text:
- Nolan Poe
- Goleta, CA
- United States
This conversation is closed.
Is an engineer morally responsible for harm caused by their creations?
I am currently on the path to become a mechanical engineer. I don't have exact numbers, but I'd estimate that about a half of all engineering work goes into weapons. This is based on anecdotal evidence I have gathered in my home town and is most certainly up for debate. If I am correct, though, I will probably end up designing instruments of death and destruction at one point in my life. If I work on a gun that kills an innocent man, woman or child, I don't know that I could sleep soundly ever again. I don't know that I could explain to the victim's mother why I made something so lethal. My worst nightmare is sitting on my deathbed thinking of nothing but those I helped kill. As Peter van Uhm explains, they can also be instruments of peace, I find that less than consoling considering the potential for misuse. I would appreciate thoughtful responses. It's easy to answer "no" but please consider the emotional aspects as well.
Closing Statement from Nolan Poe
This question had a variety of answers. Most agreed that weapons and weapons development were necessary. Some urged me to stick to what I feel is best, regardless of what the world and its nations want. A few suggested that I had already decided, which isn't true per se. The default scenario is for me to go about my career with little regard as to what my work will be used for. The reason I asked the question is because I was uneasy with this and curious about how others had rationalized it, if at all. I'd like to thank everyone for responding and helping me figure out what to do with my life.
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Feb 7 2012: Thank you, very insightful. Regarding not playing the world's game, you have to understand that Engineers must follow the money. It's not greed, it's just how the supply and demand of labor works.
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Feb 7 2012: I'd like to believe what you're saying is false, but it's true. I don't want anyone to give me permission as much as I want them to explain how they rationalize it, but that's a technicality. I'm not the first to be faced with this dilemma and I won't be the last, so it was just an appeal to those older than me for insight into this decision.Feb 7 2012: There may be reasonable compromises but there is no "must" about following the money. Drawing a line not to be crossed is part of what morality is about.Feb 8 2012: You are only faced with a dilemma because you make it one. On one hand you want the money, on the other, you know what you will do for a job will be wrong. If you followed what you know to be the right path, there would be no dilemma. In fact, the only dilemma you really have is 'how do I make myself feel better about this?'
John Tax
Feb 3 2012: An engineer is only responsible for his own intent. The user is responsible for his/her own intent. Why did he invent what he invented? To what purpose? Is the inventor of a brick responsible for it being used as a weapon? The user of the brick is. The inventor of a spear is responsible for his intent - was it to kill his neighbor or to bring home dinner....
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Feb 3 2012: Fair enough, but don't compare a gun to a brick. You can't build a building out of guns (I would actually love to see this disproven). ;)
Feb 3 2012: I think the point John was making is, A brick is used as a weapon, not that a brick is used as a gun.
Feb 3 2012: yeah, but a brick has many uses that don't involve destruction. like building something. A gun's only redeeming quality is that some of the people it kills could be quite evil and removing them can make the world a better place.
Richard Nota
Feb 4 2012: Not quite. An engineer is responsible for taking reasonable precautions that his work is in the public interest. That may be better put in the double negative. An engineer is responsible for taking reasonable precautions that his work will not result in harm to the public. In the case of weapons, that means the assessment should be that the overall good will exceed the overall harm.
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Although the amount of work that goes into weapons is large I would be very surprised if it was anywhere near half of all engineering work. That would, in my opinion, be a very strong argument against van Uhm. Nevertheless, it is not black and white and you need to form your own opinion. Compromises always have to be made but lines also have to be drawn to remain self honest.
Feb 7 2012: I agree with your first point. In a reply to edward long, I mentioned that increasing the precision of modern weapons systems is a worthy goal. It lets you reduce collateral damage among other things. I would judge this to be morally good.
And one need only look at the breakdown of the US National budget to see how much our country contributes to the weapons industry.
edward long
Feb 2 2012: Whether weapons are used rightly or wrongly is not the business of those who design, build, and use them. When a person, or a nation, has something of value, whether it be their gold or their freedom, there will always be those who will try to take it from them. Capable, superior even, weapons are the means of defending against tyranny and oppression. Like all things Man is capable of misusing weapons, but that does not change the fact that miltary might is essential to the freedom of a nation. Bob Dylan is free to sing Masters of War anywhere in America thanks to the designers, builders and users of weapons. Here's a design tip from an old-school design engineer, whatever you design, Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS). Best wishes Mr. Poe.
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Feb 2 2012: Thank you. As much as I would like to say it's not my business, I have trouble being that callous. Time will tell, I suppose, but I would like to have some knowledge of how my work will affect others. As much as I would love to work on things that do not destroy, I have a hard time believing that I'll be able to consistently find work without working for a defense contractor. As I think about it more and more, I'm starting to understand more about modern warfare. Waging war today is all about being precise and minimizing collateral damage, because collateral damage increases the strength of the foe you face. For every civilian you kill, a bunch of his or her buddies become hostile. I can deal with that. I think that making weapons more precise is a worth goal, and one I am more than willing to contribute to.
Feb 2 2012: I hope we agree weapons are necessary Nolan. It is OK for you to avoid being a weapons designer if you consider it morally dubious. But I urge you not to think less of weapons designers. Many of us see it as meaningful service to our country, kind of like military service with good pay. Also, when I say "not your business" I mean you have nothing to say about where, why, or when those weapons are put to use. That's not callous, that's acceptance of your chosen role.
Feb 3 2012: True, all true. I think time will help me come to terms with this. And I agree they are necessary in many cases. That's why this is even up for debate. Peter van Uhm's talk opened my eyes in that regard. And I agree that weapons engineering, especially when design criteria include precision and low collateral damage, is necessary if not noble work.Feb 5 2012: @edward long
It is very much the business of those who design and build whether they are wrongly or rightly used. It is reasonable to believe that many weapons designers do not consider the morality of their business or their employer and do it for money. He does have a say, limited though its effect may be, but he might be crucified for making a moral stand and your comments are not helpful in that regard. Weapons design and building is a morally dubious industry even if some have a justifiable moral stand.
jag .
Feb 5 2012: Great question, I'm a civil engineer and I have asked myself the same question. Luckily I have found my passion, and it is to do with working in developing countries and reducing poverty through engineering.
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You could check out EWB (Engineers Without Borders) http://www.ewb-uk.org/
WEDC http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/
Redr http://www.redr.org.uk/
Feel free to contact me if you want more info :)
Feb 7 2012: I think I will contact you at some point. I've been looking at EWB ever since I graduated high school, and it would be good to ask questions to somebody who actually does it!
Unrelated: Civil Engineers don't have to deal with the moral stuff as much, because you know.... Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets. ;)Feb 5 2012: .
> I will probably end up designing instruments of death and destruction
unless you decide not to.
Peter Van Uhm's opinion, is just the opinion of a person who chose a gun.
Are you responsible? is the inventor of the solar panel responsible for lowering pollution? I think so, the most of the responsibility belongs to the people that choose that technology, but that guy's got his merit. You'll have your small part of responsibility for the good and the bad outcomes. Designing weapons, you do the math.
There is no way back, more powerful weapons will be developed with or without your contribution, but seems to me that you don't really want to get involved, and I agree. So why not to focus on the other half of the jobs?
Feb 7 2012: Very true, but I don't want to be blind to the relatively large portion of weapons work that reduces loss of life--especially in urban combat scenarios like the ones The United States seems to be enjoying right now. Like I would absolutely love to be a part of a project that allows for better detection of IEDs. I would feel great about myself every morning. But if the project were to create IEDs that are better able to avoid detection, I don't think I would feel very good about myself at all.
Tim Allyn
Feb 2 2012: Depends on your intent when you design. Are you designing a nuclear bomb, or nuclear power. Are you designing ovens for biscuits or people? Anti-virus may become destructive virus as conditions and controls change. Many things designed can have a multiple purpose outcomes. Good, bad and ugly. We are dependent upon your just intentions, and you are dependent upon ours when we get our greasy hands on your inventions.
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Feb 3 2012: I like this! Concise, too. Thanks! :)Feb 3 2012: Mr. Allyn, I disagree that nuke designers did a bad thing. Equal force is a proven tactic of self-defense, whether in a dark, back alley, or a global stand-off. America needed WMD because our potential assailants had them. Such weapons do cause massive collateral damage (Hiroshima, Nagasaki). The engineers and scientists who contributed to America's arsenal of nukes ought not be looked-down upon for their efforts. Had we not had "mutual destruction capability" our enemy might well have defeated us. Participating in the creation of nuclear bombs was no less honorable than any other weapon design task.
Feb 3 2012: but many of them regretted it afterwards, claiming that they wish they had not contributed to the project. We can debate whether the blood of so many are on their hands, but many of them thought so. it's dubious at best. Many of them didn't know what the actual yield would be until the tests were carried out. after seeing the tests, i'm sure many of them had second thoughts.
Feb 3 2012: I cannot disprove your premise about eventual regret, you may be right. My point is limited to the idea of weapons design not being labeled as immoral or evil. Thanks Nolan. By the way, give some thought to specializing in urban infrastructure. Cities are in dire straits and if peace ever breaks out the big jobs will be power, water, sewage, communications, mass transit, etc.Feb 7 2012: Many books and articles argue this point endlessly. Hindsight is indeed 20/20. When the Manhattan project was begun the biggest fear was that Nazi Germany would develop and use an atomic bomb first. There is some anecdotal evidence that Heisenberg was able to subtly sabotage the project to prevent its fruition. Norway's shipments of heavy water south were known.
The Japanese effort was not nearly as far along.
Oppenheimer wanted the post war world to have ready access, so as to eliminate any "arms race" that would ultimately develop if one nation had the "secret" and the others wanted that same secret.
Be that as it may, unfortunately most of the world's most prominent advances is technology, science and medicine are usually linked to major conflicts. Reconstructive surgery is a premier example in the field of medicine.
Also be aware that no matter what the engineer's intent in his/her creation is, it can always be modified by others to make an extremely efficient weapon to some degree.
Maxim invented the machine gun hoping that such a horrible weapon would reduce the number of conflicts that would require its use. He did not succeed.Feb 5 2012: Let me ask you this. IF each person working on the A bomb, had known it would have been lobbed at the Japanese, and if each person working on the project had sat down to dinner one time in life with a Japanese family, would they have been willing to make the bomb? No. Many possibly all, would have refused. Does their ignorance absolve them?A designer does carry a responsiblity to understand how his/her designs will be utelised.
Actually David Montgomery, as weird and crazy as this sounds, every house in the vicinity of my house IS a gun free home. Where I live, it is a foregone conclusion to all my neighbours, even the shady ones, that my home is a gun free home. Guess what? I sleep real well at night, and I even answer my door at ten pm without fear. You have just illustrated my point perfectly. When people create a violent society, when they think they depend on weapons, they are never really safe ever again. Your system must be rotten to the core, that you think you need guns just to feel safe.
Feb 5 2012: American military leaders estimated the toll --in American lives only-- of an invasion of mainland Japan to be 1,000,000. It is a good thing we had those two bombs. The Japanese people would never have surrendered and we would have had to use conventional weapons to demolish the entire country. Millions of lives were saved because we had the bombs and the President with the courage to use them. We didn't start the war with Japan, we ended it. The men who designed those bombs freely chose to aid the Allies in stopping Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito. They were not ignorant and they do not need absolution. Enjoy your freedom to disparage the men who contributed greatly to preserving them for you Ms. Donovan.Feb 5 2012: You need to study history...not the bull crap you learned in the Liberal Universities.
Germany was on the threshold of developing the Bomb. And, there was a submarine carrying those developments to Japan. If Germany had completed the development and Japan had built the Bomb do you not believe that they would have used it against us?
If we do not develop, test, and build ever increasingly effective weapons the other side will.
But, to answer your question...the developers and builders knew exactly who the Bombs were to be used against.
"Those who beat their guns into plows will plow for those that did not." Thomas Jefferson.
"I own a gun not because I want kill...I have it because I want to live."
If you really feel so strong about weapons, place a sign in you front window, or on your front lawn, that reads: "This is a gun-free home." I dare you.
Carlin Covey
Feb 6 2012: The link I've pasted in below is relevant to this particular aspect of the conversation. Many of the scientists and technicians who worked on the development of the atomic bomb signed a petition to the President urging that it not be used against the Japanese population until its power had been demonstrated to them. The petition was suppressed and delayed by the military.
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If the link doesn't work, just search for "Manhattan Project" "The Scientists' Petition".Feb 7 2012: The comments are nested too deep for me to reply to the comments I'm going to respond to.
@David Montgomery
Seriously??? "the Liberal Universities"? First of all, I go to one of the most conservative universities on the planet. Second, I really do not believe you are adding to the conversation, so unless you have something free of ad hominem attacks, I would like to politely ask you to leave. As a side note, look at edward long's comments to see how to correctly argue the viewpoint in your comment without seeming condescending and unintelligent.
@Avenir, I doubt very many people but the top scientists knew what was going on until they actually tested the bombs. They were extremely careful about intel leaks.Feb 7 2012: Hi Edward Long.
As far as WWII goes, the nuclear bombs used by the U.S. would not fit your definition of equal force. Excessive force - yes. Did it save U.S. / Allies lives? Most Likely. Have its unintended consequences balanced its intent. Doubtful? The creation and use of the technology has led to a massive use of resources (material and brain power) that would have, could have been put to better use, with more peaceful and socially beneficial goals, both foreign and domestic. Furthermore, the use of the technology basically crippled if not destroyed generations of people from 'peripheral' nations in central and south America, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia as the Nuke threat between the Soviets and U.S. was played out. The non-peaceful use of the technology has shown the technology to be the single worse invention the planet has seen. Unless of course the 'collateral' effects were intended by the inventors.
I do hope Mr. Poe' engineering career works to undo what engineers have previously done.
Feb 7 2012: At Pearl Harbor our enemy demonstrated massive military might the full extent of which we did not know. We responded with force of which we did not know the full extent. I call that equal.Millions of axis and allied lives saved swings the scale heavily to the justifiable side.The cold war was debilitating. Had we not had equal force it would have been far ,far worse.History seems to be supporting a non-nuclear world. The designers cannot be blamed for that. Peace loving people need sabers to rattle when the bad guys threaten.
Mike Tischer
Feb 2 2012: With the principals of design crossing over so many sectors, it is impossible to take responsibility for the full scope of possibility that an invention can be utilized, or applied.
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Imagine if you created a new way to detect heat, for the advancement of medicine, and it became a component of a missile. Would you be at fault?
Or, you work on a project that allows a vehicle manufacturer to produce a automobile that can scale the highest mountains for rescue and exploration missions, and that technology becomes part of a new tank clone? Would you be at fault?
In both cases, I'd say no.
Actually, I hope people like you DO work on more weaponry, and defense systems, because you appreciate life to the fullest, and you'll always balance ethics in your design, and will instill that into your design. Good luck to you!
