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In an effort to underscore its importance to Asia, geostrategist Nicholas Spykman once described it as the 'Asiatic Mediterranean.' More recently, it has been dubbed the 'Chinese Caribbean.' And, just as Rome and the United States have sought control over the Mediterranean and Caribbean, China now seeks dominance over the South China Sea.
It's clear that China's claims and recent assertiveness have increased tensions in this key body of water. Yet while most attention has focused on Beijing's appetite for fishery and energy resources, from a submariner's perspective, the semi-closed sea is integral to China's nuclear strategy. And without understanding the nuclear dimension of the South China Sea disputes, China's maritime expansion makes little sense.
Possessing a credible sea-based nuclear deterrent is a priority for China's military strategy. China's single Type 092, or Xia-class, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, equipped with short-range JL-1 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), has never conducted a deterrent patrol from the Bohai Sea since its introduction in the 1980s. However, China is on the verge of acquiring credible second-strike capabilities with the anticipated introduction of JL-2 SLBMs (with an estimated range of 8,000 kilometres) coupled with DF-31 and DF-31A road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). In addition, China plans to introduce up to five Type 094, or Jin-class, SSBNs outfitted with the JL-2 missiles, while constructing an underwater submarine base on Hainan Island in the South China Sea.Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.
It's clear, then, that China is making every effort to keep the South China Sea off limits, just as the Soviet Union did in the Sea of Okhotsk during the Cold War. Back then, the Soviet Union turned to SSBNs as insurance against US capabilities to destroy land-based ICBMs. The need to secure its insurance force from attacks, and the need for effective command and control, meant that Soviet SSBNs had to be deployed close to home, with longer-range missiles to be used to strike the continental United States. In addition to the Barents Sea, Moscow prioritized making the Sea of Okhotsk a safe haven for SSBNs by improving the physical defences of the Kuril Islands and reinforcing the Pacific Fleet based at Vladivostok. The Soviet Pacific Fleet deployed 100 submarines, combined with 140 surface warships, including a Kiev-class light aircraft carrier, to defend its insurance force in the Sea of Okhotsk.
Likewise, China needs to secure its forces in the South China Sea and modify its maritime strategy and doctrine accordingly. Currently, the primary wartime missions of the People's Liberation Army Navy are: 1) securing sea approaches to Taiwan; 2) conducting operations in the western Pacific to deny enemy forces freedom of action; 3) protecting Chinese sea lines of communication; and 4) interdicting enemy lines of communication. With the introduction of the Type 094, protecting Chinese SSBNs will become another primary mission, and this mission will require China to kill enemy strategic antisubmarine forces and end the resistance of other claimants in the South China Sea. Chinese anti-access/area-denial capabilities, especially quieter nuclear-powered attack submarines, can be used to counter enemy forward antisubmarine warfare operations. China's aircraft carriers, when operational, will be deployed in the South China Sea to silence the neighbouring claimants.
This strategy dates back almost two decades, to a time when China began encircling the South China Sea to fill the power vacuum created by the withdrawal of US forces from the Philippines in 1991. China reasserted 'historical' claims over all the islets, including the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos, and 80 percent of the 3.5 million km2 body of water along the nine-dotted U-shaped line, despite having no international legal ground to do so. Those islets can be used as air and sea bases for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities, and as base points for claiming the deeper part of the South China Sea for PLAN ballistic missile submarines and other vessels. China also interprets the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in an arbitrary manner and doesn't accept military activities by foreign vessels and overflight in its waters.
Yet China's efforts to dominate the South China Sea face significant challenges. Chinese assertiveness hasn't only inflamed hostilities from other claimants, but has also raised concerns from seafaring nations such as the United States, Japan, Australia, and India. After all, the South China Sea is a recognized international waterway, unlike the Sea of Okhotsk. In addition, since the JL-2 missiles can't reach Los Angeles from the South China Sea, Type 094 submarines need to enter the Philippine Sea, where the US Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force conduct intense anti-submarine warfare operations.


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Tornado Alley Weighs Costs of Safe Rooms
More Oklahomans Back School-Safety Mandates After a Powerful Twister Killed Seven Elementary Students Last Spring
Three months after a tornado cut a swath of devastation through Moore, Okla., leveling an elementary school where seven children died, state officials and residents are debating the costs and benefits of making safe rooms mandatory in schools.
Like the majority of states in the twister-prone region of the U.S. known as Tornado Alley, Oklahoma currently leaves it up to school districts to decide whether to install storm shelters. Less than one-third of Oklahoma's 1,773 public schools currently have a safe room or shelter for...

subset: commoncrawl


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by Steve Brown
I received my calling into the world of endurance sports in 1986 when a friend invited me to do a triathlon. I scrambled to borrow a bike and a helmet and had no idea what else to wear, but was instantly drawn in and addicted to what I saw on race day. I couldn't quite put my finger on what made these people tick, but I knew I wanted to be one of them.
I started racing shorter races, but it wasn't too long before I worked my way up to marathons and eventually full-distance triathlons. I was healthy. I was happy. And I felt like I was setting good examples of healthy living for my kids who came to so many of my races. That was my lifestyle for 20 years. And it was a good one.
Cancer. It happens. It happened to me. On February 24, 2006 my wife and I sat in the office of an oncologist I had just met and tried to comprehend what he was telling us. I had Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). This would require several weeks of chemotherapy and then two years of follow up treatments. Even that wouldn't "cure" the disease, as it is a chronic blood cancer that would need to be lived with and managed. This diagnosis came out of the blue.
I assumed I of all people should get a free pass on disease like cancer. I was wrong.
My perspective on cancer was always that it was something that happened to others. An athlete like me doesn't get sick. I was an IRONMAN finisher, several times over. I grew up as one of those active kids who played every sport that I could sink my teeth into. I attended college on a soccer scholarship. I hung on the fringe of a pro soccer career and then played semi professionally for a number of years. I lived clean and healthy. So I assumed I of all people should get a free pass on disease like cancer. I was wrong.
So, with every emotion known to the human psyche spinning in a mad freefall, I began the first of four one-week rounds of chemotherapy at our local hospital. I hit some physical and emotional dark patches. But they certainly weren't all dark. These patches were cyclical and interspersed with rays of hope. Things got better. My tolerance to the treatment drugs improved and I started showing signs of progress. By the third round my blood counts were slowly returning to normal and I had reached my first remission.
We made a party out of chemo whenever we could. My wife came to every treatment. My daughters occasionally skipped school to come hang out with us and we would often all each lunch together in the chemo suite. I always tried to be the class clown to add a little levity to the situation. But that's who I am in almost any situation.
As I reconciled everything that I was experiencing, I made a few key decisions that kept me sane and, at the same time, changed my life. One was to practice the simple adage of controlling the things I could control. I couldn't control the diagnosis, but I could control how I reacted to that diagnosis. In that respect, my thought process was exactly the same as it is on race day. I drew many parallels between the challenges I was facing with the disease and the challenges we all face in sport and life.
Another critical decision I made was to remain in motion. I have learned through the years that I am always happiest when I am moving. I've never known if I am running towards, or away, from something, but when I am moving, I am whole. It is more than just a way to stay in shape. It is how I have always coped and it is my therapy. So I held onto that and kept up my training through my treatments—often running home from chemo. I made it part of a game. I challenged the disease back and made up some of my own rules of engagement
The combination of effective drugs, a great medical team, an amazing support crew and a good mindset allowed me to remain in shape and I was back to racing five months after my diagnosis. I was fortunate in that I was able to race and train throughout my diagnosis and subsequent treatments. I was able to keep many key events on my calendar, including IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman. Racing kept me in charge of my disease, which I showed when I crossed the finish line of the Chesapeakeman Ultra distance triathlon (recently renamed IRONMAN Maryland) seven months post diagnosis. Race director, and good friend, Rob Vigorito proudly (and with much emotion) dubbed me "RemissionMan."
During my 25 years of racing and seven years of living with a chronic leukemia I've managed 23 marathons, an ultra marathon in South Africa, 11 IRONMAN events, countless shorter races and … 46 visits to the chemotherapy suite. Lessons tend to come out of that kind of stuff. And I will continue to learn and build both relationships and experiences as time rolls on.
IRONMAN, and the entire triathlon community, has helped me live above this disease. Being able to combine the disease with my coaching efforts through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program has enabled me to expand my footprint and make a greater impact in the lives of others. I would like to think that I am doing my part, be it ever so small, to facilitate positive change in this world.
Through IRONMAN I am reminded that all things are possible.
Steve Brown is a lifelong Philadelphia area resident, multisport enthusiast, coach and author. He lives in suburban Philadelphia, where he also serves on the Board of Directors of the Community YMCA of Eastern Delaware County and the Mid Atlantic Regional Council of USA Triathlon. For more, visit remissionman.com.


