text:
Why hasn't fish farming taken off in the U.S.?
It's certainly not for lack of demand for the fish. Slowly but surely, seafood that's grown in aquaculture is taking over the seafood section at your supermarket, and the vast majority is imported.
The shrimp and tilapia typically come from warm-water ponds in southeast Asia and Latin America. Farmed salmon come from big net pens in the coastal waters of Norway or Chile.
Michael Rubino, director of aquaculture at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says the U.S. could harvest much of that fish — especially the salmon — here at home. He points to a study carried out by the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, which concluded that, among all the world's nations, the U.S. had the greatest potential for ocean-based aquaculture production.
Rubino says it wouldn't even consume a very large area. "The entire Norwegian production of salmon, a million tons a year, can be grown in an area about the size of the runways at JFK Airport in New York," he says.
The major reason why it hasn't happened is opposition from environmentalists and from people living on the coast, who enjoy their pristine ocean views.
Environmentalists have been deeply suspicious of large-scale aquaculture. When millions of fish are crowded together, they generate a lot of waste. Fish farms can also be breeding grounds for diseases that can infect wild fish nearby.
And then there's the problem of feeding the fish. That feed usually contains lots of fish meal and fish oil, which in turn come from wild fish — small species like menhaden or anchovies that are swept from the oceans by the shipload.
It's all given aquaculture a bad name — although Rubino insists that these environmental risks can easily be managed.
But what if there was a way to make fish farms totally clean and green?
Several entrepreneurs say they're doing it. They're building fish factories on land, releasing almost no pollution — vastly less, in fact, than the fish farms from which we routinely buy seafood currently.
They're working to overcome two different kinds of barriers: technological and economic.
The cutting edge of technology is Yoni Zohar's laboratory at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore.
When Zohar opens the door to his basement laboratory, I hear the hum of water pumps and see an array of plastic tanks, the biggest ones a dozen feet across. They're filled with artificial sea water and hundreds of fish.
"We are located right on the inner harbor of Baltimore, but we don't take a drop of water from the harbor, and we don't drain a drop of water into the harbor," says Zohar.
Some of the fish in these tanks are hard to find in the wild. Among them are the gilt-head seabream and the branzino. If you find them on a restaurant menu, they're usually pretty expensive.
"These fish are now spawning," announces Zohar, gesturing toward one tank filled with seabream. Fish like these won't normally spawn in captivity. But Zohar has figured out ways to make the female fish think they're in their natural spawning grounds.
"The idea is to have the entire life cycle in completely clean and controlled conditions that are disease-free, so you don't introduce anything from the outside," Zohar says. As a result, these fish never need antibiotics, hormones or other chemicals to keep them healthy. And because they are kept in optimal conditions, they grow twice as quickly as fish in traditional net pens in the Mediterranean.
All the water here is completely recycled. Waste is filtered out and converted by bacteria into harmless nitrogen plus methane, which is burned for energy.
In addition, IMET scientists are testing new kinds of feed that contains no fish meal. It's made from common grains, algae and one supplemental amino acid that fish require.
It appears to solve aquaculture's environmental problems.
But, remember, this is just a laboratory. Such a system will only replace traditional fish farming if it's also profitable.
So I went to visit another self-contained fish farm: Bill Martin's tilapia factory in Martinsville, Va. Martin ushers me into a huge, dimly lit room, so warm and humid that mist hangs in the air and my glasses immediately fog up. As far as I can see, there are concrete tanks filled with water — a million and a half gallons in all — and millions of tilapia.
"If these were cattle, it would be called a feedlot. If they were chicken, it would be a broiler room," Martin says.
Each day, trucks haul away 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of live tilapia. They go to markets from Baltimore to Toronto.
It's big enough to make indoor aquaculture a real business. Like Zohar's laboratory in Baltimore, this factory is self-contained, free of disease. Martin says it's just practical. "I'm not a tree-hugger or an environmentalist by nature," he says. "I am one because it makes this capitalism that you see here work so much better."
The technology here isn't quite as cutting edge as what I saw in Baltimore. Tilapia are a lot easier to grow than ocean fish. They aren't picky about where they spawn, for instance. (Martin's tilapia spawn in big ditches inside a nearby greenhouse.)
But in a way, that makes Martin's job even harder, because he's competing with tilapia growers in Vietnam, China and Latin America.
Martin sells his fish to a small segment of the market: people who want to buy their fish live and will pay extra for them. He still can't compete directly with the imported tilapia fillets that you see in the store.
"We can't pay people a dollar a week, or whatever they pay them, to hand-cut these fish," he says. "We had to wait until machinery was available."
Martin is now about to test some new machines that will cut these fish into fillets. If they work, he says, his fish will be practically as cheap as the imports, while being produced in clean conditions, without the use of chemicals. He's also moving toward feed that contains no fish meal.
In fact, he has even bigger ambitions. He'd like to grow other kinds of fish, and also shrimp.
Indoor fish farms, he predicts, will be the clean and green future of aquaculture.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Korallen-Zucht has a product line created for the nutrition of your corals.
Pohl's Xtra Concentrate is one of the more popular KZ products and is used to enhance the colors of hard corals.
Pohl's Xtra Special is an special blend of the most effective Korallen-Zucht additives and is made for pale corals and ultra-low nutrient systems.
Pohl's Coral Vitalizer is used as a food source for SPS and LPS corals. It promotes growth, polyp extension as well as helping maintain difficult coral species like Geniopora and Alveopora.
Use KZ Amino Acid Concentrate and Amino Acid Concentrate LPS to increase growth and help to generate injured corals more quickly.
Increase your water quality by using Sponge Power for filter feeding species like sponges, tridacna clams and sea squirts.
Do you want to try a little of each of these products? Consider the KZ Nano Power Package containing 10 mL bottles of Coral Vitalizer, Pohl's Xtra, Amino Acid Concentrate LPS, Sponge Power>
See each KZ products instructions for dosing quantity and frequency to reach maximum results.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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University of Pécs Doctoral Committee
and the
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doctoral school
has organized the public discussion of
Györgyi Géró
""Előbb apád anyádnál" -- Nyelvi szocializáció és nemi szerepek. Adalékok a társadalmi nemi szerepek elsajátításához magyar és spanyol közmondások történeti vizsgálata alapján"
in research field linguistics
Date of the public discussion of the thesis: 2008-VI-05 10:30
place: PTE BTK
Main findings in the thesis (in Hungarian)
The thesis
Publication list in MTMT is not accessible.
Ilona (1945-2020) Kassai
head of the school
Kálmán Faluba
Thesis supervisor
Date of diploma: 2008. X. 14.
All rights reserved © 2007, Hungarian Doctoral Council. Doctoral Council registration number at commissioner for data protection: 02003/0001. Program version: 2.2358 ( 2017. X. 31. )


text:
IRVING, Texas — Michaels Stores says it is investigating a possible company data security breach that may have affected its customers' payment card information.
The Irving, Texas, company said Saturday that it launched the probe after learning of possible fraudulent activity on some U.S. payment cards used at the home decor and crafts retailer.
Michaels Stores Inc. is working with federal law enforcement and data security experts, but has yet to confirm that its systems were compromised.
CEO Chuck Rubin suggests Michaels customers take steps to protect themselves, such as reviewing their account statements for unauthorized charges.
Neiman Marcus Group Ltd., recently said a security breach last year may have affected about 1.1 million cards.
Target Corp. has said hackers stole about 40 million debit and credit card numbers during the holiday season.
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text:
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Archive-It web archive, top results for Dr. June E. Osborn
Google search conducted by HMD staff, as an effort to augment her physical personal papers collection.
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Dustin O'Halloran
130701 (FatCat)
Dustin O'Halloran already enjoys a notable reputation as a pianist: self-taught from the age of seven he has performed at the Guggenheim (New York) as well as LA's prestigious Getty Museum and has written music for Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette (2006) and William Olsen's An American Affair (2010).
Lumiere is a slight departure from his previous work, adding strings and subtle electronics to his piano work and using the larger ensembles to develop a deeper and richer texture. Gentle and quietly effervescent, the album is tinged with sadness, particularly the heart-breaking A Great Divide and in the trembling strings at the start of Quintette N. 1. Unrestrained by some of the more rigid elements of orchestral music and influenced by O'Halloran's background in visual art, Lumiere offers a collection of shimmering tracks infused with tenderness and emotion. This is contemporary classical music at its most liberated.
The album is out now and O'Halloran was performing across Europe, the UK and the USA in support of Lumiere in 2011. www.dustinohalloran.com
Bryony Byrne


