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City of Saint Jude
Proud member of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce
The City of St. Jude is a Catholic, non-profit organization dedicated to the spiritual, health, social and educational needs of all people, regardless of their religious affiliation, sex, race or national origin. To thousands of underprivileged families, we are a helping hand in meeting their most basic human needs. To children who are developmentally disabled, we are nurturers, protectors and comforters. To the senior residents, we are a safe, affordable haven and community. Founded by Father Harold Purcell in 1934, The City of St. Jude is located in west Montgomery, in the heart of the community of people we serve. The spirit of St. Jude lives in the hearts of its gracious donors all across the globe. Our missions function through the donations and volunteer efforts of generous patrons all over the world. The site was also the first integrated hospital in the southeastern United States where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King's two oldest children were born. The final campsite of the Selma-to-Montgomery March and site of the "Stars for Freedom" rally featuring Harry Belafonte, Mahalia Jackson, Leonard Bernstein, Sammy Davis Jr., the cast of "Bonanza" and many others. Free Admission. Open Mon.- Fri.
Hours: Wednesday-Friday 9am-1pm
Admission Fee: $ Children; $5 Adults
Closed State Holidays: No
Bus Parking: Yes
2048 W. Fairview Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36108
(334) 265-6791


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I'm continuing my dive into Pluralsight's .NET Core courses, this time with Play by Play: EF Core 1.0: First Look by Geoffrey Grosenbach and Julie Lerman. This is a quick, 1:32 h, runthrough on EF Core 1.0 where Julie show how... Continue Reading →
I've started my transition into ASP.NET Core with some Pluralsight courses. First I went through ASP.NET Core Fundamentals and Understanding ASP.NET Core and now I've checked out Building Your First API with ASP.NET Core by Kevin Dockx. Just as the... Continue Reading →
The crawler and the headless browser is in place and it's time to get some parsing done. This is needed since I so far only have the source of the pages I crawled and scraped. Now I want to fetch... Continue Reading →
I previously checked out the ASP.NET Fundamentals course on Pluralsight and now I went through Understanding ASP.NET Core by Roland Guijt. This course is not a hands-on course as Fundamentals. Instead Roland show us how to build an ASP.NET Core... Continue Reading →
In my previous post I wrote about finding an adaptable and configurable solution for web crawling and scraping that suits our specific needs. My chose for a crawler fell on Abot, an open source framework and now I have to... Continue Reading →
Pluralsight is an e-learning company where you can learn everything about development and more to a low cost. The best of the best are creating courses just for you. Through Microsoft Visual Studio Dev Essentials you get three months Pluralsigt... Continue Reading →
For part of our business we rely a great deal on reliable web scraping. The solution in place is Scrapy on Python. Scrapy is a great framework for crawling and scraping, especially general purposes. However, looking forward we have some... Continue Reading →
Microsoft have a new, at least for me, offer with a lot of great stuff for free! Check out Visual Studio Dev Essentials and get: Pluralsight for 3 months Azure monthly credits for a year Xamarin University Training Tools, education,... Continue Reading →

subset: commoncrawl


text: Prayer, Volume 3: God's Will & Our Prayers August 25, 2017 ~ brianholda Here is my latest video teaching on prayer: God's Will & Our Prayers (24 min) Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading... Related Published by brianholda I follow Jesus Christ, the Living God, and have a heart to know Him and make Him known to others. I currently reside in Jenison, Michigan with my wife, Shana, and children: Liliana, Talia, Hadasah, and Isaac. My occupation is web developer and librarian. View all posts by brianholda


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I loved working with the Digicute shop on Etsy. She quickly came up with a PNG file of Toodles that turned out as an awesome paper piecing file after I worked some Inkscape magic on it. I've made a large Toodles and Clubhouse paper piecing to add to the character decorations around our yard.
For the background I omitted the half tone circles from the PNG when I converted it to an SVG file. I used a Martha Stewart circle tool to create the inner circle designs. For the "mouseketools" I used the Sweet Treat & Mickey Font cartridges. I mounted the images with foam squares to add dimension. I think it looks awesome!
I also used the files as PNG's with some Avery 1.5" circle labels to make the cupcake toppers. After I printed the desings onto the label paper, I cut pinked 2" circles with two slits in the middle with Sure Cuts A Lot. I inserted a lollipop stick into the slits and then placed the label sticker over the circle.
I'm loving how everything is turning out. I hope once it is all put together the party will look how I imagine it in my head!


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Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1777-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more
About The Lincoln County herald. (Troy, Lincoln County, Mo.) 1865-1873
Troy, Lincoln County, Mo. (1865-1873)
- Title:
- The Lincoln County herald. : (Troy, Lincoln County, Mo.) 1865-1873
- Place of publication:
- Troy, Lincoln County, Mo.
- Geographic coverage:
- Publisher:
- Edmund J. Ellis
- Dates of publication:
- 1865-1873
- Description:
- Began in Dec. 1865? Ceased in June 1873.
- Frequency:
- Weekly
- Language:
- English
- Subjects:
- Lincoln County (Mo.)--Newspapers.
- Missouri--Lincoln County.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01215944
- Missouri--Troy.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01880757
- Troy (Mo.)--Newspapers.
- Notes:
- Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
- Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 2 (Jan. 5, 1866).
- sn 90061771
- 21585814
- Succeeding Titles:
- Related Links:
- Holdings:
- View complete holdings information
- View
- First Issue Last Issue
The Lincoln County herald. January 5, 1866 , Image 1
Troy Lincoln County Herald
First issued in 1865, the Lincoln County Herald was a four-page weekly, published on Fridays in Troy, Missouri. Edmund J. Ellis was the sole editor of the Herald until May of 1867 when he was joined by Theodore D. Fisher. In December 1868, Ellis sold his interest to Fisher, and by that time, the paper was issued each Thursday. Publication of the Herald changed again--to every Wednesday--on June 5, 1872.
Like all newspapers, the Herald was always searching for subscribers. As it commenced its second volume on December 28, 1866, the newspaper emphasized that it was only "$1.50 in advance for a whole year—just 12 ½ cents a month." Printing a similar appeal on November 24, 1870, the Herald reminded readers that its "course has been an independent one, the Organ of no Ring or Clique, but an uncompromising advocate of the cause of the DISFRANCHISED" and that it would continue to "keep its readers posted in all matters of interest, State and County, but more particularly the County."
Furthermore, Theodore Fisher had many acquaintances among journalists and was not afraid to comment on the personalities that made up the profession around the state. Fisher ensured that the paper was an interesting read, giving candid descriptions of his Missouri colleagues. After attending a convention of Missouri editors, he published many such descriptions in the June 4, 1873 issue, including write-ups of "Col. Norman J. Colman of the Rural World, always ready to shoot off his mouth; J. N. Edwards, the hyperbolical editor of the Kansas City Times; the eccentric Malone of the Jackson Cash book, and a host of others, whose 'personals' would make an interesting chapter, but our limited space and time and our imperfect acquaintance with them prevents. Altogether the editors are a motley crew…."
On June 18, 1873, the newspaper changed names when the publishers of the Lincoln County Herald and the Troy Dispatch entered into a partnership and formed the Troy Herald, an eight-page paper published every Wednesday which was edited by Theodore Fisher and Jon. A. Mudd. The latter left the paper in December of 1876 due to failing health and sold his interest to William T. Thurmond. The Troy Herald ceased publication in 1890.
Provided by: State Historical Society of Missouri; Columbia, MO


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About this paper
In this complimentary Applied Clinical Trials article, learn about the challenges and rewards of risk-based monitoring based on a third-party research study and a recent webcast featuring industry experts. You'll discover why you should consider risk-based monitoring, what determines risk and risk levels, and what technology is available for effective risk-based monitoring.
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Democrat Jason Carter seeks new probe of Deal ethics complaints
ATLANTA | Democrat Jason Carter is calling for an independent investigator to review the handling of ethics complaints against Gov. Nathan Deal that were at the center of three lawsuits filed against the state ethics commission.
Carter, who is running against Deal in November, made the request in a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Sam Olens. The complaints date back to the 2010 campaign, and Deal was cleared of any major violations by the commission.
Since then four former commission employees have claimed retaliation for work investigating the Deal complaints, and a jury sided with one of them in April. The state has decided to settle with the other three.
Deal's spokeswoman Jen Talaber says there is no connection to the governor's office and Carter is "playing politics" with the letter.


