text:
Eco-friendly Portable Aligned, Combined, Stackable Fast Build Customized Container Office4 ecological friendly container office Flexible container office Fast build container office Stackable container office Combined container office Aligned container office Standard specifications Advantages : 1.short project cycle . It needs few workers to install the buildings within few hours ....Read More
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Environmental Friendly Portable Combined Fast Build Customized Inhabitable Container Office3 environment friendly container office Mobile container office Portable container office Combined fast build container office Special designed container office Composition Characteristics : 1.highly integrated "Zero "construction on site ,popular with the developed countries & regions where...Read More
New Debut Easy Installation Modular Prefabricated Inhabitable Container Office2 new debut container office Easy installation container office Modular container office Living container office Modular prefabricated container office Prefabricated container office Products Introduction Standard Unit composition Characteristics : 1.Integrated unit component design . 2.BIM...Read More
Fashion-designed Fine Quality Movable Flat Pack Sandwich Panel Inhabitable Container Office1 container office Fashion-designed container office Fine quality container office Movable flat pack sandwich panel container office Flat pack inhabitable container office Product description Standard Unit specifications Products advantages 1.All the component units were assembled at factor y ....Read More
In-expensive Fine Quality Flat Pack Sandwich Inhabitable Container Camp8 sandwich container camp Inhabitable container camp Fine quality container camp Inexpensive container camp One ,Group Introduction Products introduction Advantages : 1.Integrated camp scheme provider . The camp is composed of flat pack modular container house units . The units were produced at...Read More
Vogue -designed Recycled Mobile Sandwich Panel Board Inhabitable Container Camp10 sandwich board panel container camp Mobile sandwich panel board inhabitable container camp Vogue designed container camp Recycled container camp Products introduction Advantages : 1.The camp is help with BIM design ,and is made of component unit ,which were produced at factory, and then...Read More
Fashion Designed Luxury Prefab Sandwich Panel Inhabitable Container Hotel6 fashion designed container hotel Luxury prefab sandwich panel container hotel Panel container hotel Sandwich panel container hotel Products Introduction Advantages : 1.The hotel are composed of standard unit of flat pack modular container house unit.All the units were produced at factory ....Read More
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Academy for Lifelong Learning: LSC-Tomball
Join the Academy for Lifelong Learning! Classes are offered September through May at the LSC-Tomball campus.
Spring 2019 Open House
Thursady, January 10, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Beckendorf Conference Center
30555 Tomball Parkway, Tomball, TX 77375
For more information, call 281.401.1868
A Learning Organization for Adults 50 and Older
The Academy for Lifelong Learning (ALL) program offers non-credit courses, lectures and social activities for continued intellectual and personal growth. Your annual $20 membership entitles you to register for LSC-Tomball ALL courses at no cost.
There are NO educational requirements; however, some courses may require a separate supply or workbook fee(s) that is noted in the course description.
As a member, you can help decide what is offered, volunteer to teach a course, or help arrange field trips! You can also enjoy the many LSC-Tomball services, such as the library, internet access, and theater activities.
You can register in person at:
30555 Tomball Parkway
Tomball, TX 77375
Room E166
Or fax your completed registration form to: 281.357.3726
ALL Class Cancellation Policy
Any course or section may be cancelled if the enrollment is insufficient or if a qualified instructor is unavailable. Every effort will be made to notify the students enrolled. If there was a fee for the class, please allow 30 days to process a refund.
Quick Links
CE Policies & Forms
|Registration Form
|Complaint Process
|Discrimination Complaint Process
|Student Complaint Form
|CE Resources
|Health Occupations Checklist
CE Contact Information
Phone: 281.357.3676
Fax: 281.357.3726
30555 Tomball Parkway, Tomball, TX 77375
LSC-Tomball ALL Information
Phone: 281.357.3676

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and newly confirmed Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer will address the National Cotton Council's (NCC) 70th annual meeting, set for Feb. 7-11 at The Peabody Hotel, site of the NCC's organizational meeting in November 1938.
The meeting is expected to attract more than 800 U.S. cotton industry leaders and industry stakeholders from the 17-state Cotton Belt.
NCC delegates will review and adopt specific resolutions to guide the NCC's 2008 programs and activities in six key program areas: farm and economic policy; international trade; public relations and international market development; research and education; packaging and distribution; and health, safety and the environment.
Lincoln, one of the top ranking Democrats on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, will address the meeting's general session on Feb. 11. She also chairs that panel's Production, Income Protection and Price Support Subcommittee.
Among her other assignments are service on the Finance and Energy and Natural Resource committees and as Democratic Caucus Chair of Rural Outreach — where she helps frame the majority party's initiatives to revitalize rural America, including new investments in biofuels development, farm programs and education.
Joining Lincoln on the Feb. 11 session will be outgoing NCC Chairman John Pucheu, a California cotton producer, who will address the state of the U.S. cotton industry, including its upcoming challenges.
Gloria Borger, senior political analyst for CNN, will provide insight on the 2008 presidential race.
Pucheu said delegate-approved resolutions at the annual meeting enable the National Cotton Council to better channel its resources into the industry's priorities.
"Council action in 2007 included a primary focus on defending the U.S. cotton program and attaining sound trade policy," Pucheu said. "Those remain as critical areas for the U.S. cotton industry in 2008 because new farm legislation is headed to a House-Senate conference and interest has heightened on bringing the World Trade Organization negotiations to a conclusion."
Schafer, an entrepreneur and a business executive who served as North Dakota's Republican governor from 1992 to 2000, received unanimous Senate confirmation last week as the nation's 29th secretary of agriculture.
He will address the annual meeting's joint session Feb. 9. That session also will include the NCC's "Economic Outlook" presentation and Cotton Incorporated President/CEO Berrye Worsham's update on that organization's efforts to increase the demand for/profitability of cotton through research and promotion.
The National Cotton Ginners Association also will hold its annual meeting that day, featuring a cotton classification outlook report from Darryl Earnest, deputy administrator USDA, AMS, Cotton and Tobacco Programs.
Among other important convention sessions are Feb. 8 meetings of the Cotton Council International board of directors and the American Cotton Producers — where the NCC's annual "Planting Intentions Survey" will provide the year's first insight into cotton growers' 2008 plans.


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Print these popular Goodie TwoShoes "You can never be TOO nice!" images as stickers or magnets. Helps to reinforce the kindness principle.
Items needed:
- Printable sticker paper or magnetic sheets
- Scissors
- Print design on sticker paper or magnetic sheet.
- Cut out around each image, leaving a small white border.
- For Stickers, remove backing and stick image onto project.


