji Adedo, a retiree from Nigeria’s oil major Mobil, told OnIslam.net. He said he has always been conscious of nurturing his children according to Islamic prescriptions because of the experiences of some of his friends and acquaintances. “When the kids go to school in the morning, they retire to madrasah in the evening where they learn the Qur’an and other Islamic jurisprudence,” he said. “And it is paying off. “Western education hardly teaches morals, but the Qur’an is filled with lessons about how to live peaceful and productive life. The Qur’an teaches justice, fairness and equality and mutual respect.” Alhaji Tajudeen Odewale, a chartered accountant in his late 50s, said his family has also learnt over the years never to let wealth blind their reasoning by not exposing their children to sound Islamic background, because “ultimately no schoolteacher will teach your children how to take care of their parents at old age and to be conscious of the Creator.” Experts opine that failure to bring children on religious precincts lead to “upheavals” in the country. “If all you expose your kids to is opulence and corruptive influences, the society will suffer the consequences,” Dr. Abubakar Momoh, a university dean, told OnIslam.net. “Out of crass ignorance and meaningless show of wealth, some of our Muslim parents scoffed at the idea of sending their wards to Qur’anic schools. They say it is archaic. “But they are retracing their steps today because those kids are now exhibiting arrogance and disrespect for public order and peace including for their own parents.” Professor Ishaq Lakin Akintola heaps the blame on the Nigerian government for failing to give enough attention to religious and moral education in public schools. “But as Muslim parents, we are seeing what the arrogance of some of our peers has led them,” Ishaq, a professor of Islamic education in Lagos, told OnIslam.net. “Most of us are guilty of wanting to show our kids that we are wealthy at the expense of basic morals. “Because they failed to give their children the necessary religious background, those kids have grown up to be wealthy like their parents but are without any feelings or compassion for their parents – much less other members of their families or the society at large.” Sheikh Sulayman Muhammad Awwal, a prominent community leader, opines that there is a strong link between upbringing at family levels and cohesion and peace a society enjoys. “It is not enough to buy clothes and all those things for our children or sending them to the best schools in the world, we must make conscious efforts to grow them spiritually,” he said. “We must show more than passive interest in what movies they watch and what company they keep. Anything short of this amounts to creating a chaotic future for them and ourselves.” Muslims make up 55 percent of Nigeria’s 140 million population, while Christians account for 40 percent.

It's the week before Christmas break, and everyone's tired. The kids are restless and unfocused...except for the eighth graders in my school, who are preparing for the annual O'Dellmer III project. O'Dellmer III is an Earth-like planet inhabitable by humans, and the kids, who hope that their team will be selected by NASA to colonize it, must create a government system to protect its new citizens, select green energy sources to construct there while protecting its environment, and share their plans with their grade level in a multimedia presentation. Christmas may be coming, but the kids are still focused on learning. While students work in small groups, spread across three adjoining rooms, I wander from place toplace, listen in, ask questions, and answer a million questions. Some students have chosen a dictatorship for their planet. "It's easier because you don't have to have a Preamble to your Constitution," says one student, "or even a Constitution." "But assassination is also easy," replies another boy. Although these two are not working in the same group, a lively discussion about the relative advantages and disadvantages of different types of government ensues. "Communism looks good in theory, but I don't think it's ever worked," observes one boy. In the end, the first student has decided that his planet will have a government modeled after our own. The reason for his choice? It's the most familiar, and therefore, the easiest to work with (he IS still a kid). Others are debating the laws they'll have for their planet and the rights they'll reserve for their citizens. They're thinking deeply about their own personal values and trying to decide how best to create a world where they would want to live. Some students share their idealism and attempt to create a system of government that they hope will result in world peace. Others declare that world peace is impossible, that conflict and violence are inevitable. Everywhere I turn, I find thoughtful discussions and students using excellent problem-solving skills. (Yes, they are normal eighth graders, and they do come up with weird middle school ideas, like growing Dorritos as major crops, having a jello-like substance for terrain, domesticating dinosaurs and using them for transportation,etc., but the point is, they are meaningfully engaged in school work.) I remind students that complex problems cannot have emotional solutions. I ask them to examine their decisions to determine whether they really reflect their values. We learn from each other. Everyone who contributes to this project will take away knowledge they can keep. Although I've oversimplified the explanation of the project expectations here, I'm certain it's clear that higher order thinking skills are strongly emphasized. Another colleague and I sat down recently to design a project-based learning experience for our seventh graders for the spring. We were excited to break down the walls between language arts, social studies, and science, and plan meaningful, engaging learning experiences for our students. Then I had a horrible thought. I pulled up the state testing schedule for the spring, and it looks like our school computers will be reserved for testing for approximately three months, severely limiting, if not completely eliminating, our ability to use computers for student instruction. We're making plans anyway, and hoping for the best. The test itself is a newly developed assessment which will be given this year only as a placeholder until a new test is developed. The data we receive from it will have no meaning, as it will be a baseline for nothing and cannot be compared to any previous test. But the testing company must make its money, and the state must still have a way to define winners and losers. I have no idea what's going to be on this one time only test, but I'm positive that none of the skills my students are gaining from project-based learning will be measured. A large part of me would like to tell the state what they can do with their test. I want to refuse to subject my students to the hours and hours of testing that will replace their instructional time (after which none will feel successful or motivated or even competent). But I have too much to lose. Outside of the classroom, there's no one colonizing another planet and shaping it to reflect their ideals. On my new planet, when the politicians and the testing companies come, we'll lock them out of the building and teach. Who's with me?

Pongy Pooch? Here’s Why Your Dog Is So Stinky! Dogs are adorable, but if you own one you’ll know they can get extremely stinky at times! If you’ve noticed a not so pleasant pong coming from your pooch, here are just a few of the potential causes. They Need a Bath If the smell has come on quite suddenly, it could be that your dog has rolled in something. It could have been a dead animal while you were out walking, or they could have sniffed out cat or fox feces or urine in your garden and rolled in that. It’s believed that dogs do this instinctively as their ancestors would roll in animal droppings to mask their scent and make hunting easier. Washing your dog doesn’t need to be a daily or weekly thing, but if this is the culprit of their bad smell then giving them a bath will certainly help. Be sure to use shampoo that’s specially designed for dogs, as human products can irritate their skin. Make sure they’re completely dry before going back outside especially if it’s cold. Some dogs will let you dry them with a hairdryer after a bath which makes things easier. They Have a Yeast Overgrowth Sometimes dogs can develop an imbalance of yeast in their bodies, leaving them feeling itchy and uncomfortable. Yeast infections also have a tell-tale scent, so if your dog smells musty, cheesy or moldy then it’s a sign that something isn’t quite right. It’s likely to be particularly strong in their ears and on their paws. Yeast imbalances can be a result of allergic reactions or immune system issues, so it’s important to have this addressed by a vet. Feeding a high-quality dog food which is free of wheat, and eliminating any snacks or table scraps that contain certain carbohydrates and sugars is likely to be recommended. Plus a topical shampoo or treatment to be applied to the skin. They Have Dental Issues If your dog’s smell is coming from their mouth, dental issues might be to blame. This is common in older dogs, especially those who are fed on wet food. No dogs breath is going to smell minty fresh, but if it’s particularly bad then always have it looked at. Your dog may need to be put under anesthetic so their teeth can be properly cleaned. Alternatively, your vet might suggest dog cleaning products you can use at home, as well as treats and bones which can improve their teeth. They Have Scent Gland Problems Dog’s anal scent glands are thought to help mark territory and communicate with other dogs. Sometimes they can become impacted and will emit an awful ‘fishy’ smell. If this is the case, their anal glands will need to be emptied. If you’re not comfortable with doing this yourself (and let’s be honest, who can blame you), a vet or experienced dog groomer will be able to take care of the problem. Some dogs are naturally prone to these blockages whereas others will never have an issue, so it’s just the luck of the draw. Good job we love our dogs so much isn’t it!

Professor of Sociology UC Santa Barbara On August 8, 2004, Tamotsu (Tom) Shibutani died quietly in his sleep from heart failure at age 83. Tom wrote several very influential books and his contributions to sociology are immeasurable. Although his intellect was impressive, he was a humble man, giving unstintingly to others while assiduously avoiding the limelight. We have lost one of sociology's stellar contributors. Tom was born in Stockton, California, in 1920, as the only child of two first-generation Japanese immigrants. For many, the American Dream is for children of immigrants to take advantage of a free public education and reach positions of respectability, and Tom did. He entered Stockton Junior College at age 18, where he was deeply impressed with John Dewey's work, and he became a pragmatist for the rest of his life. At the age of 20, Tom transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, where he further broadened his intellectual horizons. As Tom finished his undergraduate degree, W.I. Thomas and Dorothy Thomas (his mentors) encouraged him to enter graduate school at the University of Chicago, where he found Louis Wirth's courses to be especially impressive, along with courses from Everett Hughes, Herbert Blumer, and others. During World War II, Tom spent two years in the Army, and then continued his education at University of Chicago on the GI Bill. (Later he wrote The Derelicts of Company K to reveal the absurdities he experienced during the War.) He earned his Ph.D. in 1948 and was given an instructorship at the University of Chicago. In 1951, Tom moved to the University of California at Berkeley and began to synthesize many of the ideas he had been developing for years. His famous first book, Society and Personality (1961) became a major success and was translated into Russian and Spanish. The book presents a conceptual scheme developed from the work of Dewey, Mead, and the Chicago School. In 1961, Tom came to the University of California at Santa Barbara and began working with Kian M. Kwan on ethnic relationships. Together they published Ethnic Stratification in 1965, presenting a theory based on data drawn from around the world, covering 5000 years of history. Extensive data support their conclusion that most ethnic groups that initially experience hostility eventually learn to live with each other over time. Tom's next book, Improvised News: A Sociological Study of Rumor (1966), demonstrated that rumors are not merely the result of faulty communication. In ambiguous situations, people often respond like pragmatic problem-solvers, pooling their intellectual resources, including accurate data, guesses, beliefs, speculation – constructing consensus from whatever sources that are available. Since much of life is filled with ambiguity, this book is of much greater importance than is suggested by describing it as a study of rumor. Many of the most crucial personal, group, governmental and international decisions has to be made with inexact information. The increasingly rapid pace of social and environmental change necessitates increasingly rapid decision making amidst a flood of information, making the study of collective information processing in ambiguous situations critical. Social Processes (1986) reflects the sophistication of a maturing scholar in synthesizing macro and micro theoretical perspectives. This book blends Tom's expertise in social psychology with observations about whole social systems to generate empirically testable propositions for solving many problems of current social interest. In 1984, Tom was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1986 he was honored with the George Herbert Mead Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. Tom loved grappling with ideas and writing, saying of his own work: "The pragmatic search for answers to questions is not always an orderly process. Side projects have frequently intruded that disrupted current projects. Some of these looked like they could be handled in several months or a year; but took five or ten or fifteen years to complete." This is why Tom Shibutani has a succession of different books on disparate subjects and different areas of specialization. When asked why he has written few articles, he replied: "The books say it all."

BOURNE – July 24, 2015 – At an event at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito today announced $480,568 in grants from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET) for projects to protect and restore rivers, watersheds, and wildlife across the Commonwealth. “The Environmental Trust has been investing in the waters of Massachusetts for over twenty-five years,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “Our coastal regions and rivers are just some of the natural resources that make Massachusetts such a great place to live and visit, and these grants will continue to improve these incredible resources.” Since it was founded in 1988 as part of the Boston Harbor cleanup, MET has awarded more than $20 million in grants to organizations statewide that provide a wide array of environmental services, from supporting water projects in communities to protecting coastal habitats. Funding for this program comes from the sale of the state’s three environmentally-themed specialty license plates: the Right Whale Tail, the Leaping Brook Trout and the Blackstone Valley Mill. “The grants being awarded by the Baker-Polito Administration will help to open miles of rivers to fish, improve water quality, and provide new recreational opportunities,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton. “This funding has been made possible because over 40,000 drivers in Massachusetts choose to purchase one of the three environmental license plates, and I applaud our state’s residents for their continued commitment to the Commonwealth’s environmental well-being.” The grants will help support twelve projects in Arlington, Barnstable, Belmont, Bourne, Boxford, Chilmark, Falmouth, Hanover, Milton, Pittsfield, Wareham, and Wellfleet. “This award will help the Berkshire Environmental Action Team implement a visionary partnership with local college students focused on protecting Berkshire County’s most valuable natural resources,” said State Senator Benjamin B. Downing (D- Pittsfield). “The Massachusetts Environmental Trust has funded such initiatives across the Commonwealth for decades, and I am pleased to see the Baker Administration continue to support these important environmental protection efforts.” “I applaud the Baker-Polito Administration, and Secretary Beaton, for their continued engagement with the important environmental issues facing us in the 1st Barnstable District,” said State Representative Timothy Whelan (R-Brewster). “The grant funding from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust will further assist the Three Bays Project examine innovative and less expensive ways to address water quality on Cape Cod.” “Protecting and improving our waterways is an imperative part of a healthy environment,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Marc R. Pacheco (D-Taunton). “I was proud to be the Senate sponsor of legislation that provides these funds for the Massachusetts Environmental Trust through the first environmental license plates. The plates generate roughly $1,000,000 annually for worthwhile projects such as this. I look forward to seeing the Weweantic River benefit from these resources as it continues to serve the communities of southeastern Massachusetts.” This grant serves the dual purpose of providing an educational opportunity for our MMA students while, at the same time, gathering important information about the seabed that is needed to plan for the area's environmental stability,” said State Representative Randy Hunt (R-East Sandwich). The grants awarded by the Baker-Polito Administration include: Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Inc. (Pittsfield) - $35,682 has been awarded to develop a program for training citizen scientists to survey stormwater outfalls during dry weather conditions. The proponents will create a digital survey form for mobile phones that can be used in the field and take photos that will be geocoded and downloaded at the end of the survey. A GIS layer will be created with attached photos and forms documenting the size, material and condition of the pipe, and note any problems associated with each outfall. When dry weather flows are found, trained personnel will sample the flows and the samples will be tested by a certified lab and by Berkshire Community College students for a new water quality course. Buzzards Bay Coalition (Wareham) - $45,000 has been awarded to restore the Weweantic River and its estuary by removing the physical barrier that restricts the natural movement of important migratory fish and the tides at the site of the Horseshoe Mill in Wareham. The grant award will be used to conduct additional sediment testing and hydraulic modeling, develop conceptual designs and graphic renderings, prepare preliminary engineering designs and cost estimates, and complete a final feasibility report. Cardinal Cushing Centers (Hanover) - $40,000 has been awarded to remove Tack Factory Pond dam. The dam is the first dam in the Third Herring Brook system, a 5.5 mile long tributary to the North River estuary. This project will restore Third Herring Brook from a series of impoundments to a self-sustaining river resource and support migratory and resident fish populations. This is the second of three dams to be removed on the river. Friends of Herring River (Wellfleet) - $40,000 has been awarded for the Herring River restoration project rare species monitoring. This project will collect baseline data on state-listed freshwater species to evaluate their composition in response to tidal restoration and/or rising sea levels associated with the Herring River Restoration Project. To better plan, evaluate, manage and monitor effects of tidal restoration on freshwater marsh species, analyses of species occurrences will be conducted. Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (Belmont) - $30,000 has been awarded to create and make available a free online, on-demand course for brand new conservation commissioners that will orient them to essentials such as purposes, roles, and responsibilities of conservation commissions, the Wetlands Protection Act, the Conservation Commission Act, Open Meetings Law, the Public Records Act, ethical considerations and requirements, and how to access and use resources to assist in their work. Massachusetts Maritime Academy (Bourne) - $40,000 has been awarded to map benthic habitats in Buzzards Bay. The mapping and associated ecological studies will enable the Office of Coastal Zone Management and fisheries agencies to make management decisions and better understand the ecological importance of the benthic community. This research will also engage students in “hands-on” applied marine ecology onboard the Research Vessel Liberty in Buzzards Bay and in MMA laboratory facilities. Mystic River Watershed Association (Arlington) - $60,405 has been awarded to develop a Mystic River recreation flagging system. The Mystic River Watershed Association and Tufts University will develop a system in the watershed to alert recreational users to safe or unsafe conditions. The project will increase understanding of conditions of Mystic and Malden Rivers; protect public health; increase attention to sources of pathogen contamination; and increase recreational use of the Mystic River. Neponset River Watershed Association (Milton) - $20,000 has been awarded to begin the process of removing two small dams and modifying a third to benefit native brook trout populations. The project will pilot an innovative, low-cost approach to addressing smaller structures using a combination of watershed association staff and in-kind labor and expertise provided by academic partners and private engineering firms. Project partners include the Neponset Watershed Association, the Wentworth Institute of Technology, Wellesley College, and the MA Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership. Parker River Clean Water Association (Boxford) - $44,000 has been awarded for head-starting Blanding's Turtle hatchlings in the upper Parker River. The project will calculate head started hatchling Blanding’s Turtles home range, movement patterns, and survival rates and monitor nesting areas within the Parker River Watershed. Head starting and research on Blanding’s Turtle hatchlings will help offset the unnatural decline of this state-listed threatened turtle species. Sheriff's Meadow Foundation (Chilmark) - $40,000 has been awarded to restore a section of the Mill Brook in Chilmark where fish passage has been impeded by an earthen berm and two undersized, improperly sited culverts. This stream restoration will benefit the native brook trout population and the threatened American brook lamprey. This project will be the first such stream restoration effort on Martha’s Vineyard and will take place on conservation land that is open to the public. Three Bays Preservation Inc. (Barnstable) - $25,481 has been awarded to quantify impacts of oyster aquaculture on estuarine nitrogen related water quality. Oysters have been investigated for use in improving nitrogen related water quality impairment through the removal of water column nitrogen and enhancing sediment denitrification. However data and studies to quantify how much nitrogen removal can be expected from expanded aquaculture are lacking. This study will help quantify those amounts and inform the planned use of aquaculture as a nutrient removal tool. Town of Falmouth - $60,000 has been awarded to remove Lower Bog Dam on the Coonamessett River and begin active restoration of Lower Bog. Removal of the dam will actively restore the 17 acres of Lower Bog to support a diverse riverine ecosystem. The local community will benefit from an enhanced fishery, improved recreational value in a restored Coonamessett River greenway, opportunities to increase environmental education, and reduced nitrogen loading into Great Pond. MET, established by the Massachusetts Legislature as a state trust in 1988, is governed by a nine-member board of trustees appointed by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

According to Capgemini, a global leader in consulting and technology services, 83% of firms surveyed say AI has produced new roles within their companies. Three-quarters of firms also report a 10 percent uplift in sales, directly associated with the implementation of AI. The results were the findings of “Turning AI into concrete value: the successful implementers’ toolkit,”, a study of almost 1,000 organizations with revenues of more than $500m that are implementing artificial intelligence (AI), either as a pilot or at scale. The report surveyed executives from nine countries, across seven sectors, and contrary to popular belief, found that four out of five companies (83 percent) have generated new roles thanks to AI technology. We can see that organizations are now producing jobs at a senior level, with two in three jobs being created at the grade of a manager or higher. Additionally, among organizations that have implemented AI at scale, more than three in five (63 percent) said that AI has not killed off any jobs in their organization. While many might fear the arrival of AI, the jobs that this technology is able to replace are relatively laborious and time consuming. Thus, the lower level jobs are likely to be phased out, encouraging more humans to taken more significant roles. Brandbastion, for example, provides a service which deals with brand engagement using AI. Previously a person would have had to sift through pages of social media posts and comments, manually responding to each one. Now AI can replace this long winded task, allowing employees to focus on more important issues. As AI’s abilities grow, we will hopefully see a landscape develop where AI can enable us to perform our jobs with greater simplicity and ease, allowing us all to get on with the more important issues at hand.

A Symplectic Integrator On Orbiter Forum, orbinaut Keithth G has described some of his results comparing the Orbiter numerical integrator with one of his own. In response to a user question, he provided the following description of the principles underlying a symplectic numeric integrator. A second-order symplectic integrator First, let's focus on a basic second-order symplectic integrator. It is worthwhile spending a little time on this because, so long as the time-step of the integration is small enough, it actually works pretty well. It is also an integrator from which it is possible to build higher-order syplectic integrators. A couple of introductory points: - The integrator is called 'symplectic' because (up to second order at least) it preserves the symplectic character of the physical system. This means that the long-run properties of the integrator tend to be much more stable than other kinds of integrators and, largely because of this, they have become very popular amongst physicists in the last couple of decades. - The integrator is second-order because it has been constructed so as to 'kill' error terms up to the second-order only. So, what is this integrator? If we just focus on a one-dimensional system for a moment, then the integrator maps a pair of points to a new pair of points at a time later. We can think of this as taking a pair of numbers, , that describe the state of some object at some start time and updating this to a new pair of numbers, , that describes the new state of the same object at time . There are three steps to this updating rule: OK, so what do all of these symbols mean? Let's start with 'Q' and 'P'. In physics, largely because of a longstanding convention in nomenclature, 'Q' is often used to denote a spatial coordinate of something. Here, in our one-dimensional example, you can think of 'Q' as representing the x-coordinate of some object moving in some gravitational field. In the same convention, 'P' is used to denote the momentum of the same object. (Formally, it is the generalised momentum conjugate to 'Q' but that's a nuance that we don't need to worry about here.). Here, we can think of 'P' as representing the x-coordinate of the momentum of a particle. But since momentum is just mass * velocity (in this coordinate system), we can think of 'P' as the x-coordinate of velocity (multiplied by the mass of the object). So, the pair of numbers just represents the position and velocity of the object at some initial time. And this is just the state-vector of the object written in cartesian coordinates. In other words, the symplectic integrator is an updating rule that takes an object's state vector at some initial time, and returns a new state vector at some time later. (Now, you can extend this idea to three dimensions but for the time being we'll just stick with one-dimension.) Next, let's focus on the 'F' term. Again by convention, 'F' is used to denote the force acting on an object. Specifically, represents the force on the object being modelled when it is at position . So, to carry out the three steps of the integration updating rule, we need to provide some force function, which allows us to calculate the force on an object at a point in our one-dimensional space (i.e., at any 'Q'). For object moving subject to a gravitational force from a single body, we know that: (provided that ) where is the gravitational constant for the body in question; 'm' is the mass of the object that we are modelling, and is the location of the source of the gravitational field (e.g., the centre of the Sun or the Earth). If we work in Gaussian units where we measure distances in AU (Astronomical Units); velocity in AU/day; and mass in units of the mass of the Sun, then for an object moving in the gravitational potential of the Sun, and . For an object moving in the gravitational field of the Earth, . To convert from AU and days to metres and seconds, one needs to know that 1 AU = 149597870700 metres; and that 1 day = 86400 seconds. Unless the mass of the object that we are modelling is changing, it is convenient to set . In this one-dimensional system, the object moving in a gravitational potential is a bit limited in terms of directional options. It can either go up, or it can go down. Clearly, as the object moves towards the location of the gravitational source, the force acting on the object is going to increase without limit and the integration is going to going hay-wire, but so long as we are a reasonable distance away from then the integration scheme given above will provide a reasonable description of the object's motion. In three dimensions In three dimensions, the integration scheme looks much the same. But now we have to apply it to three spatial coordinates and three velocity components - i.e., the integration scheme becomes one that updates one set of 6 numbers to a new set of six numbers . And the second order integration scheme that does this is as follows: Each step of the integrator is the same - except now we apply it three times - once for each spatial coordinate. You should note that we now have three force functions rather than just one. This is because force is really a 'vector' rather than 'scalar' quantity. is the force acting in the x-direction on the object located at position ; is the force acting in the y-direction on the object located at position ; and is the force in the x-direction acting on the object located at position . And if we are in the gravitational field of a single body, then these functions become: where are the coordinates of the gravitating body (when the object whose motion you are modelling is at ) And that's about all there is to this this second-order symplectic integrator. To integrate, one chooses a suitable small step-size (so that the overall errors are as small as some tolerance that you require for your calculations); one specifies the initial conditions of the object - its position and velocity - and then one repeatedly applies the integration step for as long as you wish. Now, for those interested, it is worthwhile setting up this integrator in, say, a spreadsheet and seeing how it performs under various sizes of time-steps. and initial conditions. Of course, if there is more than one gravitating body, then you have additional terms in the force functions, but the basic scheme of the updating rule remains the same. As a sequel to this post, I will sketch how you can quickly build fourth and sixth order symplectic integrators from this simple second-order integrator. And as a sequel to that I will talk about the distinction between 'implicit' and 'explicit' integrators. | A Symplectic Integrator. An explanation of how to set up a certain type of numeric integrator, a key aspect of celestial mechanics calculations, such as those performed by Orbiter. (More...)

The concept of Industrial Semiosis categorizes the product life-cycle processes along three semiotic levels of meaning emergence: 1) the ontogenic level that deals with the life history data and future expectations about a single occurrence of a product; 2) the typogenic level that holds the processes related to a product type or generation; and 3) the phylogenic level that embraces the meaning-affecting processes common to all of the past and current types and occurrences of a product. The three levels naturally differ by the characteristic durational times of the grouped semiosis processes: as one moves from the lowest, ontogenic level to the higher levels, the objects become larger and more complicated and have slower dynamics in both original interpretation and meaning change. The semantics of industrial semiosis in industry investigates the relationships that hold between the syntactical elements — the signs in language, models, data — and the objects that matter in industry, such as customers, suppliers, work-pieces, products, processes, resources, tools, time, space, investments, costs, etc. The pragmatics of industrial semiosis deals with the expression and appeal functions of all kinds of languages, data and models and their interpretations in the setting of any possible enterprise context, as part of the enterprise realising its mission by enterprising, engineering, manufacturing, servicing, re-engineering, competing, etc. The relevance of the presented definitions for infor- mation systems engineering is still limited and vague: the definitions are very general and hardly reflect any knowledge about the industrial domain and its objects, nor do they reflect knowledge about the ubiquitous information infrastructure and the sign systems it accommodates. A product (as concept) starts its development with initially coinciding onto-, typo-, and phylogenesis processes but distinct and pre-existing semiotic levels of interpretation. The concept is evolved, and typogenesis works to reorganize the relationships between the onto- and phylogenesis processes, as the variety of objects involved in product development increases. Product types and their interactions mediate – filter and buffer – between the levels above and below: not all variety of distinctions remains available for re-organization as phylos, nor every lowest-level object have a material relevance there. The phylogenic level is buffered against variations at the ontogenic level by the stabilizing mediations at the typogenic level. The dynamics of the interactions between the semiotic levels can well be described in terms of the basic processes of variation and selection. In complex system evolution, variation stands for the generation of a variety of simultaneously present, distinct entities (synchronic variety), or of subsequent, distinct states of the same entity (diachronic variety). Variation makes variety increase and produces more distinctions. Selection means, in essence, the elimination of certain distinct entities and/or states, and it reduces the number of remaining entities and/or states. From a semiotic point of view, the variety of a product intended to operate in an environment is determined by the devised product structure (i.e. the relations established between product parts – its synchronic variety) and the possible relations between the product and the anticipated environment (i.e. the product feasible states – its potential diachronic variety), which together aggregate the product possible configurations. The variety is defined on the ontogenic level that includes elements for description of both the structure and environment. The ontogenesis is driven by variation that goes through different configurations of the product and eventually discovers (by distinction selection at every stage of the product life cycle) configurations, which are stable on one or another time-scale. A constraint on the configurations is then imposed, resulting in the selective retention – emergence of a new meaning for a (not necessarily new) sign – at the typogenic level. The latter decreases the variety but specializes the ontogenic level so that only those distinctions ultimately remain, which fit to the environment (i.e. only dynamically stable relation patterns are preserved). Analogously but at a slower time- scale, the typogenesis results in the emergence of a new meaning on the phylogenic level that consecutively specializes the lower levels. Thus, the main semiotic principle of product development is such that the dynamics of the meaning-making processes always seeks to decrease the number of possible relations between the product and its environment and hence, the semiosis of product life cycle is naturally simplified. At the same time, however, the ‘natural’ dynamics is such that augments the evolutive potential of the product concept for increasing its organizational richness: the emergence of new signs (that may lead to the emergence of new levels of interpretation) requires a new kind of information and new descriptive categories must be given to deal with the still same product.

9/11 Health and Compensation On January 2, 2011, President Obama Signed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847) into law. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney spent nearly a decade fighting to pass this important law, which has provided medical monitoring, treatment, and compensation to those sick and injured from the September 11th attacks. The Zadroga Act’s two critical programs providing medical treatment and compensation for 9/11 heroes – the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund – were set to shut down and stop providing medical care and compensation by October 2016. The World Trade Center Health Program was permanently extended, and an additional $4.6 billion was provided to fully fund the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 signed into law December 18, 2015. More details on the Zadroga Act are available here: - World Trade Center Health Program participation by congressional district chart - World Trade Center Health Program participation by state - World Trade Center Health Program participation map - September 11th Victim Compensation Fund participation by state - Brief factsheet on Zadroga Act programs - Section-by-Section Summary of HR 847 as passed into law Resources for the sick and injured: - World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health - New York City Department of Health - World Trade Center Health Resources from the Department of Health and Human Services - September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Department of Justice More on 9/11 Health and Compensation By Staten Island Advance on December 21, 2015 at 8:31 AM, updated December 21, 2015 at 8:52 AM Now the sick and dying heroes of 9/11 are guaranteed to receive U.S. health care for the rest of their lives. So will other first responders yet to fall ill. By Steve Cassidy December 20, 2015 8:49 p.m. In a bipartisan spirit on a crucial issue, Congress finally came together to do the right thing for a special group of Americans: the first responders who risked their lives on 9/11. By agreeing Friday to reauthorize the James L. Zadroga 9/11 Health Compensation Act, which provides health care for those sick and dying from exposure to the toxins in lower Manhattan, our national political leaders have given first responders long-deserved peace of mind. Updated December 19, 2015 5:24 PM By Maria Alvarez Special to Newsday It was a day of bittersweet gratitude Saturday for first responders who worked with labor leaders and elected officials in a 14-year battle to pass the $8.1 billion Zadroga bill, which gives permanent health care coverage to firefighters, police, residents and workers who lived and worked at ground zero on 9/11. WASHINGTON — The chronically ill heroes of 9/11 and their families received a long-overdue lifetime of health benefits Friday after a contentious congressional fight. The House and Senate both voted to extend the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act — giving coverage to those afflicted with Ground Zero-related health woes for the next 75 years. “It’s a very good day,” said Joseph Zadroga (inset below), whose detective son James died in January 2006 from health woes caused by his time in toxic lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center attack. WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) today released the following statement on final passage of the Omnibus spending bill. The legislation included provisions to extend the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, for which Maloney is the lead sponsor: Updated December 18, 2015 7:09 PM By Tom Brune [email protected] The yearlong campaign by ailing firefighters, police officers and construction workers to permanently extend the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act ended Friday when Congress overwhelmingly passed it as part of the $1.1 trillion 2016 federal spending bill and $620 billion tax break package. By Irene Plagianos | December 18, 2015 2:23pm | LOWER MANHATTAN — It's a long-fought victory for the survivors and first responders of 9/11. Congress on Friday voted to extend health care benefits through 2090 for the thousands still suffering from Sept. 11-related illnesses, including cancer and asthma. A 65-33 Senate vote on the measure was the last act that shipped the measure, combining $1.14 trillion in new spending in 2016 and $680 billion in tax cuts over the coming decade, to Obama. WASHINGTON — When Congress finally guaranteed that America would have his back on Friday, Jaime Hazan wept.