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Are you mad for We Are Men?
Now that CBS' bachelor comedy has premiered, we want to know if you think it's a hit or a miss — and what you think of every new show this fall season.
Vote: Which fall premieres are hits? Which are misses?Do you want to bro it up with Carter (Chris Smith), Stuart (Jerry O'Connell), Gil (Kal Penn) and Frank (Tony Shalhoub)? Or is it a little too macho for your taste? Vote now! And don't forget to tell your friends and fellow TV fans to vote as well.Check back to see what TVGuide.com users think of your favorite — and least favorite — new shows. And stay tuned to see the final rankings of which freshman series readers love and hate.Plus, check out our full calendar to help you keep track of all the premiere dates and when to vote.


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Fans of Boxee's popular Internet programming software were teased last month when the company announced it would sell a plug-and-play box that would stream media over a WiFi network.
But one thing the company failed to mention, until this week, was the box will include a remote control equipped with a Qwerty keyboard. Couch potatoes everywhere rejoice.
The two-sided remote features buttons to control play and pause functions of streaming media and a menu to access more features.
The backside of the remote is a keyboard, giving users the ability to type without having to walk all the way over to their computer to type or struggle through using an onscreen keyboard.
The new box will sell for under $200, according to the company. There is no word on whether they will sell the remote on its own. If you don't feel like shelling over the cash for the box, you could always use the iPhone remote control that Boxee introduced last year.


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Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation
100 Bragg Blvd.
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301
(910) 643-2778
The Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation supports the museum with marketing, advertising and financial support for its programs and exhibits. Opening the doors on August 16th, 2000, the 60th anniversary of the original United States Army's Test Platoon's first parachute jump, the museum offers free admission, a main exhibit gallery, temporary gallery, four-story tall theater, video theater and a motion simulator ride.
It is located in Historic Downtown Fayetteville on the corner of Bragg Boulevard and Hay Street, adjacent to the city's Freedom Memorial Park and the recently built North Carolina Veteran's Park.
The main gallery is designed as a self-guiding tour, in chronological order, through the history of the airborne and special operations soldiers, from 1940 to the present.
For a $8.50 per person, visitors can ride the 24 seat motion simulator.


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In addition to the supplied Java filters, Tungsten Replicator also includes support for custom script-based filters written in JavaScript and supported through the JavaScript filter. This filter provides a JavaScript environment that exposes the transaction information as it is processed internally through an object-based JavaScript API.
At the simplest level, this allows for operations such as database renames and filtering. More complex solutions allow for modification of the individual data, such as removing nulls, bad dates, and duplication of information.
Updating the static properties file for the replicator will break automated upgrades through tpm. When upgrading, tpm relies on existing template files to create the new configuration based on the tpm parameters used.
static properties file (
static-SERVICE.properties) must
be edited to include the definition of the filter using the
JavaScriptFilter class, using the
script property to define the
location of the actual JavaScript file containing the filter definition. For
example, the supplied
filter is defined as follows:
replicator.filter.ansiquotes=com.continuent.tungsten.replicator.filter.JavaScriptFilter replicator.filter.ansiquotes.script=${replicator.home.dir}/support/filters-javascript/ansiquotes.js
To use the filter, add the filter name,
ansiquotes in the above example, to
the required stage:
Then restart the replicator to enable the configuration:
replicator restart
If there is a problem with the JavaScript filter during restart, the
replicator will be placed into the
OFFLINE state and the reason for the
error will be provided within the replicator
trepsvc.log log.


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Join our community of corporate executives, policy professionals, civil society leaders, researchers and more. Subscribe to our regular updates and be a part of the ongoing discussion.Subscribe for updates
Leaders in business, philanthropy and non-profits join forces with News Deeply to create value and understanding.Learn More
Founded in 2012, News Deeply is an innovative network of theme-driven information and community platforms, convening engaged, knowledgeable and passionate audiences.
Led by an award-winning team of domain-expert journalists, our topical platforms combine real-time storytelling, investigative reporting and data, and expert-driven insights with online and offline community interactions. Our readers and our partners include leaders from the private sector, government, civil society, and academia and research, as well as members of the engaged public.
In an increasingly complicated information environment, we surface the vital insights and stakeholder connections that help to advance conversations and inform decision-making on the issues that matter, deeply, to the state of our world today.


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Sorry for being a little bit late on this story. The boyz of Cocodorm.com—such as Baby Boy (nsfw), seen above, and the very familiar faces and bodies of performers such as Will and Breion Diamond (nsfw)—will stay put for now. A federal judge rules the very popular blatino gay porn portal can continue to offer live sex shows from its Miami home.
The dorm—which has advertised on Rod 2.0—features up to five black and Latino young men who share a home together and have sex on schedule (nsfw).The city has tried to shut down the five-bedroom house near downtown Miami, arguing it constitutes an "adult business illegally operating in a residential area." In 2007 the city's Code Enforcement Board agreed, and Cocodorm owner Flavaworks (nsfw) responded to the code enforcement by suing in federal court.
U.S. District Court Judge Marcia C. Cooke sided with Flavaworks and based her ruling on a precedent involving the City of Tampa and adult website Voyeurdorm.com, a straight website which features women. Cooke ruled Cocodorm did not violate city ordinances and "agreed with Flava Works that no business was conducted in the house where the sex shows take place and that all business transactions were conducted over the internet." There was no evidence what happened inside the home "could be accessed by neighbors or effect the immediate surroundings."
The legal battle began when neighbors and zoning authorities were sent anonymous, printed copies of the webpages, a DVD of a sex show and a fight that happened at the dorm, and, photos of the red brick home. (Copy of the package courtesy of Darian Aaron and LOLDarian.com) Candid snapshots of the dorm residents also identified the young men by name. The package was sent to NBC6 which aired an expose—YouTube here—that prompted city officials to take action. The television report and dorm activity became a cause celebre across the black gay virtual community with various blogs taking sides. (Note: The story was never reported on Rod 2.0 until now.) It was later revealed one of the leading bloggers who publicly condemned the activity was a longtime customer of Flavaworks and Cocoboyz.
The verdict is being celebrated across the adult industry and for good measure. The case becomes a precedent for future cases involving zoning and its application to cyberspace, as well as regulation of live, virtual adult entertainment. It also helps that the Flavaworks case was decided on a very distinguished docket: Judge Marcia C. Cooke is the first black female federal judge in Florida and the same judge who presided over the terror-conspiracy trial of alleged Al-Qaeda "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla.


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Male Hedgehog Adoption
We have a group of male hedgehogs, who cannot be released into the wild, so they live in our safe, near-natural Visitor Centre gardens where we can give them all the care they need.
By adopting one of our hedgehogs you will help us provide their ongoing care - thank you!
If you are looking to set up a direct debit for an adoption, please be aware that there will be no end date and you will automatically be sent a new adoption pack of your chosen species after 12 months. If you would prefer to take out a one-off 12 month adoption, please click the one-off £30 option below.
Adoption Pack
All of these animals are available for adoption for a 12-month period by making a £30.00 one-off payment.
If you would prefer to adopt our animals on an on-going basis you can do so through our Direct Debit facility. As part of this programme you will receive a brand new adoption pack of your chosen species, every 12 months.
In your adoption pack you will receive:
Mounted colour photo of your animal
Certificate of adoption
History of one of our patients of the chosen species
Fact sheet of chosen species
One Tiggywinkles newsletter per annum
Fridge magnet
The Chronicle (History of Tiggywinkles)
One free entry to the Visitor Centre
Thank you so much for your support!


