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Buzz Cut:
• Rubio: Rand 'has no idea what he is talking about'
• Power Play: 'Holy cats, we're off to the races'
• Can Hillary keep up the fiction?
• Obama to hold year-end press conference
• Er, right, the pie lad had a mix up
Has the 2016 race accelerated this week? How about this for faster: In a local radio interview, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., backed President Obama's decision to restore normal relations with the Cuban government, saying that "opening up Cuba is probably a good idea." Offered the chance to respond on "The Kelly File," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said this: "Like many people who are opining here, he has no idea what he is talking about." A broadside like that from one sitting senator against another tells us very clearly that Republican power brokers' hopes of delaying and condensing the process may have been in vain. The announcement from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday looks like it was the green flag for a high-speed race. You can watch the whole segment here.
Republican strategist Ron Bonjean and radio host Garland Nixon join Chris Stirewalt to look at how Jeb Bush's announcement changed the pace and maybe the composition of the 2016 campaign. WATCH HERE.
[A second hit of Power Play - Congress crushed District of Columbia voter's decision to legalize pot. Why did they harsh the District's mellow? How long will it last? It's a fun discussion. WATCH HERE.]
Jeb hits Chicago on donor outreach - The Chicago Sun Times reports that Jeb Bush will be in Chicago today to meet with major donors and fundraisers. While the invite did not specify an agenda, following his intent to "actively explore" a 2016 bid, there is clearly one now. Events include a breakfast with close family acquaintances.
Stepping down from British bank post - AP: "Taking another step toward a presidential run, Jeb Bush is resigning his advisory role with British banking giant Barclays. A Bush spokesman said Thursday that the former Florida governor would leave his senior adviser position at the end of the year. Bush has been with the banking and financial services firm since 2009…"
Well, him and like 110 million other people - "Obviously I have a lot of disagreements with Jeb and his brother on policy. But I think they have every right to do what they think is best." – President Obama to ABC News.
Mitt-ness protection - Byron York reports that Jeb Bush's entry into the 2016 fray has not quelled the hopes of Mitt Romney's advisers for a potential third presidential run. "People in Romney's circle realize that some of his standing in the polls reflects nothing more than name recognition; everybody knows the guy who ran for president in 2012. But they believe there's more to it than that."
Perry jokes about job hunt - Texas Tribune: "Quips were as close as [Texas Gov. Rick Perry], who's considering a 2016 presidential run, came to shedding more light on his intentions during a speech at a convocation of Texas A&M graduates. 'I got started early on my resume,' said Perry. 'Under objective I wrote: Highly motivated professional, seeking a position as chief executive of a large enterprise with good benefits and a really large personal jet.' He also told the crowd he had experience overseeing 'people who bicker a lot, otherwise known as legislators' and had a 'well-worn veto pen.'"
Jindal prayer rally will turn a timely spotlight on his faith - New Orleans Times-Picayune: "Bobby Jindal's prayer rally at [Louisiana State University] in January may be just the first in a series of similar events with governors this year. The American Family Association [AFA], the conservative Christian organization paying for Jindal's prayer rally, has already approached governors in other states about hosting their own versions of the event, officially called The Response. But those prayer rallies haven't been finalized or announced yet."
[With a glut of former and current governors toying with the idea of making a 2016 bid, WaPo reports on some strategic campaign coverage planning by the Associated Press.]
Fiorina ready to upload campaign staff - National Journal reports that Carly Fiorina has begun hiring for an "imminent" presidential run with an announcement as early as next month and that fellow American Conservative Union board member Amy Noone Frederick is leading the talent search.
Seemingly all sides of the debate over how to fix America's broken higher education system (and labor force) herald community colleges as a key part of the solution. Affordable, accessible and able to focus on job training for growing sectors of the economy, the schools are often at the top of state and federal lawmakers' plans for making repairs to a higher-ed system that costs too much and delivers too little. Accordingly, the last decade has seen a huge boom in open-enrollment programs at community colleges, now awash in taxpayer dollars. But, as the Chronicle of Higher Education reports, concerns are growing about what all that money is buying: "Many students come to community colleges with jobs, families, and academic skills so low that they struggle even in remedial classes, the skeptics say. For such students, compressed remedial sequences and full-time structured pathways could be overwhelming. Colleges, meanwhile, might be tempted to lower standards to get more students through when their budgets are at stake."
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Real Clear Politics Averages
Obama Job Approval: Approve – 42 percent//Disapprove – 52.8 percent
Direction of Country: Right Direction – 25.9 percent//Wrong Track – 66.5 percent
While Jeb Bush has aggressively taken the GOP's 2016 center stage, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton continues her slow-walk fiction of "will she or won't she" and her campaign machinery expands its the massive web. Her latest maneuver is a meeting between a Clinton advisor and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal group closely affiliated with potential rival Sen Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Politico: "Clinton's team is trying to build a bridge with those who are actively supporting Warren…the PCCC has not joined the 'Draft Warren' efforts being led by MoveOn.org." Dancing around campaign laws, Clinton has interviewed potential campaign managers, courted big-time donors and cozied up to Wall Street. Her shadow campaign reaches back years. But now, with Bush upfront and accelerating the race, the question is: How long can Clinton keep her coy guessing game up? Answer: as long as the press lets her.