Modern balls in Bratislava are a colourful and social affair. Across the region, women start hunting for the latest fashion trends in evening gowns while men declare war on the extra kilos put on during the holidays. They have to fit into their tuxedos, for the time to entertain, socialise, meet new people and be seen has arrived. On the first 'Shrovetide Saturday', January 12, the second annual Bratislava Ball took place at the Reduta Hall, where Slovak celebrities showed off a pallet of the latest fashions. It marks the beginning of several balls to be held over the next few months in various Slovak cities. During the glory days of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Bratislava event marked the beginning of the empire-wide Ball Season. Whereas it used to attract nobility from Vienna to Budapest, it's former status has been returned, making it a magnet for modern socialites. "Ball Season has come alive, albeit in a new form," said Pavol Schwarz, director of the Bratislava Culture Centre. "As with all things, it must adapt to change. For example, there used to be grand balls organised by firemen or shoemakers, but this tradition has died out. Now, although it is difficult to revive past glory, the balls held in places like Reduta, Hotel Hubert or the Slovak National Theatre prove that it can be done." During Shrovetide, which marks the period from Three Kings day (January 6) to Ash Wednesday (six weeks before Easter), people socialise at balls across the country. In the past, the so-called 'representation balls' - where the elite showed up en masse - were the opportunity for young ladies and gentlemen to be welcomed into prestigious social circles, and to meet other nobility. The profits from hosting such meetings of the wealthy provided the main income for the organisers. However, today the dances are mainly a matter of promotion. "Large firms no longer organise balls with the intention of making a profit," said ethnologist Viera Feglová. "It's now more a matter of presentation and promotion. Moreover, the largest companies have begun to follow the American Las Vegas model for balls, which is expensive and must have famous celebrities on the guest list." In the 18th century only the aristocracy threw balls, at events such as birthdays or coronations. But in the second half of the 19th century the celebrations began to spread throughout the lower social classes. Various professional, ethnic and religious clubs and institutions across the land organised balls ranging from 'representation' to Masked Balls, which were often open to the general public. The most glorious balls were naturally held in Bratislava. However, because no definition existed of what a ball must be like, styles were varied. Different events showcased a mix of decorated interiors, quality music, dance and countless numbers of entertaining guests, who often exceeded 1,000. The balls were thrown at the most grandiose of Bratislava buildings, including the Bellevue, Albrecht garden, Pálffy Palace and later in the newly constructed Reduta, which also houses a casino. Feglová singles out the Kaliko-domino Soiré Ball, organised by the most celebrated of the upper class in 1902 at Reduta, as the perfect illustration of the ball atmosphere at that time. The motif was life within the Danube River. Fish, snakes, fishermen's nets, shipwrecks and underwater flora decorated the spacious and colourfully illuminated rooms. A family of frogs rested on rocks. Wild geese and herons clouded the sky and a rich flower staircase led to the cave of the Danube God. Visitors in elegant robes then entered the large dance hall, where water-fairies invited them to dance. The capital has tried to revive the eloquent atmosphere during the Bratislava ball season. The rich decorations, tables piled high with gourmet specialities and ladies' gowns add to the magic. The pure rhythms of the waltz and foxtrot played by orchestras during the old days now alternate with songs sung by popular local singers and performers of Latino-American music. Dancing steps are more diverse. The once compulsory elaborate and flowing gowns have been replaced by modern fashion trends. "The social mores have also changed," Feglová said. "In the past, it was impossible for a woman to go alone to a ball. It was also rude not to ask a woman's husband for permission to dance with her." The representation balls have indeed evolved. However, while they now create a forum for closing contracts and exchanging business cards, they still cling to their main function - to entertain. "Slovaks like to entertain, they are a sociable nation. People will always feel the need to meet other people. Their social feeling is strong, and that's why the balls have survived," Schwarz said.

Ken Burns' Civil War (series) Ken Burns' epic series begins with the causes of the Civil War in 1861 and ends with the war's aftermath in 1865. A combination of photographs, interviews, and narration create a sweeping historical documentary. Commentary and anecdotes by historian Shelby Foote add another level of authority to the film while providing the viewer insight into distant events and personalities. While Burns covers the major battles and personalities, he also emphasizes the plight of African-Americans and the common soldier. Each of the nine segments concentrates on a particular part of the war, allowing the viewer to isolate episodes of interest. For instance, episode five, The Universe of Battle, follows General Robert E. Lee into Pennsylvania for the devastating battle of Gettysburg. Social events are also given coverage. Each episode opens with a list of events simultaneously taking place around the world, while a more detailed treatment is provided for domestic affairs. Accounts of the draft riots in the North and famine in the South help to place the war within a larger social context. At the end of the nine episodes, Burns' ambitious series has offered a complete account of the causes of the war, the personalities of the generals and politicians who directed it, and the domestic and foreign events that shaped the war's outcome.

Saudi Border Security Program Saudi Border Guard Development Program The Saudi Border Guard Development Program is generally dubbed MIKSA for the Ministry of Interior Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Bilateral negotiations with France for this project began in the early 1990s, when a deal with Thales' predecessor Thomson-CSF was first envisaged. The MIKSA proposal was the result of discussions between Saudi interior minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdelaziz and his French counterpart Charles Pasqua. They signed a protocol agreement in 1994, but the project remained stalled for years. As of 2006 Thales planned the installation of 225 radars, covering the entire 5,000 km of coastline and land border, along with 400 frontier posts, barracks for security forces, a score of helicopters, reconnaissance planes, and a control center in Riyadh. The risk of violence insourcing back to Saudi Arabia from Iraq prompted construction a fence along the kingdom’s northern border. That concept became a serious initiative in 2006, scheduled for completion by the end of 2009. In October 2006 Saudi Arabia's Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdel Aziz confirmed plans for a 560-mile security fence along the kingdom's border with Iraq. This came amid mounting concern about the deteriorating security situation in Iraq. Construction of the fence was scheduled to begin in 2007 and was anticipated to take five or six years to complete. The kingdom originally invited bids for the $500 million project in April 2006. The contract is part of the larger $12 billion MIKSA project to improve Saudi border security throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Plans for the Iraqi frontier included building fences on either side of a 100-meter "no-man's land" containing concertina wire obstacles, ultraviolet sensors and night vision cameras with facial recognition technologies, and buried motion detectors. Command posts, helipads and observation towers linked with access roads were to be spaced along the frontier. The entire security strip would retain existing sand berms at the Iraqi border. The fence project would include 135 electronically controlled gates, although it was unclear if the barrier would seal the entire border or just major crossing points. The original bids were submitted in October 2007, with the expectation that a contract would be awarded by the end of the year. However, the decision was delayed by the proposal to split the contract because of the rising cost of raw materials, which has increased the level of risk for bidders. The delay was also due to Riyadh seeking to standardize the systems it uses across a wider proposed network. The Saudi government had already invested upwards of $1.8 billion to improve security on the Iraqi border, according to the Saudi National Security Assessment Project. This included a 20-foot-high berm and a regularly patrolled six-mile wide security zone along 500 miles of the border. With the backing of chancellor Angela Markel, the German side of EADS, working in partnership with RTCC [Al Rashid Trading & Contracting Co, the Saudi partner of EADS], won the first USD 907 million part of the contract which involved building a 900 km fence along the border with Iraq. Other firms that bid for the northern border fence contract include the local Al Arab Contracting Company and the local Al Mabani with the US' Raytheon. El-Seif formed a consortium with the US' DRS technologies for its bid. The joint venture of Al Rashid Trading & Contracting Company and the European Aeronautic Defense & Space Company won the SAR 3.4 billion contract to build a 900 kilometers long security fence along Saudi Arabia's northern border with Iraq. The JV received a letter of intent in mid June 2008 from the interior ministry. The contract covers two packages of work that the ministry had considered offering as 2 separate contracts. It had asked firms to bid for the separate packages. The first package covers the 900 kilometers, double lined fence and includes surveillance equipment, watch towers and electronic gates. Package two covers the civil works, including command centers, training centers and accommodation for border guards. Ending more than a decade of exclusive bilateral negotiation between Paris and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia invited Raytheon, BAE Systems, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), Finmeccanica and other major defence groups to bid alongside Thales for the lucrative MIKSA frontier security contract. The decision to open the competition for international competition reflected the desire of King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz to reinforce the transparency of public procurement, and the need to convince the USA that he was not seeking to cut traditional defence links with the USA. Saudi Arabia signed a contract in 2009 to build a security fence to cover all of its borders with Iraq, totaling 9000 kilometers in length. Saudi Arabia’s decision on 30 June 2009 to contract the French-German group EADS N.V. to build a surveillance system for its 9,000 km of borders enabled Paris to save face. After being under contract for the northern border security, which is then under execution, EADS Defence & Security was awarded (as prime contractor) the border security program covering the full borders of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This contract was to be executed over 5 years and is the largest contract ever competed worldwide as a full solution. The project has been strongly competed through an international competition for several years. The Saudi border guard will benefit from a leading edge solution, providing visibility and operational awareness for about 9000 km of borderline(mountains, deserts and sea borders). The solution will ensure border coverage is visible and managed at the sector level, while simultaneously providing situational awareness at the regional and national level. EADS Defence & Security will reinforce its global position as world leader of the Security market, including border surveillance, and will capitalize on all the expertise from its European roots. EADS Defence & Security has been strongly supported by the Al Rashid group for construction works. 'We are very pleased to have earned the trust and the confidence of the KSAgovernment. We are committed to dedicate all our capacities and capabilitiesto deliver this program on time and in the quality our customer expects. Thatincludes also long-term investments in the country' declares Stefan Zoller, CEO of EADS Defence & Security. FLIR Systems received a $2.4 million order to supply sensor systems for the Saudi Border Guard Development Program. The company, based in Portland, Oregon, has been assigned by prime contractor EADS to deliver and install its HRC Multi-Sensor Systems to protect 9,000 kilometers of border fence. Challenge in securing the borders lies in the difficult terrain - while the northern border comprises mostly flat, sandy deserts and gravel plains, the terrain in the southwest is mountainous. The Saudi-Yemeni border, at around 1,500 km in length, has been used as a gateway for smuggling and for people to illegally enter Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia launched an assault on Yemen's Shi'ite Muslim rebels -- known as the Houthis -- in early November 2009 after they staged a cross-border incursion that killed two Saudi border guards. Saudi troops pushed back the rebels, referred to as "infiltrators" by state television, and killed an unspecified number of the insurgents. At least 133 Saudi soldiers were killed over three months. By October 2010 Saudi Arabia had established 119km of security barriers along Yemeni border to prevent smuggling and infiltration from Yemen. Deputy commander of the Saudi border guards on the Saudi-Yemeni border Abdul-Aziz al-Sabhi said the security barrier was erected in stages, with early results revealing that the rates of smuggling and infiltration have been significantly reduced. Construction of the border barrier began in 2003 but stopped in 2004 following complaints by Yemen, which said it violated an early border treaty. Some tribes straddle the border, and the Yemeni government protested, saying the tribes needed free access for grazing. The security barrier is a network of sandbags and pipelines 3 meters high and filled with concrete. It is monitored by electronic surveillance equipment. Yemen's traditional business elite come from the southern, non-tribal areas of what was once North Yemen. But many of the top businessmen from Hadramawt actually live across the border in SaudiArabia, where the climate for their businesses is friendlier. The northern tribes have historically been unable togenerate an indigenous bourgeoisie, and their scare business activity was limited to illicit smugglingenterprises (including human trafficking across the Saudi border, a practice that continues today). Theeffective tribal capture of the Yemeni state has allowed tribal elements to translate their connections with power into money. Security gaps at borders are clearly relevant for nationalstability and impact the broader international effort to combat extremist transnational movements. Initially the Saudi-Yemen border barrier was focused on stopping vehicles, but after the clashes in 2009 the focus shifted to fences to stop infiltrators coming across on foot. Al Qaeda’s Yemen-based branch has boasted of its ability to infiltrate the border and outwit Saudi Arabia’s network of informants in the area. In 2013 Saudi Arabia resumed the project abandoned in 2004 to build a three-meter (10-foot) fence the length of its border with Yemen. Reports that the project was back on had already drawn condemnation from human rights activists who accused Saudi Arabia of dealing a new blow to its impoverished neighbour after deporting thousands of Yemeni workers under new labour regulations in recent weeks. The fence along the 1,800-kilometer (1,125-mile) border would consist of a network of sandbags and piping, fitted with electronic detection systems. By 2013 Saudi Arabia was forecast to spend over $20 billion by 2018 on border fence security systems. Bordered by Yemen and Iraq, Saudi Arabia would use border perimeter security, including physical fences, electronic fences, surveillance and listening equipment as well as closed circuit camera (C3) systems

From a recent press release by the Washington University School of Medicine: Jeffrey Petersen, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine wanted to help Kurowski improve her quality of life and suggested that she undergo the VNUS Closure procedure to treat her varicose veins. The innovative procedure is a minimally invasive treatment for superficial venous reflux. Normally, Peterson says, veins carry blood from the extremities toward the heart. With varicose veins, the blood flows backward, pooling impure and acidic blood in the legs. The Closure procedure uses radiofrequency or laser heat placed directly into the wall of the saphenous vein, which runs from the ankle to the groin. Over time, faulty valves in the saphenous vein can result in unattractive, bulging and painful varicose veins. The radiofrequency or heat causes the vein wall to collapse, cutting off the source of blood. During the procedure, a mixture of intravenous saline solution, lidocaine (a local anesthetic) and epinephrine (a drug that contracts blood vessels) helps reduce blood loss and postoperative bruising while providing anesthesia. First, Petersen inserts a thin catheter into the damaged vein through a small incision. Using an ultrasonic guide, the catheter is manipulated up the vein, and radiofrequency energy is delivered to the vein wall, causing it to heat, collapse and seal shut. Once the diseased vein is closed, healthy veins take over, and normal blood flow returns to the leg, allowing the swelling, pain and discoloration to improve noticeably. Last year, a study in the Journal of Vascular Surgery compared vein stripping to the VNUS Closure procedure by evaluating procedure-related complications, overall patient recuperation and quality-of-life issues. In every measurable category, patients who underwent the closure procedure had better outcomes.

Washington: Sunbathers, you may want to avoid raiding the fridge in the middle of the night before catching some rays as according to a recent study, eating habits affect skin’s protection against the sun. The study in mice from the O’Donnell Brain Institute and UC Irvine showed that eating at abnormal times disrupts the biological clock of the skin, including the daytime potency of an enzyme that protects against the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. Although further research is needed, the finding indicated that people who eat late at night may be more vulnerable to sunburn and longer-term effects such as skin aging and skin cancer, said researcher Joseph S. Takahashi. The study showed that mice given food only during the day – an abnormal eating time for the otherwise nocturnal animals – sustained more skin damage when exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) light during the day than during the night. This outcome occurred, at least in part, because an enzyme that repairs UV-damaged skin – xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA) – shifted its daily cycle to be less active in the day. Mice that fed only during their usual evening times did not show altered XPA cycles and were less susceptible to daytime UV rays. “It is likely that if you have a normal eating schedule, then you will be better protected from UV during the daytime,” said Takahashi. “If you have an abnormal eating schedule, that could cause a harmful shift in your skin clock, like it did in the mouse.” The study found that besides disrupting XPA cycles, changing eating schedules could affect the expression of about 10 percent of the skin’s genes. The research is published in Cell Reports.

Omnidirectional, Wireless Design Facilitates Data Transmission and Recharging This omnidirectional, wireless helix antenna provides power to implanted medical devices and capsule endoscopes, while allowing these devices to better relay health information for easier diagnosis and treatment. Every year in the U.S., more than $85 billion is spent on implanted medical devices, including $5.5 billion and $4.5 billion on defibrillators and pacemakers, respectively. These implanted devices and other medical technologies, such as wireless capsule endoscopes, need to be able to communicate information back to healthcare providers who use this data to diagnosis illnesses and make treatment decisions. Wireless capsule endoscopes allow for better visualization of the gastrointestinal tract than traditional endoscopes. Their performance, however, suffers from antennas that provide spotty coverage. University of Florida researchers have addressed this problem by developing a durable dual mode antenna with improved efficiency and omnidirectional radiation capabilities and wireless power transmission. ApplicationA wireless, rechargeable antenna that facilitates the communication of health information by implanted medical devices and capsule endoscopes - Allows wireless capsule endoscopes and implanted medical devices to function better, enhancing healthcare providers' ability to diagnose and treat disease - Provides omnidirectional radiation capabilities, reducing the risk of signal loss - Enables both data communication and power transmission in a single antenna device, removing the need for a second antenna - Contains a rechargeable power supply, allowing for the development of smaller medical devices that require fewer batteries

Speaking at an event for women in Los Angeles this week, Barbra Streisand complained that society is so misogynistic, even female laboratory mice are being discriminated against. “Gender discrimination drives me crazy,” said the multiple Grammy and Academy award-winning actress and singer. “Women are still treated as second-class citizens when it comes to equal pay in the workplace and equal representation in Congress.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, Streisand then opened up about her life’s mission to fight women’s heart disease. “More women are dying of heart disease each year than men. And here is the fact that really shocks me: heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined,” she said. Streisand, who has made contributions toward heart disease research for nearly three decades, then spoke out about gender inequality in medical research. “Gender inequality even extends to mice in the labs,” she said. “They’re all male!” She added: “So even female mice are discriminated against! When I asked why, the answer I got was that female mice have hormones so they’re more complex. Well, so are women!” Streisand, now 73, made the comments at the annual Women in Entertainment breakfast in Los Angeles on Wednesday, where she was the guest of honor. She previously sounded off about gender inequality in mice research in an interview with Healthy Living. According to the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai hospital, “Although heart disease kills more women than men every year, until recently, women’s heart disease treatment was based on medical research performed on men. The center is working to correct these gender inequalities as well as to educate women on how to recognize female-pattern heart disease symptoms.” A New York Times op-ed last July, which Streisand posted to her official website, explained the “gender gap” in research done on lab mice, which are predominantly male. The Times noted a recent study showing that “hypersensitivity to pain works differently in male and female mice,” and researchers are now taking “gender into account in preclinical research on animals.” At the women’s event on Wednesday, Streisand also urged her peers to “join forces” to support Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. Describing the former First Lady and Secretary of State as “someone who will represent our values and interests,” she said women must encourage one another to get out and vote. Streisand also accused female reporters of being too tough in their handling of Clinton, describing them as “antagonistic” and “judgmental.” Their tone is “as if they want to prove how tough and hard-hitting they can be against someone of their own sex,” she said.

Your “Notable numbers” from May 21 showed that male doctors earn a median salary of $209,596 versus a median of $135,169 for female physicians. I know what you’re suggesting here, but this is simply evidence of lying with statistics rather than proving the tired canard of wage discrimination against women. Much of the salary difference can be explained by their specialties. More men tend to be cardiologists and orthopedic surgeons while women are disproportionately pediatricians and general practitioners. Guess which ones make more money? Also, while the number of female doctors has increased over time, the most senior physicians out there are typically men, and they tend to more highly compensated. The most accurate, apples-to-apples comparison would be, say, how much do 50-year-old male cardiologists make versus 50-year-old female cardiologists? My guess is that the medical profession is like most occupations where numerous studies show that when you adjust for age, education and experience, the difference in compensation between males and females is generally not statistically significant.

Sexual orientation is far from a black and white issue. As the Kinsey Continuum illustrates, people do not fit into neat and exclusive heterosexual or homosexual categories. Also, there are legal and ethical implications of refusing to work with the gay population, which also relate to the professional's multicultural competence. Discuss the following issues: - The concept of sexual orientation. - The legal and ethical implications of refusing to counsel homosexual clients. - The connection between how a mental health professional works with people of diverse sexual orientation and being culturally responsive and multiculturally competent. (1) The concept of sexual orientation Recent research suggests that determinants of sexual orientation are due to many influences, and no single factor can be attributed to whether a person will have heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality tendencies (Garnets, 2002). She describes sexual orientation as reflecting the "diversity of sexual, affectional, and erotic attractions and love toward persons of the same gender, other gender, or both genders" (p. 116).. An individual's sexual orientation reflects the combination of distinct patterns that differ in both degree and intensity. For instance, the attraction to females and males are stated to be different. In addition, research is presented to show that a correlation between adult sexual orientation and childhood sexual characteristics is significantly higher among men than among women. On the other hand, as Garnets adds, girls who play masculine games and activities may or may not become lesbians. Similarly, some boys with feminine tendencies grow up to be bisexual or ... This solution discusses the concept of sexual orientation, its legal and ethical implications, and the connection between sexual orientation and a mental health professional's work.

Most seniors prefer to stay at home as long as possible before moving into a nursing home. For many families, this means eventually hiring a caregiver to look after an aging relative. Caregivers can be hired directly or through a home health agency. When a caregiver is hired directly, you need to consider all of the tax and liability issues. As an employer, you are responsible for filing payroll taxes, tax forms and verifying that the employee can legally work in the United States. In Illinois, if you pay $2000 or more in wages in 2016 to any one employee, you need to withhold and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. Unemployment insurance contributions must be made if you paid cash wages of $1000 or more in any calendar quarter during 2016 or 2015. Insurance for an accident which occurs on the job should also be addressed. The benefit of hiring a caregiver directly is that you have more control over who you hire and can choose someone who you feel is right for your family. In addition, hiring privately is usually cheaper than hiring through a home health agency. When you hire through a home health agency, the agency is the employer, so you do not need to address the tax and liability issues. The agency takes care of screening the employees, doing background checks and providing insurance. A licensed home care agency must provide ongoing supervision to its employees. It can help the employees deal with difficult family situations or changing needs. The agency may also be able to provide back-up if a regular caregiver is not available. The downside of going through an agency is not having as much input into the selection of a caregiver. Caregivers may change or alternate, causing a disruption in care and confusion.Consult your estate planning attorney for further information.

Back in the first First Rule of Space Exploration... post, I used some illustrations from Fritz Kahn. Kahn was a gynaecologist and famous popular science writer in the Berlin of the 1920s. His masterwork was a five volume series called Das Leben des Menschen (The Life of Man.) Kahn and his artists developed a remarkable method of graphically illustrating the form and function of the human body, by literalizing the metaphor of the biological organism as a machine. Just as the hermetic and alchemical illustrators of the Renaissance mapped the astrological symbols of the Zodiac onto the human body, Kahn used the human form to internalize the contours of the industrial/mechanical modern world, with the body often depicted as a harmonious industrial economy peopled and worked by armies of tiny homunculi.

Siam was made part of the Empire, and, in spite of all that England could do, Burma and the Malay Peninsula were overrun; while all along the long south boundary of Siberia, Russia was pressed severely by China's advancing hordes. Napal and Bhutan were overrun, and the whole northern boundary of India pressed against by this fearful tide of life. The many islands, with their willow-trees, and the flat headlands, seen one behind the other on the northern boundary of the broad green valley, form, by the aid of a bright sun, a view almost picturesque. I returned to the church, and walked round it till I came to the back of the building; then crossed the boundary wall beyond, by another of the stone stiles, and found myself at the head of a path leading down into a deserted stone quarry. scan is widely adopted, challenges are bound to happen during the implementation phase that will frustrate test and design engineers. Neighbours on each side of the boundary do not always agree where the boundary lies, or who has the responsibility to maintain it. The following 10 |draft community boundary changes are recommended to be rejected by the full council: 1. scan has become an important limited access solution for printed circuit board assemblies, and includes tests for digital integrated circuits interconnection, as well as testing and programming digital devices such as flash, EEPROM and serial peripheral interface (SPI) devices. The topics include the history and concept of boundaries, the creation and interpretation of metes and bounds and other non-sectionalized descriptions, riparian and littoral boundaries, retracing and resurveying sectionalized lands, locating combination descriptions and conveyances, and the ethics and moral responsibilities of boundary creation and of retracements. Yet, assembling and harmonizing attendance boundary geography for hundreds of school districts is simply too expensive and time-consuming for small research teams and daunting for scholars whose expertise lies outside the domain of geographic information systems (GIS). In addition, I examine whether there is a connection between boundary trees and the tradition of commemoration by using cross-trees, that is whether the idea of a physical boundary between two areas corresponds to the belief in a boundary between life and death. Single test strategies are often insufficient, leading to the array of test solutions we see today: ICT, MDA, AOI, AXI, AOXI, benchtop, bare board, on-board, flying probe, vectorless test and boundary

This summer, four teams from Kauai High School, Maryknoll School, Saint Andrew’s Priory, and Waiakea High School were able to put their knowledge of Japan and language skills to the test in Japan after winning the Japan Wizards Statewide Academic Team Competition (JWC), held in February and hosted by the Japan-America Society of Hawaii (JASH). The students enjoyed their time in Japan by exploring the culture and practicing the traditions they learned about in the classroom. Alyssa Braun from Kauai High School wrote in her trip essay, “Visiting Japan was the experience of a lifetime. I was able to use all of the skills I learned in my Japanese language classes. I was also able to learn more about the places and people I studied in the Japan Wizards Contest. It was amazing to see the things that I studied in person. Going to Japan through JASH also taught me a lot about the true values of culture, tradition, language, and hospitality.” From the 5th to 12th of June, Level A 1st place winners Heather Acidera, Justin Higa, Andrew Ines, and chaperone Charlene Martin from Maryknoll School explored Tokyo, Hakone, Mt. Fuji, and Nikko. Overlapping Maryknoll School’s trip from the 9th to the 16th of June, Level B 1st place winners Alyssa Braun, Dylan Hernandez, Matthew Kanna, and chaperone Kathy Morishige from Kauai High School visited Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. As part of the Japan trip award for each winning team, an all-day educational experience was arranged by JASH in partnership with our contacts in Japan. The educational experiences for Maryknoll School and Kauai High School were provided by the America-Japan Society of Tama Tokyo, JASH’s sister society. The staff from the Tama Tokyo Society graciously escorted the students to the Edo-Tokyo Museum and Ooedo Onsen Monogatari (a popular hot springs theme park in Odaiba, Tokyo) where they were able to learn about the history of Japan, embrace the beauty of nature, and interact with locals. Justin Higa from Maryknoll School learned about “a different part of Japan that can’t be felt by watching television, or reading books, Japan is best experienced by visiting, and taking in as much of the sights, language, and culture as you can.” This trip furthered his “views and understanding of Japan and its similarities and differences from those of Hawaii.” From June 27 to July 6, Level A 3rd place winners Yan Ying Huang, Isaiah Jumila, Gavin Sako, and advisor Jaimelynn Gusman from Waiakea High School traveled to Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Ehime. Ms. Noriko Omori from the Ehime Prefectural International Center (EPIC) kindly arranged a wonderful educational program for them, including a cultural presentation at a local elementary school, a visit to a local high school, a courtesy call with the Governor of Ehime Mr. Tokihiro Nakamura, and sightseeing in Matsuyama. According to Isaiah Jumila, “Interactions are far more important than sightseeing; to build international friendships is one of the best feelings in the world. I will never forget everyone who went out of their way to show me true Japanese hospitality and compassion. To know that thousands of miles away, there is a person who appreciates you for your culture and vice versa is amazing and just shows how it is human nature to be curious of other’s cultures.” The student testimonials illustrate the importance of incorporating an educational experience into the Japan trip awards in order to give the students person-to-person experiences. From June 30 to July 8, Level B 2nd place winners Ellie Miyashiro, Courtney Nomiyama, Jennifer Takahashi, and advisor Aiko Gojo from St. Andrew’s Priory experienced Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Tokyo, and Osaka. Mr. Motoyuki Murahashi from the Japan-America Society of Fukuoka (JASF) and Ms. Miho Harada from the Kitakyushu Japan-America Society (KJAS) graciously guided the team to the Takagi Company and the Yaskawa Electric Corporation in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka. Courtney Nomiyama stated, “Visiting those two companies truly opened my eyes to how technologically driven our world is becoming and how much our lives will be shaped by such devices in the future. The opportunity to have an insider’s look at Kitakyushu’s thriving industries is a valuable experience that will forever impact my intellectual thoughts on the modern world.” Ms. Harada also escorted the team to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, Nagasaki Peace Park, Dejima, and Glover Garden, where, as a history buff, Courtney “just loved that feeling of experiencing another time period in person rather than simply absorbing words off a page. Being able to visit both the historical and modern side of Nagasaki in one day was a priceless educational lesson that no school lecture could compare to. The lesson that always resonated within me was: experience is key.” Nagasaki was the only seaport where trade with foreign countries was allowed during Japan’s closed-door policy which lasted over 200 years. The students were fortunate to witness this foreign influence throughout the prefecture. JASH would like to send a big Arigatougozaimashita to supporters from the America-Japan Society of Tama Tokyo, EPIC, JASF, and KJAS, for their warm welcome and care of our JWC teams. Matthew Kanna of Kauai High School said it perfectly: “I wish that hopefully someday, I can be like (the Japanese people); have good aspirations, morals, and be very personable. I hope that the Japan-America Society of Hawaii keeps doing this program because it is such an amazing experience and something that every student should strive for. The hard work pays off and not only do you have an amazing time, but you learn so much more about Japan, even more than you studied.” We would be remiss without thanking the Competition’s overall sponsor Hawaiian Airlines for the generous donation of international airfare, and to all of the other supporters who made the Competition possible. Thank you also to the Wizards who truly were ambassadors of Hawaii!

USU unveils nation's first self-driving, wireless charging bus (KUTV) Utah State University unveiled the country's first fully electric, self-driving, wireless charging vehicle. Engineers from institutions around the nation collaborated on the technology. Tuesday, dozens of them gathered in Logan to see their work in action. "This is the first demonstration of it being powered on an electrified roadway," said Utah State University's electrical engineering professor, Regan Zane. Zane said electric vehicles can greatly reduce pollution. Vehicle emissions are responsible for more than half of air pollution. "There's a big opportunity to reduce emissions, the overall pollution in the air, as well as reducing the cost of transportation." Scientists and engineers hope to see the technology revealed Tuesday eventually implemented nationwide. "Hopefully within the next 30 years we see a roadway and an electrical system where people can drive without range anxiety and just wirelessly charge," said Steve Pekarek, an engineer at Purdue University. With millions of dollars in state and federal grants, the State of Utah has been on the forefront of developing electric vehicle technology. Over the last year, engineers at the Utah State University have developed one of the first mobile charging units. Compatible electric vehicles charge as they drive over coils embedded within the roadway. Zane said the technology has been presented to Salt Lake City and they could be looking into eventually implementing the mobile charging system. "The concept of having a vehicle that can go from SLC to L.A. without charging requirements. That's really one of our cores here at Utah State," said Zane.

Amateur radio astronomers frequently overlook proper time-keeping when collecting data with personal computers. Click here for an article that describes easy and inexpensive methods to maintain proper time-keeping on observatory PCs. The leap second is used to synchronize time based on atomic clocks (Coordinated Universal Time, UTC) with time based on Earth's rotation rate (mean solar time). Click here for an article that describes the leap second and the on-going effort to eliminate or keep it. Leap Second 2015 and 2016: A leap second was inserted at 23:59:59 UTC on 30 June 2015 and 31 December 2016 resulting in the clock counting from 59 to 60 to 00 as shown in the screenshots below. A short video of the clock on the NIST website during the 2015 (left) and 2016 (right) leap second transition can be viewed by clicking the images below. The spectrogram below shows WWV and WWVH on 15 MHz during the 30 June 2015 Leap Second transition. Propagation conditions at the time of the leap second were very poor and the various time tones were mostly indiscernible. Click the spectrogram below to play a 30 second video from 2359:45 to 0000:15 UTC, covering the time the leap second was inserted on 30 June 2015. The images below shows three time sources, two separate NTP time servers each with a GPS reference clock source and a Tiny Ben clock based on a Windows PC clock source (the PC clock is synchronized with UTC). Click on the images below to play a short video of the time sequence during 2015 (left) and 2016 (right). Note that the NTP servers pause for 1 second at 23:59:59 before advancing to 24:00:00 and the Tiny Ben clock pauses for 1 second at 24:00:00 before advancing to 00:00:01. Leap Second 2012: A leap second was added at 23:59:59 UTC on 30 June 2012. A short video of SymmTime, a PC time-keeping program, when it updates a PC time-of-day clock with the leap second can be viewed by clicking here: AVI file or WMV file. SymmTime was setup to update the PC clock every 10 minutes. The update previous to the leap second insertion was 1558:45 ADT (2358:46 UTC) so the leap second was inserted into the PC clock 10 minutes later at 1608:45 ADT (0008:45 UTC) as seen in the screenshot below.