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GET Group North America can manage the implementation of secure ID programs from start to finish. We have extensive, proven expertise managing identification programs around the world, from the development of the card material and design of security features, to the secure production of cards and documents that are ready for personalization.
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We understand that ID cards and passports are subject to many kinds of stress and need to be as durable as possible to resist physical tampering, external influences, wear and tear, chemicals, temperature fluctuations, environmental conditions and UV exposure over a specified card life cycle. As a result, we consider the unique requirements and interests of every customer's project and the exacting physical, durability, and logical standards that they face to recommend the ideal material for the purpose.
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Designed to fit the specific needs of any requirement, whether in the academic, government, or private sector, the Maintenance & Field Support Program offers a variety of cost effective support packages aimed at maintaining peak performance.


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17 Feb 10 Malaysian IT and BPO industry_Finding its niche
Revenues from the Malaysian IT/ITeS outsourcing industry are expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% to reach $1.9 billion by 2013, according to a joint publication by Outsourcing Malaysia and ValueNotes . Currently, IT outsourcing services in Malaysia have a greater share of the overall outsourcing market, followed by BPO services; while knowledge services outsourcing, still in its nascent stage, has a smaller share.
While Malaysia is still exploring its niche, the country has established credibility as an outsourcing destination. The Malaysian outsourcing industry has been built on attracting investments in captive and third party outsourcing operations from several leading global companies (DHL, Shell, BAT, HSBC, Standard Chartered) spanning across various verticals (Oil & Gas, Logistics, Banks). Today, outsourcing in Malaysia has evolved to provide services, niche as well as integrated, in IT, BPO and knowledge processing in multiple industry verticals. Amongst the emerging destinations, Malaysia has had a good start in many areas. Some of the key drivers are:
- Domain knowledge: Malaysia possesses domain knowledge in sectors like Oil & Gas, Logistics and BFSI, which have been responsible for employment and economic growth. Large multi national companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, BASF, HSBC, Standard Chartered, DHL, etc opened their captive centers in the country to support their local and Asian operations.
- IT-led growth: The Malaysian outsourcing industry has predominantly been driven by IT. Majority of the multi national companies set up their captive centers in Malaysia to support their IT operations. This was followed by multi national IT companies like IBM, HP, Apple, Intel and Sun Computer Systems, etc. setting up base in Malaysia to gain geographical advantage. The local Malaysian industry also consists of IT firms, large and small offering services ranging from infrastructure management services, application development and maintenance, and network and desktop related services.
- Language advantage: One of the major competitive advantages that Malaysia has is its multi-cultural and multi-lingual population. There is a sizeable population proficient in languages like English, Korean, Japanese, Tamil, Indonesian and various dialects of Chinese.
- Government support: The Malaysian government initiatives are a dominant factor in driving the outsourcing industry. The government support has helped form institutions that manage a variety of roles ranging from setting up a company to kick-starting the business. Moreover, the establishment of world class infrastructure and fiscal benefits has helped attract companies to Malaysia.
However Malaysia as an outsourcing destination has seen challenges in the form of manpower, inadequate VC funding, etc. that have slowed the relative growth of the outsourcing industry in Malaysia. One of the major challenges for the Malaysian outsourcing industry is to overcome constraints with regards to scalability. The total number of employees in the industry is roughly comparable to the number of new hires by a leading Indian IT outsourcing service provider.
One of the key concerns for the outsourcing industry in Malaysia is the need to move up the value chain to offer high value services as opposed to highly commoditized services in IT or BPO. According to Bobby Varanasi, an outsourcing consultant, "Strand Aerospace Sdn Bhd is a prime example of a Malaysian company moving up the value chain in outsourcing. The company specializes in computer-aided stress testing for engines of Boeing and Airbus."
"Despite the challenges, our research has identified a multi-pronged and focused strategy for Malaysia to capture the burgeoning global outsourcing opportunities," said David Wong, PIKOM and Outsourcing Malaysia Chairman. "To sustain growth, Malaysia needs to carve its own niche that fits its strengths. For instance, Malaysia has become one of the preferred destinations to offshore services for companies in the Middle East, especially in key sectors such as oil and gas and Islamic finance. And we do need to further build on this. More importantly, we should also focus on our cultural and language strengths to cater to Asian markets in selected areas," he explained.
The Outsourcing Malaysia Road-show
Last week, the NASSCOM organized India Leadership Forum (NILF) concluded in Mumbai. Held annually, NILF is an IT and BPO centric conference that showcases thought leadership and innovation in the industry. It also allows professionals from the industry network with one another. This year the conference had an attendance estimated at 1600 people representing various companies, delegates from foreign countries and investment promotion agencies (IPAs).
Outsourcing Malaysia (OM), one such delegation, participated in the conference with an aim to promote the capabilities and competencies of the Malaysian outsourcing industry. Going beyond just showcasing Malaysia as an outsourcing destination, the delegation were keen to highlight other aspects such as mutual market access, co-creation of solutions, services and sub-contracting. Some other propositions included extended Malaysian facilities as possible disaster recovery centers (or business continuity centers) as well as providing either scale or multi-shoring options to Indian providers.
With ValueNotes organizing meetings and introductions, the OM delegation networked with decision makers from leading IT and BPO companies. These meetings revolved around identifying and developing synergistic partnerships between Malaysian and Indian companies.


text: This is silly season, funds marking up last years winners. I used to trade builders at 1.5 times book and 6 PE's in 2003 and 2004 when the bubble was just kicking in to gear. Now the co's have worse balance sheets, worse land positions, worse demographics, worse homeownship trends, and wall street wants to put 20 forward Pe's and price-books ratios of 2-3 on these Silly season. I remember BZH trading for 1 times book value and a 6 PE in 2004 when it was minting cash and every home they could build would instantly be sold. I apply that same valuation on BZH today, and discount it for the highly leveraged and impaired balance sheet, and i get a target of $4. ROFL. Don't even get me started on Hovnanian. It could build homes for 6-8 years and still have negative shareholder equity. EXP stock price is a freak show. 9 times book, 6 times fixed assets, and forward PE north of 20 for cement and wood. Last few days it was refiners getting sold. It will be housing in the next 12-400 hours. Good luck! And don't be a bag holder.


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Photo of August 2016 reentry of Minuteman III warhead reentry vehicle at Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. Overlaid with manipulated photos of sunset gradients on sky.
Resident of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Photography interests: intercontinental ballistic missiles, sunsets, tropical reefs and islands, the night sky and people.
This is a gallery-quality giclée art print on 100% cotton rag archival paper, printed with archival inks. Each art print is listed by sheet size and features a minimum one-inch border.


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Thunderstorms to the north of me; thunderstorms to the south of me
Monday 15 June 2009
I like a good thunderstorm; the more dramatic the better. I was watching one approach us this morning, big and black and looming, but it went by to the north of me. Another one went past to the south around…Continue reading


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Fuel poverty is gaining more attention and research is definitely needed to better understand how it can be effectively addressed. Ben Chapman writes on The Independent website about a new report by National Energy Action and climate-change charity E3G. Not in the report is a good quote by one of the authors, Pedro Guertler, a … Continue reading UK has sixth-highest rate of excess winter deaths in Europe
Tag: publication
New report on building energy efficiency renovations
The International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC) has been active promoting energy efficiency since its founding in 2009. Its membership now includes 17 of the Group of 20 (G20) economies, which represent over 80% of global energy use and over 80% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions IPEEC's Buildings Energy Efficiency Task Group (BEET) … Continue reading New report on building energy efficiency renovations
Understanding why we need to unlock investments in energy efficiency
Recently, the International Energy Agency published its latest market report on energy efficiency. Jennifer Romero-Torres, Senior Financial Sector Specialist for the South Asia Regional Department at the Asian Development Bank uses that report to discuss investments in energy efficiency in an article on the Eco-Business website. Energy efficiency: Why not enough is being invested … Continue reading Understanding why we need to unlock investments in energy efficiency
New report calls for UK government to take new approach to encourage investment in energy efficiency
No one said the energy transition would be easy and when you add concerns about Brexit, Britain has its hands full of issues to deal with. But they must. Progress on the low-carbon energy transition cannot be delayed for many reasons. Joshua Burke, Energy and Environment Research Fellow at the Policy Exchange, and author of … Continue reading New report calls for UK government to take new approach to encourage investment in energy efficiency
Important new study on world energy demand
The quality assurance and risk management company DNV GL has just published its Energy Transition Outlook. Kelvin Ross reviews the report on the Power Engineering International website. World energy demand to plateau from 2030 says DNV GL report Energy efficiency will improve faster than global economic growth due to the rapid electrification of the … Continue reading Important new study on world energy demand
New report on energy efficiency potential in Canada
Canada has had a stop-start approach to energy efficiency policies and programmes since the first oil crises. The problem is that the economy is very energy intensive and for a variety of reasons, it is necessary to address these issues. A new report by the Conference Board of Canada explains where the country is and … Continue reading New report on energy efficiency potential in Canada
New report on mainstreaming climate compatible development
The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) supports decision-makers in designing and delivering climate compatible development. We do this by combining research, advisory services and knowledge management in support of locally owned and managed policy processes. CDKN is currently funded over seven-year period from March 2010 to April 2017 by the UK Department for International … Continue reading New report on mainstreaming climate compatible development
Why we can accept much more ambition in the EU energy saving strategy
Having introduced the report in a post last week, EiD is pleased to see a recent article by the report's author, Yamina Saheb, on the EurActiv website. Yamina shows that there will be no negative impact on EU competitiveness. Importantly, this conclusion is buried within the European Commission's own modelling results. For those with any … Continue reading Why we can accept much more ambition in the EU energy saving strategy
New underwriter's guide to facilitate energy efficiency improvements in the US
After having reported on a new G20 investment toolkit last week, Lindsay Robbins writes on the Natural Resources Defense Council website about a new investment handbook to help lenders in the US. They are hoping this will be part of the standard mortgage lending process. New Lender Guide Unlocks Potential for Efficiency Upgrades The … Continue reading New underwriter's guide to facilitate energy efficiency improvements in the US
It is hard to be against a 40% energy savings target
A timely report released this week by OpenExp provides evidence that all the arguments against 40% energy savings target are irrelevant! The report entitled "Clean Energy for All Europeans – Do the Commission's Impact Assessments Assign the Right Role to Energy Efficiency?" is based on the Commission's modelling results included in the EED and the … Continue reading It is hard to be against a 40% energy savings target