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Home » Best of Twitter » Daniel Barber
Daniel Barber @gaijindan
RT @DavidSacks: Lead gen, not sales, is usually the rate-limiting factor on growth in SaaS startups. Before blaming the sales team, analyze close rates vs pipeline growth. Sales team is responsible for win rates and cycle time. Pipeline growth is multifaceted marketing/product/sales problem.10:49 AM - 10 Feb 19
Other content in this Stream
So exciting to see our own Kat Nemmers included in the #GirlsClub top #sales women to watch in 2019! Check out the full list of amazing women here https://t.co/ng6gK4j4FA #womeninsales https://t.co/Pl
In 2019, #sales teams will focus strongly on ensuring every rep on the team can replicate the success of their top reps. This guide shows you how to establish a world-class #salesenablement strategy.
Engage with your prospect. Ask open ended questions like "what does your current process for … look like?" Get more tips like this one from @TelemaximumTech of @Vendor_Neutral in our final article f
Thanks @Vendor_Neutral! https://t.co/tPg2PQcgd1
Thanks, @sellingtools! Appreciate the support! https://t.co/EHv8ENiUyX
Video helps #sales teams connect more meaningfully with prospects and build stronger relationships. But how does video impact sales success? https://t.co/Q1L6JzRI3i #salesprocess https://t.co/1SF5K2JC
#Sales reps spend a significant portion of their time in the #salesprocess doing product demos. But are they delivering those demos effectively? Here are five common mistakes reps make when deliverin
The Rise Of Intelligent Networks: Where Do They Fit Into Our Lives And Our Work? https://t.co/gCHVXevEpB by @MichaBreakstone via @Forbes #ArtificialIntelligence #sales https://t.co/gyyihJxECd
Daniel Barber
Should You Allow "Board Observers" on Your Startup Board? https://t.co/xSsre7nWjw https://t.co/1hvkDmUXw1
The #Sales Engagement Conference for the world's most innovative and fastest-growing companies. Our team is super excited for this incredible conference being hosted by @Outreach_io in San Diego! #Unl
[eBook] Are you ready for Gen-Z to join your #sales team and to on-board a new generation of reps who will bring unique strengths, opportunities, and challenges to the table? Then this eBook is for yo
I was an inexperienced #sales coach who got promoted young and used "being too busy" as an excuse. Here's how I fixed it, and how to coach your team to incredible success even when you're crazy busy.
We want to help you simplify your #sales process! Check us out today https://t.co/7Ixw4Zpih1 #ConversationIntelligence https://t.co/CRgDuihIs5
8 Tips for Onboarding Gen-Z #Sales Reps in One Week https://t.co/GEalqIRnFE via @lplocek #salesprocess https://t.co/QeuqgYQl5l
RT @clarihq: Thrilled to celebrate and support #InternationalWomensDay with the fantastic folks at @marketo, @Bizzabo, @wrike, @LeanData, @DocuSign, @DiscoverOrg, #GirlsClub, and @chorus_ai. Find out
Get inside the mind of a CEO! Learn how they buy, what emails drive them to take action, and why they buy! Watch on-demand: https://t.co/Y7dX4svkAp via @leadiq #sales #leadership https://t.co/v5iyqHAM
RT @MichaBreakstone: So proud to have @kat_nemmers on this list of Women to Watch in Sales! https://t.co/VmW5ZpyYtO Go Kat! Go @chorus_ai ! #womenintechnology #ai #startups
RT @nancy_nardin: Chances are, you already have a member of Gen-Z on your sales team and at least a few of your SDRs are likely "post Millennial" Here are the top five ways Gen-Z sales reps will appro
Daniel Barber


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Position 1 oven rack in the center and the second rack on the bottom of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Sprinkle the cornmeal over 2 rimless baking sheets. Roll out each piece of pizza dough into a 10 to 11-inch round. Transfer 1 dough to each prepared baking sheet.
Spoon the marinara sauce over the dough, dividing equaling and leaving a 1-inch border around each pizza. Sprinkle the cheeses over the sauce. Arrange the pineapple pieces in a single layer over the cheeses. Sprinkle with the ham. Bake the pizzas until the crusts are crisp and brown on the bottom and the cheese is melted on top, about 12 minutes. Cut the pizza into wedges and serve immediately.
Mix the warm water and yeast in a small bowl to blend. Let stand until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor to blend. Blend in the oil. With the machine running, add the yeast mixture and blend just until the dough forms. Turn the dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm draft-free area until the dough doubles in volume, about 1 hour. Punch the down dough and divide into 2 equal balls. (The dough can be used immediately or stored airtight in the refrigerator for 1 day.)
In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)


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Have you ever been taught how to knit? I you have, then you'll know that you are not usually taught how to cast on (or start off) on your first lesson. That's because it much easier to learn how to knit than it is to cast on.
So it is with the Semantic Web. Once you have a resource URL, it's reasonably easy to extract information linked to that resource, but finding the starting resource is a bit trickier.
So let's just recap how we might get the abstract description for London from DBpedia.
If we know the URL then that's pretty straight forward:
(If you want to follow this tutorial, then you had better copy the sparql.py file from there.)
|RDF types for the DBpedia entry for London
Just to be a smart ass as I finish off, you can get both at the same time by doing this, but don't forget that doing this will stress the SPARQL endpoint more than is probably necessary. Be kind.


text:
You are hereHome ›
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This series of laboratory lessons and activities uses authentic solar imagery and data to introduce students to solar science. Students are asked to explore details in imagery, including how to deal with the issues of noise and resolution, and... (View More) understand scale. They are introduced to the concept of space weather and how that affects both observing instruments and the Earth. Students learn about spectra, how helium and coronium were discovered, and go on to explore real spectra from the Sun. Most activities are mathematically based, and targeted for grades 9-10. Imagery is included from NASA/ESA's SOHO mission, NASA's SDO mission, and Japan's Hinode satellite. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free
This activity is a short engineering design challenge to be completed by individual students or small teams. A real-world problem is presented, designing buildings for hurricane-prone areas, but in a simulated way that works in a classroom, after... (View More) school club, or informal education setting. Students are given simple materials and design requirements, and must plan and build a tower as tall as possible that will hold up a tennis ball while resisting the force of wind from a fan. After the towers are built, the group comes together to test them. If there is time after testing, which can be observational or framed as a contest between teams, students can redesign their towers to improve their performance, or simply discuss what worked well and what didn't in their designs. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $1 - $5 per group of students
Learners will rotate through three stations where they investigate probes and rovers to learn how they are built, learn about the propulsion, navigation, controls and daily handling of spacecraft, gather, and analyze data from multiple sources on... (View More) the internet, understand how rovers communicate with Earth. The lesson uses the 5E instructional model and includes: TEKS Details (Texas Standards alignment), Essential Question, Science Notebook, Vocabulary Definitions for Students, Vocabulary Definitions for Teachers, two Vocabulary Cards, a Vocabulary Toolbox and four workstation handouts. This is lesson 9 of the Mars Rover Celebration Unit, a six week long curriculum. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $1 - $5 per group of students
In this activity, students use satellite imagery to assess potential danger associated with selecting a new and safer location for the town of Villarrica, along with its corresponding communication and evacuation routes. Satellite imagery and a... (View More) topographic map are included. The resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free per group of students
Water supply in the Southwestern United States depends on snow. Students discover its importance through analysis and evaluation of data, satellite images, space shuttle photos, and ground-based observations, and then apply their findings in a... (View More) role-play. Working in seven groups representing the states in the Colorado River watershed, students assume the roles of U.S. senators to propose and defend their stand on the allocation of Colorado River water by state and by usage. The URL opens to the investigation directory, with links to teacher and student materials, lesson extensions, resources, teaching tips, and assessment strategies. This is Investigation 4 of four found in the Grades 9-12 Module 1 of Mission Geography. The Mission Geography curriculum integrates data and images from NASA missions with the National Geography Standards. Each of the four investigations in Module 1, while related, can be done independently. (View Less)
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1 per group of students


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Billabong Women's Secret Love Tee | Black, Cool Wip
Rib knit t-shirt.
Baby merrow ruffle at sleeve and bottom hem.
Scoop front neckline.
Material: lightweight variegated rib knit.
Anna is wearing Black in size M.
Height: 5'7".
Chest: 32".
Waist: 24".
Hips: 35".
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Look to the west for signature style. This essential girls (Kids) trucker cap features our favorite Cali Bear graphic. Girls graphic trucker hat.Twill front with California Love and Bear graphic.Mesh back.Adjustable snap back.55% cotton / 45% nylon.