Flashback - On the this day in 1998, then-First Lady Hillary Clinton stood by her man, making a plea to Democratic congressmen on the Hill prior to the House of Representatives' vote to impeach President Bill Clinton for lying about his assignations with a 21-year-old White House intern. The Daily News details its Dec. 19, 1998 report on what Hillary said.
New plan: Be relatable to humans - NYT: "During the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Hillary Rodham Clinton emphasized her strength and experience over her softer, more relatable side. Today, she gushes about having 'that grandmother glow.' As she lost the nomination to President Obama, Mrs. Clinton was accused of being wooden and overly shielded by staff members. Last month, she mingled casually at an Upper West Side apartment, greeting donors and shunning a podium and rope line."
As court ruling looms, voters still back pipeline - With a state court decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline project expected as soon as today, the latest Fox News poll says 68 percent of voters back the plan, about the same number as last year.
The Hill: "President Obama will hold a press conference Friday before departing on a 17-day Hawaiian winter vacation. "You can put on your calendar that the president will convene his traditional end-of-year news conference," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday…It will be Obama's first White House press conference since he addressed reporters a day after the November midterm elections. The president is likely to face questions on a range of issues, including his recently announced effort to normalize relations with Cuba, as well as the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment…Obama could also face questions on the recently passed $1.1 trillion government funding bill, which he supported despite opposition from prominent Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The president could also get asked about Russia's ongoing financial crisis."
[Watch Fox: President Obama's press conference live at 1:30 p.m. ET]
Sea change - "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" welcomes two members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-WI, and Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., to discuss the administration's dramatic shift in policy with Cuba. "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" airs at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET on Fox News. Check local listings for air times in your area.
#mediabuzz: This week, Howard Kurtz welcomes guests including National Review's Jonah Goldberg, Democratic strategist Joe Trippi and investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson with the news about the news from a very big week. Watch "#mediabuzz" Sunday at 11 a.m. ET, with a second airing at 5 p.m.
You can never have too much pie or so they say. Manchester [England] Evening News reports that organizers of the World Pie Eating Championships were forced to deliver a large slice of humble pie. Competitors at the annual event try to eat a meat and potato pie in the fastest time. Barry Rigby had won the competition with a time of 42.6 seconds but official rules provide proper dimensions for "competition pies." The results of this year's event were declared void after it was discovered that the pies were double the regulation size. Tony Callaghan, owner of venue Harry's Bar on Wallgate, said, "The work experience lad was tasked with providing 24 competition pies, but mixed up the order and sent them to a divorce party up the road. By the time we realized, it was too late." Hordes of spectators gather to see the competition every year at "Pie noon" in Wigan, a town near Manchester. "It was a shame, because these lads practice long and often. You can see how seriously they take it," Callaghan added.
"You put it ["The Interview"] out on the internet for free so it's a gesture, but also it doubly screws over Pyongyang…Well, now the world would see it in far larger numbers than it ever would if it were a paying proposition in the theaters so I think it would have been punishment for the North Korea regime." – Charles Krauthammer on "Special Report with Bret Baier" Watch here.
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here
Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in July of 2010 and serves as politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he authors the daily Fox News Halftime Report political news note and co-hosts the hit podcast, Perino & Stirewalt: I'll Tell You What. He also is the host of Power Play, a feature video series on FoxNews.com. Stirewalt makes frequent appearances on network programs, including America's Newsroom, Special Report with Bret Baier and Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. He also provides expert political analysis for FNC's coverage of state, congressional and presidential elections.


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Let us build a custom website for you! Enjoy a custom design, monthly updates, and online marketing.
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To use social media marketing effectively, businesses have to be perceived as members of the social media community, willing to interact with other members.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Career Fair set Friday at GPTC
Hundreds of high school students will have the chance to learn more about job, career and educational opportunities on Friday.
The Lawton Branch of the NAACP, Lawton Publics School and Great Plains Technology Center will present the "Economic Keys to Success" career fair from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Worley Center at Great Plains, 4500 W. Lee.
Twenty-one organizations will make presentations. They include educational institutions, the military, banking, a call center, the Lawton Police Department and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and Goodyear.
Eugene DeLoach of the NAACP said this is the first career fair the organization has organized and reflects its goal of promoting economic development in the community.
The prime audience is seniors from Lawton's three public high schools. DeLoach said some students may not have given a lot of thought about continuing their education, pursuing a career, or even finding a job. The career fair will show them some of the options that are available.


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Scott Brown: Celtic captain wins appeal over red card
- From the section Football
Celtic captain Scott Brown is free to face Rangers in the Premiership on Saturday after overturning the red card he received against Ross County.
The 31-year-old midfielder's sending-off has been reduced to a caution "for recklessly dangerous play" following an appeal to the Scottish FA.