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When Mitt Romney made his remarks about culture accounting for the differing success made by Palestinians and Israelis in cultivating the meager resources of the Eastern Mediterranean, he was immediately pounced upon by the entire liberal world.
In response, Romney made a reference to Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond's 1996 Pulitzer-Prize-winning analysis of why different parts of the world have progressed at different rates. Diamond, being a good academic, fired back immediately with an op-ed in the New York Times in which he charged, "This is so different from what my book actually says that I have doubt whether Mr. Romney read it."
I also have doubts Romney has actually read the book because if he did, he wouldn't be enlisting it to his cause. Diamond's argument is completely dismissive of cultural achievement and reduces history to the impersonal causes. Quite simply, Diamond's argument is the academic equivalent to President Obama's now-famous remarks to the founders of small businesses: "You didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." Diamond's message to America and Western Civilization is, "You didn't build that. Something else made that happen." That something else is what he calls "biogeography."
I read Diamond's book about four years ago after all the Pulitzer Prizes had been awarded and frankly I never read such of mass of nonsense in my life. I wanted to register my objection but there was no logical place to put them. Now that it has become a campaign issue, I'm happy to have the opportunity.
Diamond's answer to why Europe and America have become so remarkably prosperous while most of the rest of the world has lagged, comes down to two words: "dumb luck." Rather than any of the cultural achievements that have characterized Western civilization — the Judeo-Christian tradition, the respect for intellectual attainment, the rule of free institutions and individual rights — Diamond says it's all a matter of "biogeography" — what kind of plants and animals you had in your neighborhood and how easily they travelled from one region to another.
His main thesis, believe it or not, is that the Eurasian landmass, stretching from Gibraltar to China, lies on a horizontal axis, while Africa and the Americas are on vertical axes. As a result, it was easier for plant species, material goods and eventually ideas to flow along the Eurasian axis than it was for them to travel in Africa and the Americas. Because of this iron law of geography, civilization developed better in Europe and Asia than it did elsewhere.
Do you see any flaws in that argument? I can think of about six to start. But let's take a moment to allow Diamond to have his full say before we begin trying to evaluate his thesis.
Diamond began his quest in the 1960s while working, not as an anthropologist or geographer or developmental economist, but as an ornithologist studying birds in New Guinea. One day, as he recounts, he ended up in a long conversation with a local politician named Yali who eventually posed him with a question: "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?"
"Cargo," it should be noted, had been a big issue in New Guinea since Europeans and Americans arrived in great numbers during World War II. You may recall the story of the "cargo cults" that became a legend among anthropologists. Local tribesmen, seeing large airplanes landing with lots of "cargo," decided these were gods descending from the sky. Noting that these gods preferred to land on long airstrips, the tribesmen began clearing large swathes of jungle, hoping the gods would descend upon them with cargo as well. This went on right into the 1960s, when Diamond had his conversation.
Being a guilt-ridden academic far from home, Diamond could not respond as anyone else might: "It is probably our long tradition of scientific inquiry, beginning with the Greeks, that has led to our relative mastery of nature. Or maybe it was our centuries-long battle against magical thinking and superstition. Or perhaps it was the work of the great economists who struggled against popular and government opposition to free trade and commerce, arguing that exchange with other nations was the best route to prosperity — a perception that has not entirely triumphed even today." Had Diamond been familiar with the work of Ludwig Von Mises (fat chance!), he might have refereed Yali to Human Action, the 400-page classic that brilliantly recounts the accomplishments of human ingenuity in shaping the modern world. None of this was on Diamond's radar, however, and so he set about putting together his own crack-brained theory about how vertical and horizontal axes account for the whole thing. In doing so, he was at least able to relieve every college professor in America of the embarrassment of having to defend their own culture.
Diamond's experience with Yali, it should be noted, was not at all uncommon. Practically every anthropologist who ever lived with a native tribe has been impressed at one point or another with their intelligence on specific subjects. Napoleon Chagnon, the one I happen to be reading now, is a University of Michigan anthropologist who spent twenty years living among the Yanomamo, a collection of tribes that straddle the border of Venezuela and Brazil. When he met them in the 1960s, the Yanomamo were spending all their time making war on their neighbors. Chagnon called them "the fierce people," thereby earning the opprobrium of every anthropologist in America, all of whom like to believe that that primitive peoples live in perfect peace and harmony with nature until they are corrupted by Western influences. Even among these "fierce people," however, Chagnon was constantly impressed at how intelligent his subjects could be in remembering long genealogies or intricate details from events that occurred twenty or fifty years ago.
Before the invention of writing, whole national sagas such as The Iliad and The Song of Roland were committed to memory. There are still people all over the Muslim world who have memorized the entire Koran. Human intelligence is not in short supply. It is the tasks to which this intelligence is put to that vary from one society to another. What else can we call these applications but "culture"? In fact, that would be a good definition of culture: "The tasks to which human intelligence are put in any given society."
All this had no place in Diamond's world, however. Here is his interpretation of world history as summarized in the Kirkus Review:
The long and short of it, says Diamond, is biogeography. It just so happened that 13,000 years ago, with the ending of the last Ice Age, there was an area of the world better endowed with the flora and fauna that would lead to the take-off toward civilization: that valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers we now call the Fertile Crescent. There were found the wild stocks that became domesticated crops of wheat and barley.… Once agriculture is born and animals domesticated, a kind of positive feedback drives the growth toward civilization. People settle down; food surpluses can be stored so population grows. And with it comes a division of labor, the rise of an elite class, the codification of rules, and language. It happened, too, in China, and later in Mesoamerica. But the New World was not nearly as abundant in the good stuff. And like Africa, it is oriented North and South, resulting in different climates, which make the diffusion of agriculture and animals problematic.… [A] fair answer to Yali's question this surely is, and gratifyingly, it makes clear that race has nothing to do with who does or does not develop cargo.
Now do you notice anything peculiar about this argument? How about that sentence, "But the New World was not nearly as abundant in the good stuff. And like Africa, it is oriented North and South, resulting in different climates, which make the diffusion of agriculture and animals problematic."
This "New World" being discussed here includes the United States of America, a continent-wide territory on a horizontal axis 3,000 miles wide that is now occupied by 330 million people living at the highest standard of living the world has ever known. When it was discovered by Europeans 500 years ago, it was occupied by somewhere between four and 12 million descendants of Asian immigrants scratching out a living by hunting-and-gathering or early agriculture. Does that suggest that something more than "biogeography" might be involved in the fate of nations?
The problem these academics create for themselves is that they do not seem to be able to distinguish between "race" and "culture." The two have nothing to do with each other. A culture can be adapted by any race of people and because different populations have evolved different cultures does not mean they are biologically or racially determined.
I am currently writing a book tentatively titled "Terrorism and Polygamy," which argues that monogamy — a human construct entirely dependent on cultural norms — has been the key factor in the peaceful progress of societies that have adopted it while polygamy — a much more "natural" and biological determined arrangement — has nevertheless created unstable societies characterized by great inequities and constant conflict among men. (I'm having trouble finding a publisher because, as you might expect, most houses are wary about printing anything negative about Muslims.) Chagnon's Yanomamo were fierce polygamists and frankly told him the reason they made endless war on their neighbors was that "We like women." Polygamy allows for the unlimited accumulation of women and invites constant raids of neighboring tribes.
Now consider Diamond's thesis that it was the "free passage of technology from East to West" that accounts for the progress of Europe and China. If that's all it takes, then why haven't Islamic countries — which sit right in the middle of all this — progressed at nearly the same rate? Could it be that Islam's sanction of polygamy has created unstable societies? And by the way, it isn't only plants, animals, and ideas that can travel East-to-West. The Mongol Hordes used this horizontal axis to conquer the largest empire in history, invading Europe in the 13th century with a cavalry line that stretched one hundred miles wide. The Mongols too were also fierce polygamists and genetic studies show that 12 percent of the current population of Tibet are direct descendants of Genghis Kahn. So is it possible that cultural norms, and not just access to neighboring societies, might be a better determinant?
There are enough ludicrous aspects to Diamond's thesis to occupy an entire Ph.D. thesis. Another of his arguments is that scientific discovery, is simply a matter of probability. The chances of discovering Newton's Laws may be only 1 in 100 million, but once you're reached enough population density, as Europe did after the Renaissance, then someone is bound to discover them. But if that is true, then how come Medieval China and India, which were much more densely populated, never produced similar ideas?
The answer, once again, is "culture." From the Renaissance onward, Europe developed a culture in which independent scientific thought was able to challenge religious and political elites, while at the same time a culture of unregulated enterprise enabled ambitious entrepreneurs to put new discoveries into practice. India and China, on the other hand, were dominated by oppressive bureaucracies that suppressed innovation and hoarded new discoveries to themselves. As Eric Hoffer pointed out long ago, by the 13th century, both India and Europe had the water wheel. In India, it was used to drive prayer wheels so Brahmins could be relieved of the task of praying every day. In Europe, it was employed to power grinding mills and eventually factories.
What's important to note, then, is that Obama tells small business owners, "You didn't build that," it is not coming out of his own head. The President is faithfully reiterating the prevailing opinion in today's academia, which is that success in building anything from new businesses to civilizations has nothing to do with individual achievement but is just a matter of circumstance and outside forces. Isaac Newton really didn't formulate those Laws of Motion, it was only the result of population density. Galileo didn't really discover the moons of Jupiter — it was just a matter of knowledge passing from East to West.
Hopefully, the Era of Romney will be more than a period of economic revival. It will be an era when Americans are once again not embarrassed to take pride in their civilization.