text:
This lab assignment calls on you to write a number of different function definitions. You are to turn in the code you write and the type that was inferred for each function. For the last problem, you should turn in the expression that you evaluated and what its value is. Aside from this one value, you do not need to turn in any evidence of your testing, although you should be sure to test each function as you write it.
A perfect shuffle of a standard deck of 52 playing cards consists of cutting the deck in half (so that the first 26 cards are in one half and the remaining cards are in the other half) and then interleaving the two groups of cards, so that the cards alternately come from the two halves, starting with the first card from the first half. The same process applies for decks of sizes other than 52, although one detail arises for decks with an odd number of cards: we need a convention for what it means to split the deck in half. We'll assume that the first half gets the extra card, so that in a deck of 5 cards, for example, the first three cards are the first half and the remaining two cards are the other half.
Magicians and group theorists have figured out that eight perfect shuffles restores a deck of 52 cards back to its original configuration. Similar results hold for other sizes of decks, though the shuffle number varies with the deck size. In this lab, you will use ML programming in order to explore perfect shuffles.
In order to run the Standard ML system on one of the MCS department
machines, you should use the
sml command in a shell
(terminal) window. This should behave approximately as shown in the
textbook. Be sure to ask for help if you need it. The error messages
are often quite inscrutable. One easy thing to try when faced with a
strange error message is to more fully parenthesize your code. Many
beginners run into trouble because ML's default grouping isn't what
they expect. ML is like ordinary math notation
in that extra parentheses never hurt.
Although you could in principle type your function definitions
directly into the
sml system, you would be better off
putting them in a file and loading that file in, as described on
page 83 of the textbook.
Also, be sure you pay attention to the
type that the ML system infers for each function. Make sure you
understand what each type means and why it makes sense.
As noted above, the material you are supposed to turn in includes
the type that was inferred for each
The obvious representation of a deck of cards is as a list.
Later we'll see how the elements of the list can be structured values
that contain suits and ranks (for example, a 3 of hearts). For now,
it will suffice to just use a list of consecutive integers, such as
the list of integers from 1 to 52. That list should be restored to
its original order by 8 perfect shuffles, just as much as a list of
actual cards would be. To produce lists like this, write a function
intsFromTo. It should take a pair of integers,
low and high, and return an list of consecutive
integers in ascending order, namely all those that are greater than or
equal to low and less than or equal to high.
(Under some circumstances, this may be an empty list.)
For use in selecting the first half of a deck of cards (i.e., a
list), define a function,
take, that is passed a pair
consisting of a list and the number of elements that should be taken
from the front of the list. For example,
take([10,20,30,40,50],3) would evaluate to
For use in selecting the second half of a deck of cards (i.e.,
a list), define a function,
drop, that is passed a pair
consisting of a list and the number of elements that should be dropped
from the front of the list. For example,
drop([10,20,30,40,50],3) would evaluate to
The next function you need to define is one to
interleave a pair of lists. For example,
interleave([1,2],[10,20]) would evaluate to
[1,10,2,20]. The first list may have one more element in it than the second list does; be sure your procedure works in this case as well.
Now you can put together
interleave in order to write a function called
shuffle that takes a list and returns the result of
performing one perfect shuffle on it. I suggest you read
Section 7.8 if you haven't yet; you will be able to make good use
of a local variable definition. Be sure you get right the case where
the length of the list is odd.
Now write a
shuffleNumber function that will take
an integer (the deck size), make a list that size, and return a count
of how many perfect shuffles are needed to return it to a list equal
to the original. You could make good use of a nested function
definition (Section 7.9.) Test that the shuffle number for 52 is 8.
The approach of testing shuffled lists for equality with the
original is perfectly reasonable. However, for the sake of a really
good example of where pattern matching is helpful, let's consider an
alternative possibility. Given that we start with a list of
increasing integers, we could stop when we return to a list that is
in increasing order. Write a function
isInOrder that
takes a list of integers and returns a boolean indicating whether the
list is strictly increasing. Use pattern matching (as described in
Chapter 7) to handle three cases: empty lists, one element lists,
and lists with at least two elements. (You may also want to go back
and look over your earlier function definitions to see if any of them
could be cleaned up a bit using pattern matching.)
Show how to use
map to produce a list of the shuffle numbers
for 5, 50, 500, and 5000.
The one remaining order of business is to switch to a more realistic representations of the cards, including suit and rank. I'm planning to use that as an in-class example.