Love is a Source of Truth and Meaning On Tuesday of last week, the staff had a belated holiday lunch at the Thai Place down on Walnut Street. If you enjoy Thai food, I highly recommend the Pad Thai. At the end of lunch, we went around the table reading aloud the fortunes from our fortune cookies. Mine was about as uninformative as they come: “You will be successful in your work.” Well, I hope so, but how do they know? Eh... In my opinion, Phil, who works evening security, got the gem: “Great thoughts come from the heart.” It's been said that Unitarian Universalists can find sacred text anywhere, and I agree. There is sacred text to interpret not only in ancient cultural books, but also in novels, newspapers, remarkable experiences, plain old day-to-day experiences, and also in fortune cookies. “Great thoughts come from the heart.” A little research shows these words come from Marquis de Vauvenargues (vo-ven-arge). I don't fault the fortune cookie writer for plagiarism. I am only grateful to the universe for bringing these words to me, because they're such a perfect fit. “Great thoughts come from the heart.” Those words say that the heart is the source of thoughts. Not just any thoughts, but great thoughts, important thoughts that matter to our world. Thoughts that clamber their way from our minds to our mouths, thoughts that then may turn into actions or events, or even institutions! Last weekend, Paula Cole Jones was here to present a workshop on reconciliation and anti-racism on Saturday, and then she and I co-led worship on Sunday, so I got to hear her sermon twice. :) I was glad to see about 25 people at the workshop, and the sanctuary was pretty full on Sunday as well. This tells me there is a desire in this congregation to begin, or re-begin some heavy spiritual transformation around becoming a multi-cultural congregation. I commend that, and back in Oakland, I've been a witness to the hard work that it takes to transform. It means asking some deep identity questions about who each of us are, and sitting with it and reflecting for a while. It means identifying the context of how our cultures are set up. That hard work means getting over ourselves and the mixity of privilege and oppression (more than likely, each of us has some of each), and it means finding that still small voice within to guide us and impel us on. The heart is a source. More than anything else last week, what I learned from the sacred text Paula Cole Jones brought is that we as UU's have a tendency to start by thinking, and that doesn't generally get us where we want to be spiritually. In this congregation, we say the seven principles every week as a part of worship. I'll be the first to say that I believe the seven principles are wonderful. And we treat them as our foundation. There is a deeper question, however. A question that provides a deeper foundation: “Why do we have the seven principles?” “Why do we covenant to affirm and promote these principles?” I say the answer to that is Love. A desire to be in beloved community, to care about each other, and to know we are cared for. The principles work best when we recognize them as a natural extension of our desire for love. When we start from love, and stay with love, we'll be in balance throughout. Even with love, I'm sure we're going to make mistakes, people may disagree, people may misunderstand, and somebody may get hurt. Yet with a humble love as the foundation, we know that we're committed to each other and we're not going to abandon anybody, and we'll get back on that horse once we're ready again. Love is our reason for wanting to have truth and meaning. We want to have meaningful beliefs that lead us to good ends. Love wants us to have openness and truth in our relationships, so we don't hide from fear of what others might think. That openness also means that we make ourselves vulnerable. As beloved community grows, a feeling of greater safety develops, with more space for vulnerability. Some truths are very difficult to share even among those we're close to--there's not a requirement to open up and be vulnerable—only an invitation. On the prophetic side, there is often an invitation to speak one's conscience where there is not safety, and some people accept the challenge to open up nonetheless. The search for truth in human religion has been fraught with heretics who have braved contempt, ridicule, ostracism and even death to advance deeper truths into religious discourse. Unitarian and Universalist history has many such prophetic voices. For an example, I'd like to invite you to come back in time a couple centuries with me to May 5th, 1819. On that day, William Ellery Channing delivered the seminal sermon called “Unitarian Christianity” at the ordination of Rev. Jared Sparks. In his sermon, Channing boldly cemented a new clarity of what this novel “Unitarian” movement was about, claiming the name that opponents had previously used as a pejorative. Sitting in and listening to portions of the sermon, you would also be able to hear between the words a context in which the Bible was considered the only real sacred text worth considering, and there was a pretty heavy trinitarian orthodox view. I have two brief sidenotes: First, the quotes I will be sharing from Channing's sermon were originally non-gender-inclusive, and I leave his words intact for the effect of greater immersion into the culture of his time. Second, I will be offering a more in-depth study of this sermon as part of an adult religious education course beginning in a couple weeks. If you're interested, check the website for details. So strong was the biblical context of Channing's time that the first portion of his sermon is devoted to the full use of our faculty of reason when examining the Bible. In response to accusers, he states, “Our leading principle in interpreting Scripture is this, that the Bible is a book written for men, in the language of men, and that its meaning is to be sought in the same manner as that of other books. We believe that God, when he speaks to the human race, conforms, if we may so say, to the established rules of speaking and writing.” For him, context is key: “We find that the different portions of this book, instead of being confined to general truths, refer perpetually to the times when they were written, to states of society, to modes of thinking, to controversies in the church, to feelings and usages which have passed away, and without the knowledge of which we are constantly in danger of extending to all times, and places, what was of temporary and local application.” From a full read of the sermon, it is evident to me that he spoke this sermon of truths not for his own ego, or to gain control, but to satisfy an underlying love he felt from God. Using the Bible as his text, he sought to clarify the unity of God, stating that claims about God being three separate persons in one were untrue and caused great confusion. Regarding these inconsistencies, he preached, “If God be infinitely wise, he cannot sport with the understandings of his creatures. A wise teacher discovers his wisdom in adapting himself to the capacities of his pupils, not in perplexing them with what is unintelligible, not in distressing them with apparent contradictions, not in filling them with a skeptical distrust of their own powers [of discernment].” He sought to clarify that Jesus was fully human—as we are--and that the variety of theories on his special dual divine/human nature tended to disparage his character. In answering this theory of dual nature, he states, “We complain of the doctrine of the Trinity, that, not satisfied with making God three beings, it makes Jesus Christ two beings, and thus introduces infinite confusion into our conceptions of his character. This corruption of Christianity, alike repugnant to common sense and to the general strain of Scripture, is a remarkable proof of the power of a false philosophy in disfiguring the simple truth of Jesus.” Channing sought also to clarify the moral perfection of God, stating, “We believe that God is infinitely good, kind, benevolent, in the proper sense of these words; good in disposition, as well as in act; good, not to a few, but to all; good to every individual, as well as to the general system.... God's justice has for its end the highest virtue of the creation.” Accordingly, he also was clear on the Unitarian rejection of substitutional atonement: “We believe that Jesus was sent by the Father to effect a moral, or spiritual deliverance of mankind; that is, to rescue men from sin and its consequences, and to bring them to a state of everlasting purity and happiness....We recollect, however, that, not long ago, it was common to hear of Christ, as having died to appease God's wrath, and to pay the debt of sinners to his inflexible justice; and we have a strong persuasion, that the language of popular religious books, and the common mode of stating the doctrine of Christ's mediation, still communicate very degrading views of God's character. They give to multitudes the impression that the death of Jesus produces a change in the mind of God towards man, and that in this its efficacy chiefly exists... It naturally leads men to think, that Christ came to change God's mind rather than their own; that the highest object of his mission was to avert punishment, rather than to communicate holiness.” In the “Guess How Much I Love You” children's story today, the father and son nut brown hares make a game of expressing ever greater love for each other. There is never the slightest thought that they could be out of relationship with each other. It's a pretty good model for us to strive toward, for times when we turn inwards to build a stronger core community in this congregation, and also for when we are turning outwards. But again, the anti-oppression work of changing our collective soul—it can be difficult and consuming. Even a mantra of “just add love” means asking some tough questions as we become vulnerable to our own inner searchings, as well as to the searchings of others. If you/we step further into this work of building beloved community here at First Unitarian, and I hope we do, my prayer is that we recognize our limits, and be gentle with ourselves and each other. For we often don't know the storms and struggles others carry within, and sometimes hardly acknowledge our own.... For those times, may we foster a love that undergirds meanings and the truths we make about ourselves, each other, and our world. Because... “Great thoughts come from the heart.” I wonder if, rather than competing as these rabbits did, we were to cooperate in a determined outspoken love. I wonder what might this world become if we started an inclusive cooperative competition based on mindful love. I wonder if, from a base of embodied love, we can create an entirely novel meaning to this collective spirit we call life. And I wonder how vulnerable and strong we can become if we support each other side-by-side holding each other's hands and hearts, and what spirits we may be able to brave to bring our truths and meanings. I don't believe we can know until we try, and I do wonder. Amen.

While wet sand is both ubiquitous and literally child’s play, simulating the underlying interaction of water and sand certainly is not. In fact, this type of visual effect is rarely seen in feature movie productions, typically because it is considered too complex and difficult to achieve with existing particle-based simulation techniques. This is surprising given that water simulations, and to a lesser extent also sand simulations, are routinely undertaken in VFX. It is the complex nature of the changing material behaviors resulting from the mixing of sand and water that complicates simulation. However, we argue that this is precisely what makes the animation of wet sand so visually intriguing and hence desirable to master. Most practitioners in the VFX industry would agree that animation of water is a mature area of research, as evident by its abundance and the fact that several excellent commercial solutions exist today, c.f. Houdini, Maya, and RealFlow just to mention a few. Conversely, animation of sand is considered challenging by most, and is still a subject of significant research. Although the Material Point Method (MPM) [Sulsky et al. 1995] has been demonstrated to produce encouraging results for sand simulations, commercial solutions tend to use simpler particle based techniques, like Position Based Dynamics (PBD), which is easier to implement, but less well founded in continuum theory. However, mixtures of water and sand present a completely new set of simulation challenges for which, to the best of our knowledge, there is still no established best practice in VFX, let alone off-the-shelf commercial solutions. While there are many successful examples of wet sand animation, they tend to be based on art-directed constrained simulations or even procedural particle systems. Given the success of simulating sand with MPM it is natural to explore a similar approach for wet sand. Such a unified MPM description of the mixing of water and sand is exactly what motivated our work.

In my short time writing about cars in this little corner on the internet, I have amassed more than few criticisms about my unorthodox approach to used luxury car buying advice, but the reality is: I'm not simply "lucky," luxury cars can be a great value, and there is a method to this frugal madness, starting with these four essentials. 4. A Degree In Google Would you reserve a table at an expensive restaurant without first checking reviews? Of course not, because the last thing you want is a overdone $300 steak, and it's not like it can un-cook itself, can it?! Every car purchase is worthy of some research, but with mechanical and electronic complexity rivaling the Curiosity Mars rover, some luxury cars have unique quirks and expensive repairs that may make the purchasing and ownership experience overwhelming for the uninitiated buyer. That's why, just as in the jungle, you need to be stronger, faster, and more adaptable than the average naive greenhorn that sees a dirt cheap salvage title BMW and thinks "I can't wait to rub this in the face of my high school guidance counselor." When researching a car from a luxury make, forums and message boards are paramount to anything from choosing which models are the most trouble-free and desirable, to determining why there's a flashing red sign on your dash that says "REPLACE HAMSTER" while your car slowly starts smelling like the unmistakable and pungent aroma of dead rodent. If the model is popular enough, there can be entire sections dedicated to buyer's guides, DIY projects, maintenance guides, as well as fluid analyses, technical service bulletin recalls, and indispensable classifieds sections. It'll also give you real-world insight into what kinds of people are buying and writing about the car you're researching, for better or worse. If you devote a few hours to solid information-seeking, you can go into any showroom or private sale knowing exactly what you want and what potential issues to look out for. " But I'm not mechanically inclined at all! What do? WHAT DO?!", you ramble as you struggle to swallow your homemade Frosted Flakes. Stop rambling, and those are just Corn Flakes with sugar on them. You don't necessarily need a deep encyclopedic knowledge of mechanical theory to check out and properly diagnose a specific used luxury car. All you would need is... 3. A Good Independent Mechanic Good help is hard to come by, unless we live in any year after 1995, in which case, good help is absolutely everywhere. Luxury cars, especially higher-end models such as the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7-series, often have specialty shops that deal with manufacturer-specific issues. Happily, their services are at deep discount when compared to prices at a dealership – a place you should never, ever visit unless you're Doug DeMuro, you have $1,600, and your Range Rover's glove box light goes out and needs fixing right this second. You can use the pervasive and omnipresent internet to find reputable mechanics, also known as "indy shops" in the area – a resource that would've been relegated to simply word of mouth a few short decades ago. Another option if you're the kind of person that doesn't trust your fading status symbol to anyone is that you can do the work yourself. While DIY work doesn't require a privileged education or ample garage space for most things, working on cars can be quite time consuming, so understanding how downtime plays a role is also an important aspect to consider in taking on projects. DIY guides online help ease the burden by setting up a paint-by-numbers approach to car repair, maintenance and modification. As an example, when I was 18, I completed my first major car modification, a five-speed manual transmission conversion – on my only car that I absolutely needed to get to my $8.25 an hour job, with a $30 set of Chinese-made tools I bought on sale at Pep Boys, in my parents' driveway, over the course of a weekend. The most involved modification I did prior to that project was change taillights, and my only source of guidance was a DIY tutorial I found on the internet, because the friends I recruited to help were either as useless as I was, or bailed out at the last minute, leaving me pondering if car insurance fraud was really such a bad thing after all. Ten years later, I still look to guides as my go-to source of true-to-life hands-on car advice for anything that needs doin'. Even if you have a 50-year veteran of the mechanical arts and the well-optioned luxo-cruiser of your dreams waiting for you on eBay, you'll still need... With a cheap luxury car, sometimes the purchase price is the largest expenditure you'll have, and sometimes it's the beginning of a long series of checks that may or may not bounce depending on how fast you can run to the nearest ATM. If you've researched right, you can come up with something that most impulsive and impatient buyers neglect – a working budget. With used luxury cars out of warranty, you'll be on the hook for repairs, maintenance, and modification, so it's good to start a rainy day fund in case it pours early and often. There's no magic formula to determine how much to set aside, but a good rule of thumb is to determine the most expensive common problem that the car has, and factor for that even if the car shows no symptoms of that particular issue. That way you'll have a wide safety net, and with the parts and mechanic sourced, you'll have minimal downtime. A budget also means having an exit strategy if things get out of control. Consider how much the car would be worth in its worst state, and subtract that from your total spent on the car. This would be your worst-case scenario depreciation cost. It may be a hard pill to swallow, but even with this, it's very likely you'll pay less in depreciation than the average new car buyer, with at least some time in a premium automobile to show for it. But even on top of a budget that allows for contingencies , mechanical knowledge of the car you're purchasing, and enough research to stump the original engineers in a themed game of Trivial Pursuit, you'll still need... 1. A Good Overall Plan Before buying a used luxury car, you have to ask yourself several very important questions honestly, because a car can be a large financial burden as well as one of effort and time. Can you accommodate a day or more of downtime for repairs? Do you have any alternate means of transport? Would you feel safe letting others drive it? Does the car have a spare tire? Do you have AAA or a similar towing service on call? Do you need the car for work? If so, how far will you travel for work, and what will that mean for the car's current mechanical state? If the time comes to sell, how much will the car be worth? How much will your insurance premiums cost, and will your current coverage cover the higher cost of parts and repair on the car? These questions are no-brainers for anyone that are seriously considering buying anything higher-maintenance than the hum-drum mass-market automotive coffins seen everywhere, but they bear repeating and condensing into one chunk of useful text. If you take the time to research, learn how things work or delegate the work to a trustworthy specialist, make a budget and ask yourself the tough questions, you will have no problems in used luxury car ownership. It's not difficult, but it is something that deserves concentration and effort, like all truly great things in life. That's how I got to own two Mercedes S-Class sedans, multiple BMW M Cars, a Porsche, and a few rare Japanese sports cars. I'm not lucky, I wasn't born with automotive privilege, and I'm not the exception to the rule. I simply wanted to buy great cars at a great prices and planned accordingly, tailoring my choices around the mantra "Life is too short to drive boring cars." So far, I think it's working out pretty well.

The well-attended concert featured works by Italians Vivaldi, Tessarini, Leo and Facoli and a secular cantata by Englishman Thomas Arne. The program was heavy on Vivaldi — no surprise there. Vivaldi’s fecundity never ceases to amaze. His reputation rests largely on a legacy of nearly 500 instrumental concerti. Yet this incredibly prolific composer was almost unheard of until the 1950s. The concert opened with a performance of the Concerto for Strings in d minor, RV 128. This work was contained in one of 14 volumes discovered in 1926 sparking interest in the composer’s works. All three movements are in the same key — unusual but not unprecedented for Vivaldi. It also adheres to the three movement fast-slow-fast order that he standardized. Double bassist Heather Miller Lardin reveled in the particularly active bass line of the Largo, while the entire ensemble engaged in a fugal finale bristling with energy and excitement. Flutist Eileen Grycky soloed in two of Vivaldi’s flute concerti: the D major and the recently discovered d minor “il Gran Mogol” which received its Delaware premiere. Grycky’s delightful and highly musical formation of the flute solo lines on her mellow, woody instrument were a delight to the ears as was the full-blooded energetic orchestral accompaniment. The strings had their say in a warm and sprightly reading of Vivaldi’s Concerto in G Major for Two Violins and Two Cellos, RV 575 — with Martin Davids and Kathleen Leidig, violins and John Mark Rozendaal and Donna Fournier, cellos. Davids joined fellow violinists Leidig and Edmond Chan in a confident, well-balanced and precise rendering of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Three Violins in F Major, RV 551, creating ear-catching textures spiced by Vivaldian virtuosic runs and arpeggios. The program also featured the works of other lesser-known Italian composers. Davids introduced the Concerto for Violin in A minor by his favorite composer, Carlo Tessarini, by saying he was luckier than Vivaldi because he didn’t wash out of the priesthood and wind up with an orphanage. Jokes aside, this tricky and challenging music demands a performer with virtuoso credentials and Davids certainly has them, especially in the Allegros of this work. Harpsichordist Joyce Chen’s elegant technique brought out the dimple counterpoint and right-hand embellishments in Marco Facoli’s Padoana prima dita Marucina & Salterello. Leonardo Leo’s concerti give little opportunity for virtuosic display; instead, the cello weaves its way in and out of the texture in a relaxed way. This performance by John Mark Rozendaal of the Concerto No. 3 in F minor is appropriately low-key, with the tricky problem of giving the instrument its proper prominence solved with admirable clarity. Soprano Laura Heimes performed the only non-Italian work on the program: Thomas Arne’s Cantata V: “The Morning” from Six Cantatas. It is always a pleasure to hear Heimes’ bright warm voice in concert. But this work displayed her virtuosity, as these areas demand astonishing breath control, mastery of coloratura and apt decoration. The interaction between voice and instruments proved engaging and inventive.

As a real estate investor I am frequently asked, what does REO mean? REO is an acronym for real estate owned which refers to foreclosure properties owned by the bank. Once foreclosure homes are returned to lenders, the bank holds the property title and is responsible for maintaining real estate until it is sold. Another question buyers want answered is what does REO mean in terms of obtaining reduced prices? In general, banks charge a slightly higher price for real estate owned properties. In addition to recouping financial losses from unpaid mortgage loans and the foreclosure process, banks remove attached liens and judgments in order to sell real estate with a clean title. Bank owned homes are sold directly through each lender’s loss mitigation department or a designated real estate agent. Properties are sold in as-is condition at reduced rates. Buyers are responsible for repairs and renovations to return REO properties to livable condition. Some homes are in immaculate condition, but the majority requires some level of repair, while others are in need of complete renovation. Most mortgage lenders obtain broker price opinion appraisals to arrive a fair market value. BPOs can be conducted as drive-by or internal inspections and are less expensive than traditional home inspections and appraisals. Although BPOs can provide an estimated home value, buyers should obtain a full inspection and professional appraisal prior to making an offer on the property. If additional problems surface during the home inspection, buyers can use this information to further negotiate the purchase price. It is a good idea for buyers to take photographs of major repairs and obtain repair estimates which can be presented to the bank handing the REO sale. REO properties can be a good option for real estate investors, first time home buyers, and individuals looking for an affordable vacation home. Investors oftentimes seek out bank owned real estate for use as lease-to-own homes and rental properties. Since REO homes are generally priced below market value, investors can earn a good return on investment by rehabbing the house or offering seller carry back financing. Investing in bank owned homes can save home buyers and real estate investors’ time and money. There is no need to spend time negotiating with creditors and tax agencies to remove liens and judgments. If foreclosed homeowners continue residing in the home, banks commence with eviction action. All the time-consuming and messy details are handled by the bank; allowing buyers and investors the opportunity to purchase and quickly take possession of the property. Buyers of foreclosure houses quickly discover that lien removal and tenant eviction can be costly and time consuming. Buying a foreclosure home can take several months, while REO home purchases can be quickly expedited. Multiple sources are available for locating REO properties. Bank of America, Remax, Prudential and Countrywide publish bank owned foreclosure lists directly on their websites. Countrywide participates in the Department of Housing and Urban Development Neighborhood Stabilization Program which offers grant money to buyers who purchase REO homes in areas hit hard by foreclosure. First time home buyers can locate multiple REO homes for sale to obtain real estate at substantially reduced prices. Buyers can maximize savings by utilizing first time home buying programs and applying for NSP grants. These are just a few options for buying REO homes. The Internet provides a wealth of information for locating distressed properties at reduced prices. Many local realtors offer seminars to help buyers learn about the advantages of buying bank owned foreclosure properties. Take time to learn the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing REO real estate. Doing so can help you further negotiate the price while locating the perfect home in the perfect location!

"Some of the Lake Garda Remains and Ruins are Very Impressive. How About the Largest Roman Villa in Northern Italy for Starters?" Grotte di Catullo At the end of the peninsula at the Lake garda town of Sirmione surely lies the most impressive Lake garda remains and ruins. This massive villa (the largest example in Northern Italy) lies in a prime location, surrounded by the blue / green waters of the lake. It was built in the first century BC and the sheer scale of these Roman ruins is Apart from the stunning location on the lake, there is also another reason why the Romans flocked here. There is a natural source of thermal water rising from below the lake. These sulphur-rich waters are at a temperature of 69 C and are thought to have curative powers. Many people still bathe in these thermal waters which is now piped to some buildings in Sirmione. Why not go have a soak and get rid of those aches and pains! Roman arena at Verona This Roman amphitheatre, at the close-by town of Verona, is another Roman jewel. This is the third largest Roman arena built and was completed in 30 AD. It is very well preserved and it still used for the famous Verona opera. At around 140 by 110 metres in size and with 44 stone tiers, this really is a sight to behold. Even if you are not especially into looking at old buildings, this will definitely impress you. At Desenzano you can find the remains of another Roman villa, and while not as impressive at the one at Sirmione, this one has excellent mosaics. These are thought to be some of the best preserved examples of Roman mosaics anywhere. This 3rd century villa is well worth seeing if old Roman remains are your thing, and are just another example of the fabulous Lake Garda remains you can see here. Castles can be found in many places around Lake Garda. You can't miss the "Rocca Scaligera" at Sirmione which dominates the entrance to the whole town. You can only get access on land to Sirmione by the drawbridge to the castle. Other fine examples of castles are found at Torri del Benarco, Malcesine, Peschiera and Desenzano. You can trace many of these famous castles back to the Scaligeri family by the fishtail style of the battlements, which is their signature. You can find ancient engravings in the rocks around Lake Garda. These are known as "Graffiti" and provide an interesting insight into ancient times. We came across this engraving on a path leading up the hill from a villa we stayed in near Garda. These are just some of the Lake Garda remains and ruins you can find. There are many more, and if you like exploring history, you are going to love Lake Garda!

1) Learn to unplug from your inbox. Research from London's Kingston University revealed that workers obsessed with checking their e-mails could be killing their brains--and those of their colleagues. "Back in the dial-up era, when going online had a cost implication, most people checked e-mail maybe once a day and often responded to mails as soon as they read them. Now with broadband and 3G, unlimited numbers of messages can be streamed to you via your smartphone at any time of the day or night," said researcher Dr. Emma Russell. Ping-ponging messages and read receipts could be stressing you—and those you work with—way out. [Science Daily] 2) More reasons to stay trim. A recent study by researchers from CUNY collected data using the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination survey between 1988 and 1994, as well as national death statistics through the year 2006, and found that obesity shortens the average life by four years. They also found that that obesity was associated with at least a 20% increased risk of death from all causes. [Web MD] 3) Enjoy life! It could improve your health. Don't worry, be happy! A study out of the United Kingdom found that people who enjoy life maintain better physical function in daily activities and keep up faster walking speeds as they age, compared with people who enjoy life less. The study followed more than 3,199 men and women ages 60 years or over who lived in England, and studied their positive outlook and physical well-being for more than eight years. [Science Daily] 4) Ease off on the constant protein. Eat a balanced diet. A study done on rats by the University of Grenada showed that a high-protein diet increases the chance of developing kidney stones and other renal diseases. "Eating large amounts of fruit and vegetables reduces the risk of kidney stones forming--probably due to their high potassium and magnesium content, which compensates for the acidity of the high-protein diet," said lead researcher Dr. Virginia A. Aparicio. [Science Daily]

The Healthy Ideas symbol identifies foods based on the /FDA's definition of "healthy," the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid.gov. Stop & Shop has placed the Healthy Ideas symbol on more than 3,000 items and shelf tags throughout its stores. Healthy Ideas criteria are based on the federal definition of a "healthy" food, which must: be limited in total fat; be limited in saturated fat; be limited in cholesterol; be limited in sodium; and contain at least 10-percent of the Daily Value for one or more of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, protein or fiber. Additionally, since the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting trans fat and sugar consumption, Healthy Ideas includes criteria for artificial trans fat and sugar, taking into account the inclusion of natural sugars in the appropriate food categories. n NEW MILFORD -- Dr. Anne C. Chiang , a medical oncologist at New Milford Hospital 's Regional Cancer Center , has co-authored a clinical review article in the New England Journal of Medicine with Dr. Joan Massague , her former colleague at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Published in the Journal's Dec. 25, 2008 edition, "Molecular Basis of Metastasis" explores the cellular origins of cancer, specifically how the disease progresses in the body. The authors suggest that scientists can develop more effective, targeted approaches to prevent the spread of cancer and treat metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread from its original location to other parts of the body) by developing a better understanding of cell behavior and many factors that influence the progression of tumors.

Catholic Teachers Teach Lesson For Life In schools across Ontario, Catholic teachers deliver an educational experience rooted in values such as faith, community, fairness, and respect – values that all Ontarians embrace. We are universally committed to social justice, and we actively engage our students, schools, and communities in the pursuit of positive social change. As Catholic teachers, this is who we are, and this is what we do. Our students reflect these values, gaining lessons that they will carry throughout their lives. Consider the story of Thunder Bay Catholic teacher Peter Cameron. After Peter raised money from a garage sale, he took his Grade 6 students to buy groceries, which they then delivered to a local shelter. Inspired by their experience, the class used social media to challenge other schools to ‘Make a Difference’ (MAD). Word soon spread, and the initiative was even mentioned by an MP during a speech in Canada’s House of Commons. Today, schools from all over the world participate in the MAD challenge, and Mr. Cameron’s students learn a valuable lesson about the power of their collective voice. Stories like this are extraordinary, but they are by no means the exception. Each and every day, Catholic teachers have an amazing impact on students and communities across Ontario. In turn, Catholic school graduates become deeply engaged citizens, with high levels of participation in volunteerism, social justice work, as well as the democratic process. We teach math, science, and reading, but also so much more. Through our lessons, Catholic teachers help prepare students for the ultimate test – life.

The Embalse de Valmayor, or Valmayor Reservoir, is situated to the northwest of Madrid in the municipality of Valdemorillo. It is managed by the Canal de Isabel II, and belongs to the basin of the Guadarrama River. The reservoir, which runs along a length of eight miles upstream of the Aulencia River, occupies an area of 755 hectares and also serves the towns of El Escorial and Colmenarejo. In terms of the amount of water stored, the Embalse de Valmayor is the second largest reservoir in the province of Madrid, with a capacity of 124.4 million cubic meters. The largest is the Atazar Reservoir, located in the basin of the Lozoya River and boasting a whopping capacity of 425.3 million cubic meters. Despite being built on the Aulencia River, the Embalse de Valmayor receives its largest contribution of water from the Guadarrama River, located several kilometres away and possessing a much higher rate of the flow of than the Aulencia. Water from the Guadarrama reaches the reservoir through a transfer tunnel, about five miles long, which has a small reservoir sensor called Las Nieves, located near La Navata, a residential area near the city of Galapagar.

Written by Alvaro Sanchez Sanchez Senior Associate, Green For All In our recent report, Staying Green and Growing Jobs: Green Infrastructure Operations and Maintenance as Career Pathway Stepping Stones, we profile seven organizations that are linking members from disadvantaged communities to opportunities in the green sector. These groups are diverse with respect to the populations they serve, the skills they teach, and the types of work they perform, but all of them recognize that green infrastructure has the potential to transform communities. Based on interviews with social enterprises and workforce development organizations throughout the country, we identified twelve components that make their programs successful. To better describe these components, we created an infographic, below, highlighting the best features of each organization and providing details about the types of work they are involved in. Over the coming weeks we’ll profile innovative organizations that are advancing best practices in green infrastructure, here. This week, we profile New York’s Sustainable South Bronx. Founded in 2003, the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST) Academy is Sustainable South Bronx’s flagship program. BEST Academy is dedicated to preparing low-income New York City residents for jobs in the growing green collar sector and addressing both environmental and economic needs in the community. BEST prepares New Yorkers for full-time employment by teaching skills necessary to do work like restoring urban green spaces and upgrading local buildings to make them more efficient and sustainable. BEST Academy operates two programs: BEST Ecology (BECO) and BEST for Buildings. The BECO program takes place over twelve weeks and offers training and certifications in landscaping, wetland restoration, soil science and hydrology, tree pruning, and green roof installation and maintenance. Many of the participants in BEST receive public assistance, have been unemployed for long stretches of time, or have been incarcerated. After students graduate from the program, Sustainable South Bronx’s staff assists them in finding work opportunities with non-profits or businesses in the environmental field. Since the program’s creation in 2003, more than 400 people have graduated from BEST Academy. BEST is exploring ways to increase the job training opportunities and access to work for their program participants. BEST identified red tape and obstacles that restrict their opportunities, including regulations that require work to be performed by certified contractors, and stiff competition for the available public sector work that is outsourced. BEST has tried to expand potential jobs by reaching out to other non-profits in need of trained workers, but this option has limited reach. BEST is successfully training community members in green sector jobs. In the near future, Operations and Maintenance jobs are expected to rise in New York City. Annette Williams, Director of BEST Academy, believes that in order for her program graduates to access these and other opportunities, job qualifications and requirements should be modified to take into account the background of BEST program participants. Not only does requiring something as simple as a driver’s license disqualify many program participants, such requirements may be unnecessarily limiting when workers do not need to drive in order to perform their duties. Ms. Williams believes that direct partnerships between BEST and city employers will maximize both BEST’s and the city’s resources. Sustainable South Bronx is one of a number of programs that are delivering the triple bottom line benefits that green infrastructure investments promise. Its work demonstrates successful private/public/nonprofit partnerships that protect the environment, increase access to economic opportunities, and improve the social conditions of disadvantaged groups. The company is cultivating a new generation of environmental stewards that come from communities most impacted by environmental and economic crises. Programs like these use operations and maintenance work to create on-ramps to career opportunities in a variety of professions. They also perform a critical task that creates real opportunity rather than dead-end, low-quality employment.