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Memory Cards don't cease to evolve, and just like Compact Cards once ruled the market, that rank is currently occupied by SD Cards - and nothing like a nice speed bump to keep it that way: SD cards should become 3x faster by 2012.
Current SD cards have a maximum 104MB/s (theoretical) limit, with actual speeds being somewhat (or a lot) slower. With the new SD 4.0 specs, and the extra pins, SD cards should be able to handle up to 300MB/s data transfers.
Guess SD cards are here to stay for the next couple of years. :)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
SD Cards to be 3x Faster 2012
Posted by Carlos Martins at 1:26 PM
Labels: Memory Cards, SD
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Vitea – Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
This is always a must for breakfast when we make our way down to PV. Although they're open for lunch and dinner as well, I've only ever been for breakfast. I get the same thing every time…the chilaquiles with chicken. It's large and can easily be shared. I think about this dish a lot when I'm gone and always look forward to going back when I'm in town. The beans that are served with it are SO good…I could probably go for two servings of those:) I almost forgot to mention that with your breakfast you get a selection of sweet breads to munch on. My personal favorite is the sugar one…yum! You won't be sorry you went here. The food is outstanding, the service is great and the location gives you a great view of the ocean along with some great people watching. (Dogs are welcome outside!)


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Dan Buettner, the author of a book about the long-lived residents of the so-called "Blue Zones," recently organized a small dinner party in New York, which was chronicled by the New York Times under the headline "My Dinner With Longevity Expert Dan Buettner (No Kale Required)." The idea for the feast was to replicate in New York the kind of dinner which might be served in Ikaria, a Greek island close to Turkey which is one of the iconic places where unexpectedly high numbers of people live to be over 100 years old and simply "forget to die."
I have written about the "Ikaria" cookbook, written by Diane Kochilas, which contains wonderful recipes from the island, as well as lessons about the lives of people who live there.
Stew and red wine
So, what did Dan select to have for dinner? The centerpiece was certainly Ikarian stew, with black-eyed peas, fennel, onions, garlic, carrots, canned tomatoes, and more, to create a rich, flavor-filled mixture topped with plenty of extra virgin olive oil. There are several options for stews in the Ikaria cookbook. Such stews are a delicious staple on the island. Along with the stew there was a full-bodied red wine from Sardinia, another "Blue Zone" region.
It is interesting to note what was on Dan's shopping list and what was not. On the list were the many vegetables, plus herbs. Besides those mentioned there were chickpeas, broccoli, celery plus avocados. For dessert, there were frozen berries plus tofu and local honey. There was also sourdough bread – a typical item in "Blue Zones." A key item to start the day is Greek coffee. Not on the list were meat or butter, which, in Dan's opinion, are to be eaten or used sparingly.
No 'hedge clippings "on the menu
In the article, Dan emphasized that raw food is not a priority—in fact, quite the contrary, since the long-cooked stews and soups are traditional. Juicing is not recommended since eating the whole fruits or vegetables is much healthier and controls the glycemic index. Ikarians do not eat "hedge clippings," he said, referring to kale. They eat tasty vegetables and herbs.
But is the food the only reason Ikarians live a long and happy life? Regular walking over hilly terrain is a part of daily activities in Ikaria. Dan Buettner strongly advocates this type of regular walking and/or biking (he travels with a fold-up bike). Conversely, high-impact exercise and sports are viewed as potentially more damaging (to joints/soft tissues) or harmful.
The happy life part, however, is a key element. Spending time with the right mix of friends and family is very important. This natural or organic stress reduction has almost a magical effect. For New Yorkers and the rest of us, it is well-nigh impossible to avoid focusing on global catastrophes and everyday stressors. But we can get together with what Dan calls the "secret sauce"—the right mix of friends.
Medical value of friendship
There is a tendency to be dismissive of the "medical value" of intangibles such as laughter and friendship versus the current vogue of "precision medicine," which claims to shut down or eliminate the ails of humanity. Let's remember that there is a science which studies the physiology, biochemistry, and other aspects of stress—from the "flight" and "fight" studies by Hans Selye, who studied adrenaline and non-adrenaline (the "stress" hormones) to specific studies examining the effect of stress on tumor rejection. Looking at the impact of stress on cancer, one can appreciate that more focus on the social details of day-to-day life is valuable.
The people on Ikaria "forget to die" in part because they are focused on living their lives in a joyous way, which turns out to be for over 100 years!
So whether it is the diet or the joy or something else entirely, we will keep you posted with any new updates.
Dr. Durie sincerely appreciates and reads all comments left here. However, he cannot answer specific medical questions and encourages readers to contact the trained IMF InfoLine staff instead. Specific medical questions posted here will be forwarded to the IMF InfoLine. Questions sent to the InfoLine are answered with input from Dr. Durie and/or other scientific advisors and IMWG members as appropriate, but will not be posted here. To contact the IMF InfoLine, call 800-452-CURE, toll-free in the US and Canada, or send an email to [email protected]. InfoLine hours are 9 am to 4 pm PT. Thank you.