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BT Retail has boosted the speed of its top-of-the-range BT Infinity broadband package from 100Mbps to 160Mbps.
BT Infinity 160Mb is a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTH) broadband service, and is currently only available from a limited number of exchanges.
Most of BT's fibre deployments are fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), meaning that fibre optic cables are laid to street cabinets, and then traditional copper cables are used to connect homes and businesses to the street cabinets. This "last mile" copper connection can reduce broadband speeds significantly.
FTTH continues the fibre link from the street cabinets to the premises, which is a much more expensive option but massively improves connection speeds.
Customers in Highams Park, Bradwell Abbey, Leytonstone, Ilford, Ashford, Forest Hill, Chester, York, St. Austell, Truro and Exeter will be among the first to experience the 160Mbps download service. BT Infinity 160Mb's upload speed has also been accelerated from 15Mbps to 20Mbps.
BT Retail is continuing to offer the BT Infinity 160Mb service with unlimited evening and weekend calls for £35 a month. Existing 100Mb customers will be upgraded automatically.
"160Mb now beats anything offered by our major rivals for speed and today's substantial speed boost comes at no extra charge, as the price remains the same," said Pete Oliver, commercial director of BT's Consumer division.
A recent report by the FTTH Council Europe revealed that the UK has the lowest penetration of FTTH in Europe, with only 0.05% of households connected. BT admitted that only "a few thousand" people in the entire country were using its FTTH service.
The FTTH Council Europe criticised BT for putting too much emphasis on upgrading its copper network to offer FTTC, rather than bringing the country "real" broadband as part of the Broadband Delivery (BDUK) project.
Hartwig Tauber, director general of FTTH Council Europe, said that countries that fall behind on FTTH deployment may miss out on their chance to build a sustainable future for their citizens.
He added that extra efforts are required to ensure that Europe reaches the Digital Agenda 2020 broadband target of at least 50% of households using broadband connections of 100Mbps or more – a target that will cost the EU €192 billion, according to the FTTH Council Europe.
"The decision to invest in FTTH – the only future-proof solution – needs to be made today," he said.
BT said that its FTTC service is now available to more than 11 million homes and premises in the UK. Around two-thirds of UK homes and premises will have access to fibre-based broadband by the end of 2014 – a year earlier than the original target.


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Jul 04
1908 Views
Emojis for Android: Every Things like Emojis
Here I will explain about Emojis for Android Free. While Android was initially a little slower to make new Emojis as commonplace as Apple, that doesn't mean you can't be part of the cool crowd if you're not an iphone user. iphone Emoji for ...


text: Morning Lotus Single Color DescriptionOver time, cultures develop an innate visual identity through a mix of their fine and applied arts. Thailand's (aka "Siam") aesthetic is now characterized by ornate tropical florals coupled with complex geometric motifs; typically differing from others in Asia by their stylized line quality and impressive graphic density. Today, Sonite's innovative artisans have crafted mosaics that embrace and reflect the aesthetic essence of Thai design. The Siamese Collection features extraordinary graphic details never before seen in commercial mosaics. These highly expressive mosaics truely exude the affluence and Oriental splendor of ancient Siam. Lead Time2-4 weeksUsageSuitable for indoor vertical and horizontal applications.Suitable for all residential and commercial surface application.Use subject to the method of installation - proper adhesive is especially recommended for wet area.Use spacers for more consistent grout spacing.Not recommended for flooring.InformationMounted on front sticker film Technical Drawing Available In Series Metallic Lava (2L)Trochus Lava (1L)Karei (61)La Concha (60)Shimmer (42)Brushed Metallic (21)Metallic (20)Silk Mist (13)Silk (12)Trochus (11) Single ColorColor RenderingGalleryColor RenderingGalleryColor RenderingGalleryColor RenderingGalleryColor RenderingGallery Send to Friend [contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"] Product show in Color Ways: Color: Material: Gallery Morning LotusMorning LotusMorning Lotus View All Color Rendering Try Out Installation Explore Brochure Download


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The Paving Production Calculator is a tool for asphalt paving professionals to plan their paving jobs by helping to estimate trucking needs, paving speeds, compaction and other factors. The calculator can help optimize the job site, reducing inefficiency and contributing to smoothness.
STEP 1: Open the App Store on your Apple device.
STEP 2: Search for "production calculator". (If using an iPad, be sure to change your search to include iPhone apps.)
STEP3: Locate App and install.
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.


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Our Deluxe Rooms are located on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the Inn. There is a choice of either one king bed or two double beds.Book Now
This room is perfect for a romantic getaway or a family vacation. The mountain feel will surround you in our décor!Book Now
These rooms are all located on the 3rd floor of the Inn and include a view of the mountain from your own balcony!Book Now
Restaurant and Bar Closed until Thanksgiving 2017For great dining, entertainment and relaxation, visit our in house restaurant. Choose from steaks, seafood, prime rib, pasta and extensive salad bar, all served up in a warm and friendly atmosphere reminiscent of the Grand American Southwest. Desert-bleached timbers, soothing pastel colors, lots of cozy booths set a mood to complement the extensive and varied menu you'll find at the Santa Fe.
Relax in our comfortable stone fireplace lounge with soft contemporary music, as well as seasonal entertainment by many local favorites. The lounge features a great micro brew selection, brew pub drafts, your favorite cocktails, cognac, ports and a great wine list.
In addition to the dining experience you will find at The Mountain Inn, visitors can discover a variety of cuisines and atmosphere at the many local restaurants near us.
For Reservations Call:


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Communities developing resources and competencies for using their languages
Foundational understanding for language development work of all kinds
Publications, fonts and computer tools for language development, translation and research
SIL offers training in disciplines relevant to sustainable language development.
Over 7,000 languages are spoken or signed. CLICK for map of world languages & regional websites.
SIL's commitment to see people flourishing using the languages they value most.
SIL e-Books, published electronically by SIL International, are authored primarily by SIL staff. The series includes book-length documents on language and culture, especially as related to lesser-known and endangered languages. Subject areas include linguistics, sociolinguistics, anthropology, translation, literacy and education, language and culture learning, and computer applications to those endeavors.


text:
Pentair Spabrite Bulb 100 Watt 12 Volt Edison
Availability: In stock
Brand: Pentair
Delivery: Ships within 48 hours
Call Us - 01689 889 468
You have no items in your shopping cart.
Be the first to ask a question about this.
We strive on providing a high level of customer satisfaction where a proven result is clearly visiible in our Trust Pilot reviews.
Please feel free to contact us during office hours on 01689 889 468 to dicuss any element of your purchase or product should the need arise and we will gladly asssit.
Keston Garden Centre
Oakley Road
Kent BR2 8HD
Phone: 01689 889 468
Email: email@example.com


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One man dead after Cooper County motorcycle crash
COOPER COUNTY - Anthony Martin died in a crash in Cooper County on Sunday after losing control of his motorcycle.
52-year-old Martin was ejected from his vehicle on Interstate 70 going eastbound at the 113 mile marker. Another vehicle struck Martin while trying to avoid hitting his motorcycle.
Martin was pronounced dead at the scene.
More News
COLUMBIA — The Columbia community came together Thursday night to remember the life of a Columbia College student killed in... More >>
JEFFERSON CITY - For the third straight year, the Capitol Avenue Historic District in Jefferson City is considered a "Place... More >>
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is sending highway patrol troopers and other state workers to St. Louis... More >>
WILLIAMSBURG — A woman running for a seat in the U.S. Congress said Callaway County Sheriff's Department wrongfully searched her... More >>
COLUMBIA - For investigators, finding Megan Shultz's likely remains in the Columbia landfill after only eight days of searching was... More >>
COLUMBIA — In an earlier story we discussed the difference between weather and climate . While they're not the same... More >>
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri health officials say the state has recorded its first vaping-related death. The Missouri... More >>
COLUMBIA- One Columbia neighbor was left feeling uneasy Thursday after a burglary resulted in a death on her street. ... More >>
BOONVILLE - The Boonville Police Department took 30-year-old Johnathan Todd into custody on Thursday for possession of meth, marijuana, prescription-controlled... More >>
FULTON – Fulton community members and business owners are coming together to show their support for a family and their... More >>
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — A federal judge has denied a request by Missouri to allow a ban on abortions after... More >>
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Jurors ruled against a teacher who alleged that she was fired from a Catholic school in... More >>
IBERIA - Police are investigating a threat of mass violence made by a student in Iberia R-V School District. ... More >>
CAMDEN COUNTY - An Illinois man drowned at the Lake of the Ozarks Wednesday afternoon after falling into the water.... More >>
Global warming has often been used interchangeably with climate change. Well, they shouldn't be, because they do not describe the... More >>
COLUMBIA - Longtime MU professor and musicologist Dr. Michael Budds wiped tears from his eyes as MU alumna Symonne... More >>
BELLE - After the bodies of 4-year-old Bentlee Turner and 37-year-old Jason Burton were found on Monday night, the community... More >>
COLUMBIA - Flu shots are now available from the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services (PHHS). ... More >>


