text:
Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay
Both beryl (Be3Al2Si6O18) and cordierite (Al3(Mg,Fe)2Si5AlO18) have six-membered rings of tetrahedra with ideal formulas Si6O18, and used to be classified as cyclosilicates. However, more recent classifications sometimes treat them as tectosilicates.
The reason is that silicate minerals often contain other tetrahedra with ions like Be and Al. It is particularly common for Al to substitute for Si. In some silicates the other ions are ordered and occur in only specific sites, but in others the ions are mixed randomly. In such a case, it makes sense to consider all tetrahedra in describing the structure. In the case of beryl and cordierite, the tetrahedral rings are cross-linked by additional tetrahedra.
The case for calling beryl a cyclosilicate is a bit stronger than cordierite, since the Be and Si tetrahedra are distinct. The picture below shows a single unit cell of beryl. The yellow Si tetrahedra are in the upper layer, the green ones in the lower layer. The outer points of the tetrahedra are actually edges viewed along their length. The purple tetrahedra contain Be and are viewed down their four-fold inversion axes. They connect the bottom corners of the tetrahedra in the upper ring with the top corners of the tetrahedra in the lower ring. The solitary blue atoms are Al, in 6-fold coordination with the adjacent tetrahedral oxygens.
In the drawing below, we see the rings from the side, showing how they are connected by the solitary tetrahedra.
Below is a drawing of the complete lattice, showing also the octahedral coordination of Al in blue. These are somewhat idealized drawings since the real structures have slightly tilted and rotated polyhedra.
In the case of cordierite, the purple tetrahedra contain Al, but so do some of the ring tetrahedra. Trying to distinguish between the tetrahedra becomes pretty artificial, so small wonder many mineralogists regard it as a tectosilicate. At high temperatures cordierite is hexagonal, implying that the ordering of Al and Si in the rings must be completely random, but on cooling it distorts to orthorhombic, pseudohexagonal symmetry, probably because the Al settle into an ordered arrangement. The Mg and iron are in the octahedra. The unit cell dimensions,1.71 by 0.97 nanometers, are in the ratio 1.76, very close to the square root of three. Thus a unit cell split diagonally is very close to a 30-60 right triangle.
Created 19 December 2001, Last Update


text: The Corrections Committee meets on Zoom on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 6:30 PM to 7:30 at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9807467087 There is always a need for both male and female volunteers to take the message of recovery into prisons. If you are an AA member who would like to volunteer to do work with our Corrections Committee, please fill out the online form here. The Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was in its seventh year when a pioneering warden at San Quentin asked nearby AA's to carry the message to alcoholics in the prison. The year was 1942—the warden was Clinton Duffy. He was heard to say, "If the AA program will help just one man, I want to start it." Today there are hundreds of AA groups behind the walls, as well as corrections committees serving them. In 1977, the General Service Conference recommended that the Institutions Committee be dissolved and two new committees—one dealing with Corrections, and one with Treatment Facilities—be formed. The 1983 General Service Conference recommended that a Corrections Workbook be developed for carrying the AA message into correctional facilities. Why AA's Carry the Message Behind the Walls Many AA members are unaware of the important work being carried out by corrections committees. To those involved however, corrections work is an opportunity to carry the A.A. message to the confined alcoholic who wants to live sober, one day at a time. Through a corrections committee working with corrections personnel, alcoholics are reached who might never otherwise find the A.A. program. An active corrections committee is a vital link to prisons and jails, providing professionals and other workers in correctional facilities with information about AA, literature, and guidelines for setting up AA groups on the inside. AA Volunteers in Correctional Facilities AA members wishing to carry our message to alcoholics behind the walls of correctional facilities should understand that we always do so within the regulations of such institutions. AA members are usually treated no differently than other volunteers and, therefore, they are usually subject to the same regulations. Since regulations can and do vary, AA members will need to be informed about the specific rules and regulations for each facility they would like to enter. To that end, good communication between corrections administrators and local AA committees is essential. Following are some common volunteer regulations that AA members may be required to follow: Facilities may require AA volunteers to sign agreements stating that the AA member will comply with local, state, and federal regulations regarding correctional facilities and prisoners. Facilities may not allow AA volunteers to be on the visitors list of any inmate currently in that facility. Facilities may not allow AA volunteers to take phone calls from inmates currently in that facility. Facilities may not allow AA volunteers to have any contact with the families of an inmate currently in that facility. Deciding to participate in Corrections Twelfth Step work is an important individual decision. AA members should carefully read all paperwork required by correctional facilities, and fully understand and be willing to comply with all rules and regulations prior to commencing such work. From A Letter by Bill W. to a prison group in 1949: Every AA has been, in a sense, a prisoner. Each of us has walled himself out of society; each has known social stigma. The lot of you folks has been even more difficult: In your case, society has also built a wall around you. But there isn't any real essential difference, a fact that practically all AA's now know. Therefore, when you members come into the world of AA on the outside, you can be sure that no one will care a fig that you have done time. What you are trying to be—not what you were—is all that counts with us. If you want more information about work in Corrections in the Edmonton Area, please contact the Corrections chair at email@example.com or simply visit our Central Office.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hi there,
In your point of view, I was rude to you when I said '' do me a favour, please leave me alone!''. I'm certain it's the last thing you've expected from me. You never knew or imagined this sweet girl you've known about for few months (let me correct, whom you have kept deep in the darkness and taken for granted) who is lovely and kind can never be able to turn you down, even after you broke her heart. If you have any idea how deeply you hurt me, when you vanished into thin air a few months earlier without any explanation, you've never say ''you're being irrational and rude''.
We have been 'online dating' (virtually online!) for few months before we met in person. Do you remember those days? Perhaps not! Let me remind you, we'd been on the phone from 9pm to 3am easily every single day. Just like carefree teenagers! One thing amazed me was we had the ability to talk about anything under the sun! Literally anything, from religion to world politics to sports… you name it we discussed and enjoyed each of those conversations. I guess I was kind of certain that we'd be great together even before we met in person (that's was not what happened). I have to admit that, it was kind of silly, even on this modern technically advanced world, I haven't even seen a single photo of you until I met you in person! That is a bit weird anybody would say – I thought it's extraordinary (I guess, I was trying to rationalise everything!).
I still remember that weekend in the autumn you came over to see me and I thought we had a great time together. What I failed to realise was that feeling wasn't mutual (well, until you confessed weeks later I was convinced we had a great time together). A bit of honesty would have been make this encounter very different, my dear. You knew how much I value the honesty and in fact I'm brutally honest about everything. The only thing I asked from you is honestly the very thing you failed to bring to the table!
Did you think I didn't realise that you were being distant since then? You got me wrong! You gave me so many reasons though! You were busy with writing or with farming or with studies. I have to admit, I believed you initially (the silly girl in me!!). But the sceptical girl in me, had realised very soon what is the truth. Even when I begged you to tell me what is going on, you decided to deceive me!
Remember, I showed up in your little town to surprise you on your birthday? The single most romantic thing I've never done for anybody, before! I was shaken about the reception I got though. You were not happy at all. I would have thought this is normal, perhaps in a little rural Irish town a foreign girl showing-up and going out with a local lad is a bit strange and attention seeking. Thus you didn't want that unwanted attention. But your actions later was beyond acceptable!! Do you remember next morning when I got to know I have no bus from your town to get back home, you were not concerned at all and left me at the B&B for me to deal with it? (never mind that I've never been into your part of the country before and I have only been living in your country just for few months!). That's the moment I realised you're taking me for granted! Silly girl, you don't deserve this! However, as reasonable as I am, I still was hoping you will explain why (which never happened!). Instead, you completely ghosted me!!! I was worried sick. I thought something bad happened and I had no choice but to talk to your friend (the only living soul I know to contact in any emergency related to you). You should know, I was so relieved that you're all right, perhaps it's just you don't want to talk to me or anything. It was heart breaking and was very hard for me to move on. You'll ask ''how come? You've very strong, in fact you moved here by yourself''. Yes, that's right, but no I'm not that strong when it comes to things like this. It would have been easier, If I had someone to talk about this. I was by my own with no close friends to talk about it, by then. Anyhow, I got over with it months later!
They say ''what goes around, comes around''. So, you came around, hoping that I'd embrace you with open arms! That is where you got me wrong, my dear. You begged me to forgive you. You were long forgiven for all the heat breaking and taking me for granted. But, the pain you caused has never forgotten!! You want to know why? It's because I love myself than I love anybody else. Because, I can't hurt myself anymore. I realised, who hurt me the most was not you! but me when I refused to take your actions as they're but trying to rationalise them. I cannot let that happen again! You said '' please, have mercy on me – I'd never do that again''. Well, you may or may not. As far as I am concerned, I am done with you. Then you said '' I can't believe this is you, you can't be rude to me. You're better than this!''. Excuse me! so when I try to safeguard myself, I'm being rude to you? When I begged to tell me what was going on and you simply ghosted me, wasn't it being rude?? Yes, my dear, you're dead right. I'm better than this, that's why I do not walk down that road, I once been abandoned and learnt to get back on the track in the hard way!!!
So I'm telling you, If you just think before act, it may be very helpful to people surrounded by you and most importantly to yourself! I wish all the very best for you. We may or may not cross our paths again (it's a small world after all!), If we do, do not hesitate to say 'hello'. Because, we're not strangers!
To the man who ghosted me and later come begging to take you back in to my life,
Hi there,


text:
POCKY MILK 2pc Pack of 3 ポッキー 大人のミルク 2袋入り 3個パック
Japanese original popular chocolate sticks with "Milk Butter taste"! Lightly baked pretzel is coated by deep milk chocolate.
Serving Guide
1 pack contains 2bags.
The sound of "Pokki", when you bite POCKY, makes the eating more enjoyable. It has a unique "handle" which keeps your fingers clean!!
Delicious alone or with coffee, tea, milk, or wine, Pocky is the perfect every-day, all-occasion chocolate snack.
Flour, sugar, vegetable oil, whole milk powder [MILK], cocoa mass, cocoa butter, shortening, fermented butter, salt, yeast, perfume, emulsifier, leavening agent, annatto dye, sweetener(sucralose), including soybeans [SOY]
Amount Per Serving (1bag: 37.3g)
Calories 188kcal
Total Fat 8.5g
Sodium 134mg
Total Carbohydrate 24.3g
Protein 3.5g


text:
Lately, my personal blog posts have become more infrequent, while resorting to outside reviews, as well as gaining traction with various publications. However, recent praise for "Sean Bird's Cycling Blog," which desperately needs a title overhaul, landed me in the "Top 100 Cycling Blogs Every Bike Fan Must Read" Feedspot poll. At number 100, I must have been a bubble pick!
Throughout the years, more than three at this point, thank you for the clicks, likes, and shares. In the future, I'll plan to keep rolling out my frequently infrequently tales on product, competition, and backcountry adventure. Together, we'll keep the pedals pushing.