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House Impeaches Trump A 2nd Time, Citing Insurrection At U.S. Capitol
Updated at 5:20 p.m. ET
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach President Trump for "high crimes and misdemeanors" — specifically, for inciting an insurrection against the federal government at the U.S. Capitol.
Just one week before he will leave office, Trump has now become the first U.S. president to be impeached twice.
Wednesday's vote came a week after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a chaotic scene that left several people dead.
Ten Republicans broke party ranks to vote in favor of impeachment, including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who chairs the House Republican Conference.
"None of this would have happened without the President," Cheney said in a statement Tuesday explaining her vote. "The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution."
The House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump, with four GOP abstentions, after a few hours of debate evenly divided between the parties. Because of the tight schedule, many lawmakers were only allotted a minute, or less, in which to state their positions.
The Democratic-led House approved the new rebuke in the same chamber where one week ago members of Congress fled an oncoming tide of rioters who had been stoked by the president and his false claims that a bogus election process caused his defeat by President-elect Joe Biden.
Calling Jan. 6 "a day of fire that we all experienced," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it followed Trump's sustained attempts to spread untruths about the 2020 vote and to influence state election officials to overturn results.
Impeachment, Pelosi said, is "a constitutional remedy that will ensure that the republic will be safe from this man, who is so resolutely determined to tear down the things that we hold dear, and that hold us together."
Many Republicans who voted against the measure criticized the impeachment process as rushed and counterproductive. But impeachment supporters said Trump's attempt to derail Congress from certifying the election results spurred an act of domestic terrorism, making the president unfit for office.
In his remarks, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sought to strike a balance — between blaming Trump for his role in fanning the protest's devolution into a riot, and speaking out against impeachment.
"The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters," McCarthy said. "He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding."
But McCarthy, who himself objected to certifying the Electoral College results, said that instead of impeaching Trump, Congress should form a fact-finding commission and consider a formal censure of the president.
As lawmakers debated impeachment, the White House issued a statement in which Trump called for calm. He did not refer to the House proceeding, but to new pro-Trump demonstrations that are planned to take place in the coming week.
"In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind," Trump said. "That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You."
The Democratic-led House impeached Trump the first time in December 2019 for his role in the Ukraine affair. On Tuesday, the president called the move to impeach him again "ridiculous."
If the Senate votes to convict Trump — an outcome that is far from certain — he likely would be barred from holding any federal office again. An impeachment trial will not begin before Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office said Wednesday that the chamber, which Republicans currently hold, will not convene again until the transfer of power is complete.
The article of impeachment, set forth in House Resolution 24, states:
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Easy slow cooker brisket recipe! Slow Cooker Texas Beef Brisket is a crock pot beef brisket recipe that makes juicy beef that's perfect for sandwiches.
For some reason, a new baby and a move seem to always happen about the same time for our family.
We've moved within two months of the time that I've had three out of my four kids. This week we added a new baby to the family and moved into a short-term rental while we're in between our house closing and finding a new house.
With everything that's been going on, I've really relied on my slow cooker for easy meals.
This Slow Cooker Texas Beef Brisket recipe is really easy, and it makes tender beef that's perfect in sandwiches.
How to make slow cooker brisket
Since it's Texas-style, this slow cooker brisket has plenty of flavor. The chile powder just gives the beef flavor but doesn't make it spicy. Feel free to increase the amount if you're looking for more kick.
Also, if you'd like to keep it Texas-style, look for a tomato-based barbecue sauce that's a little spicy and a little sweet.
More crock pot beef recipes!
If you've tried this slow cooker Texas beef brisket recipe, don't forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who've made my recipes! You can SUBSCRIBE to receive my latest recipe newsletters or FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for even more delicious food.
Slow Cooker Texas Beef Brisket
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons chili powder I like to use ancho chile powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon onion salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 4 pounds beef brisket
- ½ cup beef broth
- 2 cups barbecue sauce
- In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, bay leaves, garlic, onion salt, pepper and liquid smoke.
- Add brisket to bag.
- Seal bag, and refrigerate overnight.
- Transfer beef to a slow cooker. I use a 5 quart.
- Add broth.
- Cover, and cook on low for 8 hours, or until tender.
- Remove brisket from the slow cooker.
- Discard bay leaves.
- Stir together 1 cup beef juices from slow cooker and barbecue sauce.
- Discard remaining juices.
- Return brisket to the slow cooker, and pour sauce mixture over the top.
- Cover, and cook on high for 30 minutes.
- Thinly slice beef across the grain. I like to serve the meat on buns and top with the meat with a little bit of extra sauce.
Adapted from Taste of Home.


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Dear Monument Australia visitors, we are a self-funded, non-profit organisation, dedicated to recording monuments throughout Australia. Over time the costs of maintaining this website have risen substantially (in fact they are probably larger than those of many companies who exist for profit). In the past we have borne all the costs associated with maintaining the website but we are now having difficulties in paying the monthly expenses.
If Monument Australia is useful to you, please make a donation to keep this historical and educational resource available. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Home » Themes » Landscape » Settlement
Bicentennial GardensPrint Page
The plaque recognises that the five year project was made possible by funding from various national, state and local Bicentennial authorities, as well as the "extraordinary honorary and voluntary efforts and fundraising by the Bombala community".
The opening itself was no small affair, with a special feature being the "world inaugural" performance of the Bombala symphonic composition, 'High Country'. This was conducted by the composer Ralph Hultgren and performed by the Bombala CAP Community Band, which was in fact what made it such an important first. No other school and community group in Australia had ever had a symphonic piece commissioned for them as 'High Country' had been for the local band by the Bombala Bicentennial Committee.
The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. The Australian Bicentennial Authority (ABA) pursuant to the Australian Bicentennial Authority Act 1980,was set up to plan, fund and coordinate projects that emphasized the nation's cultural heritage.
|Mahratta Street, Bombala, 2632
|GPS Coordinates:
|Lat: -36.909424
Long: 149.237292
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
|Monument Type:
|Monument Theme:
|Approx. Event Start Date:
|Approx. Event End Date:
|Actual Monument Dedication Date:
|Sunday 6th November, 1988
This plaque commemorates the Bicentenary of Australia in the Bombala Shire by the planting and construction of these Bombala River Bicentennial Botanical Gardens, walkway and stepping stones erected in conjunction by the Bombala Shire Bicentennial Community Committee, the Bombala Shire Council, the Service Clubs and the Bombala Community.
This five year project was made possible by funding from the Australian Bicentennial Authority, the New South Wales Bicentennial Council, the Bombala Shire Council and the extraordinary honorary and voluntary efforts and fundraising by the Bombala Community.
Officially opened by Russell H.L.Smith, M.L.A.
on Sunday, 6th November, 1988.
Stuart Hood, Shire President
Robert de Fegerty, Project Director
Margules and Assoc., Architects
Tony Garnock, Chairman
Barry Wildman, Hon. Secretary
Stewart Lee, Hon. Treasurer


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Ticket #14051 (closed defect: fixed)
Fail to start VM after windows update
|Reported by:
|Owned by:
|host support
|VirtualBox 4.3.26
|start VM windows update
|Guest type:
|Host type:
On Windows 8 x64, after the Windows Update KB3045999 (04/15/2015), VM fails to start with error message : NtCreateFile(\Device\VBoxDrvStub).
Removing this update resolves the problem.
Change History
comment:2 Changed 8 years ago by frank
Please could you try the latest Windows test build? It contains a fix which should allow you to install KB3045999 (which is highly recommended by Microsoft as it contains important security fixes). Thank you!
comment:3 Changed 8 years ago by jinahya
I tested with VirtualBox-4.3.27-100091-Win. And it seems work. One concern. The installation noted that some dll should be closed for installing, so I closed chrome.
comment:4 Changed 8 years ago by frank
Thanks for the feedback. The fix will be part of the upcoming 4.3.28 release.
Note: See TracTickets for help on using tickets.