text:
Coronation Grape Foccacia |
As foodies we gather our inspiration from many different sources. Perhaps a new cookbook or magazine, a cooking show, a stunning meal at a restaurant or dinner at a friends home sends the imaginary wheels within our mind turning. Wherever our ideas come from recipes creep into our heart and soul and ultimately make it to the table for the ones we love. I often have ideas lurking in the back of my mind and sometimes a real winner surfaces.
The idea for this particular bread came from several sources. When first arriving at our earth shattering cuisine du terroir dinner on God's Mountain placed on the table were stunning savoury Coronation grape fougasse. These were a tease for what was to come as well as dispelling any hunger pangs we might be experiencing since eating at noon. Secondly I have been wanting to recreate a recipe from David Rocco called Schiacciata. It's a traditional bread seen all over Italy in September and October in celebration of the grape harvest. Tuscans make this not-too-sweet dessert or snack of bread dough and grapes, said to be of Etruscan origin sprinkled with sugar. I wanted the sweetness of the grapes but wanted to lean more heavily on the savoury side with the addition of garlic and rosemary. Therefore my Coronation Grape Foccacia was born which would keep my foot in both the sweet and the savoury camps.
The combination of fruit and herbs is one that's been lurking at the edge of the popular food world for several years. And while professional chefs at cutting-edge restaurants may be successfully marketing basil ice cream and strawberries in fennel-seed sauce, the concept hasn't quite caught on here at home beyond pepper and balsamic vinegar to mascerate strawberries. Most of us tend to pair sweet stuff with spices and savoury with herbs, with the occasional maverick like lavender floating somewhere in the middle.
I decided to take one of many tentative step towards culinary freedom today, when I first tasted a mild, soft focaccia with a touch of red wine studded with grapes pressed lightly into the dough, scented with rosemary and garlic and sprinked lightly with sea salt. Your guests will love the surprise of each bite.
The fall grape harvest is in the air and the wonderfully aromatic violet-blue Coronation grapes are market ready here in the Okanagan Valley. These sweet, incredibly intense grapes make this bread what it is and while it may be traditional to use wine grapes, I don't think I would appreciate that bit of roughage from the seeds here. The grapes cook on top of the bread, bursting their juices into the dough which absorbs it, some of the juices caramelize on the outer edges providing a smokey caramel flavour to the sweet collapsed grapes on top. Rosemary adds a savoury note and a generous sprinkling of salt adds to the flavour. What you end up with is a simple, puffy bread, full of the goodness of the grapes and one of those dishes that simply screams autumn harvest.
We were lucky enough to receive an abundant gift of apples, pears and coronation grapes from one of our patients at work. For those of you who don't know my 9 - 5 job is working at several doctors offices. When you have too many Coronation grapes for words freeze them!!! Freezing grapes is simple. Wash, dry and de-stem grapes. Pack in airtight containers and freeze. No sugar is required because the natural high sugar and acid level in British Columbia Coronation Grapes act as a natural preservative. Your kids and teething babies can eat them as a snack right from the freezer. Frozen grapes can replace fresh grapes in every recipe as they retain their intense colour and flavour and hold their shape when thawed.
This weekend was the beginning of the annual Okanagan Fall Wine Festival. This celebration of the harvest is a perfect marriage of wine and culinary tourism. For the next ten days in October, it offers a tantalizing experience for anyone who loves fabulous wine accompanied by fine cuisine. And what better way to announce grape growing season than to hold a Festival during harvest season! Fall is the perfect time in the Okanagan to watch the grapes ripen in the sun and indulge yourself. During the festival you can experience vineyard tours, lunches, dinners, events and the fall wine harvest at over 100 wineries in the valley. For the next 10 days guests and locals enjoy their choice of over 165 events throughout the valley which are focused on wine, food, education and the arts in one of North America's most spectacular settings.
Thanks to our emerging reputation as a destination for serious wine connoisseurs (plus the fact that we have easy access to hiking, beaches and powder skiing) Frommer's has named the Okanagan Valley a Top Travel Destination with the Okanagan Wine Festival one of the top 100 events in North America. You'll find the majority of British Columbia's wineries and vineyards nestled in the Okanagan Valley....we have at least 100 at last count. Hot, dry weather, sheltering mountains and rich soil blend to create one of North America's most productive wine regions next to the Niagara region in Ontario. The picturesque backdrop to many of these wineries is worth the visit alone with lush vineyards and soaring views. Some wineries are open year-round for tours and tastings, however, most wine-related activities occur spring through fall.
I will be cooking with wine all this week until October 10th in celebration of the harvest...even with one of my favourite comfort foods...macaroni and cheese. So stay tuned to see what I come up with.
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 pkg) instant dry yeast
3 tablespoons dry red wine
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup tepid water (just above body temperature)
2 ½ to 3 cups Italian "00" flour OR 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour and 1 to 1 ½ cups pastry flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup Ontario Coronation grapes, washed, stemmed ( 250 mL)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary(30 mL)
1-2 cloves garlic, cut into slivers
Sea salt to taste
Stir together yeast, wine, honey, and warm water in a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup flour (mixture will be lumpy). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in draft-free place about 40 minutes, until doubled in size.
Add ¼ cup olive oil, 1 ½ cups flour, and salt and stir until a sticky dough forms. Knead dough on a floured work surface; gradually adding up to 1/2 cup more flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic but still soft, 8 to 10 minutes (I prefer doing this by hand, instead of in a mixer). Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise an hour, until doubled in size.
Sprinkle a 6″ square of flour on the counter. Use a scraper to transfer the sticky dough to the bed of flour, then dust the top of the dough liberally. Pat the dough into a rectangle and rest it 5 minutes.
Coat your hands with flour and stretch the dough from each end to twice its size. Fold it into thirds, letter style, back into it's original rectangle shape. Mist with oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Let rest 30 minutes.
Repeat the stretch and fold 2 more times, allowing the dough to rest for 30 minutes in between. After the last fold, allow the covered dough to ferment on the counter for 1 hour. It will swell, but not necessarily double in size.
Line a sheet pan with parchment or wax paper, drizzle with ¼ cup olive oil and spread it with your hands. Gently transfer the dough to the pan using your oiled hands and scraper.
Use your fingertips to dimple the dough and spread it to fill the pan. Avoid tearing or ripping the dough. If the dough becomes too springy, allow it to rest 10 minutes before continuing. Fill the pan as well as you can, keeping a uniform thickness. (If not using right away loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 3 days. Remove the pan from the fridge 3 hours before baking.) Gently push the grapes down into the dough; you want them semi-buried, not just resting on top. Drizzle with oil as desired, and dimple it in. In each dimple alternate slivered garlic and small sprigs of rosemary. Cover again, and allow to proof at room temp for 3 hours or until the dough doubles in size. Sprinkle liberally with coarse salt.
Preheat the temperature to 450° F. Bake foccaccia for 10 minutes; rotate the pan 180°, then bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven, and transfer the foccacia from the pan to a cooling rack. Peel the parchment from the bottom of the dough. Cool 15 minutes before serving.
You are reading this post on More Than Burnt Toast at http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author/owner of More Than Burnt Toast. All rights reserved by Valerie Harrison.