Developing Writing Skills in Spanish provides intermediate and advanced level students with the necessary skills to become competent and confident writers in the Spanish language. With a focus on writing as a craft, Developing Writing Skills in Spanish offers a rich selection of original materials including narrative texts, expository essays, opinion pieces and newspaper articles. Each chapter covers a specific kind of writing and is designed to help tackle the material in small units. The book aids students in crafting clear, coherent and cohesive manuscripts by means of guided practice and step-by-step activities. Designed as a classroom text, self-study material or simply as a resource on writing, Developing Writing Skills in Spanish is the ideal supplement for all intermediate to advanced students of Spanish. "Developing Writing Skills in Spanish is an extremely versatile book based on pedagogically sound principles. It introduces readers to a rich variety of registers, which combined with examples from contemporary sources, literary as well as non-literary, from Spain and Spanish America, help the learner to develop a feel for style and register variation. In addition, its user-friendly, carefully organized activities provide plenty of opportunity for practice and review of vocabulary, syntactic structures, and idiomatic usage. Its flexible structure makes it eminently adaptable to a variety of courses, enabling instructors to either proceed from one chapter to the next or to pick and choose according to the needs of courses for specific purposes. Finally, the availability of answers to the exercises makes the book eminently useable for independent study." –Milton Azevedo, University of California, USA “I enjoyed this very much. This is a really substantial examination of writing in Spanish, sensibly broken down to help the reasonably advanced learner. It should help those with a good knowledge of Spanish to improve their writing skills considerably. What I like about it most is the variety and quality of the authentic examples of writing, often penned by very good authors. Each area is dealt with in detail and through imaginative and engaging exercises. There’s a wealth of detail much of which will be useful for reference purposes as well as for Spanish language learning courses.”– Jonathan Thacker, University of Oxford, UK “This textbook is most welcome, for it supports our department’s goal of having student majors achieve advanced to superior writing proficiency in Spanish. The authors have identified and provided the kind of instruction and support students need at the advanced level to cultivate their rhetorical sense while continuing to develop their vocabulary, as well as their understanding of the subtleties of aspect, mode and syntax in Spanish. Engaging and carefully crafted learning activities help students use their critical reading skills to improve their writing skills. Students will find the exercises fostering the acquisition of an advanced critical lexicon and specific rhetorical strategies to be most valuable. Professors will appreciate the emphasis on planning, revising, and proofreading one’s essay, as well as the nuts and bolts advice on the use of the dictionary, punctuation, accentuation and orthography in Spanish. ¡ Gracias y enhorabuena! ” –Alice J. Poust, Bucknell University, USA "The distinctive features of this resource are the clarity of its explanations and structure and the wide variety and quality of the activities… Developing Writing Skills in Spanish is a very versatile resource. It could be used as a classroom textbook in a course devoted to writing skills, or its individual chapters or activities could help complement any general language course. The fact that answers are included at the end makes the book a good resource for self-study too. The flexibility of its structure makes it easy to pick and choose individual activities and chapters in an order different from the one presented in the book. This well thought-out and motivating resource will be very useful in helping advanced students to achieve writing proficiency and it should therefore have an important role to play in Spanish courses for students of Spanish in higher education." – Nuria López, Newcastle University, UK in Vida Hispánica, autumn 2012 'As teachers of advanced Spanish language courses at university level, we have been looking forward to the publication of this vlume, and it does not disappoint. This is an excellent handbook for developing writing skills in Spanish: carefully devised and structured, rigorously compiled, clearly written and pedagogically very sound. It presents a rich selection of texts and examples from a wide range of genres, including original material as well as articles and essays from notable Hispanic authors, aimed at developing reading comprehension and analytical skills together with writing competance… this is a comprehensive and practical handbook that will certainly helpf students become more competent writers in Spanish. The leevl of detail and clarity of explanations are commendable. It is a most welcome and needed volume that fills with great success a substantial gap in the Spanish language materials available to advanced learners.' - BSS Introduction Chapter 1. El texto narrativo (Narrative writing) Chapter 2. El texto descriptivo (Descriptive writing) Chapter 3. El texto expositivo (Expository writing) Chapter 4. El texto argumentativo (Persuasive writing) Chapter 5. El texto periodístico (Journalistic writing) Chapter 6. El texto publicitario (The language of advertising) Chapter 7. El texto jurídico y administrativo (Legal and administrative documents) Chapter 8. El texto científico-técnico (Scientific and technical writing) Chapter 9. Consejos adicionales para escribir correctamente (Revising, Refining & Proofreading) Answer Key

In Mo-Tires, the issue was whether a semi-colon (or a period in the French version) at the end of the paragraph created two separate independent clauses, or whether the semi-colon merely constituted a pause in a single clause The placement of a single comma may seem like boring, picayune stuff, but you never know when ignoring the precise punctuation details will make a huge difference in legal outcomes. Jane Austen used the comma in this way when noting in a letter: "I have found your white mittens, they were folded up within my clean nightcap. In 2006, a Canadian commission ruled against cable giant Rogers Communications based on its interpretation of a superfluous comma in their contract with the telephone company Bell Aliant. When I asked a number of college teachers, not ESL or writing teachers, to comment on the grammaticality of the sentences in 7 and 8, none mentioned a need for a comma before the coordinator. David Wheatley, Managing Director of Dot Comma , said: “Over the past year, our business has been growing rapidly. Although some authors put emphasis on syntax and others on pauses and/or voice modulation, in general terms, they agree on the repertory of marks included in their accounts--the comma , the colon, the full stop, the note of admiration and the note of interrogation; the semicolon and the parenthesis being omitted in some of them--and those who deal with other characters distinguish this set as primary points or points related to the sentence. Another punctuation rule baffled consultants: using a comma before FANBOYS (the acronym for the coordinate conjunctions, for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so) joining two independent clauses. People need to be sensible when working on their cars," said Comma spokesman Mike Bewsey. Copy editors and others who are persnickety about the English language probably know the witty American usage guide ''Lapsing Into a Comma Eats, Shoots and Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Matter is a picture-led book that illustrates why a missing comma can play havoc with the meaning of a sentence. I've been here long enough to know that over a comma in a sentence a deal can fall apart," he said. What can Comma Sense: A Fundamental Guide To Punctuation hold over its many competitors? Pyrgus is reluctantly dealing with becoming the Purple Emperor after his father's death, but the evil Hairstreak has revived him to a zombie puppet-like existence, and stepbrother Comma is to become emperor instead.

1932 - Amelia Earhart: the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean Born in 1897, Earhart was delivered into a dominating patriarchal society where the greatest and most notable achievements were accomplished by men. Rather than using a name to reach high societal status like many middle and upper class men did, Earhart gained it through hard work and climbed the ladder of the aviation industry typically associated with masculinity. Throughout this time she still strived for greatness. With aviation as her passion, she flew to Boston in her spare time whilst still working as a social worker. Her flight as log-keeper and standby pilot in 1928 to Wales from Newfoundland threw her into the public eye and completed the infamous 1932 transatlantic flight with the intention to show the public that she was capable of being more than a second-class flyer. She married George Putnam, the man who managed her career (which lasted less than a decade) but kept her maiden name. 'She is one of the half-dozen women among a hundred men in the National Aviation Hall of Fame'(1), making her achievements hold even more significance. As an influencial public role and a woman simultaneously, social attitudes about what women could achieve began to change. The stereotypical passive woman still existed but at least the public were aware that women did not have to be second-class citizens. Earhart was entirely aware that she had become a role model centred around her gender as she 'used her fame to promote two causes dear to her: the advancement of commercial aviation and the advancement of women'(2) alike. 1921 - Margaret Sanger: American Birth Control League founded The American Birth Control League has a specific set of goals to help both men and women in the Planned Parenthood scheme, but mostly reach out to minority women in the black and Latino communities. Their primary mission was 'to enlighten and educate all sections of the American public in the various aspects of the dangers of uncontrolled procreation and the imperative necessity of a world program of Birth Control'(3). This was in order to change social attitudes on how women controlled their bodies regarding birth, parenthood while quietly discussing topics of abortion also. This is a crucial moment for the social and political advancement of women as it began the debate of a woman's right to her own body; a debate which still divides America today and stands are the forefront of most voters' minds. Feminist critics like Laura Bates have stated 'from conception to abortion [...] the common misconception that women's bodies are public property is never stronger than when the subject is reproduction'(4). This is clear evidence that the topic is still alive at this moment. Originally based mostly in northern states, the ABCL aimed to appeal to the liberal masses in the hope that women could be seen as humans capable of more than giving birth. Sanger's efforts are still celebrated today and it is argued that 'women's progress in recent decades [...] can be directly linked to Sanger's crusade and women's ability to control their own fertility'(5). These women and their efforts to improve the gender equality possible in American society has left a grand legacy that still exists today. Their mission is that of many Americans currently, but would not have been made possible if not for these women creating these controversial discourses.

Norway is a democracy in northern Europe, shaped like a mountainous, bulky and tilted ladle of a kind, with large seasonal daylight variations. The first known inhabitants "came from the Hamburg area" (11th to 10th millennia BCE). Norway borders on Sweden to the east. In 1905, Norway got its independence from Sweden and is rich today. Oil, natural gas, minerals, seafood, fresh water, lumber and hydropower help subsistence. Oslo is the name of the capital. Below is a sample of Norwegian proverbs. They are from several Norwegian collections (see them the bottom of the page). Many proverbs offer sensible hints and a bit of humour by scanty and often rather poetic means, as in "The king has to sit on the same as us (his bottom). (Br 104)." The proverb might help under-dogs against unbecoming servility. The Norwegian language here is Nynorsk Norwegian. Simple wording is preferred throughout. A burning light may go out, a sailing man may drown. A child's grief is soon put out. A fair wind at our back is best. A grey patch is better than a bare side. A tied dog does not jump farther than his cord. A tied up man is sorrowful. Age is nothing to boast of; you get it for nothing. Age probably leads to something worse. All birds cannot be hawks (some are just cuckoos). All birds cannot be hawks. All don't like the same thing; some like it cold, and some like it hot. All food does not come upon one single dish. All madmen are not like one another. All masters are born, but none is born a master except the billygoat. All sense is not housed in one single head. All shoes are not sewn on the same last. All the fat floats together. Another's horse is always strong. Another's steak is always fat. Away is not to be at home. Bare are buttocks without breaches. Barter is for fault. Barter is to favour two and not just one. Best that vende mens it goes vel. Better (be) aware beforehand than quick afterwards. Better (be) wise beforehand than aware afterwards. Better (be) wise beforehand than wise afterwards (after the damage or accident). Better a whole ship than a broken one. Better an empty purse than wrongly got money. Better barefooted than without jeans. Better be limping than footless. Better be unmarried than badly married. Better be without money than without honor. Better bend than bump. Better bend to get through the door than run one's head against a stone wall. Better grey than bald Better grey hair than no hair. Better know a little too much than too little. Better know rightly than hope wrongly. Better learn from one damage than many. Better let ten guilty ones go free than judging an innocent man. Better lie uncomfortably than to cover oneself with a rag. Better little than nothing. Better ten hairs on the head than one in the soup. Better to live with certainty than in the hope. Better too full than too early empty (about stores). Better turn in the brook than in the waterfall. Better turn than go astray. Better unlearned and bright than erudite and foolish. Better whole than mended well (probably). Better wind one's way on dry land than lie in water and call (for help). (A warning against walking on weak ice). Beyond the mountain there are people too. Blind hen finds a corn too. Blindest is he who doesn't want to see. Boatless man is tied to the land. Bookless man is (quite) blind. Bookless man may struggle badly. Both gentlemen and fools speak freely. Certainty is better than hope. D: Better sit with certainty than walk with hope. Child memories will last long. Children are pauper wealth. Children do children's work. Documents do not forget. Either conform to the customs or flee the country. Even the best horse may stumble. Even the best swimmer may sink. Every cloud has a silver lining. There is nothing so bad in which there is not something good D: Things are never so bad that they are not good for something. Every little bit helps (contributes some) - IA). Everybody looks at others, and none on himself. Everybody wants to put the axe in the bear-skull, but nobody wants to hold the handle. Everyone cannot become pope in Rome. Everyone cannot have the bishop for his uncle. Everyone cannot meet one's better. Everyone knows what to do with a bad (crazy) wife except the one who has her. Everyone wants to be a gentleman; nobody want to carry the sack. Everyone wants to be great; nobody wants to carry the sack. Everyone wants to climb the lowest fence. Everyone wants to hear praise, and nobody blame. Everyone would rather hear praise than blame. Everyone wants to live long, but nobody wants to age (get old). Everyone wants to turn the prettiest side forward. Everyone's friend is faithful to none. Everything does not go as we guess. Everything has an end, except the sausage, she has two. Everything is good for its own use. Everything is not as bad as it sounds. Everything is pure to the pure. Everything is well told that is well received. Everything must be destroyed that is meant to be so. Everything needs its time. Everything serves the thief. Everything will lie where it is lowest. Face to face eagles shall claw (fight). Farmer thrives among farmers best. From a gruff word both harm and murder may ensue. From children and drunk people we get to hear the truth. From harm one gets wise (and not rich) [by and large]. From nothing comes nothing. From our years we learn more than from many books. From small seeds big trees grow. Getting a small part is better than a long quarrel. Good love glides easily and smoothly and pays in time. Great fear and spanking hardly make the boy extremely wise. Honor the old, teach the young. If the man does not heed time, time does not heed the man. If you bend the bow too much, it will break. If you bend the rights, they will break. If you build your house as everybody counsels, it will never stand straight. It is easier to learn from the damage of another. It's best to stop while things go well. Knowing for sure is better than guessing. Merely book makes none wise. Most prayers go unanswered anyway. Only he who wanders, finds new paths. Other times, other customs (manners). Other years make other people. Patchwork is better than bare buttocks. Rather suffer for truth than get rewarded for lies. Respect gives power. Seriousness and fun often go together. Sometimes the child just has crying to resort to (and it is horrible). Straight ahead is shortest, but not always easiest. The ancients were no fools. The baker and the smith belong to the devil. The bear and bear hunter are not of the same opinion. The best cure meets the disease before it enters the home. - Cf. Prevention is better than cure. The best friends are fewest. The best joy lasts the longest. The best remedy against getting drunk is keeping sober. The billy-goat knows he has horns. The blemishes of another are easily seen. The burden of someone else is always light. The burnt child fears the fire. The child has to crawl till it learns to walk. The comparison halts (something is alike, something is not). The craziest speak most truly. The day that is gone, you will not get one more time. The east wind travels where it is supposed to. The eye is the first thing that is blinded. The eye wants to be where it is dear, and the hand where it hurts. The fair wind blows even if the sailor does not see it. The fair wind blows just as well whether the sailor sleeps or is awake. The farmer can sow, but not put on the ear. The farmer cannot invite all. The farmer himself the best, and his wife the next. The farmer is no goose because he is grey. The friend of all is the fool of all. The maniacs have many funny hours that the sane guy does not have. The old are to be honored. The patch always has to be larger than the hole. The patch is sometimes worse than the hole. The straightest road is shortest, but not always easiest. The table catches. The will be quiet sometime, those who are wild now. There are at least two sides to a thing. There is a knack to every handicraft. There is much poverty in the world, but many to share it (Joke). There is nothing so bad that it cannot be worse. There never was so bad a crow that it did not want a mate. Those who yawn at the same time, are not on bad terms. Too audacious is often given a beating. Too clean has no taste. Too much makes the sack burst. Too near is little dear. Too sensitive gets nowhere. Too sharp may be a burden too. Too shy gets nowhere ahead.

Weight Loss Is Not A Physical Challenge It’s A Mental One…. Our immune system plays a major role in protecting our body against the harmful substances, known to make us ill. No matter how minor a sickness-causing substance is, an active immune system is all that’s enough to keep us protected! Thus, it is pretty much obvious that a stronger immune system is extremely vital for a healthy body! Now you may be wondering that is there anything you can do to keep your immune system activated and strong? Yes, you can surely do! There are some super-foods that can help you with this purpose, and one such is Acai Bery. Incorporating Acai Berry, or adding the natural extracts of Acai Berry in your diet by any means, will help you keep your immune system active and going! HOW DOES THE IMMUNE SYSTEM FUNCTION? Basically, immune system refers to a combination of tissues, cells, proteins and enzymes that functions together to protect our body against the foreign invaders! So, what are these foreign invaders? These tend to be the substance that prevails in the environment. Examples include bacteria, parasites, and viruses etc that can affect our body and make us ill. Remember, people with weak immune system can become affected even with the least harm causing substances, and can be at a risk of a number of health conditions. Interestingly, research has proven the fact that we can simply TAKE CARE of our body’s immune system and can work to make it strong. Indeed, a stronger immune system means a healthy life ahead. Interestingly, from taking a quality nap to ensuring our body is hydrated, all such tools have actually proven to impact our health in a positive manner. However, there tends to be some other ways as well, through which you can defend the immune system, and make it strong! Many amongst us are unaware of the fact that microbes, vitamins and antioxidants can actually help us protect our immune system. Interestingly, assorted foods tend to be source of nutrients, however consuming these are not as beneficial as the usage of Acai Berry! Well, its time for me to be more clear for you to better understand why acai berry should be your choice for a healthy immune system! Anthocyanins, in combination with anti oxidants work to eradicate the effects of harmful radicals from our blood. By this, the cells are prevented from being damaged. According to a study, increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables will help your body get more anti-oxidant, with this; the likelihood of many ailments such as diabetes, cancer malignancy and heart diseases tends to decrease. So, what is the healthy source of anti-oxidants? The answer is Acai berry. You will not believe that the fruit is proven to encompass thirty times more antioxidants, as compared to a nutritious fruit like grape. Well, this fact clearly proves that acai berry is the ultimate source you can trust to improve the ingestion of antioxidant. Yes, our skin is an organ, and protecting it against the environment is as important as protecting other organs of our body. For this, you need to make sure your body is supplied with the needed quantity of vitamin A. Interestingly, vitamin A is not just helpful to protect our skin against the environment, however, it also helps to combat against the early signs of aging, and helps you give a flawless, radiant skin. Not just this, vitamin A is good for the overall health. Vitamin C, like the other essential vitamins is needed by our body; for a number of purposes. For example, it helps our body produce and repair tissues, make collagen etc. Basically, collagen is a protein that is utilized by our body to make tendons, blood vessels and skin etc. So, these are the three essentials, our body needs to make our immune system stronger. Consuming a fruit that contains these can help you maintain a healthy body! For example acai plus; the fruit can help you give these essentials simply while you consume a particular berry! Yeah, true! More specifically, acai berry is filled with vitamins, fiber, amino acids and anti oxidants; all that are highly needed by our body for innumerable purposes. This nutrient packed food is proven to improve immunity, protect against the cell damage and a number of diseases and conditions. Sadly, getting this super-nutritious fruit in a local supermarket is something impossible these days. Though, you can simply attain the associated benefits by using the fruit in form of flash freezing, by the name of ACAI BERRY PILLS. The product is hundred percent natural and by no mean, causes or instigates side effects. Using acai berry pills is the safest and natural mean to advantage from acai berry, the fruit.

The present invention relates generally to filtering devices used when an interventional procedure is being performed in a stenosed or occluded region of a body vessel to capture embolic material that may be created and released into the vessel during the procedure. The present invention is more particularly directed to an embolic filtering device made with an expandable cage possessing good flexibility and bendability, which allows the embolic filtering device to be readily deployed in a bend in a body lumen of a patient. Numerous procedures have been developed for treating occluded blood vessels to allow blood to flow without obstruction. Such procedures usually involve the percutaneous introduction of an interventional device into the lumen of the artery, usually by a catheter. One widely known and medically accepted procedure is balloon angioplasty in which an inflatable balloon is introduced within the stenosed region of the blood vessel to dilate the occluded vessel. The balloon dilatation catheter is initially inserted into the patient's arterial system and is advanced and manipulated into the area of stenosis in the artery. The balloon is inflated to compress the plaque and press the vessel wall radially outward to increase the diameter of the blood vessel, resulting in increased blood flow. The balloon is then deflated to a small profile so that the dilatation catheter can be withdrawn from the patient's vasculature and the blood flow resumed through the dilated artery. As should be appreciated by those skilled in the art, while the above-described procedure is typical, it is not the only method used in angioplasty. Another procedure is laser angioplasty which utilizes a laser to ablate the stenosis by super heating and vaporizing the deposited plaque. Atherectomy is yet another method of treating a stenosed body vessel in which cutting blades are rotated to shave the deposited plaque from the arterial wall. A vacuum catheter is usually used to capture the shaved plaque or thrombus from the blood stream during this procedure. In the procedures of the kind referenced above, abrupt reclosure may occur or restenosis of the artery may develop over time, which may require another angioplasty procedure, a surgical bypass operation, or some other method of repairing or strengthening the area. To reduce the likelihood of the occurrence of abrupt reclosure and to strengthen the area, a physician can implant an intravascular prosthesis for maintaining vascular patency, commonly known as a stent, inside the artery across the lesion. The stent can be crimped tightly onto the balloon portion of the catheter and transported in its delivery diameter through the patient's vasculature. At the deployment site, the stent is expanded to a larger diameter, often by inflating the balloon portion of the catheter. When any of the above-described procedures are performed in the carotid arteries, the release of emboli into the circulatory system can be extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal to the patient. Debris carried by the bloodstream to distal vessels of the brain can cause cerebral vessels to occlude, resulting in a stroke, and in some cases, death. Therefore, although cerebral percutaneous transluminal angioplasty has been performed in the past, the number of procedures performed has been somewhat limited due to the justifiable fear of an embolic stroke occuring should embolic debris enter the bloodstream and block vital downstream blood passages. Medical devices have been developed to attempt to deal with the problem created when debris or fragments enter the circulatory system following vessel treatment utilizing any one of the above-identified procedures. One approach which has been attempted is the cutting of any debris into minute sizes which pose little chance of becoming occluded in major vessels within the patient's vasculature. However, it is often difficult to control the size of the fragments which are formed, and the potential risk of vessel occlusion still exists, making such a procedure in the carotid arteries a high-risk proposition. Other techniques include the use of catheters with a vacuum source which provides temporary suction to remove embolic debris from the bloodstream. However, as mentioned above, there can be complications associated with such systems if the vacuum catheter does not remove all of the embolic material from the bloodstream. Also, a powerful suction could cause trauma to the patient's vasculature. Another technique which has had some success utilizes a filter or trap downstream from the treatment site to capture embolic debris before it reaches the smaller blood vessels downstream. The placement of a filter in the patient's vasculature during treatment of the vascular lesion can reduce the presence of the embolic debris in the bloodstream. Such embolic filters are usually delivered in a collapsed position through the patient's vasculature and then expanded to trap the embolic debris. Some of these embolic filters are self expanding and utilize a restraining sheath which maintains the expandable filter in a collapsed position until it is ready to be expanded within the patient's vasculature. The physician can retract the proximal end of the restraining sheath to expose the expandable filter, causing the filter to expand at the desired location. Once the procedure is completed, the filter can be collapsed, and the filter (with the trapped embolic debris) can then be removed from the vessel. While a filter can be effective in capturing embolic material, the filter still needs to be collapsed and removed from the vessel. During this step, there is a possibility that trapped embolic debris can backflow through the inlet opening of the filter and enter the bloodstream as the filtering system is being collapsed and removed from the patient. Therefore, it is important that any captured embolic debris remain trapped within this filter so that particles are not released back into the body vessel. Some prior art expandable filters vessel are attached to the distal end of a guide wire or guide wire-like member which allows the filtering device to be steered in the patient's vasculature as the guide wire is positioned by the physician. Once the guide wire is in proper position in the vasculature, the embolic filter can be deployed to capture embolic debris. The guide wire can then be used by the physician to deliver interventional devices, such as a balloon angioplasty dilatation catheter or a stent delivery catheter, to perform the interventional procedure in the area of treatment. After the procedure is completed, a recovery sheath can be delivered over the guide wire using over-the-wire techniques to collapse the expanded filter for removal from the patient's vasculature. When a combination of an expandable filter and guide wire is utilized, it is important that the expandable filter portion remains flexible in order to negotiate the often tortuous anatomy through which it is being delivered. An expandable filter which is too stiff could prevent the device from reaching the desired deployment position within the patient's vasculature. As a result, there is a need to increase the flexibility of the expandable filter without compromising its structural integrity once in position within the patient's body vessel. Also, while it is beneficial if the area of treatment is located in a substantially straight portion of the patient's vasculature, sometimes the area of treatment is at a curved portion of the body vessel which can be problematic to the physician when implanting the expandable filter. If the expandable filter portion is too stiff, it is possible that the filter may not fully deploy within the curved portion of the body vessel. As a result, gaps between the filter and vessel wall can be formed which may permit some embolic debris to pass therethrough. Therefore, the filtering device should be sufficiently flexible to be deployed in, and to conform to, a tortuous section of the patient's vasculature, when needed. Expandable filters can be provided with some increased flexibility by forming the struts of the filter assembly from relatively thin material. However, the use of thin material often can reduce the radiopacity of the expandable filter, often making it difficult for the physician to see the filter under fluoroscopy during deployment. Conversely, the use of thicker materials, which can promote radiopacity of the expandable filter, usually reduces its flexibility, which may impair the deliverability of the expandable filter within the patient. What has been needed is an expandable filter assembly having high flexibility and bendability with sufficient strength and radiopacity to be successfully deployed within a patient's vasculature to collect embolic debris which may be released into the patient's vasculature. The present invention provides a highly flexible cage (also referred to as a “basket”) for use with an embolic filtering device designed to capture embolic debris created during the performance of a therapeutic interventional procedure, such as a balloon angioplasty or stenting procedure, in a body vessel. The present invention provides the physician with an embolic filtering device having high flexibility to be steered through tortuous anatomy, but yet possessing sufficient strength to hold open a filtering element against the wall of the body vessel for capturing embolic debris. An embolic filtering device made in accordance with the present invention is relatively easy to deploy, has good visibility under fluoroscopy, and has good flexibility and is conformable to the patient's anatomy. An expandable cage made in accordance with the present invention from a self-expanding material, for example, nickel titanium (NiTi) or spring steel, and includes a number of outwardly extending struts capable of expanding from a collapsed position having a first delivery diameter to an expanded or deployed position having a second implanted diameter. A filter element made from an embolic-capturing material is attached to the expandable cage to move between a collapsed position and a deployed position. The struts of the cage can be set to remain in the expanded, deployed position until an external force is placed over the struts to collapse and move the struts to the collapsed position. One way of accomplishing this is through the use of a restraining sheath, for example, which can be placed over the filtering device in a coaxial fashion to contact the cage and move the cage into the collapsed position. The embolic filtering device can be placed in the patient's vasculature and remain there for a period of time. The filtering device can be attached to the distal end of an elongated member, such as a guide wire, for temporary placement in the vasculature to capture emboli created during an interventional procedure. A guide wire may be used in conjunction with the filtering device when embolic debris is to be filtered during an interventional procedure. In this manner, the guide wire and filtering assembly, with the restraining sheath placed over the filter assembly, can be placed into the patient's vasculature. Once the physician properly manipulates the guide wire into the target area, the restraining sheath can be retracted to deploy the basket into the expanded position. This can be easily performed by the physician by simply retracting the proximal end of the restraining sheath (located outside of the patient). Once the restraining sheath is retracted, the self-expanding properties of the cage cause each strut to move in a outward, radial fashion away from the guide wire to contact the wall of the body vessel. As the struts expand radially, so does the filter element which will now be maintained in place to collect embolic debris that may be released into the bloodstream as the physician performs the interventional procedure. The guide wire can then be used by the physician to deliver the necessary interventional device into the area of treatment. The deployed filter element captures embolic debris created and released into the body vessel during the interventional procedure. In one aspect of the present invention, the enhanced flexibility and bendability of the embolic filtering device is achieved through the utilization of a unique cage design having a highly flexible and conformable circumferential member which is adapted to expand and conform to the size and shape of the body vessel. The expandable cage further includes at least one proximal strut having an end connected to a guide wire and the other end attached to the circumferential member. At least one distal strut is attached to the circumferential member and has its other end attached to the guide wire. The filter element is attached to the circumferential member and will open and close as the expandable cage moves between its expanded, deployed position and its unexpanded, delivery position. The circumferential member is self-expanding and is made from a highly flexible material which allows it to conform to the particular size and shape of the body vessel. This high flexibility and conformability of the circumferential member allows it to deployed in curved sections of the patient's anatomy and other eccentric vessel locations having non-circular shaped lumens. This allows an embolic filtering device made in accordance with the present invention to be deployed in locations in the patient's anatomy which might not be otherwise suitable for stiffer filtering devices. Moreover, due to the high flexibility and conformability of the circumferential member, an embolic filtering device made in accordance with present invention is less likely to create gaps between the filtering element and the wall of the vessel once deployed in the lumen. Therefore, the potential release of embolic debris past the deployed filter can be reduced. In another aspect of the present invention, bending regions formed on the circumferential member help to actuate the circumferential member between its unexpanded and expanded positions. In one aspect of the present invention, these bending regions are substantially U-shaped bends formed on the circumferential member at various locations along the member. While the circumferential member itself is self-expanding and capable of moving between these positions, the bending regions further enhance the actuation of the circumferential member between these positions. In one particular aspect of the present invention, the proximal strut is attached directly to this bending region. Likewise, a distal strut can be attached to a second bend section. In this fashion, a highly bendable and conformable cage can be produced which should conform to the particular shape of the body vessel once deployed. In other aspects of the present invention, a pair of circumferential members can be utilized to create the expandable cage which maintains a high degree of bendability and conformability, but yet is sufficiently rigid enough to maintain the filtering element in an expanded position once the filtering device is fully deployed. Still other aspects of the present invention utilize a pair of proximal struts and a pair of distal struts to form a larger expandable cage which still retains good bendability and conformability, yet possesses sufficiently radial strength when deployed to maintain proper wall apposition between the filter element and the body vessel. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited by the embodiments described herein. The present invention can be used in arteries, veins, and other body vessels. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying exemplary drawings. Turning now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like or corresponding elements in the drawings, An obturator 32 affixed to the distal end of the filter assembly 32 can be implemented to prevent possible “snowplowing” of the embolic filtering device as it is being delivered through the vasculature. The obturator can be made from a soft polymeric material, such as Pebax 40D, and has a smooth surface to help the embolic filtering device travel through the vasculature and cross lesions while preventing the distal end of the restraining sheath 30 from “digging” or “snowplowing” into the wall of the body vessel. Referring now to The cage 24 includes self-expanding struts which, upon release from the restraining sheath 30, expand the filter element 26 into its deployed position within the artery ( Referring again to As can be seen in Each of the bending regions is substantially U-shaped which help to create a natural bending point on the circumferential member. While the flexibility of the circumferential members is already high, these bending regions only help to increase the ability of the circumferential member to collapse or expand when needed. In this manner, the shape of the hinge regions creates a natural hinge that helps to actuate the expandable cage between the unexpanded and expanded positions. As can be best seen in The shape of the bending regions are shown as substantially U-shaped portions, however, any one of a number of different shapes could also be utilized to create a natural bending point on the circumferential member. For example, a V-shaped region could also be formed and would function similarly to a U-shaped portion to facilitate the collapse and expansion of the circumferential member as needed. Alternative shapes and sizes of the bending regions also could be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Although four bending regions are shown on each circumferential member, it should be appreciated that the number of different bending regions could be increased or decreased as needed. For example, it is possible to utilize only two bending regions, as is shown in the embodiment of the expandable cage of The expandable cage 24 of The expandable cage is shown in Referring now to Referring now to Referring now to The expandable cage 94 includes a pair of circumferential members 102 and 104 which are connected together by connecting struts 106. This particular embodiment utilizes a single proximal strut 108 and a single distal strut which extends from the second circumferential member 104 to the obturator 112. A distal coil tip 114 extends distally from the obturator 112 and is utilized by the physician to steer the device into the desired body lumen. The circumferential members 102 and 104 of this particular expandable cage 94 includes only a pair of bending regions 114 and 116 although it is still possible to utilize other bending regions along the circumferential member if desired. As a result, the use of a single proximal strut 108 minimizes the surface area of struts placed in front of the opening of the filter assembly 92 thus minimizing the chances that emboli could collect on strut areas rather than being forced into the filter member 96. The use of a single distal strut also allows the device to be more flexible in the distal area where flexibility is needed when negotiating tortuous anatomy. It should be appreciated that a single circumferential member could be used in accordance with the present embodiment or additional circumferential members could be utilized to create a longer filtering assembly if desired. The proximal strut 108 includes one end 118 which is attached to a collar 120 that is rotatably mounted onto the distal end of the guide wire 100. A pair of stop fittings 122 and 124 maintain the collar 120 rotatably mounted to the distal end of the guide wire 100. The other end 126 of the proximal strut 108 is in turn attached to the bending region 114 located on the proximal circumferential member 102. The distal strut 110 includes one end 128 which is attached to the bending region 116 of the second circumferential member 104 with the other end 130 attached to the obturator 112. Referring now to The expandable cage of the present invention can be made in many ways. One particular method of making the cage is to cut a thin-walled tubular member, such as nickel-titanium hypotube, to remove portions of the tubing in the desired pattern for each strut, leaving relatively untouched the portions of the tubing which are to form each strut. The tubing may be cut into the desired pattern by means of a machine-controlled laser. The tubing used to make the cage could possible be made of suitable biocompatible material such as spring steel. Elgiloy is another material which could possibly be used to manufacture the cage. Also, very elastic polymers possibly could be used to manufacture the cage. The strut size is often very small, so the tubing from which the cage is made may have a small diameter. Typically, the tubing has an outer diameter on the order of about 0.020–0.040 inches in the unexpanded condition. Also, the cage can be cut from large diameter tubing. Fittings are attached to both ends of the lased tube to form the final cage geometry. The wall thickness of the tubing is usually about 0.076 mm (0.001–0.006 inches). As can be appreciated, the strut width and/or depth at the bending points will be less. For cages deployed in body lumens, such as PTA applications, the dimensions of the tubing may be correspondingly larger. While it is preferred that the cage be made from laser cut tubing, those skilled in the art will realize that the cage can be laser cut from a flat sheet and then rolled up in a cylindrical configuration with the longitudinal edges welded to form a cylindrical member. Generally, the tubing is put in a rotatable collet fixture of a machine-controlled apparatus for positioning the tubing relative to a laser. According to machine-encoded instructions, the tubing is then rotated and moved longitudinally relative to the laser which is also machine-controlled. The laser selectively removes the material from the tubing by ablation and a pattern is cut into the tube. The tube is therefore cut into the discrete pattern of the finished struts. The cage can be laser cut much like a stent is laser cut. Details on how the tubing can be cut by a laser are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,192 (Saunders), U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,807 (Saunders) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,266 (Saunders) which have been assigned to Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. The process of cutting a pattern for the strut assembly into the tubing generally is automated except for loading and unloading the length of tubing. For example, a pattern can be cut in tubing using a CNC-opposing collet fixture for axial rotation of the length of tubing, in conjunction with CNC X/Y table to move the length of tubing axially relative to a machine-controlled laser as described. The entire space between collets can be patterned using the CO2 or Nd:YAG laser set-up. The program for control of the apparatus is dependent on the particular configuration used and the pattern to be ablated in the coding. A suitable composition of nickel-titanium which can be used to manufacture the strut assembly of the present invention is approximately 55% nickel and 45% titanium (by weight) with trace amounts of other elements making up about 0.5% of the composition. The austenite transformation temperature is between about 0° C. and 20° C. in order to achieve superelasticity at human body temperature. The austenite temperature is measured by the bend and free recovery tangent method. The upper plateau strength is about a minimum of 60,000 psi with an ultimate tensile strength of a minimum of about 155,000 psi. The permanent set (after applying 8% strain and unloading), is less than approximately 0.5%. The breaking elongation is a minimum of 10%. It should be appreciated that other compositions of nickel-titanium can be utilized, as can other self-expanding alloys, to obtain the same features of a self-expanding cage made in accordance with the present invention. In one example, the cage of the present invention can be laser cut from a tube of nickel-titanium (Nitinol) whose transformation temperature is below body temperature. After the strut pattern is cut into the hypotube, the tubing is expanded and heat treated to be stable at the desired final diameter. The heat treatment also controls the transformation temperature of the cage such that it is super elastic at body temperature. The transformation temperature is at or below body temperature so that the cage is superelastic at body temperature. The cage is usually implanted into the target vessel which is smaller than the diameter of the cage in the expanded position so that the struts of the cage apply a force to the vessel wall to maintain the cage in its expanded position. It should be appreciated that the cage can be made from either superelastic, stress-induced martensite NiTi or shape-memory NiTi. The cage could also be manufactured by laser cutting a large diameter tubing of nickel-titanium which would create the cage in its expanded position. Thereafter, the formed cage could be placed in its unexpanded position by backloading the cage into a restraining sheath which will keep the device in the unexpanded position until it is ready for use. If the cage is formed in this manner, there would be no need to heat treat the tubing to achieve the final desired diameter. This process of forming the cage could be implemented when using superelastic or linear-elastic nickel-titanium. The struts forming the proximal struts can be made from the same or a different material than the distal struts. In this manner, more or less flexibility for the proximal struts can be obtained. When a different material is utilized for the struts of the proximal struts, the distal struts can be manufactured through the lazing process described above with the proximal struts being formed separately and attached. Suitable fastening means such as adhesive bonding, brazing, soldering, welding and the like can be utilized in order to connect the struts to the distal assembly. Suitable materials for the struts include superelastic materials, such as nickel-titanium, spring steel, Elgiloy, along with polymeric materials which are sufficiently flexible and bendable. The connecting struts utilized to connect one or more circumferential members together are shown generally as straight segments. However, it is possible to utilize non-linear shapes and sizes which may provide additional flexibility and bendability within the patient's anatomy. Additionally, it is possible to make these connecting struts out of materials which are different from the rest of the expandable cage to further increase flexibility if needed. For example, the connecting strut could be made in an S-shape which may provide additional flexibility in certain curved locations in the patient's anatomy. Moreover, the size and width of the strut could be varied from the remaining strut widths and thicknesses in order to promote additional flexibility. In a similar fashion, the bending regions formed on the circumferential members could also be formed with thinner and narrower strut widths than the remaining elements of the cage in order to enhance flexibility at these bending regions. The polymeric material which can be utilized to create the filtering element include, but is not limited to, polyurethane and Gortex, a commercially available material. Other possible suitable materials include ePTFE. The material can be elastic or non-elastic. The wall thickness of the filtering element can be about 0.00050–0.0050 inches. The wall thickness may vary depending on the particular material selected. The material can be made into a cone or similarly sized shape utilizing blow-mold technology or dip technology. The openings can be any different shape or size. A laser, a heated rod or other process can be utilized to create to perfusion openings in the filter material. The holes, would of course be properly sized to catch the particular size of embolic debris of interest. Holes can be lazed in a spinal pattern with some similar pattern which will aid in the re-wrapping of the media during closure of the device. Additionally, the filter material can have a “set” put in it much like the “set” used in dilatation balloons to make the filter element rewrap more easily when placed in the collapsed position. The materials which can be utilized for the restraining sheath can be made from polymeric material such as cross-linked HDPE. This sheath can alternatively be made from a material such as polyolifin which has sufficient strength to hold the compressed strut assembly and has relatively low frictional characteristics to minimize any friction between the filtering assembly and the sheath. 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Chomas||Flow Directional Infusion Device| |US20160151182 *||3 Abr 2014||2 Jun 2016||Sanford Health||Anchoring Guidewire and Methods for Use| |Clasificación de EE.UU.||606/200, 604/96.01| |Clasificación internacional||A61M29/00, A61F2/01| |Clasificación cooperativa||A61F2002/018, A61F2230/0006, A61F2230/0008, A61F2/013, A61F2230/008| |22 Feb 2002||AS||Assignment| Owner name: ADVANCED CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS, INC., CALIFORNIA Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:BOYLE, WILLIAM J.;HUTER, SCOTT J.;HUTER, BENJAMIN C.;ANDOTHERS;REEL/FRAME:012617/0719;SIGNING DATES FROM 20020125 TO 20020130 |13 Nov 2007||CC||Certificate of correction| |28 Dic 2010||FPAY||Fee payment| Year of fee payment: 4 |27 Abr 2011||AS||Assignment| Owner name: ABBOTT CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS INC., CALIFORNIA Free format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:ADVANCED CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS, INC.;REEL/FRAME:026188/0579 Effective date: 20070209 |29 Dic 2014||FPAY||Fee payment| Year of fee payment: 8