text:
This is a guest post by Alex Pozin. He is a technology product marketer passionate about the potential of user-friendly and secure enterprise software to transform our productivity and work lives. MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Tweets: @alexpozin
Turn on your television to a talk show and you'll see a debate that will often involve one side or another claiming that X causes Y. The situation is not much different in many businesses – a proponent of an idea or a solution will claim that their X will deliver lots of Y. In some cases, they may be partially right and still be generally wrong. How is that possible?
Let's answer by first exploring three types :
- Necessary: Let's say you want to cook an omelette that your spouse will like. You will need a source of heat. We can therefore say that heat is necessary for making an omelette.
- Sufficient: Heat by itself is not sufficient for making an omelette. We need other ingredients. However, heat is sufficient to simply cook an egg.
- Contributory: If you use a high quality butter, a well seasoned pan, and fresh ingredients – all of these factors can contribute to your spouse's enjoyment of the omelette. If you serve it when your spouse is hungry – he or she will probably enjoy it even more. Considering the audience of this blog – you've probably come up with many other contributory factors of your own.
It's not a surprise that debates can focus on contributory factors with intensity disproportionate to their significance (we'll save the discussion of statistical tests of significance for another post). For example, were certain kids shows and movies really sufficient to cause Occupy Wall Street protests? Unlikely. Were these programs a contributing factor. I guess it's possible. However, it's reasonable to assume that not everyone who watched the programs protested (therefore not sufficient) and not everyone who protested watched these programs (therefore not necessary).
Perhaps there are other factors: the preceding financial crisis and associated scandals, rising income inequality, proliferation of tools to amplify messages and so on. That's how one can be partially right and still generally wrong – by pointing to a cause that's headline-friendly but logically insignificant.
A contrasting and logical example comes from an excellent book on management of strategic programs by Terry Schmidt. Readers are encouraged to logically test whether the planned outputs are both necessary and sufficient to deliver on the intended purpose of the project. Isn't this a clearer way to determine what's important? Next time you're debating whether to expand project scope, try out this test.
Causality is a complex topic and we've barely scratched the surface. If you find yourself logically testing a dubious claim in the near future, I'll consider this brief post sufficient.


text:
KUALA LUMPUR: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) solutions are now available for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to be GST-compliant by Apr 1, 2015.
Microsoft Malaysia Small and Mid-market Solutions and Partners general manager, Azizah Ali, said the software solution applications included Microsoft Azure and Office 365 that could be easily integrated into helping the SMEs' existing financial and accounting solutions.
"The solutions are sold at very affordable prices for SMEs, considering the value they would be getting from them. The solutions offer comprehensive system and productivity tools to assist SMEs with GST implementation that are proven worldwide in many countries," Azizah said in a statement Monday.
She said SMEs need not worry about the software product becoming expired versions or outdated either as cloud services and solutions for they were continually refreshed and updated.
"They will have the ability to use the solutions whenever they want. This is will result in cost savings especially for the smaller SMEs.
"From a readiness standpoint, many Malaysian businesses are preparing themselves for the GST deadline by participating in various campaigns and workshops organised by Microsoft with its partners including SME Corp Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and industry players," said Azizah.
The solutions are made available by Microsoft and its independent software vendor partners, Sage Software Sdn Bhd, Wavelet Solutions Sdn Bhd and Rofarez Solutions Sdn Bhd.
- Bernama


text:
Check out the latest in Bolt
Not too long ago at PuppetConf we released Puppet Tasks, a family of offerings that include an open source task runner called Bolt and a new set of task management capabilities included in Puppet Enterprise.
Since then we've continued to iterate and release weekly updates to Bolt. As we gear up for the Puppet Hack on 7 December we've made some improvements worth noting.
These new features have been built with adoption and expansion in mind. We wanted to improve the security and access, expand what you can do on which types of infrastructure and enable change in your environment.
Usability improvements
We've been stabilizing Bolt and making improvements to usability overall as well. This includes a new json output format for consistency and allowing users to set a configurable connection timeout. You can now stream this output in realtime and no longer need to wait for all your nodes to finish to see the results. Additionally, we made it easier to automate with Bolt by adding the ability to specify a transport or point to a file with your nodes on the command line.
Some of the major improvements are around keeping connections secure and enabling Bolt's usage throughout your environment.
New options on the CLI
The new sudo feature allows Bolt to run commands, scripts, and tasks as a different user other than the user its connecting as. This gives the option to set the user for privilege escalation, set the password and specify which private key to use for SSH.
Windows improvements
At PuppetConf we reiterated our commitment to treating Windows as a first-class citizen, and Bolt is no exception. For Windows, we've added enhancements to support tasks written in Ruby and the Puppet language over WinRM with improved error messaging. In addition, we've added the ability to input arguments to a task when using PowerShell. Stay tuned for upcoming improvements with WinRM with regards to SSL and user privileges.
Config file
To help manage these additional command line options we've added a config file so that you can load configs from a file without having to specify on the command line. Config options that are mapped to command line flags will be overridden by the flag when specified on the CLI.
You can find it here:
As we continue to develop Bolt your feedback is greatly appreciated. Get involved by opening a PR or issue on GitHub, or reach out to us on Slack.
Want to get started?
Install Bolt by running:
Yasmin Rajabi is a product manager at Puppet.
Learn more
- Take this online self-paced class on Bolt
- Check out the PuppetConf 2017 talk on Puppet Tasks
- Watch the webinar on Puppet Tasks
- Track the weekly releases


text:
Simply Wi-Fi: What to ask, What to Get and What to Pay
Wireless internet access is a must-have at meetings, but do you really know how to get what you need? Let's begin with a few definitions.
BANDWIDTH: the amount of internet traffic volume a wireless connection handles per second. This is usually measured in megabytes per second (MBs) or gigabytes per second (GBs). The bandwidth is affected by


text:
STADS, a Solution with a Myriad Benefits
In his talk about STADS, or Sewage Treatment and Dispersal System, at The New Earth Summit in Goa, Capt Joseph Lobo explained that the philosophy behind the system is based on a statement made by US engineer and inventor Richard Buckminster Fuller ie 'Waste is nothing but resources that we are not harvesting, because it did not strike us of its immense value'. This erstwhile naval officer presents us with the technology of converting sewage water, a resource with substantial potential, into replenishment for plants.
The procedure, which is performed in a completely environmentally friendly way, is devoid of residue, sludge or side effects detrimental to human life. This technology of STADS was designed right here in Goa, India by Capt Lobo and has been registered in India under patent No 292993 on the 17th of July 2016. It has been operational since 2010 with the approval of the Goa Pollution Control Board.
'Sixty percent of water is used to flush just two percent of human waste. Just think about it. That is what we are doing every day. And it is a criminal waste, a criminal waste,' says Capt Lobo. Human waste contains more nutrients for the nourishment of plants but needs to undergo treatment before it can be utilised by plants. The water that accompanies the human waste can meet the huge demand of water of trees for transpiration. Plants give back to humans dew, humidity and cooling of the environment through transpiration. A large tree (eg a mango tree) with a leaf canopy of 1000 square metres and more needs about 1000 to 3000 litres of water per day, while smaller plants need about 100 litres per day.
STADS works by collecting the sewage water in bio-reaction tanks or collection tanks. This water is recycled four times a day: morning, noon, evening and night. The recycling takes place by aerating this water with a Venturii aerator that is specifically designed for this purpose. This aerator essentially adds air and, more importantly, oxygen to the sewage water. To this aerated water is then added EM (Effective Microorganisms), where the five major microorganisms contained in EM absorb the organic material in the sewage and break down the chemicals. The resulting nutrient rich biomass is then dispensed to trees and shrubs in small quantities with long time intervals to ensure that all the biomass and water is completely absorbed by the plants and trees.
Since soil is an ecosystem of bacteria, it acts as a bio-reactor with about a hundred million to one billion bacteria in a gram of soil. Bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens decompose the last of any organic components in the treated sewage water, converting them into soil and compost. 'Some people say what happens to the soap. Soap is phosphates, a very expensive fertiliser. Then we have urea. Urea is another very expensive fertiliser. All this is metabolised by the bacteria, making it palatable for the plant,' says Capt Lobo.
This chemical-free, simple process is convenient for usage by housing societies, hotels, hospitals, etc. It is economically feasible because it uses little power, is low maintenance and fully automatic, cutting down energy, labour and fertiliser costs.
STADS has installations in 70 sites in Goa and other places, recycling around one million litres of sewage water every day and making the maximum use of a resource that would otherwise be discarded as waste and become a contributing cause of pollution.
For more information regarding STADS, contact Sonny Thomas (Business Manager) at +919930524717/ email: email@example.com
(Originally published in February 2020)
(Originally published in February 2020)