text: What does agriculture have to do with fishing opportunity? Plenty. With so many rivers and streams on private land, the role of the landowner in promoting conservation of our nation's water and wildlife resources has never been more important. How well ranchers and farmers care for their land and streams can directly affect how good the fishing is for anglers on public rivers, downstream or upstream of their property. In the arid West, farmers and ranchers understand and value stewardship. Most landowners want to conserve their water, land, and wildlife resources and leave them in better shape for the next generation. But in some areas, more than a century of aggressive irrigation, grazing and farming practices has taken its toll on rivers and streams. Unrestricted cattle grazing, for instance, can seriously degrade a stream over time, resulting in silted water, eroded banks, and loss of riparian vegetation and stream habitat. Often, old culverts, dams and water diversion structures act as barriers that fragment habitat and prevent fish from accessing upstream areas. And when water is diverted from streams, trout often follow the diverted flows and become trapped in ditches—a problem called entrainment. No one knows for sure how many wild and native trout are trapped each year in the West's thousands of miles of irrigation ditches, but the figure is likely in the millions. TU sees these challenges as a huge opportunity to improve river and stream habitat by working with private landowners. Conservation Partnerships TU has a long history of partnering with farmers and ranchers on scores of successful stream restoration projects across the country. Such win-win projects can deliver multiple benefits, including more abundant wildlife, modernized irrigation systems, and enhanced land values. For TU members and anglers, these projects make fishing better. Often, TU will work with federal and state resource agencies to bring funding to these projects, while landowners contribute in-kind support, such as labor, materials, or machinery. Another problem—overgrazing in riparian areas—can be fixed simply. Often, the solution is simply fence cows out of the riparian area and let nature do the rest. To address fish entrainment problems, TU typically installs fish screens on ditch headgates. Barriers such as diversion dams and culverts might be removed or modified with a fish ladder to allow fish passage. For example, on the Francs Fork of the Greybull River, TU worked with ranch owners to replace an old bridge and double culverts, which posed a fish barrier, with a new bridge that allowed for restoration of the natural stream channel. The restored stretch now allows cutthroat trout access to the upper reaches of Francs Fork, and is part of a larger TU effort to enhance habitat on the Greybull River for native trout. Watch the TU video Water Partners to see how TU is working with ranchers and farmers on win-win solutions.


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Hard choices: Children's understanding of the cost of action selection. . Cognitive Science Society (2019). phk_cogsci_2019_final.pdf (276.14 KB)
Hippocampal Remapping as Hidden State Inference. (2019). doi:https://doi.org/10.1101/743260 CBMM-Memo-101.pdf (12.78 MB)
Incentives Boost Model-Based Control Across a Range of Severity on Several Psychiatric Constructs. Biological Psychiatry 85, 425 - 433 (2019).
Planning Complexity Registers as a Cost in Metacontrol. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 30, 1391 - 1404 (2018).
Cost-Benefit Arbitration Between Multiple Reinforcement-Learning Systems. Psychol Sci 28, 1321-1333 (2017).
Human Learning in Atari. AAAI Spring Symposium Series (2017). Tsividis et al - Human Learning in Atari.pdf (844.47 KB)
Reinforcement learning and episodic memory in humans and animals: an integrative framework. Annual Review of Psychology 68, (2017). GershmanDaw17.pdf (422.11 KB)
Thinking fast or slow? A reinforcement-learning approach. Society for Personality and Social Psychology (2017). KoolEtAl_SPSP_2017.pdf (670.35 KB)
Building machines that learn and think like people. (2016). machines_that_think.pdf (3.45 MB)
Probing the compositionality of intuitive functions. (2016). CBMM-Memo-048.pdf (815.72 KB)
When Does Model-Based Control Pay Off?. PLoS Comput Biol 12, e1005090 (2016). KoolEtAl_PLOS_CB.PDF (5.85 MB)
Where do hypotheses come from?. (2016). CBMM-Memo-056-v2.pdf (733.35 KB)
Computational rationality: A converging paradigm for intelligence in brains, minds, and machines. Science 349, 273-278 (2015).
Discovering hierarchical motion structure. Vision Research Available online 26 March 2015, (2015). hierarchical_motion.pdf (582.01 KB)
Information Selection in Noisy Environments with Large Action Spaces. 9th Biennial Conference of the Cognitive Development Society Columbus, OH, (2015).


text:
Jerome E. Cook
Please note: The Becker Medical Library presents this oral history interview as part of the record of the past. This primary historical resource may reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times and of the interviewee. The Becker Medical Library does not endorse the views expressed in this interview, which may contain materials offensive to some users. |
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of these oral history transcripts. If you discover an error or would like to offer suggestions, please click here to contact us. |
© 2006-2009 Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri |


text:
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. is one of the most prominent purveyors of luxury goods in the United States, and has long been an important arbiter of style in the design of diamond engagement rings. A young Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed to his future wife, Eleanor, with a Tiffany ring in 1904. Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Astors and members of the Russian imperial family all wore Tiffany & Co. jewels. And Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis preferred Tiffany china for state dinners at the White House.
Although synonymous with luxury today, the firm started out rather modestly. Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young founded it in Connecticut as a "stationery and fancy goods emporium" in 1837, at a time when European imports still dominated the nascent American luxury market. In 1853, Charles Tiffany — who in 1845 had launched the company's famed catalog, the Blue Book, and with it, the firm's signature robin's-egg blue, which he chose for the cover — shifted the focus to fine jewelry. In 1868, Tiffany & Co. gained international recognition when it became the first U.S. firm to win an award for excellence in silverware at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. From then on, it belonged to the pantheon of American luxury brands.
At the start of the Gilded Age, in 1870, Tiffany & Co. opened its flagship store, described as a "palace of jewels" by the New York Times, at 15 Union Square West in Manhattan. Throughout this period, its designs for silver tableware, ceremonial silver, flatware and jewelry were highly sought-after indicators of status and taste. They also won the firm numerous accolades, including the grand prize for silverware at the Paris Exposition of 1878. Among the firm's glittering creations from this time are masterworks of Art Nouveau jewelry, such as this delicate aquamarine necklace and this lavish plique-à-jour peridot and gold necklace, both circa 1900.
When Charles Lewis Tiffany died, in 1902, his son Louis Comfort Tiffany became the firm's design director. Under his leadership, the Tiffany silver studio was a de facto design school for apprentice silversmiths, who worked alongside head artisan Edward C. Moore. The firm produced distinctive objects inspired by Japanese art and design, North American plants and flowers, and Native American patterns and crafts, adding aesthetic diversity to Tiffany & Co.'s distinguished repertoire.
Tiffany is also closely associated with diamonds, even lending its name to one particularly rare and exceptional yellow stone. The firm bought the Tiffany diamond in its raw state from the Kimberley mines of South Africa in 1878. Cut to create a 128.54-carat gem with an unprecedented 82 facets, it is one of the most spectacular examples of a yellow diamond in the world. In a broader sense, Tiffany & Co. helped put diamonds on the map in 1886 by introducing the American marketplace to the solitaire diamond design, which is still among the most popular engagement-ring styles. The trademark Tiffany® Setting raises the stone above the band on six prongs, allowing its facets to catch the light. A lovely recent example is this circa-2000 platinum engagement ring. Displaying a different design and aesthetic (but equally chic) is this exquisite diamond and ruby ring from the 1930s.


