text:
Desperate Measures
We are a divided country, but that division is as old as it is deep. The first battle in this never-ending policy war was in 1776, when Thomas Jefferson presented the Declaration of Independence to the Second Continental Congress. Rather than describing their cause as a rebellion of one group of elites (landed colonists) against another (Britain's monarchy and Parliament), Jefferson described it in terms of human rights—as the quest for a society where everyone is seen as equally human. In his immortal words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Jefferson realized that it made no sense to base a new nation on the principle of "liberty and equality for all" as long as some its people were enslaved by others, so the first draft of the Declaration also renounced slavery. Jefferson accused King George of waging a "cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither." Southern delegates representing the interests of slave-holders aligned with northern delegates representing the interests of slave-trading merchants, and together they succeeded in excluding Jefferson's original language from the Declaration. Their motivation was obvious: eliminating slavery would diminish their wealth. They held up the vote for independence until they got their way.
But the phrase "all men are created equal" remained, and debate about its meaning has dominated American politics ever since. Every effort to broaden the scope of "all men" and promote real equality has caused a major backlash on the part of those who feel their rights are being impinged upon whenever privilege is threatened. Each time an elite, whose advantages often entail a disadvantage for someone else, promises to disrupt everything unless their interests are protected. This method of obstruction works only if the elite is able to persuade large numbers of the nonelite that their own well-being depends on preserving the elite's privileges. So the small landed aristocracy in the South convinced thousands to fight and die to preserve "their way of life" in the Civil War. And so today a few billionaires have convinced millions of Tea Party activists that a health-care-reform law that works mainly by extending private insurance to the uninsured amounts to socialism—or even what the Declaration calls "absolute Despotism."
The same small group of elites have taken advantage of public ignorance and insecurity to con millions of people into believing that global warming is a hoax; that government spending hurts the economy; that high tax rates are discouraging work and reducing economic growth; that unemployment compensation is what's causing our high unemployment rate; that the poor aren't really poor because many of them have smartphones and flat-screen TVs; that food stamps encourage laziness and dependency; that Social Security is going bankrupt; and that the financial crisis was caused by the government forcing banks to lend money to poor people.
What all these claims have in common—besides being false—is that they are all arguments meant to block policies that take the phrase "all men are created equal" seriously by actually promoting equality. They are all designed to protect the privileges of the elite by convincing the masses that they will lose out if the government does more to help the underprivileged. And so we hear, again and again, that "Obamacare" will hurt those who already have health insurance and force young people to buy insurance even though they may not need it and can't really afford it. We do not hear that the Affordable Care Act could cut into the profit margins of some very profitable industries, but that is what really worries the law's privileged opponents. Saying we cannot afford to provide decent health care to everyone as a right of citizenship (something every other rich country does) is really saying that not everyone's health is of equal importance in this country. Closing down the government and threatening to default on government bonds in an effort to repeal or delay the Affordable Care Act is just the latest campaign in a 237-year-old war over the meaning of equality in a country founded on it.
This is not to say that the Affordable Care Act is itself an ideal vehicle for advancing the cause of equality. A single-payer system would have been far more egalitarian, as well as far more efficient. (Americans pay more for health care than every other rich country, and have worse health outcomes to show for it. Not coincidentally, most other rich countries have some kind of universal health-care system.) Obama based his health-care proposal on ideas first introduced by Republicans, and he ignored liberal demands for a public option.
But even if conservatives are being disingenuous or hysterical when they describe the Affordable Care Act as socialism, the law is at least a step toward greater equality—maybe the biggest step Washington could take at this moment in our country's history. And who knows, this step may well lead to others later on, which is one reason the guardians of the status quo are so worried about it. Concede that any American who needs health care should get it and you have already denied the main premise of our various health-care industries: that health care is a commodity like any other, to be sold to whoever can afford it rather than distributed according to need. The GOP, whose main priority is the preservation of wealth and the privileges wealth confers, is worried that the Affordable Care Act, once implemented, will become as popular and successful as Social Security and Medicare, two other programs that made good on our country's commitment to equality. The party of privilege fought tooth and nail against those programs too.
Charles Michael Andres Clark is a senior fellow at the Vincentian Center for Church and Society and professor of economics at St. John's University in New York.
About the Author
Charles Michael Andres Clark is a senior fellow at the Vincentian Center for Church and Society and professor of economics at St. John's University in New York.
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And so today a few billionaires have convinced millions of Tea Party activists that a health-care-reform law that works mainly by extending private insurance to the uninsured amounts to socialism, or even what the Declaration calls "absolute Despotism."
You have it so right, Charles. The elites usually either pay the poor or middle class to support them or give them many favors. The other factor is many poor and middle class like to "play rich" by going against their own. The monarchs in the church have always done this, also.
Actually, I don't know any billionaires, and in addition, I base my opposition to Obamacare on other issues. And I note that, rather than addressing the Tea Party arguments themselves, Charles has chosen to play the "billionaire" card. And if the fubar launch of Obamacare is any indication, it's administration will be FUBAR on steroids. Already there are widespread reports of people's costs for the "affordable" care increasing by leaps and bounds; and of course many are losing their favorite doctors. So Obama lied about both of those items (or he didn't lie, he simply made up the statements because he knew what we wanted to hear). When this lumbering behemoth really gets up and running, we will find ourselves in semi-slavery, with the government's tentacles entwined in, and leaching through, every aspect of our lives. And mark my words carefully: We wil eventuallyl see, among other things, forced abortions and forced euthanasia of the elderly and infirm.