text:
Jesus was everything to me. For as long as I can remember, it would not have been an exaggeration to say that Jesus was the reason for my existence. As a kid, I was steeped in an evangelical faith tradition… Continue Reading →
Without a constant fear of hell, it freed the characters in these stories to be present with people rather than live in constant anxiety. When I began to step away from my belief that hell was a real destination that people go to, it freed me from having to constantly self monitor my sin quotient. It turned my attention from a primarily selfish sense of survival and towards an ability to see and appreciate the beauty of creation all around me.
Prayer is AT LEAST a form of meditation that encourages the development of healthy brain tissue, lowers stress, and can connect us to God. EVEN IF that is a comprehensive definition of prayer, the health and psychological benefits of prayer… Continue Reading →
It's painful – absolutely. Grief can sometimes feel like death, but it is also a sign that you're alive. When your God dies, grief is your bodies way of telling you this was an important relationship, take some time to learn from it and to allow what it meant to you to settle in somewhere deep. Inside, your mind is already doing the work of reorganizing your attachments, keeping the things that make sense, and making room for brand new ideas.
"…those who are open to the wonder will not miss it." Abraham Joshua Heschel For some of us, the ideas about God that we held onto for many years no longer make sense. Others may never have had any ideas… Continue Reading →
Richard Rohr was the first person I heard say that, "Literal truth is the lowest form of meaning." It is an incredibly profound lesson and is something that I encourage everyone to incorporate into their own lives….There is a lot more meaning than just what is on the surface. This is why I believe God is a cartoon.
Yes, it's a gamble. It might mean that they're damned to hell for all eternity. But, it's a life of unencumbered generosity, of limitless human compassion, and a sense that there is something bigger than all of us – all of us – holding it together. Whatever that is, it's good and it's worth trying to connect with.
The way that I view God has changed. Dramatically. It used to be that when I would think about God, I would picture an old man in the sky. This worked out well. I grew up in a small town… Continue Reading →
A god who does not intervene will not come to the rescue if we just pray harder. This god won't choose between a football game and a cancer patient. But such a god much be just the source of energy that we need to continue fighting like hell.
A couple of weeks ago, as is my ritual most Sunday mornings, I rolled out of bed and wandered off to
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text:
I've been preparing unniyappams quite often nowadays,as my lil' one loves to have it.Whenever I've some extra ripe bananas,I go for this delicious snack.But this time I made it with a purpose.Can u guess what's it?Yes…these are going to Kay's JFI-Jaggery .I couldn't participate in many of the previous JFI's,so really wanted to do something this time.Happy hosting,Kay..
Here's the recipe..
Rice Flour – 2 cups
Jaggery(Sharkkara) broken into small pieces – 1/2 cup or Brown Sugar – 1 cup
Mashed bananas/jackfruits – 1 cup
Cardamom(Elakka) powder – 1/4 tsp
Dry roast Coconut pieces(Thengakothu) – 2-3 tsp (Optional)
Roasted black sesame seeds(Ellu) – 1/2 tsp (Optional)
Baking soda – 1/8 tsp (Optional)
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Heat jaggery pieces adding little water,allow it to melt,strain it and keep aside.In a mixing bowl,mix together all the ingredients except coconut pieces and sesame seeds,adding extra water if needed to make it to a thick batter consistency.Use a hand mixer if you have one,otherwise use your hand,but be sure to mix it thoroughly .Finally add in coconut pieces and sesame seeds,stir and allow it to stand for 45 mts- 1 hr .
Heat the Unniyappam pan,and fill oil in each impression upto 3/4 full.When the oil is very hot,reduce the heat to medium and fill the impressions with the batter upto a little more than 3/4th full.Allow it to cook slowly until done.Do not cover the pan.
When one side is done,flip over to the other side and cook.It'll come out easily without sticking,if its cooked well.
Cook until both sides are golden brown in color.Remove and drain it to a tissue paper.Serve hot.
P.S:- Unniyappams prepared with fruits won't last for more than 4-5 days.
Check variety Unniyappams from fellow bloggers :Inji's (with sooji),Priya's (with both wheat rava & rice flour),RP's ( batter prepared by grinding long grain rice),and Vizmaya's(with all purpose flour and sooji)


text: I'm (trying) to watch TV-Nihons fansubbing attempt of Superlink and its pretty awful. Insane amount of incoherent sentences and general WTF! I think the American version of Energon at least made a little more sense. At the end of Episode 2 you see Scorponok rising from the ground with i'm guessing Alpha-Q (even for the japanese all the voices sound the same and i can't yet tell who is saying what off screen) narrating it. When this line appears on the screen..."Next time we will this boy?" WTF! its an incoherent questrion and secondly what the hell is being said at the end of the episode, just so I haver a vague attempt of understanding whats going on leading into the third? Thanks.


text:
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text:
Evaluating corn hybrids in different soil and climate conditions in Italy, with different agronomic growing techniques and based on intended use (grain, wet feed, silage), is essential to make sure each hybrid has the right positioning. This is why S.I.S. has set up an extensive network for all-round testing, comparing the hybrids most widely sold on the Italian market with new hybrids. Strip testing evaluates the following aspects: early vigour, stay-green, field resistance, yield, harvesting moisture content, grain quality and health, hybrid use (grain, wet feed, silage). Test results confirm the excellent yield response, excellent adaptability and field resistance of S.I.S.
corn hybrids Quality
SIS has always focused on seed development procedures and all controls that guarantee their best quality. With analyses and particular measures taken during development stages, the most important quality aspects are guaranteed for each SIS hybrid, and namely:
All seed development takes place in Italy under the direct control of SIS personnel. Electrophoresis and counter-season field tests verify genetic purity and the absence of pollution. PCR Real Time verifies the absence of OGMs in the parental lines used and in the hybrid obtained.
Specialised personnel test for specific purity, germinability and germination energy in the laboratory, with both warm and cold testing. Sampling and analyses are conducted during different stages of processing. Official analyses are carried out for each lot, with official ENSE sampling.
The entire seed, except for organic seeds, is treated with suitable products to make sure it is not attacked by fungal pathogens that may affect seed emergence or plant development. Special attention is paid to the product used, which must guarantee broad-ranging action to best protect all initials stages of the growth cycle and also ensure greater ease of use and the reduced exposure of workers. The product industrial application stage is also extremely important, and must guarantee safe doses and the utmost ease of use. Lastly, to offer operators even greater protection, SIS has been using a film-forming agent in dressing for many years that allows for better adhesion of the active ingredient and limits the effect of dust which is harmful to operators and the environment.
Farming suggestion
Sowing time:
from early April Harvesting
density 6.5-7 plants m2
Inter-row 75 cm.
Distance in the row 18-19 cm
Depth 3-4 cm
Geo pest control: local in furrows, or use of the dressed seed with systemic products
with nitrogen (N kg/ha) 90 on sowing, plus 120-160 phosphorous on the crop (P2O5 kg/ha 70-90 in the sowing area, or 90-120 for potassium broadcast (K2O kg/ha): no fertilizers to add to soil with a sufficient mineral content
FORAGE CORN: silage and wet feed whole corn silage or siloed corn
Corn silage is the basic forage for modern Italian animal husbandry. It is obtained from the whole corn plant, harvested with 33-35% of dry matter; plant chopped short at 0.6-1 cm, quickly siloed and compressed. Silage is mainly estimated based on the following parameters: - energy value / Ha derived from the amount of dry matter produced per hectare (hundred kilos of dry matter/Ha) - energy concentration of the dry matter (U.F./Kg of dry matter); - health and storage conditions; - digestibility of the substances comprising the corn (starch, sugars and proteins, etc.). Over the years, SIS has selected a wide range of corn for first, second and third sowing whole silage.
First sowing silage
This is obtained during spring sowing with hybrids with a good stay-green, large leaf development and considerable number of grains. These hybrids are able to produce considerable volumes of dry matter per hectare (18,500-23,000 kilos of dry matter/Ha) with a high energy concentration (0.82- 0.90 UF/Kg of dry matter). The silage obtained in this way is suitable for feed for high pedigree dairy cattle and beef cattle with a rapid daily weight increase.
Second sowing silage
This is obtained from sowing after grass and meadow sowing. This type is obtained using medium or medium-early cycle hybrids. These hybrids, with a growing cycle and excellent size ears, can provide the right volume of dry matter with a moisture content on harvesting and a balanced protein, ADF, NDF ratio.
Third sowing silage.
This is obtained sowing corn after late meadows, barley and wheat. The most suitable hybrids have a rapid accumulation period and excellent ear-plant ratio, ensuring good volumes of healthy, silage, with good energy values, even with late harvesting.
Corn mash
This is animal feed from the entire ear of corn or only the grain, harvested with a 32-33% moisture content, adequately milled and stored in airproof silos. The animal feed value of corn mash is defined by several parameters including: - a high energy concentration of dry matter (1.2-1.4 UF/Kg of dry matter) - digestibility of substances comprising the mash. - a milk/meat conversion ratio which is higher than siloed corn. - a storage loss of around 4%, compared to 10% for siloed corn. - health conditions of the grain. - easy distribution.


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Isn't it great when a website asks to feature you? You might already be familiar with ManyBooks.Net not just for their author interviews and other free content but because of their free downloads of out-of-copyright books. They contacted me recently and offered me the opportunity to be interviewed for Author of the Day.
Here's the feature for you to read. Haven't they done a great job?