text:
In my paper I will talk about the mutual influences between the female spectators and the programming practices of Imperial Germany- cinema. I will focus on the period of the transition from the short film programme of the "cinema of attractions" to the dominance of the long feature film, i.e. from 1906-1918. I will ask questions how the presence of women in the cinema (the place where they first entered the public sphere) influenced the practice of programming. So I will deal with the relatively new topic of the programme (and its structural changes) as a mode of exhibition and I will try to connect this to the role the female audience played in shaping this format: how does the female audience affect the changes of the programme patterns, the modification of genres and their meaning within the structure of the programme and does it finally bring about a change in the mode of reception. And on the other hand how does the cinematographical programme represent and influence the female identity, and women- wishes and needs. One must ask for the reasons why the early cinema, that was characterised by diversity concerning class, gender and cultural issues and that built a kind of alternative public sphere, was displaced by an institutionalised, state monitored and nationalised German cinema. Taking into account that this change of film forms was not a teleological evolution, "gender" might be a more useful and insightful category than "class" is to explain the changes of the programme and the essence of early cinema. First I am going to present the main ideas of my project, then I"ll talk about the composition of the audience and the relation between audience and program, after that I"ll make some remarks on the reform movement and what the reformers thought about women in the cinema and about the programming practices, and as a last part, we"ll have a look at what actually happened in the cinema and at the program of the year 1911/1912 and how this program catered to the interests of the female audience. I"ll conclude with a short outlook on the changes that occurred during WW I.
Cinema programming, the composition of films to make a specific "show," remains a neglected way to research the relation between audiences and film form. As a mode of exhibition " advertised, promoted, and circulating in the public sphere even before an audience is gathered " the program can be seen as an active social relation between cinema managers and their audiences. Changes in the composition of film programs, in my case the years before the First World War in Mannheim, Germany, are thus not taken as part of a teleological evolution of film form, but instead reveal emerging practices of cinema-going, a changing relation among showmen, distributors, audiences, and the city they are all part of. The category of "the audience" becomes a compliment to narrative, economic and technical influences. Selecting the city of Mannheim further allows me to draw upon the pioneering German sociological study of cinema audiences, conducted there by Emilie Altenloh in 1911 and 1912. Thus, I am able to compare her survey data to the film programs that were actually advertised and offered to the public at the time, and also include knowledge of the social history of the city, to approximate a description of the historical audiences she studied. Here I follow the findings of Miriam Hansen and Heide Schlüpmann, who both stress the importance of the female audience in Imperial Germany. I account for a reciprocal relation between female spectators and the film industry- local programming practice to describe the transitional period from the short film programme of the "cinema of attractions" to the dominance of the long feature film, i.e. from 1906-1918. Looking closely at the advertised programmes of Mannheim I show that almost all of the first multiple-reel feature films deal with women- topics, i.e. with the fate and fortune of women, concluding that the presence of women in the audience helped established the long feature as central to the institutionalized cinema program. The film program and the specific feature films represented female identity on the screen, responding to the perceived wishes and needs of the women who gathered as audiences. Taking this "program analysis" approach, because it provides a synopsis of the social relation between audience, industry, and film form, is a valuable tool for comparing the social place of film comparatively, across many films, and potentially across regions, countries, and cultures.


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Highlights From That Terrifying Elevator Prank — Daily Distraction
[onescreen item="4988719"]
The idea of getting stuck in an elevator when the power goes out is bad enough. But one Brazilian TV show decided to add a second, extremely frightening element, and they filmed it all for our viewing pleasure.
We're not quite sure how we'd react if this occurred while we were inside a tiny, seemingly inescapable space, but we can empathize with these poor elevator riders. This prank was all over the Web recently, but in this edition we cut out all the boring parts for you.
The Daily Distraction is your Internet break from reality. Whether you're eating lunch at your desk or avoiding high school exes on Facebook, you might just laugh, say "aaahhh" or not believe what you just watched.


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Taco Bell's new TV ads star "Ronald McDonald"
NEW YORK - Taco Bell is name-dropping an unlikely clown to promote its new breakfast menu - Ronald McDonald.
The fast-food chain will begin airing ads Thursday that feature everyday men who happen to have the same name as the McDonald's (MCD) mascot known for his bright red hair and yellow jumpsuit. The marketing campaign is intended to promote Taco Bell's new breakfast menu, which features novelties like a waffle taco.
The chain, owned by Yum Brands Inc. (YUM) of Louisville, Ky., is looking to boost sales by opening most of its roughly 6,000 U.S. stores a few hours earlier at 7 a.m. starting this week. But Taco Bell has a long way to go to catch up with McDonald's, the No. 1 player in breakfast with about 31 percent of the category, according to market researcher Technomic. The popularity of Egg McMuffins and other items have been a consistent sales driver for McDonald's over the years, with breakfast accounting for about 20 percent of the company's U.S. sales.
By comparison, a Yum executive has said that breakfast accounted for just 4 percent of sales when it was being tested at Taco Bell stores in select markets. That was before national marketing began, however, and Taco Bell president Brian Niccol said in a phone interview that the goal was to get the figure to a level "much greater than that."
Taco Bell said the real-life Ronald McDonalds featured in its new ads were paid for their appearances. But Niccol, who said he didn't know how much they were paid, insists their enthusiastic reactions to the food were real.
"All of them resoundingly loved the food," he said.
Taco Bell's ad agency, Deutsch LA, found around 400 men and women with the name Ronald McDonald, Ronnie McDonald or some variation, Niccol said. A couple dozen were selected to represent different regions around the country including Bossier City, La.; Chicago; Dubuque, Iowa; Kane, Pa. and Worcester, Ma.
The men show their approval of the food with comments like, "It's not messy" and "Mmm, wow" and "Mmm, real good" and "It has everything I like."
In case it wasn't clear, tiny print at the end of the ad notes that, "These Ronald McDonalds are not affiliated with McDonald's Corporation and were individually selected as paid endorsers of Taco Bell Breakfast."
"We like to do things with a wink and smile," Niccol said. "We have a sense of humor."
As for Ronald McDonald the fast-food clown, the character was first played by Willard Scott in 1963. He was initially depicted as a character that magically pulled hamburgers and fries out of his belt. But the mascot eventually became a target of critics who say McDonald's uses him to market to kids.
A representative for McDonald's Corp. did not respond to a request for comment.