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From setiquest wiki
Allen Telescope Array
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is a Radio Interferometer that is dedicated to astronomical and simultaneous search for extra-terrestrial intelligence observations. It's construction was a joint effort by the SETI Institute and the UC Berkeley Radio Astronomy Laboratory (RAL) with major funding from Paul Allen.
The ATA is located at the existing Hat Creek Radio Observatory (HCRO) and it is managed by SRI International. Hat Creek is located in the Cascades just north of Mt. Lassen[1] at an elevation of 1280m (4200 ft) above sea level. Hat Creek is 290 miles northeast of San Francisco, California.
The ATA is being constructed in stages. The initial array has 42 six-meter (6.1m) antennas and the final configuration will have 350 of these relatively small antennas. The ATA-42 is complete and became operational on October 11th 2007. The total collecting area of the ATA-42 is 1100 square meters with an aperture efficiency of 63%.[2] The ATA-42 has the equivalent collecting area of a larger 39.5m single dish.[3] Each antenna has a log-periodic feed which is cooled for a system temperature of 45 K.
The Full-Width Half-Maximum (FWHM) response of the primary beam is 3.5°/frequency in GHz. At 1.42 GHz the size of the primary beam is 2.46° in diameter. For reference the Moon is 0.5° in diameter.
An innovative feed and cryogenic receiver system on each antenna provides continuous frequency coverage from 0.5 to 11 GHz. This entire bandwidth is brought from each antenna over fiber optic cables to the control building, and there as much of the bandwidth as possible is digitized, with current-epoch ADCs (104.8576 MHz, dual-polarization in 4 independent frequency channels today). The digitized signals received from individual antennas are combined in two ways; to form a radio map or image of the entire field of view of the array using a spectral-imaging correlator, and to form a synthesized, full-resolution beam for pointing at a specific target on the sky using a phased-up beamformer. There are four independent IF tunings available at the ATA. Today two correlators are attached to two of the frequency tunings, and three beamformers work from the other two tunings. Eventually multiple beamformers and correlators could populate all of the IF tunings, if the scientific case for such commensal observations is strong enough. The three beamformers used by SETI currently each produce 104.8576 MHz bandwidth dual-polarization beams.
The ATA was a shared resource between the RAL at Berkeley and the SETI Institute. On April 15th 2011 a funding crisis caused UC Berkeley to back out of its ATA obligations. This forced the ATA into a state of hibernation until December 5th 2011 when it was relaunched[4] thanks to SETIstars and Air Force funding.[5] On April 13th 2012 it was announced that SRI had taken over ATA management duties from UC Berkeley.[6][7][8]
Observation proposals are sent to the ATA steering committee. The committee approves or rejects proposals and allocates telescope time accordingly.
In general either one astronomical survey or one SETI survey (SonATA) will control the pointing of the array as the primary user, with other secondary users able to access different IF tunings, correlators, beamformers, or other backend processors for their observations. This is what is meant by commensal observing at the ATA; the direction on the sky must be shared, but the multiple back end instruments and the frequency agility of the array permit many different science programs to be conducted at one time utilizing that same piece of sky.
The antennas are grouped into 5 "nodes", 1,2,3,4,5. Each antenna in a node has a set of antennas that are assigned a letter. The naming convention is node:letter. There are 42 antennas. Here is a list of all the antennas:
Each antenna has 2 pols, x and y. The convention for referring to a particular antenna pol is node:letter:pol. Example: 1ax, 1ay, etc.
Occasionally antennas are referred to as "ant3a" or "ant2e".
The term "ant" or "ants" is commonly used to mean "antenna" or "antennas".
See also
- ↑ http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hat+creek,+ca+allen+telescope+array&aq=&sll=43.2205,5.533848&sspn=0.012916,0.015407&t=h&ie=UTF8&hq=hat+creek,+ca+allen+telescope+array&hnear=&radius=15000&ll=40.817504,-121.470037&spn=0.006707,0.011791&z=17&vpsrc=6
- ↑ http://www.nhao.jp/~narusawa/oseti/dorothy-inform.html
- ↑ sqrt(42 * (6.1m/2)^2)) * 2 = 39.5m
- ↑ http://setiquest.org/blog/ata-relaunch-dec-5-2011
- ↑ http://setiquest.org/setiquest/ata-relaunch-press-release.pdf
- ↑ http://www.sri.com/news/releases/041312.html
- ↑ http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=36718
- ↑ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sri-international-to-manage-the-hat-creek-radio-observatory-and-conduct-space-research-using-the-allen-telescope-array-2012-04-13
External links
- http://www.seti.org/ata
- http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/project/details/webcam-hat-creek
- http://www.hcro.org (Hat Creek Radio Observatory)
- http://ral.berkeley.edu/ata/
- http://setiquest.info (ATA observation status and schedule)
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Cemeteries visited over the years throughout the United States and more...
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Tombstone Tuesday: The Old Goss Cemetery south of Harveyville, PA
This map was interesting, it is almost like a survey was done at some time. I did not see a date.
Here are more overall photos from that visit in 2008.
Remember this was the situation in 2008.
6 comments:
I love the photos, over here in Australia we have heaps of these old un kept cemeteries all over the place. recently I started a blog which I am sharing all of our travels, if you would like to have a look our blog spot is http://houriganhistory.blogspot.com.au/ReplyDelete
its still a great pleasure to be able to go to these places and share them with other.
Welcome from Australia. I am glad to hear that you are taking an interesting in the cemeteries there. They contain a lot of history and need to be cared for.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJuly 26, 2013 at 12:51 PM
Thanks for the interest, and the photos.ReplyDelete
There is more to the old site: did you find the slabs/markers dedicated to the veterans of the revolutionary war? there are also, I think, Native American graves there too - from about the period of the War of 1812 - if the story was correct, as well as a little girl who perished in the raids.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I am sure there is much much more but I was hesitant to venture too far into the bushes the first time I visited someone was waiting for me. I did see signs of the Flag flapping. The second time the dog was probably friendly but I didn't wish to push it and I had to move on. I did not realize that there were Native American there? Thanks.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousAugust 27, 2013 at 4:23 PM
hi bonnie,i am working on clearing and restoring the old goss cemetery.we purchased the property before were the dog was.if your are ever traveling in this area again you are welcome to stop in.my email is email@example.com
Hello G: I tried to remove your email but it won't let me edit your comment. This is great news. I would like to visit again but it is probably not going to happen. We will see. I hope that once you get it cleaned up you can keep it that way. Unfortunately, I believe a lot of the stones are broken and lost. I found most of the information at the Luzerne Historical Society. They have a cemetery file you can tape into to see who has read the cemetery in the past and written it up. Thanks so much for doing the cleanup. BonnieDelete