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Heather Richards | Casper Star Tribune | Nov 18, 2018 | trib.com
ROLLING HILLS – The glare of the sunlight burned gold in Jason Martin's irises as he scanned the miles of undulating land from his perch 35 feet above the Powder River Basin. Long shadows crossed the grassland and sage below him in rhythmic cycles as the turbine blades caught the morning wind, churning power into PacifiCorp's electricity grid. An annoying whistling sound found its way through a window and into the small office bound by four walls of glass.
It'd been a quiet morning so far for Martin, a 36-year-old biologist from Casper. In some offices, that would mean the phone didn't ring or the emails didn't pile in with an irritating ripple of alerts. But out here, in a steel tower similar to those forest rangers once used to scan for fire in the mountains of Wyoming, "quiet" meant the eagles weren't flying.
Martin is an eagle watcher, a technician for West. Inc., which contracts with Wyoming's largest utility company, Rocky Mountain Power, to keep watch for the giant birds of prey. His job is to sit alone in a tower for seven hours a day with binoculars in hand waiting for golden eagles, and the occasional bald eagle, to show up as a spot in the sky. When he spots them, Martin's job is to shut down the turbines in their way.
Wind turbines are a common sight in eastern Wyoming, though perhaps not as emblematic as trucks hauling rig equipment to and from oil wells or train cars topped neatly with Powder River Basin coal, sedately following the tracks from Cheyenne to the Montana border. Wind jobs aren't counted during busts and are watched with trepidation during booms, and wind production taxes don't make or break counties the way coal does for Campbell or gas does for Sweetwater. But there are thousands of wind jobs, from the people who scale the towers to check a finicky motor to the bird watchers.
There are large wind farms along a windy belt that starts in the mixed grasslands of eastern Wyoming and shifts down south into the sage brush steppe around Rawlins. And there are more to come.
PacifiCorp is hurriedly working its way through a repower project that will take down its current fleet of wind blades and replace them with ones that are 20 feet longer. The change will increase the capacity of each of the turbines north of Rolling Hills from 1.5 gigawatts to 1.8 gigawatts.
The same repower, new blades and new nacelles, will take place across the company's wind fleet in Wyoming. Rocky Mountain Power and its parent company PacifiCorp are also building three new wind farms farther south in Wyoming, while private developers are focused on their own large wind farms – from a 1,000-turbine farm south of Rawlins being developed by a subsidiary of oil and gas firm Anschutz to a potential 800-turbine project proposed outside of Medicine Bow by Viridis Eolia, a Venezuelan energy firm.
If the projects currently in late-stage development come to life, Wyoming will have doubled its installed wind capacity. Though still falling short of the wind footprint of states like Texas, which currently has 12,793 turbines compared to Wyoming's 1,005, the Cowboy State holds an incredible energy resource in its gales. The joke about the wind sock that's always horizontal in Wyoming is also evidence of a resource that many developers want to tap.
Wyoming hasn't figured out what it wants from its invisible resource.
Endow (Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming), an economic diversity push by Gov. Matt Mead, tucks ideas like wind manufacturing into a host of other plans to broaden the economy of fossil fuel dependent Wyoming. The industry doesn't offer as much in terms of revenue or jobs as fossil fuel industries like coal and oil that fund Wyoming, and wind energy's presence on the horizon troubles some people. It's ugly to many who remember a time when the horizon north of Glenrock was broken by nothing but cloud cover, the landscape peppered with the more familiar sights of Wyoming industry: pump jacks and oil rigs.
A recent study from the University of Wyoming study found that the majority of people are certain that wind can bring much-needed money and much-needed jobs to the state, but the boon doesn't detract from the blight. A majority of the people polled said they were comfortable with more wind energy and more oil and gas development. But for as many people who said wind was good for Wyoming economically, just as many said it was concerning for other reasons.
For some, it's the view; for others, the sense that wind doesn't put enough into state and local coffers. And for others, it's wildlife and habitat changes.
For some, the problem with wind is that it kills birds.
Martin clutched the binoculars to his ribcage. He's thin, gentle, of medium height, with a baseball cap pulled over his dark hair.
The only movement visible from his perch was a fat buck making its way north to south. In the course of an hour, the mule deer skirted the east edge of the tower down into a gulch where his path was first turned west and then north again by a fence line.
The PacifiCorp wind farm is actually three wind farms: Glenrock, Rolling Hills and Glenrock III. They are built on a former coal mine. The contours of hills and rivulets of dirt, grass and sage are repatriated habitat fashioned over 30 years since the closing of the Dave Johnston Coal Mine. The land is also part of the growing oil activity in the Powder River Basin. There are both new and old wells pumping out oil across the wind farm.
This farm is representative of the state for Luke Martinson, senior manager for West Inc. and a native Wyomingite.
It's an example of how to curtail impacts to the land in one place, he said, like running power lines or pipes along roads to keep disturbance limited and overlapping.
"It's the quintessential Wyoming piece of land," he said. "You got coal to start out with, wind energy, oil and gas, (livestock) activities still going on. If you're trying to localize impacts, this area has done that."
The slow days are harder. The lull is broken only by the shiver of wind wrapping around the tower and through the metal grated stairs. That lull threatens the constant surveillance for which the biologists are there. Most listen to podcasts or music and try to stay cool in the hotbox created by the glass windows. They drink coffee. They scan the sky. They lift the binoculars to their eyes and lower them again.
On a slow day, none of the turbines will be stilled and no eagles will show up. On other days, watchers could spot 40. It varies from season to season, day to day.
"It's a costly endeavor for Pacificorp, to take a turbine that's running at full power and turn it off, let alone eight of them in a line," said Jonathan Gross, PacifiCorp's senior environment and safety analyst for wind operations.
West shuffles the workload for its technicians so that they aren't in the tower for days on end. The base of each of the 158 turbines on the wind farm is examined for bird carcasses once a month. The West employees set up decoys, all part of the larger focus to direct raptors and eagles away from danger. And they compile data, like all scientists.
Biologists like to be alone, joked Gross. The 39-year-old biologist first worked for PacifiCorp at the Jim Bridger coal mines, repelling down a high wall to move a raptor nest and working on reclamation. Now he yearns for opportunities to get back out in the field and do what the techs for West do – observe wildlife.
"The actual field work, that's why we get involved in this work," Gross said. "You want to get outside, kind of be on your own. Now you got to make an excuse to get out to the bird towers."
There's plenty to observe from the tower. The wind site is home to bobcats and antelope, raptors and rabbits. Rebecca Zook, another West technician, once saw a golden eagle take out a young antelope, digging its talons into the spine to sever the nerves and paralyze it as the beast struggled through deep snow. The birds of prey can grow to be massive, with a 6-foot wing span.
No one has seen an eagle hit by turbine blade.
West was founded by an ecologist and a statistician with a focus on a "new wave of science." Headquartered in Cheyenne, it works on wind projects across the state.
The science around wind and raptors is developing. New ideas like radar and sound bursts or even robots may be able to do what Martin and his coworkers do now – keep the birds from hitting the blades and towers.
It's exciting science, Martinson said, based on loads of observation but also models and math. And it's a change from the old school interaction of science with nature. Radar and sound waves serve the same purpose but with a different style than a well-educated animal or wildlife expert watching for birds or collecting carcasses.
But that's the nature of science and study, Martinson said, to push the envelope. He wants to be a part of that.
"You don't want to be sitting there while everything else is moving forward," he said.
For wind energy, the watchers are the best remedy available, and they are actually cutting edge, he said.
PacifiCorp's work to avoid killing eagles wasn't widely practiced just a few years ago. When West transitioned into its observance work at the three wind farms after construction in 2009, it used a couple of scientists in trucks posted across the 17-mile long wind site. If the technicians spotted what looked to be an eagle, they'd radio in to the operations and maintenance buildings where PacifiCorp had another employee waiting to turn off the turbines.
But over the years, the biologists' vigils brought information and answered key questions. When were the eagles active and where? Sunrise-to-sunset shifts were dispensed with in favor of a daily seven-hour watch during the migratory season. The trucks were left behind and the two towers built, one to the north end of the wind site and one in the south central area.
The south tower is where Martin kept vigil on a windy morning in mid-November.
The skies were clear from the watchtower at 11 a.m. all the way to the bump of dark green and brown on the southern horizon that marks the beginning of the Laramie Mountain Range. Cranes brought in as part of PacifiCorp's repower work sat immobile across the northern hills, like children's toys left behind in the yard. The turbines scooped through the air with their steady rhythm.
A dark brown shape flitted across the blue sky in the east, gliding across invisible currents, headed directly across the narrow width of the wind farm.
The bird was flying high but not above the 263-foot towers of steel.
From the watchtower, Martin sent a signal to turn the blades in the apparent eagle's path, like shifting a sail away from the wind. Seven of the fiberglass and balsam wood blades lost momentum.
A minute passed before the blades' orbit failed to make a full circle. The bird kept coming. Martin directed the next seven blades to turn out of the wind, staying ahead of the eagle's path. He targeted a third zone of four turbines to shift before the first seven towers were fully quiet.
The bird cut through the path of stillness and passed out of eyesight into the dark background of the mountain.
Martin would wait 15 minutes, watching for the bird's return, before he'd decide whether it was safe to capture the wind again.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/11/19/perched-among-the-turbines-west-inc-technicians-keep-an-eye-out-for-eagles/
Click here to print.