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Tucked into the "fiscal cliff" tax package approved by Congress are billions of dollars in tax breaks that should make the new year a lot happier for businesses of many stripes, including film producers, race track owners and the makers of electric motorcycles.
In all, more than 50 temporary tax breaks were renewed through 2013, saving businesses and individuals about $76 billion. Congress routinely renews the tax package, attracting intense lobbying — and campaign donations — from businesses and trade groups that say the tax breaks help them prosper and create jobs.
Businesses have grown used to many of the longstanding tax breaks, but they also have had to get used to the uncertainty of whether they will be renewed each year. This time around the tax breaks were allowed to expire at the end of 2011 as lawmakers struggled to reach consensus on a wide range of tax issues.
The package passed by Congress this week and signed by President Barack Obama renews the tax breaks retroactively, so taxpayers can claim them on both their 2012 and 2013 tax returns.
The biggest of the bunch, a tax credit for research and development, helps U.S. manufacturers compete against foreign competition, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. Another provision helps restaurants and retailers expand by allowing them to more quickly write off the costs, according to the National Restaurant Association.
These provisions have widespread support in Congress; others are more obscure.
For example, there is a tax credit for producing electricity from wind mills, a tax credit for buying electric-powered motorcycles, and tax rebates to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands from a tax on rum imported into the United States.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the package is filled with "special-interest handouts" that make it difficult for him to justify his vote in favor of it.
"It's hard to think of anything that could feed the cynicism of the American people more than larding up must-pass emergency legislation with giveaways to special interests and campaign contributors," McCain said.
Lawmakers are wary of making the tax breaks permanent because of the cost, even though they inevitably renew almost all of them each year. Annual angst over whether the tax breaks will be renewed also provides incentives for businesses to lobby key lawmakers.
"All these provisions have a lobbying arm behind them, for the most part," said Mark Luscombe, principal tax analyst for CCH, a consulting firm based in Riverwoods, Ill. "If they only extend them for a year or two then the lobbyists have to keep coming back and bestowing their favors on congressmen to get the thing extended again. If they made it permanent, then the lobbyists would go away."
Among the provisions in the new law are:
—A tax credit for research and development, benefiting a wide range of industries, including manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and high tech companies. Cost: $14.3 billion.
—An exemption that allows banks, insurance companies and other financial firms to shield foreign profits from being taxed by the U.S. The tax break is important to major multinational banks and financial firms. Cost: $11.2 billion.
—A tax break that allows profitable companies to write off large capital expenditures immediately — rather than over time — giving some companies huge tax shelters. The tax break, known as bonus depreciation, benefits automakers, utilities and heavy equipment makers. Cost: $5 billion.
—A tax credit for the production of wind, solar and other renewable energy. Cost: $12.2 billion.
— A provision that allows restaurants and retail stores to more quickly write off the cost of improvements. Cost: $3.7 billion.
—Increased tax rebates to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands from a tax on rum imported into the United States. The U.S. imposes a $13.50 per proof-gallon tax on imported rum, and sends most of the proceeds to the two U.S. territories. Cost: $222 million.
—A 50 percent tax credit for expenses related to railroad track maintenance through 2013. Cost $331 million.
—A provision that allows motorsport race tracks to more quickly write off improvement costs. Cost: $78 million.
—Enhanced deductions for companies that donate food to the needy, books to public schools or computers to public libraries. Cost: $314 million.
—A tax break that allows TV and movie productions to more quickly write off expenses. Sexually explicit productions are ineligible. Cost: $248 million.
— A tax credit of up to $2,500 for buying electric-powered vehicles was expanded to include electric-powered motorcycles. Golf carts, however, were excluded. Cost: $7 million. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., took credit for this tax break, saying it would help Oregon-based Brammo, which manufactures electric motorcycles.
"The electric motorcycle industry is poised to create tens of thousands of U.S. jobs over the next five years, led by companies like Oregon's Brammo," Wyden said. "This amendment helps promote the development of a promising U.S. industry and support the transition to a low-carbon American economy."
Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap


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New Chevrolet
Reset Searchfueltype
New 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD High Country Pickup
Prices do not include additional fees and costs of closing, including government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer documentation fees, any emissions testing fees or other fees. All prices, specifications and availability subject to change without notice. Contact dealer for most current information. Some prices may not include dealer-installed added options. See dealer for full pricing details and exclusions.
EPA Estimates Only
The features and options listed may not apply to this Sunset Vehicle.
Tax, title, license (unless itemized above) are extra. Not available with special finance, lease and some other offers.
*Warranty Protection for Life is included at no cost to the customer on qualifying new and pre-owned vehicles. This warranty is honored at any ASE Certified repair facility in North America. Note: There is now a modest $200 deductible per claim. Manufacturer maintenance requirements and records are mandatory. Oil Changes for Life is included on most new and qualifying pre-owned vehicles. Diesel and some other restrictions may apply. See dealer for complete details. A documentary service fee in an amount up to $200 may be added to the sale price or capitalized cost of the vehicle. Some restrictions apply. There are a number of vehicles that are not eligible for this coverage. A complete list of ineligible vehicles is available upon request.
Virtual Credit
All vehicles are one of each. All Pre-Owned or Certified vehicles are used. A dealer documentary service fee of up to $200 may be added to the sale price or capitalized cost. All offers expire on close of business the day subject content is removed from website, and all financing is subject to credit approval. Prices exclude tax and license. All transactions are negotiable including price, trade allowance, interest rate (of which the dealer may retain a portion), term, and documentary service fee. Any agreement is subject to execution of contract documents. Customers should verify the existence and condition of any equipment listed."


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Friday was Mother's Day Tea at S's pre-school. It was a rainy and dull morning but that one hour in her school pepped me up. It has been a year since S has been going to this pre-school and she is comfortable there now, I too know most of her class mates and some Moms unlike last year. So it was a happy one hour accompanied with iced tea and munchkins, it was another thing that S devoured 2 of mine. They then gave us the surprises they had made for us.
I knew about the art, but the cute photo frame made of popsicle sticks and stick-ons with a picture of S in the playground was a real surprise.
A day before S had told me, she has a surprise for me at school and she was not supposed to tell me what it is. In the next 5 minutes she had whispered in my ears, that when her teacher asked, "Why she loves her Mommy"
she had said "'Coz Mommy makes good food for me" :-)
She had drawn me and herself going to the restaurant and eating noodles that apparently I had cooked. Huh ? This girl doesn't want to miss out on the restaurant inspite of Mom's cooking, maybe she likes to have a backup plan.
Today morning, I was expecting a Mothers Day breakfast but I woke up hungry at 6 in the morning and since everyone else was deep asleep I went downstairs, had a bowl of cereal and then came back and promptly went to sleep again.
D and little S let me sleep in late and by the time I freshened up and went downstairs I was expecting a la-di-da breakfast with flowers and what not. There was nothing in view. In fact there was no one in view. Father-daughter were in the basement, the kitchen was bare and no trace of breakfast having cooked could be seen. This soured me considerably and I grumpily sat down with my tea.
Later when D came up and wished me and asked me why I was grumpy, I pointedly asked him that wasn't he supposed to make me breakfast
"But you already had cereal and we were going to go out for lunch, why do you need breakfast again?", he asked
"Because it is Mothers Day", I said, better to make it clear since men are thick in the head and I had no intention of sulking over this the whole day.
"Of course you don't need that much food" he insisted.
Good that he made up for it by getting me Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth, else I might have bashed his head.
Little S then wanted to go to the park and I didn't want to go to a crowded restaurant either so we decided on an impromptu picnic. Since there was hardly any time in hand, I made Maggi Noodles with eggs and some veggies, a favorite in our home like Nupur's and D made some sandwiches with fish sticks, cucumber and mustard and off we went to the nearest state park where the day turned out to be apparently cold and chilly.
S had fun and I always like a green view better than anything, so it was not all that bad and a nice way to spend a lazy Sunday
How I Make Maggi Noodles
Boil the Noodles according to the package direction. Do not add the spices/seasoning in the packet. Drain the noodles and wash off the starch in cold water and toss with a little olive Oil
In a pan, heat Olive oil, add sliced onions and fry till pink. Add chopped tomatoes and sauté till soft. Add an egg and stir to scramble it. Add veggies (carrots, peas, beans or whatever you have, which have been steamed) to this.Add chopped green chillies if your kid is ok with it.
Sauté for a couple of minutes and add half of the Masala/seasoning that comes in the packet. Add salt and the Maggi Noodles.
Mix well and serve with Ketchup.
This serves as a good lunch to be packed for kids too