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Kansas market a picker's paradise
SPARKS, Kan. — The Sparks Antiques and Collectibles Flea Market, in a town with a population of seven, intrigued me. Each of its twice-yearly four-day events turns this blip on the map into a bustling center of 500 dealers and more than 75,000 customers.
You can't help but appreciate those uplifting numbers in such a small place during downtrodden times.
Brothers Gary and Tom Winters created the flea market in Sparks 30 years ago because the town, 23 miles west of St. Joseph, Mo., was on the route to other antiques shows during the spring and on Labor Day weekend.
The Winterses borrowed the idea of street performers from Silver Dollar City, the Branson amusement park, to turn the Sparks flea market into an attraction. Slowly, word got out, and Sparks grew into the dominant flea market in the area.
Street performances have gone away, but bits of Branson flavor linger, including folksy "No Parkin" signs and hand-painted vacant houses converted into vendor storefronts — most noticeably the "Sparks Hotel. Full Up."
Before going to Sparks, prepping for "picking" — the act of searching through shelves, boxes, rows and mountains of stuff to find gems — is crucial. Besides toting a bottle of water and a large market bag or cart, one should wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat. And, of course, carry cash.
Hand sanitizer is also a good idea.
"You're gonna get dirty," says Fancy Smith, owner of Cactus Creek home decor store in Weston, Mo., and a Sparks shopping vet.
Smith likes to take her three sons with her. Her 9-year-old, Wyatt, collects vintage license plates.
"Not only is it a cheap, enjoyable family activity, kids can be awesome help," Smith says. " Being low to the ground has its definite benefits."
Chrysalyn Huff, owner of Restoration Emporium in Kansas City's West Bottoms area, describes the vibe of the Sparks flea market as "vintage heaven-y." "Keep in mind Sparks is a true old-school flea market," Huff says. "This is where prices are much lower than other shows and where you find a lot of pre-project items that can be repurposed with paint and some imagination."
It was raining on the early morning in May when I got my first taste of Sparks. Much of the merchandise was protected under tarps or blankets. Still, the weather didn't keep away shoppers.
I walked through a pole barn packed with dozens of vendors selling hurricane lamps, old paperbacks and tableware — the ubiquitous stuff of many antique malls.
We explored the Sparks Hotel, where I picked up but put back a vintage typewriter. I already have a few of models of the hot hipster collectible.
Outdoor vendors sold red, yellow, green and blue painted wooden footstools from China. New and old typography — letters and numbers from board games and store signs — filled bins and buckets. " Mantiques" were abundant: antlers, a bear's head and wooden tackle boxes with chic, well-worn patina.
And, along a sideline of crowded booths, I unearthed my treasure.
A Greenwood, Mo., craftsman fashions farmhouse tables out of salvaged wood — long ones for $400 to $500. But it wasn't a piece I could cram into a sport-utility vehicle.
So I made the trek home empty-handed except for the contact information for the farmhouse table craftsman. I think of it as a treasure map of hope.
If you go
The Sparks Antiques and Collectibles Flea Market is held twice a year. The next will be in spring 2013. While there, don't miss White Cloud, 11 miles north of Sparks. It contains a flea market with finer antiques and a lookout point for the Midwest's "Four Corners": Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa.For more information, visit www.sparksantiques andcollectibles.com.


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Black-ish has always been honest when it comes to race relations in America and the season 4 premiere was no exception. The episode began with the Johnson family attending Jack and Diane's school play about Christopher Columbus. Dre comments that they shouldn't have to take time to celebrate Christopher Columbus when the country doesn't acknowledge important dates like Juneteenth. Juneteenth refers to June 19, 1865, the day that slaves in the South were finally declared free.
Dre continues his conversation about Juneteenth at the office where Aloe Black happens to be visiting and assists Dre with explaining the history about the unofficial holiday. The rest of the episode is filled with songs that tell the history of African Americans. The first one is an animated short inspired by Schoolhouse Rock! 's 'I'm Just a Bill' called 'I'm Just a Slave' performed by The Roots.
The conversation continues with the entire Johnson family performing two Hamilton-esque songs showing the contributions that slaves made to America as well as the struggles freed slaves had.
Through telling the story Dre gets upset and when he is asked what he wants, he realizes that he can't force America to take responsibility for slavery but he can start by having his family celebrate Juneteenth with a cookout, strawberry soda, and red-velvet cake.


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Hair plays a vital role in your personality assets. If your hair is not so thick and healthy, you would not be able to get your desired looks. No matter for how much you have spent on your outfit, your makeover or jewelry. If your hairstyle is not perfectly mad, you will never be satisfied. Some girls have very fine hair so they cannot attain the desired volume for any hairstyle. Many products are available in the market for hair energizing and volume boosting but those are quite expensive. We are giving you two main keys to keep your hair fibers strong and healthy.
Which Haircut is for you?
First of all, keep one thing in your mind that layer cutting (which is often advised by beauticians) is not for you if you have thin hair. Layer cutting can make your hair look healthy if you get a blow dry treatment from your stylist, otherwise it will make your hair even thinner when you are not using blow-dry to enhance your hair steps.
Get your hair cut equally, it can be helpful to enhance a bit of volume. Visit your stylist twice in 3 months two get your hair trimmed. It will help you to get damaged and split ends removed and your hair will look neat and in shape.
What to Eat?
Now come to your diet plan, Add vitamin A, C, biotin, Zinc, B-12, Protein and Iron in your daily diet. Either you can take any good food supplement daily to get these essential vitamins or you may add egg, nuts, beans, salmon fish, cod liver oil and green leaves vegetables like spinach. All of these things will keep your scalp neat and the roots of your hair strong.
How to style?
If you are going to a party and you need a good hairstyle, consider hair curling or blow dry to boost the volume of your hair. Always use quality products for your hair whether it's your shampoo and conditioner or styling gel and spray. Don't pick high chemical products for your hair; instead, use herbal products which are nicer to your hair.
- Don't wash your hair with over-warm water.
- Don't rub your hair too much with towel.
- Always use oil to massage your hair before shampooing.
- Keep your finger movement slow and circulative, it will make blood flow better and your scalp will absorb oil easily.
- After oiling, soak a towel in hot water, press it to pull out extra water and wrap the hot damp towel to your hair. The steam is good to make your hair soft and the oil to get absorbed in your scalp.
- Use silk pillow instead of rough fabric. It will prevent your hair from getting damaged.
- Don't let your hair be loose when you are asleep, it will make them tangled and damaged. Bind them with ponytail instead.
- Brush your hair before going to bed.


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Saratoga wraps up 2015 quarter releases
The final America the Beautiful design for 2015, the Saratoga National Historical Park quarter, was released Nov. 30. Collectors purchased 1,962 Philadelphia, 2,049 Denver and 3,215 San Francisco 100-coin bags, 7,275 Philadelphia and Denver two-roll sets, 3,206 San Francisco 40-coin rolls and 7,418 three-roll sets containing one roll from each mint.
The Saratoga 5-ounce silver uncirculated collector's coin is sold out after beginning sales Dec. 3. The Mint reports selling 17,053 coins by Dec. 6.
After removing order limits on the 2015 Native American Dollar Coin and Currency set, collectors were quick to order the remaining supply with 88,181 sets sold by Dec. 6.
The Truman First Day Coin Cover is no longer available for sale, with 14,779 sets of a 15,000 product limit purchased.
Lastly, sales of the 2015 gold American Buffalo proof coin are finished. Collectors ordered a total of 16,435 coins before the sellout.


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As this site goes forward, an added emphasis will be placed on the dogs in our life and my photography of the different activities we do with them. To kick that off, here is our first time competing at a lure coursing event with Carbon, our black Malinois, and several of our friends dogs.
With all the recent talk about my daughter and Raven competing in rally, we get asked a lot about why we are using Raven and not Major. I have explained this in a couple of different places, but I thought I'd do a post about it here. More »
We just spent the weekend competing at the Long Beach Queen Mary dog show. Stella and Raven are going for their AKC Rally Advanced title. They got their Rally Novice title a month ago, and this was their first event going for Advanced. The main difference is Advanced is all off lead.
This past Memorial Day weekend we attended our first AKC rally competition. We were there with several other families, trainers, and dogs in the Canine Hope for Diabetics program (more on why I think this is important later). As you can tell from the pictures above, these dogs, trainers, and families (including my 11 year old and 2 teenagers) did a fantastic job. I got so much joy (and yes, a bunch of nervousness) out of watching my daughter compete with Raven this weekend. My heart was bursting with pride the whole time. More »
Stella has spent a lot of time this year working with Raven in rally class. Memorial day weekend she will go to her first competition with Raven. A few of you have asked, "Why is Raven doing rally, and not Major?" The answer is simple, and it's complicated. 🙂 More »