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Ocean View Inn
LodgingWedding Locations
Open all year round. Check-ins: 3pm - 10pm. Walk-ins always welcomed.
Driving Directions:
Located between Half Moon Bay (Hwy 92/Cabrillo Hwy) and Pacifica. From northbound: once you have passed tunnels, it's a 3 mile drive. Southbound from Half Moon Bay is an 8 mile drive.
About Us
Historical Victorian Style Mansion with spacious suite size rooms with ocean views, garden and spacious sundecks. Located in the quaint coastal community of Montara by the sea. Less than 1/2 hour to SFO, downtown San Francisco and a few minute drive to historical downtown Half Moon Bay. The perfect inn to get away from the hustle & bustle of the city noise. Slumber to the sounds of the waves with big picture windows to open to let the sea breeze in. Sundecks to slumber in the sun while watching the ocean or peaceful gardens to read. All suites have personal deep bath/shower combination. Daily housekeeping service. Your stay includes a healthy continental breakfast at our onsite restaurant ~ Montara Cafe & Bakery. Perfect for special occasions gatherings or small business meetings. For small intimate weddings, anniversaries or renewal of vows, the garden will accommodate up to 40 guests very comfortably. Catering and room service available.
From a beautiful stain glass garden room to our spectacular penthouse's. Ocean View Inn is your home away from home. Each suite has a seating area, dining table, plenty of closet space with in room refrigerators, coffee makers and full channel cable lineup. A luxurious short walk to beaches, restaurants, gallery, hiking trails and surfing. Premiere inn to the new hiking trails by the tunnels. All surfers, bicyclists, hikers and beach lovers welcomed. Come experience the quiet & peacefulness of Ocean View Inn.
- Suite size rooms & Penthouse's
- All the splendor of home with luxurious amenities


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(CNSNews.com) – Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski defended his agency's role in regulating broadband Internet, saying that the FCC needed to act like a "cop on the beat."
"We need to protect and promote competition," Genachowski said at a speech to media firm Vox Communications in Washington on Tuesday. "We know from decades of experience that when it comes to competition in the communications sector, the FCC needs to be a cop on the beat."
Genachowski said that part of this "cop on the beat" approach meant putting rules in place that "prevent anti-competitive practices."
"Protecting competition sometimes means putting rules in place to prevent anti-competitive practices – rules we adopted last year by majority vote to ensure broadband data roaming is one example," he said.
Genachowski also cited controversial net neutrality rules as one way the FCC prevents anti-competitive behavior.
"Sometimes government has to act to preserve platforms for innovation – that's what the open internet/net neutrality debate was all about – doing it in a smart, market-oriented way that recognizes the realities of the marketplace, the fact that we really want an open platform for innovators and we also really want robust, fast networks that require capital investment.
"It drives you to policy solutions that recognize the importance of both."
Genachowski said he was "proud" that his net neutrality regulations have contributed to what he called a "virtuous cycle" of demand and innovation.
Adopted in 2010, the FCC's rules on preserving what it called an open Internet prevented Internet service providers such as Verizon or Comcast from controlling the bandwidth available to websites using their networks.
Proponents such as Genachowski argue that the rules are necessary to prevent providers – local telephone or cable companies – from discriminating against websites by limiting how much bandwidth a site could use or by pricing some websites out of the market by charging for extra bandwidth.
If Internet providers were not prevented from limiting bandwidth on their networks, innovation and entrepreneurship might be harmed because it wouldn't be possible to start companies that rely on high-bandwidth technology such as high-definition video or large-volume social sharing.
In effect, Internet providers would have a monopoly-like effect on web-based companies – controlling who can succeed and who cannot.
Critics argue that the rules are a solution in search of a problem, saying that the FCC is needlessly intruding on the rights of service providers – who own broadband Internet networks – by limiting their ability to control the networks they built in the name of a problem that isn't happening.
Critics point to the lack of disputes between companies and Internet providers, noting that no provider has ever shut an Internet-based company out of the market or deliberately limited bandwidth. Critics also point out that the only case in which a bandwidth dispute has arisen – between Verizon and a music-sharing website – the two companies came to an agreement without the need of government involvement.
Further, the policy is criticized on constitutional grounds on the argument that in telling Internet providers that they cannot limit access to their networks, the FCC is essentially compelling speech – forcing providers to allow content they may find objectionable across their networks.


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Transcontinuity Studios
4710 West Magnolia Blvd.
91505 Burbank CA
Phone: 818-980-8852 Fax:818-980-8974
Adams is certainly not a fine artist" perhaps not even an artist, whatever
that is." "Neal Adams is a commercial artist, a cartoonist, and
course a comic book
artist. "Continues
Adams." I hope in the end I am a skilled drawing artist
who can basically do anything that I am asked to do...or
want to
A childhood
comic-book reader who, after developing his talents, was rejected
in 1959 by DC Comics.
He was told, "The industry is closed. There is no room for anyone new."
frustration, Adams did Archie comics (which he is very proud
of), penciling and background work on the Bat Masterson strip,
by Howard Nostrand, then took on advertising, storyboard, and
comic-strip jobs through Johnstone and Cushing.
by illustrators Bob Peak, Bernie Fuchs and Al Parker, he developed
a top level illustration portfolio.
The portfolio was appreciated so much, it was stolen!
He was offered the Ben Casey newspaper strip which he voluntarily ended after
31/2 years of sizable success. The theft of his illustration portfolio lead him
to visit Archie Goodwin at Jim Warren's Creepy and Eerie magazines.
brought a wide variety of illustration techniques to his work
for the Warren magazines.
He then decided to try D.C. Comics for a second time. Inspired by Joe Kubert,
Russ Heath and Mort Drucker, he was originally drawn to DC's war books.
a freelancer, Adams made himself welcome enough to work in
house. The new kid quickly become the whiz kid. In 1968, Adams
was illustrating the Sector and followed Carmine Infantino
on Deadman in Strange Adventures, which brought him to the
attention of the entire industry. In an effort to breakdown
oppressive, unspoken "rules" in the comic book business, Neal
openly approached Marvel. Stan Lee received DC's young superstar
with open arms.
ensuing X-Men equaled Marvel's premier talents - Kirby and
Steranko - and saved the titlE from immediate cancellation.
Adams has consistently worked in favor of creator's rights
in the comics industry and was instrumental in winning much
needed royalties for Superman creators, Jerry Seigel and Joe
Schuster. As DC's top cover artist, Neal proved his ability
to portray Superman and Batman, he soon moved on to Batman
stories. Adams successfully updated the property from the campy
'60s TV-show persona to his revolutionary, modern version of
the original dark avenger concept.
Batman work serves as a prototype and inspiration for every
illustrator of the character to this day. The caliber of this
work with writer Dennis O'Neil (who also worked with Neal on
the award winning Green Lantern - Green Arrow series) is born
out as O'Neil remains editor over the entire Batman line to
date. Adams topflight work for the two mega publishers continued
through the mid-70s when he felt it the time for expansion.
Cutting edge advertising animatic work, Tarzan book covers,
theatrical costume and stage design, amusement park ride design,
and magazine work, including National Lampoon, was part of
the expansion that led to the opening of Continuity studios.
has developed various properties, of it's own and others including
Bucky O'Hare, Skeleton Warriors, CyberRad, Ms. Mystic, Nighthawk,
etc. for TV and comics. Continuity may be the top storyboard
studio in the world!


text: RIYADH: Saudi regulators on Sunday approved state energy giant Aramco's request to make its stock market debut, firing the starting gun on the highly anticipated offering which could be the world's largest. The announcement paves the way for a domestic stock listing of Aramco, with share trading expected to begin in December, while its plans to launch on an international bourse remain unclear. The listing of the world's most profitable company forms the linchpin of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious plans to overhaul the oil-reliant economy, with tens of billions of dollars needed to fund megaprojects and new industries. The Capital Markets Authority "has issued its resolution approving the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco)… application for the registration and offering of part of its shares," the regulator said in a statement. Sources close to the initial public offering (IPO) have told AFP that Aramco is expected to sell a total of five percent on two exchanges, with the first listing of two percent on the Tadawul Saudi bourse in December. That would be followed next year by a three percent listing on an overseas exchange, which has yet to be picked, they said in recent days. First suggested by Prince Mohammed in 2016, the IPO was delayed several times reportedly due to his dissatisfaction with the valuation of the firm, which fell short of the hopedfor $2 trillion. Aramco was expected to launch the first part of a two-stage IPO in October. Last week, Energy Intelligence cited sources as saying they expect the Saudis to settle on a valuation of $1.6 trillion to $1.7 trillion for the firm. If confirmed, that would imply the kingdom is ready to accept a compromise of less than the $2 trillion that the crown prince has long insisted the state oil giant is worth. It remains to be seen whether Saudi authorities are able to find "a compromise between the crown prince's stated preference and market realities in their valuation of Aramco," said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute in the United States. "As the process has been delayed repeatedly and built up as such an integral component of the crown prince's plan to transform Saudi Arabia, international investors will pay very close attention to how Aramco performs on the domestic exchange," Ulrichsen told AFP. Aramco, which pumps around 10 percent of the world's oil, is the most profitable company globally and is seen as the kingdom's crown jewel and the backbone of its economic and social stability. Saudi Arabia has boosted efforts to woo investors to the long-awaited stock market debut by announcing an annual dividend of $75 billion, according to the company's website. Riyadh is also reportedly seeking to get wealthy Saudi families to buy a stake in the company while some Saudi commentators have sought to promote investment in the stock as a patriotic duty. However, Aramco executives have encountered scepticism among institutional investors in London and New York on questions about the firm's transparency, governance practices and targeted valuation, sources have told AFP. "An important function of the domestic IPO is to project confidence in the company towards the international market, but doing it domestically encounters no meaningful obstacle, comparable to doing an international listing," said Cinzia Bianco, Gulf research fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "It allows Prince Mohammed to show he keeps his promises and gets things done, another step to reassure international investors that the IPO will happen after all," Bianco said.