Feb 2 2012: Interesting. My concern is based on the sentiments of many extremely successful scientists. Alfred Nobel and the scientists working in the Manhattan project are probably the most well-known, but I'm sure others regretted their work because of the death toll. Of course, I do not expect to become this successful, but that doesn't mean I won't be successful enough to make a meaningful contribution and later regret it.Feb 2 2012: Yes, of course you have a responsibility for what your creation causes, specially when it's specifically made for harming. If the damage was caused, say, for a malfunction in the solar concentrators David Hamilton mentioned, you do have a responsibility, but it wasn't your intention at all, so I'd say that's okay. But a gun is especifically designed to harm someone. If you didn't have any other choice, you could say that you had to eat, and it would be less bad, so to speak (you still had the choice not to do it), but you do have choices. again, the solar concentrators sound very good.
The thing is that the responsibility is so diluted, it doesn't feel like it. But you have to analize it like this: if you don´t do it, perhaps not much would happen (someone would work extra hours to do what you would be doing); but, if people, as you, don't work on designing them, then the change would be obvious. It's the categorical imperative, i guess. Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.
I used to be an engineer, and worked in places where my job didn't make people's life easy. I provided information to decide if people should be fired, and how many. I made production faster, leaner, but people were laid off. I couldn't handle it, because, even when I was doing an excellent job, and I wasn't firing anyone, my input resulted in harming people, so I made up my mind and, eventually, started studying biology.
I do think that the results of your work have a moral weight, however far you can see it. That's why you have to analyze what you do and decide if it harms people, and if you can avoid it. In your case, I think it's simple, given that the harm is so obvious. More specifically, call David Hamilton.
Feb 2 2012: This is more or less what I had thought of before seeing the talk by Peter van Uhm, minus the Kant philosophy. Unfortunately, I think, we need weapons. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a neo-con. I don't think that America should be policing the world with superior firepower, but I think that giving every village elder an assault rifle may be a very good solution to genocide in 3rd world countries. Watch the talk. I'm really interested to hear your response, because you manage to put into words what I was thinking a few weeks ago.
Feb 2 2012: It perhaps could help to give every villager an assault rifle, but I believe that violence generates violence, in short or long term. What you should be doing is educating people. Instead of giving people guns to protect, educate people to help each other, to find ways to live together. I don't think you should just send teachers, in some places, they would just be ignored, killed, or whatever. But really invest in educating people. What would happen if, as a part of your defense investment, you had a real contribution in education? Everybody wants results today, but sometimes you have to invest today to see results in 20, 30 years. But you have to think in the long term, unfortunately. That's how you make sure what you do sticks, so to speak.
Feb 3 2012: Very true. Peter van Uhm discusses that in his talk. His opinion is that we have not reached the time when we are all civilized enough for education to have a meaningful impact. I mean, if you grow up seeing people murdered for the color of their skin or the deity they worship, I doubt any amount of education will remove the imprint of violence on your mind. To make education truly effective, the violence should be reduced to 1st world levels everywhere. So I guess it's a chicken and egg problem of sorts...
Tim Allyn
Feb 7 2012: Hi Ed,
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Massive military might? Massive military surprise on their side and a massive intelligence, survelance (sp) and planning failure on the part of the U.S. History shows that the Allies had already swung the tables on the Japanese by the time we nuked them. The Nazis were also near defeat or defeated (I don't have my dates). And we were working with the Soviets (they were on our side).
Blame and responsibility are tough verbs to throw around. Blame and responsibility would go to the President and advisors. Perhaps the designers would just get the responsibility tag. Forgive me for what I have done, because I know not what I've done....some sort of religious proverb?
Mike dewaal
Feb 7 2012: On a personal and comunity level death of a human is terrible thing. On a global level human life is the least precious of all comoditties. People are always wondering how they can become more green and lower their carbon footprint. Well the geenest thing you can do is , not breed. And if you want to be really green kill as many people as possible without harming the enviroment. We don't need peace we need mass kulling of humans. Better weapons for more intelligent people.
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Carlin Covey
Feb 6 2012: Here's a link that is related to this topic. It notes that Roger Boisjoly just died. He was one of several engineers who urged their managers to ask that the launch of the space shuttle Challenger be postponed. The engineers were concerned that the cold weather might cause the seals in the solid rocket boosters to fail, resulting in the loss of the space shuttle and its crew. The engineers were overruled by their managers, and NASA was told to proceed with the launch. The engineers were right. The cold did cause the seals to fail, and the shuttle blew up killing the entire crew of seven. But rather than being rewarded for trying to do the right thing, Roger Boisjoly was punished for speaking out. Sometimes an engineer has to choose what is morally right, not what will make him popular in his company.
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John Tax
Feb 4 2012: What was the INTENT in inventing the gun? Was it to bring home the bacon or to kill one's neighbor? It is taking personal responsibility that matters. It is in the INTENT of the user that matters - not the inventor.
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Feb 3 2012: No need for guilt; my guilt only surfaced when I was required to watch classified film of the effects of atomic, biological and chemical weapons on humans and animals.
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Always liked Lennon's remark- "What if they gave a war- and nobody came?"
Feb 2 2012: Simple- nobody is forcing you to design military equipment. I worked for MOD in the UK for 15 years, until transferred to nuclear submarine work; I left, migrated and took up civil/structural design. My troubled conscience was absolved and my income trebled- nice bonus!
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Feb 3 2012: good point. I'd like to fully understand the moral consequences of both civil and military work no matter what I choose, though... Thanks for your input.
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Feb 3 2012: I just realized I didn't reply to this. Sorry, I had something written a few hours ago but I closed my browser. The biblical analogy is interesting and insightful. Thanks for your input! :)Feb 2 2012: Hey... You live in CA. I'll teach you how to build solar concentrators and we'll save the world : )
Feb 2 2012: fresnel lenses are cheaper! :DFeb 7 2012: Edward Long, I have a great deal of respect for you but not this comment, or the ideology behind it. 'American military leaders estimate...greatly to preserving them for you'. Neither my freedom nor yours was engineered by any war quite the opposite, that sentiment is oxymoronish. The lie of your statement was given in the first line, 'American military leaders estimate...' of course these people have to do a great deal to persuade themselves and others that their work is in the common good. Every violent organisation has to spend a measure of effort on propaganda, how much depends on how many people are still free to act on their conscience in their community.
I say, each person who has designed a weapon, is partly responsible for every single death that weapon has caused, and I commend your sentiments Nolan, to be concerned about that. I agree with you. We all make choices in life. If you follow the commitment to peace, you cannot let the warmongers dissuade you.
Feb 7 2012: I don't think that edward long is a warmonger. If you read his other comments and watch the peter van uhm talk, you might see a different side of violence and weapons. It's fallacious to say that having bigger guns is the best way to promote peace, but there are merits to having superior firepower. As van uhm, says, it's just a government monopoly on violence.
Regarding the death tolls on the Japanese invasion, I agree that there are many other ways to solve the situation without so much death. What about dropping leaflets explaining the destructive power of the bomb over the cities about 2-3 days before the bomb drop. Needless to say, you would need to have fighter escorts and that might require an additional airplane for in-flight refueling of the short-range fighters, but that's a small price to pay for even a couple thousand civilians saved. Worst case, you cut the death toll in half. Nobody believes us in hiroshima, but they get the idea in nagasaki. Best case, the Japanese actually believe us and you only kill maybe 100-1000 civilians. Let's be adults here, the Japanese have a culture of pride and honor, but do you really think that what we did was necessary to convince them to surrender?
Edit: I think this is off-topic. It has also been fully debated elsewhere and you can look up the points on both sides if you wish to investigate further.
Feb 8 2012: I dont need to watch a talk to know right from wrong. I am not someone who requires an education on this issue. Human bloodshed is, in my opinion, a crime. Its a crime whatever flowery reason someone makes up in order to assuage their conscience or create justifiable cause.
No one who calls himself or herself a christian could ever justify designing or selling weaponry, without committing an act of total hypocrisy.
I do not call Edward Long a warmonger, I do not know him at all really, I was refering to the military and govt personelle who produce the pro war propaganda.
We are a civilisation that has evolved through the destructive effects of war. We are used to them, the most stupid of us, believe we depend on them. We do not. We have many other options open to us today, and in fact we always did have.
War is not only a crime against the victim but the the people swinging the bombs also pay a price. Sometimes its a very high price.
If the people lobbing the bombs at Japan, had really wanted a peaceful solution they could have found one. One suggestion: throw the bomb at a place where there are no people. Give them an evacuation warning. You seem to be very creative when it comes to your designs, but not so creative when it comes to a path that pursues peace, why is that? Dont yout hink it is too important? Is it better really to be the 'winner'?
I get the feeling you have made up your mind up about this already. Why bother to put up the question then, to make yourself feel better about a choice you have already made? To arrange a little justification for yourself? Personally I prefer my adverseries to meet me head on, not pretend to be something they are not.
Feb 9 2012: Please do not attack me like this without reading other comments I have written. I addressed every single point you brought up very thoroughly elsewhere. Go read them if you wish. Quite honestly, I'm insulted.
Responding to your point about all human bloodshed being a crime, I think that is naive at best. Imagine you were approximately 300m outside a village that was being raided. You also have a sniper rifle. Not wanting to be caught off-guard, you watch through the telescopic sights on the rifle. You see a man rounding up all of the woman and children in the village and begin to rape and kill them one by one. Are you honestly telling me it is a crime to put a shot through this man's brain? This stuff happens. Are you so naive as to think that reducing the total loss of life is wrong if it means killing a man about to kill 50 people? Don't get me wrong, this isn't about choosing if you should execute him or take him captive, but whether you should kill him outside of the legal system or let innocents die.
I'm a pacifist, by the way, but I accept that in emergency situations, laws are replaced by the duty and responsibility of everyone to protect everyone.
EDIT: 300m is pretty far for the average TEDster. Let's say you're 100m out but really well hidden.
John Tax
Feb 4 2012: I take your point. There are some inventions that are hard to justify such as the Gatling gun, the Norden bomb sight or the atomic bomb. In all those cases, the INTENT was to create something so terrible that it would bring war(s) to a quick end. History shows us that that intention never seems to work and only exacerbates the situation for a short time until counter measures are created.
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Biological Engineering is an area that needs intense scrutiny. It would be too easy to create some apocalyptic entity either by malevolent intent or accident (valuable intention). Rest assured that, like meteorites & earthquakes, it will happen.
In the end, only time can tell whether any of it is valuable or not. There are always two sides to every coin. Positives arise out of every cataclysm. Death to dinosaurs and the rise of mammals for instance. What happens, happens. We give it all a meaning/intent, either good or bad, which will change over time. Like mammals destroying the planet?
Feb 5 2012: Again, not quite. Almost anything can be misused, inadvertently or intentionally. Besides ensuring it can be used for the intended purpose an engineer must take into account how something may be wrongly used. It could be designing a part so that it cannot be placed in an assembly the wrong way. It could be 'over' designing something that it does not dangerously disintegrate if misused or poorly built. Its intended use is not sufficient consideration.
In addition, the owner of the product becomes relevant if the product can be used against the public good.
Of course, not every situation can be envisaged and we have to be reasonable. Time is not the only arbiter. Many things are reasonably predictable. When it comes to weapons it is a very fine line.
Feb 5 2012: re:@edward long-- Is ladder design a "morally dubious" activity? Ladders are used to rescue helpless victims and to commit burglaries.
Feb 5 2012: @edward long
You replied in the wrong thread (but that is why my reply is here).
You may not have intended it but your argument does include the specifics of a situation. Having simply identified that designing and building arms can justified is insufficient to morally justify it is generally to all situation.
Simple scenario ...
Interviewer: "You knew your employer was selling the weapons to criminals on the black market."
Designer: "Yes"
Interviewer: " But you continued to design them to operate efficiently and did nothing else"
Designer: "Yes"
Interviewer: "Why"
Designer: "That was my job".
I acknowledge that life is generally more complicated but that is the strength of your argument and it is a cop out.
Ladders are a much simpler practical consideration and ladder design and manufacture is not morally dubious because we generally understand and accept the realities of misuse. The same cannot be said of said of weapons design and manufacture which can reasonably be concluded as involving much more secrecy, subterfuge and plane lack of morality.Feb 6 2012: It's OK to disagree with my opinion without disparaging me by saying my opinion is a "cop out". You think weapons designers do a disservice to the world by working in an immoral industry. I understand that is your opinion and I have neither the motivation nor the ability to persuade you otherwise, or to denigrate you or your opinion. This is an exchange of opinions, not a contest of persuasive skills. Thank you Mr. Nota. PS "the wrong thread" is often the only way to reply on TED Conversations.)
Feb 6 2012: @edward long
"I was ordered to do it" can in circumstances be a reasonable defence. As a moral principle it is no defence and to my understanding has long been discredited as such. To my mind your position was an analogous "cop out" for the reasons I put.
"You think weapons designers do a disservice to the world by working in an immoral industry." While I do think that the industry is morally dubious I did not say that. I could respect a weapons designer or many weapons designers based on their various specific situations.
I have no reason to believe you intended to put your opinion any less strongly than myself and your indignation is misplaced.
Comment deletedFeb 8 2012: Please dont use the bricks and kitchen knives kill too argument, so does a plastic bag and an inch of water in the right hands. This line of debate sinks so low, it represents a moral defeat, on the grounds, you have nothing left.
John Tax
Feb 8 2012: How about taking some personal responsibility instead of going the "American Way" and blaming others and pushing the responsibility on others. The only thing that can be controlled in this world is our own selves. We cannot control others. If we could, killing would be unnecessary!
- +1
Feb 8 2012: I have not been blaming others. I have only been indicating that engineers need to take into account reasonably predicable outcomes (and not just engineers).
Consider Murphy's Law and the potential catastrophic outcome of putting a simple part the wrong way into a complicated machine (e.g. Airbus A380). The part was never intended to go in the wrong way but if it is simple to put it in the wrong way it is likely to happen.
I am guessing Joanne Donovan made a similar assumption to you.
Zak Wilson
Feb 5 2012: I disagree that designing more terrible weapons never works to prevent war. I think there would have been a third world war between the Soviets and the US/Western Europe in the absence of a nuclear deterrent. Nuclear weapons may also have prevented a war between India and Pakistan.Feb 7 2012: The Norden bombsight was meant to tighten up the bomb patterns. It lets you take out a factory without accidentally hitting houses. Still, the bomb's blast radius might destroy some houses, but overall you are saving lives. The atomic bomb was a cool "what if" that almost all of the researchers regretted. The gatling gun... yeah. Pretty sick, no matter how you look at it. But what about the shift towards smaller caliber ammunition? If you put a big hole in a guy, you kill him. If you put a small hole in a guy, you injure him and 2 of his companions try to get him out of there. Either you shoot the people carrying him, which is pretty disgusting, or you let them leave. Either way, you just took out 3 guys and reduced the loss of life. Pretty awesome, right?Feb 3 2012: Perhaps you should consider what one school of Japanese swordmanship teaches. "Consider not what you kill when you use your blade, but rather what you allow to live."
- +2
There will always be those who view violence as the easiest solution. That the views of "others" are not acceptable, and that there is no middle ground upon which to build the bridge between" them" and "us." This is where most engineers have come to stand - that they are perserving peace, stopping further violence, preventing war by having no one willing to face what comes from it.
No one seeks to avoid war more than the soldier, for he has to carry it out. He knows the horror, and he knows the costs. Perhaps war can best be prevented not by screaming "Peace, Peace" but rather teaching everyone just exactly what war entails, what it looks like, smells like, feels like in the heart and bone.