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A recent surgery taught me a lot about how to manage Type 1 diabetes while in the hospital. Before the surgery I contacted my Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) for advice about how to adjust my basal rate for the procedure. The surgery was scheduled to take about 3 to 4 hours and was scheduled for 12:30 in the afternoon. The CDE consulted with my Endocrinologist and suggested that since I would not be eating for nearly twelve hours prior to the procedure, that I reduce my basal by 30% the night before and 50% during surgery. This sounded reasonable to me considering I would have no food intake for a long time, so I did that. My fasting sugar upon entering the hospital was 190 on my Blood Glucose Monitor and steady, according to my Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). I checked into the hospital and went to the pre-op area. My surgeon wanted me to check into pre-op an hour early so that I could meet with the Chief of Diabetes Care in the pre-op area. Part of me felt this was unnecessary since I had already consulted with my team. I am very happy with my diabetes care team and they, along with me, have helped me to keep my A1C to a respectable 6.5 over many years. I felt good about the advice I had received and thought a meeting about my diabetes with a doctor I did not know was unnecessary. This additional pre-op meeting was invaluable, however and I would insist on this if I ever need to have surgery again.
This doctor reversed what my team had recommended. His thoughts were that since surgery introduces a lot of stress on my system my Blood Sugar would rise significantly during surgery. He suggested raising my basal rate by 50% for 6 hours. He grabbed my pump and when he saw that I have nearly 12 different basal rates throughout the day, he declared that I had too many basal rates. This doctor had a kind of enjoyable, yet wild, bedside manner and was a bit too cavalier about grabbing my pump and attempting to change my programmed basal rates to reflect his suggested temporary basal rate change. The last thing I needed, or wanted, was for my meticulously figured basal rates to be changed and then I would have to write them all down and re-program the pump after surgery. I was getting a little nervous about how he was going about achieving his recommendations even though I understood what he was saying and, to be honest, agreed. I was hesitant, to say the least. I persuaded him to give me my pump back so I could properly program the temporary basal to implement his strategy. Since I had put in the temporary basal with his advice I now felt more at ease and we had a great conversation about how the diligence of good diabetes control has lasting positive results.
A few minutes later the anesthesiologist came in to find out how and why I was going to keep my pump on during surgery. He was skeptical that this was a wise plan. I learned, at this point, that patients are normally required to remove their pumps and leave all diabetes control during surgery to the anesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist had never seen a Continuous Glucose Monitor before. While I was quite surprised at this, he was intrigued. In our conversation he learned that I was in excellent control and had a minute to minute knowledge of what my glucose readings were, where they were going and how to manage them. He was persuaded to allow me to keep my pump on and give the CGM to him during surgery. He would monitor my glucose pattern on the CGM and adjust glucose as needed. We then made a plan for him to immediately return my CGM to my wife once the procedure had concluded. He was concerned that I have this device as soon as I was awake and could resume my own care. The anesthesiologist restored my confidence and made me feel that this team was working with me in the best possible way. His enthusiasm and interest in my pump and CGM was refreshing. He was totally into working with me when he learned how he could incorporate the CGM and pump into his regimen. I showed him how to suspend the pump should my sugar dip too low and he assured me he could administer glucose should that happen. He also promised me that should my sugar rise too high he would administer insulin. I was relieved.
The anesthesiologist was sold. He loved the ability to watch my glucose readings on my CGM during surgery. Surgery went well and my glucose hovered around 200 for the entire procedure. Diabetes was never once an impediment to the procedure and all doctors and nurses were rather impressed with my control and the ease of monitoring a person with the tools to maintain well controlled diabetes during surgery.
Recovery went well and the only negative issue I had was the following day after I treated a dipping blood sugar with the small container of OJ left at my bedside. This was also after I had eaten the banana and glucose tablets I had brought with me. I asked the nurse supervisor for another container of OJ to have on hand and she said OK and went away. She never came back. About an hour and a half later she stuck her head in my room again and I reminded her of my need for OJ. She said, "Oh right, you wanted some juice." I am sure she thought I just wanted some orange juice not that I needed juice close by at all times. I said, with a bit of an attitude, I must admit, "this is a medical necessity, not a whim of desire because I feel like some juice." About 15 minutes later another nurse returned with my container of OJ which, by now, I needed, so I had to ask for another one! I do find a bit of a lackadaisical attitude toward people with diabetes in the hospital, in general. Perhaps the nurses and staff view it as a nuisance since symptoms are easily dealt with and dismissed. I don't know what it is about diabetes but there always seems to be an, "that's not so bad" attitude toward this condition. Anyone who deals with blood sugar control 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year knows how bad it can be. The people that do not take our condition seriously are the ones I always strive to teach in as nice a way as I can considering how annoyed I usually am when these people display their ignorance to me!
The lessons I learned from this hospital stay were priceless. I've always known that I am the most knowledgeable about my diabetes. That is one thing that the Chief of Diabetes Care was quick to recognize and that is probably the acknowledgement that brought me into his confidence. It has become crystal clear to me that the way to get the best care in a hospital situation is to insist on it. Insist that you know the most about your condition. Insist that the medical professionals count you as a member of their medical team in caring for you. Engage yourself with every aspect of the reasons you are there in the hospital. Do not let less then great staff members get away with being less than the best they can be for you. If they don't step up ask their supervisor for them to step down from caring for you and get another staff member to take their place. They will do it. Hospital stays are extremely expensive and you have the right for the best care they can give you. Insist on it. The life you save may be your own!
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text: Go RowingTypes of RowingTypes of Rowing Events Types of Rowing Events There are lots of different types of rowing events, from side-by-side racing over 2,000m as seen at the Olympic and Paralympic Games to head races, sprints, tours and challenges Rowing events take many forms. From local fun competitions such as Scratch Regattas all the way up to the international multi-lane regattas at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Regattas Possibly the most recognised form of rowing event, regattas are traditionally held in the warmer summer months. Regattas come in a huge range of styles, sizes and distances. From local town regattas or private matches to national and international competitions. Below are a few of the different forms that regattas can take. Multi-Lane If you've ever watched an Olympic or Paralympic Regatta, this is the type of regatta you'll have seen. Usually raced over a distance of 2000m with traditionally six lanes of crews. The larger national regattas and national championships are all multi-lane regattas. All international competitions are held on a multi-lane course with many being purpose-built venues such as Dorney Lake in Eton, Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham and Strathclyde Park in Glasgow. Side-by-Side Side-by-side racing is where crews will race one on one. As most regattas are held on fairly narrow stretches of river, most regattas are raced in this format. Distances can vary from 400m to longer races such as the famous Henley Royal Regatta held over 2,112m. Most side-by-side regattas are open regattas, open to anyone to enter. Some, however, are private matches held between two or sometimes three clubs. The most famous of which is the University Boat Races held on the River Thames between Oxford University and Cambridge University. Surf Regattas Using Surf Boats, crews start side-by-side in knee-high water racing straight out to sea and around a buoy located a minimum of 400m off the beach. Crews then race back to the beach and finish with a member of the crew running across the finish line on land. Beach Sprints A new style of event similar to that of Surf Rowing but in FISA Coastal Boats. In this format, two teams start on a beach and run to their boats. Crews then row out to sea around a buoy located no further than 250m from the beach and back. This form of event was created to help support the development of the sport in nations that do not have access to calm waters. Coastal Coastal regattas are held parallel to the coastline over a course distance of between 11/2 miles to 2 miles. In these races, crews will race towards a turning buoy and back with the start and finish line being the in the same location. Offshore and Fixed Seat Offshore and Fixed Seat regattas are generally much longer than a river regatta, with racing over distances of up to 6km. Crews start either from a beach or in open water and race out to a series of turning buoys. The crews will race around the course in open water and finish either on the beach or between two finishing buoys. Head racing (Time Trials) Head racing takes the form of time trials held over longer courses than that of regattas. Head racing initially started as a way for crews to keep a focus on their training during the colder and darker period over winter. Crews set off one at a time and are timed from start to finish. The largest of this form of event in the UK is the Annual Head of the River Race, first held in 1925, regularly attracting up to 420 men's eights from the UK and Internationally. Touring/Recreational rowing Touring and Recreational rowing is offered by many clubs across the country as a great alternative to competitive rowing. Both offer the opportunity to get a group of people out on the water to explore a new area by boat and is generally done in more stable boats. Tours can be of any length, from a few hours to a few days, or even a week. For touring, you need to have some rowing experience and a good level of fitness, particularly if you are covering longer distances. The beauty of touring is that everyone gets a chance to row and to cox on scenic stretches of water. Challenge Events These type of events can be easily described as events that challenge the rower. Events are generally held over much longer courses and are unique in their concept. The Boston Marathon, for example, is held over 50km and is unique in that crews must carry their boat over a lock at a certain point of the course. Other events focus more on the fun and frivolity of the event and can be compared to mass participation running events. Events such as this include the Great River Race held on the Thames or the Great Tyne Row held over 25km of the River Tyne. Fun events Usually held with minimal structure and with committee boats (boats provided by the host). These events have grown in popularity since the growth of stable boats in clubs. Many clubs now host scratch regattas where rowers are drawn in random crews to race each other or clubs enter a team to take part in multiple rounds over a much shorter distance. Some events are timed and can include skill stations around the course where crews have to perform a skill to progress. Popular events include the Explore Series which originated in the North East of England and Bradford RC's "War of the Roses" regatta. Share: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Mail