Kiss Controller is a game input device that controls the direction and speed of a bowling ball while users are kissing. Recently, with the improvement of camera capabilities and related tracking systems, game input systems such as Nintendo Wii controllers or Microsoft Kinect games are incorporating more body positions and movements. Kiss Controller is an experimental project that allows users to control a bowling game by moving their tongues while kissing. Unlike existing game input devices, Kiss Controller seeks to generate the emotional experience of a kinetic act while users play the game rather than control games with their body. The Kiss Controller interface has two components: a customized headset that functions as a sensor receiver and a magnet that provides sensor input. The user affixes a magnet to his/ her tongue with Fixodent. Magnetic field sensors are attached to the end of the headset and positioned in front of the mouth. As the user moves her tongue, this creates varying magnetic fields that are used to control games. We demonstrate the Kiss Controller bowling game. One person has a magnet on his/her tongue and the other person wears the headset. While they kiss, the person who has the magnet on his/her tongue, controls the direction and speed of the bowling ball for 20 seconds. The goals of this game are to guide the ball so that it maintains an average position in the center of the alley and to increase the speed of the ball by moving the tongue faster while kissing. Kissing is an intimate behavior that can be developed into a game device. It has not yet been proposed in the game industry. Kiss Controller shows how the human tongue can be used to control a game and how people can become creatively involved in a game. Hye Yeon Nam and Sam Mendenhall

1. Bartending and waitressing 2. Housekeeping and cleaning 3. Health care 4. Hair styling |Construction workers are often exposed| to chemicals, particles and asbestos. And the list continues: Workers who demolish old buildings or do remodeling can be exposed to asbestos used as insulation around pipes or in floor tiles. Even minimal exposure to its microscopic fibers has been linked to a variety of problems. One is mesothelioma, a form of cancer, Von Essen says. Exposure also seems to raise the risk of small-cell lung cancer and can lead to asbestosis, or scarring of the lung. Removal should be left to trained and licensed crews. "Know where the asbestos is," Von Essen says. "Follow all the rules and don't take chances." Working with crops and animals can lead to several disorders. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is a rare but serious problem caused by repeated exposures to mold-contaminated grain or hay. The lung's air sacs become inflamed and may develop scar tissue. Grain in metal bins can get moldy. Breathing dust from this grain can lead to fevers, chills, and a flu-like illness called "organic dust toxic syndrome." Farmers also are more likely to report a cough and chest tightness. "We think about 30% of farmers who grow crops in this way have had that at some point," Von Essen says. Workers in hog and chicken barns sometimes get an asthma-like syndrome. "Dust and ammonia levels together seem to be risk factors," she says. Keep grain from getting damp, ensure adequate ventilation, and wear a respirator. 8. Auto Body Spray Painting People who work in auto body shops are often exposed to chemicals known as isocyanates. They're a significant cause of occupational asthma. "It's frequently a career-ending disease where they need to leave their profession," Harber says. |The right protective equipment may| alleviate some of the risks. People who battle blazes are exposed not only to the fire, but also to other materials, including burning plastics and chemicals. Firefighters can significantly lower their risk of lung disease and other problems by using a "self-contained breathing apparatus" (SCBA). These devices should also be used during "mop up" or the clean-up period. "Many of the chemicals are still in the air," Harber says. Ventilation also is critical. 10. Coal Mining Underground miners are at risk for everything from bronchitis to pneumoconiosis, or "black lung." It's a chronic condition caused by inhaling coal dust that becomes embedded in the lungs, causing them to harden and make breathing very hard. "This can cause progressive massive fibrosis and can kill people," Von Essen says. Again, protective equipment can limit the amount of dust inhaled.

Ambitious compendium of India A book on contemporary India comes with a French flavour, unlike that of Anglo-American scholarship No one is likely to dispute the author's claim that India since 1950 is an ‘ambitious book', both in terms of its thematic reach and scholarly participation. It seeks to cover almost every aspect of post-colonial India: political history, foreign policy, economic trajectory, social and demographic dynamics, cultural diversity and artistic achievements as well as media developments. Narrating the diverse dimensions of these developments of a vast country like India is not an easy task. Christophe Jaffrelot has tried to accomplish this near-impossible task through the compilation of essays written by a large number of scholars, teaching or researching in France, which imparts to this volume a flavour different from the usual Anglo-American scholarship. Apart from a brief introduction and the conclusion there are 37 essays in the volume grouped together in four parts. The first part deals with ‘Politics and Economy', the second with ‘The Indian Union and the Political Administration of its diversity', the third with ‘The Indian People: Class, Caste and Communities' and the final part with the ‘ Media and the Arts'. Each part is prefaced by a very concise statement about its content. A distinguishing feature of this collection is the equal attention it pays to ‘politics, including public policies in the economic domain, society, analysed from an anthropological point of view and culture, designating religion and language as well as artistic traditions'. An unusual, but extremely welcome, part is on the dynamics of culture, which provides a fullness generally missing in such works. Each of these essays forms a part of the larger story of India's struggle to create a secular and democratic nation. Influence of Orientalism For a long time western scholarship on India, trapped in the influence of Orientalism, has been obsessed with the unchanging character of Indian society. The influence of this tradition was believed to be so strong that the ability of India to develop modern political institutions and achieve economic development was in doubt. Consequently it was argued that India had ‘ dangerous decades' ahead of it, which was likely to impact adversely upon the working of the democratic polity and secular institutions adopted by the Indian Constitution. History has disproved these assumptions and, as the editor of this volume rightly observes, India has obviously ‘frustrated these pessimistic predictions', despite several twists and turns in its polity and economy during the last sixty three years. Indian democracy managed to overcome the challenge posed by the Emergency imposed during 1975-77 and also outlived the threat of Hindu fundamentalism. At the root of this success was the strength of the ‘Indian path' which sought national reconstruction in which ‘all the communities, linguistic as well as religious, were called upon to live together in one secular Indian Union', based on the notion of composite culture. The Indian path did not witness any ‘revolutionary breaks, but only inflections' and as a result India did not ‘break with its history through violent ruptures', instead only piled up ‘ evolutionary transformations'. Nevertheless, neither democracy nor secularism has lived up to their potential by extending economic and cultural equality to the minorities and the marginalised. The former lived under discriminatory conditions, particularly in BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Karnataka and the latter constantly faced economic and social deprivation. The bulk of the contribution on these dimensions is by Jaffrelot himself, whose earlier works had covered the rise of Hindu nationalism and lower caste movements. A major consequence of the Indian path is that it paved the way for the growth of a capitalist order, leading to the increasing incidence of inequality, particularly after liberalisation. In the summing up the editor points out that ‘Economic liberalisation has enabled those who had some capital — intellectual, social or financial — to make it fructify, whereas others have lagged behind. Ten years after liberalisation in 1991, 70 per cent of the Indian population was still living with less than 90,000 rupees a year, but during the same period, the number of those who earned more than one million a year has increased from 2, 68,000 to 8, 07,000. These nouveaux riches have introduced a new life style in Indian cities where ‘golden ghettoes' have developed with their private schools, private hospitals and shopping malls. The modernisation of India, which is being attempted with the support of global capital, excludes overwhelming majority of people from its benefits. It is to the credit of this volume that it clearly highlights this increasing disparity.

Side Effects of Some Herbs by: Joe Hing Kwok Chu 看中文請按 各藥名聯線 For Latin botanical names and explanations , click on the the individual herbs in Pinyin names. use caution in case of yin deficiency orheat in blood. The effective ingredient is the volatile oil and it is the toxic ingredient which can cause inflammation of the skin mucus. When taken orally can cause irritation of the of the digestive tract. After absolving, it can arrive at the liver and can obstruct the metabolism of the liver and can cause jaundice type of hepatitis. Its effect toward the central nervous system is prominent. In toxic reaction, the central nervous system becomes over active and can induce seizure. Because of the changes of the reflex of the nerves, it can damage the walls of blood vessels and causes hyperemia (increase of blood flow to the part of body) of the uterus and causes bleeding. Toxic range is 20 ~ 30 g if taken orally. da hui xiang side effects may include dizziness, vomiting, speech impairment, pale complexion, eye balls rolling back intermittently, spasm in limbs, neck arching backward symptoms of digestive systems and of the nervous system. Headache, insomnia, anxious, itchiness, hiccups, blood pressure going up, pale, purple lips, spasm in the limbs, rapid breathing, heart exhaustion and even death has been reported. An ingredient, eleutherosides are related to digitalis glycosides, such as digoxin, and may have an additive effect with digoxin. The concurrent use of digitalis glycosides and ren shen (ginseng) may increase serum levels of digoxin and possible digitalis glycoside toxicity. may cause bleeding, contains blood thinning ingredients Irritation of the mucus of the mouth, the nose and the eyes. Over dose my cause respiratory arrest. Allergic reaction: dizziness, throat feels swollen and obstructed, heaviness in chest, itchiness and rash. ma qian zi Toxic reaction: mild reactions include mild spasm in the limbs, drunken feeling, frighten. Nervous system symptoms include face, jaw, & back muscle spasm, opisthotonus, blue lips. Circulation system symptoms: : palpitation, blue lips, short of breath and heart failure. Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, headache, dizziness, salivating, whole body numbness, slow heart rate , increase of blood pressure and rate of breathing, reflexes become stronger, spasm. If it is serious, the breathing become slower and may result in coma. guan mu tong The toxic variety is called guan mu tong. 95% of mu tong sold in China today, is toxic. Acute kidney exhaustion: lack of urine, protein or blood in urine, hypertension, nausea, lack of appetite and itchiness. Drop in platelet count, bleeding, & anemic. Do not exceed established dosage of 3 to 6 g per day. qing u xiang Allergic reaction: mild abdominal pain, itchiness, tightness in chest area, and diarrhea. qian nian jian Dizziness, nausea, vomiting, whole body spasm, foaming in the mouth, coma, opisthotonus. san qi 三 七 (tian qi) 田七 Face and eyes becomes red and swollen. Numbness in the limbs, dizziness, heaviness in the chest, palpitation, sweating, nausea, arrhythmia shan ci gu Frequent vomiting, intensive pain in the abdomen, diarrhea, bleeding of the digestive tract, dehydration, acidosis, shock, anxious, coma, lack of urine. It might cause death in serious cases shan dou gen Affects central nervous system and vegetation nervous system: headache, nausea, vomiting, stomach ache, sweating, dropping of blood pressure, difficulty in breathing, anxious, delirium, spasm, coma, and death caused by breathing exhaustion Allergic reaction: rash, or local or whole body swelling, nose bleeding, dry skin, and dizziness. tian nan xing Eating raw tian nan xing causes serious damage of mucus area, swollen tongue, numbness in mouth and tongue, and speech and memory impairment wu jia pi wine are often made with "northern wu jia pi" which is toxic. Toxic reaction: blindness, numbness in limbs, dizziness and headache wu wei zi Toxic in stomach area: burning sensation in solar plexus area, lack of appetite. Allergic reaction: exanthema type of rash and itchiness. Toxic to the kidneys: large dosages or long term usage is toxic to the kidneys Opisthotonus : a form of spasm in which head, neck and spine are arched backwards . Exanthema: acute rash of young children. 幼兒急疹 See herbs that can cause skin allergy. 按此看能致皮膚敏感的藥物。 Also see Toxicity of Herbs 按此看對腎臟有毒的藥物.

Day The Dinosaurs Died continued 1922, a convoy of automobiles was making its way across the desert plains of Outer Mongolia. They stopped at the sudden sight of spectacular cliffs that shot up from the desert floor. The cars were filled with scientists sent by the American Museum of Natural History. Part of the Central Asiatic Expeditions, these men were engaged in a large natural history survey of the Gobi Desert. This 1922 American Museum Expedition made an electrifying discovery of more than seventy unhatched dinosaur eggs! Also, thousands of fragments of eggshells were discovered. This in addition to skeletons that represent all stages of growth from newly hatched baby dinosaurs to full grown adults. Since then, Russian and Chinese workers have found more of the eight-inch-long So remarkable was this series of dinosaur eggs, that a few of them even show traces of EMBRYONIC BONE! Most, however, were completely filled with sand. Puzzle of Fossil Eggs eggs have also been discovered in Mongolia, France, Montana, and Brazil. In Portugal an egg was discovered in rocks classified by geologists as Jurassic along with bones of dinosaurs. Others have been unearthed in East Africa. But how, you might ask, could FULLY PRESERVED dinosaur eggs be discovered the world over? If you are puzzled by this, so are the paleontologists. Some of the dinosaur eggs never hatched. What prevented their development as they lay buried in their sandy crypts is a PUZZLE, all we know is that no little dinosaurs came out of the eggs in a few of the Mongolian eggs traces of fossilized embryonic bone, and indication that development had at least gone on for some time before the hatching of the eggs was INTERRUPTED (Dinosaurs, Edwin Colbert, pp. 216, 217). What interrupted the hatching? The answer is very revealing and explains how the dinosaurs were killed. lets notice the conditions under which the dinosaur eggs of Mongolia were preserved. One of the actual discoverers wrote this interesting account. Our real thrill came on the second day, when George that he was sure he had found fossil eggs These eggs were in a GREAT DEPOSIT FULL OF DINOSUAR SKELETONS and containing, so far as we could discover, no remains of other animals or of birds the deposit was unbelievably rich. Seventy-five skulls and skeletons were discovered, SOME OF THEM ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. Obviously the Flaming Cliffs were a region of great concentration of dinosaurs during the breeding season (On the Trial of Ancient Man, Roy Chapman Andrews, pp. 228-231). How does one explain all this--on the basis of slow evolutionary burial over thousands of years? One must account for several factors. First, there was a great profusion of dinosaur bones here--as though another one of those local catastrophes overwhelmed them. The specimens were in a very fine state of preservation. The words absolutely perfect were used of some of the bones. The burial must have been fairly rapid. Then there is the problem of dinosaur eggs. What stopped the embryo from developing? A small sandstorm wouldnt. The large dinosaurs would not have been trapped in such a storm. Yet, a catastrophic burial and accompanying temperature change WOULD HALT the development of the embryo. The only answer is obvious. Remember, the author told us there was a great concentration of dinosaurs. Catastrophes of various dimensions overwhelmed, killed and buried the dinosaurs and the eggs. The embryos ceased to develop, most of the eggs were smashed--but a few being already buried in sand, survived. They survived as a witness that a catastrophe indeed did occur in the region of Mongolia as part of a worldwide pattern of violence and Remarkable Dinosaur Footprints intriguing type of dinosaur fossil--if we can call it that--is Such tracks are worldwide in extent. They are found in western North America and in New England. In the latter, the tracks have been commercially quarried and sold to tourists. Dinosaur tracks are also found in South America, especially in Argentina. England also has them. And so has Basutoland, down in the southern part of Africa. In this out-of-the-way place, dinosaur tracks are quite abundant. The dinosaur hunters have also found tracks in such diverse places as Morocco, Portugal and Australia. Canada has not been neglected either. Dinosaur footprints are also found in British Columbia. As is quite clear, dinosaur tracks are rather common occurrences the world over. What many of these tracks seem to reveal is even more intriguing. Are they giving us a glimpse of the final moments in the lives of these great beasts--just before they were extinguished by a worldwide catastrophe? Made in Water Lets begin with the tracks in the Glen Rose Formation near the town of Glen Rose and Bandera, These great tracks must have been made in shallow water, says Edwin Colbert, for there are no traces of tail marks, which means that the tail was floating instead of dragging on the ground. Yet, the water was not deep enough to have reached the bellies of the animals that made them (Dinosaurs, Edwin Colbert, pp. 187, Next, let us skip to the Connecticut Valley in New England. The thousands of dinosaur tracks tell us a fascinating story. They reveal the activity of the dinosaurs in that ominous and distant past. Most of the tracks and trackways show us dinosaurs on the move, either walking or running. Some of them show that their makers came to sudden stops; some of them show how they slipped in the mud. At least one set of tracks, of Anomoepus show the dinosaur resting with all four feet and the belly on the ground. Many of the footprints are SUPERIMPOSED UPON RIPPLE MARKS, showing that the dinosaurs wandered across mud flats following the retreat of shallow waters; perhaps tidal water or perhaps high waters caused by heavy rainstorms (Dinosaurs, Edwin Colbert, pp. 185, 187). An amazing story indeed! It All Means But what do we see here? Lets add more factual material. Most dinosaur footprints would SEEM to have been made on mud flats, along the shores of lakes. The tracks are commonly associated with RIPPLE MARKS AND RAINDROP IMPRESSIONS, all preserved in stony immobility, yet in such vivid records of water and storms of the distant past there are seldom bony remains to be found (Dinosaurs, Edwin Colbert, pp. 181, 183). Most dinosaur footprints would SEEM to have been made on mud flats, along the shores of lakes. The tracks are commonly associated with RIPPLE MARKS AND RAINDROP IMPRESSIONS, all preserved in stony immobility, yet in such vivid records of water and storms of the distant past there are seldom bony remains to be found (Dinosaurs, Edwin Colbert, pp. 181, 183). Other footprints were made across surfaces broken into polygonal shapes-indication of mud cracks made by HEAT. This heat--whatever its source--would have baked the footprints into stony immobility. And why arent tracks and bones found together? Could intense heat have cremated the dinosaurs and preserved their footprints? Or was it because the dinosaurs themselves were FLOATED and carried by the same rising waters that preserved Read the following! You be the judge. or Floating Away-Which? of tracks often show several individuals of various sizes. Their tracks are deeply impressed and include drag-marks of the heavy tails. The tracks of the smaller individuals are shallower and show no tail drag-marks, as though the youngsters were HALF-AFLOAT as the herd made its way through the shallows. Another set of tracks, of a single individual, start off deeply impressed, as though the animal were UNSUPPORTED by water, and became less and less well-marked. They are finally reduced to the MEREST SCRATCHES, at greater intervals, in what was the bottom of the lake, showing that a big sauropod had ambled into the water, which had supported more and more of his weight as he got in deeper, until finally he was cruising along in a leisurely manner--or was he FRANTICALLY STRUGGLING to touch bottom, as water rose higher And was this dinosaur--along with thousands--CARRIED AWAY by the currents to far distant locations, to be buried in one of the innumerable fossil graveyards around the world? Someone might ask, But how were the tracks preserved in spite of the increasing waters? The answer depends on the area. One example is illustrated by footprints found Footprints in Arizona June, 1952, William Lee Stokes, well-known geologist was studying uranium deposits in Apache County, Arizona. He discovered a remarkable series of pterodactyl footprints in the Morrison These tracks clearly reveal how the tracks were preserved. The track-bearing unit is a 2- to 4- inch thick stratum of medium-grained, brownish gray sandstone it is ripple marked on the upper surface From the position of the tracks and the apparently unsteady gait of the pterodactyl, it is inferred that the creature was walking in moist to very moist sand. Above the tracks is a thin stratum of mudstone which covers and fills them. Evidently the conditions were such that the water ROSE VERY SLIGHTLY and under relatively quiet conditions deposited a mud layer which preserved the tracks from destruction (Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 31, No. 5, September, 1957, Pterodactyl Tracks from the Morrison Formation, William Lee Stokes, p. Swann Lull summarized the conditions under which the tracks and trackways in New England were laid down. This description reads like a scenario of DISASTER-in spite of the fact that he would interpret fossils in an EVOLUTIONARY Here is a portion of his description: There were laid down in a gradually deepening trough in the older rocks the GREAT ACCUMULATIONS OF GRAVELS, sands, and clays, interbedded with vast lava sheets [source of intense heat?], which constitute the sediments of the Newark systems Of the organic remains, those of vegetable origin consist of the impressions and casts of trunks of trees of such size as to indicate a STREAM OF NO MEAN TRANSPORTING here and there the vegetal remains were of sufficient abundance to lead to the production of black bituminous shale bands, formed during periods of accumulation of waters (Triassic Life of the Connecticut Valley, Richard Swann Lull, p. 24). Ancient Connecticut is clearly pictured as a disaster area! The cataclysm of water and lava was of such a magnitude as to literally erase life off the face of the old New to Face With Disasters paleontologists look they are faced with this certainty-DISASTER wiped out the dinosaurs. These disasters were worldwide. No sector of this globe escaped the tragedy. Neither is there evidence of transition from reptiles to mammals. Then, where did the living things of this present age come How did mammals come into existence? What about plant life? Modern fish? And man, himself? The geological record reveals a profound break between the reptilian life that was obliterated and the modern life of today. The new forms of life on this planet-mammals, the insects, the plants, the fishes, the birds, man--are different in most respects from the old. There is no evolutionary connection between the two. This is proof positive that mammals did NOT EVOLVE from reptiles. Between the two worlds is the geologic evidence that a worldwide catastrophe of astronomical--of inexplicable magnitude--ravaged our planet. But how--and WHY? Major Asteroid Impact Sites that are 65 Million - Place: present day village of Chicxulub, northern shore of Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico - Crater Size: approximately 180 kilometers wide - Asteroid Diameter: approximately 10 kilometers [6.25 miles] - Place: Arabian Sea off Bombay, western shore of India - Crater Size: approximately 600 kilometers wide and 12 - Asteroid Diameter: approximately 40 kilometers" [25 miles] From the department of Paleontology, National Museum of Natural under Dinosaur Extinction we get this quote: "The deep-sea core provides convincing support to the hypothesis that an asteroid collision devastated terrestrial and marine environments world-wide. It also shows a record of flourishing marine life before the event, followed by mass extinction "The impact blasted a 180 kilometer-wide (100 miles) crater many kilometers deep into the earth. The heat of impact sent a searing vapor cloud speeding northward which, within minutes, set the North American continent aflame. This fireball and the darkness that followed caused major plant extinctions in North America. Environmental consequences led to global extinction of many plants and animals, including the dinosaurs. Lingering airborne debris is believed to have triggered darkness and a decline in the global temperature, making Earth uninhabitable not only for dinosaurs but also for many other plants and animals..." (National Museum of Natural History). Giant Meteor Impact Geologist Walter Alvarez had done postdoctoral research in Italy, and was familiar with the Fish Clay sediments there. Interested in determining the span of time over which the clay sediments were deposited, he determined to analyze the sediments for trace elements left by accumulation of cosmic debris. This debris, coming in the form of micrometeorites which fall from the sky at a relatively uniform and predictable rate, contains unusual concentrations of certain platinum-group rare-earths, notably iridium, which are otherwise very rare in the Earth's crust. Alvarez collected samples of the Fish Clay, as well as samples of the chalk above and below the clay layer, at a location he knew of near Gubbio, Italy. "Working with his Nobel-prize winning physicist father, Luis Alvarez, at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley, he prepared the samples by dissolving out the calcium skeletons [CaCO3] with acid. This left equal concentrations of nearly pure clay for each sample. The samples were then subjected to neutron-activation bombardment. Analysis of the resulting neutron decay produced the expected iridium decay signature. For samples taken from the chalk above and below the clay layer, the measured iridium concentration was around 0.3 parts per billion: about the expected concentration for cosmic fallout. Iridium concentrations within the clay layer itself, however measured as high as 10 parts per billion, some 30 times higher than expected. "The Alvarezes then analyzed samples from a famous site in Denmark, known as Stevn's Klint, and found an iridium concentration even higher than the Gubbio samples: 65 ppb., some 200 times higher than expected. Other platinum-group rare earths known to occur in cosmic debris were also found to be similarly enriched. Similar "iridium spikes" have since been identified all over the world, wherever K/T boundary sediments have been One could argue that the "iridium spike" represented a period where the rate of clay deposition was drastically slowed, allowing more time for cosmic debris to accumulate." i.e. Certain paleontologists just didn't like where the evidence was pointing. Let's continue. "To account for the measured iridium concentrations, several million years would have had to elapse [at the normal cosmic fallout rate]. But the maximum time interval for accumulation of the clay layer was already bounded by other constraints." I.e. the time allowed for this clay deposit was as it appears, over a much shorter period of time. Let's go on with the quotes. "As the signature of rare-earths coincided with the concentration of known stony meteorites, an extraterrestrial origin for the iridium was postulated. Thus, in 1980, the Alvarez team published in Science magazine: "Extraterrestrial causes for Cretaceous-Tertiary extinctions," wherein they proposed that the impact of a giant meteor or asteroid, on the order of 10km in diameter, had caused the demise of the dinosaurs. "Additional evidence of a meteor impact was also discovered, in the form of 'microtektites,' small, spherical particles of molten ejecta with a distinctive fracture pattern. Microtektites are normally associated only with the most violent explosions, such as occur when a giant meteor strikes the Earth. Microtektites have been found at many, but not all, of the boundary clay deposits in various parts of the world." Wouldn't this point to perhaps even more than one giant meteor striking Earth? Keep that in mind as we view the evidence. The Giant Meteor Impact theory meets many of the criteria for a successful extinction theory, and its incredible popularity among the scientific community attests to its success. It satisfactorily explains the K/T mass extinction event, including why some species were extirpated while others survived Others survived? What criteria are they using to postulate that others survived? Simply this. If say a certain small mammal or lizard was found in Cretaceous fossil form that is similar to one found in today's living world, they assume this species survived. But there is no connective chain of fossil evidence in the rocks of such surviving species from the Cretaceous to the present flora and fauna we see around us today. If there were such evidence of an unbroken chain I'd like to see it. Winter"-- How Long Did It Last? predicted consequence of a giant meteor impact is that immense quantities of dust and aerosols would be thrown up into the atmosphere, darkening the sky for many months, blocking out the Sun and causing something like the "Nuclear Winter" scenario predicted as the aftermath of an all-out nuclear war. "Several months of darkness would wreak havoc on the photosynthesizing nannoplankton, many of which have only a one month or less " ("Dinosaur Giant Meteor Impact", prepared by Donald L. Blanchard, for the Morrison Natural History Museum). But what if the sun-blocking cloud layer were much greater, and remained for much longer, all caused by volcanic eruptions on the Indian continent which took place at this same time, more than likely triggered by the other major asteroid to hit the earth, over in the Bay of Bombay--a 40-kilometer-wide global-killer, creating the giant Shiva Crater, "Crater Size: approximately 600 kilometers long, 450 kilometers wide and 12 kilometers deep" (Joseph Michael Tucciarone, , ). Is there any indication that such a massive eruption of volcanic activity took place? And if so, for how long? Again, let's see what Donald L. Blanchard says about what occurred. "Now it is known that for about half a million years, spanning the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, ONE OF THE BIGGEST VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS OF ALL TIME WAS GOING ON, FORMING THE DECCAN TRAPS OF WESTERN INDIA" (ibid. Donald L. Blanchard). So it looks like the smoking gun is the asteroid that created the Shiva Crater in the Bay of Bombay and set off half a million years of volcanic activity, which would have significantly lengthened the "Nuclear Winter" created by the asteroid impacts. Let us continue with Donald Blanchard's article. "Collapse of the ocean's algae communities would similarly devastate the zooplankton, and all the animals that feed on them. This would lead to a complete collapse of the oceanic food chain, leading to the demise of such diverse groups as the ammonites and the mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. "On land, a protracted period of darkness would halt new production of plant growth, leading to the starvation of large herbivores that fed on them. Smaller animals such as the early mammals could probably hibernate through the dark period. Land plants, however, could regenerate from roots and/or seeds after the dust had cleared and normal daylight was restored (Donald L. Blanchard)." Oh really? We have half a million years of following two major meteor impacts, continually filling the skies with heavy volcanic ash. I think some evidence is being Are All Looking At the Same Evidence, But Are Paleontologists and Scientists in Agreement??? Meteor Impact theory also fails to explain the perceived gradual die-off of foraminiferans and dinosaurs. It postulates a very sudden die-off, striking down whole lineages of organisms in their prime " Isn't that what we've just witnessed throughout the evidence provided by the article "The Day the Dinosaurs Died"? Let's continue. " paleontologists reject this claim. While most of the scientific community heartily embraces the theory, the majority of paleontologists reject it. Many paleontologists are willing to believe that a meteor impact could have occurred, but don't accept that it caused the extinctions. It could, they maintain, have been the last straw that finished off an already dying breed. Many question that a meteor impact ever occurred at all." We just read the latest evidence from a deep-core drilling expedition in the sea off the Yucatan Peninsula proving that a massive 10 kilometer asteroid hit. It is also very interesting that the paleontologist community rejects the massive die-off of all life on the planet, and yet the scientific community is willing to accept the evidence. Which community stands to lose more? That's my question. Scientists, especially some of your great physicists, are free, albeit quietly, to believe in God as the designer and creator of the universe. Einstein made no bones about it. Stephen Hawking mentions God more in his famous book "A Brief History of Time" than he ever does the theory of evolution. But the very careers of paleontologists are intrinsically wrapped around the theory of evolution. After thirty-two years they still don't want to accept the evidence. Let's go on. Magnitude of the K/T Extinction in another article written for the Morrison Natural History Museum, Donald L. Blanchard has this to say about the magnitude of the K/T extinction. "Perhaps the most dramatic extinctions in the sea were among the nannoplankton, minute calcium-secreting algae, and the foraminiferans, calcium-secreting protozoans." How dramatic was this extinction, anyway? " shells piled up in immense thickness to form the great chalk cliffs that give the Cretaceous Period its name ('Cretaceous' comes from the Latin word for 'chalk.')." Ever hear of or see the White Cliffs of Dover, towering over the seacoast of England? " Marine sediments during the Cretaceous Period were composed almost entirely of this chalk, with only a small percentage of clay particles. Sediments deposited immediately after the K/T boundary is dominated by clay particles, with only 20 to 40 % being chalk. This clay layer, known as the "Fish Clay" in Europe, is widely accepted worldwide as the boundary between Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments How bad was the die-off? " this represents approximately a 97% reduction in the abundance of marine calcareous algae." 97 percent, 100 percent, what's the difference? These nannoplanton and protozoans made up the giant carbon-dioxide scrubber for the planet. Carbon dioxide is readily absorbed by water, the oceans. These photosynthesizing plankton took in carbon dioxide and combined it with the element Calcium to make their tiny skeletons of CaCO3, or Calcium Carbonate, basically what chalk is made of. As these plankton gradually die off the excess CO2 in the air is safely locked away in the sea-floor. Pore vinegar on chalk and it bubbles and foams. That is CO2 being released, leaving pure Calcium. Deadly levels of CO2 would accumulate as a result of 97 percent of these organisms dying off, soon making it 100 percent as deadly levels of HCO3 acid built up in the seas. This is all basic High School chemistry. No plants on land photosynthesizing for a long period and all the CO2 absorbing plankton dead. Deadly levels of CO2 in the atmosphere from the fires raging and volcanoes which were erupting for over a half million years. Other deadly gases constantly being released by these volcanoes, such as sulfuric acid, all being absorbed by the oceans as well. Doesn't that sound like a dead planet to you? Let's continue with these quotes about the magnitude of the K/T Extinction. "Dinosaurs were the undisputed rulers of life on land, right up to the catastrophic K/T event, but they were not the only creatures to suffer. Although fossil birds are rare during the Cretaceous (due more to scarcity of preservation than to a lack of abundance), there were apparently several distinct lineages of Cretaceous birds, only one of which survived the extinction event, to give rise to the birds of today. However, many species within that one lineage survived, as many of the modern bird orders were represented prior to the close of the Cretaceous." Many species within that one lineage to give rise to the birds of today"??? We all know from DNA, that through the survival of one species, other species cannot develop. DNA coding is a precise thing and does not allow one species to become another. There is also a huge assumption being made here. It is this. They assume because a particular mammal or bird fossil is found in the record of the Cretaceous rock, and it matches or is similar to ones of today, that that particular species somehow survived and evolved into all the species we see around us today. But for that to have occurred and be provable, we would have to see an unbroken chain of evolutionary development of each species in the fossil record of the rocks. Such a record does not exist. It is totally lacking. Yet they persist, as this statement indicates: "Many species of mammals also survived, as many mammalian orders have Cretaceous representatives. Cretaceous mammals, however, tended to be quite small, and probably were predominantly nocturnal About the Aquilapollenite Plant Species? "At the end of the Cretaceous Period in this region, above the Aquilapollenites sediments and the inevitable clay layer is found a layer of coal, which represents the remains of fauna made up almost exclusively of ferns [dinosaur food]. After the coal layer, angiosperms return to the scene, but this time a different assemblage of species is found" (Donald L. Blanchard, on behalf of the Morrison Natural History Museum). No connective fossil record from one to the other is found, just "a different assemblage of species is