text:
New York City Mayor Bloomberg Urges Federal Gun Control Reforms
Updated: Tuesday, January 15 2013, 10:18 PM EST
Experts from around the world gather in Baltimore as they take aim at establishing stricter gun control legislation.
The two day summit kicked off on Monday with Governor Martin O'Malley discussing what needs to be done here in Maryland.
Later this week, O'Malley plans to unveil his legislative package. Among the measures, the Governor discussed today included fingerprinting on handgun purchases. Shotgun and rifle purchases would be excluded. O'Malley also talked about a ban on assault rifles and lowering the capacity of magazines from 20 rounds to 10.
O'Malley wrapped up his presentation with the introduction of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who looked at possible changes to federal statutes. Bloomberg would like to see gun trafficking considered a federal crime.
Following the summit, several recommendations will be made in hopes it will be considered by policymakers.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
So while no official word, expect it in mid-late April.
So while no official word, expect it in mid-late April.
Please, Please, Please keep the helmet on the Dolphin! I know many don't like it that much but that's my favorite part.
If you ever want to see a rainbow, you've got to stand a little rain.
Not too happy about them keeping the navy, but i'll reserve judgement until I see it.
Dolphins are grey hope there's a grey version of our new uni's they should build 4 versions: home, away, specialty(grey theme), and throwback (72 theme)
Hey guys, I've seen it. I'm not allowed to say where or how, but I have. Quote me on this when it's released, but what I can tell you is:
1) The helmet is gone
2) the Dolphins is facing the other way
3) The colors are different. Shade wise.