text:
Manitoba Geocaching Association
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Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 512
Location: Winnipeg
Posted: Feb 25, 2007 9:06 pm
Post subject:
I also agree that we should consider a staggered release for the caches to make it easier on the cache reviewer...
I use multi-billion dollar military satellite systems to find Tupperware in the forest.
Back to top
Joined: 07 Mar 2005
Posts: 271
Location: Manitoba
Posted: Mar 04, 2007 6:29 am
Post subject: Cache Crush
Worked well last year so another would be great.
HIGH PRIORITIES That 1Q4J see...
Love to see more hidden rurally - every 1/2 mile or so especially. Cache density in rural areas - what a great thing that would be. How else can we entice you city folk to visit us hicks in the country...
If we could reward people it would be for...
MAJOR points for city cachers hiding outside city limits!!!!
Major points for caches that will remain cacheable ALL YEAR LONG. FLOOD, WINTER ETC.
Extra points for great swag.
Extra points for those who create and hide 3-4 caches along a route just to improve the fun in a section of Manitoba highway.
Extra points to those cachers who make available (Long-term) transportation such as canoes or 4X4's or bikes etc. to find their unique caches...
Points to those who PLAN cache events within the hiding/finding period that cachers of all ages can attend.
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Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 7
Location: Winnipeg
Posted: Mar 12, 2007 11:57 pm
Post subject:
I like the idea of another "blitz" type event.
I think the name cache crush sounds as though you find the cache and step on it.
I would like to suggest "Cache Splash"
A points system that rewards unique, unusual, scenic or just plain fun caches gets my vote.
Placing a bad cache just to boost your hiding points should be frowned upon.
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Joined: 31 Jul 2005
Posts: 687
Location: Ste Genevieve
Posted: Mar 21, 2007 2:23 am
Post subject:
Spring has Sprung!
Im a fan of releasing the Cache-Crush caches through the month of May. Some other associations have arranged with the cache approvers to release the caches all at once, but it gets quite crazy and I think its over too quickly. Its good if you want to have a FTF race but I think the idea here is challenge Manitoba cachers to put out a lot of quality caches.
I like all the ideas to encourage hiders to put out fun caches. As this is primarily a hiding event, I think awarding bonus points for caches that go the extra mile is a great way to recognize the top hiders at the end of the summer.
-5 points for a film canister in a conifer
Of course the more bonus categories the more difficult it becomes for the officials to keep track of the score. One possible way around this is to leave it up to the hider to let the score-keeper know if they think their cache rates bonus points.
Some other feedback from last year was the voting system had too many categories. For my two cents, I think having lots of prizes for most hider points and keeping voting down to one or two categories (Favourite Cache and Best Log Entry for example) ensures more of the top hiders come away with prizes!
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Joined: 07 Sep 2006
Posts: 42
Location: Winnipeg
Posted: Mar 27, 2007 2:12 am
Post subject:
I have a question. I'm working on a new cache to release in May. Do I need to have "Blitz" or "Crush" in the name or can it just be released in May to be part of the cache crush?
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Joined: 29 Sep 2005
Posts: 192
Location: Winnipeg
Posted: Mar 27, 2007 2:35 am
Post subject:
MBeans wrote:
I have a question. I'm working on a new cache to release in May. Do I need to have "Blitz" or "Crush" in the name or can it just be released in May to be part of the cache crush?
Good question. I'm leaning towards a "Yes" and it will likely be
that you have to have in the name. We have not confirmed any rules yet so I can't say for sure. Stay tuned for full details to be released in early April.
You're not a member of the MBGA until you've been bopped by Tobey in the chatroom!
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Joined: 07 Mar 2005
Posts: 271
Location: Manitoba
Posted: Apr 09, 2007 1:56 am
Post subject: MBGA SPLASH
Well we're gearing up for our spring hide-a-thon again - found a number of good spots. So can we start listing beginning of May or what? We want to list ours quick and then get to finding instead of hiding all month this time so ...No rush or anything. Give us the go ahead and we're gone!
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Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 228
Location: Manitoba
Posted: Apr 09, 2007 2:12 am
Post subject:
I feel this year I may not be able to compete with this crunch time, and even be competative to even a slow turdle, whom I might add came behind me the slippery_1 of the north last year. Even with his cheating he came in and even making caches up in two or three parts last time he could not keep up to the northern guy who just followed the KISS method.
So I will move over, but not enough to allow the pokey turdle to win without at least an effort.
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Joined: 27 Sep 2005
Posts: 248
Location: 49°48.505', -97°08.066'
Posted: Apr 09, 2007 2:45 am
Post subject: Re: MBGA SPLASH
1Queenand4Jokers wrote:
Well we're gearing up for our spring hide-a-thon again - found a number of good spots. So can we start listing beginning of May or what? We want to list ours quick and then get to finding instead of hiding all month this time so ...No rush or anything. Give us the go ahead and we're gone!
Ok, here are the preliminary rules and categories. These may change slightly before the event starts up, but this should give you an idea...
The MBGA Cache Splash event is to be a "hide scavenger hunt". There will be a range of requirements published, and each cache published must meet the requirements of one category. Each category has a score, and the most total points wins.
The current draft rules:
In order to qualify for points in the "MBGA Cache Splash" event, caches must:
Be published between 12:00 am, May 1st and 11:59pm May 31st.
Have the word "Splash" somewhere in the title.
Include the html code provided at <link to site> at the bottom of
the description.
We will (probably) be providing a web form that will provide some custom html that can be cut and pasted into the description.
Meet the requirements for *one* of the "Cache Splash" categories.
Caches cannot be be in more than category.
Must be active until September 1st. Caches that are muggled must be promptly
Caches that are found to not meet the stated category requirements
will not be counted.
There is no limit to the number of caches that may be placed in a
given category.
Categories specifying a minimum distance to a neighboring caches will be confirmed when published, but will not be disqualified by subsequent hides within the stated minimum radius.
A cacher who places his or her first cache will earn a 10 point bonus.
The current draft list of categories and points is as follows:
2 Points -- Container made of plumbing parts.
2 Points -- Hidden in a pine tree. (-2 points for a spruce tree.)
2 Points -- Multi cache hide.
2 Points -- Puzzle cache hide.
2 Points -- Special equipment required.
3 Points -- Splash" themed cache.
3 Points -- Cache hidden at least 500m from a paved road.
3 Points -- Homemade container. (No ammo can, L&L, Altoid tins, etc)
3 Points -- Large cache.
3 Points -- More than 10m above ground.
3 Points -- More than 50km from your home co-ordinates.
3 Points -- Multi-Puzzle Cache hide.
3 Points -- Nighttime only cache.
3 Points -- Place a TCDNMB (Trans Canada Highway Manitoba) or a YLHDMB (Yellowhead Manitoba) cache
3 Points -- Regular cache within 10m of a paved road.
3 Points -- Regular urban anti-cammo cache. Container must be brightly coloured, and within an urban centre. (Urban parks are ok.)
3 Points -- Rural cache 20km away from it's closest neighbor.
3 Points -- Swimming or wading required to retrieve cache.
3 Points -- Urban cache 2km away from it's closest neighbor
3 Points -- Urban cache hidden in plain site which is visible from 20metres away
3 Points -- Wheelchair/stroller accessible cache.
3 Points -- Winter friendly hide
3 Points -- Wooden container.
4 Points -- Cacher Tribute themed cache. A cache dedicated to your favorite cacher. (Please ask the subject of the cache for permission, first.)
4 Points -- Difficulty 5 cache hide.
4 Points -- In an Rural Municipality that doesn't currently have a hide in it
4 Points -- Large cammo'd cache. Must blend with surroundings. No cammo tape allowed.
4 Points -- Murder Mystery themed cache
4 Points -- On the ground, away from any structure or object (buildings, trees, bushes, etc) taller than 15cm.
4 Points -- Puzzle cache with no text in the description.
4 Points -- Teach the finder to use a feature of their GPS.
4 Points -- Terrain 5 cache hide.
4 Points -- Underwater cache.
5 Points -- Earth Cache
5 Points -- Terrain 5, Difficulty 5 cache hide.
Again these are draft. There may be some slight changes before they become official. But this should do for now.
We are considering prizes for guessing the number of caches placed, largest container placed, favourite cache, favourite cache name.
Drop by the Manitoba Geocaching Association chat!
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Joined: 31 Jul 2005
Posts: 687
Location: Ste Genevieve
Posted: Apr 09, 2007 8:20 pm
Post subject:
slippery_1 wrote:
I feel this year I may not be able to compete with this crunch time, and even be competative to even a slow turdle, whom I might add came behind me the slippery_1 of the north last year. Even with his cheating he came in and even making caches up in two or three parts last time he could not keep up to the northern guy who just followed the KISS method.
So I will move over, but not enough to allow the pokey turdle to win without at least an effort.
slow Turdles
been repowered this year so might be able to go even deeper into the jungles (aka swamps) of Manitoba to drop caches
Now dont be jealous Slippery of my skillful optimization of scoring methods last year
Only two of my blitz caches were multistage-puzzle-large hides for 50 bonus points
Your plethora of KISS-caches are calling me to le Pas and I just might have to have a road trip and find them this summer
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Get directions to Wabash College Hays Science Hall
Wabash College's annual Ides of August program will be presented in Hays Science Hall, Room 104, Friday, August 18. The Ides of August is the College's traditional forum for faculty and staff members to discuss their recent projects. Featured on Friday's program are:
8:30 First Session: "The History and Economics of Women's Work"
8:30 Michelle Rhoades, "Prostitution in France, 1914-1918: A Reassessment"
8:50 Joyce Burnette, "Were Women's Wages Customary"
9:10 Audience: Questions and Comments
9:20 Session Two: "Student Life and Student Formation"
9:20 Todd McDorman, "More on Learning about Living: A Comparative Analysis of a Residential Liberal Arts College and a Research University"
9:40 Brenda Bankart, "First Year and Senior Memories of Influential College Experiences"
10:00 Audience: Questions and Comments
10:40 Session Three: "Reading the Literary and Visual"
10:40 Jeremy Hartnett, "Explaining Nothing: The Aesthetic of Austerity on Roman House Facades"
11:00 Brian Tucker, "The International Imagination in 19th-Century Germany"
11:20 Gary Phillips, "Genesis, Genocide, and the Art of Samuel Bak: Unseemly Reading After the Holocaust"
11:40 Audience: Questions and Comments
1:30 Session Four: "The Language of Politics and Law"
1:30 Yvonne M. Pitts, "Insanity and Medical Authority in Nineteenth Century Kentucky Inheritance Disputes"
1:50 Stephen Dyson, "Using the Words of Politicians to Infer Key Psychological Characteristics: New Data on British Prime Ministers"
2:10 Audience: Questions and Comments
2:50 Session Five: "Life in and Out of the Lab"
2:50 Amanda Ingram, "What's Lovegrass Got to Do with It?"
3:10 William Turner, "Wabash Summer Institute in Algebra"
3:30 Audience: Questions and Comments
3:50 Final Session: "Learners and Life: Travel and Education"
3:50 Rick Warner, "Linking our Worlds: Service Learning in Panama"
4:10 Joy Castro, "The Ecology of Residency"
4:30 Greg Redding, "Collaborative Research in German-American Studies"
4:50 Audience: Questions and Comments
The public is welcome at the Ides of August program.