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An important article by David Matas...
Matas was one of the two new appointees to Rights and Democracy by Stephen Harper (and a very wise appointee as well)...here's a piece that corrects some of the ridiculous slander about the Board of this troubled group...
Gerald Caplan wrote about Rights and Democracy last week under the headline "What every office needs to succeed in Harper's Canada." The piece is centred around this statement: "In a confidential evaluation of the organization's late executive director [Remy Beauregard], Mr. Gauthier pointedly noted the perhaps telltale absence of Jews on staff." Mr. Caplan launched from this observation a satirical attack on Mr. Gauthier and the government.The press and the blogosphere are missing some of the big questions on Rights & Democracy. Why is it necessary to have 47 staff people to dole out $11 million in grants? Why was the staff resistant to taking direction from the Board of Directors? Why were they funding organizations known to have links to terrorists?
The opinion piece refers to Jacques Gauthier as one of three new appointees to the Board. But he was not. There was only one new appointee besides me, Michael Van Pelt. Jacques Gauthier is one of the oldest appointees on the board, along with three others, appointed February of 2008. However, that is the least of the problems with Mr. Caplan's article.
Since my appointment to the board on Nov. 13, 2009, I have sought out and read relevant documents that preceded my appointment. I have read from start to finish the performance evaluation of the late president, dated May 15, 2009, co-authored by Mr. Gauthier and Elliot Tepper. The statement Mr. Caplan says is in the evaluation is in fact not there. Nor is there anything in the evaluation resembling it. Nor is there anything there that could be mistaken for it.
I have also read a memorandum Mr. Gauthier wrote and sent to other members of the performance review committee dated May 21, 2009. One of these matters, in its entirety, is this:"During a dinner that took place in the context of the Board of Directors meeting of March 2009 in Montreal, I was asked by one of the members of the management staff about my knowledge about certain Jewish customs and traditions in Europe. I was surprised by his question and I asked him why he thought I would be able to explain these customs and traditions. He replied that he thought I would know these things since he believed I was Jewish. Astonished by his statement, I indicated that I was not Jewish and that I was brought up in the Roman Catholic faith. He then assumed that my wife must be Jewish. I had to again correct him and told him my wife was not Jewish. This individual was quite stunned by my responses.The former president prepared a written response dated Sept. 4 in which he commented not only on his evaluation but also on the Gauthier memo. He said: "This entire memo should be removed from the record."
This exchange was very peculiar and deeply troubling. It seemed that this key staff member was referring to the belief of others in management staff as well. My only explanation for his inquiries related to a number of positions I took as interim Chair in respect to the Durban II Review Conference in Geneva and the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
I was also very surprised to be informed subsequently that there are no Jewish employees in the office of R&D in Montreal. I continue to be quite perplexed about the insinuations and meaning of the questions raised by this member of the management staff."
One has to ask, what record? The Gauthier memo was marked "strictly confidential." It was not sent to the board nor to the Privy Council, the destination for the performance review report. It was sent only to other members of the performance review committee. As well, Mr. Gauthier prefaced the memo by writing that it referred to matters which "were deliberately excluded from the evaluation report" of the president.
The response that Mr. Beauregard wrote to this component of the Gauthier memorandum, again in its entirety, was this: "It is both forbidden and illegal to ask staff to disclose their religious affiliation. How Mr. Gauthier came across this information is a mystery."
After Mr. Beauregard's death, reporters indicated they had seen his reaction to his performance evaluation and to the Gauthier memorandum but had not seen the texts to which he was reacting. Abstracted from the original Gauthier memo, the response gives a misleading impression of what that memo contains.
There is nothing in the Gauthier memo to indicate that he had made any inquiries about Jews on staff. The memo shows only that he received information on that subject. It seems odd, to say the least, that Mr. Beauregard should inveigh against Mr. Gauthier for receiving information about religious affiliation but say nothing about a member of Mr. Beauregard's own staff, a person subject to Mr. Beauregard's direction and control, who went about eliciting from Mr. Gauthier information about his and his wife's religious affiliation.
The whole piece by Mr. Caplan then is constructed around a false premise. It is wrong to describe something deliberately excluded from an evaluation as part of an evaluation.
Moreover, though one can see that, in the Gauthier memo, there is something sort of resembling the comment to which Mr. Caplan refers, it is twisted and taken out of context. Mr. Gauthier came away from a discussion he had with a member of the management team with the impression that the management team believed that views a person held that were hostile to the Middle East activities of Rights and Democracy could be attributed to the fact the person was Jewish or that his wife was Jewish.
One form of prejudice against Jews is that they are suspected of disloyalty because they are Jewish. What Mr. Gauthier heard sounded very much like that. Mr. Gauthier wondered whether the attitude he heard expressed had had an impact on the hiring of Jewish staff.
Assuming that a person holds certain non-religious beliefs based on his religion or ethnic identity is a form of prejudice. Had the management team of Rights and Democracy adopted this form of prejudice?
In itself, the presence or absence of Jewish employees on the staff of a small organization means nothing. But once there are apparent prejudicial attitudes against not only Jews but those married to Jews, one can legitimately ask whether the absence of Jews on staff is linked to those prejudicial attitudes.
In the memo, Jacques Gauthier came to no conclusion. He merely expressed a concern. But it was a legitimate concern, at least in the terms in which it was framed. To turn it around the way Gerald Caplan has done in his opinion piece is most unfair.


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Social environment is a major influence in the development of character types in a society of ignorance. Each society offers a different social environment, and this environment develops traits in a character type that are life-long. A person's personality may vary according to the city, or even the area of a city, which he lives in.
In discourse typical of the ignorant, a new acquaintance may be first asked his name, then where he was born and brought up, and then, which part of the city he lives in. The purpose of this interrogation is to find out under what circumstances he brought up under, and thereby to acquire a basic idea of what type of character he ought to be. Because, the ignorant are very aware of the influence a specific environment can have on a person's character.
One type of character formed by specific social environments is that of a rich person. This character-type is that of one who has been brought up in wealthy surroundings. Compared with other members of the society, these individuals have benefited from much more favorable circumstances, not having experienced any difficulty or hardship. They have always had little problem getting what they want; everything is at their disposal. When they are hungry, food is put before them; if they make a mess, it is cleaned up for them; they get what they want immediately; their cars are bought for them and money is put into their wallets. And, they do not have to put forth the slightest effort to get any of these things. However, there are many "behind the scenes" who are required to expend much physical and spiritual effort to provide them these things. There are those who work to earn the money, determine their needs, provide what is required, prepare it and offer it to them. But, a great majority of the people living by the morality of ignorance do not recognize these efforts, and therefore show no gratitude for them.
A fundamental characteristic that attends this ingratitude is a lack of sympathy. Because majority of these people have nothing to worry about, and experience no difficulties, they have no appreciation for those who live in lesser circumstances.
Another prominent characteristic of some of the people living by the morality of ignorance is their lack of faithfulness. They do not appreciate the virtues of others, and therefore see no reason to be loyal towards them. Such individuals can never establish sincere relationships; they rely too heavily on their material wealth, and think that, even if they were to lose one friend, through it they could find others. What they regard as important in another person is not his good character, or the fact that he practices the moral teachings of the Qur'an; that which is important to them is what material gain he may be. They do not value friendships on the basis of love and good morality, and so can never establish real ones. They keep company with others whose money they want to take advantage of, or with other inconsiderate and wealthy people like themselves, who also do not know the real meaning of friendship.
Indeed, it is because of all these vices that they are unable to find happiness easily. Majority of them are used to getting everything easily, and so take the advantages of their material wealth for granted. And, they fail to derive due pleasure from good that is spiritual because they cannot recognize it. Compared to other character-types, their deviance is more blatant. One who is not accustomed to recognizing such subtleties, will not appreciate an act of kindness done towards him, and will soon forget it. For this reason, he becomes one who is hard to satisfy.
Because they are not able to appreciate the good in others, they cannot experience love or respect for them. It does not enter their minds that others appreciate that the good in them and love they are ready to show to be recognized.
Evidently, these people have developed for themselves a type of character contrary to the values otherwise considered acceptable. But, it must be pointed out that, even though they were to be exiled from the social milieu, or lose their wealth, they would continue in their debased morality. Therefore, this character type does not refer merely who are wealthy. Merely the fact that they have been brought in such a milieu and under specific circumstances, is sometimes enough for them to acquire such character traits.
However, being brought up in a wealthy environment is no reason not to have a good moral character. On the contrary, wealth is a blessing from Allah. The important thing is to thank Him for these blessings, and to use them in a way that will please Him. We can see examples of this morality in the lives of the prophets. We are told in the Qur'an that the Prophet Sulayman (as) asked for wealth from Allah so that he could worship Him, and show gratitude for His blessings:
He (Sulayman) said, "Truly do I love the love of good, with a view to the glory of my Lord until the Sun disappeared behind its veil." (Surah Sâd, 32)
Moreover, one who appreciates the blessings that Allah has conferred upon him will have the breadth of insight to enable him to acknowledge the good in the others around him. Therefore, such a person, even if he were to be the wealthiest person in the world, and have everything served to him on a silver platter, and even if he had never experienced any difficulties or troubles in his life, he will nonetheless be sympathetic and considerate, exercising a good conscience. He knows the emotional and material needs of those who are poor and troubled. He shows a deep sense of compassion and respect. He knows what friendship is. Because, he is a believer and, no matter how prosperous he may be, he will never act carelessly or against his better conscience. A believer is always looking toward what is good and just, and searches for ways to win Allah's favor. For this reason, prosperity does not lead him into moral depravity.
Such people are truly racing towards good things, and they are the first to reach them. (Surat al-Muminun, 61)2012-01-21 03:02:15


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Man City to monitor Negredo injury
Manchester City will assess Alvaro Negredo's fitness on Wednesday after the striker injured a shoulder in the League Cup win at West Ham.
The in-form Spain international landed awkwardly late in the 3-0 victory at Upton Park on Tuesday night after scoring twice.
Negredo scored a hat-trick in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium and was the scourge of struggling West Ham once again as he struck in each half to take his tally to 23 goals for the season.
Fit-again Sergio Aguero was also on target as City coasted to a 9-0 aggregate win, but the sight of Negredo in pain in the latter stages of the match prompted concern from boss Manuel Pellegrini.
"Alvaro Negredo has a problem with his shoulder. He just has a pain at the moment, and we will see how it is tomorrow." the Chilean told Sky Sports.
Some dreadful West Ham defending made City's victory all too easy and the Premier League title-hopefuls are now unbeaten in their last 18 matches - winning 16 of those.
Pellegrini was able to reflect on a job well done once again as City booked a final meeting against either arch-rival Manchester United or Sunderland in March.
He said: "It was a very professional performance. It was easy to think the game was finished from the 6-0 in the first leg, but it was important to reach the final winning all the games.
"For Sergio Aguero, it was a useful match as he played 60 minutes. For him, it was useful for the future.
"Wembley is always important. It was important the way we reached the final, winning every game."