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Dear Lifehacker,
I have a long commute. Traffic makes it much longer. It's incredibly boring and I'm sitting down for hours, and I heard somewhere (everywhere) that sitting is going to kill me. How can I make my commute suck less?
Disgruntled Driver
Dear DD,
Long commutes always suck. Nobody enjoys spending hours in a car every day. That said, you can take measures to improve your situation significantly. All you need is your smartphone, a few apps, and a couple of awesome internet resources.
Outsmart the Traffic
Nothing makes a long commute worse than the horrible surprise of a bad traffic condition. One of our favorite web services, IFTTT (if this then that), can keep you up-to-date on road issues so you know the best route before you start your commute. It works by taking one service (e.g. an RSS feed of traffic updates) and an action (e.g. sending a text message to your phone) and combining them together. In this case, let's use IFTTT's power to warn your about traffic problems before they start.
Note: If you're not familiar with IFTTT and want to learn all about how it works, check out our guide.
To set up a custom traffic, follow these steps:
Find a source of traffic information. There are a variety of useful options, such as traffic RSS feeds and Twitter accounts for specific cities (and sometimes even highways). Feel free to use any source you like that connects with IFTTT. In this example, we'll use the Traffic.com RSS feeds. Choose your city from the options and make note of the URL for later. (The URL will look something like
.)Sign into IFTTT (or create an account if you haven't already) and click "Create" from the menu up top.
Click the blue, underlined "this" and choose the Feed channel. You now have a decision to make: do you want all updates in the feed or do you want updates that match a keyword or phrase? If you choose all updates, you'll receive a push notification or text message every time there's a new traffic alert. Because this includes so much information—a lot of which is irrelevant—we're going to choose "New feed item matches" for this example.
In the "Feed URL" field, paste the URL you found on Traffic.com. In the "Keyword or phrase" field, type a highway you travel during your commute. Be sure to look at the RSS feed to see how it's spelled (e.g. "2 Glendale Frwy"). When you're finished, click "Create trigger."
Click the blue, underlined "that" and choose either the SMS, Email, or Pushover channel. SMS will provide alerts via text message, Email via email, and Pushover via a push notification on your smartphone. (If you want to use Pushover, read our guide to learn how to set it up.) In this example, we'll use SMS because it works with all cellphones.
If you haven't activated the SMS channel before, you'll need to do that now. After clicking the blue "Activate" button, enter your phone number and wait for the secret PIN to arrive. When it does, enter it in the provided field and click "Activate."
Choose your only option, "Send me an SMS."
IFTTT will construct a message for you with the title of the RSS feed entry, the name of the feed, and the URL. Because the title of each entry in our feed provides sufficient information, you really only need the "EntryTitle" variable included in your text message. Feel free to delete the rest to save some room. When you're done, save the recipe.
That's all there is to it. If you want to see the recipe we just created with the above steps, you can check it our here.
Beat Your Boredom
Sitting alone in a car for several hours makes any commute dull, but there are a few ways to beat the boredom. Carpooling is one simple solution. Carpools keep you in good company (unless you pick someone you don't like), plus you avoid driving every day. This removes a little frustration from the trip and saves you money. If you want to carpool, all you have to do is find someone in the office who lives nearby and ask.
If you prefer to be alone, podcasts and audiobooks can fill the silence. All you need is a great podcatcher for your smartphone and some good podcasts. You've shared some of your favorites, and we do a podcast every week. Audible is a good (and probably obvious) source for audiobooks. They have a smartphone app, too, so you can still listen even if you forget to sync before you head out. Those of you with Android phones can even have articles read to you if you don't want to pay for content.
You can also beat boredom by getting things done. While you don't want to distract yourself while driving, making a few calls in stop-and-go traffic shouldn't cause any trouble so long as you're paying attention to the road first. Get a good headset or speakerphone and make the calls you feel you rarely have time for. Call your family, catch up with an old friend, or pay your bills over the phone. With a few numbers in speed dial and voice control on your smartphone, there's plenty you can accomplish with just a call.
Solve Your Sitting Problem
You know sitting is killing you, but what can you do about it in a car? You can't get up and move around, but some desk exercises still work. Small movements like alternating your shoulders up and down and lifting your thighs (not feet!) slightly get the job done. It's very important that you do not do anything that will impair your ability to drive, so keep your movements safe. Just don't sit completely still and maintain good posture. A little movement when your car is stationary isn't going to fix every problem that comes from sitting down for too long, but it's a start. When you get home and out of the car, however, you're free to roam around. Take this opportunity to walk a little, even if it's only around the block a couple of times. Proper movement can go a long way when you've already been sitting for a long period of time.
Despite all of this, commutes are going to suck. Hopefully these suggestions will improve your commute a little bit, but nothing solves the problem like convincing your boss to let you work from home. You may not be able to every day of the week, but even one day where you don't lose hours of your time to traffic makes a big difference.
Have a question or suggestion for a future Ask Lifehacker? Send it to [email protected].
Photo by kusuriuri (Shutterstock), Fontana (Shutterstock), Lilkar (Shutterstock), and Nelli Shuyskaya (Shutterstock)..