Judith Cannon, PhD, LMFT Healing, Growth, Creativity Enriching Our Lives, Our Relationships, Our World Conflict is about surfacing differences and doesn’t imply confrontation, argument or hostile debate. Creative conflict is the passionate surfacing of differences in a space of shared respect. If differences are ignored or discounted, all is ultimately lost. Creative conflict requires the strength and courage stay with the differences until something new emerges. What you can do to encourage creative conflict? Seek to deeply understand the other person’s perspective. Say, “Help me understand what led you to that conclusion.” Accept that what another person is saying is true and real for them. Use any reactivity on your part as a signal to get curious about your assumptions. Seek to stay present and connected even while disagreeing. Acknowledge the other person or persons. You can acknowledge others’ feelings without feeling the same way. You can acknowledge others’ desires without agreeing to meet them. You can understand without agreeing. State your position. Speak your truth without holding it as the truth. Share the thinking, feeling and beliefs that underlie your position. Invite inquiry by asking, “What do you see that I am missing?” Be open to input. Avoid premature closure. Avoid the temptation to go for a safe zone of generalities or pseudo-agreement. More can be gained by going deeper into understanding of the differences. Staying with differences kindles inspired ideas and actions Staying with differences strengthens relationships. Allow something new to emerge. Listen for new possibilities emerging within the group or within you. Step back and observe the process from various perspectives. Consider offering the group any new awareness.

TYPES OF LOVE DIVINE LOVE VS CONDITIONAL LOVE This is going to be a series of articles about love. In my previous instalment I talked about love in respect to self, God and your neighbour. This article will discuss the concept of divine love or unconditional love in comparison to conditional or selfish love. What is Divine Love? It is the purest form of love given regardless of conditions, expectations or benefit. This is the love we receive from our creator. Despite our weaknesses, or the choices we make, God loves us all the same. It is difficult for us as human beings to practice this kind of love – Usually we attach a result or a condition for loving someone. It could just be for us to feel good about ourselves. As long as the condition is removed or we stop deriving the benefit, we withdraw the love. Have you ever caught yourself declaring that you once loved someone but this and that happened and how the love is gone? This is not pure love but conditional love. What it means is that you were happy loving the other person as long as you were receiving the benefit but things changed. Even parents struggle to love their children unconditionally. Life happens and we may get hurt and it puts condition on our love for our own creation. We say “If only this child would listen to me …” If we have more than one child we end up playing favourite i.e. loving one more than the other. All this boils down to the same thing – conditional love. We even love God as long as we can feel that he is doing something for us, even though he loves us with our imperfection. Is it therefore possible for a human being to love unconditionally? I believe we can if we ask the spirit of God to teach us how to love. God is love, perfect love so he can show us how it’s done. However, I also think it takes a lot of effort and dedication. What the universe does is that as soon as we ask for something, we get it and we also get some lessons or trials that will test our sincerity or ability to sustain what we have asked for. So when you pray for unconditional love you receive however, you may find that the person who you are trying to love starts pushing your buttons, getting onto your nerves. This makes you want to give up but there is a greater reward if you can stick it through the pain. It’s called the pain of loving someone but it does not last. After the pain comes the bliss from knowing that you love someone despite their warts and all through thick and thin. In the end you can observe their antics and smile as they behave like a spoiled brat just like we all do before God. Is this not beautiful? When we practice divine love we become more and more like God as he is love and our mission on earth is to love. We are in the school of love, learning how to love unconditional. We also need to love ourselves despite our weaknesses and short comings and all the mistakes we have made in life. Simply because God loves us all the same

Are you one among those who love drinking red wine almost every night? You might have all sorts of mixed reactions cum opinions from your friends. Some might say it’s quite beneficial whilst some may say otherwise. Well if you actually enjoy unwinding your cramped day with a glass of red wine and end up wondering what happens if you drink red wine every day then you’re at the right place. In this article you’ll get a fair idea about both the pros and cons of drinking red wine every day. What are miracles that could be unleashed if you drink red wine every day? Red wine has sparked interest in the mind of health enthusiasts due to the presence of polyphenols aka antioxidants. These are known to prevent cell aging and promote development of healthy cells and ward off diseases like cancer. 1) Protection against cancer and diabetes Resveratrol present in red wine is known to prevent certain types of cancer from the neck, colon and head region. A glass of red wine a day is known to guard your body against food poisoning, gastritis and stomach ulcers and cancers. Furthermore, women who drink red wine in moderation everyday are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes when compared to the nondrinkers. 2) Protection against memory loss and build bones. Resveratrol present in red wine is known to prevent age related memory loss. Red wine helps in reducing inflammation of the brain and helps in preventing clots which could lead to the decline of brain health. Red wine is also known to delay cell aging and helps in promoting the growth if new bone cells. 3) Helps fight weight loss. Piceatannol present abundantly in red wine is known to bock certain cellular processes which could lead to the growth of fat cells. Piceatannol works against these processes and can be thus used as an effective weapon for weight gain issues. People who drink red wine moderately have lower body mass and are apparently seen having narrower waists and less fat in the abdominal region, owing to the fact that red wine encourages to burn extra calories from your body. 4) Protection against dental issues. Red wine is known to ward off certain harmful bacteria and is known to enhance your overall dental health. However every story has two sides to it. The dark side of drinking red wine every day could cause severe problems with regards to your health if not dealt moderately. 1) Wine could expose your body to certain cancers. Drinking red wine in excess every day could increase the chances of breast cancer in women. Furthermore, it could also increase risk of developing liver, mouth, bowel and throat cancer. 2) Unnecessary addiction Addiction to alcohol isn’t a great thing, drinking red wine every day could lead to an addiction and getting it under control could be quite cumbersome. So what would be the right way to go about drinking wine? Drinking red wine every day is a safe option for those who are afraid to try out other alcoholic drinks with the fear of the underlying dangers. To reap all the benefits of red wine one must drink in limits. The quantity of red wine which is considered in moderate limits could range from 1 glass per day for a woman to 2 glasses per day to a man. However anything in excess could cause harm for your body. In sum, red wine when drunk in moderation is definitely going to do wonders for us. Just be mindful when you think about going for that next glass of red wine.

What on earth is that clearish, goopy stuff in my crock pot? Only one of the cheapest, easiest superfoods known to man, of course! Why is it so amazing? What can you use it for? And how do you make it? I’ll answer all of these questions and more in this post. Like many “new” health fads, bone broth is actually an age-old tradition aimed at extracting as many nutrients as possible from every portion of an animal’s body, allowing nothing to go to waste. It is made by boiling the bones and/or carcass of an animal in an acidic medium for hours or even days at a time. As the bones stew, the minerals, amino acids, and collagen that comprise the bones leach out into the water, creating a nutritious beverage or base for other dishes. Collagen is essential for healthy bones, tissues, joint, skin, hair, and nails. When cooked, collagen turns into gelatin, which is why the bone broth pictured above looks so jiggly. If your bone broth turns into a bowl of jelly once refrigerated, you know you have a collagen-rich supplement to consume! Note that your broth won’t always turn out this way: it depends on the amount of collagen in the bones you’ve used as well as on the length of time you’ve boiled them. I always source my bones from the same ranch yet sometimes the broth is jiggly and sometimes it’s simply a thick liquid; even as a thick liquid, it contains a beneficial amount of gelatin and other nutrients. So what can you use this stuff for? Almost anything! I use it instead of water when I boil rice, beans, lentils, or veggies, adding extra nutrition to my dishes. I also use it as a base for soups and as a hot drink when someone isn’t feeling well. When my girls were infants, I used it along with veggies, squash, sweet potatoes, and/or meats to puree homemade baby foods. Now that they’re older, I add several ounces of bone broth to their milk or water as a natural supplement–and they don’t even know it! (Note that this will only work with bone broth made from beef bones–chicken bones lend too strong a flavor to blend with other beverages, at least in my experience). When you make your own bone broth, you’ll also be able to scrape off the layer of fat that forms on the top once refrigerated. Since only saturated fats are stable at high temperatures, I use this fat to grease my pans when frying eggs, tortillas, or stir-frying meats and veggies; unsaturated fats such as vegetables and olive oils shouldn’t be heated (for more on this topic, see this post and related links from the Healthy Home Economist). Unless you live in New York City or one of the other metropolitan areas where trendy bone broth shops are popping up (check out NYC’s Brodo Broth Company), you’ll need to make your own broth. Fortunately, doing so is super simple and cheap. The hardest part will likely be sourcing your bones if you’re not already familiar with a place to procure organic, grass-fed animals. If you’re wondering why the way the animal was raised matters, see my post on non-pastured meat and eggs. I purchase my bones from my local food cooperative for $2.29/lb, meaning I get about 5 quarts of broth for $4-$5. I’ve also found them at health food stores and butcher shops (just make sure to inquire about the way the animals were raised). During hunting season, our local meat market will give away deer and elk bones for free. You’ll want to ask your grocer or butcher for the bones to be cut into sections that will fit into a large pot (ask for cuts that weigh 1-3 pounds). If you have no idea where to find bones for your broth, you can visit eatlocalgrown.com or contact your local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation for suggestions. Once you’ve sourced your bones, you’ll want to place approximately 2 pounds in a 6-quart crock pot (or similar size). For instructions on chicken broth, see my earlier post on utilizing a chicken carcass. For bone broth from beef or game bones, follow the instructions below. Once the bones are in your slow cooker, add a few tablespoons of vinegar along with enough water to fill the pot within two inches of the top (or whatever your max fill line is). Allow the bones to soak for 30-60 minutes before turning your cooker on low; this will help to maximize the amount of nutrients released from your bones. Once on, leave your cooker on low for 24-48 hours, adding water as needed to keep the pot filled to the max. After 12 hours, you can begin using the broth for cooking or consumption, making sure to replace the amount you consume with an equal amount of fresh water (I try to time my broth-making for days when I’ll be making the dishes mentioned earlier). During the first few hours, you may need to skim off any scum that forms along the top of the pot (it will be dark and foamy). The bones I use rarely produce much scum, if any; if your bones produce large amounts of scum that you’re constantly having to skim off, consider sourcing your bones from elsewhere. At the end of your 24-48 hour period, turn off your crock and allow the pot to cool for an hour or two before handling (unless you have a pair of oven mitts with really good grips). Pour the broth through a strainer into another large pot or bowl to remove the bones and any pieces of meat and marrow that have fallen off of them (eat these–just like the broth, they are full of nutrients!). Then store the broth in your refrigerator overnight to allow any fat to rise to the top and solidify. Once the fat solidifies, skim it off using a slotted spoon to drain off excess liquid (it’s okay if some liquid remains); store it in a container in your fridge for up to a week or in your freezer indefinitely. Pour the broth into glass containers and likewise store it in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer indefinitely. In my experience, Mason jars are more likely to crack if used for freezing; I’ve found that using glass jelly jars, peanut butter jars, coconut oil jars, etcetera, works better (you could also use plastic jars, but I am wary of the plastics leaching into the broth). In either case, place the jars in the fridge for several hours before moving to the freezer, which will help prevent cracking; when defrosting, do so in the fridge as well rather than on the counter (faster temperature changes are more likely to induce cracking). With so many uses for bone broth, I almost always use up a full pot of broth within a week. Once you get used to substituting water with broth every chance you get, you likely will do so, too!

How Tax Reform Increases Jobs and Wages January 13, 2014 In a Washington Post op-ed, Glenn Hubbard points out that the real solution to income inequality is fundamental tax reform: “A policy shift in favor of mass prosperity — dynamism and inclusion — is best conducted via fundamental tax reform. The discussion and policies to be considered, however, should look different from those in the present debate. The Obama administration has supported raising taxes on high-income earners and corporations to pay for expanded benefits to low-income Americans. Such an approach is unlikely to raise labor demand or labor-market earnings for those or other workers.” Hubbard is right. Tax reform can improve the economy and improve jobs and wages. But it has to be done right, by encouraging investment and economic growth. A cut in the top rate to 25 percent for corporations and individuals (and move to two rates: 25 and 10 percent) would bring increase the size of the economy by 4.74 percent, create the equivalent of 5.2 million jobs, and increase wages for all incomes groups with an overall increase in after-tax income by 7.57 percent. This is all good news. Now, the growth effects of this type of tax reform aren't caused by some magical fairy dust – it's economics. These tax cuts (especially the corporate rate and the capital gains and dividends rates) lower the cost of investment. The lower cost of capital means higher returns to investment, so more people invest. Start-ups receive more venture capital funds and create new businesses and jobs, because investors want to invest more money. Likewise, money becomes more readily available for existing companies to invest into better machines, faster computers, and other high tech gadgets. This new and better equipment improves workers’ productivity, which will lead to higher wages due to the increased value workers create for their company. A similar effect is felt by workers. The decrease in taxes decreases a workers cost of additional work. The lower cost lessens the worker's disincentive to work that the high tax rate had created. Instead of receiving 60 cents on every dollar, they would receive 75 cents instead – effectively a 25 percent wage increase. This increases the number of hours worked economy wide, because people work longer hours. Because of the additional productivity created by the extra investment and addition hours worked, the economy grows. This is good for everyone. This means higher wages, more jobs, and a better quality of life. And pro-growth tax reform is the catalyst for all these beneficial things.

This is the second in a series of blog posts about my beef with relational databases today, and some musings on how we could make databases better. I have a bone to pick with the databases of today. It has developed because of the frustrations I've had in writing, deploying, and interacting with databases over the years. In fact, I have three specific issues I want to talk about, and perhaps, come up with a few ideas to make databases great. Last time, I described my number one issue, the code separation that databases enforce. That is the biggest issue primarily because the other two are related. So let's review my second biggest beef with databases as they exist today. My data definition is not in my repository Which, to a point, isn't completely accurate assessment of the situation. The definition of my data is in two places. Two very different, very disjointed places. And there is no mechanism for the two to know that the definition is different. This issue is exaggerated in the presence of ORMs or other tools that need to or want to understand the structure of the data in the database and depend on the programmer to describe the data definition. Then the question becomes who is the authority on the data definition. On the theoretical side, the database is in charge of the definition and structure of the database. On the other side, the database is a tool for the application so the definition and structure should stay in the application. I'm a firm believer that is the proper case. My application should define all behaviors, structures and definitions. When our applications connect to the database, both assumes that they are talking about the same data model. The reality is that often that is not the case. What's even worse is when the database is just subtly different, which means things will appear to happen correctly when it's not, potentially even corrupting data. I can appreciate that this is a difficult problem in practice. That doesn't mean the problem should be ignored. Quite the opposite. My data is vital, which is why I use a database and not some mish-mash of files and /dev/null. I could accept the issue if I could use always use create scripts and not be forced to use a create script and then a series of alter scripts. Or, maybe even I could give it a create script, and it tells me what's different. That'd also be cool. But that doesn't happen. No one, to my knowledge, does that. As I was describing this issue to my friend, he asks about object or document data stores, like what GAE uses or MongoDB. These things are cool, and to a degree they solve this issue, but in the general sense, they solve it by not enforcing data structure, making data integrity your responsibility. And that's entirely true, data integrity IS my responsibility. But I think that without the right tools, that responsibility becomes overly difficult and cumbersome. And when things are difficult, programmers are among the first to become lazy and ignore the problem. Ignore it until something goes wrong. And it will eventually go wrong. I want to ask, why can't my application define my database?

I meant to post something about this interview when it appeared over the weekend, but internet problems got in the way. Anyway, famed popular historian David McCullough correctly identifies some of the reasons why Americans don't know their history--unprepared teachers, politically correct textbooks, uninspired classroom methods. There's a problem that he overlooks, however. He seems to assume that if more teachers graduated with degrees in history rather than pedagogy there would be an improvement in the population's historical knowledge. Given what goes on in many university history departments, that may not be the case. For years the emphasis in undergraduate history teaching has been on method, rather than content. That is, students are expected to learn to become historians, rather than to know history. For example, I was an undergraduate at Ohio University, and had to take a research methods course that went through, in excruciating detail, all of the different reference works with which we needed to be familiar in order to track down sources that we might need to write a scholarly paper. This course was ultimately useless even for me, since within ten years the internet had made all of those reference works obsolete. How much more useless was the course for the vast majority of those who took it with me--who, unlike me, did not go on to graduate school? I was lucky, though, in the sense that most of the faculty at Ohio University were of the old school that understood that, when it comes to historical knowledge, some historical facts are more important than others. The real danger of emphasizing method over content is that everything eventually becomes equally important. If, after all, history is only about imparting research methods, communication skills, and (my personal favorite) "critical thinking," then why should some professor whose research interests involve the construction of gender in Massachusetts during the late 1770s be troubled to teach a course on the American Revolution? Every course could be built around the current research of the individual faculty--and you'd have something like the history curriculum as it exists at most elite institutions of higher learning today. With all due respect to Mr. McCullough, if that's the way that history is being taught, it's not clear to me that prospective teachers are any worse off taking education courses.