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Super-sized chocolate bars to be banned from hospitals to tackle obesity epidemic
Published on by Bradley Moore (author)
Super-sized chocolate bars fall victim of the latest ban by NHS England, in their attempt to combat obesity.
NHS to Quiz Over 16's on Sexuality
Published on by Hope Smyth (author)
New NHS guidelines have stated that all patients over the age of 16 will be asked about their sexual orientation.
Vegan Diet 'Could Cause Lasting Harm to Children"
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Researchers warn that the diet could cause "irreversible damage" if not properly supplemented in children.
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Protecting Pooches This Winter!
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Britain is giving the US a run for their "food" in the race for the county with the highest rate of processed food consumerism.


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Editorial: Carbon Crimes
Carbon Crimes
In the January/February issue of World Watch, writer Susan Moran ("Rush to Coal") detailed the frenzied efforts of U.S. utilities to build more than 150 "new" pulverized-coal power plants before the imposition of increasingly likely federal statutory limits on carbon emissions. I say "new," because the technology is 80 years old and is hardly more advanced than a log fire. Moran's piece, as befits a professional, was matter-of-fact. Here, I want to try to express the outrage her story provokes.
NASA's top scientist, James Hansen,
has said we have perhaps 10 years to get a grip on our carbon emissions or else
face a tipping point beyond which climate warming
spirals irreversibly out of control. The atmosphere already holds too much carbon, but these coal-fired plants will release billions of tons of additional, now-sequestered carbon into the air during their 50-year useful lives. The cheap but antiquated technology slated for the plants is almost impossible to refit later for carbon capture and storage-even if that highly untested process turns out to be workable. The effect would be to accelerate the arrival of Hansen's tipping point. His 10 years may be metaphorical, but time is clearly short.
Which is why building these plants seems lunatic at best. At worst, it's criminal. A satisfying fantasy sprang to mind when I learned of TXU Energy, American Electric Power, Xcel Energy, and the other utilities' calculated rush to coal. It involved the outlawing of carbon crimes-"knowingly and willfully acting to sharply increase the atmosphere's carbon content without provision for redress, and thus, for the sake of shortterm financial benefit, to inflict on the entire planet and its billions of inhabitants a dangerously unstable climate." In my little dream, conviction would bring long, miserable prison terms-the guilty utility executives would live in un-airconditioned, unlit cells and spend their waking hours planting trees in the tropics, chained together in work gangs and sweating under the hot sun to undo some small part of the harm they'd caused.
That probably sounds harsh. But there are no excuses here except venal ones. Ignorance? The science of climate change is unavoidable for anybody whose head isn't buried in quarterly profit-and-loss statements. It's harmless? The expanding hazards of climate change are already being felt around the globe. They had no choice? Energy efficiency is proven and cheaper, and the enormous potential of renewables remains largely untapped. "It's strictly business-our responsibility is only to our shareholders"? Sorry; that business model is increasingly deadly. Business is vital to human economic wellbeing, but there is no room anymore for businesses that fail to understand their power to shape the world and their obligation to use it responsibly.
So, incipient carbon felons: get your noses out of the ledgerbooks! Leave the coal in the ground. Feel the wind at your backs and the sun on your faces. That's your only future, and everyone else's too.
-Thomas Prugh