Remember, Obama now has access to all NSA and IRS (which as we know, will be administering Obamacare) data, which he and his leftist comrades can use to fundamentally transform America, as Obama indicated was his ultimate objective.
1. "And if the fubar launch of Obamacare is any indication, it's administration will be FUBAR on steroids." Millions of hits (beyond what was expected) on a complicated website that is linked to other web sites (Social Security, Credit Agencies, etc.)? Like other commercial rollouts have never run into glitches?
2. "Already there are widespread reports of people's costs for the "affordable" care increasing by leaps and bounds; and of course many are losing their favorite doctors." You talk like this is something new in the United States. Anyone who decides that their workers have to get their insurance on the exchange is trading one commercial payer for another on the exchange. This is exactly the same thing they would do if they changed payers directly. And when businesses change payers, sometimes one's favorite doctor isn't in the network. This has nothing to do with Obamacare. Businesses are not required to use the exchanges. There is nothing in the statute saying which payer one has to use. So this is irrelevant to Obamacare (unless you don't like the fact that Obamacare has expanded choice for businesses).
3. "So Obama lied about both of those items (or he didn't lie, he simply made up the statements because he knew what we wanted to hear)." No business in the United States is required to shift to Obamacare. So no one is obligated by Obamacare to change doctors. He wasn't lying.
4. "When this lumbering behemoth really gets up and running, we will find ourselves in semi-slavery, with the government's tentacles entwined in, and leaching through, every aspect of our lives." Obamacare amounts to public exchanges where private companies sell insurance. It is modeled after that hotbed of socialism, Switzerland. It is not socialistic. It is the most free market capitalistic national health insurance scheme available, which is what the orignator (the Heritage Foundation) had in mind.
5. "And mark my words carefully: We wil eventuallyl see, among other things, forced abortions and forced euthanasia of the elderly and infirm." There is no commercial insurance company in the United States that covers either of these. Obamacare simply expands commercial insurance to most citizens. So what is your rationale for this?
6. "Remember, Obama now has access to all NSA and IRS (which as we know, will be administering Obamacare) data, which he and his leftist comrades can use to fundamentally transform America, as Obama indicated was his ultimate objective." All enrollment data and claims data is de-identified per the statute. And since it is in the insurance companies legal and business interests to de-identify the data, you can be sure that Uncle Sam will know nothing about you or your medical conditions. And no, the IRS is not "adminsistering" Obamacare. HHS is.
Already there are widespread reports...
Well, that is one of the problems that result from the situation Prof. Clark describes. The "reports" were prepared before anything had happened that could be studied in order to produce the kind of information the "reports" claim to find. With enough money, a greedhead can buy the truth he needs to go along with the Congress members he has turned into sock puppets. And he can buy his truth before the facts it is based on become available. That is an observable fact that has been studied; it is hardly the "billionaire card."
Thanks for an interesting post. As important as class and economic interests are for understanding the politics surrounding the ACA, any analysis that doesn't include race and racism is, I think, missing an important element.
As the story of Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence illustrates, racism is inextricably interwoven with American history and politics. It's not just that "Southern delegates representing the interests of slave-holders aligned with northern delegates representing the interests of slave-trading merchants" excluded Jefferson's fine language from the Declaration. It's also that Jefferson was a slaveholder---whose slaves were whipped and sold---all his life, and he largely abandoned his abolitionist sentiments in the 1790s.
Tea Party activists are disproportionately whiter, older and more affluent than the American public as a whole. While money from the Koch brothers and other billionaires is no doubt helpful to their cause, one suspects they are acting against their own interests no more than, say, the White Citizens Councils did in the 1950s and 60s.
As important as class and economic interests are for understanding the politics surrounding the ACA, any analysis that doesn't include race and racism is, I think, missing an important element.
My take on this post is that it boils down to, "anyone that opposes Obamacare is a racist". (Additional variations on this theme can be found here, here and here.) I admit that my own analysis finds that there is not a scintilla of a shred of evidence that race or racism has anything to do with this stalemate, nor do I see any linkage between Obamacare and slavery(!). Perhaps today's racists are so infernally clever that they don't leave any actual evidence of racism, but we just know they're out there somewhere, up to something. And they're billionaires, too, which makes them even more diabolical.