text: Home / Products / Outdoor Post Mt 1Lt Larger View Rollover to Zoom Close Visualize Kichler lighting and Sherwin-Williams paint all in one tool. Today's homeowners have seemingly unlimited options when it comes to colors and finishes. With so many possibilities it can be daunting to find just the right match. Not any more. Match your lighting and your wall color with our intuitive visualization tools. Choose your Sherwin-Williams Color Family Color palette belongs to Sherwin-Williams, a registered trademark of the Sherwin-Williams Company. © 2013 Sherwin-Williams Company. All rights reserved. Other Kichler Products Products in the same collection 9711PB9712PB9713PB9913PB Bay Shore CollectionOutdoor Post Mt 1Lt 9913PB (Polished Brass) bvseo_sdk, net_sdk, 18.104.22.168 CLOUD, getAggregateRating, 109ms REVIEWS, PRODUCT bvseo-msg: The resource to the URL or file is currently unavailable.; Product Description: The Bay Shore Collection takes the classic lines of outdoor lanterns and dresses it up in style. Each piece in the Bay Shore Collection features Kichler's exclusive LifeBrite Polished Solid Brass, which is guaranteed for a lifetime to look fantastic while being capable of withstanding the harshest elements no matter where you live. Clear beveled glass panels complete the Bay Shore outdoor lanterns' timeless profile. This 1-light post lantern uses a 100-watt (max.) bulb, is 22" high, and is U.L. listed for wet location. Post Not Included. Shop, Buy or Order Locally Submit Lighting Showroom Landscape Lighting Distributor Electrical Distributor Available online at these fine retailers! Technical Information Weight:6.30 LBSSafety Rated:WetDual Mount:NoNumber of Bulbs:1Max Watt:100WMax Wattage/Range:100WCollection:Bay Shore CollectionWidth:9.25"Height:22.50"Lamp Included:Not IncludedDiffuser Description:Clear BeveledVoltage:120VCFL Bulb Type:HYBRID (23-30W)Light Source:IncandescentSocket Base:MediumLamp Type:A19# of Bulbs/LED Modules:1Finish:Polished Brass Related Documents:High Res Images 9913DownloadSpec SheetDownload bvseo_sdk, net_sdk, 18.104.22.168 CLOUD, getReviews, 0ms REVIEWS, PRODUCT bvseo-msg: The resource to the URL or file is currently unavailable.;


text:
Danger (From For The Love Of Ray J) In A Bikini!
Monica reports "Danger from For the Love of Ray J is looking dangerous shooting the cover of a major magazine today. "
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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text:
VERGENNES — Vergennes aldermen on Tuesday approved the first increase in the municipal portion of the city tax rate since 2008, a 2-cent hike that will bring it to about 62.3 cents for the 2012-2013 fiscal year that begins on July 1.
Addison Northwest Supervisory Union officials and City Manager Mel Hawley expect the city's residential school rate to drop by a little bit less than a penny, meaning the overall residential property rate in Vergennes should rise by a little more than a penny.
The full text of this article is only available to online subscribers.
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MIDDLEBURY –– Questions asked in Russian peppered the air in the conference room in the Addison Independent offices this Tuesday as a delegation of five Russian journalists from the Open World program asked about journalistic practices in the U.S., finances and government accountability.
LEICESTER — They may have to agree to disagree.
The Leicester and Salisbury selectboards held a joint special meeting on June 14 to address concerns of a handful of residents in both towns regarding the annual Vermont Sun Triathlon series. While race organizers said some minor changes may be made to appease the residents, it all comes down to coexistence.
The triathlons, which are run on four Sunday mornings each summer, include a swimming portion in Lake Dunmore, and biking and running legs on Route 53 and other nearby roads.
PANTON — Vermont State Police are investigating several reports of burglaries, unlawful mischief and suspicious vehicles in the Lake Street and Arnold Bay Road neighborhoods of Panton during the month of June.
On June 25, VSP troopers met with Panton residents to hear their concerns and advise them how to protect their property.
The reported crimes included three break-ins during which nothing was apparently stolen.
FAYSTON — A Starksboro man died after driving his vehicle into a telephone pole off Route 17 in Fayston on Tuesday evening.
Jonah Rule, 32, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to authorities.
Vermont State Police said they were called to the scene of a one-car crash on Route 17 at around 8 p.m. There, they found a white, 2008 Subaru Impreza overturned on its roof off the south side of the roadway.
The Ilsley Public Library was abuzz with an unusual activity last Friday night: middle and high school students were hard at work creating food masterpieces. At the teen after-hours event, some 20 middle school and high school students conjured up a colorful spread of foods ranging from chocolate to fruit pizza.
Video by Lauren Davidson
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Copyright 2011 Addison Independent | 58 Maple Street, Middlebury, Vt. 05753 | All Rights Reserved
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Have you ever thought about how nutritious your bodily fluids are? Full of goodies like salts and proteins…Wild bees know all about it, feeding human sweat and tears as a source of nutrition. Urban sweat bees, for example, use humans like a salt lick. "These bees prefer sweaty people—over most animals—because the human diet usually is so salty that their perspiration is saturated with the essential nutrient," according to a recent feature in the Wall Street Journal on sweat bees. A new species (Lasioglossum gotham) of these bees was recently identified from a specimen netted in the heart of Brooklyn. Although they are as a group fairly common, they're tiny and they don't sting, which is why you probably haven't heard New Yorkers complaining about them.
Via Dr. Stefan Gruenwald


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Download link (right click and 'save-as') for playing in VLC or other compatible player.
Cold atomic gases in optical lattices are emerging as excellent laboratories for testing models of strongly interacting particles in
condensed matter physics. It is possible to tune the interactions,
dimensionality, spin, statistics and a host of other variables in a
completely disorder free environment. This has opened up unique possibilities of mapping out phase diagrams of quantum models and
observing quantum phase transitions for the very first time. I will
discuss some of the challenges in this field.