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New Details On Navy Yard Shooter Aaron Alexis Emerge
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text:
Soccer friends and contacts. I just want to take the time to wish everyone of you a Happy Holiday season with your love ones. 2012 was by far my best soccer year and I'm not sure I can think of a better way to end 2012 than by putting a smile on some of the kids at the Shriners Children's Hospital of Sacramento. I'm just getting home from delivering the toys collected during our 2nd Annual indoor tournament that my brother and I hosted. Last year we collected a little less than 70 toys, and this year we made it a goal to collect 200. I'm overwhelmed with all the support we got! We were able to collect 270 toys. Thank you very much to the 30 teams and the 200 plus kids that participated.
We also collected a lot soccer gear that we will eventually get to kids in need in different parts of the world. As I said 2012 was a wonderful year for me. I helped my HS team win our first title and was voted Most inspirational player by my teammates. I helped my club team win several tournaments and was again voted captain for the season. I was selected to the Region IV ODP Team Pool. Selected to the "1st All Tournament Team" at the ODP Championships in Phoenix, and invited to an ODP National Camp in Las Vegas. I'm very grateful for all those opportunities, but I'm more proud for the soccer related activities I was able to do off the field during the year. The feeling I got today after dropping off those toys can only be match by the feeling I get every time we get pictures of kids from around the world wearing jerseys or playing with balls that we collected and donated. In 2012 "Jerseys & Cleats For Kids", the organization that my brother and I started a couple years ago and our parents fully support, was able to send soccer gear to kids in Mozambique, South Africa, Ethiopia and Central America. We were able to donate a lot of soccer balls to 5 villages in Ethiopia who have never had a soccer ball before. I would be lying if I didn't say that it is a lot of hard work, but just seeing the children's faces full of joy is more than enough to keep us doing what we do. I'm very excited for 2013! I have a very good feeling that for me it will be the best year yet on and off the field.
- Janae Gonzalez
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Party with the Animals
Barney Estate at Forest Park
Senator Eric Lesser and honorable Mayor Sarno will join us for Dinner, Entertainment, Raffles, and more.
- Catered by Lattitude Restaurant
- Silent and Live Auction
- Dress is Jungle Casual
Proceeds benefit the care and keeping of our animal friends in the Zoo at Forest Park
Master of ceremonies: Ashley Kohl and Seth Stutman of Mass Appeal
Mass Appeal is an hour-long lifestyle program that airs Monday through Friday at 11:00 AM. The hour is filled with cooking, entertainment, family, fashion, health, community and beauty segments.
Ashley Kohl is the co-host and associate producer of WWLP-22News' NBC weekday morning lifestyle program, "Mass Appeal." She enjoys booking, writing, shooting, editing, hosting and meeting new people every single day.
Ashley is a western Massachusetts native. She was born and raised in South Hadley, and she is a graduate of the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts High School. Ashley also attended Wagner College studying Arts Administration, and the University of Massachusetts where she majored in Communications.
She has an extensive performance background. While living in New York City, she worked at World of Disney NYC as a character performer & studied at Broadway Dance Center. She continues to teach dance & choreograph at Technique Studio of Dance in South Hadley. Her favorite job in the world is being a mom to her 3 year old daughter, Summer and 2 year old son, Brody.
Despite being from central Massachusetts, Seth has fallen in love with western Massachusetts. Before his move to Northampton, Seth spent time all over the world. He taught English in Prague, Czech Republic, produced news in Maine, and worked his way to WWLP with stops in Rhode Island and Boston. In his spare time, Seth cooks, loves to scuba dive, write sitcoms, and perform improvisational comedy.
Seth is very thankful for the love and support of his lovely wife, Amanda, and his parents. He is delighted to work on such a community-oriented program as "Mass Appeal" since it provides him a perfect outlet to improve the lives of the viewers and positively support the community, in general.
Menu Choices:
Asparagus, Bok Choy and Cardonnay Fritatta served with Rice Croquettes and Chardonnay Jus
Cape Malay Chicken Sosatie – Tender Boneless Chicken over a Pumpkin Fritter topped with Apricot, Cinnamon and Ginger Chutney
Beef Brochette – Moroccan Spiced Beef, Peppers and Onions, Chef Jeff's Israeli Couscous with Kale, Artichokes, Sweety Drop Peppers and Garlic Chipotle Bruschetta