Brown was sent off for a stoppage-time challenge on Liam Boyce in a 2-2 draw.
Champions Celtic chose to contest the decision, with disciplinary hearings delayed due to the Easter holiday.
That allowed Brown to play in Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Rangers at Hampden.
While Brown is available to play in the Old Firm derby at Ibrox, the yellow card takes him over the disciplinary threshold that triggers a two-game suspension.
That means he will sit out subsequent league matches against St Johnstone and Aberdeen.


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Hurricane Irma
As we continue our recovery and cleanup efforts, please visit the Emergency website for the latest information on openings and closings in Miami-Dade County.
For-Hire Transportation
The Passenger Transportation Regulatory Division regulates for-hire chauffeurs and vehicles to include taxicabs, limousines, passenger motor carriers, jitneys, tour vans, special transportation service vehicles, non-emergency transportation services and private ambulance services. The Division also inspects for-hire transportation vehicles and private school buses at the County's For-Hire Vehicle Inspection Station. The Division provides licensing training for new and renewing for-hire chauffeurs.
- To obtain a license please visit the Licenses website.
2018 Luxury Limousine Sedan License Lottery
The Passenger Transportation Regulatory Division will be conducting a lottery to distribute 17 luxury limousine sedan licenses as follows:
- Eleven (11) licenses for individuals or companies who currently hold a for hire limousine license
- Six (6) to applicants who are not holders of a current and valid limousine for hire license.
Applications will only be accepted from Monday, April 2, 2018 until Monday May 21, 2018 at 4:00 p.m.
Those interested in participating in the lottery are encouraged to read the lottery guidelines to familiarize themselves with the rules and requirements of the lottery prior to submitting an application.
For more information contact 786-469-2300.
Taxicab and Limousine Advisory Group 2018 Meetings
Overtown Transit Village
601 NW 1st Court
18th Floor, Conference Room
Miami, FL 33136
If you have any questions regarding these meetings, or if you need assistance, please contact Ms. Bridgette Newsome at 786-469-2367, or via email at: email@example.com; or Ms. Selena Williams at 786-469-2373, or via email at: email@example.com .
Consumers may file online complaints against for-hire transportation providers. Information contained in complaints is public information and is included in the dispute resolution process.
For-Hire Vehicle Inspections
The County Code requires that any company or individual who seeks to provide transportation for compensation be licensed, drivers trained and insured, and the vehicles registered, insured and inspected.
The County's For-Hire Vehicle Inspection Station is located at 2615 NW 10 Avenue Miami, FL 33127
Approximately 44 passenger service companies operate taxicabs in Miami-Dade County including wheel-chair accessible vehicles.
You are now leaving the official website of Miami-Dade County government. Please be aware that when you exit this site, you are no longer protected by our privacy or security policies. Miami-Dade County is not responsible for the content provided on linked sites. The provision of links to these external sites does not constitute an endorsement.
Please click 'OK' to be sent to the new site, or Click 'Cancel' to go back.


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Do you know what Cyclon Gems is?
Cyclon Gems is classified as adware in the security community and it was developed by Ad Business Crown Solutions S.L. Most of the time it targets Spanish user, but do not be careless, because any user from any country could be hit by this unwanted application. Mostly this potentially unwanted application will be advertised as being able to deliver personalized offers/discounts etc. while you are web shopping. At first this might seem as a useful tool, but in reality it is nothing much more than just a program that will annoy you with endless adverts, pop-ups and interrupt your browsing experience in general.Cyclon Gems screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
Cyclon Gems affect all popular browsers on the market (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer) thus there is no way to avoid the pop-ups, just by switching to a different browser. Basically Cyclon Gems will gather traffic by luring an unsuspected user into the allegedly legitimate offers. The more clicks this application gathers, the more profits it will make. A user does the dirty work without any knowledge. Remove this application ASAP, as you will not benefit in no way if you will leave it on your system, eventually it might turn out to be very harmful.
Once Cyclon Gems is on your computer you will experience numerous pop-up advertisements, coupons with various so called discount offers from a lot of big vendors online e.g. eBay, Amazon, Target etc. Another feature that is common with this application is that you will be displayed redirection adverts; it will redirect you to third rate online vendors, which are suspicious to say the least. By being lured into a hoax website a user might, without event thinking, enter and provide third-parties with sensitive data e.g. social security number, bank details, email account details, address etc. It has been recorded that a lot of these third rate websites are designed precisely for this purpose. Thus it is obvious why you should remove Cyclone Gems immediately!
One more feature that is in no way helpful to users is the fact that Cyclon Gems will monitor browsing activities. These will include your browser type, browsing history, browser language, searches, IP address, Internet Service Provider (ISP). By gathering this data Cyclon Gems will be able to provide you with adverts tailored and targeted especially to you. This kind of technique is likely to manipulate you into clicking links to various websites. It is only natural that the more you click on dubious links the more you are likely to land on a harmful malicious website, as there is no way to tell what kind of companies and vendors are partners with the creators of Cyclon Gems.