A DECLARATION OF AMERICAN ORTHODOX UNITY NOW [Draft] [A Case Study that will be discussed at the Annual Meeting of the Orthodox Christian Laity in San Diego, CA on November 7, 2015 – We invite your comments.] Amidst great spiritual and practical need, this declaration has been written to send out a clarion call for unity – unity in practice and unity within hearts – among American Orthodox Christian believers. Such unity is inevitable, it is the right thing, and it is based on the historic precedents of the Orthodox Church throughout the ages. It is also urgent, for the world is changing ever more rapidly, with dire consequences to traditional faith and Christian virtues, consequences that we can see on a daily basis. The opportunity to do the right thing, the consequential thing, is often fleeting, and once it passes without courageous and principled action, it can be gone forever. “We are a new nationality. We require a new nation.” This call for independence, from Britain by its thirteen American colonies, is attributed dramatically to Benjamin Franklin. The date was 1776. In the debates in the 2nd Continental Congress that ensued, there were strong voices against this revolutionary notion of independence. Our country’s Founding Fathers were certain that America was ready for the creation of a new republic; other equally accomplished colonial leaders were not so sure. The revolutionary nature of the whole enterprise was decried by the whole world as foolhardy and a fatal error by everyone other than its leaders and its believers among the People. It seemed miraculous to almost everyone that, seven years after the Declaration of Independence announced the independence of the United States of America, such independence had been achieved by a treaty with Great Britain ending the American Revolution. This new country, against all odds and predictions, survived and thrived, and still does. That is because it reflected an idea whose time had come. We in America are a new Orthodox Christian nationality. We require a new American Orthodox Church. In a very similar way to the events of 1776, the creation by its People of a unified Orthodox Church in the United States is an idea whose time has come. It is not too early, and, for a combination of reasons, it may soon be too late. The churches are in place, both at the parish and at the ethnic-diaspora level. The independent governing bodies of those churches are well-established, and they have been working together in matters of mutual interest for decades. The leadership of those bodies is aware of the need for unity and capable of achieving it. The willingness to undertake this call, a call that was made by Christ when he was with us on earth, will not be immediately unanimous among all American Orthodox Christians. It will, however, will surely happen once it is examined openly and with good will and good faith in the full light of day. Sincere voices will cry “Wait, wait, we are not ready for unity.” To the contrary, we are diminishing every day for want of it. The declaration of unity – and concrete steps transforming this desire into reality – must be now, because a combination of events, both positive and negative, has ordained its immediacy. The positive developments that contribute to a growing wave towards unity are many. Mostly, and encouragingly, they are actions by Orthodox Christian Bishops and Patriarchs. The actions taken in the past three decades by Patriarchs and Archbishops of the Orthodox Churches in the Old World – the four ancient Patriarchates as well as the autocephalous and autonomous national churches – show that they understand the pressing need to address the health and organization of the Orthodox churches founded by their emigrants to the New World. Correspondingly, the actions of the bishops in these “diaspora” lands have increasingly showed that they understand the need for and value of Orthodox unity in their respective locations, most notably the United States. While it is encouraging that such actions by Orthodox bishops exist, it is discouraging that most Orthodox faithful are unaware of them. This lack of knowledge contributes to an unfortunate and erroneous general belief that such actions are not occurring; that our Bishops are mostly against unity; that we who advocate American unity are disobedient malcontents; and finally, that this is a distant dream that we are far away from ever achieving. All these notions are untrue. We must articulate the positive developments, so that the faithful in America understand the issues and what is at stake. The framework to achieve American Orthodox unity exists and has been in operation for many years, first as SCOBA (The Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas) from 1960 to 2010, and currently as the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the United States of America. The Assembly of Bishops has met regularly from 2010 until now, most recently in Chicago in September 2015. Under the aegis of SCOBA and the Assembly of Bishops, numerous examples of cooperation among the various Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States have developed. Among them are the IOCC, the OCMC, the OCF on college campuses, and local initiatives such as unified pro-life efforts and Pan-Orthodox worship services. The unifying truth of all these combined efforts is that they are heartwarming, Christ-centered, and inspiring, both in their instant reality and in the hopefulness they engender among the faithful as we envision ever-increasing Orthodox cooperation going forward. Everyone walks away from such activities feeling uplifted, knowing in their hearts that this is the way it should be, that Orthodox unity is what we should be creating, fostering, and experiencing. This reality has not escaped our leaders, the various Orthodox bishops, assigned here by all the ethnic and Old-World based jurisdictions, in the United States. (Surprisingly to most people, there are 54 such bishops!). Indeed, there have been clear pledges from the Old-World mother churches to address the needs of the churches in the New World lands – the need to create order, harmony, singularity of purpose, and to remove confusion, fragmentation, overlapping efforts, and inevitable diminution of numbers in ever-smaller ethnic-based communities and parishes. The clearest directive in this area emerged from a 2009 meeting in Chambésy, Switzerland. All 14 Orthodox Patriarchs were present. The meeting was called and presided over by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. It followed 20 years of work by these mother churches , encompassing three prior meetings and much contemplation and activity in parallel committees. These Patriarchs at Chambésy signed protocols establishing Assemblies of Bishops across the globe to bring canonical order, that is in its very essence unifying, to the administrative structure in the New World. The largest of these Assemblies of Bishops was ours, the United States. Corresponding to this reality and need, the U.S. Assembly of Bishops’ clear central focus in recent years has been to articulate a vision and framework for establishing unity and canonical order among the 12 (largely) ethnic jurisdictions that comprise the Assembly. The convener of the Assembly in the United States has been Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. Archbishop Demetrios is the Exarch and presiding bishop in the United States of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Istanbul; more than that, Archbishop Demetrios has been the driving force towards unity, reflecting the vision of his own spiritual father. This was made clear when Ecumenical Patriarchate Bartholomew addressed the Assembly of Bishops, meeting in Dallas in 2014, in a video address that unmistakably sounded the call for unity among this American Assembly: …move beyond words to actions. We know much better than what we actually do. We are called to put our theory and theology into policy and practice. We are called to move beyond what is “mine” and what is “yours” to what is “ours.” From now on, this is how we should conceive and conduct all of our ministries and resources, all of our departments and initiative. Otherwise, we do not practice what we preach. It is really up to us to accept the challenge or to refuse the call. This statement by the “First among Equals” of all Orthodox bishops is made more resonant by the knowledge that we are on the verge of a seminal event in Orthodox history, the meeting of the first-ever Great and Holy Council of Orthodox Christian Bishops, to be held in the ancient Church of Saint Irene in the old precincts of Constantinople during the week of Pentecost, 2016. In order to put the historic strength of this event in context, we must understand that there has never been such a meeting before. All seven Ecumenical Councils were meetings of the bishops of a single, unified Christian Church, hundreds of years before the Great Schism. After the crucial dates and tragic events of 1054, 1204, and 1453, the Orthodox world was increasingly under the captivity of Islamic rule. And as that ended, Communist rule enslaved the Church in Russia and its captive nations of Eastern Europe. Only in the last three decades have some Orthodox lands in the Old World been politically and spiritually free, while others continue to struggle to survive under Islamist rule. It is no coincidence that, as the Patriarchates and national churches in the Old World have found themselves freer to resume the growth interrupted by over a millennium of Islamic and Communist oppression, the communities in the New World that are now entering fifth and sixth generations of assimilation in their new homes, are also looking for a road to sustainable growth. Never in all its history has the Orthodox Church held a Great Council of its Patriarchates and national churches like the one just six months away. Unfortunately, based on things happening in Syria, Russia, Bulgaria, and elsewhere in the Old World, it is unlikely that this Great and Holy Council will address, let alone resolve, the organization of the churches in the diaspora, including our part of it. For the Orthodox faithful of the United States of America, there can be only one imperative, an immediate commitment to real, operational and spiritual unity among all Orthodox Christians in this country. Since there is great doubt that the Great and Holy Council will countenance even discussing this issue, the surest way to put it on the Council’s agenda is to create this unity as a reality that cannot be ignored, now, among ourselves. Our American bishops have been discussing it for years. There are known to be several blueprints. We call our 54 to bishops declare independence, to choose the best blueprint they have as an initial governing document, and bravely to plough ahead. Not everyone will follow them, nor indeed will all the bishops agree to this courageous action. Already, in recent years and even months, voices of restraint have been heard among the Assembly of Bishops or the mother churches in the Old World; that is, the mother churches of Assembly of Bishops members. Leaders of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the United States, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese have indicated they support the continuation in the United States of churches of separate ethnicities, supervised by foreign patriarchates. And even last month, during the September meeting of the American Assembly of Bishops in Chicago, during a panel discussion by four of our bishops at a youth event, one of those bishops told a youthful questioner that he doubted unity being achieved in this century. As discouraging as such reluctance is, these examples of hesitance are outliers. The Ecumenical Patriarch’s statement quoted above is eloquent proof of his position. Archbishop Demetrios has energetically asserted his leadership and influence in favor of American unity. There is little doubt that the majority of our 54 American bishops are for unity. Yet they may be reluctant to buck their mother churches. And many would rightly ask to what end would they be traveling? Once again, the history of this country is instructive. In 1776, the adoption of the resolution for independence in the 2nd Continental Congress was not automatic, and was energetically debated. Not every member of the Congress ever agreed, but ultimately, the delegations of all thirteen colonies did agree, and became the thirteen United States. In order to govern themselves, they quickly wrote the Articles of Confederation in 1777, which were not approved or enacted until 1781; somehow they muddled through until then. Yet the Articles proved to be unworkable, so in 1787, a brand-new Constitution was written in the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and enacted in 1788. It took, then, twelve years after independence was declared by the new United States of America, for this fledgling country to have a workable governing blueprint. In those twelve years, the United States managed to survive both war and peace. And ever since the Constitution took force, it has lasted us all these years with very little change. We have it in our power to do a comparable thing now, a thing no less important to people of faith: - We can and must declare American Orthodox unity, enlisting our People and our Bishops now; - We must do everything we can to make this idea a reality now, and present this reality to the Great and Holy Council when it meets in 2016 so that it can address it; and - We must work to perfect our blueprint for unity as we go. We have it in our power to change our world, and we should do it now. It is fair to ask why we should do these things. Indeed, such strong actions cannot lightly be taken, nor can they rightly be taken if they are merely discretionary. We believe that American Orthodox unity is essential to our continued Orthodox Christian witness in the United States. It is our duty to the critical task of preserving our Church for our children’s children; it is an essential part of our task of working together to create God’s kingdom on earth. Yet these opinions are not currently uniformly held across our nation. It is more the case that this position has not really been considered, than that it is disagreed with. To enlist our fellow Orthodox to this accord and this cause, we must persuade them of the rightness of this purpose. We must state clearly the causes that impel us to such beliefs and such actions. We believe they are compelling. Some truths are self-evident. We who live in the United States are Americans. The Orthodox Church, in its several jurisdictions, has lived in the United States for many generations. It is, correspondingly, American. It has been a great glory of Orthodoxy through the centuries that it is a unified church of great diversity, so different from the homogeneous Roman Catholic West. It has been a cardinal principle of Orthodox growth and witness that, as it expanded to lands outside of its first home in the Roman Empire of Christ’s time, it adapted to the culture of the local people; adopted elements of that culture including the local language within Orthodox liturgy and tradition; and created a local church that was nevertheless consistent in the essence of Orthodoxy. That essence included local cultural variation. Hence, over the centuries, national churches evolved or were created in Orthodox lands. Hence also, while the same Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is celebrated everywhere, besides the mere fact of different languages used in different places, the sights of iconography and architecture and sounds of music and singing can be different as well, yet no less Orthodox. The reality of the ethnic diversity of Orthodoxy in the United States is that it reflects Orthodoxy in a microcosm. Rather than being a reason for maintaining the various ethnic jurisdictions of the Old World, this diversity in America defines the very essence of, and necessity for, Orthodox unity. That Orthodox unity is the same as American national unity – E Pluribus Unum – from many, one. It has been said here already: we are a new Orthodox Christian nationality. We require a new American Orthodox Church. Other truths are based on Christ’s teaching and example, and Christian understanding. Christ’s last instruction to his People was to go out and “make disciples of all the nations;” to bring them into His Church. As twelve jurisdictions in the United States, it is infinitely more difficult to bring converts into Orthodoxy in anything but the most scattered, piecemeal ways, than if we were one. Where we have acted as one Church: in the Orthodox Christian Missions Center; in the International Orthodox Christian Charities; in our unified and unifying efforts at things like campus ministry, pro-life consensus, and defense of Orthodox under persecution, we have been markedly more successful. Yet even these initial efforts are only a small fraction of what we could and should be doing. Can anyone doubt the power of a unified Orthodox Church in the United States in internal and world-wide evangelism; in unified rather than competing parishes in small towns and cities; or in raising a single strong voice at the highest levels of government and media to decry the persecution, slaughter, and extinction of our Orthodox brethren in Asian and African lands, something tragically happening right now at levels unprecedented in world history? Christ has called us to be His single Church. At least, can we not be a single Orthodox Church, in a single country, while we work for and aspire to greater Christian unity before His Second Coming? Still other truths are based on experience. No one can doubt that our current organization – or lack thereof – ill-suits the needs of our People. It is impractical, disorganized, and counterproductive. We have 54 Orthodox bishops in America, in twelve jurisdictions. The great majority of these bishops are located in a small number of big cities. At least one jurisdiction has only one bishop for all 50 states; several others have just three or four, while bishops in some cities live and work just a few city blocks apart, yet with little interaction. Our Orthodox tradition is for one bishop in each location. In the United States, once Orthodox unity is achieved and episcopal assignments reorganized to meet the needs of the People, no member of the faith need be more than one state away from his or her hierarch. The practical and especially pastoral advantages of this are enormous. The current overlapping violates all traditional Orthodox canonical order, and creates and fosters duplication, confusion, and fragmentation. Moreover, such an inchoate mixture is the least welcoming atmosphere for converts and evangelization that you could ever imagine. Ultimately, it creates an atmosphere that diminishes rather than builds devotion to the Church. It causes doubt as to what the authentic Orthodox Church is. Partly as a result of this – though there are other causes to be sure – our own children walk away, and new seekers of God’s truth do not recognize it in our disunified and unwelcoming climate. The falling numbers of Orthodox faithful, as reflected in official church statistics of sacraments and stewardship, are compelling. What we are doing now cannot be left unchanged for very long. Our very future as a growing and vibrant faith among the American commonwealth is in doubt. Yet no one is asking for a wholesale or even eventual abandonment of ethnic identity by recent immigrants, or those to whom ethnic identity remains important. In towns and small cities where there is just one church, whether Greek or Antiochian or Russian, it is Orthodoxy itself that provides the identifying and unifying value. Wonderful things such dance and language follow the particular demographics present in each location. In the large cities, there will continue to be self-selection, as people choose their parish. Even today, to walk into some Roman Catholic parishes in America’s cities is essentially to walk into Poland or Mexico. That kind of thing will continue to be true for our People as long as Orthodox ethnic demographics support it. But to state one of the great, undeniable truths of this whole subject, it is the presence of a healthy Orthodox Church that guarantees the possibility for continued ethnic traditions in the United States, not the other way around. Where immigrants from Orthodox lands have abandoned the Orthodox Church, in almost all cases, the ethnic identity of that person and that family is much more quickly extinguished. Finally, Orthodox Unity carries with it the unequivocal ring of truth. That ring of truth resounds when a thousand people of a dozen ethnicities gather in Pittsburgh for the Vespers of the Sunday of Orthodoxy. It resounds when Orthodox students gather from around the United States to build a church in Kenya, speaking to the Kenyans in English, the only language they all understand. It resounds when Orthodox clergy and laity from all jurisdictions march together against abortion at the Supreme Court in Washington. This resounding, this inspirational and transcendent sense of God’s truth in His unified Church, is a magnificent thing to experience. We must bend our efforts towards making it happen more and more often. The first step on the path to that truth is American Orthodox unity. This declaration constitutes our devotion to that cause. With God’s help, we pledge ourselves to achieving it now.

Halifax recently released a report that looked at the key trends and developments in the UK housing market from 1951 to 2011, using 60 years of research comprising their own extensive data and other data sourced from the Office of National Statistics and the Communities and Local Government Department. Unsurprisingly, it contains some rather interesting information! Over the past 60 years UK house prices have nearly trebled, increasing by an average of 186% in real terms. The average annual rate of increase was 1.8 %, measuring a little higher than the 1.6% per annum average rise in real earnings of the same period. It's a very slight difference, but over the course of 60 years it's impact has become substantial. For, in 1951 house prices averaged 3.9 as a multiple of gross annual earnings, while over the last ten years that multiple has averaged 4.8, the highest its ever been. In 1951 the average cost of a house was £2,200, while in 2011 the average house price was £162,338! This is an absolutely staggering increase of 7,278% in nominal terms, which is three times the rise in retail inflation over the same period (2,477%). However, £2,200 in 1951 is the equivalent of £56,698.88 in 2011, making it a 286% increase in real terms. House prices have risen in real terms in 38 out of the recorded 60 years. But of course it hasn't been all steady increases; it's been much more exciting than that! House prices rocketed by 42% from 1981 to 1991, the biggest increase recorded. The 1950s was the decade of decline for house prices, falling by 7%. This can be explained by the surge of housebuilding in the post-war reconstruction years driving down prices. Following this decline, house prices steadily increased at an average of 0.9% until 1971, when the market started to begin its trend of wave-like peaks and troughs. There have been four periods of this rapid real house price growth: 1971-73, 1977-80, 1985-89, and 1998-2007. In each case there was a substantial drop in real house prices at the end of it, the infamous 'boom and bust' scenario, which still somehow manages to surprise everyone when the bubble bursts. The rate of increase differed depending on where in the country the houses were located. The homes in the south of England on average rose in price by 164% in real terms, whereas the homes in the north went up by 130%. Since 1971 London has seen the biggest increase in house prices, with a rise of 189%, followed by the South West, with 163%. Yorkshire and Humber came third, with 159%. Scotland's increase was the smallest, with a real rise of 91%. Since 1951 more than 15 million homes have been built in the UK, while the population has increased by between 12 and 13 million. The number of houses built each year since 1951 has dropped by a third, from 201, 860 in 1951 to around 137,000 in 2011. This fall has been attributed to the dramatic fall in the volume of public sector housing being built (dropping a massive 81% during the 60 year period). 1968 was the year that saw the highest number of houses built, with 226, 100. Although it is thought that the average person is taller today than the average person in the good old days, it turns out that the homes we live in are getting smaller. No doubt this is a result of reduced space due to a growing population, leading to better space management. After 1980 the proportion of houses of less than 50m in size (538 square feet) doubled from 9% to 18%. Similarly, the proportion of flats increased from 17% to 23% in the decades post-1980. That said, the type of properties being built in England over the last 60 years has shifted considerably all across the spectrum, not just flats! But sticking with flats for the minute, they account for 20% of the housing stock that was built after 1980, but only 15% of those built between 1945 and 1964. But the differences are even more pronounced for detached and semi-detached properties! Of the current housing stock in England, only 10% of detached houses were built between 1945 and 1964. But detached houses make up 36% of the housing stock built after 1980. Between 1945 and 1964, semi-detached houses made up the largest proportion of the housing stock built in that period, but represents only 15% of homes built after 1980! Many things have changed in the housing market in these 60 years. Thankfully, one of the main aspects, that of housing quality, has not been so much of a roller coaster ride, but rather rocket ship that has broken free of the earth's gravity. 42% of homes in 1947 didn't have a fixed bath or shower (a fact which would probably explode the head of a modern day mirror-fixated narcissist), yet by 1991, this proportion has crashed to just three out of every thousand (0.3%). Not only that, but in 1947 64% of households were without a basic hot water supply, compared to just one in a hundred (1%) in 1991. Home ownership has doubled over the last 60 years, from 32% of households in 1953 to 66% in 2010-11. The Right-To-Buy scheme, introduced in the 1980s was key to this elevation, lifting owner-occupation from 57% to 68% by 1991. It reached its peak at 73% in 2003, and has steadily declined ever since. The proportion of privately rented accommodation has fallen dramatically from 50% in 1953 to just 17% in 2010-11, although it has nearly doubled in the last decade. The socially rented sector made up 18% in 1953, and today makes up 17%, although this apparent stability belies the down-up-down journey, having reached its peak at 32% in 1981. Not only have the households changed, but so too has the makeup of which these households are comprised. The figures show that what is thought of as the traditional family unit has disintegrated over these 60 years. The number of households occupied by married couples has nearly halved since the 1970s from 70% in 1971 to 40% in 2011. The number of households occupied by singles has increased from 19% in 1971 to 33% in 2011. As the trends are expected to continue in this fashion, it is probable that the proportion of singles-occupied households with overtake that of married couples in the next decade. Phew! Clearly the UK housing market has undergone massive transformations in the last 60 years, evolving as the needs of the country and its people changed. What will the next 60 years have in store for the UK housing market? If the previous 60 is anything to go by, it should be quite a ride!

Fatigue, Ascites Up Hyponatremia Risk in Hospitalized CHF Patients Development of hyponatremia during hospitalization was associated with a significantly higher in-hospital mortality rate. A history of fatigue and the presence of ascites increases the likelihood that hyponatremia will develop during a patient's hospital stay for congestive heart failure (CHF). In a study of 464 CHF patients, researchers at Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia, found that hyponatremia—defined as a serum sodium level less than 135 mEq/L—developed in 22% of patients during hospitalization. Of these, 44% had normal sodium levels at admission, researchers reported online in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders. (2015;15:88). The study also found that 56% of patients who had hyponatremia on admission continued to be hyponatremic during hospitalization. A history of fatigue and the presence of ascites were associated with a significant 3.2-fold and 4.1-fold increased odds of developing hyponatremia during hospitalization, respectively. Results also showed that administration of heparin and antibiotics were associated with a significant 3.8-fold and 3.0-fold increased odds, respectively. Compared with patients who did not have hyponatremia, those who developed hyponatremia during hospitalization had a significant higher in-hospital mortality rate (29.1% vs. 7.7%) and hospital length of stay (median 11 vs. 8 days).

TOKYO, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Seventy young loggerhead turtles hatched in an aquarium after their nesting beach was eroded by last year's Japanese tsunami have been returned to the sea. The eggs were taken to the Aquamarine Fukashima aquarium because of fears the nesting sites would be covered at high tide, the Asahi Shimbun reported. A beach walker found the eggs in August 2011 on Shin-Maiko Beach, and scientists gathered 127 of them. The turtles were released on the same beach. Loggerheads are an endangered species although they are one of the most widely distributed sea turtles, found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. They are protected by international agreements. The Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 devastated many coastal areas, killing thousands of people.

Limestone processing production process: in the production and processing of limestone in the process, mainly will use the following equipment: milling machine (Raymond or high pressure grinding), jaw crusher, hammer crusher, counterattack crusher, sand making machine And other equipment. 1. Crush large chunks of limestone first with crusher equipment. 2. After crushing, the size of the appropriate size of the material used to send equipment to the European version of T-shaped or medium-speed T-shaped grinding mill. 3. Material into the European version of the T-shaped grinding or medium-speed T-shaped mill, grinding equipment through the grinding process, grading process and separation process, and the finished product. In the production of limestone in the process, it is best equipped with dust removal equipment to prevent dust pollution. 4. The finished material packaging and storage.

You may be surprised to learn that some Aro students are agnostic about the Aro lineage history. Some are outright skeptical. This is not a problem. We can practice the Aro teachings wholeheartedly, without taking the lineage history as gospel. Since Buddhism is a religion of methods, not truth, belief is mostly irrelevant. And the content of the terma is almost completely separate from its history. The word “really” suggests that there is a single correct standard of existence—and that anything else is a lie or evasion. But the question of whether you and I exist, and how, is central to Buddhism. There is no single or simple answer. Extraordinarily subtle philosophies have developed to address that question. Ultimately, to quote the Thirteenth Karmapa, . . . since the Buddha’s intention cannot be expressed in words, all statements of samsara and nirvana being “existent” or “non-existent” are mere conventionalities. As I have mentioned, the history of termas, and other Tibetan scriptures, is often used as evidence to authenticate them. These histories are, however, visionary history, not objective history. They describe visionary truth, not objective truth. The history of most termas involves Yeshé Tsogyal. She acted as Padmasambhava’s scribe, and wrote most of the “earth terma” scrolls. She also was involved in the concealing of many mind termas. And she gave direct transmission of many pure vision termas. (The Aro gTér falls into this class.) there is no reason to believe that Yeshé Tsogyal existed As a matter of objective truth, there is no reason to believe that Yeshé Tsogyal existed at all. (See Janet Gyatso’s “A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal.”) Everything that is known about her appears to derive from visionary sources (dreams, visions, past-life recollections). The earliest known mention of her is in a document written several centuries after the time she is supposed have lived. The various visionary accounts of her life contradict each other on basic facts. Tibetans universally believe that Yeshé Tsogyal was a nirmanakaya, or flesh-and-blood Buddha. But from the standpoint of Western historical methods, this is quite likely not true. And important aspects of her life story are certainly not true in this objective sense. That might seem a problem, since she plays such an important role in the validation of terma. But the question of her existence as nirmanakaya is irrelevant to that. It is sufficient that she exists as sambhogakaya, because the authentication of terma is a matter of visionary truth, not objective truth. In fact, according to the “secret” interpretation of the meaning of terma validity, the history of a terma is entirely irrelevant to its authenticity. Yeshé Tosgyel as yidam is one of my main practices. In that practice, I am entirely confident that she does exist as sambhogakaya. So I see no conflict between my respect for the Western scholarship that reveals one type of truth about her, and my respect for the termas that reveal another. The Aro lineage history also includes some figures that are only known from that history. The Aro terton herself, Aro Lingma, is an example. As with Yeshé Tsogyel, everything we know about Aro Lingma comes from visionary sources. Primarily, this is the dreams, visions, and past-life recollections of Ngak’chang Rinpoche. He is her lineage holder and the rebirth of her son. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence In some cases, we know someone did not exist simply because we do not know that they did exist. We know that there was no President of the United States named J. Irvington Snird III. If there had been, we should have heard about him. Absence of evidence for Yeshé Tsogyal is only weak evidence of her objective non-existence. Tibetan historical records from that period are sketchy. It would be only faintly surprising for there to have been a queen of Tibet who became a consort of Padmasambhava but is not mentioned in any surviving document from the next few centuries. Absence of evidence for Aro Lingma is not at all evidence for her absence. She was not famous and she did not have a big following. She and her students traveled as a nomadic encampment (as was common for the ngak’phang in Eastern Tibet), so they left behind no buildings. In the chaos of the Chinese aggression, a great many religious leaders were killed, artifacts confiscated or destroyed, and texts lost. For example, the termas of Kyabjé Drimé Özer Rinpoche were apparently lost. He was famous (in his own right and as the consort of Sera Khandro), and definitely existed by objective historical standards. You might suppose that any terton would be famous, but that is not the case. The standard work on the subject, Wonder Ocean, says that “this vast land has been filled with known and unknown, named and unnamed Termas comparable to a heap of mustard seeds.” Probably more of them are now forgotten than remembered. So did she really exist, or what? In terms of objective history, there is precisely as much evidence for Aro Lingma as for Yeshé Tsogyel: none. To dismiss Aro Lingma for lack of objective historical evidence skates on extremely thin ice. That criterion would invalidate most if not all Tibetan Buddhist lineages. So, for Tibetan Buddhists, the question must be posed in visionary terms. A difficulty with visionary history is that it depends on whose visions you consider reliable. This is the same impossible problem I discussed earlier in the context of terma validation. Only a Buddha can reliably determine whether a vision is valid. Many people have had visions of Yeshe Tsogyel. Only a few have had visions of Aro Lingma. But by numbers, we should believe in the Virgin Mary rather than Yeshe Tsogyel. Numbers aren’t evidence. Whether Aro Lingma existed as nirmanakaya comes down to whether one thinks Ngak’chang Rinpoche’s visions are reliable. Apart from Buddhas, none of us are qualified to have an opinion about that. Fortunately, whether Aro Lingma existed is not relevant to deciding whether to practice the Aro gTér. She might have existed but taught a false terma. Even if she did not exist as nirmanakaya, she may have delivered a true terma to Ngak’chang Rinpoche as sambhogakaya. So we might remain curious about her existence—but do not need to have an opinion. I mentioned earlier that a main function of lineage histories is inspiration. I find the Aro lineage history exceptionally inspiring, whether or not it is objectively “true.” I particularly love the story of Jomo Chhi’med Pema punishing a rock. This story can be understood as a teaching on many levels. In fact, it unfolds with a different message according to the principles of each yana. You might find it interesting to see how many layers of meaning you can find there.

s: rip 8 y T Big Da e Th Montserrat The monasteries of Catalonia provide a fantastic religious tourism option, as residents and tourists alike come for prayer, meet friends & family, and simply to view the stunning architectural designs. The region of Catalonia is dotted with vast amounts of shrines and monasteries, especially in the mountain areas, which are largely dedicated to the Virgin Mary. One of the most important of these monasteries is at Montserrat, which is widely regarded are one of the main spiritual reference points in Catalonia. When in Catalonia a visit to the Mountain of Montserrat is a must for anyone with its spectacular peaks rising over 4000ft and the Benedictine monastery founded in the 11th century. The Virgin of Montserrat is housed in the abbey and is the Patroness of Catalonia. The Abbey has also become world famous because of its boy’s choir “Escolania� and school of music, considered to be the choir of oldest European tradition. A trip to the top of the mountain gives some breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside.

Request Free, One-on-one Academic Assessment Educating Our Parents: Understanding the Dickson District Curriculum Students at Dickson County School are exposed to the world of literature through the English curriculum. They are encouraged to read independently and find books that they like and use those as a basis for independent reading logs and written analysis. Students also learn about literary devices and how authors use these devices to help create meaning in their text. In reading non-fiction, students learn to read for information while also recognizing potential bias that an author may have. The Math curriculum consists of 8 Standards for Mathematical Practice that educators look for students to achieve. These standards involve in understanding problems and persevere in solving them, being able to reason abstractly and quantitatively, constructing arguments about mathematical reasoning, using mathematical tools and models, attending to precision in problem-solving, and recognizing structure and repeated reasoning. Underlying these broad goals are the skill-specific objectives for mathematical problem-solving. SchoolTutoring Academy’s tutoring programs for Dickson students start with a free academic assessment with an Academic Director. Our flagship tutoring programs are available for $199.99/month which include regular one-on-one tutoring, academic mentorship, bi-monthly progress reports, learning profiles, and parental conference calls. Dickson District Curriculum Used in Our In-Home Tutoring Programs The curriculum at Dickson County School District is based on the academic standards set by the Tennessee Department of Education. Each subject area framework is designed so that students learn the fundamentals during elementary school and begin to get hands-on practice with the topics as they progress through middle school. For instance, in Math, students are taught operations, pattern recognition, shapes and measurement, and ratios and probability so that they can handle algebra, geometry and statistics in high school. Core academic learning is measured each year on statewide assessments that help demonstrate that every child has achieved the goals. Our educators have graduated from top academic institutions, and many of them have achieved in the 90th percentile or higher on standardized tests. Equally importantly, they enjoy coaching students across a variety of subject areas and standardized tests Educators Beyond What You Find Down the Block Students work collaboratively with their private tutor who is a top-notch college graduate well beyond the academic caliber that you’ll typically find in your neighbourhood Experienced Academic Directors to Create and Adjust Learning Plans Every student is paired up with both a private tutor and an Academic Director responsible for creating a comprehensive learning plan and constantly tweeking it to optimize for results Fully Customized Programs with Regular Progress Reports With regular progress reports and archived copies of your lessons, you can easily track your progress and review concepts from past lessons Creating a schedule for homework goes a long way in making sure it gets done daily. Positive motivation is also helpful; students might plan a reward for finishing each chunk of work. Students should also consider completing the most difficult part of assignments first so that they are not tempted to stop working. If you and your child both have smartphones or other devices that will sync, you can “share” a calendar and monitor the dates your student enters. There are also several apps for Apple and Android devices that keep up with homework and other due dates. One is myHomework, which alerts users to upcoming due dates and customizes to match your child’s school schedule. Once students learn to put these tips into action, procrastination can easily become a thing of the past.

Groundwater gets a recharge from worried farmers, scientists In California’s famous water wars, who controls what water and where has been material for Hollywood movies. But since 60 percent of the water used by agriculture and industry in this drought era is groundwater pumped up from deep aquifers, there’s growing realization that the state can’t rely on a Wild West approach of vigilante law for groundwater management. Groundwater had gone largely unregulated in this state until passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. But most requirements of that law don’t kick in until 2040, so a growing number of farmers and agricultural scientists are trying a more immediate route to saving the state from going dry. When El Nino storms unleashed heavy rains in California, some farmers in the Central Valley's southern edge began capturing storm water and diverting it to flood their fields and orchards in a plan to recharge aquifers underneath. This so-called Groundwater Banking effort is being studied by agricultural academics at the University of California at Davis for its effectiveness and funded by the UC Cooperative Extension Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The idea, according to UC Davis Hydrology Professor Helen Dahlke and her colleagues, is that the fields will serve as infiltration basins, allowing the storm water to seep through the soil and layers of gravel and rocks deep into the aquifers while hopefully not damaging plants. And the effort is drawing lots of interest from farmers wanting to participate. "We are getting an overwhelming number of calls from farmers" eager to participate, said UC Davis Hydrology Professor Graham Fogg, also working on the project. "I’m seeing this sort of populist change in farmers and how they use water," he said. "They are realizing they’re not operating independently, but affecting each other and that they're in the same boat." Consequently they are more willing to do things collectively or have their groundwater use measured than ever before, he said. “In the past, people pumping groundwater for irrigation didn’t have to think about it. They didn’t have to because there were no legal consequences to doing it and it didn’t affect neighbors,” he continued. But in 2014 and 2015 as wells started drying up and groundwater levels fell by 100 feet in some agricultural areas, farmers became more alarmed about the availability of groundwater and became more open to new practices and even new cooperation. Even in normal times, groundwater supplies 30 to 40 percent of the state's water for agriculture, industry and residential needs. Pinpointing the best places for groundwater recharge But there's a caveat to the idea of letting fields act as filtrations for captured groundwater. Many fields are laden with nitrates and pesticides, which would then be passed into the groundwater. Some of the state's more shallow groundwater aquifers are already contaminated. So the scientists are studying where it makes the most sense to flood fields to recharge underlying aquifers. Fogg and other hydrologists are working on a data project to pinpoint which basins are best suited for the agricultural recharge effort based on crops grown on the land and existing conditions of the groundwater. Their Soil Suitability Index for Agricultural Groundwater Banking research led by Anthony O'Geen of the UC Cooperative Extension is identifying potential farmland suitable for groundwater banking. In the map below, the best areas are represented in green and the worst in red. Soil Suitability Index for Groundwater Recharging. Map created by University of California Cooperative Extension and University of California at Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. The team of hydrologists so far have determined there are 3.6 million acres of farmland with good potential for groundwater banking, based on how the soil could facilitate deep percolation of the water without harming the crop or contaminating the groundwater. Farmers pumped nearly twice the amount of groundwater in the past year as they do in non-drought times, according to UC Cooperative Extension and several other sources. The result is that groundwater tables fell as much as 100 feet in some areas, and essentially dried up in others. State water officials say that half a million acres of farmland was laid fallow because of water shortages due to drought. In certain farming communities in the southern Central Valley, residents experienced dry taps with no water coming through their faucets because the wells they depended on to bring up groundwater were used up. In California's still simmering water wars, or disagreements over who should bear the brunt of water conservation, groundwater replenishment has been identified as sorely needed. Water could simply run out. Heather Cooley, water program director at the Pacific Institute and primary author of a new report "Where we Agree: Building Consensus on Solutions to California's Urban Water Challenges," on the status of water in California, said it will be years before anyone knows if the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act will be effective. “It is still very early in the process. SGMAN was passed two years ago and it’s in the very early stages. We’re seeing groundwater management groups form,” which is the first step the new state law requires. “People are starting to prepare their management plans, but the requirements don’t kick in in terms of achieving a more sustainable balance until 2040, so we are still quite a ways off in being able to evaluate how effective the changes will be.” Still, in that the law provides the first major attempt for groundwater management, she and Fogg both described it as significant. In its report, the Pacific Institute identfied strategies for groundwater replenishment and storage of water as key to the state's water future and to drought resistance in any locale. "California’s overdrafted aquifers provide significant water storage opportunities and could help the state respond to a changing climate, and particularly to reductions in snowpack due to warmer temperatures," the institute wrote in its Where We Agree report, published this month. The consensus, Cooley indicated, is that the state make use of not only the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act but also of a water storage funding bond approved by California voters through proposition in 2014. While that proposition was widely regarded as storage for surface water, the Pacific Institute said, "there is tremendous interest and opportunity in boosting groundwater recharge in California," and yet "there is no strategy so far to integrate these resources with one another, with surface reservoirs, or with the infrastructure needed to move water around." El Nino rains have come to California, but a few rainy months can not reverse the impact of four years of drought. “Rain helps but it doesn’t get us out of severe drought. We have a long large drought and will take it more than a year to pull us out,” Cooley said, particularly to recharge the depleted groundwater. Not just farmers, but any water users in California are on the hook to conserve water and manage what and how it is used. "There is a lot of opportunity for business to improve water management," Cooley said. "Things they can be doing in their direct operations to reduce water use and reusing water for processes. They also should be looking at water use in their supply chains and working with those situations to use water more effectively."