text:
How often do you get to see a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer perform for free? That's the opportunity presented Monday, as soul-blues legend Bobby "Blue" Bland headlines the third annual Memorial Day blues concert at Centennial Park.
Bland found success throughout several eras of blues and soul music, from the swinging R&B of "I Pity the Fool" to the string-laced '70s soul of "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" — a classic that's been re-imagined by artists as varied as Jay-Z and Whitesnake.
The day-long festivities start at 10 a.m. Mon., May 30 at Centennial Park (West End and 25th, 862-8424). Admission is free


text:
Home Brewers Getting a Hopping Hand from Local Business
As a community known for its hops, Yakima has not made it easy for home brewers to get their hands on some hops of their own. Yakima Hops and Brew Supply on North First Avenue just opened its doors. KIMA Action News reports the business sells brewing equipmen


text:
Seizing on their personal bond, President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday they had made progress on nuclear cooperation and climate change, with Obama declaring a "breakthrough understanding" in efforts to free U.S. investment in nuclear energy development in India.
Supporters of Egypt's ousted Islamist President fought street battles with police in Cairo and other cities on Sunday, the fourth anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising, as clashes left at least 13 people dead and dozens injured. Another two...
First, let me clearly state I believe self-driving cars will greatly enhance our lives.
Radio and television host Joe Franklin died Saturday of prostate cancer,
It's safe to say that Birdman is officially the frontrunner to win Best Picture at the Oscars next...
Blake Shelton pulled double duty on
Aging athletes, new skis and a lack of snow are ganging up on the once-edgy sport of snowboarding, which has seen a marked drop in participation over the last decade.
Law enforcement officials found no bombs on two planes at Atlanta's main airport after authorities received what they considered credible threats, FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett said.
Hello! It's a well-known fact that it's all too easy for a gardener to get seduced by the lavish photos and copy found in gardening catalogs. In the dead of winter, the trials and...
- Events Calendar


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Bullard Thermal Imaging for Law Enforcement
- Learn about the technology behind Bullard Thermal Imagers in How Thermal Imagers Work.
- Read the History of Thermal Imaging, with its beginnings in military uses.
- Examine the many law enforcement applications for thermal imaging in Thermal Imagers on the Job.
Bullard's on-the-scene videos cover evidence and fugitive location, search and rescue, accident investigation, surveillance and more.
Thermal imagers are a powerful tool for tactical, surveillance and scene assessment applications. Bullard Edge and SE35 Thermal Imagers detect extremely small differences in temperature so that officers can distinguish people from their immediate surroundings. They enable law enforcement personnel to see heat signatures of objects, people and other sources. Needing no light to operate, Edge and SE35 Thermal Imagers generate high-quality images on the darkest nights, even through smoke and fog.