Just like a lot of applications of this kind it will most likely be bundled with some kind of freeware or shareware. These will often come from a download client of some kind e.g. CNET, ClickDownload, Brothersoft and may others. Often these download clients will bundle software as a part of their marketing strategy. Users are commonly commonly to skim through the installation process, thus getting third-party software on their system without any knowledge. There is no other way to avoid this, than reading! Read everything that is on the installation screen! You might lose some time, but you will save the time that you would spend in order to remove the unwanted application from the system.
Numerous reports show that cybercriminals and creators of unwanted applications like Cyclon Gems are fond of exploiting such widespread applications as Adobe Flash and Java. Various hoax websites will have pop-up messages popping up all the time telling the user that their Adobe Flash player or Java is out of date. This is just a manipulation: if a user clicks on a so called update button, he allows an installation process to take place on the system. That update installer could be filled with unwanted malicious applications. Thus always check if there was an update issued lately with the official developer website in order to avoid getting infected, or just installing any other dubious third party software.
Fortunately, it is quite easy to remove Cyclon Gems from your system. Just by uninstalling the application from Control Panel will do the trick: you will be free of annoying pop-ups, adverts etc. But a few traces might be left, thus further antimalware removal is needed to clear the system completely. Fallow the guide and you should be able to delete Cyclon Gems easily. If you are not comfortable to perform a manual removal yourself, please use a professional antimalware tool in order to delete the unwanted application. We strongly recommend SpyHunter as it is a leading tool in the field. A scan after manual removal is also always recommended as you might never know what you have missed.
How to remove unwanted application
Windows 8
- Move mouse cursor to the bottom right corner of the screen
- Click Settings on Charm bar and go to Control Panel
- Select Uninstall a program and remove unwanted application
Windows Vista & Windows 7
- Open Start Menu and select Control Panel
- Go to Uninstall a program and remove unwanted application.
Windows XP
- Click Start menu button and navigate to Control Panel
- Select And or remove programs and uninstall unwanted apps.
In non-techie terms:
The first step that you must take in order to avoid unwanted applications like Cyclon Gems is installing professional and powerful antimalware tool on your system. Keeping it enable at all times is a must do! If you still have not decided on what application to use we strongly believe that SpyHunter scanner is one of the first-rate applications around, and that is why you should install it on your system ASAP.


text: Introduction The Gift of the Givers Foundation works with various people and organisations in its disaster relief efforts and numerous projects. This page acknowledges these partnerships, their support and their encouragement. We would like to thank all our donors (corporate and private), partners and all those who have supported us throughout the years. Prev Next


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This issue of Elements celebrates the diverse contributions that the Earth sciences have made to characterizing, interpreting, conserving, and valorizing cultural heritage. Archaeometry and conservation science are connected to the geosciences at different levels. Earth scientists possess a profound perception of the complexity of natural materials, they have the necessary knowledge of the ancient and recent geological and physicochemical processes acting on natural materials and on the artifacts produced by human activities, and they master most of the techniques useful to investigate our common heritage. Therefore, Earth scientists can greatly contribute towards a better understanding and preservation of our past.
Our cultural heritage derives from the development and diversification of human cultures and abilities. Scientific investigation of cultural heritage has several important aims: (1) increasing our knowledge and understanding of the tangible heritage; (2) assembling information, including physical evidence, in order to add cultural value to the heritage, including the "intangible" values; and (3) helping to define the conditions, limits, risks, and potential for sustainable conservation and management of human heritage in general.
In the words of Renfrew and Bahn (2008), "Archaeology deals with the full spectrum of human experience." This makes the discipline both fascinating and rather complex. It is clear that archaeology must use the diverse methods and techniques developed in other disciplines, from A to Z (from "architecture to zoology," in the words of Pollard (1995)). The need for scientific inquisition becomes more important the more we penetrate into prehistory, where no written accounts are available and even the interpretation of the material evidence is often problematic. The wide area of scientific research supporting archaeology is now generally called archaeometry, which relies on scientific training, dedicated research institutions, and so on. In this way, archaeometry differs from conservation science, which is related to fine arts, restoration, and museums. However, a current trend is to combine archaeological excavations and conservation plans (Agnew and Bridgland 2006). It is worth noting that the analytical tools and approaches of modern archaeometry are similar to those used in mineralogy, geochemistry, and materials science. There is a necessity to take a shared and multidisciplinary approach when studying cultural heritage, especially when addressing complex materials problems, because of the long training time required by scientists to use the required sophisticated techniques and to make the most efficient use of human and financial resources (Pollard and Bray 2007; Artioli 2010).