It is still a bunch of loonies who at the time of the inauguration vowed to destroy Obama anyway they could. We are talking about Congressman. The same group ranted about his birth country and are backing the literal seven day creation. A switch just occurred of immense proportions. The Koch Bros. realizing that a government default will possible destroy their riches wrote a letter to Congress stating that a shutdown is not the answer. http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/09/koch-brothers-call-out-reid-for-misinformation-over-government-shutdown/
Now Republican businessmen are changing their contribution pattern away from the Tea Party to actually funding candidates to run against them. They don't like this fringe lunacy which most people are now seeing as truly outrageous. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/us/business-groups-see-loss-of-sway-over-house-gop.html?hp&_r=0&gwh=A46F5219E167A0DE56206071A8FD173C
Jim Pawells,
I do think that you are wrong in discounting the degree to which race plays a role not only in the opposition to Obamacare but to the brutal level of opposition to the President himself. I have to say, as fierce as the GOP opposed Bill Clinton, I have never felt the viseral level of opposition there as I fell to President Obama, and it goes back to the beginnings of his presidency. Remember the NRA people insisting they had a right to bring weapons to Obama appearances? Can you even in your wildest dreams imagine such a thing with say George Bush? Or the Congressman yelling "You Lie!" during the State of the Union? Could you imagine a Democratic Congressman doing that to George W., who in fact did lie about weapons of mass destruction? Of course you can't because it wouldn't happen. The whole "birther" debate when indeed there is a much stronger argument that John McCain was ineligible to serve as President, not a good one but far stronger than the anti-Obama one since he was born in a US territory not the US proper...Can you imagine that being raised about a white candidate with a comparable background? So I guess my bottom line is not that anyone who opposes Obamacare (or Obama in general) is not a racist. But racism makes the opposition to Obama and Obamacare far more fierce than it would have otherwise been. And some of the fiercest the opposition comes from the very people who designed the model. Obamacare originated with the Heritage Foundation, was put into practice in Massachusetts originally as Romneycare by the Republican Governor. Now Heritage is among the leaders in opposition. Now to some degree all of this speaks to a general coarseness that has entered our politics, and the desire to win rather than do what is right. But even so, I believe, more than that I know, that Obama's race has contributed to this fierce opposition.
Various southern liberals (rare, but not an oxymoron) told me before the inauguration that their families, cousins, etc. were not going to accept a black man as president. He might have the job, they said, but he would never have the respect and authority a white man in the same job would have. I hoped they were wrong, but I haven't seen much evidence of it.
The money will stop and so will the Tea Party.
What's the difference between Tea Party Congressmen and ordinary hostage takers?
Not only do the ordinary ones negotiate, they're often willing to hand over their guns.
@Jim Pauwels (10/10, 10:15 am) Thanks for your reply. Let me clarify "anyone that opposes Obamacare is a racist" is not the point I was trying to make.
My larger point is that race and racism are inextricably interwoven into American history, politics and culture. Therefore, any analysis that fails to take race and racism into account is, almost of necessity, incomplete and as a result, distorted.
We can go back to August of 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia and find some of the institutional roots of business capitalism, chattel slavery and representative democracy for the tree that blossomed into the United States of America. To acknowledge that shared history does not cast aspersions on any individual. On the contrary, by recognizing our history we can begin to liberate ourselves (however partially) from the worst aspects of it.
Returning to the present day and the ACA, my more immediate point is that, for example, the decision by many Republican governors and state legislatures to turn down billions of federal dollars to pay for the ACA's Medicaid expansion to provide subsidies for the working poor is not fully explained without including the fact that part of their opposition is of a piece with a decades old opposition to any action by the federal government that might benefit "those people". Who "those people" are varies, but some millions of them are people with dark-colored skin.
The fourth paragraph of this essay is nothing but a chain of ill-founded, gratuitous allegations with no evidence of any serious consideration on the part of the author of the strongest reasons given by those who challenge positions this author seems to dogmatically find unquestionable.
Let me clarify "anyone that opposes Obamacare is a racist" is not the point I was trying to make.
You misunderstood my reference - my comment, "My take on this post is that it boils down to, "anyone that opposes Obamacare is a racist" referred, not to your comment, but to Charles Michael Andres Clark's original post.
I do note, though, that you continue to push the idea, both in your original comment and your most recent reply to me, that race and racial prejudice is needed to fully understand Republican opposition to the Affordable Care Act. I further noted, in my original comment, that this theme is not isolated to your's and Clark's contributions to this single thread in dotCommonweal; I provided several other links to public commentary that runs along the same lines. Nor is this current government shutdown the first time that accusations of racism have been leveled at the Tea Party; virtually since its inception, the Tea Party's enemies have attempted to tar it with accusations, despite the lack of any evidence, that the Tea Party is motivated by racial prejudice.
There are many reasons to oppose the Tea Party. I certainly don't care for some of the principles, practices and candidates that have arisen from that movement. But to accuse it of racism, and to provide no evidence of this grave charge except for insinuations along the lines of, "they're mostly white people", is neither credible nor, frankly, honorable. In point of fact, it comes across as a "desperate measure". Show us some hard evidence, please, that racism has anything whatever to do with this government shutdown or the Tea Party movement.
The fourth paragraph has a solid foundation. Unless one's head is in the sand.
Bill, the fourth paragraph includes among its list of alleged falsehoods "that Social Security is going bankrupt".
The trustees of the federal government's Social Security trust funds reported earlier this year that, absent corrective policies, its disability benefit will no longer be able to pay 100% of its promised benefits by 2016 (which is really, really soon), and its retirement benefit will be in the same soup by 2033 (a year in which, God willing, I will still be alive and hoping/expecting a full benefit). Technically, that may not constitute "bankruptcy", but it seems incorrect and irresponsible to imply that, in fact, all is well with Social Security and there is no problem that needs to be addressed.
What exactly are the anti-Obama and anti-ACA folk arguing about? That some sort of universal health care system is not needed? Isn't that like saying we don't need compulsory education? For those who have contracted the dread virus to 'hate Obama,' on what basis do they conjure up birther, muslim, and communist charges? Many deprecate his ability to orate and 'preach' the Democratic Party platform. But they forget that we just held a national election where his opposition was soundly defeated, mostly because they seemed to represent only a tiny minority of priveleged stakeholders. There will be another nationwide referendum in 2014 that may very likely embarrass the naysayers and sweep them from office and the public view.