The Snowy Egret is a member of the family Ardeidae which includes herons and egrets. It is identified by its stately white plumage, its black beak, and its bright yellow feet ("golden slippers"). It is considerably smaller than the Great Egret and is dispersed throughout the coastal United States in freshwater and saline habitats where it feeds on a variety of fish and aquatic invertebrates. The stills were taken on January 22, 2012 at the Rancho Simi Community Park duck pond which is immediately adjacent to the arroyo. The video was taken on January 8, 2012 just west of where the arroyo passes under Madera Road.

Taiwan is a small island nation 180km east of China with contemporary cities, hot springs resorts and dramatic mountainous terrain. Taipei, the country’s capital in the north, is known for its busy night markets and street-food vendors, Chinese Imperial art at the National Palace Museum and Taipei 101, a 509m-tall, bamboo-shaped skyscraper with an observation deck. The island of Taiwan was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before Han Chinese began immigrating to the island in the 17th century. Taiwan today maintains a stable industrial economy as a result of rapid economic growth and industrialization, and is a destination of choice among tourists and travelers and realizing that, Taiwan Board of Tourism has launched Time for Taiwan campaign recently to encourage Muslim travelers to travel to Taiwan. While the country enjoys healthy amount of tourists among Chinese dialects speaking travelers, Taiwan has becoming increasingly popular among non-Chinese speaking tourists and also among Muslims. In the past, it is rather daunting for Muslim to travel in Taiwan as the language used nationwide is pretty much just Mandarin and the food are mostly non-halal. However, Muslim travel to Taiwan is certainly much easier these days as Taiwan has made it a point to accomodate Muslim tourists and travelers. See the picture? This is Pineapple cookies produced in Taiwan and has a Halal logo on it. Coming from the land of Roasted Pork and Xiao Long Bao, you may be surprised to discover that Taiwan has not one, but two halal certification boards. The Taiwan Halal Integrity Development Association (THID) and the Chinese Muslim Association have both taken up the mantle of Halal watchdog. Though slightly different in their classification, both are fully Halal certified and safe for Muslims to enjoy. The associations also certify food products sold in supermarkets.The Chinese Muslim Association of Taiwan carries a list of Halal or Muslim friendly restaurants on its website, so if you are a Muslim planning to travel to Taiwan, you might want to check it out. Taiwan boasts a surprising range of halal food options covering cuisines as varied as Chinese, Taiwanese and Indian. Muslim food is easier to find in more cosmopolitan Taipei, which cooks with no pork, lard or alcohol, but do be wary of street food as most are non- Halal. Thanks to Taiwan’s government’s push to encourage Muslim travel to Taiwan, more hotels are getting their restaurants halal-certified and adding signs of Qiblah in their rooms pointing to Mecca for the convenience of Muslims to observe their daily 5 times prayers. There isn’t a centralized listing for prayer rooms in Taiwan, but Taipei does have mosques. A full list of mosques in Taiwan can also be found on the Chinese Muslim Association website.The Association also has headquarters in Taipei City that are worth a visit if you’d like to find out more about Islam in Taiwan.

3 Why Study Accounting? 3 The accounting profession is dynamic, intellectually rewarding, and potentially lucrative. Accounting alumni from the University of Missouri-St. Louis have taken diverse roles and responsibilities with a wide variety of organizations. Our graduates hold rewarding positions such as financial auditors, internal auditors, information systems auditors, business executives, financial executives, accounting managers, investment bankers, cost accountants, managers of financial reporting, entrepreneurs, risk management consultants, and accounting professors. A degree in accounting opens the door to careers beyond accounting and finance; it can be the basis for advanced study in law, information systems, or other business disciplines. Your accounting education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis will promote your commitment to life-long learning. 4 What Makes UMSL Accounting Degrees Valuable? 4 The accounting program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis enjoys a long-standing reputation for providing excellent graduates that contribute to the economic growth of metropolitan St. Louis. Most of our graduates remain in the St. Louis region, but those who wished to explore opportunities beyond Missouri and the Midwest found success wherever they have ventured. Graduates of the bachelor s and master s degree programs at UMSL have risen to leadership positions at local, regional, national, and international accounting firms and businesses. New graduates have accepted jobs at leading CPA firms including Anders, BKD, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, CliftonLarsonAllen, KPMG, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, RubinBrown, Mueller Prost, StoneCarlie, and UHY Advisors, as well as leading corporations including Ameren, Anheuser- Busch InBev, Boeing, Edward Jones, Emerson, Express Scripts, ScottTrade, Laclede Gas, SSM Healthcare, Wells Fargo and many others. Our alumni are partners, treasurers, chief financial officers, chief operating officers, chief accounting officers, and chief executive officers. Some of them have become leaders in non-profit and governmental entities as well. The Accounting Faculty at the University of Missouri-St. Louis is composed of primarily fulltime scholars who teach day and evening courses in our undergraduate and our graduate programs. The professors hold PhDs from top academic accounting program including Arizona State University, Indiana University, the University of Utah, and the University of North Carolina. In addition to extensive teaching experience, they also average over10 years of professional practice experience with prestigious organizations such as Ernst & Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Anheuser Busch InBev and Citicorp. They are considered experts in the fields of financial reporting, cost accounting, taxation, accounting systems and auditing with research published in leading accounting journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting & Economics, Accounting Horizons, Issues in Accounting Education, and the Journal of Accountancy. The faculty is committed to keeping class sizes small enough to allow interaction between you and your instructor. Because most of the faculty is full-time, you will find them on campus and readily available to answer your questions or discuss your career aspirations. An outstanding on-campus Career Placement Service facilitates on-campus interviews with many organizations seeking soon-to-be graduates from the UMSL accounting programs. It can help with resumes and interviewing skills, and is able provide the information students need as they prepare to leave the university and enter professional life. See 5 What Do I Need to Know if I Am a Transfer Student? 5 If UMSL is not the first higher education institution you have attended, you are in good company! Many of our students are transfer students from community colleges, other campuses of the University of Missouri system, and colleges and universities from around the country and around the world. We welcome transfer students and have a long history of providing support for our transfer students. To get started, make sure your application is completed in a timely manner so that you can be admitted and register for the classes you want. A complete application includes transcripts of coursework taken in high school and other colleges and universities. Only you can request to have these transcripts sent to UMSL from those institutions, as they contain confidential information. You can apply on-line Make an appointment to see an Academic Advisor in the College of Business Administration. These professional advisors will help you plan your course of study and select courses based on a review of your transcript. Consulting an advisor early is important to help you identify how your previous coursework will transfer to the University of Missouri-St. Louis and which previously taken courses are equivalent to College of Business Administration courses. We recommend that you visit an academic advisor regularly during your program to learn about changes in curriculum and to help you stay on track. Contact the College of Business Administration Office of Undergraduate Studies 487 SSB; (314) to request an information packet or to schedule an appointment. You should expect the University of Missouri-St. Louis to be different from your previous educational institution. The University of Missouri-St. Louis is one of the four Universities that comprise the research university system in Missouri. It has rigorous academic programs with high expectations of performance for its faculty and its students. Even if you have attended a college or university elsewhere, it is important to understand the expectations of your UMSL instructors and fulfill them in order to successfully complete a degree at this institution. Accounting faculty members are very accessible by phone, , or by visiting their offices. Take advantage of their presence on campus to get help with class work, to find helpful campus resources, and to help you understand the accounting program and profession. 6 What Degree Programs are Available to Me? 6 Bachelor of Science in Accounting (B.S.A.) The Bachelor of Science in Accounting (BSA) degree program is a 120-credit hour program that requires at least 60 hours to be taken outside of the College of Business Administration. The general education and business core course requirements are the same as those for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) degree program. In addition, there are six required accounting courses at the 3000 level or greater. These courses are the following: ACCTNG 3401 ACCTNG 3402 ACCTNG 3421 ACCTNG 3411 ACCTNG 3441 ACCTNG 4435 Financial Accounting & Reporting I Financial Accounting & Reporting II Accounting Information Systems Cost Accounting Income Taxes Auditing A sample program is provided below. [Note: If you want to qualify to sit for the CPA examination in Missouri, you must have 150 credit hours of coursework. Options for fulfilling this requirement are discussed later. A sample eight-semester plan of study for completing the Bachelor of Science in Accounting (B.S.A.) degree is provided on the next page. 7 Sample Bachelor of Science in Accounting Degree Program 7 Semester 1 Semester 2 MATH 1030 College Algebra MATH 1100 Basic Calculus ENGL 1100 Freshman Composition ECON 1001 Microeconomics Humanities Humanities State Requirement Science Lecture Social Science Cultural Diversity Semester 3 Semester 4 MATH 1105 Probability & Statistics ACCTNG 2410 Managerial Accounting ACCTNG 2400 Fundamentals of Financial Accounting LOG OM 3300 Business Statistics ECON 1002 Macroeconomics Speech INF SYS 2800 Info. Systems Concepts and Applications BUS AD 2900 Legal Environment of Business Ethics Social Science Semester 5 Semester 6 MKTG 3700 Basic Marketing FINANCE 3500 Financial Management LOG OM 3320 Operations Management MGMT 3600 Management & Organizational Behavior ACCTNG 3401 Financial Accounting and Reporting I ACCTNG 3402 Financial Accounting and Reporting II ENGL 3120 Business Writing ACCTNG 3421 Accounting Information Systems Global Awareness Elective Approved Non-Business Elective Students are encouraged to apply for internships Semester 7 Semester 8 ACCTNG 3411 Cost Accounting MGMT 4219 Strategic Management Global Awareness Elective ACCTNG 3441 Income Taxes ACCTNG 4435 Auditing Elective Approved Non-Business Elective Approved Non-Business Elective Elective MGMT 4220 Business Assessment Testing Students are encouraged to apply for internships Required non-business elective courses include ethics and speech Suggested business electives include finance and information systems courses 8 Master of Accounting 8 The Master of Accounting (M.Acc.) degree program is intended for students preparing to enter the accounting profession as well as for those seeking to further their existing accounting careers. It is designed to accommodate both undergraduate accounting majors and students with other undergraduate backgrounds. The M.Acc. degree will satisfy the minimum education requirements to be eligible to take the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examination in Missouri. The M.Acc. program may require as few as 30 hours (requirements C and D) for students that earned a recent undergraduate accounting degree but will require additional hours for students with little previous accounting study and even more for students with no previous business and accounting study. Many of our students are working full time, so many of the upper level classes are scheduled in the evening. Prerequisite Courses: Professional Accounting Core: (21 credits / 15 upper level accounting credits) ACCTNG 2400 Fundamentals of Financial Accounting ACCTNG 2410 Managerial Accounting ACCTNG 3401 Financial Accounting & Reporting I ACCTNG 3402 Financial Accounting and Reporting II ACCTNG 3421 Accounting Information Systems ACCTNG 3411 Cost Accounting ACCTNG 3441 Income Taxes Master of Accounting Curriculum: A. General Business (18 credits) These requirements may be waived with appropriate undergraduate courses. Quantitative Methods: LOGOM 5300 Finance Requirement: FINANCE 6500 Statistical Analysis for Management Decisions Financial Management Choose four courses from the following list: BUS AD 5100 Managerial Communication BUS AD 5900 Law, Ethics and Business BUS AD 6990 Strategy Formulation and Implementation INFSYS 5800 Management Information Systems LOG OM 5320 Production and Operations Management MGMT 5600 Organizational Behavior and Administrative Processes MKTG 5700 Contemporary Marketing Concepts 9 9 B. M.Acc. Degree Requirements (15 credits) *These requirements may be waived with appropriate undergraduate courses. If courses are waived, students must take additional accounting electives to meet the minimum credit hour requirement. ACCTNG 4401 Financial Accounting & Reporting III ACCTNG 4402 Financial Accounting & Reporting IV ACCTNG 4435 Auditing * Students must complete one course from the following graduate topics courses: ACCTNG 5403 Graduate Topics in Financial Accounting ACCTNG 5412 Graduate Topics in Managerial Accounting: Controllership ACCTNG 5435 Graduate Topics in Auditing ACCTNG 6441 Graduate Topics in Taxation Students must complete one course from the following research courses: ACCTNG 5402 Professional Accounting Research ACCTNG 5406 Accounting Research & Professional Writing ACCTNG 5441 Tax Research C.) Electives (15 credits) Students must complete 15 credits of electives. At least six hours of these electives must be accounting electives. The other 9 credits can come from either the accounting list or the business list shown below. Accounting Electives: ACCTNG 5402 ACCTNG 5403 ACCTNG 5406 ACCTNG 5408 ACCTNG 5412 ACCTNG 5435 ACCTNG 5436 ACCTNG 5441 ACCTNG 5446 ACCTNG 5480 ACCTNG 5406 ACCTNG 5490 ACCTNG 5491 ACCTNG 5498 ACCTNG 5499 ACCTNG 6441 Professional Accounting Research Graduate Topics in Financial Accounting Accounting Research & Professional Writing Fraud Examination Graduate Topics in Managerial Accounting: Controllership Graduate Topics in Auditing Systems Auditing Tax Research Advanced Topics in Taxation International Accounting Accounting Research & Professional Writing Graduate Accounting Internship Contemporary Issues in Accountancy Graduate Topics in Accounting Individual Research in Accounting Graduate Topics in Taxation Non-Accounting Business Electives: Any BUS AD 5000 and above Any LOG OM 5300 and above Any FINANCE 5500 and above Any MGMT 5600 and above Any MKTG 5700 and above Any INFSYS 5800 and above 10 All M.Acc. degree students must complete at least 15 hours in accounting (a minimum of 12 hours at the 5000-level). To plan your course of study, consult an advisor to determine when specific courses will be available as some courses are not offered every year. 10 Please check the university s website: maccotln.html for specific courses and course descriptions. 11 Master of Business Administration (MBA) Accounting Emphasis 11 For students desiring a broader business orientation in graduate study, the MBA is a good choice to follow a BSA degree. Students may fulfill the State of Missouri requirements to sit for the CPA examination through the MBA program with emphasis in Accounting only if they already have an undergraduate degree in Accounting. A. General Requirements ECON 4150 BUS AD 5000 BUS AD 5100 BUS AD 5900 LOG OM 5300 BUS AD 6990 B. Core Requirements ACCTNG 5400 FINANCE 6500 INFSYS 5800 MGMT 5600 MKTG 5700 LOG OM 5320 Quantitative Methods & Modeling in Econ., Bus. & Social Sciences Economics for Managers Managerial Communications Law, Ethics and Business Statistical Analysis for Management Decisions Strategy Formulation and Implementation Financial and Managerial Accounting Financial Management Management Information Systems Organizational Behavior and Administrative Processes Contemporary Marketing Concepts Production and Operations Management C. Business Breadth Requirements* ACCTNG5401 Financial Reporting and Analysis Any approved 6000-level course beyond FINANCE 6500 Any approved 5000-level course beyond MKTG 5700 Any approved 5000-level course beyond INFSYS 5800 Any approved 5000-level course beyond LOG OM 5320 D. Emphasis Area/Electives Beyond ACCTNG 5400, MBA students seeking an Emphasis in Accounting must complete ACCTNG 5401 and a minimum of 9 additional hours of 4400-level and 5400-level Accounting electives. [Only courses that are substantially different from courses taken for credit in a student's undergraduate program would be acceptable.] The total number of elective courses required will depend on the number of hours waived. * Students must choose at least two courses from those listed in Section C and must take at least one course in each of the functional areas while in the MBA program at UMSL. A maximum of 15 hours in any functional area (e.g., Accounting) will count toward the MBA degree requirements. Advisors in the Office of Graduate Programs in Business, 250 JC Penney; (314) can assist you in preparing your application packet and planning your course of study at UMSL. 12 How do I get into graduate school? 12 To be eligible to apply to any graduate business program at UMSL, you must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and you must show high promise of academic success. Admission to the Master of Accounting program is competitive, and all aspects of a student's application (letters of recommendation, previous work experience, grade point average, and scores on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT)) are considered when making admissions decisions. Before your application to a graduate program in business will be considered, you must submit the completed application and: a. Have official transcripts covering all collegiate academic work sent to the Office of Graduate Admissions (or the Office of International Student Services for international students). b. Take the GMAT and have your scores sent to the University of Missouri-St. Louis. c. Forward two letters of recommendation from professors or employers and a current résumé to the Office of Graduate Admissions (or Office of International Student Services). Because it takes time to register and prepare for the GMAT, take the test, and have scores received in our office, students are encouraged to write early for information. You may request information about the graduate business programs and apply on- line through the Admissions web page: 13 Master of Accounting Early Admission Policy 13 The Accounting Department provides an admission option for outstanding students at the University of Missouri - St. Louis pursuing either the Bachelor of Science in Accounting or the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. The Early Admission option is available to any applicant who meets ALL of the following criteria: Will earn a B.S. in Accounting or a B.S. in Business Administration at UMSL prior to entering the M.Acc. program Has an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher at the time of application Has completed at least three 3000-level accounting classes at UMSL Has a UMSL upper-level accounting GPA of 3.2 or higher Qualified students must submit an application, with transcripts and letters of reference, by the following deadlines: October 15 for Spring semester admission March 15 for Summer term admission June 15 for Fall semester admission Students who meet the academic qualifications and deadlines above will receive an expedited admission decision, generally within two weeks of their application. This will allow them to register for graduate classes for the coming semester on a timely basis.* The Early Admission Program is the only way to gain admission to the Master of Accounting program without submitting GMAT scores. Applicants who do not meet the selection criteria or the deadlines must submit complete application packages including a GMAT score. *Currently, UMSL policy allows early admission students to register for only one semester before their Bachelor degrees are conferred. Therefore, students who wish to take summer classes (including an internship for credit) should sign up for Fall semester classes first, in order to ensure enrollment in preferred Fall semester classes. Enrollment in an internship for credit and certain summer courses is more flexible and can be accomplished after graduation. Students who do not meet the qualifications for Early Admission are encouraged to submit complete application packages as early as possible. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and applicants who are accepted early will be able to register for classes on a timely basis. Advisors in the Office of Graduate Programs in Business, 250 University Center (314) can assist you in preparing your application packet. 14 What is the GMAT? 14 All applicants to graduate business programs at the University of Missouri-St. Louis are required to take the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT). The GMAT is a standardized assessment that provides business schools with an indication of the intellectual capacity of applicants for advanced study. The GMAT measures basic verbal, mathematical, and analytical writing skills that students have developed over a long period of time in your education and work. It consists of three main parts, the Analytical Writing Assessment, Quantitative section, and Verbal section. It does NOT measure: a. Your knowledge of business b. Your job skills c. Specific content in your undergraduate or first university course work d. Your abilities in any other specific subject area e. Subjective qualities such as motivation, creativity, and interpersonal skills Preparing to take the GMAT No admission decision is made on the basis of test scores alone. However, your GMAT score is a significant part of your application. It is important to prepare for the test carefully. The Graduate Management Admission Council recommends that you allow at least four weeks of studying before you complete the exam. GMAT Preparation Materials There are many resources available to help you prepare for the GMAT. They vary greatly in the amounts of time and money that they require. You should decide on a level of preparation that meets your needs. Be aware that the GMAT is taken by individuals worldwide who hope to gain admission to graduate business programs. Even if you have done well in your undergraduate program, taking the GMAT without adequate preparation could result in a low score, which may delay or impede your entrance into a graduate business program. If you have any questions about registering or preparing for the GMAT, contact the Office of Graduate Programs in Business, 250 University Center; (314) 15 What Does It Take to Become a Certified Public Accountant? 15 CPA Certification in Missouri Eligibility requirements, to sit for the CPA examination as a Missouri candidate are the following: Be a resident of Missouri or have a place of business in Missouri, or as an employee, be regularly employed in Missouri Be of good moral character Be at least 21 years of age Hold a baccalaureate degree in any field of study Have successfully completed a minimum of 150 credit hours* of higher education Have successfully completed a minimum of 60 credit hours in business to include: A minimum of 33 credit hours in accounting**, including a course in Auditing Potential CPA Examination Candidates: For preliminary credential evalutions services. Please contact CPA-Exam or In addition to successfully passing the certification exam, the State of Missouri also has a professional experience requirement before a certificate and license to practice will be granted. *Students may begin testing 60 days prior to official end of semester in which the 150 hours will be achieved. Candidates must submit an official transcript and enrollment verification worksheet notarized by UMSL registrar with application. **Eighteen (18) credit hours of the 33 must be in upper level accounting courses (Acct and above). Refer to Missouri State Board of Accountancy Regulation Specifying Eligibility Requirements for the Missouri CPA Examination (Paragraph 4 CSR of regulations) for details of the statute governing certification. The University of Missouri-St. Louis continues to offer a 120-credit hour Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree program for students who wish to enter areas of the accounting profession that do not require CPA certification. The BSA will provide an excellent foundation for entry into the profession, but Missouri state law requires that 30 addition al hours of study that fulfills the requirements listed above are required before attempting the CPA examination. State law DOES NOT require a master s degree to fulfill the 150-credit hour CPA requirement. Some students may wish to take additional undergraduate courses to fulfill the requirement or may enter graduate programs that complement their BSA degrees. Consult your advisor, professors, and your professional contacts early in your academic program to plan the best path to fulfill your career goals. 17 Is Financial Assistance Available? 17 Accounting Scholarships Each year the accounting faculty has the opportunity to award a number of scholarships specifically designated for accounting students. They include cash awards, scholarships for CPA review courses and opportunities to compete for prestigious local and national scholarships. The majority of these scholarships are awarded at the College of Business Administration Awards Banquet in September or October of each academic year. In an effort to keep the selection process as fair as possible, we ask each student who wishes to be considered for these awards to fill out a one-page application. Applications are available on the Accounting Department link on MY GATEWAY. Completed applications for Accounting Scholarships must be submitted to the Accounting Scholarship Committee by April 15. Notifications of awards for the next academic year are made by the end of June. All applicants are notified about whether they have been awarded a scholarship for the following academic year. Financial Aid Office The only scholarships awarded by the Accounting Department faculty are those that are specifically donated to the Accounting Department by its alumni and friends. Accounting department scholarships should not be confused with financial aid available from the Office of Student Financial Aid, 327 Millennium Student Center; (314) That office can inform you about financial aid and scholarship programs that are available throughout the University as well as student loan programs. 18 18 Are There Paid Accounting Internships? Most kinds of work experience enhance your resume by complimenting your University education and by showing prospective employers your initiative, reliability, and personal responsibility. Having worked in your professional field of interest provides an edge over other applicants. Internships al so help you decide if the field is right for you and assist you in honing in on the area of the profession that best suits your interests, personality, and professional goals. Internships may be paid or unpaid, although most accounting internships are paid. Many UMSL accounting majors find internship opportunities each year. In fact, in recent years over 100 of our students annually have had an internship. Some students have found them as early as the Spring semester of their junior year. Students who participate in internships often have an advantage when seeking post-graduation permanent jobs. Recruiters usually come to campus in the fall to interview students for winter and summer internships. Individuals interested in internships should register with the Career Services Office, 278 Millennium Center; (314) The Career Services Office has listings of internship opportunities. Some accounting firms and other businesses conduct on-campus interviews for internships in their organizations. In order to qualify for these positions, you must register on the Career Key website. Jennifer Nelson (Phone: (314) ; is the Career Services coordinator for College of Business students. She can help you register and learn how to use Career Key. If you do not register and learn how to use Career Key properly, you could miss opportunities for on-campus interviews. Other employers do not interview on campus but do have part-time jobs, temporary positions, and internships in the accounting field available. Contact the College of Business Internship Coordinator, Ms. Peggy Gilbertson in 469 SSB about internship availability (314) ; She announces these opportunities by (to students who sign up to receive s) and provides an overview of the opportunities to all students enrolled in a business course each week. 19 Internships for University Credit 19 Undergraduate students can earn university credit for temporary accounting internships that have a suitable educational component through course number ACCTNG 3490 (Internship in Accounting). Graduate students can earn credit by enrolling in ACCTNG 5490 (Graduate Internship in Accounting). Students seeking credit for internships should first read the Requirements then, if appropriate, complete the Application for Accounting Internship. Both documents are on MY GATEWAY. These are found in the Documents folder of the Accounting Department in the My Organizations section of MY GATEWAY. If enrollment in ACCTNG 3490 or ACCTNG 5490 is a crucial part of your academic program, you should discuss your plans with the Accounting Department Internship Coordinator, Professor Greg Geisler in T1208 Tower; (314) ; After being hired for an internship, a student wishing to earn academic credit must enlist the assistance of a faculty member in the Accounting Department to supervise the academic side of the internship. Students will be expected to meet regularly during the semester with their faculty sponsor and provide written progress reports about their internship experience. Other requirements include a written assignment for which the topic and expectations for satisfactory completion are worked out between individual students and their faculty sponsor. ACCTNG 3490 and ACCTNG 5490 are graded on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis. If you have any questions about Accounting Internship s for Academic Credit, contact Peggy Gilbertson or Professor Geisler. 20 Will I have Time to Do Anything besides Study? 20 Extracurricular Activities Accounting majors work hard. However, a well-rounded student, like a well-rounded professional, manages life to accommodate personal interests as well. UMSL accounting majors have been involved in the university s varsity athletic teams, music ensembles, student government, college and university committees and many of the special interest clubs and organizations on campus. You are strongly encouraged to explore the varied cultural opportunities available in the academic community that extend far beyond the business college classrooms! The faculty provides support to several student-professional organizations that help students learn more about the accounting profession while also providing social settings for students to interact with each other for conversation, professional development, community service, and fun. These groups sponsor meetings and other events where students meet faculty and other active members of the accounting profession in formal presentations and informal discussions. Opportunities such as these help students identify career paths, learn about professional life, and network with prospective employers. Accounting Club The Accounting Club is a recognized student organization on campus that is open to all students of the university. It meets regularly to hear presentations from individuals from all areas of professional experience. The group sponsors social events that build camaraderie among accounting students as well. Please check the bulletin board outside Room 335 SSB to pick up a schedule of Accounting Club events. Beta Alpha Psi This is the honor society for students in accounting, finance, and information systems. The University of Missouri - St. Louis Gamma Psi chapter has been very active in community service projects such as Red Cross blood drives, Old Newsboys, Habitat for Humanity, and oncampus tutoring programs. Some members travel to regional and national meetings to share their experiences and learn from other Beta Alpha Psi chapters around the country. The honor society s professional and social programs for their members have often been recognized by the national association for their superior efforts. The members also enjoy several fun social events each year. National Association of Black Accountants NABA has sponsored a local student chapter for many years. This university-recognized group provides opportunities for students to work together to build relationships with each other, with professionals in the community, and with other organizations to enhance their interests in accounting as a career. Membership in the campus chapter is open to all interested students. Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants (MSCPA) The St. Louis Chapter of the MSCPA regularly sponsors events for students to meet MSCPA members and learn about career paths and options available to accounting majors. The MSCPA also offers our students free annual memberships. Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) is the leading source for information and guidance about the internal audit profession. With a student membership in the local chapter you will gain access to successful local professionals through numerous networking events, find out about job

Get rich right now: What you need to know about mutual funds What is a mutual fund, anyway? A mutual fund is an investment that pools money from a bunch of different people to buy securities—a fancy way of labeling any sort of asset that is traded on the stock exchange, like stocks and bonds. When you put your money in a mutual fund, you pick which professional will manage your investment and what sort of things you want your money to be invested in. Why is it a good place to put my money? Mutual funds are a safe investment option because they are diversified, which means that whichever financial pro manages your money will pick and choose an assortment of places to put your hard-earned money—think stocks for big corporations and government bonds. Since you don’t need the money right away, these sorts of long-term investments are a great option. They’re low risk with good reward—far better than your standard savings account. Where do I start? Ask Mom and Dad to take you to the bank they use, and set up a meeting with the financial advisor there. Or if they have investments themselves, chat with them and see if they could connect you with their own investment manager.

ProjectsI3 Experience: Imagine, Investigate, Innovate Georgia Tech Summer Camp Experiences Computational Thinking Olympiad Cooking with Apps Kitchen Science Investigators Explore CTExplore CT is a systemic outreach initiative designed for the dual purposes of exposing middle school students to computing and computational thinking and providing sustained engagement experiences for high school students to promote and develop their academic interest in CS. We will provide middle and high school students exposure to the diversity of CS and CT careers. Students will be engaged in activities that do not require prior CS knowledge but progressively builds their interest, understanding, competence, and skills. Students will be able to iteratively apply their understanding to real-world problems and create artifacts that are authentic to their interests. All of our programs are designed to facilitate successful participation of all students as we do not require prior computing or computer science experience. We will recruit our middle school CTO participants throughout the school year and through exposing students to various aspects of computing through interactive presentations. After the competition, the middle school students will continue to explore computational thinking through take-home kits that contain paper- and web-based activities. For example, students will receive a deck of binary magic cards, links to websites with games such as LightBot and flash-based river crossing problems, and original games, apps, and videos created by the Saturday B.I.T.S participants. We believe this type of continued exploration will ignite the interest of our middle schoolers and get them looking forward to participating in the high school component of Explore CT.

Fifty one years ago, on 18 February 1965, The Gambia was declared an independent state, a national flag was hoisted, a national anthem was composed, a prime minister was appointed by the Governor representing the Queen of the United Kingdom and Bills passed by the House of Representatives had to be assented to by the Governor. This means that national sovereignty was limited. On 24 April 1970, The Gambia was declared a Republic with a President who assented to Bills passed by the House of Representatives. The first phase of national liberation was now completed. The state was sovereign but the people were not. The 1997 Constitution stipulates that sovereignty resides in the people from whom all organs of government derive their authority, but the people are yet to be sovereign. The second phase of national liberation when the people become sovereign is yet to be attained. If any citizen can be arrested and detained incommunicado at will for months or years against their will while their families being gripped by fear or swallow their pride lock themselves to lament it within the four corners of their rooms, can we talk about a free and liberated Gambia? Can such people claim to own themselves or their country? If a professionally trained public servant can be removed from office without due process and all he/she can do is to grumble in a ‘safe corner’, can it not be said that his/her rights have been violated and the rule of law has been disregarded? If a government rules by might and shows no regard for the constitution is that not impunity? The Gambian people need to build a new Gambia owned and driven by the people to attain a life of liberty, dignity and prosperity; a third secular democratic republic ushering in the sovereignty of the people.