Within this framework, the geosciences offer a wide range of competencies and specific knowledge of natural materials across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Intrinsic to the geosciences are an understanding of geological and geochemical processes, the distribution of mineral resources, the evolution of a landscape, and the perception of time and dating methods. The impact of past human activities on the geological environment and on natural processes is important for understanding the context of cultural history. Geosciences are fundamental to perceiving the fine interplay between human society and natural resources. Climate, earthquakes, agriculture, mining, fossilization, glaciations, planetary cycles, pyrotechnology, human evolution, diagenetic processes, may at first glance seem unrelated: but all are pieces of the same puzzle—the history of mankind and human societies on Earth. Nature and humans influence each other.
This introductory article will use a few selected examples to convey the need for, and the potential of, geoscience research in archaeometry and in conservation studies.
Few scientists can adequately perceive how chemical and physical processes operate over a wide range of scales. Most people working with materials have a good perception of the nano- and microscales (the scale of atoms, molecules, and crystal structures), and some have a grasp of the textural and structural aspects at the mesoscale (extended defects, textured materials, composite materials). Others see matter as a continuum with specific properties at the macroscale, in order to turn materials into devices and tools. The choice of analytical scale is important because, depending on the technique, we may obtain different experimental responses and information on the same object. Each discipline and each specialist has a special perception of the sample and its context (Fig. 1).
Further, even at the same scale we may select a variety of techniques, adopting different probes and analyzing specific signals. Most techniques are complementary and may be used together in order to produce integrated results.
At the large scale (tens of meters to kilometers), we can use remote sensing (multispectral/hyperspectral imaging), satellite imagery, or ground-penetrating radar. During area surveys, the characterization of the local architectural remains, buried structures, landscape morphology, hydrology, transportation routes, the soil potential for agriculture, and so on, helps to understand the archaeological site in the territorial context.
At the scale of a field survey (meters), geophysical methods are the most useful to map subsurface features or penetrate architectural structures (Sala et al. 2016 this issue), and this information is often conveniently combined with a 3-D visualization of the site by geographic information system (GIS) referencing, photogrammetric reconstructions, or laser scan maps.
At the scale of the objects and human remains (submeter) materials science comes into play. A number of portable probes (X-ray fluorescence spectrometers, X-ray diffraction probes, Fourier transform infrared spectrometers, etc.) may be used to retrieve chemical or mineralogical information before, during, and after an excavation. These techniques may help in understanding the stratigraphy and recognizing the different materials unearthed during the excavation process. Ideally, using these techniques means that no information is lost, better excavation strategies can be developed, and appropriate samples can be selected for subsequent laboratory analyses.
Earth is an extremely dynamic planet, even at the human time scale. The living environment, the climate, the landscape, the hazards, the natural resources are all constantly changing. Human cultures also change through very complex interrelationships between natural constraints and social needs. Art and archaeology, our cultural heritage, are the tangible signs of such change. To understand the driving forces behind cultural and social evolution and to define the pace of that change are two of the more fascinating tasks of cultural heritage investigations. At the grand scale, civilizations rise and fall because of the resource availability, changing environmental conditions, or technological developments. Scientifically investigating cultural heritage can be linked to a two basic questions: "What happened?" and, "How, why, and when did they do it?"
At the small scale of materials, everything humans do is bound to alter the thermodynamics and/or kinetics of natural processes: ore extraction, metal reduction, woodworking, farming and soil exploitation, architecture, transport—they all substantially alter the dynamics of natural change. As Earth scientists, we strive to have a good understanding of the thermodynamics and the kinetics of processes from the grand scale of plate tectonics to the electronic scale of oxidation/reduction reactions. We need to understand changes in cultural heritage in the context of such physicochemical timescales. Most human actions represent a fight against thermodynamics, which is why we need energy (food, fuel) for all our activities. If we follow the life cycle of a material, it can be described as an alternation of slow and fast processes (Artioli and Angelini 2011). Natural processes (such as phase transformation, alteration, diffusion) try to bring a material into thermodynamic equilibrium and are considered slow on the human timescale. In contrast, most human actions (pyrotechnology of production, i.e. high-temperature technology, transport, conservation) are fast on the same scale but commonly produce abrupt physicochemical changes that take matter into highly unstable or metastable states. There is no way out: most of our achievements (tools, buildings) and ourselves are metastable.
Most of the studies on cultural heritage materials focus on understanding their time line (Gould 1987), either on their past (archaeometry) or their future (conservation). In archaeometry, we strive to place a given human object (or activity) on an absolute or relative timescale, often carefully developed through the scrupulous application of physicochemical dating methods such as dendrochronology, radiocarbon methods, thermoluminescence, and optically stimulated luminescence (Wagner 1998; Athanassas and Wagner 2016 this issue). For conservation, we try to understand the kinetics of change (alteration, degradation, diffusion, phase transformation, etc.) and define the best conditions to slow or stop any degradation/alteration processes in order to save the heritage material (the building, the archaeological site, etc.) for future generations. Restoration and conservation aim to increase the stability of the materials, so increasing their longevity, provided that environmental conditions and thermodynamic parameters do not change.