@Jim Pauwels (10/11, 10:00 am) Thanks for your reply, and my apologies for mistaking the intent of your earlier post. Since you asked:
Here's a recent study on "Race, Ideology and the Tea Party" that concludes there is a link between racial prejudice and identification with/participation in the Tea Party movement.
The 2010 Multi-state Survey of Race & Politics found that "Tea Party sympathizers have a higher probability"—25 percent, to be exact—"of being racially resentful than those who are not Tea Party supporters," according to Christopher Parker who directed the study.
Then there are numerous studies and reports by anti-racist organizations like the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights that document the many troubling links between Tea Party organizations and white nationalist leaders and organizations.
It's not just the Tea Party or opposition to the ACA or this government shutdown where race and racism are inextricably interwoven into our society.
The Wagner Act is one of the great liberal achievements of the New Deal. It's still the foundation of (what remains of) our labor laws. It still doesn't cover domestic workers and farm workers. Why? Because in 1935 the majority of domestic workers and farm workers in the US were African-Americans in the South. And the all-white southern Congressional delegation (virtually all Democrats) wasn't about to give labor rights to the people who picked their cotton and cleaned their homes.
This map of the racial dividing line that is Detroit's 8 Mile Road today can't be understood without understanding the segregationist housing policies (up to and including the FHA) of every level of government in the mid-20th century USA. (See Thomas Sugrue's The Origins of the Urban Crisis for the definitive account of Detriot's decline.)
Ed Kilgore is a veteran Democratic party policy wonk and operative. He worked for Zell Miler and Sam Nunn. He was part of the Democratic Leadership Council and its Progressive Policy Insittute thinktank. In other words, he's a dyed-in-the-wool centrist Democrat from Georgia. At his current gig as lead blogger for the Washington Monthly magazine, he does yeoman's work in reporting on and interpreting on, well, the people he grew up with who have become today's Republican party.
This piece on "Race and Anti-Government Fanaticism" is a good introduction to some of the ways in which, in his view, the Tea Party can't be properly understood without understanding the element of race.
Again, I have no interest in the pointless (to my mind) and counterproductive (also, to my mind) "game" of pronouncing this or that person "racist". I can't read their minds. I don't know what's in their hearts. I am not immune from the social sin of racism any more than I can breathe in air without also breathing in particulate pollution from coal plants hundres of miles away. However, it's my experience that recognizing and acknowledging that social sinfulness can be a way to start undoing it.
When Obamacare takes full effect next year, the IRS will enforce most of the laws involved in the reform—even deciding who gets included in the health-care mandate. This is one of the results of the Supremes ruling that Obamacare is truly about taxes:
the agency has to administer 47 tax provisions under Obamacare.
From the IRS website:
purchasing insurance through the Marketplace. The IRS administers the tax provisions included in the law. Visit HealthCare.gov for more information on coverage options and assistance.
Also, Obama has made it clear that his intention is that the ultimate result of Obamacare is that private health insrance companies will go out of business, because he prefers the single payer system.
And finally, since Obama promised that we would be able to keep our own doctors and that the costs would either go down or stay the same, he ultimately must own up to the fact that he was wrong or he lied.
By the way, some government unions, and congress were allowed to bail out on the system (the waivers). That tells me what a monumental stinker AHA is.
When Obamacare takes full effect next year, the IRS will enforce most of the laws involved in the reform—even deciding who gets included in the health-care mandate. This is one of the results of the Supremes ruling that Obamacare is truly about taxes:
the agency has to administer 47 tax provisions under Obamacare.
From the IRS website:
purchasing insurance through the Marketplace. The IRS administers the tax provisions included in the law. Visit HealthCare.gov for more information on coverage options and assistance.
Your own quotes clearly show that the IRS is going to be in charge of the tax provisions only, not in charge of Obamacare. HealthCare.gov is an HHS website, not and IRS website.
Also, Obama has made it clear that his intention is that the ultimate result of Obamacare is that private health insrance companies will go out of business, because he prefers the single payer system.
The insurance companies must not have gotten the memo. There's something like 14,000 commercial plans available in the United States on the exchanges.
And finally, since Obama promised that we would be able to keep our own doctors and that the costs would either go down or stay the same, he ultimately must own up to the fact that he was wrong or he lied.
Obamacare does not require anyone to change their insurers. If your employer did (and your doctor was no longer in the network), that's not Obamacare's fault. That's your employer's fault.
By the way, some government unions, and congress were allowed to bail out on the system (the waivers). That tells me what a monumental stinker AHA is.
Obamacare is designed to cover the uninsured and the under insured individual and small business person. Large groups that have adequate coverage (like Congress and the unions) can keep that coverage and pay no penalties. I don't know what you believe Obamacare to be, but it's public exchanges within which private insurers sell insurance. It's not Medicare or Medicaid or some government controlled medical system. The private insurers are using their current private, free market contracts with the provider just as they are with their non-exchange customers.
Just to add to what unagidon said about the exchanges, I heard someone in Massachusetts describe the Health Connector (the state's online health care exchange that's been operating since 2007) as "an Expedia for health insurance". He was able to go online, compare policies and prices, and buy a (private) health insurance policy within 15 minutes.