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Canon's video roadmap confusing?
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Topic: Canon's video roadmap confusing? (Read 5143 times)
Sr. Member
Posts: 2258
Re: Canon's video roadmap confusing?
Reply #20 on:
April 14, 2012, 04:23:33 AM »
Nice summary of why onboard video is terrible and looks set to be for some time.
My logic is that..
top DSLRs of 10mp or more can shoot at around 10 frames per second
I dont see why a 5mp DSLR could not shoot at 20FPS - especially with no mirror to move
..or a 4mp at 24/5 30 frames per second
Just add a connector like thunderbolt or an optical connection or whatever and then another 'box' that is the recorder that box would have 2TB hard drives onboard
I guess that is a Red..
Sam Morgan Moore Cornwall
www.sammorganmoore.com -photography
Sr. Member
Posts: 684
Re: Canon's video roadmap confusing?
Reply #21 on:
April 14, 2012, 06:25:48 AM »
Quote from: Morgan_Moore on April 14, 2012, 04:23:33 AM
Nice summary of why onboard video is terrible and looks set to be for some time.
My logic is that..
top DSLRs of 10mp or more can shoot at around 10 frames per second
I dont see why a 5mp DSLR could not shoot at 20FPS - especially with no mirror to move
..or a 4mp at 24/5 30 frames per second
Just add a connector like thunderbolt or an optical connection or whatever and then another 'box' that is the recorder that box would have 2TB hard drives onboard
I guess that is a Red..
I do not think video from these cameras look terrible, if it is watched as video, not grabbed still frames. It looks good, very good, it is actually better than 35mm cinema projection what comes to resolution and dynamic range. Compared to stills it is bad, but we do not notice it in moving pictures.
Yes, cameras could capture better quality, but there is no way to get the data to the card fast enough. Outboard recorders are the the solution, those are already available. Connector for getting out higher quality output (4:2:2 usually) is already there, called HDMI. So your wish has been partly granted. Getting full stills-quality streams out at video speeds is not possible yet with these reasonably priced cameras. Remember, they are stills cameras with mostly software video capabilities without much added cost. Adding the hardware to process full quality video fast enough doubles the price (Canon EOS-1Dc...) and makes stills photographers mad as this does not do anything for them.
First there were these great photo-only cameras. Then came the 5D2 with great quality video slapped on as an afterthought, practically free. Now people are, in practice, demanding full professional quality video, again practically free, while professional video cameras doing the same thing cost around $100000. There is a reason why full quality video costs a lot and can not be added to DSLRs just like that. Canon 1D is a good example: good HD video comes "free" with 1DX, if you want better quality 4K, it costs $9000 extra.
Sr. Member
Posts: 2258
Re: Canon's video roadmap confusing?
Reply #22 on:
April 14, 2012, 07:28:07 AM »
Quote from: Petrus on April 14, 2012, 06:25:48 AM
getting out higher quality ...called HDMI.
All fair points
I would argue that HDMI is not of any use - its just too flimsy - expecailly (and im not sure what the different models do) if you cannot record internally as backup and also (as is the case with the 5d2 and 7d) if the lead is removed/wobbles the recording is cut (that does not happen on the FS100)
As a stills photographer I am used with my gear working really well, by D3 has worked as advertised for years now in every situation, with filming the HDMI is one elelment that stops that happening
A BNC style port is what $3 maybe?
Last Edit: April 14, 2012, 07:32:19 AM by Morgan_Moore
Sam Morgan Moore Cornwall
www.sammorganmoore.com -photography
Sr. Member
Posts: 1487
Re: Canon's video roadmap confusing?
Reply #23 on:
April 14, 2012, 07:48:41 AM »
Quote from: mmurph on April 13, 2012, 11:34:13 PM
Dueling Canon C300 and Arri Alexa
What I found very interesting about the comments about the comparison here is that the extra detail in the video from the C300 that was apparent in the faces was not considered to be advantageous.
This might be why people have been happy to use the 5D Mark II to the lengths that they have and why Canon didn't perceive the need to increase video fidelity in the 5D Mark III?
But are these just the comments of folks that have grown up with film and moved on to digital and thus look for film-like properties in digital production?
Sr. Member
Posts: 507
Re: Canon's video roadmap confusing?
Reply #24 on:
April 14, 2012, 11:42:51 AM »
We go through this WTF/Wow - I don't expect that dichotomy with every release cycle. It has been the same for computers, software - Adobe CS, etc.
There are two different paths that I see when something new comes out:
1) The items that take cutting edge memory & processing power will trickle down to lower priced tools within 2 years.
2) Features that are great "wows" - that don't cost much - like video on the 5 D2 - will either appear on the lower end cameras, like the 7D2, 70D, T4i. Or will be enabled on those through Majic Lantern type hacking.
Canon pretty much announced the path for the Cinema cameras last November. They said they were enabling 4K on the front end on the C300, but we're still limited on the codec and data out. From that standpoint, I am happy that they followed on quickly with the 1D C and C500. We get the best internal and external storage - respectively - that they could deliver at those price points. We also get the Raw Codec that we can - hopefully - get our hands on for HD via HDMI on the 5D3 or other lower end cameras.
I'm on my phone, so it is hard to jump around to compare write rates. I think our best hope is for an extension of the HD options on the 2-3 new cameras that Canon is likely to release this year - looks like the T4i is coming soon?
Plus additional, firmware enabled features that have no real cost, but round out the functionality. Along with any new pro camcorder crossover, I don't know what is in the horizon there.
The $45K Cine lenses announced with the C300 were a clear sign of the target audience. The newer $25K lenses are still a clear indicator that this isn't for the $3K crowd.
I know some of you are in those leagues and can realistically talk about the fit or non-fit for you. But the marginal value for me and most of us hete is between the $1K and $3K base units, down from the $8K Canon 1Ds2 days. That was the last time it made financial sense for me to go to the higher end for the marginal quality gains.
I think the 7D/T3i sensors still have a lot of potential, with a better codec, better down sampling or binning, and the newer Digic 5 processor, with true HD at 60 FPS and possibly higher. A version of the Canon raw codec with log files would open up great options at the Super Cine level. I think that is most realistic for the next 2 years.
Full disclosure - I closed my studio 4 years ago, after 16 years of designing & implementing high end ($1-$20 million +) digital imaging systems for Fortune 5 companies since 1991. Now it hurts to take photos to post on eBay, so I don't have a lot of skin in the game right now. A poseur of sorts, but hoping to get back to creative work by fall.
Last Edit: April 14, 2012, 11:58:12 AM by mmurph
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text:
Hang tight!
Recipe by NANCIG
"This hearty, spicy beef stew is only for those that can handle the heat. I prefer to make it in the slow cooker, but it can be made stove top also. Great served over mashed potatoes or rice."
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1 tablespoon
olive oil
1 pound
beef stew meat
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves
garlic, minced
1 teaspoon
chopped fresh ginger
fresh jalapeno peppers, diced
1 tablespoon
curry powder
1 (14.5 ounce) can
diced tomatoes with juice
onion, sliced and quartered
1 cup
beef broth
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! =) But I have made a few changes to it over many uses now. First, I brown the beef chunks in flour to help thicken the sauce. Salt is added at this step as well. Instead of adding plain tomatoes in and jalepenos, I switched it to one (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with jalepeno peppers - or green peppers - with juice (or you can sub in 1/2 regular diced tomatoes and 1/2 jalepeno for less kick). I also don't just pour them in, I actually puree it up before pouring it into the skillet. I add 2 large white onions to this recipe as well, because the onions (if you use just one) can get lost in this recipe. Thanks for a great recipe! Definitely a keeper!
I cooked this recipe as directed and I found it quite bland. There was heat, but not much else. It's definitely lacking something and I can't quite figure out what it is.
265 Ratings
This was reallly good!!!....I noticed alot of reviewers did not notice or really tast the curry component....I would suggest that you add the curry amount in the begiining as well as the end.... or just at the end if you dont want a real strong curry flavor....Like garlic and a few other spices the longer you cook them the more mellow in flavor they become....adding them to the end will definitely give you the intended flavor you were looking for in your dish.. If you are using fresh spices about 2 hrs...if you are using dried then 3..I always do this when I am slow cooking..and I always get the flavor of what my dish is suppose to taste like. :)
Really delicious! Instead of curry powder, I did 1/2 tablespoon of red curry paste and 1/2 tablespoon of roasted red chili paste, omitted the jalepenos and it was still plenty spicy. I skipped the first stovetop step entirely. Just put everything in the crockpot and let it cook for nearly 10 hours on low. The beef practically shredded itself. We ate it over basmati rice to which I added turmeric and black pepper for color. Highly reccomended.
Wow, what a great recipe! I am a low carb lady so this was easy to modify. I totally skipped the browning stage and just tossed the onion and the beef in the slow cooker then mixed up the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and poured it over the meat. I didn't use a jalapeno to save time, and simply used a jar of diced tomatoes with green chilies in it. I also added more curry powder and a little cumin, nutmeg and red pepper to suit our love for strong flavor and spiciness. When it was all done I fished the meat out and thickened the juices with some xanthum powder (availible in your local health food store). I served it with some sauted veggies. Very tastey!
Okay, I'll tell you what not to do. Do not add the jalepeno with the seeds inside, don't add extra curry, or extra spice until you've tasted the original recipe. My husband and I are still crying. The good news it was good, but only with 2 or 3 glasses of milk. The meat was very tender, and I hope to try it again using my new suggestions.
This was absolutely delicious and the house smelled so good. I did dredge the meat in flour before browning and this seemed to have helped thicken the final product a little. Also added a bit more curry as we love the flavor. Wasn't spicy at all. Served over mashed potatoes this was almost decadent.
Family loves this recipe with 3 TBSP of mother-in-law curry and no jalapeno. We like the spice not the heat. I also saute the onions first.
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Spicy Beef Curry Stew for the Slow Cooker
Serving Size: 1/4 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
** Calories: 291
** Calories from Fat: 172
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Hampton Inn in Sweetwater is currently putting on a food drive in which employees, guests and members of the community are encouraged to donate nonperishable food items to the drive. All food collected will be donated and distributed by Nolan County United Way.
As an added incentive to donate to the cause, for every five cans donated to the drive, a raffle ticket will be placed in a drawing for a Jambox speaker.
According to General Manager Adrian Solano, the hotel is putting on the food drive as a part of Founders Day for the company, Hersha Hospitality.
Food will be collected until Friday, May 10. The drawing for the speaker will also take place that day.


text:
- Independent
- The Enterprise
- The Recorder
Ashley vonClausburg refers to herself as "the bravest little chicken."
After quitting her corporate job of four years in Washington, D.C., the 26-year-old decided now was the perfect time to travel overseas by herself. Everything about traveling, she said, thrills her, while, at the same time, induces panic attacks. What she didn't expect was to be part of an international relief effort after one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall devastated the central Philippines, killing more than 1,000 people in one city, as estimated by the Red Cross.
"I couldn't think of a good reason not to go," vonClausburg wrote in an email she sent from India. "I'd thought about visiting the Philippines as a tourist around that same time, and it didn't seem right to abandon the country now that it was in a total upheaval. Plus having no job, no plans, and no responsibilities pretty much made me the perfect candidate to dedicate my time."
The Huntingtown native and 2005 Calvert High School graduate arrived Dec. 2 in the Philippines, less than a month after Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the cluster of islands. She worked with All Hands Volunteers, a U.S.-based nonprofit company dedicated to empowering disaster relief volunteers around the world, and wrote about her travels and experiences in a blog, TravelerbyDesign.com.
"I started saving immediately after graduation and, after four years, had enough to quit my job and support myself while traveling," she said in an email she penned from India.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2009, majoring in international relations and dance and spending a year studying abroad in Italy, vonClausburg said she knew she wanted to move overseas again and spend time working on her writing and photography skills.
"I didn't have any particular plan, other than knowing I would volunteer for the first two months in Thailand," vonClausburg wrote. "Past that, I was just making it up as I went."
She arrived in Thailand at the end of August and volunteered at an addiction recovery center, and spent her second month with a non-governmental organization that worked with women from Burma. She arrived in the city of Ormoc on the island of Leyte on Dec. 2, the day her volunteer project started.
"When I made travel just about consuming things — food, sights, activities — after a while, I actually ended up feeling very empty and unfulfilled," vonClausburg wrote. "It was only when I was producing [and] giving that I started to connect with a place in a real way."
She joined a group of about 50 people in the Philippines who worked six days a week at schools and home sites doing deconstruction work — taking down dangerous buildings and cleaning up debris, preparing the sites to rebuild. The group, who lived together in the ballroom of a hotel, also spent a day distributing food supplies to more rural communities.
In her email, vonClausburg recalled one particular experience where she and her team built a home for a couple in their 70s who "had been living in pretty much a hole for three weeks — just a tarp propped up on debris and rubble."
"One of the most remarkable things I saw was how happy and resilient and emotionally unaffected the people seemed," vonClausburg wrote. "It was this bizarre contrast to see destroyed buildings, rubble everywhere, homes obliterated, and electricity a distant memory, but everyone was still smiling. Everyone was kind and welcoming and friendly with us. While we were on sites they would make us sandwiches and bring us drinks. Some vendors wouldn't allow us to pay them for food even though we were probably the only sale they would have made that day."
She said her current plan is to return in early April, though she has yet to book that flight. When she thinks back on her volunteering experiences, however difficult, she said, "It was probably the closest thing I've ever had to a perfect experience."