Unfortunately, despite all our efforts, sometimes the lack of culture itself acts as an unexpected player in the conservation game. Tragically, this is now happening on a large scale in the Middle East, where cultural heritage itself is under attack by cultureless humans: in 2011, the Bamiyan Buddha statues (Fig. 2) were destroyed; in 2015 the Assyrian Nimrud and the Syrian Pamira sites were attacked and heavily damaged. Such actions substantially increase the kinetics of degradation.
Investigation of the chemical, mineralogical, and isotopic compositions of cultural heritage materials yields a wealth of information. Not only do the analytical data allow the nature of the compounds and their origin to be defined, but they also offer important clues on (a) the provenance of an object, (b) the chemical classification in which to group an object, and (c) the authenticity of an object.
Determining provenance is an important aspect of archaeometric investigations. Identifying the nature and characteristics of an object leads to deductions on the origin of the raw materials used to produce it, where it was manufactured, and the routes by which it was traded or exchanged. In most instances, the simple typology of the object is not sufficient to define reliable groups and parameters of identification. In ancient and modern times, humans have systematically copied and imitated objects that are aesthetically pleasing and/or functional. Thus, it is often impossible to discriminate between imported ceramics and those locally produced using typology and morphology alone. This is true for prehistoric pottery, Romano-Celtic sigillata, or Renaissance and Chinese porcelains (Heimann and Maggetti 2014). Even expert discrimination based on purely stylistic parameters can lead to serious errors, but mineralogical or chemical parameters commonly allow the definition of reliable reference groups.
The same is true for many other materials, including metals and glass. Compositional and isotopic parameters are usually employed to discriminate the ore sources used for metal extraction (Rehren and Pernicka 2008). For most metals (copper, bronze, lead, silver) the lead isotope ratios carrying the age signature of the exploited ore deposit is the most important tracer employed in determining a metal's provenance (Gale and Stos-Gale 2000). Extensive lead isotope databases exist for most Old World ore deposits, and they are systematically used to compare the lead isotope signature of ancient objects. When geological deposits are coeval, discrimination is further refined based on a suite of minor, trace, or rare ultra-trace elements present in the mineral assemblage and affine to the main metallic elements during the reduction and refinement processes, e.g. the suite of chalcophile elements that follow copper during slagging operations—Sb, Ag, Se, Ni, Co, Bi, As. For other metals, different compositional and isotopic signatures have been attempted for determining provenance of the metal: for example, the tungsten–tin signature for iron (Benvenuti et al. 2013).
Archaeological discoveries coupled with the substantial amount of archaeometallurgical work in the last few decades are such that our picture of early metallurgy is changing substantially. The standard view of early metallurgy is that it developed in the Near East and then moved slowly through the Balkans and the Mediterranean to the rest of the Old World (Fig. 3). This view is now being seriously challenged.
Glass can also be shaped and worked (or reworked) easily, and imitations are frequent. Therefore, archaeological and historical glass, and glassy materials such as faience objects, are extremely difficult to group into the appropriate glass type and provenance without appropriate analysis. Typical examples are prehistoric faience (beads, small objects such as scarabs, pendants, ushabti, mostly of Egyptian production) and protohistoric glass beads, both of which generally have a few fairly standardized typologies, despite being widespread across the Mediterranean world and beyond. Similar problems exist with Roman mosaic tesserae, which were easily transported, reworked, mixed, and imitated. The chemical composition of a glass, the presence of any crystalline impurities, and isotopic tracers (Rehren 2000; Degryse et al. 2009; Henderson 2013) are all used as discriminating parameters to identify different glass productions and the origin of the materials.
A few words now on authentication. The aesthetic, stylistic, and chemical evolution of the material in time provides information that can be used to interpret technological and artistic changes throughout human history. These data can also be used to recognize forged antiquities and art works. Authenticity tests, based on laboratory data, expose artistic, stylistic, and physicochemical features (including direct absolute dates) of an artifact that are inconsistent with the supposed age of that artefact (Craddock 2007). Extensive scientific analysis of certified works by an artist may also help in the attribution task, to the point that connoisseurship can lead into the realm of technical art history. Sometimes, discriminating between fakes and originals is very difficult, and several techniques are needed to produce a reasonable answer. The case of the beautiful cast bronze Benin plaques, which are frequently counterfeited, is a good example of complex attribution: surface corrosion features, metal alloy composition, and 210Pb signatures (Keisch et al. 1967) have to be measured in order to reach reliable conclusions about authenticity (Pernicka et al. 2008). Sometimes a suite of impurities in a metal can be directly related to the method of production, as in the case of chemically versus electrolytically separated aluminum (Bourgarit and Plateau 2007).
Ever since man started being artistically creative, natural minerals, rocks, and organic substances have formed the physical basis of this creative expression, either in their raw form or when artificially transformed by heat and chemical reactions. Pigments for painting and coloring, and rocks, metals, glass, and wood for sculptures and decorations are examples.