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Pacific Southwest, Region 9
Serving: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands, Tribal Nations
A-Z Index
State-specific pages: Arizona | California | Hawaii | Nevada | Pacific Islands
Topic List for EPA Pacific Southwest (Region 9) »
Administrative records for Superfund sites
- Actions
- Air Permit Program
- Alternative Test Methods
- Cleanup - Clean Air Initiative
- Carbon Monoxide
- Gasoline
- Indoor Air Quality
- Owens Valley
- Ozone
- 8-hour ozone designations for Region 9
- Arizona: Phoenix Ground-Level Ozone Actions
- California
- San Francisco: San Francisco Bay Area Ozone Actions
- San Joaquin: San Joaquin Valley Ozone Actions
- Nevada: Clark County 8-Hour Ozone Designation
- Particulate Matter
- Arizona: PM-10 Plan Actions in Phoenix
- California:
- Nevada: Disapproval of Las Vegas Particulate Matter Plan
Air Quality
- Air Quality Maps for Region 9
- Air Quality Trends in Region 9
- West Coast Diesel Collaborative
- Indoor Air Quality
- Mohave Generating Station and Grand Canyon Visibility
- State Implementation Plans
- State and Local Contacts
- Stratospheric Ozone Protection Information
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Ammonia Facilities Environmental Projects
Annual (Region 9) Progress Report
- Arizona Cleaner Burning Gasoline Rule
- Arizona Superfund Sites
- Border infrastructure projects
- National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program Application
- Superfund Sites
- Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program
Gila/Pinal Counties
- Carlota Copper Co.
- Carbon Monoxide: Finding on Carbon Monoxide Plan
- Gasoline Volatility: Direct Final Rule Approving Arizona's Summertime Gasoline Volatility Limit for the Phoenix Area (6/97)
- Ozone: Ground-Level Ozone Actions in Phoenix
- Particulate Matter (PM-10): PM-10 Actions in Phoenix
- Kyrene Expansion Project
Auto Repair and Fleet Maintenance: Pollution Prevention
Bay: San Francisco Bay Delta Watershed
Biennial Report (Hazardous Waste)
Biogas Map (Waste to Biogas Mapping Tool)
Border: US-Mexico Border 2020 Program
Brownfields: Region 9 Brownfields | National EPA Brownfields Program
Building Reuse (locator map)
- Asbestos (naturally occurring)
- California Title V Air Permits
- California Nonpoint Source Program
- California Water Quality Planning Projects
- Dairy Quality Assurance Program
- Hazardous Waste ID - Do you need a state ID too?
- Superfund Sites
San Francisco Bay Area
- Long Term Management Strategy for Dredging (LTMS)
- Deep Ocean Disposal Site (SFDODS)
- Refinery Title V Major Facility Review Permits: EPA's comments
- Visitor Information
- San Francisco Bay Delta Watershed
San Joaquin Valley
Santa Barbara
Southern California
California Farm Labor Force Overview and Trends (PDF file linked from this web page)
Carbon Monoxide:
- Arizona: Phoenix Carbon Monoxide Plan; Tucson Carbon Monoxide Redesignation Proposal
- California: South Coast Carbon Monoxide Plan
- Nevada: Las Vegas Carbon Monoxide Plan
Cesspools, large-capacity in Hawai'i
Chemical Waste Management - Kettleman Hills Facility
Children's Environmental Health
Chloramine: Disinfecting Drinking Water with Chloramine
Clean Air Technology Initiative
Cleanup - Clean Air Initiative
Climate Change: Activities in the Pacific Southwest | National Climate Change
Corrective Action
Dairy- Animal Waste Management
- San Joaquin Valley Dairy Manure Collaborative
- What to Expect When You're Inspected: A Guide for California Dairy Operators
Del Amo Superfund Site
Delta: San Francisco Bay Delta Watershed
Dentistry, environmentally responsible
Disaster Preparation and Response
Drinking Water
El Dorado Hills, naturally occurring asbestos
Electronic Permit Submittal System (EPSS)
Education: Environmental Education Program
Energy Star: News Release & multi-media | Energy Star Website
Enforcement and compliance assistance
Environmental Education Program
Environmental Impact Statements - EPA comment letters (draft & final)
Environmental Information Center
Environmental Management System for EPA's San Francisco Office
Environmental Publications database
Environmental Regulatory Information
Evoqua Carbon Regeneration Facility (Formerly Siemens-Westates Carbon Regeneration Facility)
Federal Facilities Compliance Program
Federal Facility Site Information: non NPL sites | NPL sites
Federal Facilities Superfund Cleanup
Fluorescent light, cleaning up broken bulbs
Freedom of Information Act Requests
Funding Sources for Solid Waste Projects
- Arizona Cleaner Burning Gasoline Rule
- Arizona's Summertime Gasoline Volatility Limit for the Phoenix Area
Global Warming (climate change)
Greenscapes GuamGrand Canyon: The Mohave Generating Station and Grand Canyon Visibility
Hawaii- Alien Seaweeds
- Pacific Islands Office in San Francisco
- Pacific Islands Office in Honolulu (PICO)
- Land Revitalization in Hawaii
- Hawaii Nonpoint Source Program
- Ports of
- Puna, Hawaii, Emergency Response Plans Review
- Superfund Sites
Hazardous Waste - Biennial Report
Health, Children's Environmental
Honolulu Office (PICO)
Hotlines: Region 9
Hospitals, Pollution Prevention
Hotels near Region 9 headquarters
Jobs: Career Opportunities
Kettleman Hills Facility PCB Permit Project updates
Kids: See Environmental Education
Laboratory (Richmond, California)
Las Vegas: See Nevada
Lead ProgramLeaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUST) in Indian Country
Library - Electronic Resources
Local Contacts
- State and Local Contacts for Hazardous Waste Program Information
- State and Local Contacts for Pesticides and Toxics Program Information
- State and Local Contacts for Water Program Information
Lodging near Region 9 headquarters
Long-Term Management Strategy (LTMS) for Dredged Material, San Francisco Bay
Los Angeles
Maps: Air Quality Maps for Region 9
Micronesia: see Pacific Islands
Mohave Generating Station and Grand Canyon Visibility
Montrose/Del Amo Proposed Groundwater Plan
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program
National Priorities List (Federal Facilities)
National Priorities List Superfund Sites
Native Americans: see Tribal Program
Naturally occurring asbestos in California
Navajo Nation
- Air Programs
- Anaconda Mine soil sampling and radiological survey work
- Particulate Matter Plan (Clark Co.)
- Carbon Monoxide Plan (Clark Co.)
- Mohave Generating Station and Grand Canyon Visibility
- Superfund Sites
News Releases | Press Contacts
Newsletters of the Pacific Southwest (Region 9)
Nogales infrastructure projects: Wastewater | Water system improvements
Nonpoint Source Pollution
Northern Marianas: see Pacific Islands
Oil Spill Prevention & Response
Operating Industries, Inc. Superfund Site
Organic Materials Management (Composting)
Organizational Chart: Region 9
Ozone: See Air Programs
Pacific Islands
- Land Revitalization in the Outer Pacific Islands
- Pacific Islands Office in San Francisco
- Pacific Islands Office in Honolulu
- Palau
- Superfund Sites
Perchlorate in the Pacific Southwest
Particulate Matter: See Air Programs
PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls)
Pesticides in the Pacific Southwest
- Collecting Pesticides Along the US-Mexico Border
- Stone Fruit Pesticides Reduction Success in California
- Pesticides and Children's Health
Phoenix, Arizona
- Carbon Monoxide Plan
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OK, maybe you're one of the millions of Americans who attended college but never had a chance to finish. And you have dozens or scores or hundreds of credits just sitting there, that don't quite add up to a degree.
The University of Wisconsin system has introduced an alternative way to finish your degree, by earning credits based on what you already know. It's the so-called Flex Option. No classes required - just prove you're competent in the subject. Marge Pitrof, of member station WUWM, reports from Milwaukee.
MARGE PITROF, BYLINE: This summer, Katie Hyland got her dream job at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. She's standing outside the hospital, pointing to the landing pad on the roof.
KATIE HYLAND: We take the helicopter with Flight for Life; and we go and pick the kids up, and bring them back to be treated at Children's.
PITROF: Hyland works on the transport team. Despite today's heat, she's zipped into her blue, flame-retardant flight suit while walking to her post.
HYLAND: Some of these kids that we pick up are extremely sick, so it's really being able to use this skill that I have developed over the last five years, in the ICU.
PITROF: Five years ago, Hyland earned an associate degree in nursing at a for-profit college, but never did get her bachelor's.
HYLAND: I had looked into taking classes in the past, and life just kind of got in the way.
PITROF: Now, she needs that degree to keep her job. The hospital's given Hyland three years to get it, and she thinks she could finish in half that time using Wisconsin's nursing flex. She says she's already learned plenty on the job.
HYLAND: The only thing that I'm worried about is the adult portion of it; so just re-teaching myself that, pulling out some of my old nursing books and looking over old medical surgical stuff.
DORIS SCHONEMAN: Each student will look at the competencies, and determine what they need more on.
PITROF: That's Doris Schoneman. She's helping create the nursing flex program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She says the school decided to start counting experience because there are thousands of Katie Hylands. Faculty is designing ways to measure what those working adults already know.
SCHONEMAN: Some of them have exams; some of them have case study analysis, papers; and some have portfolio review.
PITROF: Faculty will also grade the assessments and if the students pass, they'll get the course credits. Schoneman says an adviser will guide each student. But the program does not include classmates, or face time with instructors.
SCHONEMAN: The student needs to be self-directed, and be able to set goals and to meet them. It's not any easier; it's just a different way.
PITROF: Different ways continue emerging in higher ed as students seek degrees in less time, at less cost. Cliff Adelman is a senior associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy. He's among those warning that the rush to lure students could prompt some schools to cut academic corners.
CLIFF ADELMAN: I'm not saying everybody's going to do it, but there are going to be people who will. They're going to take the easy way out.
PITROF: Adelman notes multiple drawbacks when eliminating the classroom, but Sylvia Manning insists the U.W. system will maintain its rigor. She's president of the Higher Learning Commission, which approved the new flex plan.
SYLVIA MANNING: We don't see how the risk is particularly higher in these sorts of programs, than it is in any other sort of program.
PITROF: Across the country, a few small schools have offered competency-based programs. Administrators here say Wisconsin will be the first large public university system to untether credits from class time.
For NPR News, I'm Marge Pitrof in Milwaukee. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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To understand why gravity modification is not yet a reality, let's analyze other fundamental discoveries/inventions that changed our civilization or at least the substantially changed the process of discovery. There are several that come to mind, the atomic bomb, heavier than air manned flight, the light bulb, personal computers, and protein folding. There are many other examples but these are sufficient to illustrate what it takes. Before we start, we have to understand four important and related concepts.
(1) Clusters or business clusters, first proposed by Harvard prof. Michael Porter, "a business cluster is a geographic concentration of interconnected businesses, suppliers, and associated institutions in a particular field. Clusters are considered to increase the productivity with which companies can compete, nationally and globally". Toyota City which predates Porter's proposal, comes to mind. China's 12 new cities come to mind, and yes there are pro and cons.
(2) Hot housing, a place offering ideal conditions for the growth of an idea, activity, etc. (3) Crowdsourcing, is a process that involves outsourcing tasks to a distributed group of people. This process can occur both online and offline. Crowdsourcing is different from an ordinary outsourcing since it is a task or problem that is outsourced to an undefined public rather than a specific body. (4) Groundswell, a strong public feeling or opinion that is detectable even though not openly expressed.
I first read about the fascinating story of the making of the atom bomb from Stephane Groueff's The Manhattan Project-the Making of the Atomic Bomb, in the 1970s. We get a clear idea why this worked. Under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves, and J. Robert Oppenheimer the US, UK & Canada hot housed scientist, engineers, and staff to invent and produce the atomic bomb physics, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Today we term this key driver of success 'hot housing', the bringing together a group of experts to identify avenues for further research, to brainstorm potential solutions, and to test, falsify and validate research paths, focused on a specific desired outcome. The threat of losing out to the Axis powers helped increase this hot housing effect. This is much like what the Aspen Center for Physics is doing (video here).
In the case of the invention of the light bulb, the airplane, and the personal computer, there was a groundswell of public opinion that these inventions could be possible. This led potential inventors with the necessary basic skills to attempt to solve these problems. In the case of the incandescent light bulb, this process took about 70 years from Humphrey Davy in 1809, to Thomas A. Edison and Joseph Wilson Swan in 1879. The groundswell started with Humphrey and had included many by the time of Edison in 1879.
In the case of the airplane the Wright brothers reviewed other researchers' findings (the groundswell had begun much earlier), and then invented several new tools & skills, flight control, model testing techniques, test pilot skills, light weight motors and new propeller designs.
The invention of the personal computer had the same groundswell effect (see Homebrew Computer Club & PBS TV transcripts). Ed Roberts, Gordon French, Fred Moore, Bob Harsh, George Morrow, Adam Osborne, Lee Felsenstein, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, John Draper, Jerry Lawson, Ron Jones and Bill Gates all knew each other before many of them became wealthy and famous. Bill Gates wrote the first personal computer language, while the others invented various versions of the microcomputer, later to be known as the personal computer, and peripherals required. They invented the products and the tools necessary for the PC industry to take off.
With protein folding, Seth Cooper, game designer, developed Fold It, the tool that would make the investigation into protein folding accessible to an undefined public. Today we describe this 'crowdsourcing'. Notice that here it wasn't a specialized set of team that was hot housed, but the reverse, the general public, were given the tools to make crowdsourcing a viable means to solving a problem.
Thus four key elements are required to foster innovation, basic skills, groundswell, hothouse or crowdsourcing, and new tools.
So why hasn't this happened with gravity modification? Some form of the groundswell is there. In his book The Hunt for Zero Point, Nick Cook (an editor of the esteemed Jane's Defense Weekly) describes a history that goes back to World War II, and Nazi Germany. It is fund reading but Kurt Kleiner of Salon provides a sober review of The Hunt for Zero Point.
There are three primary reasons for this not having happened with gravity modification. First, over the last 50 years or so, there have only been about 50 to 100 people (outside of black projects) who have investigated this in a scientific manner. That is, the groundswell of researchers with the necessary basic skills has not reached a critical mass to take off. For example, protein folding needed at least 40,000 participants, today Fold It has 280,000 registered participants.
Second, pseudoscience has crept into the field previously known as 'antigravity'. In respectable scientific circles the term used is gravity modification. Pseudoscience, has clouded the field, confused the public's perception and chased away the talent – the 3 C's of pseudoscience. Take for example, plutonium bomb propulsion (written by a non-scientist/non-engineer), basic investigation shows that this is neither feasible nor legal, but it still keeps being written up as a 'real' proposition. The correct term for plutonium bomb propulsion is pseudoscience.
Third reason. Per the definition of gravity modification, we cannot use existing theories to propose new tools because all our current status quo theories require mass. Therefore, short of my 12-year study, no new tools are forth coming.
Benjamin T Solomon is the author & principal investigator of the 12-year study into the theoretical & technological feasibility of gravitation modification, titled An Introduction to Gravity Modification, to achieve interstellar travel in our lifetimes. For more information visit iSETI LLC, Interstellar Space Exploration Technology Initiative.
Solomon is inviting all serious participants to his LinkedIn Group Interstellar Travel & Gravity Modification.