text: Lorelei Martins returns, determined to find out if Red John had a role in her sister's death, and Jane is forced to confess to Lisbon his part in Lorelei's prison escape, on THE MENTALIST, Sunday, March 10 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: L-R: Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon and Simon Baker as Patrick Jane. Photo: Robert Voets/Warner Bros. ©2013 Warner Bros. Television. All Rights Reserved.


text:
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Services :: Shipping
Chemicals Sector Rail Traffic Falls 2.8%
4:18 PM MDT | September 20, 2012 | Vincent Valk
North American chemicals sector rail traffic fell 2.8% year-on-year during the week ended September 15, to 41,003 cars, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR; Washington). U.S. traffic was down 0.8%, to 29,177 cars. Canadian traffic fell 8.4%, to 10,424 cars, while Mexican traffic rose 2%, to 1,402 cars. Traffic rose from the prior week's totals, though it declined in Canada. Overall, North American freight rail traffic fell 1.1% year-on-year during the week ended September 15, to 387,964 cars, AAR says. Year-to-date, the North...
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If you are in a survival situation in the woods and REALLY hungry, and you are unsure about which plants are edible, can you eat pine needles?
Take the 2-minute tour ×
The Great Outdoors Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who love outdoor activities, excursions, and outdoorsmanship. It's 100% free, no registration required.
Pine needles have virtually no caloric value.
As already mentioned, Yew needles are toxic to the human body. There are several genera of yew. Generally they grow at higher elevations and in man-made parks.
If anything looks like these yew needles, leave them be and don't eat them:
All pines, spruces and firs have edible needles.
All yews are poisonous, and can look like some of the above, so be careful you have identified the tree correctly!


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Originally Posted by tylerdolphin
Well it might not be thousands, but yes. What I want to make clear though, is that they don't actually live any longer than the rest of us. Say hypothetically that someone traveled along the orbit at light speed for 10 years, when he gets back to Earth he may find that it's 1000 years later, but he'd still have only lived and aged 10 years. He didn't experience 1000 years of living, he only experienced 10. Understand?
I've heard some notions that things might be able to enter and exit a blackhole in tact, I don't know that that's possible. Due to the gravitational pressure it'd crush you into a molecular sized version of yourself.
So this is why the black-hole is spewing out radiation and periodic elements, rather than whole planets and stars.There is what is called a point of singularity in the center of a black hole, which is where the force of gravity is theoretically infinite. It compresses all of the matter within the confines of the event horizon, event light. To give an example, if 10 of our suns were compressed into a black hole, the radius of the black hole would only be about 30 kilometers.
Could black holes be the entrance and quasars be the exit?
Basically, a black hole is a galaxy sized garbage disposal for unlucky matter. You can put a carrot in, and carrot juice comes out the other side.(sarc)
I was watching a show that was explaining black holes and supposedly at the event horizon, matter would be stretched into ever thinning spaghetti.The colors would probably be kind of groovy for a nano second. Imagine going through a tea strainer. The only way to travel through a black hole would be to be in some kind of space ship, with some type of anti-gravity(anti-matter)shielding to neutralize the gravity...and hope there is another galaxy, dimension, or universe on the other side. The power needed would be enormous to offset the tremendous grip of the black hole. Just silly ramblings..
Quasars show a very high redshift, which is an effect of theexpansion of the universe between the quasar and the Earth.[2] They are among the most luminous, powerful, and energetic objects known in the universe. They tend to inhabit the very centers of active young galaxies and can emit up to a thousand times the energy output of the Milky Way. When combined with Hubble's law, the implication of the redshift is that the quasars are very distant—and thus, it follows, objects from much earlier in the universe's history. The most luminous quasars radiate at a rate that can exceed the output of average galaxies, equivalent to two trillion (2×1012) suns. This radiation is emitted across the spectrum, almost equally, from X-rays to the far-infrared with a peak in the ultraviolet-optical bands, with some quasars also being strong sources of radio emission and of gamma-rays.


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Last week, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed three new laws that send a clear message to dog fighters: Bloodsports are not welcome in the Great Lakes State.
Animal fighting is a felony in Michigan, punishable by up to four years in prison and up to $50,000 in fines, and so is watching an animal fight. But these new laws crack down even further. Here's how:
•SB 356 allows local authorities to seize homes and automobiles associated with animal fighting.
•SB 358 adds animal fighting, shooting and baiting to the list of racketeering crimes.
•HB 5789 gives law enforcement the ability to shut down any venue found to be associated with animal fighting and declare it a nuisance.
Dog fighting is widespread in parts of the state, and experts have identified regions of the state as national hotbeds for animal fighting. That's why we're so glad Michigan decided to arm its officials with these new legal tools.
"We thank Governor Snyder for signing these critical measures to improve upon the existing law, making Michigan one of the toughest states on animal fighting," says Vicki Deisner, ASPCA State Director of Government Relations for the Midwest.
Way to go, Michiganders! We're one step closer to ridding the U.S. of dog fighting for good. Ready to help? Visit the Advocacy Center.


text: Shelley Neilsen Gatti is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education and Gifted Education in the College of Applied Professional Studies. Shelley started at UST in 2006 after working in Minneapolis Public Schools for six years. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 2001 in Educational Psychology, Special Education. Shelley specializes in Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD) and coordinates the EBD program in our department. Her areas of research include school-wide PBIS in alternative sites, reflective practice, and professional development models to support teachers' use of evidence-based practices. Shelley grew up in Montana and has a M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction and a B.A. in Elementary and Special Education from the University of Montana. In her free-time Shelley spends time with her son playing hockey, bike riding, and hiking along the river.


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The start of a new year is a great time to start anew economically, especially if you experienced financial or personal hardship in the past year.
Perhaps you've gone through a divorce. Maybe you lost a home to foreclosure or endured the sting of personal bankruptcy. Or you might just be emerging from big personal debts right at a time when you would expect to be living the good life.
Well, there are steps you can take to bounce back. Here are a few tips to get you started.
After bankruptcy: Get past shame and negative emotions
Bankruptcy can carry a terrible stigma. After all, most of us were taught to honor our obligations and pay our bills — no matter what. But the simple truth is that it's not always possible to repay our debts, despite our best efforts.
If you've had to file for bankruptcy protection — or are considering it — know that you're not alone. In fact, older people represent the fastest-growing group of bankruptcy filers in the U.S., according to a University of Michigan Law School study. A May 2011 survey from FindLaw.com indicated that one in eight adults in the U.S. — about 13 percent of the population — say they've contemplated bankruptcy.
Still, many people who have filed for bankruptcy protection often initially suffer from guilt and shame. But instead of allowing feelings of failure or disappointment to rule your life, turn those negative emotions around by looking at your bankruptcy as a learning experience. Take time to think honestly about what you could have done to prevent the situation, and then allow yourself the freedom to forgive any mistakes and move on.
Went through foreclosure? Create a "rainy day" fund
According to data from AARP's Public Policy Institute, a record number of homeowners age 50 and above went through foreclosure or were 90 days or more delinquent on their house payments between 2007 and 2011.
If you've recently lost a home, you have probably exhausted most of your savings.
Even if you are content to rent for the rest of your life and never plan to own a house or condo again, one way to bounce back from foreclosure is to rebuild your savings by building a "rainy day" fund and an emergency savings account. Otherwise, it may seem like you can never get ahead or achieve financial stability.
A rainy day fund is a small savings account, typically between $500 and $1,500, that can help you deal with unexpected expenses — like the flat tire on your car or the leaky toilet that forces you to call the plumber.
Without a rainy day fund, you're forced to constantly use credit cards to pay for short-term expenses or one-off emergencies. And since your credit has already taken a hit after foreclosure, overusing your credit cards, which also hurts your credit, is the last thing you want to do.
(See After any financial blunder: Build an emergency fund, on Page 3, for information on emergency savings accounts.)
Next page: Get help for credit woes and post-divorce finances. »