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Date: September 26th, 2011
I forced myself to wake up at 11am today. I obviously didn't sleep too well after how frustratingly last night ended, but I had no choice but to get ready.
I had something eat, freshened up, packed and kept my bags in the hostel storage room. I got my deposit back and stepped out to take the MRT to Queenstown.
The bus rode through what looked like a very residential locality of Singapore. Passing by the many HDB flats, I began to think about what life in Singapore must be like. Most of Singapore's residents live in subsidized housing, apartment buildings developed by the Housing Development Board – the Singapore government's public housing authority. I then wondered: "Wow, the government must be really nice here".
Curiosity got the better of me, and so I began reading more about Singapore's government, and about the nation itself – a nation so famous for being clean, strict and marketed to us as a 'perfect' place. But what I found were certain facts that really undermine that status.
Actually the first 'discovery' that kicked things off for me was about Singapore's media industry. Since I was going to be in the country for over a week, my friend suggested that I at least put up my resume on a few Singapore job sites, so that in case any interview got lined up, I could attend it while I got ready for the F1 weekend. I only updated my resume two weeks prior departure, but I assumed given my experience working at an internet content major, the job offers would come.
I got nothing. Mostly because a lot of the jobs stated one had to be a Singaporean or a Singapore PR (Permanent Resident), which I obviously understand. A lot of the matching job profiles I got were for Mediacorp, Singapore's largest media company. I was aware of Mediacorp because of Channel News Asia, which airs in India too. I initially thought Mediacorp was owned by Rupert Murdoch, given how much his empire controls most of Asia's satellite TV business. But it turns out, Mediacorp is owned by the Singapore government, through it's investment arm Temasek Holdings. The same Temasek who own sizeable chunks of Airtel, Mahindra, Jet Airways and ICICI Bank — some of India's biggest companies. Mediacorp maybe registered as a 'Private Limited' company, but that doesn't mean it's free to run or say as it wishes. When you are funded by the government, strings are going to come attached.
Upon further learning, all media in Singapore is regulated by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (or MICA as it's commonly known). Meaning, they control which publications are allowed in the country, including international magazines. Spending some time browsing their website, I came across their mission and 'values':
"To create a favourable view of Singapore among Singapore residents and the international audience" is a very polite way of saying "You'll rarely hear anything bad about Singapore because we won't let you say anything bad about Singapore!". Even the largest print company, Singapore Press Holdings (publisher of the most widely read newspaper, The Straits Times) is closely linked to the government, with many of its executives being former bureaucrats.
It makes sense now, why many of us in India perceive Singapore in such positive light. All I ever knew about Singapore prior to my first visit in 2010 was how strict the laws were, the sights I saw from all the Indian films that were filmed in Singapore and travel shows. If there's one thing Singapore is really good at, it's marketing itself. Controlling Singapore's image works, it's worked for years. India still remains a top 5 market for Singapore tourism.
Another bit of research I ended up doing on Singapore was during the whole 'Lokpal Bill' debate that shook up India last year. For those non-Indians reading this, a massive anti-corruption movement gained pace with a group pushing for a strong anti-corruption bill, which they say would put an end to corruption in India. (I never supported the bill, because unlike the majority of its supporters, I actually read the bill). A lot of noise was made, millions across India supported the movement and obviously, social media was used to create awareness. One of the stupid 'share this' messages that I kept seeing on my Facebook wall went something like this:
First of all, I can't stand those "Re-post post this if you…" messages which upon first read itself, anyone with some common sense can tell the facts could possibly be incorrect! When I kept seeing this on my Facebook wall, I got irritated with the language used and went straight to Google to find real facts so I could dispel this bullshit. What I found was no such bill was passed in 1982. The only bill that was passed in Singapore that year was an 'International Enterprise Singapore Board Act'. Hardly anything to do with curbing corruption!
Even before I learnt about the tax rates in Singapore, I took a hunch that there surely can't be many Asian nations besides the oil-rich GCC countries that are truly tax-free. Singapore isn't rich in resources to be a "no tax" nation. If at all, Singapore is one of those havens for offshore banking, a tag that isn't often associated with a perfectly corruption-free country.
Another fact I came across when researching on corruption is that Singapore still does not have a law that protects whistleblowers. Singapore does have a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau though, incorporated in 1952, whose role is to investigate and push for prosecution of the corrupt. Does that make Singapore perfectly void of corruption today? No. I'm sure there is some corruption in Singapore. No society exposed to material wealth and globalization can be 'corruption free'. Greed is a human condition. Where have you seen 'have nots' so lazy they don't even aspire to be one among the 'haves'?
There will be those who say Singapore has little corruption because their ministers are well paid*. To them I say, read multiple news sources, there is corruption, you just don't hear about it too often. Also, the solution to curb corruption cannot always be solved by paying people more. India's ministers receive lower salaries (comparatively), but like many government officials the world over, everything else is also paid for too — housing, bills, transport, flights, assistants, etc. Can you guarantee paying a corrupt official 50% more will make him give back the millions he siphoned out of government funds for years and has stashed away in foreign banks?
I know it's not fair to compare a nation of 5 million to a nation of over a billion with a much older history, but the truth of the matter is, Singapore is one of the least corrupt nations in the world. Meaning, Singapore isn't as corrupt as other nations, especially its neighbours in Asia. Singapore's government didn't simply build a flashy central business district to appeal to businesses, while ignoring the rest of the country. Singapore's corrupt surely can't be as bad as the corrupt leaders of Pakistan, India, Philippines, or Indonesia.
Which brings me to another fact about Singapore, which I only learnt about recently — the country has been under the rule of a single party for the last 53 years! That party being the People's Action Party (PAP), and it's co-founder Lee Kuan Yew was the first prime minister of Singapore… for 30 years. Singapore's current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong is Lee Kuan Yew's eldest son. (Doesn't sound too much like a democracy does it?)
It's not like there aren't opposition parties in Singapore, there are a few. But I haven't researched too much on why the opposition haven't been able to break the chain of command the PAP has had over Singapore since independence. Could it really be that the majority of Singaporeans still have faith in the PAP? After all, Singapore does hold general elections every 5 years. Could it be the 'newer' citizens of Singapore vote in PAP's favour? Who knows, maybe the PAP's victorious reign can attributed to the old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it" — or just plain ignorance among the populace.
Speaking of Singapore's new arrivals, I can't not bring up the Chinese. As in, Chinese from the People's Republic of China. When I first visited Singapore in 2010, it was during F1 weekend, when thousands of people from all over the world fly in, and given how little time we had on our first trip to Singapore, I never really had the chance to make that observation. This time though, I was here for a week, which was good enough to notice these things.
Now, most of my readers (who aren't Singaporean) must be wondering: "Wait, aren't most Singaporeans of Chinese descent anyway?" True, but if you ask a Singaporean of Chinese descent if he or she would like to be called 'Chinese' over 'Singaporean,' chances are they'll take offense to being called the former. There are over 1.6 billion mainland Chinese, only a few million Singaporean Chinese. Consider it a status issue.
The 'PRC's (as they are commonly referred to in Singapore) have now started to come into the country thanks to global exposure and the fact they are now seeking opportunities outside the mainland. The PRCs obviously speak Chinese**, which gives them an edge in Singapore over every other race of people seeking employment in the country. But going by what I have read and what my friends experienced in Dubai, I'm guessing some Chinese are also willing to work for less too. What my friends experienced in Dubai was their companies losing work to Chinese firms because the Chinese were willing to do it cheaper.
Now, some people willing to work for less is nothing new in today's globalized economy. American corporations began outsourcing to India because wages in India were lower than that of their American counterparts. In the 1990s, it wasn't uncommon to see Japanese electronic goods that were assembled in Malaysia or Singapore, before they eventually moved every manufacturing to China (again, due to lower costs). But moving to an expensive country and then lowering the average working standards there, when the other standards (of living mostly) are going up, isn't going to help the masses. I'm not making a blatant accusation against the Chinese (and only them) for lowering standards, but to those who lose out to the Chinese, that's how they see it. Reading Singaporeans complain, there is some dissent towards these PRCs these days.
I don't mind working in Singapore. I could easily fit into Singaporean society given my interests, but I'm not desperate. I would never move to Singapore, the third most expensive city in Asia (and in the top 10 worldwide), unless I was paid well enough to justify the move. In quite a few forums while researching for this post, I came across many who were willing to jump at any chance to work in Singapore. Experienced people from skilled fields, willing to work for salaries ranging from SG$2000-3000 (which may seem okay for certain professions, or for locals who don't have to pay rent) but I wondered if they even did any prior research before realizing what awaits them in this pricey nation.
As is the case pretty much everywhere else, the biggest expense for everybody is the cost of housing. Real estate on this tiny island is very, very expensive! Land is obviously scarce.
Though the Singapore government has done a good job of providing housing to its citizens with HDB flats, opening up the real estate market to international buyers doesn't help with keeping real estate prices stable, and affordable. Most apartment offerings from private builders in Singapore cost upwards of a million dollars. Ironically, it's the Chinese who are leading the international buyer list, followed by the Malaysians, Indonesians and Indians. General impression may make those nations look good in terms of wealth, but as someone who knows the corrupt don't always keep their illegally acquired wealth in cold hard cash, one can easily make the presumption Singapore's private real estate market has its fair share of such buyers. Like I mentioned earlier, Singapore has joined the ranks of Dubai and Switzerland as safe havens for such 'investments'.
Browsing through the newspapers in the one week I spent in Singapore, I could gauge what the average price of a decent sized apartment was. In simple terms: out of reach for the majority. Visit any property website, click the drop-down menu for prices, and that will give you an idea. Though there are some affordable flats (by Singapore standards), most new projects are quite expensive.
The world over, real estate prices have risen and fallen, at the same pace, mostly due to cartel-like pricing and speculation (the hype around "buy now or lose out" plays its part too). It's only recently the Singapore government introduced measures to lower real estate prices. The HDB too have announced new projects to provide 'affordable' options to the growing population (although, there is an eligibility criteria for purchasing and even renting HDB flats). Though the HDB flats are labelled 'subsidized' housing, I doubt the HDB is losing money on these projects. They just aren't as luxurious as the privately developed apartments are – or command the huge profits per sale.
After checking out some of these new HDB projects, it irritates me even more knowing just how over-priced (and over-hyped) India's real estate market is. Take this project for example:
A 1216 sqft flat in the above apartment complex costs around SG$376,000 (Rs. 1.4crore^*/$300k/€226k). Most city-dwelling Indians know that's how much one would have to shell out to live equally distant to the CBD in cities like Mumbai and Gurgaon. But those very same Indians also know Mumbai and Gurgaon don't offer the quality of life anywhere near to what Singapore offers! I don't have Rs. 1.4crore, but if I did, I would never spend it on flat in India (buying land is another thing). India is a country that now has every luxury imaginable, but lacks the basics. I'm sure the lower income citizens struggle a bit in Singapore, but at least they get their food and shelter covered.
Reading about HDB's early years also brought up something I thought was 'nice'. The government introduced a quota system through the Ethnic Integration Policy to avoid groupism among certain ethnicities. In a bid to avoid racial segregation, each block of HDB flats are sold to ethnicities comparable to the country's average. On paper, it sounds like a great move. But another observation I made on this trip was, despite Singapore's claim of racial integration as one of its strongest aspects, I still didn't see many inter-racial couples. Like Singapore Indians with Singapore Chinese, or Singapore Malays – the three main ethnicities that make up most 'Singaporeans'. I saw them as friends, sure, and even as work colleagues – but not a whole lot beyond that. I guess the Asian sentiment of marrying within your own community is still prevalent even in Singapore.
All said and done, I'll still prefer Singapore over cities like Dubai. As a Gulf-raised boy, it felt great when I went back to the Middle East after a gap of 7 years, that too Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I sat in awe the first time I drove through Sheikh Zayed Road, staring at the stunning skyscrapers. Dubai Marina, the impressive man-made marina that's much bigger than Singapore's Marina Bay. It was all very impressive to look at. But all it took was a few days to sulk in the reality of Dubai. The tallest building in the world, like the rest of the skyscrapers they built, were all empty. So were the people. There was such a prevalent racial hierarchy when it came to many workplaces. Arabs at the top (even if they're not qualified to be there), followed by the whites, then the Indians, then Filipinos, Pakistanis/Sri Lankans, and now the Chinese. Some of my friends, those who weren't working for MNCs (who generally have fairer policies with regards to all this), just accepted it and took the money. I just couldn't do that.
I like to think of Dubai's current state as karma. For all the poorly treated, under-paid labourers working in harsh conditions Dubai took in by the thousands, and then got rid off when the slightest of discontent arose. Dubai controls the flow of information too, and it's illegal to protest. Formation of worker unions are not allowed and worker abuse is commonplace. The same accusations have been made against Singapore as well, like the fact you can't protest without prior permission, but Singapore is still better off compared to Dubai. For one, Singaporeans are far more well educated. Unlike Dubai's population, where the Emiratis (the nationals) make up for less than 20% of the population, Singapore still has a sizeable majority who can be called 'locals'. Though I'm sure Singaporeans reading this will joke/argue that may not be the case in a few years time.
Even though my first visit to this island state was only for 3 days, I still knew I liked Singapore over Dubai. Singapore has more culture than all of UAE likes to claim it has. And a food culture. I'm a fan of both!
Of course, all this is just my point of view, based on my observations. To most Singaporeans, whatever I wrote above would be shrugged off as "nothing new, we know all this la^". To even get all the facts and find out what the locals are talking about, I had to speak to a few of my readers, hang around Singapore's forums and read comments on articles (whichever website allowed comments) to get a grasp of what's really happening there. There was a lot of disdain, racism, complaints from locals about 'foreign talents,' foreigners accusing Singapore of being a 'third world nation pretending to be first world' – that mostly by Westerners, all the while enjoying the 'expat life' (hiring a maid, cheating on their spouses, etc.)
I still felt obligated to write this because there are many who view Singapore as 'perfect' nation, Indians included. Because of how it's marketed here, from all the packaged tours Indians take that only show the touristy side, the view they get is: "Wow, surely everything is better off here". Compared to most Asian nations, it honestly is. But no society is perfect, that too a globalized, multi-racial, materialistic one.
Some of you who have a problem with interpretation will say what I wrote above amounts to slander. It's not, but knowing the internet, I'm ready for your comments.
Singapore is a small nation, but it's still a significant one, especially when it comes to business. A lot of trade passes through Singapore's port, which is among the busiest in the world. Singapore, much like Qatar these days, also aspires to be politically significant, with the hosting of many high profile meetings and conferences. Its location makes it a great spot for converging, but political significance is never going to be one of Singapore's strongest aspects. When terrorism strikes somewhere, it's common to hear from world leaders either condemning it or otherwise. Singapore's prime minister may give his opinion too, but let's be honest, that news isn't going to travel very far.
Singapore likes to make a good impression, and it often succeeds, but the problem with setting the bar high is when you disappoint, it's made out to look worse than it is. Like when I reached Changi Airport.
I wanted to get my IKEA purchases shrink-wrapped, but I couldn't find the machine anywhere. When I asked some of the airport staff, I had to stop saying "shrink wrap" and instead try "plastic wrapping/cover" and only then did one of the staff understand and tell me I had to go to Terminal 1 for that!
As I waited to board my flight, I wondered when to visit Singapore next. I was hell bent on flying again when news broke SNSD would be holding concerts in Singapore in February, but then that got pulled forward to early December. Couldn't afford to do it then. Oh well, here's hoping for an SMTown concert in Singapore.
My 2 year Singapore tourist visa expires in August this year, and I'm sure I'll end up using Singapore as a connecting destination for my other Asian journeys, if not visiting Singapore a third time. This time there was a sense of boredom already. There was little else for me to explore. As it is Singapore doesn't have much to offer. I only have Sentosa & Universal Studios left to do, as it's something I had to skip this time due to my hand injury. Plus, I want to see more of inner Singapore, and the middle class way of life here.
I enjoyed my last few Singapore Slings and… erm…
yeah, that's it. Actually no, I remember now. I was reading the newspapers and particularly about a lot of collective sales happening for the really old HDB apartment complexes. Deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars were being struck buying prime land by the big names in Singapore's private real estate industry. Older HDB flat owners would get their share of the sale money, which for some deals would net them over a million dollars. It may sound like they struck gold, but with the cost of buying a new apartment today, I guess that newly minted millionaire status won't last long. Unless they already owned a second home.
Yeah that's it. I went back to drinking.
Previous posts in the series:
Singapore 2011: Day 7 – Little India, F1 Sunday race, Linkin Park concert and Avalon Club
Singapore 2011: Day 6 – F1 Saturday (Rick Astley, Shakira and Shaggy concerts)
Singapore 2011: Day 5 – Chinatown, F1 Friday (Charice, Seungri and GD&TOP concerts)
Singapore 2011: Day 4 – Marina Bay Sands Casino and views from the SkyPark observation deck
Singapore 2011: Day 3 – Bukit Timah and Singapore Botanic Gardens
Singapore 2011: Day 2 – Jurong Bird Park and… *ouch!*
Singapore 2011: Day 1 – Landing a second time; walking around CBD
*Singapore's PM commands the highest salary for a Prime Minister in the world – SG$2.2 million per annum (US$1.7 million), after cutting it down recently from just over SG$3 million. US president Barack Obama's salary is around $400,000. Again, I doubt both heads of state pay rent.
**I know there are numerous dialects in the Chinese language like Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien, but for the sake of simplicity, I referred to the language as just Chinese
^* 1 crore = 100, 000, 000 or 1,00,00,000 in the Indian numeric system
^ "la'" is kind of like an end-of-sentence slang commonly used among Singapore's youth. Just like "da" in South India, "ka" in Thailand, but unlike "yaar" (which actually means 'friend') in North India, I have no clue what 'la,' 'da,' and 'ka' mean and how they became a trend!