text:
Kovacevic: NHL not 'making whole' lot of sense
Brief and to the Point …
All this week, about a dozen intelligent, well-dressed, well-paid men and their briefcases have been bunched up in a New York office struggling to divide a pot of $3 billion that's dwindling by the day.
Nuts, right?
No, not when compared to what looks to be the last large hurdle in ending the NHL's more-absurd-by-the-day lockout: It's called the "Make Whole" provision, and it involves how existing player contracts should be honored and, if they are, when the money should be paid.
Honest to Gordie.
Existing contracts that were signed between teams and players, in some cases just this summer, actually are seen by the owners as being on the table.
That ranges from the $196 million the Wild just committed to the free-agent duo of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter down to the minimum-wage paychecks of the Flyers' fourth-liners. All of it, up for discussion.
I've tried to see both sides all along, but if an NHL player can't trust the owners to honor an existing, signed document, why would he trust them to honor the next labor pact?
The parties met through Thursday night and agreed to take it into Friday.
Get it done, boys. This is dumb even by NHL standards.
>> Here's a stick-tap for Sidney Crosby and union rep Craig Adams for being so deeply involved. Both badly want to play but have found a healthy balance in representing their peers.
If the Penguins' owner were involved a fraction as much, this would have been over long ago.
>> Tino Sunseri's ill-timed, ill-advised criticism of Pitt kicker Kevin Harper after the Notre Dame loss — "We missed a field goal," Sunseri said. "That's why we lost the game" — drew heavy attention, even nationally.
But here's what you haven't read until now: Sunseri and Harper are friends and remain so. By the time school officials approached both Monday morning about reconciling, they already had done so on their own.
Sunseri is no Heisman-level QB, to be kind, but neither is he some bad seed.
>> The Steelers' first-half MVP is — duh — Ben Roethlisberger.
Non-Ben offensive MVP: Heath Miller.
Defensive MVP: Ryan Clark.
>> Most valuable decision goes to Dick LeBeau for moving to more nickel and dime beginning in Cincinnati. That provided support — and badly needed confidence — to Ike Taylor and Keenan Lewis, both of whom have been outstanding since.
This is how nickel back Cortez Allen described it to me: "We always want to have each other's backs, and now we're getting more opportunity to do that."
>> It might have gotten lost in Bob Nutting's announcement about bringing back the Pirates' front office and ditching Hoka Hey, but it was noteworthy that he spoke with four current — and respected — players on the roster for his investigation.
The gist of their sentiment, as I've heard it: The trade deadline was a major letdown. And least popular was the bizarre trade of Casey McGehee for Chad Qualls.
>> Sorry, Andrew McCutchen, but my National League MVP vote would go to the Giants' Buster Posey. No fade there.
>> Running back controversy?
No need for that.
When Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer are all healthy, watch which ones best hit the holes between the tackles. Take the two best, employ them in a two-back set, and sit the other.
This is about the blocking, not the backfield.
>> Best coaching job in the commonwealth — pro, college, high school, pee wee, you name it — has been done by Bill O'Brien at Penn State. He's been impeccable through the impossible.
>> I'm almost as intrigued to see freshmen Steven Adams and James Robinson starting Pitt's basketball opener Friday as I am to see why so many folks — including Jamie Dixon — were raving about Lamar Patterson dominating the summer leagues. Word is, his co-MVP breakout last season was just the start.
>> When the NHL returns, it owes fans some goodies, like those given out after the 2004 lockout with the shootout, obstruction calls and other upgrades.
Here's one suggestion: Make shot-blocking a minor penalty.
Anytime a defending skater slides or dives along the ice with the clear intent of shot-blocking, he goes to the box. No questions asked. You can stay up to block a shot, even drop to one knee, but you can't go prone.
This not only will prevent more shot-blocking snoozefests like last spring's Stanley Cup playoffs, but it also will improve player safety. Someone will die one day from throwing their face in front of a 100-mph puck.
>> Anyone getting fired up about which players the Pirates might sign through free agency, I offer this hide-the-women-and-children warning: Ramon Vazquez. Chris Gomez. Ryan Church. Bobby Crosby. Eric Hinske. Lyle Overbay. Matt Diaz, Rod Barajas and Clint Barmes.
>> Glanced over lately at the Riverhounds' stadium going up at Station Square?
Say whatever you want about soccer — I've always been a fan of the international brand — but the setting itself might wind up rivaling PNC Park, with its head-on view of Downtown
How cool. Pittsburgh's first real pitch will be ready in 2013.
Just no singing, please.


text:
Waste becomes an opportunity in this pavilion commissioned for the London offices of Bloomberg Philanthropy. The undulating structure made entirely of recovered cardboard and shipping pallets was pieced together by Liam Hopkins of Lazarium. Dubbed Pupa, the project is part of a larger art commission, "Waste Not Want It", which called for the reuse of refuse to create inspired pieces. Pupa not only repurposed tons of cardboard and wood, but it created a valuable meeting space that takes advantage of the acoustic properties of cardboard.
The cardboard came in damp bales so it had to be pulped and re-fabricated locally. Nearly four thousand triangular components were assembled by folding strips to make triangular frames and inserting with fill pieces. The cells were glued together using a parametric computational map. The result is a cavern like space, intimate and sparse except the long cardboard table running the length of the installation. Chairs made from 180 wooden pallets and 252 leather cut offs complete the space. The acoustic properties of the cardboard skin add function to the meeting space as well, although the glare of lights seems to be a bit off mark.
The materiality of the cardboard and softness of the overall shape is an inviting non-pretentious alcove. The form and mass of the newly created space plays off well in the dull white interior. The project was developed to inspire employees to rethink what they take for granted — a common theme it seems this past year. It is also interesting how the cardboard, known for its strength and ubiquity, can also be used for space making and sound control, upping the stakes of the capacity of the brown stuff.
Via Contemporist


text:
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif. --Officials say the wildfire that charred an area in and around Mount Diablo State Park has cost $4.5 million to fight.
Some firefighters are still cleaning up and patrolling the fire perimeter and hope to have it fully contained by the end of the day on Friday.
Authorities now believe it was started by target shooting on Sunday afternoon.
The fire burned an estimated 3,133 acres, but fortunately no structures were destroyed.


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Crop protection industry leaders are asking EPA to adopt a formal rule requiring the recycling of empty, disposable plastic pesticide containers used in agricultural and professional applications in the United States.
Farmers have been voluntarily recycling empty pesticide containers for years with the help of companies that have been organized to receive, grind and transport the plastic residue to end users. (Mississippi was one of the first states to adopt such a voluntary program in the 1990s.)
But officials with CropLife America, the organization that represents pesticide manufacturers in the United States, says such voluntary programs are in danger of collapsing if EPA doesn't step in to help expand them.
"Voluntary efforts taken by the industry since the early 1990s to collect and recycle such containers have demonstrated the clear benefit to the environment and public health," said Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America.
"Now it is time to have a regulatory requirement placed on all affected pesticide registrants to both expand the reach of the current voluntary programs and spread the financial responsibility among all the benefiting pesticide companies," said Vroom. "Without such a rule, the voluntary program is headed for collapse."
EPA needs to act to preserve and expand the initiative, said Vroom. He met with EPA Administrator Steve Johnson to urge action on the association's request by Jan. 15, 2008, which could lead to a finalized rule by July 15 next year.
"CropLife America members have invested more than $50 million in supporting voluntary collection and recycling programs since the early 1990s," he said. "That cash investment has been supported with the sweat equity of farmers, other professional pesticide users, dealers and many others in proper collection of empty containers.
"But our efforts to get all pesticide registrants to pay their fair share of the cost of voluntary programs have failed, and the only way to keep our progress in place and growing is to require all registrant companies to support recycling if they benefit from access to the market via disposable, one-way HDPE plastic containers."
During the meeting with the EPA's Johnson, Vroom said CropLife America presented copies of more than 50 grassroots letters, which endorse the agency proceeding with such a recycling regulation.
"The support is clear and in writing from state governors, state pesticide regulators, state departments of agriculture, commodity and farm groups and registrants — everyone wants to see the success of the voluntary programs preserved and extended. We know of no one who stands in opposition to EPA moving forward."
CLA has emphasized a new pesticide regulatory requirement would only apply to pesticide containers. "The proposed rule would be done under the auspices of the U.S. pesticide law, thereby focusing this recycling requirement only on such containers," Vroom said.
"Further, such a regulation can be effective because it would be monitored by EPA in two ways — first, by requiring annual reporting by registrants of their individual support of recycling programs, commensurate with their marketing of pesticides in disposable plastic containers, and secondly, by way of checking on the proper rinsing of all empty containers — as currently required under existing pesticide regulation."