"Technically, that may not constitute "bankruptcy", but it seems incorrect and irresponsible to imply that, in fact, all is well with Social Security and there is no problem that needs to be addressed."
Straight-forward solution: take the cap off of the income level against which social security taxes are collected.
Not a new idea; it has been floated before.
With the SS-eligible population burgeoning with the retirement of the Boomers, along with the loss of tax income based on employment shortfalls, one either cuts the benefits, increases the eligibility age (in itself a benefit cut) or increases the income sources.
It seems to me that since the Civil Rights Acts of the 60's many people have indeed changed their hearts and minds a good deal about black people. This has come as a consequence of having come to know some black people well at work, at school, wherever.
But there are also many people who suffered through the Depression who, often without much education, pulled themselves up by their bootstrings and have adopted the principle that "God helps those who help themselves". They are not necessarily very prejudiced against blacks -- it's the non-working poor whom they simply do not want to support in any way. You could call it a prejudice against the very poor.
As to the Tea Partiers being racist, it seems to me that if there are no black people amongst them , then that might be a result of racism. Why? Because there are also black people (I've known some) who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and who also resent paying taxes to support "the loafers". If those black people agree with the Tea Partiers they would join them -- unless they are made to feel unwelcome.
I"m also saying that, yes, there are some very conservative black people. That doesn't make them racists certainly, but it does show a lack of empathy with the very poor. It happens.


text:
When you're riding on normal hoods, your index finger (longest and most powerful digit) is located near the pivot for the lever. That's far from ideal. You can generate the most braking power by riding in the drops with your index finger near the tip of the lever blade, the farthest point from the pivot. I flipped things around so that you have the most modulation control while riding on the "hoods." Also, the "drops" can be angled outward to the user's discretion. One more benefit is that the "drops" are ergonomically shaped like a pistol grip, fantastic for tough sprints.
I'm not super excited about making major design changes to the cockpit, but this idea is interesting and I'd like to see it in action.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Test file from dos/windoz is annoyingwhen working at linux. The newline character must be converted. Here are a collection of fixes:
Use of vi at linux
open a text file with vi, use this commad (use press Ctrl-V then Ctrl-M to get ^M)
Convert DOS file to UNIX format
Type the following command to convert file called myfile.txt:
$ dos2unix myfile.txt
However above command will not make a backup of original file myfile.txt. To make a backup of original file. The original file is renamed with the original filename and a .bak extension. Type the following command:
$ dos2unix -b myfile.txt
Convert UNIX file to DOS format
Type the following command to convert file called myfile.txt:
$ unix2dos myfile.txt
$ unix2dos -b myfile.txt
Convert Dos TO Unix Using tr Command
Type the following command:
tr -d '\r' < input.file > output.file
Convert Dos TO Unix Using Perl One Liner
Type the following command:
perl -pi -e 's/\r\n/\n/g' input.file in perl script, s/\r\n/\n/ does not work. I use s/^M// (press Ctrl-V then Ctrl-M to get pattern) , but if this is used along with chomp, it may remove more fields then necessary.
Convert UNIX to DOS format using sed command
Type the following command if you are using bash shell:
$ sed 's/$'"/`echo \\\r`/" input.txt > output.txt
Note: sed version may not work under different UNIX/Linux variant,refer your local sed man page for more info.
Convert DOS newlines (CR/LF) to Unix format using sed command
If you are using BASH shell type the following command (press Ctrl-V then Ctrl-M to get pattern or special symbol)
$ sed 's/^M$//' input.txt > output.txt


text:
Why aren't other electromagnetic waves used in optical fibres instead of visible light? Is it because the wavelength of light fits the internal reflection/refractive index of the material used for the fibre? e.g. Is the material that refracts light cheaper compared to material that refracts EM waves with other wavelengths?
Almost all fibers (and certainly all telecomms fibers) do not use visible light but infrared light. A typical wavelength used is 1550 nm. At this wavelength the combined effects of absorption and (Rayleigh) scattering in the fiber attains a minimum value, thereby allowing long transmission distances.
The total internal reflection picture of an optical fiber is a geometric optics construct that only applies for high frequencies (i.e. visible light, wavelength much smaller than fiber cross section). For lower frequencies it becomes a boundary value waveguide problem. You attempt to solve for the transverse EM field in the fiber respecting appropriate boundary conditions, and you will find below some frequency there are no propagating modes. That's why for RF waves you use coaxial cable or some other waveguide which has propagating modes at low frequency.
There are more reasons than propagation, absorption and scattering. (Near)-optical frequencies also have the advantage of effective sources and receivers. Terahertz receivers are very hard to build. Small UV-frequency sources are non-trivial either.
Next there's a bandwidth issue. If the frequency is too low, a high bandwidth can only be achieved by a very high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). Yet at "low" frequencies (<1Thz), simple thermal noise becomes a limitation. To overcome this would require a high signal level, with associated power consumption.
protected by Qmechanic♦ Mar 15 '13 at 11:09
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text:
I am writing a script and acording to that when i run it certain info will be displayed on the output screen.
for example say the constant data displayed is:
my name is mukesh.
i am 27 years old
unix version 188.8.131.52
but along with the above display something else is also need to be displayed(varying data) i.e
Process A is starting
Process A is running
Process A is completed.
but i dont want the above display.