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The yachtsmen and women, boats and classes that have shaped the history of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda will gather together in Porto Cervo throughout 2007 in events celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Club's foundation. The festivities commenced with a formal ceremony on 12 May 2007, 40 years to the day that His Highness the Aga KHAN, President of the YCCS to this day, along with Andrè ARDOIN, Giuseppe Kerry MENTASTI and Luigi VIETTI founded the not-for-profit association with the aim of uniting sailing enthusiasts and promoting the sport.
Memorable Year
In response to an opening speech by His Highness the Aga KHAN, host of the ceremony, the ISAF President congratulated the YCCS on 40 fantastic years, '2007 is a memorable and unique year for both the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and the International Sailing Federation - as we both celebrate significant birthdays.'
'For ISAF, 100 years has passed since our creation in Paris in 1907. Whilst the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda has enjoyed 40 years of hosting the world's renowned sailors and yachts on its racing waters.'
Commodore Gianfranco ALBERINI of the YCCS commented, 'We are delighted to have reached this important milestone and to have achieved such an impressive track record at such a 'young' age.
'Our accomplishments are down to a great deal of hard work and determination and to the professionalism and expertise of the people who have collaborated with us over these past 40 years. The events we have planned for 2007 will give us the chance to thank them and to celebrate together with the new generation of sailors whose drive and vision will take us through the next 40 years.'
Internationally Renowned
In its 40 years, the YCCS has given birth to a string of internationally renowned regattas and pioneering sporting achievements. From the very first regatta organized by the Club - the Settimana delle Bocche in 1972 - to World and European Championships numerous one-design classes including the Star, 12 Metre, J/24, Optimist and Farr 40, while creating signature events such as the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Rolex Swan Cup and Sardinia Cup, all of which have demonstrated the Club's commitment to excellence in race management combined with its unparalleled level of hospitality.
The YCCS can also lay claim to a special place in the history of Italian and international sailing thanks to the launch of the first ever Italian America's Cup Challenge with Azzurra in 1983 and the subsequent invitation to act as the 1987 Challenger of Record in Fremantle.
Then IYRU President Beppe CROCE (ITA) was one of the high profile figures involved in the 1983 challenge as the ISAF President recalled in his speech, 'Just as Beppe CROCE led and inspired the International Yacht Racing Union, His Highness the Aga KHAN has led and driven the success of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. From its inauguration 40 years ago as a club created 'as a non-profit making sporting association for fellow sailing enthusiasts' you have achieved outstanding and globally renowned success.'
40th Anniversary Regatta
While further anniversary celebrations will take place for Yacht Club Members during August, September holds the real treat for sailing enthusiasts as Porto Cervo welcomes a 'Festival of Sailing' in the form of the YCCS 40th Anniversary Regatta. Strategically scheduled between the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Veteran Boat Rally, the YCCS 40th Anniversary Regatta will take place on 10 September and will play host, not only to the some of the largest sailing yachts in the world from the Maxis and the stunning fleet of Veteran boats, but also to the historic America's Cup 12 Metre class alongside high-tech racers from the current America's Cup challenge. As is traditional with YCCS events, the day's sailing will be complemented by an impressive Crew Party to be held in the evening on the Piazza Azzurra overlooking Porto Cervo Marina.
The YCCS 40th Anniversary Regatta will be open to all sailing yachts and any interested parties are encouraged to contact the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda for further details. For additional information, please visit www.yccs.it.
ISAF Centenary
Formed in 1907, ISAF will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary throughout 2007.
Amongst the highlights of ISAF Centenary celebrations will the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships and the Sail the World weekend from 1-2 September. ISAF will also be publishing a 100 Years of Sailing commemorative book and launching the ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame.
Every ISAF event throughout 2007 will be an integral part of the Centenary celebrations. Whether a local regatta, or a World Championship event, everyone counts. ISAF would like your event to remember what a special year it is, so welcomes everyone to use the specially commissioned Centenary logo.
Find out more on about the calendar of Centennial Celebrations, relive our Highlights from 100 Years of Sailing and keep up to date with the latest news on the Centenary Celebrations at www.sailing.org/centenary.


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Fall's Best Boots for Every Budget (and How to Wear Them!)
30 Slides
A good pair of boots are a must-buy every fall, but these stylish finds are anything but basic. Discover ones that suit your style and budget—plus, pick up our tips on how to pull off each trend in real life.