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Amid questions about how to pay for flood damage and future protection in this town and across the U.S., Vice President Joe Biden on Friday traveled here Friday to view some of the massive damage caused last week by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee.
Touring a flooded neighborhood in Duryea, Biden pledged the resources of the federal government in encouraging one distraught homeowner to rebuild his home, saying "Hang on. This is no time to give up."
The neighborhood has piles of debris lining its streets and a musty, mildew stench left behind by the receding water.
Record flooding along small streams and the Susquehanna River damaged or destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
Congress' failure to deliver on promised hazard-mitigation funding may wind up taking blame for some of the devastation.
Experts say a massive levee system that shielded the city of Wilkes-Barre and its riverfront suburbs likely made things worse downstream and upstream, where record floodwaters swamped homes and businesses after heavy rainfall.
"I'm fearful that the levees that have been built are complicating things downstream," said Helena Fisher, who lost nearly everything on the first floor of her home downstream in Bloomsburg, where the Susquehanna crested at an all-time high.
"All we're doing is sending it on to the next community," she said.
Wilkes-Barre's $175 million system of dikes and floodwalls, which was strengthened in response to the remnants of 1972's Hurricane Agnes, prevented tens of millions of dollars in property damage from Lee.
Yet, nearly a decade after construction on the levee system ended, Congress has yet to appropriate more than $15 million of the $23 million it had authorized years ago for property buyouts and flood mitigation projects — all of which were intended to reduce the levees' impact on low-lying, unprotected municipalities.
"The program has stalled due to lack of funding by Congress," said Jim Brozena, executive director of the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority, which maintains the levee system and heads the mitigation plan.
The lack of funding is repeated across the country. The Army Corps of Engineers only has $150 million for repairs in its budget and estimates this year's flood damage will easily top $2 billion.
Experts say levees can worsen flooding miles downstream by constricting the channel through which water flows, resulting in increased velocity and higher crests. Levees also pose a problem for upstream towns by acting as a choke point or valve, allowing the water to back up, said Rick Weisman, a professor of hydraulic engineering at Lehigh University in Bethlehem.
Flooding in northeast US
Engineers concluded years ago that Wilkes-Barre's newly raised dikes, when paired with an Agnes-level flood, would send an additional foot of water into unprotected homes and businesses. The mitigation plan, which covers 53 communities in five counties, was supposed to offset the heightened risk, at least partly.
But only $7 million has been appropriated and spent since 1996. And funding has all but dried up, a function of the recent ban on federal earmarks — those home-state projects that critics deride as wasteful — and the nation's budget woes.
Demand for protection too high
Noting the visit by Biden, who spent his boyhood in nearby Scranton, Brozena said he hopes the funding issue will be addressed.
The mitigation program has paid for several improvements, including a flood-modeling program, flood-proofing of a sewage treatment plant, and a telephone warning system, as well as the acquisition and demolition of 20 to 25 properties.
But more than 600 properties remain on a priority list. Even at full funding, the program would yield perhaps 100 to 150 additional acquisitions, not nearly enough to meet demand.
Some residents don't want to be bought out — they want a floodwall.
In hard-hit Plymouth Township, just downstream from the levee system, residents had begged to be protected by the dikes. But a cost-benefit analysis by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers excluded the township, and other nearby communities, from consideration; it would have cost more to extend flood protection to them than the properties were worth.
Given last week's deluge and serious floods in 2004, 2005 and 2006, Plymouth Township Supervisor Gale Conrad called for a fresh look at the economics.
"The levee is absolutely wonderful for those that are protected by it. For those who are not protected by it, it's a whole different situation," she said. "Instead of repetitive flood damage payouts to the tune of millions and millions, wouldn't it make sense to just get everybody protected by the levee?"
Conrad said constituents who have endured repeated floods, some of them while awaiting buyouts, are at the end of their rope.
"They've already hollered and cried and begged and worked all of that emotion out. Now it's a feeling of emptiness and in some cases they are ready to give up on life. I've heard that."
'We'll fix this'
There are 56.7 miles of federally constructed levees in Pennsylvania, including many in densely populated Wyoming Valley places including Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Edwardsville, Exeter, Plymouth, Swoyersville and Forty Fort.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., whose district includes flooded towns up and down the Susquehanna, said he plans to meet with the leadership of the Army Corps to talk about, among other things, "the unintended consequences" of the Wyoming Valley levee system.
The first federally funded levee protecting the Wyoming Valley was built in response to a 1936 flood and held for more than four decades. Then, in 1972, Agnes dumped more than a foot of rain on northeastern Pennsylvania, causing $1 billion in damage as the Susquehanna topped the 36-foot dikes. It was, at the time, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
Despite a promise from President Richard Nixon that "we'll fix this and it will never happen again" — and a 1979 plan by the Army Corps to strengthen the levee system — nothing happened until January 1996, when the river came perilously close to spilling over the dikes again.
This time, Congress authorized funding to raise the levees by 3 to 5 feet. Work began in 1997 and was completed in 2003.
Last week, the system performed better than advertised.
Designed to withstand a crest of 41 feet, the levees held back a river that rose to 42.66 feet — nearly 2 feet higher than after Agnes. The Susquehanna didn't go over the dikes because engineers had built in a margin of safety to account for waves, bridge openings and other variables. Tens of thousands of residents in a dozen towns were spared.


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Constrained Base Station Clustering for Cooperative Post-Cellular Relay Networks
AuthorsRaphael Rolny, Marc Kuhn, and Armin Wittneben
ReferenceIEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC), New Orleans, USA, Mar. 2015.
[BibTeX, LaTeX, and HTML Reference]
AbstractWe consider the downlink of a ``post-cellular'' network in which base stations (BSs) are no longer evenly spread in the entire area of service but rather placed where they can easily be installed. Accordingly, the BSs are not necessarily close to the users anymore but have to serve distant mobiles with aggressive spatial multiplexing, possibly with the help of additional low-complexity relays. In such networks, it is important to allow for flexible and dynamic cooperation between different infrastructure nodes to achieve high data rates and coverage. To this end, we develop a framework that optimizes the performance by dynamic BS clustering with joint transmission for one- and two-hop communication under practical conditions such as backhaul rate limitations and power control. The network performance is maximized by an evolutionary algorithm that optimizes the BS clustering, relay routing, and power allocation for a beamforming scheme with closed-form solution. We show that a very high performance can be achieved in an efficient way with small overhead and that high data rates can be delivered to areas without wired backhaul access.
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Hello, I am Mary Raddell
I earned my Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) license in Cleveland in 2014. For clinicals, I did my orthopedic and sports training with the Cleveland Clinic, Pediatrics at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, gaining experience in both inpatient and outpatient physical therapy (PT). My experience includes working with people with developmental disabilities, sensory disorders, trauma patients in the PICU, immunocompromised patients and general medical-surgical patients.
At St. Vincent Charity Hospital, a private hospital, I worked with post-surgical patients in the Cardiac ICU and orthopedics, including but not limited to patients with spinal surgeries, hip replacements and knee replacements.
In December 2015, I moved to Maryland, where I provided PT in the Adult Day Care Centers in the area, mainly at CHI which is an adult day care for adults with developmental disabilities and sensory disorders, including but not limited to Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome and Autism. I developed a multitude of hands-on experience, particularly because these types of clients require a lot of stretching and often have contractures or spasticity issues.
I started with Homecall in 2016, providing home health rehabilitation services, which has kept my skills diverse as I continue to work with post-surgical patients on hips, knees, spines and shoulders; patients with cardiac, respiratory and neurological issues; gait and balance deficits; and those with chronic pain.
Over the years, I discovered I have a natural gift for touch. I am able to pinpoint where a person's pain is coming from—whether it be emotional or structural. I have enhanced my gift for touch through reiki classes and with JFB MFR (John F. Barnes Myofascial Release) training. I am humbled and proud to share that my gift is truly helping people who are stuck to get unstuck. Many of my clients are also naturally intuitive, empathic or holistic minded.
After years of my patients asking to hire me on the side, I decided to become a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) and open my own private practice.
My attraction to holistic medicine stems from personal issues having been misdiagnosed by my doctors back in 2012. Growing up watching my mother have multiple failed spinal surgeries, watching her suffer in chronic pain, relying on prescription pain medications and injections with no relief.
Witnessing this firsthand, I started getting myself treated by a holistic chiropractor who does applied kinesiology (AK) and is also an osteopath. That is when my life began to change. I started seeking out holistic practitioners to help myself heal doing everything I could to find answers and relief in my own life. This included massage, reiki, acupuncture, myofascial release (MFR), chiropractic, yoga, tai chi, Shamanistic healing, a trauma specialist and even an intuitive life coach. I find the more I heal within myself, the more I am able to assist others in their healing process.
Our health is the most important thing we have. So, if you would like to learn more or are ready to embark on your own holistic healing journey, schedule an appointment now or reach out with any questions.
Be well,
Mary Raddell LMT


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The Tamborine Bush Volunteers has commenced the year with a new revegetation project in The Knoll Section of Tamborine National Park.
This dedicated group has been working on Tamborine Mountain for 28 years and has removed introduced weeds from 20 national park plots and replanted with rainforest species. Some plots have taken on the appearance of mature rainforests.
Although the name has served the group well over this long period, it has been decided to "rebadge" the group to more closely represent where the group works and what it stands for. The group will now be known as the Friends of Tamborine National Park. The Friends of Tamborine National Park is keen to show new members what can be achieved in a short time with Tamborine Mountain's rich volcanic soil and abundance of CO2. If you would like to learn more about this dedicated group or join the next working bee on Saturday 5 March, Contact the TBV Coordinator.


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Corporate Profile
Welcome to Insaan...
Good to see you here! Perhaps you have heard of some remarkable story about Insaan's amazing products?
Or perhaps you may have heard of how Insaan's outstanding remuneration plan has set someone onto a much stronger financial footing?
Whatever the case may be... now that you are here, why not check out our website? You might find something that may be useful to you... or to someone you know.
Who are we and what we do...
Insaan is an MLM networking company operated by Al-Insaan Sdn Bhd. Established since 2008, Insaan has growing steadily and creating more success stories with each passing year!
Insaan's success is powered by proven and effective products and an amazingly rewarding payout plan. But more importantly, it's powered by PEOPLE! Determined and dedicated Insaanites* (*people who practise the caring Insaan business) who are rewarded just for sharing the wonders of the Insaan business with others.