I want
Process A is starting to be cleared from screen
and replaced by
Process A is running and then by
Process A is completed.
i am not very keen to use
clear as it will remove the whole screen containing the constant data also.
and also because the constant data takes a lot of time to process and to be displayed on the screen.


text:
CPU300 by Humanscale
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- Cleaning under your desk suddenly becomes a breeze when your CPU is off the floor
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About The Manufacturer
|Humanscale's focus since its inception in 1982 has been providing outstanding ergonomic seating and accessories for the home and the office. Their products, which range from task chairs to keyboard trays to CPU holders, are all geared towards making life simpler, easier, and healthier for anyone who works at a desk. Widely recognized for their line of office seating, Humanscale has done much to advance design in some newer product areas- namely in computer and office accessories such as monitor arms, foot machines, and the ergonomic computer mouse. Winner of numerous design awards, Humanscale continues to deliver groundbreaking office tools that combine simplicity, aesthetics, and ergonomics.
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Comments about Humanscale CPU Holder 300:
Great way to get computer off the desk & floor. The large range of adjustability allows continued use with todays smaller format CPUs. The slide and rotate features are great when servicing CPUs. Great build quality, have used these for 5+ years with no problems. The hardest thing to do is holding up the CPU to install it in the holder. (no biggie you only do it once.)
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Delivery was prompt and as promised. product arrived in good condition. Everything was OK so no need for customer service.
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Humanscale products come with free standard shipping for destinations within the contiguous United States.
This CPU holder generally arrives within 1-2 weeks from the date of purchase. For more information, view Smart Furniture's shipping rates, options, and delivery policies.
Product Q&A
Q: What size CPU can this hold?
A: The CPU300 holds CPUs 3.25"-9" wide and 10.5"-18" tall
Q: How much weight can it hold?
A: The CPU300 holds CPUs weighing up to 40 pounds
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All Humanscale CPU holders come with a 15-year warranty.


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Held on alternate Fridays in the Spring and Fall, the Master Class consists of a writing workshop, critical review of literature, discussion of current research topics and reports on graduate student research in quantitative structural geology, geomechanics and structural diagenesis.
Meetings last about 2 hrs and the venue is an off-campus location. See the e-mail alerts for last minute plans. Contact Steve Laubach to get on the email list.
Structural Diagenesis Curriculum
The SDI supports creation of a curriculum that merges the disciplines of structural geology and low temperature sedimentary geochemistry. The following is a list of the proposed program.
- Structural Diagenesis: Linked Mechanical and Chemical Processes
- Brittle Structure
- Sedimentary Geochemistry
- Reservoir Geomechanics
- Naturally Fractured Reservoirs
- Experimental & Theoretical Rock Mechanics
- Deformation, Chemical Change, and Transfer Processes in the Upper Crust
- Reservoir Quality Modeling
- Basin Modeling
Fall 2009 Schedule
Archive: Previous Master Class Schedules
In Fall 2009, the Structural Diagenesis master Class (SDMC) will meet on Friday afternoons at the Bureau unless otherwise noted. The format this semester is a directed reading and discussion seminar.
Contact Peter Eichhubl or Steve Laubach for further information.


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- Jena Economic Resea...
- Volume 4
- Is Fairness Blind? ...
- author
- Published
- Mon Mar 22 2010
- Number of discussion paper
- keyword(s)
climate change
effort-sharing rules
- abstract
By using a choice experiment, this paper focuses on citizens' preferences for effort-sharing rules of how carbon abatement should be shared among countries. We find that Swedes do not rank the rule favoring their own country highest. Instead, they prefer the rule where all countries are allowed to emit an equal amount per person, a rule that favors Africa at the expense of high emitters such as the U.S. The least preferred rule is reduction proportional to historical emissions. Using two different treatments, one where the respondents were informed about the country names and one where the country names were replaced with anonymous labels A-D, we also test whether people's preferences for effort-sharing rules depend on the framing of the problem. We find that while the ranking of the principles is the same in both treatments, the strength of the preferences is significantly increased when the actual names of the countries are used.
- article pub. typess JER
- Research article
- article languages JER
- Englisch
- JEL-Classification for JER
- D0 - General; Q54 - Climate; Natural Disasters


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WEIRTON - Artifacts uncovered during the demolition of the old Taylor, Smith & Taylor pottery in Chester are on their way to a new home in the West Virginia State Museum in Charleston.
The Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle, current owner of the nearly 10-acre site, presented the items to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Wednesday afternoon at the BDC office.
Among the items donated to the museum were bricks from one of the pottery's original bubble kilns and the original foundation, as well as several cups and saucers. There's also a photograph, taken from an old calendar, showing what the factory had looked like in its heyday and a new plate purchased from an online auction site.
Article Photos
Artifacts uncovered during the Taylor, Smith & Taylor remediation project were presented to West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin Wednesday at the Business Development Corp.'s office in Weirton. The items will be added to the West Virginia State Museum collection in Charleston. Taking part in the presentation were, from left, Tomblin; BDC Executive Director Pat Ford; Hancock County Commissioner Jeff Davis; BDC Assistant Director Marvin Six, who explained the significance of each item; State Del. Ron Jones, D-Hancock; and Chester City Clerk Sandi Parkins. -- Linda Harris
Marvin Six, assistant director of the BDC, said the artifacts had been buried "under heaps of trash and broken plates" that accumulated over the years.