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Closer magazine combines all the latest celebrity gossip with health advice, beauty and diet tips and more - the perfect weekly dose! Packed full of both the most controversial dramas from the ever-growing world of celebs and relatable real-life stories, Closer magazine is here to ensure you're always the first in the know with the latest gossip and advice!
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Closer magazine is now able to offer it's loyal subscribers a digital magazine subscription, so you can ensure you're the first to get all the inside scoop, wherever you are! Whether you're laying by the pool on holiday, passing the time at the hairdresser's, or looking for a talking point in the office, a Closer magazine digital subscription is here to fill those voids and keep you up-to-date.
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Founded in 1982 by Ed D'Ascoli, Xcel International, Inc.™ (Xcel) is dedicated to exceptional product quality through research, development, and design innovation. Drawing upon his enthusiasm and experience D'Ascoli quickly laid the foundations of a core wetsuit company that would revolutionize the industry and push the cutting edge of material and design development.
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Xcel's primary markets include surf, dive, wakeboard, paddle, stand up paddle board (SUP) and UV sun-protection apparel. With tropical to cold-water products for men, women, and kids, Xcel stresses performance: maximum stretch and durability, sealed-seam construction, and a fit that feels custom-made every time. Xcel has so many different rashguards for everyone in the family, that it is easy to find your perfect second skin.


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WASHINGTON – On Friday, July 22, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, held a groundbreaking hearing, "Minority At Risk: Coptic Christians in Egypt", and the evening before, on Thursday, July 21, House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a Smith amendment promoting Coptic Human Rights to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.
The July 22 hearing focused "on the question of what is happening to the Coptic Christians in Egypt… in the new country that is emerging from the revolution this spring." Rep. Smith (NJ-04) said that, "early signs are discouraging: there has been escalation in violence against Copts, which has included the killing of dozens of Copts, firebombings, and the destruction of at least three churches."
The hearing had a special focus, Rep. Smith said, on "the widespread and credible allegations that in Egypt Coptic women and girls are subject to abduction, forced conversion to Islam, and forced marriage to Muslims. They appear to be targeted with deceptive and abusive practices, which often include violence and separate them forever, against their will, from their families," while the Egyptian government "has completely failed to initiate credible investigations into these cases, which creates a climate of impunity for the perpetrators." Smith urged action in support of Egyptian Copts, especially women and girls threatened with abduction, including passage of legislation authored by Rep. Frank Wolf (VA-10) to create a State Department Special Envoy to promote the religious freedom of minorities in the Middle East, designation of Egypt as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and restructuring U.S. foreign aid to Egypt. To read the Congressman's opening statement at the hearing, click here.
Witnesses at the hearing spoke passionately on the abduction of women and girls, which Michele Clark, author of a important study of the issue, estimated to number "several thousand cases a year;" Jean Maher, Representative of the French Coptic Association, concurred that "we are also sure there are thousands." The witnesses opening testimony can be viewed here:
- Jean Maher, President, French Office, Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization; Representative, French Coptic Associations;
- Michele A. Clark, Adjunct Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, and author of the 2009 study "The Disappearance, Forced Conversion, and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt"; and
- Caroline Doss, J.D., Vice President, Coptic Solidarity.
The hearing aired live on C-SPAN and was re-broadcast several times over the weekend. It can be viewed by clicking here.
On July 21, the evening before the hearing, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved an amendment offered by Rep. Smith to address violations of human rights of the Egyptian Coptic community. The measure was unanimously approved and included in H.R. 2583, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, and now moves to the House floor. To read the Smith amendment on Egyptian Coptic Christian human rights, click here.


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After hitting its highest mark since December 2007 on Tuesday because of a bullish report about the health of the manufacturing sector in April, the Dow Jones industrial average is right now down about 45 points (less than 0.3 percent) because of negative news about hiring and manufacturing.
There was the news earlier that the ADP National Employment Report estimates there were only 119,000 jobs added to private payrolls last month. And then there was word from the Census Bureau that orders for manufactured goods fell 1.5 percent in March from February.
Now, many will be looking ahead to Friday's employment/unemployment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.