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New Paper in JIPH – As(V)@calix[n]arenes
As part of an ongoing collaboration with the University of Arizona (UA) and the Center for Advanced Research and Studies (CINVESTAV – Saltillo), we are looking into the use of calix[n]arenes for bio-remediation agents capable to extract Arsenic (V) and (III) species from water. Water contamination by arsenic is a pressing issue in northern Mexico and the southern US, therefore any efforts aiming to their elimination has strong social and health repercussions.
As in previous studies, all calixarenes were optimized along with their corresponding guests within the cavity, namely H3AsO4, H2AsO4– and HAsO42- at the DFT level with the so-called Minnesota functionals by Truhlar and Cao, M06-2X/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. Interaction energies were calculated through the NBODel procedure. Calixarenes with R = SO3H and PO3H are the most promising leads. This study is now publishes in the Journal of Inclusion Phenomena and Macrocyclic Chemistry (DOI 10.1007/s10847-016-0617-0) as an online first article.
This article is also the first to be published by our undergraduate (and almost grad student in a month) Gustavo Mondragón who took this project on a side to his own research on photosynthesis.
Now my colleagues in Arizona and Saltillo, Prof. Reyes Sierra and Dr. Eddie López, respectively, will work on the experimental side of the project. Further calculations are being undertaken to extend this study to As(III) and to the use of other potential extracting materials such as metallic nanoparticles to which calixarenes could be covalently linked.
Posted on April 29, 2016, in Articles, calixarenes, Paper, Research, Uncategorized and tagged Arsenic, Articles, calixarenes, Computational and Theoretical Chemistry, Computational Chemistry, Contamination, JIPH, Macrocycle, Papers, Pollution, Sustainability. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Dear Sir,
It will be very interesting to know whether the experimental studies agree with the theoritical findings. Please keep posting. I also had some questions to be asked as for my knowledge. You can either directly answer these or please give me reference as to which books should I read.
1. Did you apply "Effective Core Potential" (ECP) to As atoms or it is not necessary to apply ECP?
2. Does the theoritical calculations gives us knowledge only about the covalent bonding or can it also be intermolecular forces of attraction?
As of now I am not aware of NBODel procedure. So you can even suggest a book reference. Thanking you in anticipation.


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It is common knowledge that a Costa Rica realtor doesn't take very good photographs. I am a Costa Rica real estate agent and I see real estate listings all the time.
When I list a new property for sale on our website, I try to look at the listings from the eye of a buyer: Would I click on this to see more of the property?
A realtor is neither a photographer nor a writer. It is not always easy to make a nice write-up and a good photo presentation of a property for sale. Many properties just look terrible and the realtor has to make the miracle happen.
Besides, in Costa Rica, we don't have exclusive listings in most areas and a Costa Rica property for sale will be listed by multiple real estate agents even though we have an MLS.
So why bother to spend a lot of time on making a listing look good if every realtor in town has the same listing? That's what a mediocre realtor would think. The photos below, all show a lack of interest by the listing agent to my opinion.
Nonetheless, you can't expect the agent to do miracles. The agent is not a photographer and doesn't have all the necessary lenses to make your property look awesome. The solution? Easy: hire a photographer yourself and ask all the agents to use those photos in their presentations.
Underwear and pots & pans
Personally, I think the real estate agent should be responsible enough to present a property for sale in a proper way, no matter how bad the property looks and take the time to do it right. But also the seller is responsible to make the property look good when the realtor takes the photos. I have had to make beds, put underwear in closets, clean up the kitchen and put the toilet seats down before taking the photos, without even having an exclusive.
Most real estate agents don't do that but even I have sometimes missed something that doesn't look right and I didn't see that the toilet seat was up until I get back to the office and look at the pictures I took.
Security bars and razor wire
Since we don't have exclusive listings, most realtors will not show a picture of the front of the house for sale because they are afraid the buyer will find the home for sale on his/her own and go behind their back. Or another realtor who has a client doesn't want to split the commission and will try to find the property on his/her own. Many times also because many properties in Costa Rica have security bars and gates around them or razor wire on the wall and it doesn't show well in a picture.
Personally, I don't care because I want the client to be able to see as much of the property as I can show, though I wouldn't use it as a first picture on the listing.
We get emails like this on a very regular basis: Hello, I am interested in the house with listing ID 5240. Do you have any additional photos of the kitchen and master bedroom that you can send?
Which rooms do you want to be shown?
Usually, we show pictures of
- the living room,
- the dining room,
- the kitchen,
- the master bedroom
- and a couple of bathrooms.
Failing to include such fundamental pictures leads a home searcher to say,
- "Hmmm, I wonder what is wrong with the kitchen?"
- Or, "The bedroom must be tiny",
- or even worse, "the house probably doesn't have any closets because there is stuff all over the place".
How many photos?
NOT having photos of a kitchen in the listing probably means that either the agent moved the camera when taking the picture and will not go back to take another or the kitchen looks so terrible, it's better NOT to show it. I must say, I see quite a few totally horrible pictures on listings even on our own website, like the ones I am showing in this article. Shame on the listing agents that uploaded these pictures.
Unfortunately, not every real estate agent is willing to invest in a decent camera that takes wide-angle pictures. It's important for the agent to take the time to take at least 40 photos of a property. Then pick the best to be used on the listing.
A good agent
A realtor who spends time on the detail of doing a decent write-up. Also, taking nice pictures will buy time to get to know the property. This gives him/her the opportunity to look for the good, the bad and the ugly. That agent will tell the seller what to fix to make a property easier to sell. That same agent will take the time for the buyer to make sure all is legally correct.
It's important to know that the property doesn't have any serious problems. A good realtor wants to walk you through the real estate closing step by step. The best agent has a lot of patience and knowledge.
My recommendation
Sellers – check out what your home looks like online. Look at the photos, read the description, see if you are happy with it or not. Think like a buyer. After all, that's what you want to attract – a buyer. If you're not happy with the photos your agent has taken, hire a professional photographer. Then you're sure your agent will present the property the way you want it presented.
Buyers – looking for a real estate agent to represent you as a buyer or a seller, look at who presents the properties for sale best. That's for sure the one you want to be your agent because that's the one who will care about you.
You should also look for a realtor's testimonials on the web. Clients who take the time to write a testimonial are for sure happy clients. Looking for the services of a professional real estate agent? Then contact us now.
Feel free to leave your comments on this blog. If you like this article, please feel free to share it on your social media.
If you like this blog, connect with me on Google+ or subscribe to our newsletter by clicking the banner below.
While we're at it, I DO want to remind our readers that we appreciate any referrals you can send us. Finally, please remember the American-European real estate Group's agents when you refer a real estate agent. Because we DO appreciate your business.


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On Sunday at the closing of our Sunday School ministry – a gathering of all the children's Sunday School classes we call "Closing Devotion" – I talked with the kids about bending down. It was the First Sunday in Lent, and I used this ocassion to talk about what our Lord Jesus does in relationship to us: namely, to bend down to be with us where we're at, in our struggles and our suffering, in our lonliness and our sadness. Thus, rather than use the "we journey with Jesus" metaphor for Lent, I turned it around, and shared with the kids that during Lent we remember that Jesus walks with us and comes to us.
As an example, I had all of the children gather in a large circle in our Parish Hall. I asked one of our Confirmation Ministry students to come into the middle of the circle, and to fall down, as if injured. I then ran to the other side of the room, far from the "injured" youth, and asked her, "How are you doing? Can I help you? Gosh, you look hurt!" Then I asked the children, "is this a good way to help her?" Of course, the kids responded that it was not. So I walked half the distance closer to her, but still 15 feet from her, and repeated the charade. And of course, the kids saw right through it.
Finally, I came to her and knelt down next to her, asked her how she was doing, and offered assistance. Then I turned to the kids and asked if that was a better way to help her, to which they responded enthusiastically, "Yes!"
I then explained that this is how Jesus works. He isn't far off but rather comes to us, bends down to be with us, and is alongside us in our pain and struggle. I rattled off a number of situations in which I hope the children would take comfort knowing that Jesus is near them – when they have nightmares, when they get scraed, when they get hurt, etc. etc..
Then I had them kneel, all of them. I asked them what we can do when we kneel. Several said that we can pray. A few others said that we can help people when they're down. Pray and help. Pretty good things.
We talked about all those people who were knocked down, literally, by the tsunami in Japan, and how there are rescue workers who, like Jesus, are bending down to help those who have been beaten down.
After I was done with the message the kids stood up and sang a song, and we shared some announcements. But when it was time for our prayers, I invited the kids to kneel once more. There was some groaning, of course, but I think that kneeling hightened their focus. When I asked "for what shall we pray," several hands went up with great suggestions – more than usual – from "the sick" to "the people of Japan" to "peace in the Middle East" to others.
During Lent our children will be kneeling during prayer, to remember that our Lord comes to us when we're feeling low, and to form us, through a posture of prayer, for lives of bending down to reach out to those who have been knocked down by suffering.


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If you want your business to make you money or even just get off the ground, you're probably going to have to advertise. For many companies, advertising becomes a huge chunk of the overall budget, but it doesn't have to be. There are plenty of free or inexpensive ways to let people know about your business and get them coming back.
Email is a great, cost-effective way for get your name out there, contact potential customers, and keep existing customers up to date and coming back. And while developing an email list may take some time and effort, sending out an email once you have a list takes very little time.
You can get email addresses by simply asking visitors to sign up for your newsletter on your web-page, offering a free product or service in exchange for an email address, or asking for them from your customers when you take an order.
The key to success with email is to maintain contact with your mailing list...