"They're samples of ware that didn't get shipped. We found them buried at the site," he said. "Most of it was broken, that's why the site was contaminated - the broken ware has exposed edges and there's lead paint in the glazes."
The near 10-acre riverfront property is owned by the BDC, which acquired it in July 2011 for $125,000. BDC Executive Director Pat Ford said at the time the site has "virtually unlimited development potential" once the clean-up is complete.
Some $1.1 million in local, state and federal money has paid for the demolition and remediation work. The final piece of the funding puzzle came in April when Tomblin presented them with $200,000 in state money.
"The $200,000 you provided in gap financing was what we needed to make it happen," Ford told the governor.
Tomblin said he "certainly appreciates" the effort being made to rid Chester of a health and safety hazard and replace it with new business and industry.
"I was what, the fifth governor (to stand on that bridge)?" he asked Ford. "And I remember saying at the time that I'd be the last governor to stand on that bridge and tell you I'm going do something to help with getting rid of the pottery."
Tomblin, meanwhile, said he feels pretty good about the election, though he concedes he "has concerns with President Obama's EPA." The regulatory agency is widely blamed for job losses in the Mountain State's coal industry.
"That's the reason we continue to file lawsuits," he said. "It's costing us West Virginia jobs. Four federal judges, different judges, have already ruled against the EPA saying they are overstepping their statutory authority. The only remedy we have in order to fight them is to take them to federal court, so we'll continue to do that whenever they're costing us West Virginia jobs.
"At the same time, I've got concerns with Gov. Romney," he added. "We have a state with one of the oldest populations in the country. His stance on Social Security, the risks he'd be taking with Social Security and Medicare as we know it, could really hurt our seniors in this state. I'm in one of those positions where I have concerns with both major candidates in this race."
Tomblin said over the last 18 months nearly $6 billion has been invested in West Virginia "with over 6,500 new jobs created."
"That's what I want to continue to do," he said. "I think we've changed our state a great deal, made it a lot more fiscally responsible than we have been in the past. We're paying down our debts, lowering our taxes on both consumers as well business and even our workers' comp rates in the last five years have gone down nearly 60 percent since we privatized workers' comp. I think West Virginia, right now, is a pretty attractive place to locate a business or expand a business."
Tomblin said he looks for the oil and gas industry to pick up now that prices are "starting to creep back up."
"I think we had the lowest natural gas prices we've had in 10 years," he said. "As the prices goes back up we'll see drilling pick up again. And obviously, we're concerned about what's going on in surrounding states as far as gaming goes. I've talked with leaders of both Mountaineer and Wheeling Island, and I think we have got to be more competitive. We need to provide additional services, that special thing that brings people back and will keep jobs here in the Northern Panhandle."
Tomblin said the state continues to lobby for a cracker plant, which he said could bring as many as 12,000 downstream jobs.
"Naturally, we're working very had to make sure we do get one and that we don't let our natural gas or byproducts go to the Gulf Coast," he said.
(Harris can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.com)


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The mission of the ENA Foundation is to provide educational scholarships and research grants in the discipline of emergency nursing. Annually, since its inception in 1991, academic scholarship have been awarded to emergency nurses (see below). These academic scholarships are made possible because of the generous donations received from individuals, state councils, local chapters, industry and friend of emergency nursing. For additional information about the ENA Foundation, please e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com or contact a member of the Development Department at 847-460-4100.
Click here to return to Scholarship Recipients


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Is the ai in j'ai and finirai (I am assuming they are the same) pronounced exactly like the -er in infinitives: are manger and mangeai pronounced exactly the same?
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Both are the same
close-mid front unrounded vowel (
Please see the rest of my answer for an audio example of the pronunciation -ai. The third segment of the dictation also has various samples of the pronunciation of the -er ending (for example, Ils se sont entraînés à en déjouer les pièges.)
That said, it seems not everybody uses this pronunciation of -ai so the people who pronounce it like -ais1 will indeed make a difference between -ai and -er (on which there is probably little discussion)
1. They're wrong :-)
No, there's a slight difference in pronunciation between the two forms (although some people in france can't pronounce it differently) :
mangerai (will eat) is pronounced [ɛ] while manger (to eat) is pronounced [e].


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STEUBENVILLE - Kelly Wallace didn't pay attention to the new price of gasoline until after she had put the pump nozzle into her gas tank.
"Oh my gosh," the Mingo Junction woman said while holding her hands to her face.
"I am paid minimum wages and I'm not sure how far I can budget my money. I just paid $20 inside the station and I got 5 gallons of gas. And I still have two days to work in Steubenville this week. Something will have to give. Food will probably be cut back first," Wallace said Thursday in front of the North Seventh Street Kwik King in Steubenville.
Article Photos
GOING HIGHER — Frank Colalella of Steubenville pumped gas Thursday at the Kwik King BP Station on North Seventh Street in Steubenville. Regular gasoline was at the $3.99 a gallon after two Midwest refineries announced partial or complete shut downs for maintenance. -- Dave Gossett
"The government and big business are almost forcing us to go on welfare. This is the first year I haven't worked two jobs and now it is getting even harder," she added.