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By Cindy Watts and Nate Rau
The Tennessean
Contemporary country music artists and the content of their songs have a history of protecting and empowering women. But one of the genre's most recent chart toppers prompts the question: Is country music at a crossroads in the portrayal of the sex that comprises 60 percent of its radio audience?
On one hand, stars including Tim McGraw and Chris Young have kicked fans out of concerts in recent years for acting aggressively toward women. On the other, a recent No. 1 country song by Tyler Farr depicts a jilted ex-boyfriend going "Redneck Crazy" on a woman's front lawn.
Domestic violence against women has been present in country music to some extent since the genre's first breakout star, Fiddlin' John Carson, crooned "it's a shame to whip your wife on Sunday" in the 1920s. And such portrayals are certainly not unique to country, sociologists, historians and researchers say, with similar depictions found in hip-hop, heavy metal, rock and virtually every other popular genre.
While domestic violence in songs has not been conclusively linked to an uptick in abuse, experts say, such depictions desensitize and normalize society.
In "Redneck Crazy," Farr sings about getting angry in his girlfriend's yard because he thinks she is cheating on him.
"I'm gonna aim my headlights into your bedroom windows, throw empty beer cans at both of your shadows," Farr sings in the song, co-written by established songwriters Chris Tompkins, Josh Kear and Mark Irwin. "I didn't come here to start a fight, but I'm up for anything tonight. You know you broke the wrong heart, baby, and drove me redneck crazy."


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Originally a 16th century Ferryman's inn, the RED LION at BURNSALL is open for accommodation and meals throughout the year; we offer superb food, fine wines and real ale. Each bedroom is finished with its own individual character and decor...
The Manor House is our B&B, which is located 150 yards from the Red Lion, Where you are welcome to Eat and drink. The bedrooms are modern and simple in this old Victorian 'Manor House, most having lovely views of the River...
We are offering the following discounts on Friday weddings in the months of June, July, August & September:
20% on room hire
10% on food & drink packages
50% on the bridal suite.
For availaibity and further information contact firstname.lastname@example.com
For all of our last minute discounted room rates, please click on our RESERVATIONS button.
A Yorkshire Dales light bite
Scone, jam, cream. A pot of loose leaf tea or a pot of freshly brewed coffee £6.50pp Add a current tea cake £8.40
A Yorkshire Dales full Monty (pre-bookable in advance – please check on day if not booked)
A selection of finger sandwiches, scone, jam, cream, cake. A pot of loose leaf tea or freshly brewed coffee £15.95
Add a little sparkle to your afternoon tea with a glass of Veuve Cliquot at £10 per glass.
Contact us on 01756 720204 to make your reservation.


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You should allow four to six weeks for your application to be approved and processed. Your CBE licence application will be subject to a centre licence approval visit. The granting of the CBE licence is at ACCA's discretion, even if your centre meets the requirements set out in this application.
You must not schedule any computer based examinations until you receive written confirmation from the CBE team that your licence application has been processed.


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Ive been slowly working on these ramps for my car trailer, getting tired of lugging around the heavy steel ramp I have. I should be testing them out this weekend, just have to finish the mount on the trailer. I used a mix of mig and tig, they are made out of 6061 2.5" sqaure tubing 1/8" thick. Not sure of their max capacity but they should work fine for my mustang and most cars. I would have rather of used 1/4" thick tubing but this is what I had available at the time.
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Thread: Aluminum Ramps (car trailer)
04-29-2012, 07:46 AM #1Junior Member
- Join Date
- Aug 2010
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- Rhode Island
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Aluminum Ramps (car trailer)
Looks like those will work good...BobBob Wright, Grandson of Tee Nee Boat Trailer Founder
Metal Master Fab Salem, Oh 44460
Birthplace of the Silver & Deming Drill
1999 MM185 w/185 Spoolgun,1986 Thunderbolt AC/DC
Spool Gun conversion. How To Do It. Below.


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Luminara Churchill Waterproof Lantern with Flameless Candle
A timeless look for your indoor or outdoor décor.
Now with a waterproof candle!
- A great décor piece for indoor or outdoor use
- Built-in timer mode turns flame on for 5 hours and off for 19 hours
- 500 hours of glow time
- Measures 16" h x 7" w
- Requires 2 D batteries (not included)
This outdoor lantern showcases the latest innovative Luminara technology. The new, water resistant 5" candle lasts for 500 hours on one set of batteries, or 100 days when used with the timer mode. The light produces a stunning glow that mimics the appearance of an actual flame without any of the worry that comes with real candles.
Hang or stand anywhere.
Enhance your porch, deck, walkway, garden or front entry with these charming lanterns. Small metal loop at the top of the lantern makes hanging easy.
Wow your guests with a beautifully lit walkway or stunning holiday table centerpiece. Order your Luminara Lantern from Brookstone today!
Luminara Churchill Waterproof Lantern with Flameless Candle
Reviewed by 4 customers
Sort by
- Attractive
- Realistic
- Well Made
- Lack of Timer
- Missing Timer
- No timer
- Poor quality control
Best Uses
- Outside If Working Timer
Comments about Luminara Churchill Waterproof Lantern with Flameless Candle:
Beautiful, well made, high quality, BUT only buy these if you don't mind running outside in the evening to turn them on and running back outside in the morning to turn them off. Disappointing that Brookstone doesn't read its reviewers' comments and follow up on the problems.
- Was this a gift?:
- No
Best Uses
Comments about Luminara Churchill Waterproof Lantern with Flameless Candle:
I need a timer option on the candle and the copy in the magazine indicated that one existed. Following directions repeatedly the timer option just doesn't work. This means one has to shut the candle on and off manually - and I am quite displeased with the item as such. Costly and not what was advertised.
- Was this a gift?:
- No
- Add Unique Ambience
- Lend Style And Grace
Best Uses
Comments about Luminara Churchill Waterproof Lantern with Flameless Candle:
These lanterns are truly beautiful, and add a lovely glow along the driveway. I orginally got them for Christmas decor, but I decided to keep them up all year 'round. Look great suspended on wrought iron support poles. I would have given them five stars, but the timers do not work (others have made note of this also), so they have to be manually turned on and off. Other than that, they are great and I would highly recommend them.
- Light Looks Real
- Sturdy
- Well Made
- Work as described
- One Is Finicky
Best Uses
- Hanging From An Oak
Comments about Luminara Churchill Waterproof Lantern with Flameless Candle:
I bought two to hang from our trees with rope and the automatic timer function works perfectly. They are very solid and durable and have held up outside in the humidity well so far. My only concern is that one of the lanterns was working on the timer on our table before we hung them and decided to turn off. When I went to reset it every time I put it down the light turned off. If I continue to have problems I'll exchange but I think it's just a faulty sensor. The other works perfectly. And the way that the "wick" flickers makes the candles look so real it's amazing, like their flickering in the breeze. LOVE. Will be adding more.
Luminara Churchill Waterproof Lantern with Flameless Candle
Our innovative products will provide you and your family with years of enjoyment. And with the Brookstone Protection Plus service and replacement plans, you'll have the added peace of mind knowing that if the unexpected does happen, we will simply repair or replace your covered product. Our enhanced coverage goes above and beyond the manufacturer's warranty, saving you time and money.
- 2-Year Extended Replacement Plan $9.99
- 3-Year Extended Replacement Plan $15.99


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This room is ideal for dinners, receptions or even coffee breaks in connection with meetings or parties.
The atmosphere is intimate and pleasant, yet the room still retains its air of elegance and character.
The picture of Frederick V of Denmark and Norway dates from 1732 and has been on display at the Grand Hotel since it opened in 1874. A nearly identical picture is in the Royal Palace in Copenhagen. The picture of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh was a gift from the Queen after a visit to the hotel.
For capacities and interactive floorplans please click here
Best offer guaranteed
Book in advance - Save 15%
- with pride and honor
Grand Hotel Oslo : Karl Johans Gate 31 : NO-0159 Oslo : Norway