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On April 15, the world watched in shocked awe as the 850-year-old Notre Dame cathedral went up in flames. The emotion was immediate, intense and spread around the globe. Crowds of stunned people, who gathered on the banks of the Seine, many in tears, some singing religious hymns, gasped when the flèche (spire), consumed by the blaze, finally collapsed.
The French president decided to postpone an important public address.
Heads of state reacted to the fire in the same manner as if it were a major event in world affairs.
Michael Kimmelman wrote in the New York Times that France, "… Weeps for a Symbol of Paris's Enduring Identity."
Why is this venerable monument so loved? It is for a combination of reasons. Situated on a strategic location on the Ile de la Cité, it is more than a place of cult but a symbol of a civilization. A Gallo-Roman basilica or temple stood there in the 4th century when Paris was still Lutetia, then a Merovingian palace was built by Clovis in the 5th century, which was followed by a Christian church in the 10th century. The construction of the existing cathedral started in 1132 and was not completely finished until 1345.
Napoleon chose it for his self-coronation. as depicted by Jacques Louis David. in 1807. It was to Notre Dame that Charles de Gaulle went first, after marching down the Champs Elysées, in August 1944. During the funeral of François Mitterand, German chancellor Helmut Kohl could be seen with tears in his eyes.
"There was a great and furious flame rising between the two towers, with whirlwinds of sparks" wrote Victor Hugo in 1832. At that time, Notre Dame was falling into disrepair and Victor Hugo accomplished the best ever exercise of "com" by writing the novel, "Notre Dame de Paris" (translated into English the following year as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame") to attract attention to the plight of Gothic architecture. The monument has become an iconic part of the popular culture since.
The 1939 American film,"The Hunchback of Notre Dame," added to the collective memory by showing the unforgettable Charles Laughton begging for water on the pillory and the 19-year-old gypsy girl Maureen O'Hara helping him. "Notre Dame de Paris" has been one of the most popular musical comedies in recent years. Today computer games attract younger populations under the nave. In this era of globalization, the cathedral has been an obligatory stop for mass tourism, bringing more than 12 million visitors a year to the building.
On a French televised literary program shown the day after the fire, British author Ken Follet was invited to talk about his 1989 best seller, "The Pillars of the Earth," describing the generation-long construction of a fictional early Gothic church set in the English countryside.
The cathedral has inspired artists, like Turner, Corot, Hopper, Matisse. In 1909, Paul Delaunay created a modernistic vision of the city, as seen from the top of the spire, through movement and light. Listening to Debussy's "La Cathedral Engloutie," one can't help thinking of Notre Dame. The opening stark fifth chords describe the calm waters from which the cathedral slowly rose, inspired from a medieval Breton legend.
But the main reason to revere Notre Dame is that, like the Parthenon, it is a perfect example of the canon of architectural beauty. The masters of the 13th century created a well-balanced, light, elegant structure, devoid of unnecessary decorations. They created a building at human scale. Unlike some other cathedral, such as the much taller and rather austere Cologne cathedral, for example, the feeling of height is not oppressive because of the elegant archways of the "tribune" and the "trifonium" and the upper windows pouring light over the six-point vault rib of the nave. The giant 13th century rosaces (rose stained glass windows of the north and south transept) filter soft red-blue colors.
This is why I, like so many Parisians or visitors, have being seduced by the cathedral. Once you visit it, it becomes yours. Aware that I may never see it again, I am holding on to shreds of memories.
In the mid 19th century, the cathedral was showing its age and historian and medievalist architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, aged 31, was chosen to lead the restoration starting in 1843 . He first created stunning drawings, blueprints and watercolors. Beside repairing the damage of time, he also made some bold additions such as the flèche – completed in 1859 – the gargouilles (gargoyles) and chimeras representing fantastic birds, demons, often used as rain spouts. Built in Neo-Gothic style, they matched the original spirit of the structure.
Within 48 hours of the fire, there was an unprecedented outpouring of donations. French billionaires – Francois Pinault (maker of luxury goods, owner of Christie's auction house) and Bernard Arnaud (LVMH, Vuitton) – rivaled each other as to whom would donate the most and turn down the tax deductions.
The main loss was the 13th century oak framework under the roof. When it collapsed, the flèche fell through the nave at the crossing of the transept, leaving a gaping hole. For a while, experts feared the danger of collapse in three particular areas. Then stormy weather, with rain and strong winds, forced the workers to do a fast and amazing job of protecting the structure. The ones with mountaineering experience were dispatched to the most difficult places, like pinnacles, to lay down tarps over a temporary frame installed where the roof had been.
Two weeks after the blaze, Benjamin Mouton, former chief architect of Notre Dame commented that the building was still fragile. Stones were at first dangling in the air. Work by an expert will have to determine the damage caused, in a great part, by the tons of water the hundreds of firemen hosed on the building to put out the fire. It will take several months just to dry up. The consolidation process alone will take about four months.
Fortunately the rosaces were not damaged, but to bring them back to their original condition will be a painstaking job: each pane of the stained glass will have to be taken down, cleaned, then stored until reinstalled.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced an international competition. How to conduct the restoration is causing an ongoing controversy: whether to duplicate the original building or modernize it by using new technology? Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect of historical monuments, will arbitrate opposing point of views. Should Notre Dame freeze in the past or at the same time, should one stay away from wild architectural projects not in keeping with the soul of the cathedral? One of the main dilemmas is whether to replace the oak framework (called "the forest") with wood or use another material such as metal — as in Reims cathedral — or concrete and metal as in Chartres?
An army of carpenters, stone-carvers and glass-blowers will be needed. Les Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France (nothing to do with the annual bicycle tours), dating back to the Middle Ages, is an association of monastic character, with 80 houses across France, producing the best artisans and craftsmen in the world. The transmission, through the centuries, of their savoir-faire will be crucial.
Restoration work, as a rule, is overseen by the Ministry of Culture. But this time the government appointed General Jean-Louis Gorgelin, former army chief of staff, to conduct the work … and on the double.
The day after the fire, Notre Dame, seen from the East on Quai d'Orléans on Ile St Louis, looked like a wounded bird. With the roof gone, buttresses seemed disconnected and to be flying in all directions.
Let us hope it will rise again soon in all its former splendor.
Editor's Note: This is the opinion of Nicole Prévost Logan.


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MA in Counseling from Western Michigan University
BA in English-Writing from University of Illinois at Chicago
Kerri has worked at Northeastern since 2006. She previously worked in the Vice President for Student Affairs office. She has expertise in editing, communications, and social media.
Reader, writer, travel scholar, communicator, problem solver, pop culture afficionado.
First-Year Experience
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Willie Geist was not in his usual perch on NBC's "Today" or MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Friday — he was in Los Angeles for a taping of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Kim Kardashian, who is expecting a baby with Kanye West, was also a guest on Thurday's show, and Geist threw a few parenting tips her way.
"Kanye's gonna have to decide early on whether or not he's a baby bjorn guy," Geist advised. "Because the minute you put on that baby bjorn, there's no turning back. It's like buying a minivan — you lose a little piece of yourself." Watch:
Geist also talked about his infamous on-air kiss with Al Roker:


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Walk Like An Egyptian.....This Poster has been being passed all over Twitter and Facebook....The Million Egyptian March This Tuesday 1st of February from Tahrir Square in Cairo to Republic Palace! 4:00 PM
The Army ....Looking at the Future of Egypt....
The Troops and Tanks being greeted after they had been beaten by Mubaraks Thugs and Police the Night before....
Families have come to the Streets, with their wives and children...
Throughout the Weekend More and More have gone to the Streets, and have started writing the Signs in English so that more Media will get their message out, "Game Over Mubarak" Is a very popular sign in the crowds.
Friday the People were being beaten and shot by the Police, the Army came in to Protect the People, whether they will continue to Protect the People or Protect Mubarak time will tell. But the Soldiers were greeted with warm welcome, people bringing their families and children. Friday the Police Thugs were Beating people with clubs and shooting them , so their gratitude is very meaningful, the people are seeking safety, from Mubarak's Police Thugs. ( Later Today I will post the Mubarak bloody Damage Photos from Friday, they are disturbing and graphic).
MSNBC Update by NBC Richard Engle Really Welldone Synopsis of Late Saturday Night MUST SEE::::
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Egyptian Protester Speaking about the Uprising in Egypt, His Country, His home...so Touching....Must See....Huge volume sharing this via Facebook and Twitter....
A Little 8 year girl has a Message for Mubarak
Editorial Thoughts:::
Below is Fuller Post with many Details and information:::
Politically the Situation in Egypt is changing hourly, and the Whole World is Watching as it unfolds, the Courage of the People there can not be underestimated. And in many ways it is an Uprising, a Revolution....it has all the mindspinning polarity,
Brave people speaking out, taking care of each other, arm and arm ,even neighbors protecting themselves with Kitchen Knives and baseball bats. And then it has more tender moments of Families greeting the Army the soldiers. Who the Thugs are and who is doing the looting and the arson, that is a big question right now. Did Mubarak order the Destruction and arson and violence on his people ? Did he order the the Prisons to be emptied so the people would have to cope with gangs in their neighborhoods....Is some of the Thuggery actually Ex Police ? ( that is being asked on Twitter) One of the Questions is it Ordered Mayhem and Violence and Created Manuvered Chaos, so that Mubarak manuvers, creates his own order, security damanding he stay in power.
Sadly the Struggle is on....Today it is Sunday and it is Now MN in Egypt and the Tahrir Square is where the center of this History making battle is going to take place. Do Watch CNN and do try to watch Al Jezeera on the Internet or on TV , on Sunday they lost their Broadcasting license in Egypt ( so their Reporting is now dangerously bravely being pursued in other ways) BBC,The Guardian, and many other journalists are there covering this History. On CNN do watch for Reports from Ivan , Ben and Nic, they are the eyes and ears of this event. ( Rumor on Twitter this am was that Anderson Cooper is trying to get there.)
On Twitter I follow Egyptians and Journalists and Writer and Citizens and I really am hearing their concerns and the worries and
am trying to blog and twitter objectively, but it is getting more difficult. For 3 days I have been tracking people on Twitter as they tell about the Internet Shutdown, the Violence and what they see in their neighborhoods and in their homes and on the streets....80 Million People is alot to worry about.
Jan25 is what they labeled their Uprising, it was a Planned Protest of Mubaracks Police, held with purpose on The Annual Police Honor Day.
Added A brave Egyptian young girl tells off Mubarak's Security Police....
How Brave are the People of Egypt ? Do watch this whole 9 Minute video of What Really Happened on the Bridge Last Friday, it is the Most Astonishing Video I have ever seen...