The identification and characterization of the materials of art is important for art history, authentication, and conservation. With respect to modern pigments and dyes, natural minerals as pigments have a limited palette: black, white, and different shades of ochre, red, and brown. However, these basic pigments have been used to express inner feeling, belief, and communication since the dawn of humankind (Figs. 4and5). Investigation of the pigments, their binders, and the way that they were used gives us insight into the inspiring moments when early humans projected their thoughts onto a rock surface. The scientific investigation of pigments often reveals unexpected sides to ancient artistic technologies.
Walter et al. (1999) conducted a systematic study of ancient Egyptian cosmetics using synchrotron radiation to demonstrate that many cosmetic samples were a mixture of ground natural minerals (galena) and synthetically precipitated crystal powders (laurionite), thereby proving the chemical ability of ancient Egyptians. Another fascinating story is the one related to the Maya blue pigment (Fig. 6), which is a very stable compound used by the Maya to paint murals, ceramic surfaces and other objects; it was also possibly used ceremonially. Maya blue pigment is very resistant to alteration and chemical attack and it has attracted the interest of a number of scientists because of its structural complexity: it is a true organo-clay hybrid material, where indigo molecules adsorb on the surface, and perhaps enter the channels, of one of the polymorphs of the clay mineral palygorskite (Chiari et al. 2008; Sánchez del Rio et al. 2008). This brilliant blue pigment was prepared by ancient Mayans with a specific recipe that involved boiling the clay together with the indigo plant Indigo suffruticosa (Reyes-Valerio 1993).
Other blue pigments used in antiquity are the Egyptian blue (cuprorivaite) and lapis (lapis lazuli, or lazurite), whose modern counterpart is synthetic ultramarine. Both pigments tell many fascinating stories: first, of long journeys, because the only source of lazurite exploited in antiquity was the Afghan Badakhshan deposit; second, these are rare pigments used for artistic expression—lapis was very expensive and only the most famous and well-paid painters could afford it, including Michelangelo, Masaccio, Titian, and Vermeer, the latter being a real fan of lapis lazuli; third, local ancient imitations—the origin of synthetic cuprorivaite in ancient Egypt is assumed to be replacement for scarce supply of lapis, and their recipe continued to be used in the Roman world and beyond (Bredal-Jørgensen et al. 2011); fourth, modern processing—the synthesis of modern ultramarine was the result of a prize that the French Societé pour l'Encouragement d'Industrie offered in 1824 for the artificial production of the precious color. Jean Baptiste Guimet (1826) and Christian Gmelin (1828) both derived processes to produce ultramarine. While Guimet kept his process a secret, Gmelin published his results and became the originator of the "artificial ultramarine" industry.
This issue of Elements is designed to stimulate a wider involvement by geoscientists in cultural heritage research. Geoscientists commonly possess a good knowledge of physicochemical processes over a range of space and time scales. The perception of the complexity of materials, the interaction between human activities and natural processes, and the availability and properties of geo-resources are important requisites for heritage studies. Furthermore, the geosciences (including materials science) are at the forefront of experimental and instrumental developments in different research areas because of the stringent requirements that are posed by the complex problems they are faced with. For example, the use of neutron beams for textural analysis was developed to investigate rock textures. In the field of microanalysis, the use of narrow and focused beams (including synchrotron radiation) for investigating matter has been historically pioneered by geoscientists (Quartieri 2015) and is now an essential tool for other disciplines (Janssens et al. 2016 this issue). It is not by chance that most laboratory instruments using microbeams (ion probes, electron microprobes, high resolution transmission electron microscopes) are installed in geoscience laboratories, as well as in materials science labs that work on complex synthetic samples. Similarly, the noninvasive 3-D imaging of objects offered by computed tomography is a rapidly growing field with applications for heritage material, as shown by Gueriau et al. (2016 this issue). The holistic imaging of objects, coupled with spectroscopic mapping, is bound to become a major tool for characterizing art and archaeological objects in the future and will be a great aid in establishing restoration protocols. Such imaging can be thought of as the modern 3-D equivalent of the neutron autoradiographic techniques developed for paintings decades ago. The large-scale extension of 2-D and 3-D imaging is demonstrated by the survey of archaeological sites and buildings by geophysical methods as described by Sala et al. (2016 this issue).
Another field where geosciences is at the forefront of conceptual and technical achievements is the dating of (geologically) recent events: many techniques developed as alternatives to radiocarbon dating (optically stimulated luminescence, thermoluminescence, cosmic nuclides, etc.) are being actively pursued to understand recent geological processes, such as volcanic eruptions, sedimentary processes, and landslides. Athanassas and Wagner (2016 this issue) show how these techniques may be important for archaeometric purposes. Finally, the use of isotopes as tracers and clocks of geological events is, of course, a stronghold of geochemistry and petrology. The high accuracy and precision needed in geological mass spectrometry has implications for the interpretation of cultural heritage materials, the reconstruction of human activities and trades, and the authentication of art works.
The scientific investigation of cultural heritage should not just be the mere application of techniques and methods that were developed for other purposes. Instead, the geosciences should join with those in the cultural heritage sector to develop and optimize the required concepts and experiments to mutually benefit both fields. And in the future, we expect that the links between cultural heritage science and the geosciences will get stronger and that much exciting research will follow.