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Local Inventor's Magnetoscope on Display
On Monday, May 4, 2009, the question to Michael Flynn from the city of Ann Arbor building inspector was: "What line of work are you in?" Flynn's answer: "I invent things."
In Flynn's backyard, the inspector had just signed off on the packed sand for a concrete pour that will become the floor of Flynn's new laboratory space.
So what sort of stuff does Flynn invent? And is there any money in that?
From now through Mother's Day, visitors to Ann Arbor's Hands-On Museum can have a look and touch for themselves. That's where Flynn's Magnetoscope will be on display. The Magnetoscope exhibit illustrates how ferrofluid – oil, plus iron oxide particles, plus a surfactant – interacts with the forces of magnetic fields and gravity to create spiky columns out of an black pool of liquid. Visitors can manipulate the magnetic fields by cranking a red or a blue magnet closer or further away from the pool of ferrofluid.
At the Hands-On Museum, Flynn's Magnetoscope is surrounded by red and blue stools that match the red and blue magnets of the display. But the stools aren't a part of the exhibit. Flynn said that Carol Knauss, who he described as the museum's director of visitor experience, had matched them up with the exhibit from a set of stools that John Bowditch, director of exhibits, had built. The stools are built with an extra heavy base, to prevent them from tipping over from the force of active kids.
As we were poking around with Flynn in his current backyard laboratory space – a shed-like structure crammed with suitcases of tools and in-progress work – he mentioned that it was exactly a year ago to the day (May 3-4) that Flynn's Magnetoscope enjoyed its world premiere. The occasion was the Maker Faire in San Francisco. Flynn said that the director of San Franscisco's Exploratorium had seen it there and had expressed an interest in possibly helping to produce more Magnetoscopes.
But at that point, Flynn said, the device had no patent protections and he was thus a little reluctant to enter into any kind of business partnership. Now that the device enjoys a pending patent, he's far more open to the possibility of partnering with someone to produce more of these devices. Licensing the design is one possibility.
But what he's working on right now is producing at least one more – a production model as contrasted with the prototype that visitors to the Hands-On Museum will see. What qualifies that one a prototype?
Flynn explained that one example is the openings in the metal, which he hand-routered for that model, but which will be machined with a computer-driven mill on the production model. Another example: The clear plastic hemispheres bolted around the ferrofluid chamber had their bolt holes drilled pretty evenly spaced around the perimeter.
But "pretty evenly" isn't exact. Though any unevenness isn't really apparent to the naked eye, the fact that the spacing isn't dead-on exact means that the holes have to be indexed so that if it needs to be taken apart for cleaning (or if a kid inadvertently gouges a scratch in one), it can be re-assembled easily. For the production model, the holes will be spaced exactly so that the parts will be completely interchangeable.
The other part of the business end of things is selling that production model. To that end, Flynn has been shopping the Magnetoscope around. The Hands-On Museum is a part of that effort. Before the Hands-On exhibit, the device was on display at the Ann Arbor Public Library. It's also been at the University of Michigan Work Gallery in Detroit, as well as Lansing's Impression 5 Science Center.
Flynn has created a video about the exhibit, but says there's nothing like experiencing it hands on. Next up after Ann Arbor's Hands-On Museum is the Cincinnati Museum Center as well as the Boonschoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton.


text:
Health leaders have joined forces with the voluntary sector to launch a service to help frail and elderly people stay at home rather than go to hospital.
NHS North Derbyshire, Hardwick and Erewash Clinical Commissioning Groups have contracted North Derbyshire Voluntary Action to provide a voluntary sector single point of access service which goes live on Monday.
The service links people at risk of hospital admissions to support services. Patients will be referred to vSPA by care professionals. Voluntary organisations can refer their clients to the vSPA service for support. The service will be based at Clay Cross Hospital. The vSPA will be supported by a worker who will find ways of helping patients to live independently.