"I thought the price of gas would be cheaper these days because we have the oil and gas industry in the area," observed Hershell Wells of Pottery Addition.
"Usually it is a case of supply and demand. But there is plenty of supply and the demand has gone down. So you would think the price would go down. The gas prices will definitely affect my travel plans," said Wells.
Corey Frances of Steubenville said he is still working two jobs, "so my kids can eat and I can buy gas."
Francis makes the daily drive from Steubenville to Quaker City, Pa., so he keeps a close eye on gasoline prices.
"It is what it is, but the price of gas these days is ridiculous. But there's not much you can do about it," he said at the Third Street Speedway.
Rising oil prices and maintenance work at two Great Lakes region refineries are being blamed for local gasoline prices that hit $3.99 at some local pumps.
By Thursday the area Speedway gas stations had dropped their price by one cent, while the BP gas stations remained at $3.99.
The prices at the pump also are affecting Frank & Jerry's Furniture and Appliance business on North Fourth Street.
"The price of gas has become an important factor in determining our costs. Ever since this store was started by my father we have offered free delivery and setup of our appliances. And we will continue to do so. But rising gas prices have meant a tighter profit margin. The prices have created a significant issue for us," stated Jerry Barilla.
"We will continue our tradition of free delivery but it is becoming harder because of the gas prices," Barilla added.
According to auto club AAA, the state average for a gallon of regular gas was $3.93 on Thursday, while the national average Thursday was $3.63, up just 2 cents from a week ago.
Ohio gets most of its gasoline from the Chicago spot market, which is known for dramatic price swings, according to AAA Ohio. Refineries in Witing, Ind., and Joliet, Ill., have been offline for maintenance recently, which has led to tight supplies. Last week, the region's refining capacity dropped to a three-year low.
Restarting the refineries should ease supply concerns in the region, but there's no way to tell how soon that could ease the price at the pump.
Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with Gas Buddy, a division of the Oil Price Information Service, said refinery problems are making the Great Lakes region's wholesale prices "bipolar."
By contrast, the average price Thursday in neighboring Pennsylvania was $3.48. But in Michigan, it was $4.23. In Indiana, it was $4.12.
The highest recorded average price for a gallon of regular gas in Ohio was around $4.16 in May 2011, according to AAA.
Frank Colalella of Steubenville took a pragmatic approach to rising gas prices while he filled a gas can at the North Seventh Street Kiwk King.
"Its all relevant. It moves the economy for the gas and oil industry. It is like any business. If I can make money, I can invest money. I have to hope the oil and gas industry takes the profits and invests the profits wisely," remarked Colalella.
Scott Campbell, co-owner of M & M True Value Hardware, said he tries to combine deliveries on the store truck.
"We try to maintain minimum delivery charges for our larger items and put our deliveries together," he said.
"I also understand the local gas station owners who are struggling with the prices. They realize the same profit margin no matter how high the price may go. And the local owners also see their profit reduced when customers pay with a credit card. So local gas station owners are also being squeezed," explained Campbell.
(Gossett can be contacted at email@example.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.)


text: "Chris" Evans (born June 13, 1981) is a totally awesome American actor. I loved him in "The Fantastic Four" (2005) as Johnny, aka the superhero the Human Torchand its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), both box office successes. He also starred as Captain America in the critically and commercially successful Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), a role he will reprise in the upcoming team superhero film The Avengers (2012) and a sequel set for 2014. Fun, fun, fun for us Marvel movie goers. And for more fun, I hope you enjoy this tutorial. Please fav, vote, and comment. Thank you all. Peace and love to you.


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I have 2 80 Gb HDD's with a RAID 0 motherboard configuration (Intel Z77, fakeRAID) with a 100 Gb partition running Windows 7 and a 60 Gb partition where I would like to install Ubuntu 12.10. However, even though the installer seems to correctly detect the RAID 0 array, GRUB2 is not installed and the computer boots into Windows normally. The same thing does not happen when installing Fedora 17. The installer (Anaconda) also detects the disk array, but GRUB2 installation is successful. What exactly are the differences between Ubiquity and Anaconda? And is there a way to correctly install GRUB2 in a fakeRAID system, since there are no alternative Ubuntu CDs?
You need to put GRUB2 outside of the array, or it will not be seen and booted.
When you create your arrays from the Intel utility, you need to leave a couple of hundred MB, on each drive, outside of the created arrays and put GRUB onto one of these, during the installation process. You can do this by creating a ~500MB array, then your ~100GB and ~60GB arrays and then going back and deleting your ~500MB array. This will leave you the necessary space at the start of the drive for your bootloader. You will then need to use Advanced Partitioning during installation and mount this as /boot.
It's been a while since I did this, but I think that this should work from the Live CD. Make sure that you have dmraid installed, and I'd advise doing most of your partitioning through gparted before running the installer. Format one of these two partitions to ext2 to mount your /boot on this, use the ~60GB (/dev/mapper/isw...) volume to create your / (root) (ext4), and swap (swap) partitions and then mount them in the Advanced Partitioning bit of the Ubuntu installer.
Make sure that you select the low-down-on-the-list, individual entries for your (/dev/mapper/isw...) volumes for mounting during installation.
Does this help?
I've found an effective way to do this. As
NOTE: It is also required that both Ubuntu CDs boot into non-UEFI mode, otherwise it will not work.