We thank Gordon Brown and Jodi Rosso for encouragement and editorial assistance. S. Quartieri is grateful to R. Arletti and G. Vezzalini for the longstanding and fruitful collaboration in the scientific studies of cultural heritage. G. Artioli would like to thank all students and coworkers for enthusiasm with archaeometric work, despite institutional barriers and scarcity of funds.


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James Risen, co-author of the NYT article exposing illegal wiretapping on U.S. citizens has a new book out about that and other damning revelations about Bushco and the Iraq war. He is seen here on NBC's Today Show:
(hat tip C&L)
Risen makes a few key points (also highlighted at Crooks and Liars):
- 12 or more officials blew the whistle on this, all described as being "motivated by the purest of reasons"
- Bush may have suggested that pain medication be withheld from detainees, beginning the slippery slope to Abu Ghraib
- Before the war, intelligence gathered by Iraqi-Americans sent to find out about WMDs was ignored – the administration sent them
- Foreign policy was radicalized at the hands of Rumsfeld, Tenet, Cheney, Rice and a few others who would not allow career professionals in the State Department to participate.
Foreign policy radicalized? PNAC anyone? It is a matter of national security to remove these dangerous people from any leadership role in this country post-haste.
Tagged with: Iraq War • National Politics • Videoblogs


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i do like this one ..
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20 February 2011
Cats Have Nine Lives - by Paul Evans
Posted 02/18/11 08:05:00 am "Oh no I died again!" - not something you generally get to say in real life is it? Yet gamers readily accept death as a temporary failure state - just a blip towards achieving their goal. Death has been abstracted in games in many varied ways over the years and in some games abstracted away completely. It has been used to provoke emotion, to punish, to teach, to up the stakes or just to increase a score. But the cat came back the very next day... Arcades with video games and pinball machines are quite rare now in the UK (now they are full of fruit machines) but are still a good starting point for looking in to players' lives in games. Lives in Pinball are represented by identical silver balls - a limited resource per game. A player may start with three balls and might even win extra balls but eventually the game will end with a score. Score is used as a measure of success across all of your lives, with each finite reincarnation another chance at increasing the net accomplishment. Space Invaders sees the player's ship explode and be replaced with an identical clone a limited number of times. PacMan actually shrivels up in to nothing and makes a pitiful whining noise as his little spherical body implodes at the touch of Inky, Blinky, Pinky or Clyde… but another identical PacMan takes his place. These games are over thirty years old but the themes of credits, lives and scores still permeate throughout modern games in all sorts of disguises. This kind of death and credit system is useful to monetize failure. Want to see more of the game? Well okay then… you have ten seconds to cough up the money and we will let you see some more. If you do not come up with the money then back to the start for you! Progression therefore will cost you, mastery of skills and patterns only earned after costly failure. Is it worth antagonizing a player with this kind of death in games that are not pay-per-play? Mario and Sonic teach via death. I cannot believe that these games were designed so that a brand new player could get through the entire game without learning through a fatal kind of trail and error. Punishment for death can increase from the arcades where you can always bribe your way through a section, because in some games you pay in time instead. After dying a few times in a row the punishment goes from a pained animation to having to restart an entire area - taking away hard fought progress from the player. While some players thrive on this type of this type of challenge I would argue this action can be demotivating. Only a certain kind of player continues on to conquer this, others will just walk away in frustration. 'Splosion Man has death but you just bounce right back in a glorious splodey sentient cloud of insanity. The game has levels and stages to clear and it is not possible to save your progress in the middle of a stage. The game does offer the player an option to skip to the next stage if you die in a section too many times in a row. So a frustrated player can skip forward to see new content and get some sense of progress. I never took up the option… too much gamer pride. But I did hear something about a pink tutu you have to wear in the next stage if you do! Games with lives and credits often also keep score, either in terms of points or fastest times. They promote competition through leaderboards, with players trying to out do each other for bragging rights. If it bleeds we can kill it (apart from if it is the player) There is a snowy mountain path continuing to the NORTH. To the SOUTH a noisy group of villagers carrying flaming pitchforks are closing in on your location. They all seem kind of angry. Well apart from the springer spaniel that is wagging his tail furiously. He seems to think this is the best walk ever. > NORTH You tripped over something and fell off the cliff, a whooshing sound fills your ears followed by a very nasty crunching noise. Breathing heavily and looking up you see the villagers standing where you were laughing. One shouts down to your broken body "enjoy your trip?" Another takes your INFRARED SUNGLASSES that fell from your pocket before your tumble and puts them on. "OOOh INFRARED SUNGLASSES, I've always wanted a pair of these! I'm seeing red... oh look at that INVISIBLE TRIP WIRE across the path!" Rolling your eyes, you promptly expire. THE END. If only the player would have typed USE GLASSES. Ah well. It was all great playing that text adventure until you died, then you had to consider if you really wanted to play through all
Posted by Loz at Sunday, February 20, 2011
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