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Lorient manager Christian Gourcuff will not be extending his contract with the Ligue 1 outfit for the 2014-2015 season according to French press.
An exclusive from local media outlet Le Télégramme revealed the news late tonight.
Christian Gourcuff will have spent the best part of 11 seasons at Lorient and despite meetings between the father of Lyon's Yoann Gourcuff and Lorient representatives to try and come to an agreement this month, L'Equipe understands that these talks were unsuccessful.
The relationship between Christian Gourcuff and Lorient President Loic Fery appeared to take a turn for the worse this August when the manager made his serious unhappiness at the sale of Mario Lemina evident to the press, undermining his boss' authority in the process.
Although we await official confirmation from the Ligue 1 club itself, this announcement gives Loic Fery and his team ample time to find an adequate, long-term replacement.


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If your order has been dispatched, Royal Mail delivery will normally take between 1-3 days to arrive, however, there may sometimes be delays of up to 15 working days. We cannot follow up or claim for lost packages until a total of 15 working days from the date of dispatch has passed.
Royal Mail Special Delivery
Goods will arrive the next business day after they are dispatched. If you order on a Friday and select next day delivery, you will indeed receive your goods on the Saturday (although please be aware that due to the 95% reliability of the postal services, we cannot absolutely guarantee that the goods will arrive).
If you wish to receive a Saturday delivery, please do not select City Link 'Next Day By 5pm' service as this does not include Saturday deliveries. You must choose next day by 1pm or 9am Royal Mail delivery.
International Mail
Standard or Registered International Mail Orders will normally take between 5-14 working days; however, on some occasions they can take up to 21 working days from the date of dispatch. This is due to the delivery process; packages are passed onto multiple delivery services. In rare cases, packages have taken up to a month or two to arrive. You should normally receive your order within 1-3 weeks.
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In my last post I outlined the different ways I had of preserving a bucketful of feral pears I was lucky enough to find. Now, with a good supply of dried fruit and peel and some scrap vinegar, I was tempted to enjoy some fresh pears in an original recipe, one that suited the season and the cool weather. This fruit and nut stuffing is also ideal for those festive dinners where some choose not to eat meat, but is rich enough to appeal to vegetarians and omnivores alike.
To begin with I peeled, cored and chopped the pears and then roasted them in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until they are a caramel brown and have some crisp edges. Then I chopped them some more.
For the bread I used a home-made sour dough corn bread, but any firm day old bread will work. For the nuts I used pecans, and the dried mushrooms I used porcini, but these can be varied according to what you have on hand or what you prefer.
Roasted Pear and Nut Stuffing
8 cups of cubed bread
1 cup toasted nuts
15 oz dried mushrooms, soaked in 2 cups hot water
1/2 cup oil
one large onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 Tbsp fresh sage
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped, roasted pears
Trim the crusts off the bread, cut in cubes and set aside. (The crusts can be ground into bread crumbs and saved for another recipe.)
Toast the nuts in a frying pan briefly until they begin to change colour. This will only take a couple of minutes, so be careful not to scorch them. Chop and set aside.
Pour the boiling water over the dried mushrooms and set aside to cool.
Chop the onion and fry in the oil in a heavy skillet. Once translucent, add the garlic, parsley, sage and salt and pepper. Continue frying for another fi
Drain the mushrooms, saving the liquid, chop them and add to the mixture. Remove from the heat.
Add the nuts, pears and the onion mixture to the bred cubes and combine well. Add the mushroom water and stir again.
Pour into a lightly greased casserole dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, until it is cooked through.


text: The Montecello swivel rocker chair blends casual beachside living and contemporary style. All-weather handwoven wicker over a fully-welded rustproof aluminum frame is rendered in driftwood-inspired shades of gray, tan and brown. Each durable fabric covered cushion, in a mist color, is mold, mildew and fade resistant. Swivel and rocking capabilities offer additional ways to take relaxation to the next level.


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current time:
Sandra left her house at 7:30 am everyday. This was earlier than it needed to be. She could have left at 7:50 and still be on time for work if she wanted to. But she left early because she liked to walk through the park on the way to work. Sometimes she took a photograph in the park of the beautiful morning. If the photograph was good, she left a copy of it on her husband's place at the table at dinner time so he could enjoy it too. Dinner was at 6 and she left work at 5:10 almost everyday. Then she could be home with enough time to relax for a few minutes before her husband got home.


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UN Inspectors Setting Off Again To Find Iraqi Arms
THE arrival in Baghdad tomorrow of a new 26-member United Nations weapons-inspection team provides a fresh test of whether or not Iraq and the UN are moving toward a cooperative relationship.
The visit is meant to be routine. It is the 42nd such inspection for weapons of mass destruction since the April 1991 cease-fire. Yet it is the first inspection since a UN team was allowed to enter the Agriculture Ministry in Baghdad last month after a three-week standoff during which the United States threatened air strikes.
The level of tension is decidedly lower this time around. Still, there is deep skepticism that Iraq is ready to cooperate.
Iraq still lays claim to Kuwait. Though its Army is only about 40 percent of its prewar strength, Iraq insists that the "Mother of All Wars" continues. Baghdad's defiance of UN efforts, from settling the border of Kuwait to renewing a UN humanitarian aid agreement, has been broad and vigorous.
The US, which took the lead in forming the military coalition that forced Iraqi troops out of Kuwait early last year, has sped up its dispatch of up to 5,000 US troops to Kuwait for joint training exercises. The Bush administration, which is also sending new Patriot anti-missile missiles to Kuwait and Bahrain, wants the UN to accelerate inspections to test Iraqi compliance.
The UN Security Council has been preoccupied in recent days with the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. But Rolf Ekeus, the Swede who heads the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) to oversee elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, said this week he hoped the Security Council would react more swiftly and "explain itself more clearly" in any future standoff.
Iraq pushed hard for a "neutral" UN inspection team, one free of members from coalition countries. The UN experts that finally entered the ministry included no coalition nationals. Mr. Ekeus insists the selection was not negotiable and that he alone decided on it as a way to "help Iraq out of the impasse."
Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, was told that all experts representing the UN are chosen primarily for their expertise, often strongest in arms-producing countries, Ekeus says. The new inspection team is led by a Russian and includes American, British, French, German, and Australian members.
N weapons experts concede that they will never know if all of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been found and say their job is not about to end soon. More than 350 locations in Iraq have been inspected. And much weaponry has been destroyed. But UNSCOM must verify Iraq's long-term compliance by aerial and ground inspections and Iraqi data.
UNSCOM spokeswoman Agnes Marcaillou calls the process "disarmament by imposition" rather than by agreement. Iraq has not yet complied with long-term monitoring or provided the UN with the names of suppliers to its weapons program, she says.
Iraq's continued repression of its Kurdish and other minority groups, also a violation of UN cease-fire terms, could test the UN's patience as much or more than any continued challenge of UN weapons inspections. Last week Max van der Stoel, an investigator for the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, issued a report appealing to Iraq to stop repressing Shiite Muslims in the south and urging the UN to send teams to report abuses.
If it comes to military action against Iraq, the US is expected to take the lead. While some State Department officials say the US would not move unilaterally, the official US stance is that no further UN Security Council authorization to intervene is necessary. Getting China and other nonaligned Council members aboard such an effort could be difficult. Some analysts, however, say the US should at least consult the Council before acting.
"It's very important for the Security Council to bite the bullet on this issue of enforcement," says David Scheffer, an international lawyer with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "If collective security is going to work, the Security Council has to ... make it work."