text:
Freedom in the World
You are here
Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
2012 Scores
Freedom Rating (1 = best, 7 = worst)
Civil Liberties (1 = best, 7 = worst)
Political Rights (1 = best, 7 = worst)
In 2011, President Leonel Fernández's approval ratings suffered as a result of rising electricity prices, higher income tax rates, and inadequate services for the poor. Three demonstrators were killed by police during protests in July against economic austerity measures imposed by the government. Meanwhile, drug trafficking and the mistreatment of Haitian migrants continued to be problems during the year.
After achieving independence from Spain in 1821 and from Haiti in 1844, the Dominican Republic endured recurrent domestic conflict, foreign occupation, and authoritarian rule. The assassination of General Rafael Trujillo in 1961 ended 30 years of dictatorship, but a 1963 military coup led to civil war and U.S. intervention. Under a new constitution, civilian rule was restored in 1966 with the election of conservative president Joaquín Balaguer. His ouster in the 1978 election marked the first time an incumbent president peacefully handed power to an elected opponent.
Since the mid-1990s, Dominican politics have been defined by competition between the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), although Balaguer's Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) remained an important factor. Leonel Fernández of the PLD was first elected president in 1996, but term limits prevented him from running in 2000. He was succeeded by the PRD's Rafael Hipólito Mejía Domínguez, a former agriculture minister. In 2001, Mejía successfully enacted a constitutional change to allow a second consecutive presidential term, but decisively lost his 2004 reelection bid to Fernández.
While his 1996–2000 presidential term had featured substantial economic growth, Fernández returned to face serious financial difficulties, including a ballooning foreign debt, high unemployment and inflation rates, and a deep energy crisis. Nonetheless, the country's economy improved dramatically, posting a 9 percent growth rate in 2005. In return for International Monetary Fund (IMF) financing, the government agreed to cut subsidies on fuel and electricity and reduce the bloated government payroll. The PLD captured a majority in both houses of Congress in the 2006 legislative elections, and Fernández secured a third term in the 2008 presidential elections.
Fernández promoted a constitutional reform process that resulted in the promulgation of the country's 38th constitution in January 2010. The new constitution removed restrictions on non-consecutive presidential reelection, which would allow Fernández to run for president again in 2016. It also changed the electoral calendar so that future presidential, legislative, and local elections will be held on the same date.
Capitalizing on the president's continued successful economic management, the PLD captured 31 of 32 Senate seats in the May 2010 legislative elections. The PRSC took the remaining seat, leaving the PRD shut out of the upper parliamentary chamber. In the Chamber of Deputies, the PLD captured 105 seats, the PRD won 75, and the PRSC took only 3. The PLD also won a majority of the municipal elections. The opposition subsequently presented allegations of electoral fraud to the Organization of American States (OAS), and international observers noted that campaigning resources were not equally distributed between government and opposition candidates. The OAS also noted certain irregularities, including vote buying, though it certified the results.
The Dominican Republic has faced various economic challenges over the past few years. The country became a conduit for relief and reconstruction efforts in the wake of the 2010 earthquake that devastated neighboring Haiti; the resulting influx of refugees, combined with emergency financial assistance to Haiti, strained the Dominican Republic's economy. Although the Dominican economy has largely withstood the global financial crisis, fuel prices have soared about 30 percent since the beginning of 2011. Increased electricity prices and income tax rates, combined with inadequate services for the poor—particularly in the areas of education and health—have negatively affected President Fernández's overall popularity. In July, demonstrations against fiscal and economic measures, including increases on income tax and electricity tariffs, paralyzed transportation and trade, and three protesters were killed in clashes with police.
The Dominican Republic is an electoral democracy. The 2008 presidential election and the 2010 legislative elections were deemed free and fair, though the OAS did note several electoral violations in the 2010 polls, including vote buying. The bicameral National Congress consists of the 32-member Senate and the 183-member Chamber of Deputies, with members of both chambers elected to four-year terms. The three main political parties are the ruling PLD, the opposition PRD, and the smaller PRSC.
Official corruption remains a serious problem, and has not improved markedly during President Fernández's tenure. The Dominican Republic was ranked 129 out of 183 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index.
The law provides for freedoms of speech and of the press, and the government generally respects these rights. There are five national daily newspapers and a large number of local publications. The state-owned Radio Television Dominicana operates radio and television services. Private owners operate more than 300 radio stations and over 40 television stations, most of which are small, regional broadcasters. Journalists reporting on possible collusion between drug traffickers and state officials have faced intimidation, and some have been killed. Internet access is unrestricted but not widely available outside of large urban areas; the Fernández government has worked to improve access to technology in rural areas.
Constitutional guarantees regarding religious and academic freedom are generally observed.
Freedom of assembly is generally respected, though three people were killed by police in July 2011 while protesting government austerity measures. Freedom of association is constitutionally guaranteed, but is limited for public servants. The government upholds the right to form civic groups, and civil society organizations in the Dominican Republic are some of the best organized and most effective in Latin America. Labor unions are similarly well organized. Although legally permitted to strike, they are often subject to government crackdowns. In 2010, peasant unions were occasionally targeted by armed groups working for major landowners, and the rights of Haitian workers were routinely violated.
The judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court, is politicized and riddled with corruption, and the legal system offers little recourse to those without money or influence. However, reforms implemented in recent years have included measures aimed at promoting greater efficiency and due process. The 2010 constitution seeks to further modernize the judiciary, with measures such as the creation of a Constitutional Court and Judiciary Branch Council, as well as mandating retirement for Supreme Court magistrates over the age of 75 years. Extrajudicial killings by police remain a problem, and low salaries encourage endemic corruption in law enforcement institutions. According to the Dominican Republic's Office of the Prosecutor General, at least 154 people were killed by police from January to July 2011, compared to 125 people during the same period in 2010. Prisons suffer from severe overcrowding, poor sanitation, and routine violence.
The Dominican Republic is a major transit hub for South American drugs, mostly cocaine, en route to the United States. Local, Puerto Rican, and Colombian drug smugglers use the country as both a command-and-control center and a transshipment point. In September 2011, prosecutors from U.S. federal courts indicated that Colombian drug smugglers had in at least three cases even been able to use Dominican military facilities to transfer narcotics.
The mistreatment of Haitian migrants continues to mar the Dominican Republic's international reputation, but no strategy has been adopted to handle this growing problem. The 2010 constitution removed the possibility of Dominican citizenship for children born of illegal Haitian migrants. Despite important advances in relations with Haiti, especially after the January 2010 earthquake, Dominican authorities continued to illegally deprive Dominicans of Haitian descent of their nationality, leaving them without access to health care, education, employment, or the right to vote. This virtual statelessness increases their chance of being subject to arbitrary detentions and mass expulsion, without judicial review, and in violation of bilateral agreements with Haiti. Mass deportations of Haitians illegally in the Dominican Republic continued in 2011.
The trafficking in women and girls, child prostitution, and child abuse are major concerns. In February 2011, authorities dismantled a network trafficking Haitian children and forcing them to beg in the streets; in July, traffickers of Venezuelan women working as exotic dancers were arrested. The new Dominican constitution includes one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world, making the practice illegal even in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother. The measure was strongly opposed by Amnesty International and domestic women's rights groups, who feared that it would have drastic consequences for women's health. The new constitution also defined marriage as solely between a man and a woman, making the country one of the few in the world to ban gay marriage at the constitutional level.


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n my former 9-to-5 (aka wage slave) life, I worked first as a newspaper reporter, then as a publicist at a book publishing company. I made the decision to work for myself, partly on a whim, when I decided to move from New York to San Francisco. I had my own little cheesy Scarlett O'Hara moment of shaking my first at the sky and declaring, "As god is my witness, I'll never punch a clock again." Basically, I felt like I didn't fit the 9-to-5 mold – back then I considered 9 a.m. the middle of the night – and I wanted out, by any means necessary. I wasn't getting paid much working in book publishing anyway, so making the leap to self-employment hardly seemed like a financial risk at the time.
What is your favorite part about being a freelancer? Your least favorite?
I love being able to choose the people I work with, the projects I take on, the hours I work. And setting your own rates is a beautiful thing – no more begging the boss for a paltry cost-of-living wage increase. On the flip side, being responsible for your own benefits (health insurance, retirement fund) and not getting paid for administrative chores such as invoicing and negotiating contracts are some of the concessions you make as a self-employed person.
Did you have any fear about the uncertainty of not having a steady paycheck? How did you overcome it?
I actually didn't, I think because I was making so little money at my day job anyway. Plus, I was young (24) and under the delusion that credit cards were the equivalent of interest-free paycheck advances (how wrong I was!). Once I was knee-deep in self-employment though, I began to worry about money. To supplement my income those first couple years in business, I took odd jobs – as a personal assistant to a fabulously wealthy person, as a summertime nanny for a couple of grade-schoolers, as a typist for grad students who'd hand-written their dissertations (really – this was 1992, when having a personal computer was like having a flatscreen TV), you name it. During those early years, I also made sure I had my hand in as many freelance pots as possible – proofreading, copyediting, publicity, copywriting. Having additional skills to market helped me diversify my income.


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CBA negotiations to resume Fridayby Dan Rosen / Philadelphia Flyers
Negotiations toward establishing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players' Association are scheduled to resume Friday in New York.
The League and the Union also have blocked out Saturday and Sunday for potential sessions, according to Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.
"We have agreed on an agenda of topics that we think can lead to productive discussions and agreement, and we hope that it will be constructive to the overall process," Daly said earlier this week in acknowledging the Friday session. "We're 100 percent focused on not missing any regular-season games and, hopefully, we can achieve that objective."
The NHL locked out the players Sept. 16, following the expiration of the previous CBA.
The League and the Union have remained in contact since the lockout began, according to Daly. The Deputy Commissioner met with NHLPA Special Counsel Steve Fehr on Monday in Toronto to finalize the players' share of hockey-related revenue for the 2011-12 season.
The League announced Thursday the remainder of the preseason schedule was cancelled.
Opening night for the 2012-13 regular season is scheduled for Oct. 11.
Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl
Author: Dan Rosen | NHL.com Senior Writer